Turning Tables

Chapter 13

Rose

We drove a couple of hours before I checked into a hotel. We couldn't let Hans know yet that Sonya had been restored and why, so it meant we had to get the same suite we had gotten on previous occasions. two bedrooms and a living room.

It was quickly decided that Sonya and Mikhail would share one room. They were already willing to give up so much to join us on our mission, that we couldn't really deprive them of their alone time. But that left Dimitri, Mia and me.

"I'll take the couch." Dimitri announced. There was a pull out couch in the small living room area and although it seemed like it was big enough, it didn't seem very comfortable. But really what was the alternative? Me on the couch and Mia and Dimitri sharing a bed - which was just too weird- or me and Dimitri sharing a bed and Mia on the couch. Which was weird for a whole other reason.

"We can take turns." I offered, not really knowing if we could, but wanting to offer anyway.

He nodded, but he seemed to have realized the same as me. Unless we could do an all girls room and all boys room, he had to stay seperate.

We got settled in and I took the time to text Sydney. I had gotten the autopsy photo from Guardian Croft and was texting it to Sydney to see if she could find a match. I knew the Alchemists had extensive records and probably knew more about us than we did. I accompanied the text with a few smiley faces and a couple of 'please's and hoped she could help.

A moment later I heard the ping from my phone indicating a new text.

Always fun to hear from you Rose. And now you are sending me pictures of corpses.

I chuckled. Sorry. but I wouldn't send you pictures of dead people if it wasn't important. My friend was attacked by this man.

It took her a few moments to respond. We got the request via Guardian headquarters too. We are gathering information now. I will send it to you as well if we have something.

Of course, I wasn't the only one who had Alchemist contacts, the people who were supposed to have Alchemist contacts actually had Alchemist contacts.

Thanks. I owe you one.

You owe me a few actually, but don't worry, I will collect some day. She actually finished with a smiley face and I smiled. We had a weird friendship, but a friendship nonetheless.

Being satisfied with everything that I could do on that front, I went back to the living room and got all my stuff out. I wrote up the daily report, saying we were following a trail north. It wasn't exactly a lie, but I wondered how much trouble I would be in once Hans knew of my side mission. Although I had Tatiana's note, stating she was giving me this mission. So maybe that would keep me out of trouble.

I snorted. That Tatiana would be the one to keep me out of trouble was ironic and hilarious at the same time. Yet, I owed her and that idiot Council a lot. If they hadn't given me this Strigoi hunting mission, I would have had no alibi for Tatiana's murder. I would have been in jail. I can't believe I owed my freedom to the short-mindedness and bigotry of the Council.

I picked up the now so familiar and well used map and placed it on the small table. It almost functioned as a tablecloth, so big was the map- or so small was the table. The map was running off on all sides, but luckily the piece I was supposed to focus on was flat on the table.

It was three o'clock in the afternoon. We still had a few hours until it was dark. And I wanted to hit the Strigoi hide-out just after sun-rise. But we could use the night to investigate and track how many Strigoi we were dealing with.