A Chase of Prey (A Shade of Vampire #11)(45)

Caleb set me down on my feet and pulled me forward. “Don’t worry. I’ll remember where it is.”

I was glad that Caleb had put me down. I could stretch my legs for the first time in days. I’d barely walked at all—I’d spent most of the time being carried by Caleb, cooped up by South American thugs, or stuck on a boat.

We exited the port and headed toward the town center. It was a beautiful evening. A warm breeze kissed my skin as we walked, the smell of fresh food wafting out from the outdoor cafes we passed by. The smells made my stomach grumble. The streets were teeming with people—tourists mostly, it seemed.

My heart sank as I remembered that we had no money. I didn’t think I could stand watching Caleb steal for my sake yet again.

“How are we going to get food?” I asked, dreading his answer.

Caleb pulled out a handful of notes from his pocket. “I found these in the control room.”

This hardly made me feel better about the situation. We’d already stolen that family’s boat and now we were spending their money. I swore to myself that we would find a way to pay them back anonymously once we were back in The Shade.

“Okay,” I sighed. “Let’s just get this over with.” I pointed to a pizza joint at the other side of the square. “That place doesn’t look too busy. Let’s try there. I’m sure Micah won’t mind pizza.”

As we approached, I realized that the place was busier than I’d thought. There were three different lines leading up to the order counter. They were all the same length. I pointed to the line in the far corner. “We should both stand in separate lines and see which one goes down fastest. You go stand in that one. I’ll wait in this one.”

We split and took our positions in the line. I kept looking at him from across the room while we waited to be served. Five minutes passed, and the lines had hardly shrunk at all. But I didn’t mind too much. I was quite happy to have this view of Caleb. We hadn’t talked about last night, but my skin tingled at the prospect of sleeping in his arms again tonight, feeling his lips against my skin, keeping me cool throughout the night…

My daydream was interrupted by a snort of laughter. I turned around to see two tan boys wearing shorts and tank tops standing behind me. They were clutching bottles of beer and looked about my age. They winked at me as I looked them over. I rolled my eyes and turned my back on the boys. I looked across the room to see Caleb glaring daggers at them.

“It’s okay,” I mouthed. The look in his eyes made me worried that he might come over.

I craned my neck over the line in front of me. There were still about five customers to serve before me, and Caleb’s line still wasn’t looking any shorter.

I sighed, trying to return to my daydream. But the boys’ sniggering kept disturbing me. And then they began talking to each other in Spanish. They must have realized I was a foreigner and thought I couldn’t understand what they were saying.

But oh, I understood. Every vulgar word.

They were daring each other to slap my backside.

I turned back around slowly to face them again. I looked at them witheringly.

“Donkeys have more charm than you,” I said in Spanish.

It wasn’t the most satisfying of comebacks, but I didn’t know many Spanish insults, and the ones I had discovered while browsing through my dictionary were far too strong for me to dare use.

Their faces dropped as they realized I’d understood their every word. But then they started guffawing even more loudly.

“And my dead grandmother is warmer than you.”

“What’s stuck up your ass, bitch?”

I stared at them in disgust.

“Desgraciados,” was all I could think to mutter as I faced forward again.

My eyes shot once again toward Caleb. He was on the verge of walking over to me. I held up my hands and mouthed again, “It’s okay.” I pointed to the line in front of me—now only three people. “We’ll be out of here soon.”

The rest of the orders went quickly and I had to endure the boys’ vulgarity for only five more minutes. Once I’d reached the counter, Caleb walked over to join me. We ordered two extra large margherita pizzas and two large salads.

We were lucky that we didn’t have to wait more than a few minutes before they handed the boxes over the counter. I took the money from Caleb’s hand and paid for them. “Gracias.”

Caleb took the boxes and we headed toward the exit.

I should have thought to swerve away from the boys as I walked past. I felt two sharp slaps against my backside. Barely a second later, Caleb had placed the boxes on the ground and was hurtling toward the boys. I threw myself against his chest before he could reach out and grab them. Holding his head between my hands, I forced him to look down at me.

“Don’t do this. They’re not worth it.”

Caleb’s nostrils flared as he forced his eyes away from me and glared back at the boys. The fools had jerked back in terror as Caleb had launched at them, but now that I’d restrained him, they were laughing and jeering again.

“Hey, friend. Relax. We just wanted to know if your bitch feels as cold as she acts.”

Their jeers continued as we left through the door.

The boys were lucky that Caleb didn’t understand Spanish. If he had, I doubted they would have made it out of that pizzeria with their throats intact.