Adam flourished a couple of bills. “Get me a soda, pipsqueak.”
The vending machines were toward the front, and she skipped off with the money in hand.
Shepherd stood up and struck a match to light his cigarette. The soft glow of the burning paper illuminated his stubbly jaw. It sure didn’t take long for his facial hair to grow out. I bet he went through razor blades like Wyatt went through french fries. Claude stole his spot and turned around to chat with Blue, who was sitting on the bench behind them.
“Sir, there’s no smoking in here,” a man barked from the ticket window.
I grabbed Shepherd’s sleeve before he started an argument. “Let’s go outside. It’s too stuffy in here anyhow.”
He threw a dirty look at the ticket attendant as we passed by him. Once we were outside, I scoped out the parking area. There were cars parked off to the right, sufficient lighting, and not a whole lot to look at beyond the station. The road curved in a U shape, and it was dark up ahead, no city lights that I could see. Shepherd puffed on his smoke while I studied the building. The paint looked fresh and the concrete recently poured. Part of the sidewalk to the left had construction tape around it.
Orange embers jumped off Shepherd’s cigarette and danced in the air before disappearing.
“I don’t like this one bit,” he confessed.
“About Gem?”
“That too.” When he straightened his shoulders, his leather coat creaked. “Did you know this is Shifter country? The deeper in the woods you go, the more Shifters there are. Some of them run with groups—like packs—but the other fuckers are rogues.”
I glanced over my shoulder. “Should we be standing out here?”
“The building’s empty, so the kids are safe in there. But some of us should spread out. I don’t like being clustered up in there. Let Viktor know I’ll keep watch of everyone coming and going. Looks like Christian took off.”
“Probably picking up litter.”
“Or drinking someone.” Shepherd shifted his stance and cocked his head to the side. “Tell me, is drinking another person’s blood considered cheating?”
I pinched my chin and thought about it. “I don’t know what the Vampire rules are about that kind of thing, but if I find out he’s penetrated anyone with either his cock or his fangs, I’ll make him regret his own birth.”
“Amen to that. But what if he’s dying and the only way to survive is to drink someone’s blood. Is that infidelity?”
I turned on my heel and headed toward the door. I didn’t have time to entertain imaginary scenarios that would only piss me off.
“What if the only vein she had to offer was between her legs?” he called out, choking with laughter as I entered the building.
When I didn’t see Carol by the group, I swung left toward the bathrooms. Sometimes a person needed privacy when doing their business, but I was a little concerned. She was human, and the train movement had made even me a little queasy.
“Hey, Carol? You feeling okay?”
I pushed a stall door open and found it empty. “If you’re nauseated, we can probably find some medicine. Some people get travel sickness; it’s no big deal. Shepherd might have something in his bag. He’s our medic.”
When I knocked and opened the next door, that stall was also empty. So I bent down and peered underneath the remaining partition to look for her feet.
And didn’t see any.
I hurried out and headed toward Viktor. “Is Carol with you?”
His brow furrowed. “Nyet. She went to the ladies’ room.”
I set down my backpack and heaved a sigh. These kids knew how serious this job was, yet they didn’t seem to have an ounce of sense. I thought we could trust them to stick close, but that was naive thinking on my part considering these were teenagers. I forgot how rebellious they were. And sneaky.
God, I was beginning to understand what my old man had gone through.
“I bet she wandered off to look around. Can you watch my bag? I’ll go find her.”
Blue peered over her shoulder from the other bench. “Where’s Shep?”
“He thinks it’s a better idea if we’re not all clustered together, so he’s guarding the front. This place is a ghost town outside, so I guess we came at a good time.”
