Afterward, as I sat on the beach, I wasn’t sure Pearl had understood, but Jack had definitely gotten the hint, tugging her away before they left. Now, I was waiting for Antonio to gather a few belongings and listening to Ezra’s voice in my ear — enjoying his use of the old form of Vamp communication — who stood down the beach with a few other Elder Vampires, who were all gossiping about the fact that the Prodigy Vampire was a female. Staring at the waves rolling in, I couldn’t help but smile as he continued to purr very naughty comments in my ear, even after he was done explaining a modest, but effective plan.
“I’m hungry,” I grumbled forty minutes later, driving my Hummer through the fourth town on the beachside road. “Let’s get some grub.”
Antonio stared. “That’s the first thing you’ve said since we left.” His fingers ticked on the passenger side door. “You aren’t going to pry for information about what I said earlier?”
“Nope.” My concentration was elsewhere, making sure I didn’t mess up Ezra’s instructions. “You wouldn’t tell me, anyway.” That had been obvious from his own silence.
He stared a moment longer. “Alright.” He began glancing around the town, which sucked for our plan. Ezra and I didn’t know this area, so his directives had been vague. Go figure, the fourth damn town had tons of fast-food joints. “Where would you like to eat?”
“Um…,” I glanced about, “not sure yet.”
Ezra had planned to steal a car, since he didn’t have one of his own to use. The downside of that was I had no clue what the car looked like.
“Chinese?” Antonio pointed.
I shook my head. “No.” That didn’t sound right.
His finger flicked the other way. “Pizza?”
“Doesn’t sound good.” Nor particularly correct.
“Oh,” Antonio sat forward, waving his finger, “there’s a Mexican place.”
I sat straighter, glancing where he was aiming his finger. Now that sounded about right amongst all the normal fast-food joints. The first time we had taken a private stand against the Coms and Kings had been at a Mexican restaurant. I felt my lips curl. “Yeah. Good pick.”
Antonio smiled smugly, rubbing his flat belly. “I haven’t had good Mexican food in a while.”
Turning into the parking lot, my lips twitched. Hopefully, he didn’t get indigestion after he figured out what we had planned. Oh, well. He should know better by now than to not expect Ezra and me to ignore the rules.
The place was small and intimately lit, so when we entered I had to pause to let my eyes adjust to the darker lighting. The hostess, a Com woman who appeared beaten from the lunch rush, still managed to smile brightly at Antonio as she grabbed menus, asking, “Just the two of you?”
Furtively, I squinted through the lighting, focusing to make sure my eyes didn’t start glowing. There were only a few people sitting at the maroon booths, but I instantly glanced into the back corners. Bit my lip when I didn’t see anyone. This had to be the place.
“Just two,” Antonio told her, his eyes also dancing around the interior. “And we’d like to sit at one of those tables,” he tilted his head, “in the corner.” Safety first.
When we were seated in a round booth, the Com done trying to flirt with a non-receptive Antonio, I pretended to look at the menu while Antonio really did, asking me, “What are you going to get?”
I sucked in a large breath, staring at the door. “Ezra.”
Antonio paused, and then chuckled quietly. “I don’t believe he’s on the menu, kiddo.”
I squirmed on the seat, trying to keep from jumping out of it. No, Ezra wasn’t on the menu, but he was now standing inside the door of the restaurant with Cahal. I watched as he scanned the area, and saw his teeth flash when he noticed us…and when Cahal smacked him upside his head when he saw us, too. The hostess handed them menus, then waved them on back when Ezra pointed to us as he rubbed his head, still grinning. Turning my attention to Antonio, I said quietly, “You love me, right?”
He blinked, his golden gaze meeting mine over his menu. “Yes.” That was a wary affirmative.
“Trust me?”
A pause. “With my life? Yes. With your own life? No.”
“Thank you, I think…and don’t be mad at me.” My smile was hopeful. “I know what I’m doing.”
“That, I’m definitely not agreeing with,” he stated, lowering his menu. “What’s going on?”
I bit my lip, tilting my head toward Cahal and Ezra, who were almost on us.
His gaze altered. Widened. “Jesus, Lil.”
I waved my hands at him. “Don’t get upset.” I scooted closer to Antonio, giving Ezra room to sit next to me. “The spell still works.”
Ezra practically squashed me, he sat so close, throwing an arm on top of the curved booth behind my head. “Dad said it didn’t work when other Mys were near, but all four of us were able to tell which direction we need to go.”
Cahal was still standing while Antonio was sitting, but both of them stared with the same expressions. Total and complete exasperation. Cahal shook his head first, finally taking a seat, which was a little snug since we hadn’t asked for the biggest booth, but doable after Antonio adjusted to be closer to me, squashing my other side. As Antonio began rubbing his temples, his elbows on the table, Cahal stated bluntly, “The spell won’t work when you’re closer to the Prodigies. It will give you the general location, but it will falter once you’re close. So again, the spell doesn’t work when another Mystical is close by.”
Ezra shrugged his massive shoulders. “That works for us. Once we get to that point, we’ll hang back, but still be close enough to help if it’s needed, and let each other go alone. But, up until that point,” another shrug even though his eyes were dead serious, “we’re going together.” And then he smiled. It wasn’t pretty. “If you two have an issue with that, you can go back to the cave. This is how we’re doing it, with or without your consent.”
I rested my head against Ezra’s chest, enjoying how he instantly rested his chin on top of my head. “And the beauty is that we’re not breaking any Laws because it’s only tradition.” In other words, they couldn’t haul us back with them to King Cave and threaten us to do as they wished.