"You wouldn't break the promise,' Sydney repeated. "And it would really, really help Lissa.'
I stepped forward. "It would help Mikhail too.'
Sonya's mouth dropped open at the mention of her former lover. "Mikhail? You know him?'
"He's my friend. He's Lissa's friend too.' I almost said that if we found the missing Dragomir, we could then take Sonya to Mikhail. Recalling Dimitri's feelings of unworthiness, I decided to avoid that tactic just now. I didn't know how Sonya would react to a reunion with her beloved. "And he wants to help Lissa. But he can't. None of us can. We don't have enough information.'
"Mikhail ...' Sonya looked down at her hands again, small tears running down her cheeks.
"You won't break your promise.' Sydney was so compelling she could have been a spirit user. "Just lead us. It's what Mikhail and Lissa would want. It's the right thing to do.'
I don't know which argument convinced Sonya the most. It could have been the part about Mikhail. Or it could have been the idea of doing "the right thing.' Maybe, like Dimitri, Sonya wanted redemption for her Strigoi crimes and saw this as a chance. Looking up, she swallowed and met my eyes.
"I'll lead you there,' she whispered.
"We're going on another road trip,' Sydney declared. "Get ready.'
Dimitri and I were still standing right next to each other, the anger between us beginning to diffuse. Sydney looked proud and continued trying her best to soothe Sonya.
Dimitri looked down at me with a small smile that shifted slightly when he seemed to become aware of just how close we were. I couldn't say for sure, though. His face gave little away. As for me, I was very aware of our proximity and felt intoxicated by his body and scent. Damn. Why did fighting with him always increase my attraction to him? His smile returned as he tilted his head toward Sydney. "You were wrong. She really is the new general in town.'
I smiled back, hoping he wasn't aware of my body's reaction to us standing so close. "Maybe. But, it's okay. You can still be colonel.'
He arched an eyebrow. "Oh? Did you demote yourself? Colonel's right below general. What's that make you?'
I reached into my pocket and triumphantly flashed the CR-V keys I'd swiped when we'd come back inside. "The driver,' I said.
Chapter Twenty-one
I DIDN'T GET TO DRIVE.
"General' Sydney didn't either, much to her outrage, though Dimitri did some fast- talking to explain why.
It all started when Victor discovered his car was having "engine trouble.' He wasn't very happy about that. He made no accusations, but I think everyone there--even Sonya and Robert--could guess the malfunction wasn't coincidental. This meant we all had to pile in the CR-V, which hadn't been designed to seat so many people--which was why Dimitri had come up with a creative seating plan. Of course, one of those "seats' turned out to be the cargo space in the back. It was good-sized, but when Sydney learned it was her seat, she accused Dimitri of adding insult to the injury of taking her keys.
I wouldn't tell her so, but putting her back there was a sound choice. Dimitri's seating chart was configured to minimize threats inside the car. Dimitri drove, with Robert going shotgun, and me between Victor and Sonya in the backseat. This put a guardian in each row, separated the brothers, and kept the spirit users apart too. When I argued that he and I could switch spots and still maintain the same security, Dimitri pointed out that having me at the wheel wouldn't be safe if I had to suddenly flip to Lissa's mind. It was a fair point. As for Sydney ... well, she was neither a threat nor a fighting force, so she got offloaded to the back. And speaking of dead weight ...
"We have got to get rid of Victor and Robert now,' I murmured to Dimitri, as we loaded the CR-V with groceries and our meager luggage (further reducing Sydney's space, much to her outrage). "They've done what we needed. Keeping them is dangerous. It's time to turn them over to the guardians.' The brothers wanted to continue on with us in order to find Lissa's sibling. We were letting them--but not out of generosity. We simply couldn't let them out of our sights yet.
"Agreed,' Dimitri said, frowning slightly. "But there's no good way to do it. Not yet. We can't leave them tied up beside the road; I wouldn't put it past them to escape and hitchhike. We also can't turn them in ourselves, for obvious reasons.'
I set a bag inside the car and leaned against the bumper. "Sydney could turn them in.'
Dimitri nodded. "That's probably our best bet--but I don't want to part with her until we get to ... well, wherever we're going. We might need her help.'
I sighed. "And so, we drag them along.' "Afraid so,' he said. He gave me wary look. "You know, when they are in custody, there's a very good chance they'll have quite a story to tell the authorities about us.'
"Yeah.' I'd been thinking about that too. "I guess that's a problem for later. Gotta deal with the immediate problems first.'
To my surprise, Dimitri smiled at me. I would have expected some prudent, wise remark. "Well, that's always been our strategy, hasn't it?' he asked.
I smiled in return, but it was short-lived, once we hit the road. Mercifully, Victor wasn't his usual annoying chatty self--which I suspected was because he was growing weak from lack of blood. Sonya and Robert had to be feeling the same way. This was going to be a problem if we didn't get a feeder soon, but I didn't know how we were going to pull that off. I had the impression Sydney hadn't realized any of this yet, which was just as well. Being a human among a group of hungry vampires would certainly make me nervous. She was actually probably safer sequestered in the back from everyone else.
Sonya's directions were vague and very need-to-know. She only gave us short-term information and often wouldn't warn about a turn until we were right on top of it. We had no idea where we were going or how long it would take. She scanned a map and then told Dimitri to go north on I-75. When we asked how long our trip would take, her response was: "Not long. A few hours. Maybe more.'