Gaslight (Crossbreed #4)(96)
Blue tucked her hands into her coat pockets. “I bet they come at night. Probably load her right onto the plane.”
“So the plan is to rent a plane and sit around? I wonder if that won’t draw attention.”
“Jaysus wept!” Christian said, his voice rippling through the quiet room. He glided toward us and gave Blue a sour look. “I’ve been driving for hours, and I’m thirsty, lass. Where’s my drink?”
She narrowed her eyes. “File a complaint.”
“That’s not very nice,” he said, talking loudly so everyone could hear him. “We have time to kill, and your father’s worked himself up an appetite.”
Her eyes slanted over to Viktor, who was still at the counter. “Is that so?”
“Why don’t you be a dear and fetch him something to warm his belly. I don’t need a hungry man flying our plane. I’d like to get to our destination in one piece, if you don’t mind.”
She strode off toward the café, playing the role he’d just laid out.
“You’re awful spirited,” I remarked, noticing his altered demeanor. It was almost… pleasant.
He smiled warmly and swaggered off to one of the round tables by the café.
A brawny male—who could have been a lumberjack with his bushy beard and twinkling eyes—appeared next to me. “I haven’t seen you in here before.” His eyes slid up and down my body like a thirsty tongue. “What’s your Breed?”
I grinned at him. “That’s kind of personal.”
He puffed out his chest. “I’m a grizzly.”
“I just bet.”
He jerked his chin toward the café. “So what are you doing with the likes of a Vamp?”
I glanced at Christian, who was sitting at the table, pretending to be enthralled by a ketchup bottle. “He’s my personal driver.” I angled toward my lumberjack. “Found him working at a bus station, poor thing. Seemed like a waste of talent.”
“So you’re an important lady, huh?” He brushed his finger down the sleeve of my coat. “I’m Diesel. Is your pretty little friend over there a Shifter?”
“I didn’t know mating season was open.”
He gave a boisterous laugh. “It never closes around these parts. Can I buy you a drink?”
“Maybe later. I’m going to sit with my crew for a while. We’ve been on a long drive and need to stretch our legs and eat.”
“Your name?”
“You’ll have to find out later.”
He lifted my hand and kissed the top, his eyes flashing up. “You can count on it, mystery lady.”
When I turned away, I wiped the back of my hand on my sleeve and pulled out a chair in front of Christian.
“Bus driver?” he ground out.
I shucked off my coat and let it drape over the back of my chair. “I’m just being friendly. Guys don’t like to be rejected. If I said no, his buddies would move in for a shot. Now he’s got dibs, and you know how Shifters are all territorial and shit. How long do you think this’ll take? Maybe they beat us here.”
Christian leaned in and lowered his voice. “I charmed one of the men at the front desk. They run this airport and book all the flights and rentals. Asked him if he ever gets any pretty young girls around here, especially Vampires. He said occasionally, but couldn’t give me specifics.”
“Smooth. Won’t it look suspicious if we’re here all night?”
Christian chuckled and tucked his chin in the palm of his hand. “Look around, Raven. This is what they do for recreation out in the wild. Open twenty-four hours a day, and they have slot machines in the adjoining room by the bar. If you want to sleep here for the night, there’s a building next door where they offer up to three bedrooms. The occasional blizzard requires it.”
“Do they work the desk all hours?”
“Are you langered? They’re not Vampires. They have set working hours and then have a nighttime assistant who serves drinks. I think it’s one of their daughters. The café closes at ten, so there’s not much for her to do except book any flights that come in.”
Blue returned with a large tray. She set three bowls of chili in the center of the table along with packaged saltines. “I’ll be back with the drinks.”
“Where’s mine?” Christian smiled at her before pushing a bowl in front of me. “You should eat something.”
I reluctantly took the steaming bowl of chili and ate several bites. Though I wasn’t hungry, Christian was right. I needed my strength in case we had an incredibly insane showdown on the wing of a toy plane. “This is pretty good for airport food. Tastes homemade.”
Viktor tossed his hat on the table and folded his coat over the back of his chair. Then he stretched his arms dramatically before taking a seat. Blue appeared with another tray and unloaded the cups of coffee and the tall silver coffeepot.
“Spasibo.” Viktor slurped his without adding cream or sugar. His hair wasn’t styled back like usual. It made him look less formal and almost sexy the way the silver and grey locks fell loose around his head. He must have been handsome in his youth, and I wondered why a wolf like him had never settled down.
Blue sat down to my left and shook a packet of sugar. “Free refills, but it only lasts two hours, and then you have to pay again.”