FANGED

Chapter Twenty

"Strategy? We don't need no stinking strategy." I snorted, doing my best Blazing Saddles impression to date. "Can't you just walk in there, do your mind whammy thingamabob and convince them I'm a swell kind of gal?" I glanced over at Fang and batted my lashes at him. "Then we can all have a good laugh and go get shawarma."

"I'm sure I am going to regret this..." he sighed, "but what is shawarma?"

"I have no idea, but the Avengers did it and it sounds delicious."

"Who the hell are the Avengers?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but he flew up his hand so fast he could have been directing traffic. All he needed was a whistle and a pair of white gloves. "I don't want to know."

Rolling my eyes, I shook my head in disgust. "If you don't know who the Avengers are, then you don't deserve to know," I sniffed. I mean...seriously. What the heck has he been doing for the last 575 years? Living under a rock? It was a good thing the man was pretty, because he wasn't overly intelligent.

"Can we get back to what's important, please?" Fang asked tightly, closing his eyes and rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Hey, don't blame me, buck-o. I was strategizing all over the place. You were the one who wanted to stop and Google along the way." His growl of frustration had me snapping my mouth shut. Sheesh...somebody needed a nap.

"We are talking about Elders, Melanie. Some of these vampires have been around before the scribes started to document history and are more powerful than you can ever imagine. I can't wipe their memories even if I wanted to and it's certainly no laughing matter."

I glanced at him for a moment, looking at his tense features and furrowed brow. He was worried and I sensed something else too. Fear. My stomach rolled, turning that cocktail weenie into a fire breathing dragon. Swallowing back the acid, I focused hard on the road ahead of us.

"Just tell me what I need to do to keep myself in one piece and off the Colony's most wanted list," I said, sounding brave enough even though I didn't remotely feel it.

A glimmer of a smile lit up Fang's dark expression. "You are feisty, I'll give you that. So, does this mean you're actually going to listen to me for a change?"

I pulled my lips back in what I hoped was a cheerful expression. "You've gotten us this far in one piece." I said, mimicking his response from earlier. "I'm depending on you to help me get through this in as close to one piece as possible. Preferably...with all my limbs still attached and without a permanent tan." Images of being drawn and quartered and then staked out to greet the morning, flashed through my mind making me shudder.

Reaching across, he pulled my hand away from the steering wheel and brushed a kiss against my knuckles. "I'm all glittery inside, Red."

Feeling a blush burn across my face, I pulled my hand away from his sinister lips. "Yeah...," I cleared my throat, "well... we are SOL when it comes to glitter. Apparently, the Cullen's have cornered the market on that." Yes...I was still bitter about not having skin that danced like diamonds in the sun, don't judge.

"Cullen?" he asked, his brow dropping down into a confused frown.

"You've got to be kidding me?" I turned to him in surprise. "Does Twilight ring any bells? The whole team Edward verses team Jacob diabolical?" I was a serious team Jacob fan. Not that I was a huge admirer of people spontaneously erupting into fur, but because he spent the better portion of the movies naked from the waist up. A physique like that garners my vote any day.

Fang leaned back and ran both hands through his hair, dislodging the thick strands. "The amount of worthless knowledge you possess is truly extraordinary."