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something bigger, but I hate to keep asking the vampires for favors. I don’t want to get in their debt or anything. Though Donovan has lent me cars in the past….” I let the last part trail off, knowing it would do the trick. It bothered Toni to no end that I hung out with what she ironically considered to be monsters.
    “Sure, grab your car, and feel free to use my truck if you need to actually carry anything.” She pulled a set of keys out of her purse and handed them to me. “Notice how I gave you permission so you didn’t have to go ahead and steal it?”
    “Now when have I ever stolen anything from you?” She laughed and I smiled. I had borrowed her bike a couple of times—using the term “borrowed” loosely. I think the couple of cases of grand theft cycle were actually what ended up attracting Toni to me. As an alpha, she responded in strange ways to overt displays of dominance.
    I gave her a hug, not able to stop it from turning into a kiss that lingered until a nurse came in and made disapproving sounds.
    “I’ll see you around, Toni.”
    “Oh, you can count on it. We’re going to do some celebrating, remember? Tomorrow night. I’ll be there at six.”
    “I thought the doc said you might be in another day.”
    “Don’t you worry about the doctor. Just focus on ensuring that brother of yours is out of the apartment. Three’s a crowd.”
    “Will do! Take care of yourself.” I got out of there as quickly as I could. I wouldn’t be back in California by tomorrow night—or probably ever. Which was a good thing: if the vampires didn’t kill me, then the unholy tantrum Toni was going to throw for standing her up would.
    I retrieved my car from her garage, then stopped at a diner for breakfast. Even if I did need to get out of town, I functioned better when I wasn’t hungry, and the rush hour traffic would be a bear for the next hour or so anyway.
    After finishing a rare uninterrupted meal, I stopped by a post office to overnight Toni’s keys back to her at the hospital. Then I filled up the tank of my battered old Miata and headed east to Texas.

Chapter 3
    I was on the road again, only this time I was heading toward my troubles. It was a long drive from the Bay Area to Central Texas, about twenty-six hours if you drove it straight through, which I had no intention of doing. I was sub-optimal when not well fed and rested, and I had a feeling I would need to be at my best to have any chance of surviving the next couple of days.
    I checked the call history on my phone before tossing it out the window along Highway 5, somewhere in California’s Central Valley. I didn’t want to run the risk of Christian being able to use its GPS to track me. Megan had called several times, as had my manager at Game Shack. In a cowardly move of epic proportions, I had turned my ringer off when I received Megan’s first call. After that, I let each one fall straight through to voice mail.
    I replaced my jettisoned smart phone with a cheap pre-paid one at a gas station convenience store an hour later. I entered the few worthwhile numbers I knew into speed dial. I would make sure to use only cash for all purchases from here on out, another precaution in case Christian could somehow track my credit or debit cards. Thanks to my last job, I was stocked up on paper currency, even after what I left for my brother. Still, I couldn’t afford to squander it on things like clean sheets and healthy food. There was no telling how many days I had to make it last. That night, I shared a room with a colony of roaches at a thirty-dollar-a -night highway special in Eastern Arizona.
    The roaches and I parted ways not too long after daybreak and I continued the drive eastward, stopping only for gas and the occasional drive-through for a bite to eat. Because of all the hardware I was carrying, I never strayed too far above the speed limit. I was carrying more illegal weapons than a rebel army.
    At lunch, I called Toni on my new