Charlotte

Chapter Twenty

"You're an idiot," Rose said to Christian who sat in the aisle seat across from us. 

Christian scoffed. "Excellent 'thank you' for someone who just got a free 110-mile ride." 

"I meant that you're an idiot for how you're treating Lissa right now. Adrian doesn't have any interest in Lissa, and Lissa loves you." 

The bus was already underway, and I was prepping for this three-hour ride, hoping that we caught our friends on time. Christian eventually fell asleep, his head lolling to the side, and I admired him for throwing himself into this when Lissa wasn't the one in danger. I always knew Christian was a good guy, even if he came off a little abrasive sometimes. Mostly it was just when he was around Rose that he got all prickly. I couldn't blame him for that though, not when it wasn't that long ago that she had lied and said Lissa despised him. 

I watched as Rose contemplated life in the seat next to me. Her face was dark, her lips turned down into a bitter frown, and her eyes were guilty. I grabbed her cold hand and laced my fingers with hers. "It's not your fault," I whispered so that I didn't wake Christian or risk anyone else over hearing. She gave me a distracted smile in thanks, but I knew she didn't believe me. 

When we finally reached Spokane, the sun was still up, but it was lower than before. We asked around about the shopping center Dimitri had told Rose about, and it took a while before we found anyone who could give decent directions. It was going to be a long walk, but our legs were stiff from the long bus ride and Christian wasn't as incombered by the sun anymore. Rose was still holding my hand when she went stiff, relying on me to guide her down the street as she was sucked into Lissa's head. 

Christian eyed her with interest, waiting for an explanation. It wasn't a very long wait. Rose blinked back into our own reality and sighed, rubbing her temples. "Dimitri and my mom are interrogating Lissa." 

"Does she know anything?" I asked. 

Rose shook her head. "No, we didn't even tell her we were leaving. She would have wanted to come." 

I nodded as Christian looked up at the wide-open plaza of the shopping center. There was a cafe tucked into the side of the long building with tables set out on a patio and customers spilling out of the front door and milling about with paper cups with lids held close to their pink cold faces. 

"I think we're here," Christian said. "How do we find them?" 

Rose shrugged. "Maybe if we act like Strigoi, they'll try to stake us." 

I groaned and brought my palm to my face, shaking my head at her. Christian allowed an amused smile to partially spread on his face, not wanting to admit that he found her joke funny. My brand-new stake that Dimitri had given me felt like lead in my deep winter coat pocket. I hadn't anticipated needing it so soon, and fear gripped me at the possibility that I would have to use it, but I also felt the hilarity of the irony that it had been given to me at the exact moment that I may need to be armed. We went inside, walking the length of the mall twice and coming up empty. 

"Maybe we are in the wrong place," Rose said crestfallen. I really hope not. We'd already lost so much time, and if our friends were dead because we didn't show up to the right place, I'd never forgive myself.    

"Or maybe they went to the wrong place," Christian said lightly. "They could have gone to some other.... wait," he stopped short, pointing to a table with three renegades who looked like someone had given them the wrong order of whatever it was they were eating. "I'd kill for a camera right now." 

"This isn't funny," Rose snapped, but I had to hide my relieved grin...because it kind of was funny. We approached Mason, Mia, and Eddie with Rose stopping before them and putting her hands on her hips. She looked a lot like her mom in that instance.