Page 32 of Road Trip with a Vampire
I almost laughed. For centuries, making impulsive decisions had beenentirelyme. But they would have no way of knowing that.
“I can take care of myself.” And then, giving them the barest hint of the truth, I added, “I’m stronger than I look. If he tries anything, I’ll be fine.”
My friends didn’t look convinced. But Lindsay said, with an earnestness that surprised me, “Promise me you’ll call if you need us to save you.”
I huffed a laugh. “I promise.”
Eight
Two months earlier
Peter hated flying.
It was a necessary evil, of course. His job required travel, and while Peter could repair any car, could even rebuild one from the ground up if necessary, he hadn’t driven in decades. He doubted he was even safe behind the wheel anymore.
But being in a confined airplane cabin with more than a hundred other humans for any length of time tested the limits of his self-restraint.
He’d had a snack before boarding, hoping it would help. But his flight had begun boarding just as he’d gotten started on that young woman with brunette hair and O-positive blood who’d been too preoccupied with scrolling social media to notice the apex predator lurking behind her. Now that his plane had taken off, Peter was hyperaware of how many people were on this flight, how cramped he was in his too-small seat. The close, rich scent of blood pumping through the veins of every person on this airplane was a forbidden torment.
He tried to distract himself with the in-flight entertainment, but he’d never much enjoyed sitcoms from the 1990s.
He closed his eyes. Only three more hours until he landed.
He really ought to relearn how to drive a car.
Peter was sitting on thewooden bench behind the studio once Lindsay and Becky were finished with me, his duffel bag on the ground by his feet.
“You could have waited in the car,” I said.
He looked at me. “I thought it would be more polite to wait for you.”
An awkward silence fell between us as we stared at each other. Suddenly, the realization that I’d be traveling alone with an attractive vampire I barely knew hit me with the force of a hurricane. Aside from establishing logistics, we’d barely spoken since agreeing to travel together.
Not that we’d spoken much before then, either.
This was about to be the most uncomfortable two weeks of my life.
“Let’s play Two Truths and a Lie,” I blurted before I could think better of it. If that silly game had worked as an icebreaker at that awful party in Luxembourg back in 1922, it could work here.
He frowned in a way that I was coming to realize signaled his total confusion. “What is Two Truths and a Lie?”
“It’s a game,” I explained. “I tell you three things about myself. Two will be true; one will be a lie. You try to guess what the lie is. After I’ve gone, it’ll be your turn.”
His frown deepened. “Why are we doing this?”
I sat on the bench beside him. The bench was small, and ourthighs nearly touched. I forced myself to ignore that. “It’s an icebreaker.”
“A what?”
“A way to get to know each other a little better before we’re traveling together all day, every day, for a while.”
“An icebreaker,” he repeated.
“Exactly.” When he didn’t respond and simply continued staring at me in confusion, I said, “I’ll go first. One: I love romance novels. Two: I’ve known I was a witch since I was five years old. And three”—I paused for dramatic effect before I trotted out my lie—“I was once a backup dancer for Beyoncé.”
His mouth twitched in amusement. Good. My brilliant idea that I’d only just come up with thirty seconds ago was working.
“I don’t know who Beyoncé is,” he said, “but Idoknow you have never been a dancer.”
