For better or for worse.
Episode 46
Worth It or Not
BRAN
Damien has always hated my driving.
“You know,” he says from the passenger seat of my Audi, “these days, car accidents account for nearly 2% of all vampire deaths. When a head gets lopped off, it’s hard to come back from that.”
“If a vampire were to piss off his brother, he might get his head lopped off anyway.”
He barely looks away from his phone in his hand. “I’m just saying—if you’re dead, who will protect your little mouse from Julian?”
The leather steering wheel creaks beneath my grip.
“That’s what I thought,” Damien says because he’s a fucking know-it-all.
As the road cuts right, I let off the gas and the speedometer sinks. “Better?”
“Yes,” Damien says, his eyes still on his screen.
“I need to tell you something.”
He finally looks up.
“It’s about Jessie.”
“You have my attention.”
Red and blue lights flash in my rear-view. “Christ.” We’re out in the countryside, so it’s likely a deputy.
“See,” Damien says. “If you’d been obeying traffic laws—”
“Oh, shut the fuck up.”
He laughs. “I’ll just eat him. I could use a drink.” He taps out of whatever he was reading on his phone, darkens the screen, and slides the phone into the inside pocket of his bomber jacket.
“Let’s make it a game instead.” I slow the car down and pull to the shoulder. The car is fast and nimble and stops with ease.
Turning in the leather bucket seat, Damien’s eyes flare with interest. “Which game?”
“How about we play Worth It or Not?”
He considers it, then, “All right. We placing bets?”
“Of course.”
The lights get closer as the Sheriff’s car catches up to us.
“I call Not,” he says.
“Fine. Worth it.”
“If I win, I’m sending this ridiculous car to the junkyard.”
“I’ll just buy another one.”