Page 29 of Crimson Storm

Speaking of prayer, I prayed Curtis hadn’t disappeared the way Larkin and Sadie had. His phone was ringing with no answer.

Maybe he was sleeping in. If so, I hated to wake him, but we really had no time to lose.

Finally, after about ten rings, he answered, sounding groggy. “Hello?”

“Curtis? Hi, it’s Abigail.”

“Abigail Byler? Where have you been? No one’s heard from you in weeks. Larkin was frantic.”

“Do you know where she is?” I asked, suddenly hopeful. Maybe they’d reconciled and Larkin was staying at his place.

“No. I mean, I assume she’s either home or working at Fangers,” he said.

“I don’t think so. I’m at her place, and it’s been abandoned. I can’t reach Sadie either. Did you hear about what happened?”

“Yeah, I saw it on the news before I went to bed. Crazy, crazy stuff. I haven’t talked to Larkin in at least a week. I hope she’s okay. Areyouokay, darlin’? It’s not like you to go dark like that.”

“I know. I’m sorry you were worried. Actually, I was arrested.”

“Arrested? That’s insane. You’re Miss Straight and Narrow. For what?”

“I’m still not sure. Listen, I need help. I escaped with some friends of mine, and then a human died. It was self-defense, but the official reports are saying we murdered the guy and a bunch of others. I need to get to the Bastion.”

“Oh Abbi, why would you go there? I thought you didn’t believe in Imogen’s approach.”

“I don’t. But we’re in trouble, and Sadie is either dead, hurt, or in hiding. I don’t know what else to do.”

“How can I help?”

“Do you still have your big rig? Or did you sell it?”

“I’ve been trying to—Lord knows it’s doing me no good sitting in my driveway, but I haven’t been able to yet. Want to borrow it?”

“Could we rent it from you? I know you’ve had some money trouble since you got laid off.”

Like so many vampires I knew, Curtis had lost his job. It happened a few months ago. He couldn’t prove it was because he was a vampire, but no humans had been laid off from the trucking company that had employed him for the past twenty-five years—only the vampires.

It couldn’t have been a case of age discrimination. His work record had been spotless. In fact, he’d been commended several times for his on-time deliveries and safe driving record.

“I can’t pay you right now, but once we get to the Bastion I can send you some money,” I said.

“I’m not gonna take your money, darlin’. You’re a friend in need. I’d offer to drive you myself, but I’ve got some guests coming into town tomorrow.”

“It’s fine. I wouldn’t want to put you at risk by association anyway. If we get caught in your truck, I’ll say I stole it. They already think I’m a criminal. What’s one more infraction?”

“Well, all right then. There’s no trailer on it right now, so at least it’ll be easier to park and handle. And it’s got a curtained-off sleeping cab for daytime hours.”

“I remember. Thank you so much, Curtis. You are literally a life saver.”

“No problem. Happy to help. The thing I’m worried about is the state lines. Have you thought about that?”

All the major highways and most of the smaller ones had checkpoints at the state lines, part of a recent initiative to track the vampire population’s travel patterns and ensure there were no mass gatherings of our kind, like conventions—or mobs.

Sadie’s Devil’s Night sit-in last year had caused an uproar with the human authorities.

“We’re disguised as humans,” I explained. “We’ve got colored contacts in.”

“But they do temperature checks.”

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