Just more proof that he'll never be yours.
*sobs in trustfration*
Alex couldn’t believe he was still stuck with Mihai. The weaselly little bastard.
But after running back over the bridge and hearing from some loitering locals that the two American girls had gotten on the dirt bikes of two men to take the mile-long path back to the parking lot, there was no choice.
Alex needed Mihai’s car if he was going to have any hope of catching up with the girls.
At least he knew where they were going. All thanks to Savannah. He still didn’t know what the hell was going on, but she’d called and left a whispered voicemail. She said River had grabbed her and declared they had to go to Poenari Castle—that all the answers were there.
“She was really intense about it. Like my mom gets when she has a vision. You didn’t tell me she had the gift,” Savannah had said in the voicemail.
River? Alex had frowned. Uncle Vlad could usually sniff out a diviner a mile away. Or was that exactly why he’d chosen her? Was he trying to create some sort of super offspring? Did River know she had the gift? Had she been lying to all of them all along?
Alex had tried calling back but there was no answer. It always went straight to voicemail, like the phone had been turned off.
And Mihai had been to Poenari Castle before. Of course he had. It was part of the Dracula lore.
And no matter how much Alex glared him down, the man still wouldn’t shut up about the history of the place as they drove. Apparently, the constant drip of nerd shit hadn’t just been for River’s benefit—he was just like this all the time. “Dracula built Poenari as a fortress that could withstand any siege. Most people think Bran Castle was Dracula’s home, but this is where he spent more time and considered home. If he considered anywhere home. It’s the burden of the warlord if you think about it—a life devoted to strife means you can never rest. Heavy is the head that wears the—”
“Oh shut the fuck up!” Alex finally exploded, gripping the wheel so tight his knuckles turned white. “You are so full of shit. You’re no different than that tour guide back there. Making your living off of a celebrated mass-murderer. He deserves to be forgotten. The whole Țepeș line deserves to be wiped off the face of the earth!”
Mihai looked taken aback, and pulled back against the door of the passenger seat. “Well, they were, weren’t they?”
“What?” Alex barked.
“They were wiped off the face of the earth. Dracula’s last surviving heir died in the eighteenth century.”
“Oh. Yeah.” Alex focused his eyes ahead on the road, then cleared his throat. He’d almost stupidly let his secret out, in less than ideal company. “Well, that’s good. Good riddance.”
They didn’t talk for the rest of the drive. That suited Alex just fine.
They pulled up to the parking lot of the castle right at sunset. A car passed them, exiting the lot right as they pulled in. Another group was getting into their van, chattering loudly.
Alex put the car in gear and hopped out. “Scuzati ma,” he asked in the little Romanian he knew. Excuse me. “You see two,” he held up two fingers, “Women? Femei? Americans?”
A couple of younger women in the crowd giggled and smiled shyly at him, then whispered to each other and giggled some more. Alex struggled not to roll his eyes. Did they have the information he needed or not?
An older woman with a scarf tied around her hair nodded. “Da. We see these Americans. They are up mountain.”
“Thank you. Multumesc,” Alex grabbed her hand in gratitude, then he turned and started for the stairs.
“The sign says no visitors after sunset,” one of the people in the group called out to him. Alex ignored them and took the stairs two at a time.