DEMON SENSE (Completed)

Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

“As touching as this is, we have business to attend,” Larson reminded us.

Ah, yes. Business. That’s why I was here, freezing my ass off in Alaska and making friends with a vampire.

“Something tells me I’m the only one here that might freeze to death.” My teeth had begun to chatter. To my delight, Nathan came to my aid sensing I was cold. He embraced me, rubbing my arms to help get my blood flowing. “Is there somewhere, you know, like a place with a heater, that we could go?”

“She is right Larson. We cannot keep her out here much longer. It would not be wise,” Nathan said, still working to warm me up. He probably could have worked his magic, but for whatever reason, he chose not to.

Larson sounded disappointed, “I’d be much more comfortable discussing things here, but I suppose it’s late enough that most other places will be deserted. We can go somewhere else if you wish.”

“I’d like that,” I said through building shivers. I seemed to grow colder by the second.

“We should leave now,” Nathan urged.

“Yes, yes, I hear you.” Larson paced about for a moment, shooting glances at the snowmobile. “I hardly think she will be fit to ride back on that,” Larson indicated the death-mobile with a nod of his head.

“Quite right,” Nathan agreed.

“I’ll do just about anything if it gets me somewhere warm. Really, I don’t mind taking the snowmobile back,” I lied. The experience had nearly caused me to have a conniption fit, but it wasn’t as if I had another option.

The vampire gave me a look mixed between amusement and challenge. “The ride back would take nearly an hour, and I am not the patient type.”

Nathan perceived the defeated look on my face and said, “You do not have to ride back on it if you do not like.”

I scanned the barren landscape cast in frozen hues of dull blues and violets. If there was another mode of transportation we might take, I couldn’t see it. “Well, it’s not as if I have a sea of options—oh! Do we get to take the Hummer?”

 “No,” the vampire said with a wicked grin, “I have something even better.”

What was better than a Hummer limousine? Well, actually quite a few things. Like a helicopter. Now that would  be sick.

I looked back and forth between Larson and Nathan hoping one of them would offer a clue. Neither did, of course.

Teeth chattering, I said, “Y’all’s suspenseful silence isn’t making me any warmer. Can we get the heck out of here already or what?”

 “Certainly, love,” Larson said with a careful smile that didn’t reveal his fangs. Standing a few paces away, he opened up his arms. “Come, Viktoriya.”

“Uh…” Immediately, I wanted to do the exact opposite. For one, I had trust issues, and also I had trust issues. I shot Nathan an uneasy look. Certainly he would know what Larson was up to.

Nathan’s arms released me. He appeared apprehensive but finally said, “Its fine.”

With a stern nod that I hoped portrayed confidence, I turned and approached Larson. With my arms still hanging at my side, I gave him a questioning look. “Does someone need a hug?” I asked.

Half a smirk lit Larson’s features. “I need many things, love, but a hug isn’t one of them.”

Before I could react, Larson had his arms locked around me in a bear hug. “Hold on tight,” he laughed, before we shot up into the night sky.