Betta giggled again, giving me the distinct impression that she was forming a crush on Sinjin, if she hadn’t already. And, really, it wasn’t as though I found that news surprising in the least. Regardless of how much Sinjin infuriated me, I had to admit he was incredibly charming with his youthful, yet practiced, charisma.
“Who is the King of the Fae?” Betta asked.
Sinjin glanced at her in the rearview mirror again. “You shall find out in time, my dear. I could personally introduce you, but must warn you that you would have to guard your lady parts at all costs. Odran only responds to his basest primate needs.”
Betta giggled again, but I wasn’t paying any attention. Instead, my mind was obsessed by the idea of returning to Kinloch Kirk and my sister. “What happened to Rand, Odran and everyone else after you, Jolie and I left for the cave?” I asked Sinjin, suddenly fearful for his answer.
“Nothing happened to anyone,” he responded.
“What?” I asked, shaking my head because I couldn’t understand how that could be. Last I remembered, everyone at Jolie’s wedding had been unarmed. And against Luce’s legion, they were basically doomed.
“Nothing happened to anyone,” Sinjin repeated, this time slowing down on his delivery of each word.
“I got that part,” I grumbled. “What I’m wondering is how that is even possible.”
“Then that should have been your question from the onset,” Sinjin reprimanded me in a super annoying way.
“Last I checked, you weren’t my parent!” I said and glared at him.
He chuckled, obviously enjoying every second of my irritation. “I am happy to tell you, my dear little hellion whom I hold in such high regard, that nothing happened to any of my people because none of your people attacked them.”
“What?” I repeated.
“I am happy to tell you, my,” Sinjin started.
“Oh my God!” I interrupted him. “Why didn’t my people, er Luce’s people, attack yours?”
Sinjin offered me a sideways grin that I ignored. “It is quite simple an answer, really,” he started in his pompous way. “No one attacked because no one came!”
“No one came?” I repeated, pleased with myself that I hadn’t said “what” again. “You mean, Luce came by himself?” Sinjin nodded but I didn’t give him the chance to explain. “That can’t be right!” I exclaimed and shook my head. “I heard the screams! I heard people fighting!”
“All magic, my gullible little villain,” Sinjin responded. “Luce’s sole intention was to separate you and your sister from the crowd. And we fed right into his plan.”
I sighed heavily as I digested his words. It took me a few seconds before I glanced up at him again. “Then everyone at Kinloch Kirk is fine?”
Sinjin nodded. “But do not take my word for it. Soon you will be able to see for yourself.”
At the thought of returning to Kinloch Kirk and returning to my sister, I suddenly felt as if I were choking and couldn’t catch my breath. “We can’t go back to Kinloch Kirk,” I announced as my lips pulled into a tight line across my face. I crossed my arms over my chest, which meant I was feeling defensive. Why? I had no clue.
“And why not?” Sinjin retorted, frowning down at me in ill humor. “Your sister is waiting for you.”
“Because I don’t belong there,” I answered. Turning my head in Betta’s direction, I added, “Neither one of us does.” Damn my sister waiting for me. She waited three weeks before sending Sinjin on this mission, so she could wait another however long before she saw me again.
“Well, where will we go then?” Betta asked. Her former candor was suddenly missing in her tone. Her eyes went wide and she looked worried. “We sort of have to go back to your sister…”
“No, we don’t and no one is going to change my mind either!” I interrupted her. “Going back to my sister’s isn’t an option. We can go to wherever it was you were planning to take us before Mr. Sinclair, over here, decided to drop in uninvited,” I finished. Although I didn’t mean to sound so put out, I couldn’t help it. I was angry. No, I was seething.
“Perhaps someone woke up on the wrong side of the car,” Sinjin said with a little smirk, which I ignored. Even though I tried my damnedest to talk myself out of it, I couldn’t help the anger and regret growing within me whenever I thought of Sinjin and his overdue attendance. And it didn’t improve his standing that he was acting so suave, as if it had never occurred to him that the last three weeks were a living hell for me.
What happened to you was not Sinjin’s fault! I scolded myself but, still, my anger refused to listen.
“Well, I wasn’t really planning for us to go anywhere,” Betta said with a shrug and a shake of her head. “My plan sort of ended as soon as we reached Highway 83. From there, I figured we’d just hitch a ride and go wherever you decided, Bryn. And I sort of figured that would mean we would go to your sister.”
“Well, then, we will agree that we have no plan and therefore need to come up with one,” I replied grumpily. I refused to look at either one of them because I couldn’t help my feelings, but that didn’t change the fact that I still felt how I felt. “But as to Kinloch Kirk, we can’t go back because we don’t belong there.”
“What do you mean, you do not belong there?” Sinjin insisted, spearing me with an irritated expression. “Of course you belong there! You should be with your sister and your own people.”
“You aren’t my people!” I snapped before remembering my cool. Facing forward again, I inhaled a deep breath.
“Then Luce is?” Sinjin demanded, but I refused to respond to him. Instead, I changed the subject.
“I don’t belong in Kinloch Kirk,” I repeated glumly. I found it hard to look at him even though I couldn’t avoid the weight of his gaze on me. I found it far easier to look at the never-ending blur of trees outside the window that were interrupted only by the intermittent motion of the wipers as they cleaned the rain off the windshield.
“Then you prefer that I return you to your own people?” Sinjin asked angrily. He seemed to be taking turns looking at the road and glaring at me. “You want me to return you to Luce? Even after you and Betta escaped from him?”
“No,” I answered immediately. I was more than keenly aware that Betta was gaping at me from the backseat. At the thought of being returned to Luce, my entire body nearly caved in on itself. No, I refused to return to the torturous existence I’d endured for the last three weeks. I knew I didn’t belong with my sister and her people, but I also didn’t feel right with my own. I was no longer one of them; and after what Betta had done, neither was she.
“No, we obviously can’t go back to the tribe,” I started with a sigh, because I didn’t really know where that left us. Alone, it seemed. “But that doesn’t mean we should join my sister and her people either.” I couldn’t bear to witness the disappointment that suddenly flashed in Sinjin’s eyes. Instead, I focused on the raindrops that trickled down the passenger-side window. “We don’t belong anywhere. I guess we’re just wanderers.”
“You are acting quite dramatic, my little paramour,” Sinjin replied as he turned to face me and his eyes burned into mine. I held his gaze for maybe a second before I had to turn back to the window, not feeling strong enough to stare him down. “But what I will tell you is that I did not come all this way simply to leave you to your own defenses.”
“Come all this way?” I scoffed, turning to face him so the anger that was building inside of me could suddenly burst forth. I was surprised at the overwhelming onslaught of resentment that erupted through me, but I also couldn’t seem to hold it back. “Yeah, let’s talk about that for a minute,” I spat at him, now unable to peel my gaze away. “If it were so important to my sister and you to rescue me, why the hell did it take you three weeks to do it?” My voice began elevating of its own accord.
“Bryn,” Betta began worriedly.
But I held my hand up, letting her know I refused to be silenced so easily. “No, Be
tta, I want to know his answer.”
Sinjin faced forward for a few seconds, as if he were collecting his thoughts. When he turned back to me, his eyes were icier and narrowed into skinny, azure slits. His jaw was clenched tightly and I could tell my words hadn’t exactly been well received. “In case you fail to remember, Princess,” he started and said the word “princess” with as much disdain as he could muster, “I have not sampled your blood in a very long time.”
“So what?” I threw his words back at him with a shrug like his comment held no weight.
But Sinjin didn’t lose his cool. He never lost his cool. “So … if you recall, the only way by which I can track and locate you is through your blood.”
I didn’t say anything, but only returned his stare as if to suggest he needed to further explain. So he did.
“And tracking you through your blood first requires that I drink it.” He glared at me for another few seconds, during which time I said nothing. I simply frowned back at him, and was not at all comfortable beneath his irritated expression. “Hence, owing to the long duration since I last had the pleasure of tasting you, my ability to trace your whereabouts was scant, at best.”
“Well, it couldn’t have been that scant, considering you managed to trace me from Scotland to Montana!”
But Sinjin shook his head, and appeared to be perturbed, to say the least. “I merely guessed that you were in the States, based on my prior knowledge of Lurker camps.”
“Lurker camps?” Betta repeated, sounding puzzled.
“That’s their name for us,” I responded as an aside. My exasperation only mounted as soon as I returned my attention to Sinjin.
“Interesting,” Betta answered.
“Once I arrived on American soil,” Sinjin continued, now sounding defensive and angry at the same time, “it took all my ability not only to pick up on your scent, but to follow it. Furthermore, the fragrance of your blood became so faint as to mislead me along the way more than once. If you must know, I traveled as far as Minnesota, South Dakota and Wyoming.” His gaze remained fixed on the road ahead of us, as if he didn’t want to look at me. I wasn’t sure why, but that bothered me too. “Thus, my little fury, you might consider yourself more than lucky that it took me merely three weeks to find you, rather than three months.”
I swallowed hard, choosing to not say anything more because I hadn’t exactly mastered the art of admitting when I was wrong and, more so, I was still feeling sorry for myself.
Well, snap out of it, Bryn! I railed mentally. Since when did you start feeling sorry for yourself? Since never! And you’re not about to start now!
“And for your added information, Princess,” Sinjin continued, practically spitting the words at me. “As soon as Luce absconded with you, I came after you. I did not rest nor quit despite the odds of achieving such an impossible task. I refused to let up until I had you in my custody and could ensure you were safe and well.”
I still found it hard to respond. So I just gulped down my own humiliation and the ensuing anger over said humiliation.
“Well, I’m glad you found us when you did,” Betta interjected in a soft voice. She started chomping on her gum again as she faced me. “Better late than never, right?”
“One would assume so,” Sinjin answered for me. He glanced at me from the corners of his eyes, while keeping his head facing forward.
Maybe it was a personality flaw, but I found I couldn’t say I was sorry and I couldn’t say thank you. Instead, I just sat there, fuming, but mostly at myself because I knew I owed Sinjin an apology and my gratitude.
“So where and how did you get this car?” I grumbled, trying to change the subject so I wouldn’t appear like a total ass.
“I simply hired it.”
“What is it?” I persisted, struggling to pull the words out of my mouth.
“A Porsche,” Sinjin answered, keeping his lips just as tightly pressed as mine.
“Where are we going?” I continued, refusing to look at him.
“You tell me.”
“Anywhere but Scotland.”
“You will have to be more specific.”
“Anywhere but Kinloch Kirk.”
“That was the opposite of specific!”
“Oh my gosh, will you both please stop it?!” Betta interrupted, sounding exasperated. “You both are way too old to be acting like school kids!”
“Well said, Betta,” Sinjin agreed with a nod to her reflection in the mirror. But when he looked over at me, his lips were tight again. “As to you, Bête Noire, if you promise to return my ball, I will allow you to play in the sandbox.”
I was quiet for a few seconds as I looked at him and found his expression completely stoic and serious. And then I could no longer control myself as a laugh came rumbling out of my mouth.
***
As to where we were headed, it wasn’t so much under my control as Sinjin might have led me to believe. The impending dawn made itself known in a streak of daylight that appeared behind the otherwise black mountains before us, and we pulled into a parking lot of a motel, located off the highway.
“Why are we stopping?” Betta asked as she chomped on her gum, which I assumed was flavorless by now.
“Because, my dear, human Lurker, vampires do not do well when exposed to the sun’s rays,” Sinjin informed her. He put the Porsche into park and opened his door, stepping outside and pulling the seat forward so Betta could get out.
“Ah, I bet you wish you were a Daywalker right about now,” she said as she climbed over his seat and stepped outside. She took a few seconds to stretch. “They are just like you, like vampires, but they can walk in the sun, you know?”
“Yes, I am quite aware of what Daywalkers are,” Sinjin answered as he turned to face me where I stood just outside the passenger door. “And no, I do not wish I were a Daywalker. I am quite content to be a vampire.”
I didn’t respond to his comment, but watched his cool, confident smile as I shook my head, not daring to encourage him. He started for the door of the nondescript motel, Betta and me obediently following him.
“How are you feeling?” Betta asked as she took my elbow and attempted to help me walk even though I felt fine enough to walk on my own.
“I’m okay,” I said while Sinjin turned around and eyed us both with what appeared to be irritation.
“Is it possible for you both to please stop dawdling?” he asked, tapping his foot impatiently. “I daresay the sun is nearly upon us! If I wait any longer for you, I fear I shall be reduced to a pile of ash!”
“And you accuse me of being the dramatic one?” I grumbled. I separated myself from Betta and walked the remaining few feet on my own. Although I felt remarkably better than I did in the forest, I still wasn’t quite as spry as normal. Whatever happened to me with Jack had really wiped me out.
“What is the matter with you?” Sinjin demanded as soon as we caught up to him and headed inside the small lobby of the motel. It consisted of a multi-colored linoleum floor, two vending machines in one corner, and a smallish desk in the other, where a little, old woman was poring over a crossword puzzle.
“What are you talking about?” I replied in an irritated tone as he took my arm and led me up to the front desk.
“You look as if you have not slept in many days and you are much too thin,” Sinjin whispered back to me. He didn’t allow me the chance to respond because only moments later, he was addressing the little, old woman who observed the three of us with unmasked curiosity. “Hello, madam,” Sinjin started, his English accent suddenly much more pronounced.
“Hello,” the woman answered, and her parched lips spread into a grin, revealing three absent teeth.
“My wife and I would like one room please,” Sinjin said as he smiled down at me and I frowned back up at him, all the while wondering what he was up to but lacking the energy to ask. “And our lady friend would like a room of her own,” he finished as he inclined his head in Betta’s direction.
/> “Okay,” the old lady answered, and, moments later, she handed Sinjin two keys.
“Shall we, my dear?” Sinjin inquired with an arched brow as he glanced down at me with a knowing smile. I just shook my head and thought if I had to deal with Sinjin from here on out, I’d need a lot more sleep.
TEN
“I’ll go sleep in Betta’s room,” I announced once Sinjin closed the bedroom door of the old-looking motel behind me. The structure was a two-story that appeared somewhat small, with maybe twenty rooms. It was painted white, but the paint had faded in some areas and was chipping in others, which gave the place a dilapidated sort of look. I had to admit to my surprise that Sinjin would even consider staying in such a place, but the sun was quickly on the rise so I guessed vampires couldn’t be choosers.
As far as our two rooms were concerned, Betta’s was directly adjacent to this one, and a door in the center of the wall connected them. Betta only agreed to leave me alone with Sinjin once I promised her he was a friend and not considering me as his next meal. Even though they seemed chummy enough in the car, apparently, Betta still wasn’t totally convinced where vampires were concerned. And that was just as well, because in my mind, it was better to trust no one and be happily surprised rather than vice versa.
“Very well, you are free to seek your repose wherever you desire,” Sinjin started, but the expression on his face said loud and clear that he actually wasn’t going to give in so easily. “But first I must insist that you and I have a little conversation.”
“A conversation?” I repeated, my eyebrows reaching for the ceiling as I wondered what he wanted to discuss. Furthermore, there was that little problem known as the morning sun, which was due to rise any second. “Don’t you have to hole up in the closet or something? So the sun doesn’t turn you into charcoal?”