Brother Blood

Chapter 29: bed and breakfast

{Thirty minutes away, with Grant and the crew}

"Tell me we're doing the right thing," Daria said, not taking her eyes off the road.

Aidan had offered to sit in the middle, but I was a little shorter than he was and I was curled up next to him anyway. He didn't say anything either, but I could feel his arm tighten around my shoulders.

Daria jerked the car off the road, parking on the shoulder. She stared at the two of us.

"We should go back," she said. "God, all my bluster about not being scared and we just tucked our tails and ran."

"Conor is safe," I said. "Stefa, for all her many flaws, will not let anyone touch him. We don't have the same guarantee. And we don't have the same immunity from her persuasion that he does. Conor will be fine."

Daria gripped the steering wheel and sighed.

"Are you just saying that because you are afraid?" she asked.

There was no judgment in her voice, but instead resignation.

"I am afraid," I told her. "But I also believe it's true. I trust Conor to leave if he feels threatened. He's the only one who can step outside during the daytime; that gives him hours to run if needed. Our staying wouldn't help Conor. We're doing the right thing."

And I had seen the way Conor's eyes lit up when he saw Stefa, even after just days they had been separated and despite how Stefa had made Aidan drag him in. He loved her. It was a strange emotion for the wolf, anyone watching him struggle with his human moral compass could tell that.

I glanced down at the bloody knuckles on Aidan's left hand.

"We should stop at a pharmacy," I said. "Get something to clean your hand."

"I'll just shift, it's fine," Aidan replied.

He seemed oddly restrained after his display in the theatre. I didn't know how to interpret his actions now. I turned to Daria, expecting her to pull back on the road.

"What's the plan?" I asked.

She sighed. "I don't know. Start heading home I guess. I'm torn between wanting to get there as fast as possible and thinking that we probably need to take our time. Ralph and Mel are going to be furious. How long do we have before we have to start avoiding the sun?"

"I didn't have much of Conor's blood," I admitted. "A day or so?"

"Then let's drive until tomorrow's sunrise and get a hotel," she decided. "I'm exhausted anyway; we haven't slept in a couple days."

"I can drive," I offered. "I don't need sleep, and I feel fine anyway."

Daria hopped out of the truck and we shuffled seats around. Aidan let Daria crawl in the middle and she rested her head on his shoulder, asleep before I pulled the truck back onto the road.

We didn't speak much. Daria and Aidan slept most of the way, only waking when I pulled into various gas stations to fill up. I bought a map and a phone charger when the phone died and we kept driving north and west into forgotten country land, back towards Montana.

I wished I had someone to blame. Conor was an easy target, but I couldn't blame him for trying to do the right thing. I wanted to blame Stefa, but I was starting to understand a little of what she had felt toward Conor. I could feel jealousy bubbling in my chest as Daria rested against Aidan, and I was helpless against how irrational it was.