Page 25 of Crimson Storm

Nodding toward my friends, I said, “So were they until our lives were threatened and they were deprived of blood for too long. Never forget what we are. None of us is very far from our animal nature.”

He gave me an alert glance, perhaps regarding me as a threat at long last.

“Well... what are you going to do now? I mean I can go down and move the truck, but even then you won’t be able to stay here long. The sidewalk was crowded with people when we came in. Someone might have seen the blankets and those bright yellow pants and suspected something. Someone could see this bulletin and call it in. I don’t think you can stay in the city tonight.”

“Wasn’t planning to. We’re going to leave as soon as it’s dark.”

“How?”

“That’s a good question. I was hoping to borrow Larkin’s car, but obviously she’s not here, so I doubt her car is. Thanks to that alert, the authorities will be watching the airports and train stations—bus stations too.”

“Do you even have money or a credit card for tickets?” Shane asked. “I would guess your personal belongings like wallets and purses and stuff are back at the Safety Center.”

“You’re right. I’ll need to stop by the—oh no.” I closed my eyes, my hands coming up to cover my nose and mouth in a steeple as it hit me.

“What?”

I had been about to say the wordbank, but that was hopeless as well. “I’m sure they’ve frozen our accounts.”

This was so bad. Howwerewe going to travel? We had no money for transportation or to buy blood bags.

“Can I use your phone?” I asked.

“Sure. You have another friend here in town with a car?”

“No. Not in town. But I am calling a friend who’ll know what to do.”

Sadie Aldritch was the only vampire I knew with enough clout to help us. Well, not theonlyone but the only one I’d be willing to ask.

I knew both her numbers by heart—her personal phone and her office at the Vampire-Human Coalition.

No one picked up at either. The call to her cell number went right to voicemail.

Which was weird. She was practically fused to her phone. She got calls from important vampires and humans from around the world on a daily basis.

When I called the VHC, it rang a few times then went to an automated voice recording with instructions on how to reach the various departments. Even pressing zero sent me to a recording inviting me to leave a message.

Assuming the police would be checking all VHC communications for word on the “escapees,” I declined to leave one. Ending the call, I started to hand the phone back to Shane.

A frightening new possibility stopped me mid-motion. “Do you think they could track you here with this device?”

His eyelids widened. “Oh man. Probably. Maybe I should take out the battery?”

As he reached for the phone, I crushed it, shattering the screen and dropping jagged pieces of black plastic to the floor.

“Oh,” he said in surprise. “Well, okay then.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t afford to take any chances.”

“Don’t worry about it. I have insurance on it. I just hope they didn’t run a trace on it already. You should get out of here—soon. That’s assuming you can even hire a car without a credit card—or without being recognized and turned in. The article said there was a reward. I wish there was a way you could, you know, blend in. But with your eyes...”

His voice trailed off, and he shrugged in a way that told me he hoped what he’d said wasn’t offensive. “I mean I think the lilac is pretty, but—”

“Blend in,” I practically shouted, interrupting him. “That’s it! Oh, I hope Larkin only packed for a short trip.”

Rushing from the kitchen-living room area to Larkin’s bedroom and into the connected bathroom, I rummaged through the vanity drawers, hoping to find some of the “props” she used for her job.

Yes.She’d left a variety of cosmetics and a large supply of colored contact lenses.

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