Blood Bound

Chapter 32: Undead in the sky

We're ready to leave.

I'm nervous but relieved nonetheless. Everything should be fine once we reach Grigori's place.

Kenji's on the phone with André, telling him of our sudden departure. He tries to keep his voice playful but I can see his brows furrow in slight regret. It's obvious he doesn't want to leave him.

"I know it's sudden," he says. "But I'm doing the girls one last favour. I'll be back home either tomorrow or the day after."

He glances at me for a second, then says with a grin: "Of course I will." He then walks into the kitchen.

I realize now with a jolt how selfish my request was. It hadn't occurred to me how it would affect Kenji and his relationship with André. Maybe Sophie is right. Maybe he'll be imprisoned or worse, killed.

He ends the phonecall and I rush over to him. "You don't have to come with us if you really don't want to," I say, looking up at him with understanding eyes.

Kenji smiles gently at me, and for a second my mind refuses to believe that that big, soft man is really a bloodsucking creature of the night.

"I've already decided on helping you," he says, ruffling my hair. "It'll be alright."

The twinge of guilt doesn't go away, though. I want to apologize for my selfishness but the words die in my throat when I look at his reassuring expression.

"Okay," I concede in the end.

He smiles warmly and hands me a Tupperware container. "André said I should let you have the leftovers from today's lunch."

I blink, looking down at the container. I still catch a faint whiff of the beef stew.

"He said you should always bring something that reminds you of home."

An affectionate smiles spreads across my face and I look up at him with watery eyes. "Tell him thank you from me,"

Kenji pats me on my back. "He knows,"

"Uh guys," Sophie says as she gazes at the huge grandfather clock in the corner of the living room. "I'd hate to be a downer-"

"Which you're never!" Kenji chimes in sarcastically.

"but it's 8 PM now. If what you said about the trip taking 13 hours, we're never going to make it before dawn," she continues scowling and flips Kenji the bird for his remark.

I look at the clock and count down the hours. She's right. We'd have to stop at a motel to sleep for the day before continuing our journey and it sends chills down my spine, just thinking about it.

"That's not much of a problem," Kenji shrugs. "We could always stay at a nearby motel."

"No motels!" Sophie and I both pipe up.

Kenji blinks in surprise. "Why not?"

"All kinds of awful shit have been happening to us whenever we stay at these places," Sophie explains wearily and I nod in agreement. "The first one had a crazy Sangue and the other one had a hunter waiting for us."

"Alright, alright. No motels then," Kenji sighs and thinks for a moment. "Then I guess it's obvious: we're flying to Seattle." He decides after a few seconds.

"I don't have a passport and neither does Sophie," I point out.

"And they'll definitely be looking for us at the airports," Sophie adds, folding her arms in a huff.

Kenji flashes his devious grin. "You don't have to worry about either when you've got a private jet."

I gape at him. Is he serious? Sophie had mentioned that he was rich and his house is proof of that but I never imagined that he could afford an actual private jet.