FANGED

Chapter Thirty-Seven

"Thirty minutes to sunup," Courtanya announced from the back of Gizmo like a doomsday clock.

She'd been chirping how many minutes until Fang went flambé every five minutes or so for the last two hours and I seriously wanted to smack her in the forehead in hopes of hitting the snooze button. If I could magically produce a hotel, motel...hell...a cave at this point, I would have. But all I could see for endless miles was either farm land or forests. Trust me, if I could have pulled a Hilton out of my ass right about now, I would have. If anything just to shut her up.

I glanced over at Fang, but he didn't seem the least bit worried about his impending death by UV exposer. He sat there with his head slightly tilted to the side so he wouldn't bang it on the roof every time I hit a dip or pothole, looking out the windshield. The ugly cut he had received on his cheek from Nico-lame's swords was long gone. In fact, he didn't have a mark on him. The only evidence that he had been wounded at all was the red patches of blood stains on his Sasquatch t-shirt. Apparently, I wasn't the only one with a speedy recovery system. He must have felt my eyes on him, because soon those diamond eyes turned to me.

"What's up, Red?" he asked.

"The sun in 29 minutes," Bubbles piped up from the back.

"We are almost there, Courtanya. Please refrain from telling us when the sun rises," he growled over his shoulder.

"Yes, your Majesty," she crooned.

I sighed. It never failed, she listened to him but continued to ignore me like I ignored speed limit signs. I was at a total loss as to how deal with her. Were we friends or foes? On one hand, nobody was more shocked then me when I opened my eyes only to discover she had saved me from being filled with more holes than a salt and pepper shaker. Plus, she had been sitting in the back of Gizmo and hadn't tried to kill me once since we shoved her back there. Those all sounded like positives, right? You would think my little murderous minion had turned over a new leaf.

But, then there was the other side of that leaf. The one that was usually covered in sticky bug sacks and excrement which was the reason for the leaf to be laying decaying on the ground to begin with. That was the naughty side of her who was always mocking, making rude comments or just being your general pain in the ass. Like now, I thought as I peered up in the rearview mirror. Bubbles was squirming away in the back, masticating her bottom lip until it bled. She was itching to tell me another couple of minutes had passed. It was as if she held me personally responsible if Fang went up in a blaze of glory if I didn't find shelter soon.

"Turn here," Fang said.

Jerking my eyes back to the front, I spotted the small paved road he was pointing at in the nick of time to make the turn, sending Bubbles rolling in the back like a bowling ball. My grin at her groan was quickly wiped off my face when I saw the most dilapidated motel I had ever seen sitting in the middle of nowhere being slowly swallowed up by the forest. If you could even call it a motel. By the looks of it, it made the Bates Motel look like a five star resort. A shiver worked its way up my spine as I pulled to the part of the building which had the crooked neon Office sign hanging in front. Only...most of it was burnt out and it really only said OFF in glowing red letters that flickered and hummed ominously.

"This is where we are spending the night...um...I mean day?" I asked, my voice taking on that strangled tone murder victims in horror movies usually get right before they are slaughtered.

Fang shrugged his shoulders and frowned out the window. "It's not the greatest of accommodations, but it will do." He turned and flashed a smile at me. "Besides, I know the guy who owns it."

"Of course you do," I muttered under my breath as I opened my door and got out. "Why couldn't you know the guy who owns a Radisson or Hilton? Hell, a Motel Six would be better than this dive. At least they leave a light on for you. This place looks like the only thing it's going to leave you with is a bad case of bedbugs."