Old Habits

Conor: old friends

Even I could tell that there was increasing tension in the car. I wasn't sure what had happen while I had been asleep but hoped that Tish would tell me if there were something I could do.

"So Mike, what did you do before?" Tish inquired. "Before stalking Conor, I mean."

"Ouch," Mike remarked. "I was in Chicago working in a recording studio. I have a partner Pat who's hopefully with Stefa. We were part of the outer patrol; making sure Chicago remained a neutral zone. Which all went out the window when your boyfriend killed Juan and dragged Jackson and Stefa into a clan war."

"They would have killed Stefa," I told him.

"Well, yes. And my clan wouldn't have taken it well. But it wouldn't have become a national concern. How was Canada, Jack?"

"It's boring," Jackson said. "Canadians taste weird. And there's nothing to do in the middle of the night. So my clan is restless and moody. And I don't blame them."

"Are you really leaving your clan to Lacy?" I inquired.

Jackson scoffed. "She's more than capable. She's honestly the calmest vampire I have ever met. And she's so smart. And the clan loves her, so it'll all work out. The only reason she came with me was because the clan insisted that she make sure I didn't get into trouble. And then of course, I jumped into trouble anyway."

"She looks sixteen," Tish remarked.

"She is. I accidentally turned her when Stefa's house exploded."

"What kind of trouble did you get into before you met me?" Tish teased, poking my side.

"All sorts of trouble," I shrugged.

We drove through the night, stopping for meals for us and gas for the car. Tish and I slept on and off, though Mike shouted into the backseat when the St Louis skyline came into view.

"Shut up," Tish grumbled, stretching her arms and accidentally hitting me in the ear.

"All right, lady wolf, where are we going?" Jackson inquired.

"Don't call me that," she told him. "We're headed downtown. But to a liquor store first; if we show up empty handed, we'll learn nothing from Agatha. If she didn't shoot us all for being vampires and werewolves."

"Any particular alcohol?" Jackson questioned. "Because I can't do anything about being a vampire."

"Something dumb and fruity," Tish replied. "I'll go in; you got the burgers."

"So I could have five minutes away from you three," he shot back.

"You did this to yourself," I pointed out.

"Guys, we're all in this together," Mike cut in before Jackson snapped. "So we don't like each other, and that's fine. But we are going to find Stefa. And then we're going to get you two back home. And yeah, I probably started the fight, but I'm over it now so let's pretend we can work together. Ooh, Jackson stop here, there is booze."

Tish hopped out of the car. I moved to go with her, but she stopped me.

"You don't look twenty-one, Conor, and I don't want you to get carded," she said. "I'll be back soon."

"Oh, okay."

I was unsure what she was talking about, but assumed that she wasn't blowing me off. I leaned back in my seat, hoping we would get out and stretch. I hated being cramped in a car for so long even with Tish. I wanted to take a walk, get out of the car, do something.