A Shade of Vampire 11: A Chase of Prey Read Online Free Page B

north. We’ll have to hitchhike.”
    I stared at Caleb, his face masked, his body covered from head to foot in the long black suit. He looked like a bank robber. I couldn’t imagine anyone in their right mind stopping for us. Still, it didn’t look like we had much of a choice but to try.
    I looked up and down the road again, squinting as a van came thundering past, blowing up a dust storm around us.
    “Which side of the road do we stand on? Which way’s north?”
    Caleb consulted the map again, then looked at the road sign towering above us. He pointed to the other side of the highway. I looked nervously at the velocity the vehicles were passing by, barely leaving a few seconds’ gap between them.
    I climbed once again onto Caleb’s back and tried to help shelter his eyes from the blazing sun, which was almost at its peak in the sky by now.
    He looked left and right, then lurched forward, knocking the breath right out of me. We reached the narrow partition in the center of the highway. Caleb waited another few seconds before darting forward and arriving safely on the other side.
    He groaned again as he turned his back on the sun, covering his eyes with his hands.
    I looked at the road again and my stomach sank as I thought about what we were about to attempt.
    “Caleb,” I said, pointing to a shaded area ten feet back from the road. When he hesitated, I reached for his sleeve and tugged him.
    “What?”
    “You can’t seriously expect anyone to stop with you looking like that.”
    He didn’t have anything to say to that.
    “I’ll have to try pulling a car over by myself,” I said. “You should go and sit in the shade.”
    At least he could take the suit off if he sat there. He didn’t argue with me and did as I’d requested, though his gaze didn’t leave me.
    Of course, I’d never hitchhiked in my life. I’d seen it done in movies, however. I reached out an arm and stuck out a thumb. Caleb had removed his hood, so at least he looked a little less scary. Although his appearance was still a disadvantage, hitchhiking with a vampire certainly had its perks. I didn’t have to be as selective in choosing a driver, because Caleb wouldn’t have trouble protecting us.
    As it turned out, we couldn’t afford to be selective. I stood for an hour with my hand outstretched. Nobody would stop. I spotted a police car hurtling toward us more than once. I ducked into the bushes with Caleb, paranoid that news might have spread about my stall robbery.
    After an hour and a half, a car stopped with two men in the front seats. They seemed interested in giving me a ride. But as soon as I pointed to Caleb, they lost interest and sped off again.
    Finally, during the third hour, as my arm drooped from exhaustion, a long red pickup truck pulled over. Its windows were tinted, so I couldn’t see inside. A tan man sporting dark sunglasses and a goatee in the driver’s seat rolled down his window and beckoned me over.
    I approached cautiously, looking past his shoulder to see another man. Smoking a rolled-up cigarette, he was tattooed and muscular, just like the driver.
    “Hello, sir,” I said to the driver. “Do you speak English?”
    “English.” His voice was deep and gravelly. He exchanged glances with the man next to him in the passenger seat. “Yes, I speak English.”
    I exhaled in relief. That was half the battle won right there.
    I pointed to Caleb, who had stood up, pulled the suit over himself again—his hood only partially covering his face—and approached us. “My friend and I are hoping to catch a ride to Boa Vista. Where are you heading?”
    His face dropped slightly, but he replied all the same.
    “Venezuela. We will be passing through Boa Vista.”
    I looked up at Caleb who was eyeing the men closely.
    “Can you just give me a second?” I said, looking back at the driver.
    He grunted. Caleb and I stepped back from the vehicle where we could talk out of earshot.
    “They look dodgy as hell,” I