Blood Warrior(3)

The front passenger door opened and Luke peeked his head in. “Chloe, are you all right?”

I sniffed and pushed some stray hair back over my ear. “I wish everyone would stop asking me that.” I let out a sigh and then whispered, “Yeah, I’m okay.”

He nodded. “You did good honey.”

Yeah right. “That doesn’t make it easier,” I snapped at him.

“Well, it had to be done. You chose you … and us, over the enemy and that is what you should always do.”

This time I nodded. “I know. I just wish we didn’t have to shoot people.”

“I wish the same thing, believe me. This is a first for us too, we have never had to kill humans before the Vampire Apocalypse either. Just remember that.”

Luke settled into the front seat and we watched Zander park the military vehicle, jump out and then hurry back to the driver side of his own truck.

Drew got in to drive the Escalade, casting a quick glance in my direction, probably to make sure I wasn’t still getting sick. Gavin opened the opposite door of the back seat and slid inside, while Alice and Oscar rode with Zander like they had on the way over.

Drew took the lead and maneuvered the Escalade between the military vehicles. While we sped over the bridge, into New Orleans, I considered what my grandfather had said. He was right, everyone else was new at this too. That almost made the feeling even worse. I was the only one who was handling it so poorly and puking every time I had to take out an enemy.

Freaking wonderful.

“You got the maps?” Drew asked, taking his eyes off the road long enough to look over at Luke.

“Yes, they’re right here.” Luke leaned forward and opened the glove box to get out the maps we had picked up along the way. We had realized that none of us knew our way around New Orleans at all and we would need a map in order to find the address Anthony had given us.

Luke unfolded one of the maps, smoothing it out onto his lap. “Let me see the address again.” He reached back, holding his hand out in expectation.

I dug down into my pocket and sifted around until I found the piece of paper the address was written on. I’d folded it up really tiny and shoved it into my jeans so it wouldn’t get lost. “Here.” I extracted the paper and set it into his waiting palm.

By then we were leaving the bridge behind us and heading into a section where all the roads merged and turned different ways. I stared at the crazy twisting knot of pavement and wondered how in the heck anyone ever found their way around in this city.

Luke read Drew the directions and they seemed to have the whole driver/navigator thing going on, so I leaned back into soft leather of the seat and closed my eyes.

After a minute I could feel Gavin staring at me. I didn’t have to open my eyes to feel the burn of his gaze. I knew that he wanted to comfort me and assure me that everything was going to be all right, but that he wouldn’t do it with Drew around.

He needed to rest too, using our gifts took a lot out of us and he had to be as exhausted as I was.

I opened my eyes and discovered that we were in the Garden District. I knew that we were because the houses weren’t houses, most of them were big, beautiful mansions. Even though I really wanted to close my eyes and rest, I couldn’t take my eyes off the amazing historical homes.

The architecture of New Orleans was a lot different than the area where we lived. I’d seen homes that tried to emulate the style, but after getting to see the real thing, I could definitely tell the difference.

“Turn here,” Luke directed Drew, “then take the second left after that.

Drew nodded. “Got it.”

The Escalade rolled down the quiet streets which seemed undisturbed by the destruction of the Vampire Apocalypse. These streets remained clean and beautiful. The yards even appeared as if they had been groomed recently. I felt my head shaking in disbelief. It was so strange to see such a place after witnessing what had happened in our city.

“Up there,” Luke pointed, “I think that’s the address.”

I leaned forward between the seats, trying to get a better look. The house was on a corner, surrounded by an expanse of lawn that had turned brown from lack of water. The lawn itself was surrounded by a tall iron fence which separated the entire lot from the other homes. In the center of this corner lot, sat a white mansion, complete with the large pillars the south is known for..

Drew pulled the Escalade up in front of the closed gate and Zander’s truck, which was considerably louder than the Escalade, came to a stop directly behind us. Everyone opened their doors and stepped out into the street.

I glanced over at Drew and he shrugged. We were faced with a locked gate and two vehicles that we were not about to leave out on the street. “Maybe one of us should hop the fence,” I suggested.