“We can stopto rest here for a bit,” Mike said.
Mollie glanced at her watch to discover it was nearly two in the morning. They’d been running, walking, and running some more for the past five hours. And once her adrenaline started to wane, she felt like she’d crawled for the last hour, but onward they trudged.
Occasionally, they would hear or see someone else making their way through the woods, but Mike didn’t approach any of them. He’d set the others free as a distraction and to possibly fight against their captors, but he didn’t dare trust them enough to approach them. He hadn’t seen Jack or Doug at all, and it had been an hour since he’d heard or seen anyone else.
Mike glanced at the woods surrounding the small stream he’d stopped beside. A grouping of thick tree branches from a red maple dangled in the water. Mike pulled back some of the branches and peered into the small space created beneath the limbs. The thick vines and brambles mixed in with the tree branches and leaves would further shield them from anyone passing by. The aromas of water and fish would mask their scents.
He’d prefer it if they didn’t stop until sunrise when the Savages would be less likely to be out, but Mollie was barely lifting her feet anymore, and the grumbling of her stomach grew increasingly louder. He could carry her again, but he would be better able to defend her if his hands were free, and he didn’t think they’d come across a much better hiding spot than this one.
“Hurry,” he whispered, gesturing her inside.
Mollie scrambled past him and into the secluded space no more than seven feet deep and four feet wide. Careful to avoid the thorns that could take out an eye, Mollie shrugged the rifle over her shoulder before resting her back against the tree trunk. She held the weapon before her as Mike crawled into the tiny space; he moved the branches and vines back into place.
She couldn’t see him, but she listened as he crept toward her. His body warmed hers when he settled against the tree next to her. Mollie remained rigid as she waited to see what he would do.
He’d saved her life; did he expect something from her in return? After he’d almost kissed her, would he expect sex? Could a vampire have sex; weren’t they dead or undead or some such thing?
When she found herself hoping it was possible for him to have sex, she decided she’d officially lost her mind.
“What now?” she whispered.
“Now we wait until sunrise.”
“What happens then?”
“Most of the Savages, the vampires who enjoy killing others, can’t tolerate sunlight.”
“But you can?”
“Yes.”
“You saidmost, why justmost?”
“Some of them haven’t killed enough to completely lose their ability to walk in the day,” Mike answered. “If these bastards have any Savages like that working for or with them, then they’ll probably hunt us in the daytime too. Also, these woods are so thick, there won’t be as much direct sun, so some of them will be able to move through here without an issue. Sometimes, humans also work for Savages, and they can hunt us too. We’re going to have to find a way out of this forest tomorrow, if we can.”
“And find Aida,” she stated.
“And find Aida,” he agreed, though he planned to get Mollie somewhere safe before looking for her sister.
“Why would humans work with these Savages?” she asked, appalled by the idea of anyone agreeing to help these monsters.
“Some people will do anything for a chance at immortality.”
“And vampires are immortal?”
“Yes.”
The possibility of never dying boggled her mind. What must it be like not to fear any of the millions of ways humans could die every day? Probably empowering and more than a little overwhelming. She also suspected eternity might get a little boring after the first thousand years or so.
“So, will you ever age beyond what you look like now?” she asked.
“No.”
Mollie blinked at him. He looked a little older than her, but only because there was a sad wisdom in his eyes that most twenty-something-year-olds didn’t possess. However, he could be two thousand years old for all she knew.
“How old are you?” she asked.
“How old was I when I was turned, or how old am I now?” he inquired.
