Page 24 of Stalk the Dark
Ordell hauled himself into the driver’s seat and slammed the door shut. “This is Betsy,” he said fondly. “Home.”
“All the time?”
“Mostly.” He shrugged. “Like I said before, we move around a lot.”
He started the engine, and Betsy purred to life. He patted the dash. “That’s my girl.”
I bit back a smile and settled in my seat as we backed out of the parking lot and onto the main road—a proper road with traffic lights and electric lampposts. Damn, it was good to be back to modern civilization where there were no silver woods and no wolves to chase me. But it would be a short reprieve, so I’d savor it.
“Where are we headed?”
“For a visit with an old friend.”
The streets werebusy this time of day, humans and other supernaturals out in force while the vampires slept. The files Micah had shown me had censusinformation for this area. The humans outnumbered supernaturals here, and it made sense for them to. They provided the sustenance the vampires needed. But according to the Order files, there was a wide variety of minor supernaturals living here also, and not all were documented or registered in any way. The boundary between the two parts of town and around the territory kept conscripted human bloodlines in place, but the supernaturals that called this their home could come and go at will.
The streets were clean, the air crisp even though the clouds hung low. The people hurried along, heads down, hands tucked into pockets, woolly hats pulled low to ward off the chill. Every stoplight we slowed at, we were flanked by pink cheeks and watery eyes as humans went about their business, weaving by one another without a smile.
The world blurred by, and before long we were on a private road that led to an impressive wrought iron gate. The kind that had intercom access.
Ordell hurried to buzz us in and was back a moment later to roll us through the slowly opening gates and onto a gravel road bordered by evergreen trees.
“Your friend lives here?”
“Yes.” There was tension around his eyes and in the tight grip of his hands on the wheel.
A house came into view, a brownstone affair withpretty white gables and a steeply pitched roof. It was a house that was a blend of eras, a chimera of styles that sat smug and squat in the midst of evergreen woodland.
The front door flew open as we drew closer, and a woman with an abundance of dark waves stepped onto the porch. Ordell cut the engine but didn’t make a move to get out. Instead, he sat staring at the woman through the windshield.
She stared right back at him, a sad, almost wistful smile on her face.
My heart sank.
He loved this woman.
They were a thing or had been. There was no denying the connection even at a distance and through a sheet of glass.
I tapped his arm. “Ordell?”
He sucked in a breath. “Come, I’ll introduce you.”
The woman waited patiently, hands clasped in front of her in a seemingly relaxed pose, but her white knuckles gave her away.
I dropped back, allowing Ordell some space as we climbed the porch steps.
“You should have called,” she said.
“You would have told me not to come,” Ordell replied.
“Probably.” She looked at me for the first time and then fixed Ordell with afrown.
He sighed. “This is Miss Lighthart, the new chapter leader.”
“Oh.” Her frown cleared and she fixed me with a weak smile. “It’s good to meet you, Miss Lighthart.”
“Please, call me Orina.”
Her smile warmed a little. “Orina, then.” She looked to Ordell. “They’re in the schoolroom with Dash.”
