Rage of Vendetta (The Vendetta Series #2)

BONUS STORY - Fact and Hearsay

Fact and Hearsay- Time Frame: During the events of Rage of Vendetta (Occurring Parallel to Chapter 17)

Eric Stone muttered a curse under his breath.

The gunmen were closing in, and Ariel was taking bullets left and right like it was no big deal. The plan wasn't going to work anymore. He caught sight of Jesse's terrified expression, gesturing for him and Sasha to go while Ariel had the humans distracted.

Eric wasn't one to argue.

"Run!" he hissed, grabbing Sasha's wrist.

Sasha didn't resist, and taking advantage of the frenzy, the two of them fled. Zipping through dark roads and under street lights, it wasn't long before they realized there was no echo behind them.

Eric kept them running for a while longer, even though his lungs were close to giving out.

"Stop, stop, stop," Sasha finally panted as they approached a busy roundabout. "Let's call a cab."

Eric doubled over, resting his hands on his knees, heaving. Once he finally caught his breath, he glanced up and cast her a dubious glance. "Spend a few hours in a car with a stranger?"

"Yes."

"Maybe there's another option."

"We're waving down a cab, Eric," Sasha decided for them, taking his expression for defeat. "Unless you want to arrive at Central Park three days after the agreed time and have everyone take us for dead."

In no time, Sasha had stopped a cab, halting right next to them on the sidewalk like magic. It seemed too easy to Eric, but he shut up with one look from Sasha.

She tugged the door open and hurtled in.

Sighing, Eric followed.

"To New York City, please," Sasha told the driver. "Central Park."

They reeked of tourist.

The driver turned around. There was a tattoo winding around his upper arm and probably three days worth of stubble on his chin, but Eric thought he looked harmless otherwise.

"At this hour?" the driver questioned, raising a bushy eyebrow.

Sasha nodded. "Urgent business."

Out of the corner of his eye, Eric caught sight of a cockroach skittering along the floor of the car. He let Sasha deal with convincing the driver, and leaned down towards the cockroach without thinking about what a lunatic he looked like.

"How you doin'?" Eric said aloud, even though he could talk to animals in his head perfectly fine. It wasn't like Sasha or the driver could hear him while he was bent down close to where the engine was rumbling away.

"Food," the cockroach replied.

So it was one of those.

"How long have you been in this cab for?" Eric continued asking.

"Find food," it replied. "One night. No food."

"Has this driver done anything illegal?"

The cockroach scampered around a bit and did some circles before replying. "Nah. Not snack a lot."

Before Eric could reply to that, the cab began moving and Sasha jabbed an elbow into his ribs. That was all the warning he got before she was dragging his head onto the seat and leaning over it.

"Sasha, what the heck?" he hissed, barely able to get a few syllables out from the mass of red hair in his nose and flesh squashed against his cheek.