I swallowed my instinctive objections to the plan, and nodded instead. This was a Prius, not a high-end sports car. If things went to shit, it was likely that we’d hit the Toyota’s performance limits before we hit mine. I pressed the unlock button and got in.
“Go back inside the restaurant and ask someone to call you a cab,” I heard Rans tell the car’s owner.
When he joined me and closed the passenger door, I quickly adjusted the seat and mirrors before confirming that our victim had wandered toward the building and was out of my way. Then I cautiously pulled the vehicle out of its spot.
“Where am I going?” I asked.
“Turn right, and get on the highway heading west,” he said. “We’ll continue toward Modesto for now.”
I did as he asked, repeating over and over to myself that the Fae had no way to track us now that we’d switched cars and were flying under the radar. They’d only found us in the first place by staking out the gate between Hell and Earth. It could easily have been complete coincidence—just standard surveillance. Who knows, maybe one of them had recognized Rans or something. But still...
“Why did those shiny bastards come after us like that?” I asked. “I thought the Fae Court agreed to leave us alone.”
Rans glanced up from his phone. “The Court agreed not to execute you on the spot. I’m not certain that necessarily translates to leaving you alone. Still, one does wonder what their endgame might have been, in this instance. A high-speed car chase isn’t exactly the safest or most low-key method for capturing someone.”
The highway loomed ahead. I turned onto the westbound ramp, careful to use my turn signal as I merged— trying not to feel like there was a giant target painted on the back of the car. We cruised along in the slow lane, blending in with the traffic around us.
Perhaps I should have used the lull in the action to breach the topic of Rans being understandably pissed off with me, after I’d run away with barely a word to go into potential danger without him.
Again.
But instead, I used the fact that he was still engrossed in some kind of research on his phone as an excuse not to go there just yet. In my defense, it’s not like I would have wished for vengeful Fae chasing us as a way to avoid getting my ass verbally reamed by my vampire boyfriend, but since it was happening anyway, I’d take it.
“All right,” he said eventually. “Here’s the updated plan. We’ll be coming up on East Oakdale in a few minutes. We can stop at a convenience store and pick you up something to eat and drink. We’ll ditch the car there, and I’ll mesmerize someone into driving us to an electrical substation located a couple of miles away on the outskirts of Modesto.”
I frowned at the road ahead, and the sky full of ominous storm clouds. “An electrical substation? Why?”
His tone turned dry. “Because Fae and electrical systems don’t get on very well, in general,” he said. “If they somehow manage to track us down there—which seems unlikely—they’d probably have to send humans in after us rather than grabbing us themselves. With luck, we’ll be able to hide out there until Nigellus gets his arse back to Earth and I can reach him by phone to come get us.”
I remembered the odd way that electronic devices seemed to behave when Fae were around, and nodded. “Okay. I can’t say I’m too thrilled about the way we seem to keep relying on Nigellus for rescue, but kudos. That’s still a solid plan.”
Rans shifted in his seat. “As I’ve said previously, Nigellus has a vested interest in keeping both of us alive. The list of people for whom that’s true is a markedly short one these days, and mostly contains names that I’m hoping don’t become embroiled in this mess any more than they already are.”
Guthrie, I mentally supplied.
The last thing Rans’ demon-bound human friend from St. Louis needed was to get tangled up with angry Fae. The poor guy had enough supernatural problems already. Albigard was probably on that short list of people who might help us as well, though I suspected things would have to get a lot worse than they were right now before Rans would overcome his grudge enough to even consider the latter as an option.
“I think we’re approaching civilization,” I pointed out, as farmland gave way to what looked like a collection of factories and warehouses ahead.
Rans directed me to a gas station and convenience store set at the edge of the commercial district. I ducked inside to use the restroom and pick up supplies with the cash he gave me, trying not to look like someone who was driving a stolen car. Or like someone who was wearing borrowed sandals and no underwear, for that matter.
I emerged a few minutes later armed with a bottle of orange juice, several bottles of water, a can of mixed nuts, and a bag of potato chips. Breakfast of champions, right there. Rans was chatting amiably with a Latino guy driving a red SUV. He gestured for me to join them, and I approached, pasting a friendly smile on my face.
Nope, buddy... no braless fugitive car thieves to be seen here. Just a perfectly nice, perfectly normal girl who isn’t remotely the granddaughter of a succubus. See? Nothing suspicious about me in the least.
The guy smiled back. His eyes dropped to my chest, where my nipples were no doubt visible through the faded cotton of the worn band t-shirt. Rans followed the guy’s gaze and sighed. A couple of sharp words delivered in Spanish, and our unwitting chauffeur’s gaze snapped back to Rans, whose eyes were now glowing with that familiar, unearthly light.
A few more words I didn’t understand, and Rans gestured me into the SUV’s back seat. I settled in, while he did the
