Road Trip with Vampires: one star, would not recommend.

Questions, questions

What lie would be safer for both of them? Nix thought, watching the official write down several notes on his clipboard. That they had never met Ilya and the others prior to that moment? That they were being forced to cooperate?

'Name?'

Nix flinched at the sound, so jarring in the silence of the room. Finding her tongue again, she licked her lips, forgetting the fact that she had chosen to give that part up when she accepted the deal. 'Nix.'

'No last name?'

'I dropped all my old names.'

The official marked it down, his eyes more dead-looking than before. Nix wondered if he had already interviewed Esther. She felt a sudden surge of sympathy for him.

'Since there's no point in asking for your age—what do they even want with age, anyway?—I'll get straight to it: are you in league with the three outlaws?'

'Obviously not.'

'It may seem "obviously not" according to you, but I require concrete evidence,' said the official. 'Now, when did you first meet them?'

Nix tried to appear relaxed. 'On the day you arrested us. Yesterday? I don't know.'

The official took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes. 'Anyway, you are a hundred percent sure that you are not working with the outlaws?'

'Yes. As in I'm sure.'

'Well,' said the official, 'your nymph friends says otherwise. Says you—and her—are under authorization of Zeus to hunt all three of them down. I'm not to give advice on this, miss, but you have to come up with better lies.'

Nix began to panic internally. She thought Tethis would be smart enough to keep her mouth shut. Apparently she wasn't.

There was only one way out of it.

'Yes, indeed, Zeus did command us to hunt down three random vampires who had not inconvenienced him in any way. However, I wanted to back out at that moment, and Tethis didn't let me. So here we are.'

She spread her arms, trying her best to smile. The official squinted at her, then settled back, sighing. 'Fine. Now that I've done my job, please excuse me.'

He got up and moved towards the door. Nix waved at him. 'Wait a moment, please.'

The official rolled his eyes but stayed. 

'Now, what I'm telling you may make it seem like everything is Tethis's fault, but Zeus threatened to curse her family if she didn't do it. She's just as trapped as I am.'

The official looked at her for a very long time before he left. Nix sank back and continued the long, boring wait.

Everything was grey and boring. The door was metal. Shame. No windows, either. 

'Psst.'

Nix fell out of her chair. Tethis grinned. 'You thought a jar could keep me in?'

'Well, then why didn't you get out on the bus?'

'I was carsick. Seriously carsick. Thanks a lot for breaking that jar, by the way.'

Nix picked herself off the floor. 'So? Now we're both stuck here.'

'Not with the explosives we won't.'

'The what?'

'Get behind the table.' 

Nix crouched down, just before an ear-shattering boom shook the room. She looked up to see Tethis already running through the remains of the doorway.