Ancient Blood: A Novel of the Hegemony (The Order Saga Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

ended. As well as losing all body fat and gaining a significant increase in strength as a Vampyr, my senses had become more acute. So, I’m not sure if the cop crawled across the intersection or if I only perceived it that way. He was, however, looking around for something.
    I’d parked behind another car, far enough back that I could still pull out but it blocked most of his view of me. Now I was nervous, wishing Caroline would hurry up.
    After another few impatient minutes, she came out. Even if there was a description of her out, we’d taken precautions. She wore loose-fitting sweats rather than her normal jeans and blouse, her blonde hair was down rather than back in her usual ponytail and she was wearing her fake glasses. I wore blue jeans, a red flannel shirt and a jean-jacket Caroline picked up at the Salvation Army. I looked like a complete tool.
    “Hurry,” she said as she climbed in.
    I nodded, turned the lights back on and pulled away from the curb.
    “Off they drove into the darkness of the night,” I began, trying to get a smile from her. “Two young lovers on a desperate odyssey—”
    “Cut it out. Please.”
    “Sorry.”
    I’d almost made it to Whitehorse Avenue where the street ended when I caught something in my rearview mirror.
    The same damn cop I’d seen a few minutes ago.
    He was driving down another cross street but turned as soon as he spotted us and started closing the distance. I sped up and took the right onto Whitehorse against the light. I raced up a block and made a sharp left onto a small side street that could take us to Broad Street. Cutting my lights, I tore down the single lane, hoping to get out of sight before the cop turned onto Whitehorse.
    I saw headlights pass in my mirror but couldn’t tell if it was the cop or not. The street dead-ended at a high school and—even with my improved night vision—it was very dark without the headlights. The parked cars on either side made for a wonderful obstacle course. I just prayed no pedestrians were out.
    I came to the cross street and took the turn before putting my lights back on. In the few seconds it took us to reach Broad Street, my mind filled with projections of the cop sitting there, having anticipated my move, patiently waiting for us to emerge…
    He wasn’t. I guess he figured I’d made the right into the parking lot of the Chinese buffet on the corner and cut out onto Broad that way.
    Or, as Caroline suggested later, maybe he wasn’t trying to catch us at all.
    I decided to take I-195 to the Turnpike. From the Turnpike, we could get to anywhere we needed. If they were looking for my car it would be better to be one among many on a road with no stop lights.
    Once it seemed that our moment of desperate pursuit was over, the whole business took on the feel of an intense role-playing scenario. I also have to admit, it made me feel good to have Caroline depending on me for once.
    It made me feel like I finally deserved her.
    I tried to get a conversation going as we drove, mentioning people I knew in New York and Philly who might be able to help or give us a place to crash for the day, asking whether we should continue with our original plan.
    After a few, long silent minutes Caroline said, “Go to Newark first. We’ve got to assume your car’s been linked to me somehow. We’ll drop it off in long term parking or maybe just leave it on the street with the keys in it and rent something different.” She wasn’t even looking at me. She was staring out the window at the sky.
    “Whoa, back up a second. You want to let my car get stolen just because some cop spooked us a little? He might not have even been looking for us. Probably just chased us ‘cause I bolted—”
    “No. The fact that we even saw that cop was either a very lucky accident or a deliberate prod to get us moving in the right direction. They won’t use cops to capture us, Avery. That would involve too many questions. If Ash and his people are out there,