My brows puckered as memories slowly came back. I hopped off the dryer so Bel could work. “We smoked, didn’t we?”
Very peculiar thoughts of the last few hours were floating around in my head, none of them making much sense.
“Yes, we did.” Done loading the dryer, he closed it and started it. “At least he gave us the pleasant shit. The crap I smoked with him the first time had a different outcome.”
My head tilted. “That’s how he lost his arm.”
“Yes. I think he went easy on us because he likes you. You made a good deal with him and handled the transaction well.”
I bowed my head to him. “Thank you.”
We turned then and stared at the dryer.
And we waited.
As soon as it stopped, two minutes before Lonzo was supposed to arrive, we sped into motion using our vampire speed. And when he came through his door thirty seconds early, Bel and I were sitting back on the washer and dryer perfectly at ease—at least, to him we were.
My lover and I waited in silence. We had held up our end of the deal. It was time for him to do his part.
Lonzo smirked. “Enjoy the ride?”
Neither of us said a word.
“It was fun. I know it was. You don’t have to say anything. I know.”
Bel growled, “Lonzo, we are on a tight deadline. Please hurry up. I am asking nicely.”
“Yes, I suppose you are.” He strolled forward and stopped between the two of us. He touched each of our foreheads and whispered a single indecipherable word. The man was truly talented, the spell done without much thought. He grinned. “That’s it, folks. You can leave now.”
We grabbed our backpacks and fucking left.
I hoped I never had to make a deal with that druid again. Not on a time crunch, anyway.
“Where are we going now?” I asked.
Bel dodged a human not watching where they were going, swerving around him with ease. He set the pace at a fast clip, making me jog to keep up with him. “We’re going to Hilton Head in South Carolina. My yacht is there. It shouldn’t take long once we’re on the water. If my memory is correct, I traveled maybe an hour from S’Kir in a small boat before I hit land. The Island of the Unseen Gods may be hidden from this world, but it isn’t inconvenient to those who go to and from Earth to it.”
I nodded. “So we get there and…do what?”
“We walk through the Gate.”
“The Gate?”
“Yes, the entrance to S’Kir.”
“Sounds easy enough.” Once we hit the grass and the forest was before us, we started sprinting. “In a hurry?”
“Yes,” he muttered emphatically.
I surveyed his profile while we ran. “You’re excited.”
“You have no idea.” He shook his head. “It has been…so long, Gwen. So damn long.”
We stopped when we were far enough away; no heartbeats were near us. I placed my hand on his shoulder, and stated, “Take me to your boat. I’m ready to set sail.”
“Yacht,” he clarified absently while he pulled the Original vampire amulet from his pocket. “My baby is not aboat. It is ayacht.”
Someone was proud. “Yacht.”
