Truce and Lies

Chapter 18: fleeing west

I fell asleep while the vampires argued, but woke up suddenly in a bed. The vampires were talking in the front part of the hotel room. A cell phone was charging next me and I sat up, giving the device a sidelong glance before picking it up. I recognized the missed calls on the front of the phone as Mel's cell phone and I picked it up, wondering if this was Jackson's phone.

It was locked, but the short time I had spent with Jackson gave me a little insight into his personality. I tried the letter J as a pattern to open it and it unlocked immediately. This phone was different that ones I was used to, but I managed to find the missed calls, dialing for Mel. Belatedly, I glanced at the clock, noting it was just after ten.

"Conor?"

"Mel, sorry, I fell asleep," I said. "What's going on?"

"You tell me," she said. "I hadn't heard from you, and Grant and Aidan made it seem like you were in serious danger and..."

"Grant and Aidan?" I questioned.

"We talked to them yesterday; have you not met up with them yet?" Mel asked. "They're in Chicago with Peter."

"Oh. No, I didn't know."

I should have known that my pack would try to find me after I had called. They had done it before. It was a little weird that she had only sent two, Grant and Aidan, but I was certain that I was missing some information.

"Mel, I have to go," I said. "I just wanted to call back."

"Conor, please stay safe," Mel told me. "We love you, all right? I'm sorry we keep fighting on the phone."

There was a lump in my throat that I had a hard time swallowing.

"I'm sorry about that too," I said. "Good night, Mel."

I set the phone down. The talking had quieted; the vampires had probably been listening in. When I entered the sitting area, Stefa smiled at me. Lacy was curled up on the couch next to Amber who was stroking the girl's hair. Jackson had a drink in each hand, even though he had said before that he couldn't get drunk. A bin of tiny glasses was next to his chair.

"Sleep well?" Stefa asked.

"Well enough," I shrugged. "What's the plan?"

"Jackson is taking his clan up into Canada for a little bit," Stefa said. "Someone is not happy about it, but I'm sure Canadians taste fine."

"I like New York," Jackson grumbled.

"You will like New York less when clans of vampires descend on your beloved city like the Grim Reaper," Stefa countered. "We talked to Peter; he was already aware of the growing crisis in Chicago, so that was weird. I'm willing to not look into it closely; I'm just glad the hunters can be good for something."

"You talked to Peter without me?" I questioned.

"You were sleeping," she pointed out. "Anyway, Paul and Lin have gone to get another vehicle. We're meeting the clan back in Iowa and we'll scatter from there."

Stefa's hair was cut and burned from explosion, the curls didn't sit evenly like they used to. I frowned, brushing the hair out of her eyes. She looked so worried; I wished there was something I could do.

"Hungry?" she inquired. "We could order room service. Helen put her own credit card down for the room, isn't that hilarious? We gave that information to Peter, of course."

"Even a hunter can trace a credit card," Jackson snorted. "Vampires need to understand technology better."

I had no idea a thing like that could be traced, but was glad everyone else seemed to find it reassuring. Stefa ordered two steaks from the phone in the room and settled back in her chair, I sat on the armrest, pondering the day's events. Stefa reached up to rub my back.