"So how far out did you go?" Nadia asked the two. Xyle and Zyer had left for several hours and run following the scent. It had grown fainter, but it seemed that vampires had just picked a direction and went full out until they couldn't. Which meant that if they wanted to follow them then they needed to keep going. They could not know where they stopped, if they found a place to properly set their own wards. Adrellie had some magical ability.
"I believe the city we reached was called Kenton." Zyer said thinking. Nadia raised an eyebrow at him.
"You ran over a hundred miles in like two hours?" She said unbelieving, that was crazy.
"Mythical creatures." Xyle reminded her with a slight smile. "Though I'm starving from the calorie burn." He said and honestly felt like his stomach was going to cramp. He needed normal food, not blood at the moment. Zyer agreed.
"Food should be here in a few minutes." She stated grabbing her phone as it dinged. She felt a slight relief. They all looked at her expectantly.
"Jena says that she can meet at seven." Nadia glanced at the clock. It was five, and it would just be a short drive. Nadia frowned a bit. How convenient that the person who gave the computer to Laural was in this city. Not half way across the world or country.
"So what exactly are we going to ask her?" Lillian kind of twisted her hands a bit. "I don't want to go back into the stories. I like it here." She said honestly. "I don't hurt here." She meant that more emotionally than physically at the moment. Zyer reached up and ran a hand through her hair, a quick kiss to her temple. Nadia had to say, he was a lot more affectionate than the stories said. It made him more real, not this dark asshole alpha that talked down to his mate. Nadia sighed.
"Well, it would be nice to figure out how to shove the vampires back in. Or get them written out of here for one." Nadia stated. "To know if we are now at the mercy of another."
"I think the living are always at the mercy of another." Xyle grumbled. "Guess right now we just have a choice as to which we want. Laural or the unknown." He stated and glanced at the computer that they had open just sitting on the table. Any questions they tried were met with silence.
"I'd also like to know what happens if it is true and someone else is behind that screen. What happens when they finish?" Nadia added.The other three were silent at that. They were all lost in the thought of that when a knock came for room service.
"I have it." Lillian said, moving to go to the door. Nadia raised an eyebrow at the way that Zyer's gaze was glued to Lillian walking away. Boy had it bad, and she half wondered if that was how Xyle stared at her sometimes. She looked away feeling odd at the thought and then jumped when her phone went off in her hand. She looked at the screen and felt irritation.
"Hello?" Nadia said answering it.
"Hey Nadia!" It was Laural. Nadia really wanted to just lay into her for a lot of things. However she was never going to believe what she had to say. Nadia would sound like a lunatic.
"Yeah?" Nadia said not feeling like being nice. Laural didn't sound like she picked up on the attitude in Nadia's voice.
"Who is that?" Xyle asked not knowing the voice. It was a woman, was it this Jena? The voice sounded fake, high pitched and was annoying. Hated the sound of it. Nadia didn't answer right away as Laural started to speak.
"Hey, I got stuck out here for a couple more days. Guess you get a few more to finish the book." Zyer's head turned and it looked like his ear twitched for a moment. He looked at the phone Nadia was holding. A very dark look on his face. That one sentence told them who was on the other end.
"Laura," Nadia started.
"It's Laural, Nadia for the thousandth time." All three heard the name and Lillian set the pizzas down and crossed her arms. They were all staring at her.
"I can't finish your book until the computer gets looked at. Didn't you listen to my message? Hear what I said over voicemail?" Nadia had a very tart tone. Xyle stood up and and took a few steps toward Nadia.
"That her? Let me talk to the bitch." Xyle just felt his anger rise hearing her voice. Goddess, even the sound of her pissed him off. Laural killed him without remorse at all, he never wanted to hit a woman so bad in his life. The scars on his body and some in his mind were her doing too. His anger at her had not changed at all.
"Better yet ask her where she is. We'll go to her." Zyer commented. Nadia took a few steps to keep Xyle from grabbing the phone. She swatted at his hand. He nearly growled at her in irritation.
"I told the publisher that I would submit it on friday ready to go." Laural said like that was final. "Is that a guy's voice? You with someone? You have time to date Nadia, then you can finish my book." Wow, who the hell did Laural think she was?
"Excuse me!" Nadia snapped back in the phone. "You better check your attitude Laural or I will set down this story right now and never touch it again. I'm not your slave, I am a human being who has a life. You don't even pay me what others would charge. Check it or find one of them instead." Nadia just barely kept herself for shouting at her.
"I'm sorry, didn't mean that. Just had a few drinks." Sure didn't sound like she was sorry. More panicked that Nadia would stop.
"Where is she?" Xyle asked eyeing Nadia.
"Far." She said quietly.
"I'm going to be back in a couple days. How far are you on it?" Laural asked her and Nadia pursed her lips. Of course the only reason she was calling her was for this. Nadia clearly felt that they no longer had a friendship. After this, after seeing Xyle and his family she was not feeling very kind toward Laural either.
"It really doesn't matter how far Luara. The computer has frozen and stopped functioning properly. I'm seeing the one that gave it to you in a few hours." She said and did not like how the three in the room were staring at her.
"So the program is a bust?" She asked.
"I would not say that, it does some pretty crazy shit." Nadia supplied and Laural was silent for a minute.
"Okay, well text me when it's working again. I'll get it pushed back I guess." She sounded like it was some huge burden. You know what, fuck her. Did she even know what Nadia was going through right now? Nadia opened her mouth to say more and the phone went dead. She just hung up on her. Nadia pulled the phone and looked at it stunned. Seriously?
"She's a peach." Lillian commented arms crossed and looking angry. Nadia just set her phone down and rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, she's becoming more entitled as time goes." Nadia sighed and looked at the three of them.
"Don't worry, you'll get to meet her. I wouldn't miss that for the world." Nadia added and moved over to grab some of the pizza. She was hungry too.
"Did Laural ever tell you how she came up with our story? Or how she started to write our lives?" Xyle asked taking some of the food. Smell good, he'd not had this before.
"Way back with the first one. I asked her because I liked the idea and thought it was pretty good. Honestly I hadn't thought she could be that creative." Nadia said thinking. "She said that she just had this dream one night about people and creatures. That she kept having it, and so she decided to write it. Then it left her alone, and she realized she could make money on it." Nadia didn't add that Laural had said she felt she could really get the story more turmoil. They were just characters after all and people loved tragedy.
"See, just another type of creature. Some kind of seer, with the ability to manipulate." Lillian stated. Nadia just shrugged. Guess it didn't matter, what was done was done. Though she really didn't want to give the computer back to Laural just in case.
"We will need to get going soon." Nadia said glancing at the clock. "Jena said seven so I'd like to make sure we get there. Sounds like her workplace or something, not sure if this is a break for her or ending her shift." Nadia said and the other three gave varying nods or sounds.
Nadia stepped before the computer and looked at it writing silently. The words still blank but she knew that they were there. It was strange to watch. To know, yet not know, that what she was doing was being written there. Were others already reading this? It irritated her, but at least she didn't feel like she had no control. The others said that there was a constant pressure in their other world since Lillian showed. They now attributed this pressure to whatever Laural had been writing and that was all they could describe it as. A pressure, a current like a tidal wave you saw coming but could not stop. Nadia tapped her lip, then sighed and snapped the top shut on the computer.
"Whoever is coming, let's go. I want to find out about this thing. Plus there are still two vampires running around out there killing people." There was no question about that. The two would feed and kill. Probably make puppets. They needed to stop them.
"Grab the box." Xyle said pointing to the pizza. Zyer was all for that, this was some good stuff. Hit the spot and they were both still hungry. Nadia eyed them.
"Wish I could eat a whole freaking pizza and not worry about it." Nadia grumbled and Lillian gave her a smile. Nadia for one second caught Xyle's gaze. It narrowed a bit and she felt this odd burn in her face. Her mind went back to what happened earlier, she was very quick to move her gaze from his.
"Well if you decide to allow the change Nadia, nothing to worry about then. You are going to have to worry about getting enough. Our bodies cannibalize themselves rather fast for energy." Lillian explained as they walked. Lillian got to the door first for the stairwell to where the car was. Zyer right after her, they weren't going to run there. People were still out. Nadia went to follow Zyer but Xyle put a rather harsh hand out bracing his arm in the doorway. It stopped her as the other two went down the stairs.
"Your words concern me." Nadia didn't really look at him but at his arm. "Do you practice with holding food from yourself Nadia?" Just from what she said before and now Xyle suddenly was concerned. He'd seen female do such things in his world, especially mortal ones who's husbands demanded they look a certain way. Her comments now bothered him, he would not stand for it if she was actually doing something to herself. Nadia felt awkward at his tone. She didn't meet his gaze either.
"No." She said a bit more defensively. She did watch what she ate, she couldn't just go around eating anything and everything. It wasn't his business, she wasn't starving herself okay?
"It was just a statement Xyle." Nadia glanced at him, and felt like swallowing slightly. He was very close and with the way she turned her head he brought his hand off the door. Xyle let his hand brush her face studying her for a moment.
"I will not be happy if you are lying to me. I meant what I said before and there is nothing wrong with how you look." Xyle found it rather bothersome that she clearly seemed to harbor some sort of self image problem. He'd watch her, just to make sure that she wasn't lying. There was a difference between being healthy and being stupid in his opinion. Obviously things were different depending on what you were.
"Thanks." Nadia said a bit awkwardly to his comment that her form was fine. Nadia looked away from him. He raised an eyebrow and moved forward. Zyer and Lillian were looking up at him from a flight down. A questioning look on both their faces. They hadn't really been paying attention talking to each other until they noticed neither were with them.
'Don't worry about it.' Xyle mentally told them both. He'd have spoken mentally with Nadia but her barrier was strong and not down yet. When they bonded that would allow the mental talk. He wasn't going to use his brother to talk about private matters with her.
Neither questioned him and they moved down to the car. Hopefully they were about to get some real answers. Though Xyle was now watching his mate and more concerned about figuring out what she hid behind her confident exterior. He'd figure it out, one way or another he was going to figure out everything about Nadia whether she liked it or not.