“I want Kevin’s world,” Grandma Redbird said, smiling fondly at her grandson.
“Well, your world sounds good, son. But I’d settle for peace.”
“Ma’am, my g-ma taught me not to settle,” said Kevin, sending a cheeky grin to his grandma.
“He’s a little fresh, but I believe I shall keep him,” said Sylvia Redbird.
“I’ll tell you what—if you can get the Resistance to trust and accept you, I might believe in that world of yours,” said Tina. “And I might fix you up with a Scottie pup.”
Kevin’s grin was like sunrise. “Promise?”
“As long as we’re not at war and you give her or him a good home—yes, I promise.”
“Deal!” Kevin said.
“Deal,” agreed Tina. “Okay, pack the bags in here and take this Polaris.”
She opened the hatch of the metal box strapped in where the back seats should have been. Kevin loaded the bags inside after Tina moved the blankets, boxes of matches, and baggies of blood …
“Blood!” Kevin exclaimed. “We’re taking them blood?”
“Of course,” Tina said, nonplussed. “Vampyres can’t live on bread and jam alone.”
“But—blood!”
Tina cocked her head. “Young man, in this world where you say humans and vampyres reside as friends, did they also cure the fact that vampyres must have human blood to live?”
“Um, no.”
“So, humans there must be fine with vamps drinking blood, correct?” “Yes, I suppose so,” Kevin said.
“Well, I’m vegan. I really don’t see much difference between drinking human blood and eating a rare steak or a bloody rack of lamb.” She shrugged. “I wouldn’t do either, but to each his own.”
“Who are you?” Kevin blurted.
“Just a retired English teacher. Once you teach at a public high school for a couple of decades, not much rattles you.”
“Obviously. I wish I could’ve been in your classroom. I’ll bet you weren’t boring,” Kevin said.
“I’ll bet I wasn’t either,” Tina said. Then she surprised him by giving him a quick hug. “Stay safe. And remember our deal.”
“No way am I forgetting that you promised me a puppy!”
“Sylvia, you remember how to get to the ridge, don’t you?”
“Oh, I believe so. I seem to recall that we just kept taking right turns,” said Grandma.
“That’s it. Remember to take care at the gate. You touch that electric wire and it’ll fry you.”
“I remember,” said Grandma. She motioned for Kevin to get behind the wheel. “You’re driving, u-we-tsi.”
“Slow and steady,” Tina said as Kevin started the Polaris. “We’ve left those old oil trails rough, especially after what happened at Keystone. You’ll have to stop and move logs a few times. That’s on purpose.”
“I thought you were under Neferet’s protection because of your alfalfa crops,” said Grandma Redbird.
“I am, but lately the dogs have been alerting in the middle of the night, and it’s not at Dragon and our group. I think the Blue Army has been sniffing around here. Be sure you let Dragon know that.”
“I will,” said Grandma.
“When you come to the downed tree that’s too big to move from the path, that’s when you’ll be questioned,” Tina said.
“I have my code phrase. I am ready,” said Grandma.
Tina shook her head. “You know they’re going to believe you’re under the influence of a red vampyre. They may attack before you can convince them otherwise.”
“Then I’ll just have to be smarter and faster than they are,” said the old woman.
Tina smiled wryly. “Good luck.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” said Kevin.
“You don’t have to thank me for helping the Resistance, son. It’s the right thing to do.”
“I wasn’t thanking you for that. I was thanking you for trusting me—for inviting me in.”
“I see. Don’t thank me. Just don’t make me regret trusting you.”
“I won’t. I promise.”
Kevin put the Polaris into gear and headed in the direction his g-ma pointed—toward a barely discernible dirt path that disappeared into the darkness of the Oklahoma ridge. If he hadn’t needed to keep both hands on the wheel to maneuver around ruts and rocks, he would have been cracking the hell out of his knuckles.
4
Zoey
“Zoey! Oh, good we found you. Do you have a sec?” a familiar voice shouted from somewhere down the hall.
I forced myself not to sigh, plastered a smile on my face, and turned as Damien and Other Jack wove their way through the busy hallway to me. Then they caught up with me and my smile became genuine.
“Hi, Damien and Jack. Are you two settling in okay? Anything you need?” I asked. The happiness that radiated from them made my heavy heart feel lighter—if only for a moment.
“Ohmygoddess! Everything here is just so fab!” Other Jack gushed, gazing up at Damien with big, love-filled eyes.
Damien’s grin was for Jack, but he included me in it, sharing the joy. “Z, we have everything we need—each other.”
“And this awesomesauce world,” Jack added.
“Yes, what Jack said. Actually, we wanted to see if we could help you,” Damien said.
“Well, sure. But what do you mean?”
“We’d like to be involved in the redecoration of the Depot Restaurant,” Damien said.
Jack was nodding like a bobblehead doll, though I have to admit he’s a lot cuter than your average bobblehead.
“Have you talked to Kramisha? That’s really her project,” I said.
“We didn’t want to until we cleared our idea with you,” Damien said.
When both of them just stood there grinning at me, I nudged. “Okay, well, what’s the idea?”
“You’re gonna love it!” Jack was hopping up and down in barely controlled excitement.
“We should tell her,” Damien said.
“Yepper, we should!” Jack said.
And then neither of them told me.