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“You can’t keep me your prisoner forever,” the vampire spit out.
“What’s your name?” Sona asked.
There was a moment’s hesitation. To everyone’s amazement, he didn’t snap his answer. “Diego.”
“Not a cool Russian name for once?” Riva exclaimed. “That’s a first! I was expecting something fancier. I should have known.”
“Why, you—”
There was a lunge, stopped mid-track. Sona’s voice danced in the air next, mild and almost cheerful.
“You need me. You have been kind to us during your week of guarding, so that grants you our decency back. But hurt Riva or any one of them here, and you will find me disappearing, only to return to slit your throat when you are asleep. It’s five against one, Diego, and this isn’t your world. What’s your decision?”
The authority in her tone left the vampire with not much of a choice, but Daria didn’t hear grumbling at all. Silence enveloped them as they folded the tents back up before Charlie carried them to her. She held her hands out, but he sidestepped and stopped at her back. She stood, swaying this way and that as he attempted to stuff the items in her backpack.
“I didn’t take watch,” she said to fill in the silence, half-meaning it. “Not that I can watch, but….”
“It’s okay. I did. I woke up for a few hours and returned here to sleep after Sona volunteered to take my place. It was an uneventful night.”
Not an uneventful morning.
“Shut up,” she groaned under her breath.
“What?”
“Nothing.” To her relief, he didn’t probe. He also didn’t leave her side as they led the way, his arm casually and repeatedly brushing her shoulder in contrast to how close they had been earlier. Her ears burned and she knew she had to divert the attention. “What do they look like?”
“Everyone?”
“Yeah.”
“Oscar looks like a well-off human being. He wears glasses and branded clothes. He has an expensive watch. Riva’s tiny. Not as tiny as you, but close.”
“She is?” Daria asked, mystified. “She sounds…”
“Larger than life? It’s the toughness speaking.” Humor laced his tone. “Let’s say she’s more compact than delicate and would probably pack a punch if her wolf form took charge.”
“I’m not delicate,” she grumbled.
A soft chuckle came, the sound caressing. “No, you are not. Anyway, Sona’s beautiful. I think you figured that out without even seeing her. I predict she also has the most secrets, but allying with us is more useful to her and gives her a better purpose.”
“I see. And Diego?”
“Diego’s ridiculously good-looking, as most vampires are, and he’s not even using glamour. Not that anyone here cares. Oscar and Sona are ignoring him while Riva’s glaring daggers at his back.”
It felt like the most unharmonious group to be sharing this journey with, but Daria understood she had no choice the moment she decided to open the first prison container.
“Do you think it’s a good idea to give Diego that much freedom?”
“Sona has a hold on him. Just like we have a hold on them.”
“That’s dangerous.”
“We are already in danger being here, sweetheart.”
The endearment added to the tension in her belly, but worry lurked higher as they felt the first pangs of hunger and had to stop once more to take a fill from her packed bag. Luckily, Charlie’s bag had things she hadn’t thought about: blood jerky, meat jerky, and more water. When they resumed, she felt the heaviness on his shoulders.
“What’s wrong?”
