“What’s Viktor got you doing while we’re away?” Christian asked, shifting the conversation to give the topic a rest.
Niko rose to his feet and stretched his arms overhead. “Guard duty. We can’t be too careful with Raven’s Creator on the loose. Viktor had to bow out of a few meetings, so I’ll be attending those in his stead.”
“Sounds grand,” Christian said absently.
Niko stretched out his arm and touched the window. “Perhaps you better get Raven off the roof lest she fall and break her neck.”
Christian stood up and squinted. “I can’t see anything.”
“She’s just up there,” Niko said, pointing his finger south. “I saw her light move by just now. She walks the roof at night when she’s troubled. I guess you know that by now.”
Christian put his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “She does what she likes.”
“You can’t change the past and what’s been done.” Niko reached out until he caught Christian’s shoulder. “No matter how she portrays herself, she’s vulnerable now. I know you two have had your differences, but Raven’s a strong addition to our team. Don’t give her a reason to quit, even if she asks for it. Remember: if she’s not our ally, then that makes her our enemy. Viktor will have no choice but to scrub everything, and she’ll be left with nothing but hollow memories of the past.”
“You’re always a pocketful of sunshine, aren’t you?” Christian patted Niko’s cheek. “Why don’t you run along now and spread some of that good cheer into the world.”
Niko grinned and turned away, his hand running along the grooves of the wall. “One of these days, Christian, you might actually find my advice useful.”
Men as old as Niko were qualified to give sage advice, and his words were enough to prevent Christian from doing something regretful, like telling Viktor the truth. It wasn’t worth the gamble. The truth would do them more harm than good if it meant jeopardizing her career and their partnership. Maybe it was time to let go of a fate he couldn’t change and a dream he’d never hold.
Chapter 28
Why do men always get the front seat?” I complained from behind Christian.
Viktor reclined his head on the passenger headrest. “Because men have longer legs.”
“Then sit on the roof.”
Christian adjusted his visor so he could see me. “I was saving that seat for you, sweetheart.”
“Maybe you should ride in the trunk since you’re practically blind from all this sunshine.”
He tipped his head until I could see his eyes peering at me from beneath his dark sunglasses.
We’d left the mansion at around two in the morning, and it felt like we’d been on the road for ages. Around noon, Christian had pulled in to a gas station to refill the car while Blue and I went inside to use the restroom. Though I wasn’t hungry, browsing the aisles of the convenience store allowed me to stretch my legs.
Now I was squished in the back seat again, any hope of napping long gone after Christian had spent the past half hour giving his uncensored opinion on why computers don’t belong in cars.
“Are Canadian Vampires nicer?” I mused.
“Aye. They’ll give you a mint before cutting off your head.”
“How you were able to charm that lady at border security, I’ll never know.”
I nudged Blue, but she was dead asleep. Blue had come prepared in thermal underwear beneath her jeans and tall boots with fur lining. The white puffy down jacket wasn’t her usual style, but she suggested that we might get stuck out in the snow in daylight.
Perish the thought.
Hopefully our journey would end at the airport, and we’d take down these black marketeers. Wyatt’s anonymous friend confirmed that the first exchange had taken place. The buyer had a routine where he’d send someone to collect the victim, transport them by car across the border, board a private plane, and head out from there. Since we’d gotten a head start, we had a good chance of running into them as long as the information we’d received was correct. As Wyatt had plainly put it, our mission was to head them off at the pass.
I shifted my weight, my leg tingling back to life. “Tell me more about the auction. Is our primary goal to save this girl or take down the operation?”
Viktor removed his aviator sunglasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. “We have no information on her identity, but the auction ad implied she’s the daughter of a prominent man. The Vampire elders do their best to oversee the selections for a purpose. Not only to control the population, but to prevent these kinds of… What is the word I seek?”
“Asinine decisions,” Blue offered, her eyes still closed.
“Most criminals are not foolish enough to choose celebrity figures.”
“I should have been an actress,” I quipped.
Viktor turned in his seat to look at me. “A celebrity presence in our world draws attention to us. The seller was captured, but we suspect that maybe the buyers are making bold requests, perhaps targeting specific people.” He faced forward and put his sunglasses back on. “Stay alert. We have no standing with the local Councils here, so follow my lead at all times.”
I glanced out the window at the landscape. Ice weighed down the trees, and snow covered the ground. “Maybe the airport’s closed because of bad weather.”
“Breed airports never close.” Viktor groomed his beard for a moment before retrieving his brown jacket from the floor.
Christian made a slow turn down a long road. The snowdrifts looked a few feet deep, but the rest of it must have been gradually melting away because of the above-freezing daytime temperatures. Along most of the flatland, dead grass poked out from the top of the snow.
Blue finally sat up and looked around when a small commuter plane flew directly over our head.
I peered through the back windshield to get a closer look. “Are you kidding me? I thought this was an airport with private jets. That’s a toy plane with a propeller.”
Viktor zipped up his coat. “I’m prepared to rent a plane if we have to travel from here. Can anyone fly?”
“I’ve flown a kite before,” Christian said.
Blue raised her hand. “I can fly!”
I yanked my trench coat out from beneath me. “You guys are a real comedy act.”
We entered a parking lot surrounded by several small one-story buildings.
Viktor collected a pair of gloves that Blue handed him. “Spasibo. I only tease, Raven. I know how to fly a plane.”
Viktor could barely operate a blender, so that concerned me. “Are you licensed?”
A chuckle rose in his throat as he got out of the car. When the door shut, Viktor tossed back his head and laughed.