I gave him a sidelong look. "Wow. You've got everything planned out.'
"Not really,' he said, a small frown on his face. "That's the easy stuff. What happens after that is going to be the hard part.'
My heart sank. He was right. Provided the Mastranos weren't indicted by Moroi authorities for helping criminals, Emily now had no one forcing her to acknowledge Jill's heritage. If Sydney was being hauled back to her own people--well. She couldn't help either. I was going to have to tell someone else, I realized. The next time I made contact with Adrian, I'd have to divulge the truth so that my friends could do something about Jill. We couldn't sit on this secret any longer.
Dimitri took the next exit, and I tuned back into the world. "Hotel?' I asked.
"Not quite,' he said. We were in a busy, commercial area, not far from Ann Arbor, I thought. One of the Detroit suburbs. Restaurants and stores lined the road, and he turned us toward a twenty-four-hour superstore that promised to carry "everything.' He parked and opened his door. "Stay here.'
"But--'
Dimitri looked meaningfully at me, and I glanced down. I'd come away from our fight more scuffed up than I realized, and the dress had torn. My ragged appearance would attract attention, as would my limping. I nodded, and he left.
I spent the time turning over our problems, cursing myself for not having found a way to turn in the brothers once Robert had restored Sonya. I'd been bracing myself for betrayal in the form of some magical attack. I hadn't expected something as simple as a call to the guardians.
Dimitri, ever the efficient shopper, returned soon with two large bags and something slung over his shoulder. He tossed it all in the backseat, and I peered back curiously. "What's that?' It was long and cylindrical, covered in canvas.
"A tent.'
"Why are we--' I groaned. "No hotel, huh?'
"We'll be harder to find at a campground. The car will especially be harder to find. We can't get rid of it quite yet, not with your foot.'
"Those poor people,' I said. "I hope their car insurance covers theft.'
Back on the freeway, we soon left the urban sprawl, and it wasn't long before we saw advertisements for campgrounds and RV parks. Dimitri pulled over at a place called Peaceful Pines. He negotiated with the man working in the office and produced a number of crisp bills. That was another reason we couldn't get a hotel, I realized. Most required credit cards, and Sydney had had all those (in fake names, of course). We were living off cash now.
The clerk gave us directions along a gravel road that led to a spot on the opposite end of the campground. The place was busy with vacationing families, but no one paid much attention to us. Dimitri made sure to park as close to a cluster of trees as possible, in order to obscure the car and its plates. Despite my protests, he wouldn't let me help with the tent. He claimed he could do it faster without me and that I should stay off my feet. I started to argue until he began assembling the tent. My jaw dropped a little as I watched how quickly he put it together. He didn't even need the directions. It had to be some kind of record.
The tent was small and sturdy, giving us both room to sit and lie, though he had to hunch just a little when we were sitting. Once inside, I got to see the rest of his purchases. A lot of it was first aid. There was also a flashlight he propped up, a kind of makeshift lamp.
"Let me see the ankle,' he ordered.
I stretched out my leg, and he pushed my dress's skirt up to my knee, fingers light against my skin. I shivered as a sense of deja vu swept me. It seemed to be happening to me a lot lately. I thought back to all the times he had helped me with other injuries. We could have been right back in St. Vladimir's gym. He gently tested the ankle's mobility and did a little poking and prodding. His fingers never ceased to amaze me. They could break a man's neck, bandage a wound, and slide sensually across bare skin.
"I don't think it's broken,' he said at last. He lifted his hands, and I noticed how warm I'd been while he touched me. "Just sprained.'
"That kind of thing happens when you keep jumping off roofs,' I said. Jokes were my old standby to hide discomfort. "You know, we never practiced that in our training.'
He smiled and took out bandaging material, wrapping the ankle until it was supported and stabilized. After that, he produced--
"A bag of frozen peas?'
Dimitri shrugged and rested the bag on my ankle. The coolness instantly made me feel better. "Easier than buying a full bag of ice.'
"You're pretty resourceful, Belikov. What else do you have stashed away?'
The rest of the bags' contents turned out to be blankets and some food. I gave him a big grin when I saw he'd gotten me sour cream potato chips and a bar of chocolate. I loved that he remembered such little details about me. My smile faded when another problem quickly popped up.
"You didn't buy any clothes, did you?'
"Clothes?' he asked, like it was a foreign word.
I gestured to my torn dress. "I can't wear this for long. What am I going to do? Make a toga out of a blanket? You're such a guy, never thinking of this stuff.'
"I was thinking of injury and survival. Fresh clothing's a luxury, not a necessity.'
"Not even your duster?' I asked slyly.
Dimitri froze for a moment and then swore. He'd had no need to wear his coat indoors at the Mastranos'--honestly, he didn't need to outside either--and had left it there in the ensuing fight.
"Don't worry, comrade,' I teased. "Plenty more where that came from.'
He spread blankets over the tent's floor and laid back on them. There was a look of woe on his face that was almost comical. Raids, bullets, criminals ... no problem. A missing duster? Crisis. "We'll get you another one,' I said. "You know, once we find Jill, clear my name, and save the world.'