Page 34 of Midlife Vampire Unexpected

“It would have to be something. She wouldn’t run off without telling us. She knows we’d be worried about her.”

Antonio shifted into his wolf form. I knew it was the easiest way for him to follow her scent and cover the most ground quickly.

I could keep up with him, so I stepped up next to his side and motioned for him to carry on. I could hear and feel the sensation of his heart beating loudly, throbbing against his chest, and I couldn’t help but think about the moments my lips had been wrapped round his wrist. He had given such vital life-giving blood to me. A bit of euphoria in return seemed an easy exchange.

I followed him down a trail that went along the edge of the cliff. If someone had brought her along here, she must have gone willingly, or they had bound her up. Maybe they had gotten her to chase them.

I sighed. Jane was out of commission and now Bianca was missing. That was half of the blood pact out of commission. It seemed like the Coven was falling apart before it really got together.

We moved swiftly along the trail until it came to a sudden end at a road. Antonio shifted back into his human form and stared up and down the road.

“This is where the trail ends. They put her in a vehicle at this point.”

“Holy fuck,” I said, irritated beyond belief I hadn’t been paying close enough attention to Bianca. She was someone who always seemed to be able to look after herself no matter what. She was in wolf form and she had Antonio looking after her, but we had all gotten distracted by the demon and now she was gone. I chewed on my lower lip.

Our coven was slipping.

If we were supposed to be here saving people, we weren’t doing a very good job of it. We had lost Bianca and almost lost Jane. We couldn’t even figure out who was attacking us. I was supposed to be an officer of the law providing protection, but I couldn’t even provide my Coven with protection. The bounty hunters had driven in right under our noses and taken away one of our own.

“Where would they take her?” I ground the question out to Antonio.

“Only one place, but we need a truck,” he said.

“Come on. I know where to get one,” I said racing down the hill toward the cop shop, not even bothering to see if Antonio was behind me or not.

It didn’t matter if Sheriff Ted was there or not, we were going to borrow a truck and go after Bianca, even if I had to report her as a missing person.

The keys to all the police cars were on a hook inside the police station. It didn’t take me but a moment to slip in there and grab the keys off the hook. Sheriff Ted was taking a nap in his office. I didn’t think it was necessary to tell them she been kidnapped, at least not yet. I would file the reports when I came back that evening if we couldn’t find her. For now, we had to get as close to her as possible.

“Okay, where are we going?” I asked as Antonio got in the truck.

“We want to head east out of town, and then take the third exit on the left once we get to the fifteen-mile marker,” he said.

I raised my eyebrow as I glanced at him sideways. “Random.”

“This truck has four-wheel-drive, right?” Antonio asked.

I nodded. “I assume that’s why you said we needed a truck. Is there a road at all where we’re going?”.

“A dirt fire road. It’ll take us up to the camp.”

“We’re going to a campground?” I was pretty sure I hadn’t signed up for a camping trip with a werewolf.

“No, a prisoner of war camp,” Antonio said.

I stopped still, gazing at him in surprise. “What are you talking about? We’re in the middle of Oregon.”

“During World War II they put prisoner of war camps out here and used them to house enemy soldiers,” Antonio explained.

“Are you kidding me?” I asked. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Then later after the soldiers were moved, Japanese Americans were rehoused here to hypothetically protect them from other citizens.”

I found the whole history surprising. “I’ve never heard that story at all,” I said. “I always thought prisoner of war camps were something overseas that we didn’t have here. I guess I don’t think about there being war on American soil.”

“It’s because you don’t recognize it,” Antonio said. “But there’s war on American soil every day.”

“As evidenced by the fact I’ve become a vampire and discovered an entire supernatural world. I think the fact I can even recognize this should give me some credit here,” I said.

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