Page 36 of Expose Me

He came back an hour later with a much newer model than I’d expected, and we got on the road.

It had been very late when we checked into the motel, and I’d slept for a long time, so it was late afternoon by the time we took to the road. I let him drive, my injury making it difficult to do much of anything.

I wished he’d go faster, but he stuck to a sensible, steady speed. I just wanted to get better as soon as possible. I hated feeling weak, having to rely on others. I prided myself on being able to take care of my damn self. I’d been strong and independent since I was a teenager. It was hard to survive in this world if you weren’t.

My phone vibrated, and I pulled it from my pocket to find a message from an unknown contact. When I saw the contents, I was pretty sure it was Lowell giving me a heads up.

It was a report about a new portal that had opened in Melbourne. Apparently, representatives from the House of Spirit and Sapphire had made contact with our new friends and were communicating amicably with the new species. The report ended with a description of me and Zey, stating we were very dangerous and in the Liege area. It had been sent to all House leaders.

I read it to Zey, and we exchanged a look. Only the Vuulectians had seen us at the dump. They were clearly sharing information with my House. But why? What did the House of Spirit and Sapphire get out of the deal?

“Looks like your buddies and my buddies have come to an agreement,” I said.

“It would certainly appear so.” Zey’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “I suspected as much when Silovi was threatening us at the place with all the trash, but I wondered if it was an empty threat.”

“The dump,” I reflexively supplied. “Wait, who’s Sil-whatever? Someone spoke to you?”

“Silovisuvinoucraptiles. They are one of the leaders of Lineg Legion. They were all throwing insults and threats at us the whole time. You didn’t hear it?”

“No! I think I would’ve remembered that.”

“Oh. We communicated in our usual way.” He tapped the side of his head. “I guess we didn’t account for the different frequency of your mind in the mess of the situation.”

“Rude.” I crossed my arms.

Zey’s lips twitched into a brief, amused smile. “Silovi said that they had Vuulectians in every major city, that they would find the Onuei faster than I ever could alone, and I should just give up and join them. They also said rude things about you.”

“Me?” I pressed a hand to my chest, outraged. “Like what? Never mind. I don’t care. That only confirms that they’re working with the House of Spirit and Sapphire. No way they could get that many through a portal unnoticed, and they’d definitely need help to get to other parts of the world so fast.”

Zey hummed but kept his eyes on the road. He looked disturbed.

“Are you worried they will get to the Onuei first?” I asked.

“Yes. The more of them there are, the easier they will be able to sense the energy—just like how they find me.”

“Is that why you were able to feel the Onuei in the pile of metal once we got close to it?”

“Yes, but only because we were so close.”

“How did you think you were going to find them on your own?” He’d come charging over here on an impossible mission with absolutely no knowledge of the realm he was stepping into. I had to hand it to him—it was ballsy.

“I didn’t exactly have a plan. I was running for my life, and I knew I had to follow the Onuei.”

“Lucky I was the one that found you then.” I looked out the window. We were getting close.

“Yes. Lucky.” Zey kept his eyes glued to the road, but there was something in his expression, in the set of his jaw—something ... more.

I didn’t have time to worry about it, and I told him where to turn and park.

It was evening when we reached the No Man’s Land town in the German countryside, and it was a cold one. There weren’t many people about on the residential street, but apartment buildings were busy, and the Houseless were desperate. I hoped the dark would be enough cover for us to get from the car into the safety of the apartment on the eighth floor.

Acutely aware of the ache in my leg and the time pressure, I didn’t wait to get moving. Zey helped me out of the car, through the building, and up to the eighth floor. I leaned on him more than I wanted to. And I was starting to feel a bit feverish. Maybe he was right about that infection.

We stopped in front of one of the many identical doors in the hallway. I knocked. We waited for only a few moments before it swung open.

Mark’s youthful face drained of color when he saw me on the other side of the door. And that was a feat, considering he was Ethiopian, and a vampire.

“No,” he gasped, and slammed the door in my face.

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