Chapter 6

The sun set earlier in London, and Bryce’s lids fluttered open shortly after the clock had struck five p.m. He had spent the night on a toilet, his face resting on the stiff germ ridden paper dispenser. He had many bad days of rest over the centuries. This one wasn’t his best, but it certainly wasn’t his worst. He saw Derek’s boots in the stall next to him and knocked through the door to wake him up.

Unlocking the door of his stall he was surprised to find Kane with his legs stretched across the two shallow sinks. His head was tilted against the wall mirror that echoed the room back to them, vampire free. How odd if someone had walked in, Bryce thought. The latch was dragged across to the locked position. He assumed Kane had thought about the startling effects not having a reflection could have on the tourist that wandered into the bathroom. Kyle was lying on the cold floor beneath the sinks, tucked away in shadows.

A few minutes later, newly awake, the four males exited the bathroom. They were happy to see Liv and Tori leaning against the tiled wall outside the ladies' restroom.

Bryce rushed over to Tori. He greeted her every evening with a kiss and hated that he had to wait to do so, even if it was only a few minutes. After he gently pulled his lips away from hers, he looked into her eyes. “Hungry?” he asked, nuzzling his nose against hers.

Tori smiled. “We ate. Two teenagers came into the bathroom, it was nice having delivery for a change.”

“Wish you waited, I’m starving.” Kyle rubbed his stomach in a slow circle giving Liv a puppy dog look.

Liv tucked a chunk of yellow curls behind her ear, revealing her purple feather earring. “You try sleeping in a bathroom where the wastebasket is filled with discarded tampons. It was the equivalent of a human sleeping in a bakery. The scent was beyond tempting.”

Kyle scrunched up his nose in utter revulsion. “Please tell me you didn’t.”

Liv’s big brown eyes looked disgusted by the thought. “Ew, no. You know I hate fast food. But still it wasn’t easy to sleep knowing the room was filled with ready-made hors d’oeuvres.” Kyle laughed and kissed Liv on the forehead, then buried his face in her sea of blonde curls.

Derek remained quiet as he looked over to the bar just a few feet away at the next gate. Erin was sitting at the counter, sipping a martini. The vampires headed over to her.

“There she is, the girl that packs light.” Derek meant it as a joke in hopes of getting back to normal, but Erin glared at him. “C’mon, hen, calm down.”

“Calm down? I had to think quick and hide six smoking vampires, then spend seven hours by myself and you’re still giving me shit for packing a few stakes?”

“And a cross bow,” Derek muttered, rocking on his heels as he threw Bryce a look.

“Shut up, Derek,” Erin snapped. Her words were sharp, and Bryce peeked over at Tori who looked just as surprised as he felt. He remembered the days when he thought Erin was a defenseless little lamb. Boy had she fooled him for years.

“How did you get past TSA with your arsenal?” Kane asked in an attempt to cut the tension.

Erin rolled her eyes and sipped her martini. “Derek glamoured them.” It was clear Erin didn’t like admitting she needed his help.

“Why didn’t you just do that right away?” Even almost twenty-four hours later, Bryce was still annoyed he had to wait on that line for longer than he intended to. He was getting grouchy in his old age.

“There were four of them. It wasn’t easy to have a private moment with every guard,” Derek said in his defense.

“So how did you do it?” Kane asked again, crossing his arms and pursing his full lips together. Bryce noticed Tori smile as she looked at Kane. All vampires are beautiful, but Kane had a flair to him that looked like it made her want to giggle. He suddenly had a vivid image of Tori as a teenager and felt jealous over not having known her at eighteen when she was just starting to bloom.

“Erin distracted them,” Derek said gruffly.

“Well, she most certainly is distracting.” Kane flashed a smile at Erin that he must have mastered when he was human. She blushed in response and dragged her fingers through her flaming red curls. Bryce didn’t have to look at Derek to feel his anger.

“I was able to collect everyone’s luggage,” Erin said, changing the subject abruptly. “I checked them downstairs.” Erin tossed a twenty on the counter and downed the last of her martini. “I’ve seen enough of this airport, let’s go check out London before it’s covered in blood.” She hopped off the bar and led the way.

“She’s amazing,” Kane said to Tori, his eyes wide in admiration as Erin walked ahead of them.

Tori stepped in front of Kane to stop him. “Kane, some advice. Stay away from Erin, or Derek will use one of those stakes and drive it straight into your heart.”

Kane laughed and looked at Bryce then back at Tori. “They’re not mated the way you and Bryce are. Even Kyle and Liv, who are a lot younger than Derek, have claimed each other.”

Bryce flashed a look of disapproval as Tori tried to reason with Kane. “That’s true, but don’t allow it to get your hopes up. They might be arguing now but trust me they’re committed to each other. Erin’s known Derek since she was very young.”

Kane’s smile deepened revealing a shallow dimple on his left cheek. “Still, as a fighter, I know when it’s time to give up. I like my chances, I’m staying in the ring.” He jogged ahead to catch up with the pack, leaving Tori with Bryce. Resting his hands on his hips Bryce gave her his biggest, I told ye so, expression.

****

They broke up into three cabs. Erin and Derek went in one, Liv, Kyle, and Kane in the second and Bryce and Tori in the third. The male vampires, having not eaten yet made sure to pull a few cafeteria workers aside and have a snack before they left Heathrow airport. The clan had vowed not to drain anyone dry while in London as they didn’t want anything to alert the Council that they were now in their territory.

Bryce looked out the window as the city he’d spent hundreds of years in sped by. Tori ran her fingers through his waves of black hair, calling him to her. Slowly, he tore his gaze away from the passing streets and looked at his mate. She had a small smile on her face and gave her shoulders a slight shrug. “We’re in London,” she said, stating the obvious.

“Aye.” Bryce nodded. “So we are.”

“How does it feel to be back?”

Bryce looked once more out the window before answering. “It looks strange. It’s bright—like New York. It dinna look like this last time.” He caught the eyes of the cab driver glance back at him through the mirror.

“Well, a lot of time has passed. The city can’t stay the same forever, right?” Tori offered.

Bryce didn’t respond, but instead noted the cabbie look back at them again through the mirror. Bryce swallowed, realizing the cabbie would only see an empty back seat. Bryce usually compelled the drivers before they got in, but he had forgotten to do so this time. He wondered if the other vampires had remembered this crucial tidbit. Yet, despite what he could not see, the driver was calm. Bryce sniffed at the air. His nostrils filled with the stench of dog. Well, I wouldn’t have been able to glamour him anyway. He slipped out his phone and sent a group text.

Cab driver is a wolf.

Tori pulled her phone out of her pocket, read the text, but remained surprisingly calm.

Bryce looked at the roads again and looked at his map on his phone. Fucking wolf was driving them to The Tower of London, where the High Council convened in the dungeons below.

Bryce texted Tori, get ready to drive this car, and sent her a screen shot of the map. Tori put her head down and studied the map, nodding ever so slightly so Bryce knew she was ready.

“So, how long have ye been driving cabs?” Bryce asked the wolf.

“Oh, about ten years. It’s a good job, steady work. Besides, I like to drive,” he responded, his voice smooth as ice. Dante, no doubt, put his most efficient wolves in the cars, instructing them to bring any foreign vampires back to headquarters.

“That’s funny, see I’d expect a cabbie who has driven these streets for over a decade wouldnae be lost.”

The driver cocked his head to the side and smiled. “I’m not lost, mate.”

“Aye, but ye are. Yer heading away from our original destination. Kensington is that way,” Bryce informed, pointing left.

“Short cut,” the wolf replied, grinning deeper. Bryce wondered what kind of reward his master would bestow upon him for delivering the two most notorious vampires to his door.

“The thing is. I dinna like short cuts.” Bryce reached over, tore the driver’s seatbelt in two and pulled the wolf over his seat to the back. The car swerved dangerously, but Tori was quick enough to hop over to the front passenger’s seat and settled into the driver’s spot. Even when she managed to take the wheel, the car still continued to swerve violently about the road. The honks and screeches of near fatal accidents alerted Bryce that she didn’t have control. He continued to wrestle with the Were that thrashed about, clearly wanting to shift out of its human form.

“Tori, dinna tell me ye never drove a fecking car before!” Bryce called out to the front.

“I know how to drive!” Tori cried back. “But the wheel is on the wrong side!”

Bryce barely had time to register her dilemma. Based on the way the wolf was twitching it was about to shift. “Wait until Averill hears I found Alasdair and his cunt newborn.” The cabbie spoke before shaking violently, his clothing began to tear, his bones were cracking and realigning themselves, and his skin was rapidly growing fur.

Bryce welcomed the shift. Fueled by the rage of the Were’s words, Bryce grabbed for a fistful of fur just as the mouth of the driver transformed into an elongated snout. His yellow fangs were bared, hungry to tear into Bryce. But he didn’t and that’s when Bryce knew he had orders to deliver the vampires, not harm them.

“Ye aligned yerself wi’ the wrong side.” And with a twist he snapped the wolf’s neck. Tori was driving wobbly but had gotten the car under control when there was a screech of wheels and another cab crashed into the side of theirs, spinning the two cars off the road. Tori was able to turn the car into a few trees to stop it from causing any more damage. There was a sound of impact and a huge jolt, tossing Bryce to the front, his head making contact with the windshield.

“Bryce!” Tori shrieked.

“I’m all right,” he said as he wiped away the fresh blood that painted his features. I’m doing better than him. He nodded to the back where the wolf lay dead. There was a sharp sound of wind and then a high-pitched lonely howl. Bryce and Tori turned to the car that had crashed into them. The car was smoking, but Bryce could see Erin and Derek in the back seat. The driver was slumped over the steering wheel.

Tori and Bryce pried apart the stiff bent metal and got themselves out of the mangled cab. When they walked over to the other cab, they saw Erin with a look of triumph on her face.

“I bet he’s seeing me as pretty smart for packing my crossbow now.” She grinned. Derek pulled the arrow out of the back of the Were’s throat. It had gone all the way through. He wiped the arrow clean on the cab driver’s jacket and handed the arrow back to Erin.

“My sincere apologies, hen. Ye, as always, were right.” He kissed her nose and for the first time since they had left New York, Erin smiled.