Page 15 of Forced Vampire Mate

“I know what the map says,” Luken replied in a tone of condescending patience. “But it will end up costing us more if we head through the mountains. Shifters aren’t known for their love of vampires, and going through the heart of their kingdom is going to get us in a lot of trouble.”

“If we filled up with gas before heading to the mountains, we could get through the pass in a few hours, rather than adding two more days onto our journey,” I said, slouching in my seat.

With his hands on the wheel, there wasn’t a lot I could do about this. Even if I threatened myself again, he wouldn’t budge. Would only say something like, “You really think that will get us there faster?” and give me one of his patented ‘I’m the smartest person in the whole world’ looks. Bastard. If it weren’t for the map showing us our position, I would have thought he was taking us back to the palace.

It was even more irritating when he gave me a smirk that made his mouth look oh-so-kissable. With a grunt of frustration, I turned my face to the window.

“The shifters will know we’re in their territory the moment we cross the border,” he said. “Your idea would work if they don’t put any barriers in our way. If they decide to let us go straight through. If everything goes perfectly. We can’t assume that. But Draven is half-vampire, too, and the shifters hate elves more than they hate vampires. So he’ll be taking an even longer route than we are.”

“You could at least tell me your plan,” I grumbled. “Why can’t you just talk to me and tell me what’s going on in your head?”

Luken hummed a thoughtful tune. “If you opened up the bond, I could share the plan with you more directly.”

“I don’t want you in my head,” I snapped back. “You have more control over the bond than I do. I don’t want to—”

I cut myself off.

Luken’s hands tightened on the wheel. We were just pulling into another town, this one even smaller than the last. There was one general goods store that boasted hunting gear and daily necessities, and a hand-painted sign that said overnight rooms were available. It looked sketchy as all hell. A two-story building with faded, weathered siding and an old-fashioned gas pump out front. It looked like something off the set of a horror movie.

“Why are you fighting our connection?” Luken asked. For the first time, I thought I heard frustration in his voice.

I glared at him. “Because I can’t trust you.”

His knuckles went white. For a moment, I thought he might say something, get angry at my lack of trust, something. Instead, he turned off the car. “We need to restock our supplies before we get moving again. We’ll spend the night here and get going in the morning. We’ll have to ditch the car, so only buy what you can carry.”

Surprise rippled through me. “We’re ditching the car?”

Luken nodded. “We’ll be in the wilds soon enough, and it will be a while before we can return to civilization.”

“See, this is one of those instances where it’d be a good thing if I knew what the plan was, so I could actually be ready for these things. Why are we ditching the car? What wilds are we going through? If we’re not going through the Porcupine Mountains, where are we going?” I fired the questions rapidly, one after the other.

“I’ll explain later. We can’t be too careful. There might be spies following us,” he said.

“Spies?” I yelped.

Luken unbuckled his seatbelt and shook his head. “I would have thought that being trained in the assassin’s coven would have prepared you better for missions like that. Always assume you’re being watched, Elara, whether it be by spies or the Gods themselves.”

He was out of the car before I could question him further. Infuriating man! He was so used to his word being obeyed without question that he was treating my questions like an inconvenience. I ground my teeth together. After driving all day, I had expected that we’d switch so I could drive, and keep going all night. Draven and the elves were getting ahead of us every minute we wasted.

My door opened, making me jump. Luken had rounded the car to open it for me. He offered me his hand, smiling.

He’d ditched his royal apparel at the honeymoon cottage. Now, he was dressed in a plain brown T-shirt that stretched across his chest. His dark wash blue jeans hugged his thighs and ass perfectly. With his hair pulled into a single braid down his back, he looked… well, like he was trying to be an ‘everyman’ existing in the kingdom. He’d even put in contacts that lessened the obvious glow of his eyes. He was far too handsome to ever be mistaken for an ordinary person.

But damn, did he look good. I thought he was beautiful in his fancy king’s clothes. But these plain, boring clothes seemed to highlight his ethereal presence even more.

I took his proffered hand, and he tugged me to my feet. He didn’t let go as we headed into the store. Instead, he twined his fingers through mine. A bored-looking orc stood behind the cash register. She straightened when she caught sight of us. Luken made a beeline for the desk, even though I thought we were going to look around first.

“We need a room for the night,” he said with an easy smile.

“Two rooms,” I corrected.

The orc sucked on one of the large lower tusks. “We only have one room available.”

“Is there anywhere else in town we might find accommodations?” I asked quickly, before Luken could say anything.

The orc nodded. “There’s a campground fifteen minutes toward the lake.”

“We don’t have any gear for camping, dear,” Luken said, giving me a winning smile. “We’ll take the room. Can you show us up right away? We’ll be back down later to buy some supplies for the road.”

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