Bloodliner

Chapter 10

Chapter 10As Stanza drove the PT cruiser hard through the night, Jonah stared out the back window at the darkness. There was nothing but open desert for miles in every direction; he didn't like to think about what could happen to them if the car broke down out there.

Especially considering what Stanza had said was waiting somewhere up ahead.

"So there's really a vampire town?" said Jonah. "Populated by nothing but vampires?"

"Oh, yes." Stanza nodded and kept her eyes on the road—what there was of it. Since leaving the interstate twenty minutes ago, she'd been driving some lost, lonely blacktop...back roads in the middle of nowhere.

"Then why haven't we ever heard of it?" Mavis sounded sarcastic. "And why are we going anywhere near it?"

"What did you mean when you said we'd be safe there?" said Jonah.

"I meant I know my way around the place," said Stanza. "And the reason you haven't heard of it is because it's well hidden—which is why we'll be safer there than anywhere near Tucson."

"Why do you know your way around it?" Mavis sounded more suspicious than sarcastic. "Have you been there before?"

"Lots of times," said Stanza.

Mavis turned halfway around in the passenger seat and looked back meaningfully at Jonah. "And why is that? Is there something you'd like to tell us?"

"Not at the moment, no," said Stanza.

"So you're not a vampire, then?" said Mavis.

"You got me." Stanza smiled. "It must be all the killing and running away from vampires that gave me away."

"You could still be one," said Mavis. "Listen, lady, I don't know anything about you. You could be leading us into a trap for all I know."

"Is that what you think, Jonah?" Stanza flashed him a look with eyebrows raised. "Do you think I want to put the bite on you two?"

"No." Jonah stared at the side of her face, mesmerized. Even in the dim glow from the dashboard, she looked beautiful—raven dark hair framing her exotic features. "But you do know a lot about them. Vampires, I mean."

"I have to, in my line of work," said Stanza.

"Genealogy?" said Jonah. "What do vampires have to do with tracing family trees?"

"What better way to do it?" said Stanza. "Vampires can live practically forever. They're living history. Why just read about a distant ancestor when you can meet one instead?"

Jonah thought about it as he stared into the darkness outside his window. "I see your point." He caught a glimpse of two eyes in the desert, reflecting light from the PT cruiser. "But talk about dangerous."

"Why do you think I'm so expensive?" said Stanza.

"And what about the being able to sense vampires thing?" said Mavis. "You call that normal?"

"I never said I was normal." Stanza chuckled and drove faster than ever into the night.