I'm back. Hm. What can I say now…I don't know. Oh, if anyone has any ideas of songs to play at a wedding reception, PLEASE TELL ME! No, I'm not getting married. Wow, that's scary thought. But you don't really don't know how old I am, so…anyway, my sister is getting married. And I've been given the task of finding music and downloading and putting it on our music player device thinger (we're not sure how we're playing the music yet). And I'm going to have an epic fail and be murdered by the family if I don't get my act together and get some ideas. So if you want an alive author that can write more chapters, your best bet is to give me some ideas.

Okay, done ranting about weddings. And sister, if you happen to be reading this, I'm happy I got the job. I'm not complaining, don't worry.

Okay, now I'm really done.

Shadow Sapphire Chapter Four

"There it is." Delos pointed to an opening in the trees.

The pass. The way out that so many slaves had tried futilely to find over the years. The one slaves had been killed for even knowing about.

"Guys, how are we getting to Montana?" Jeanne asked suddenly.

"By car…" I began, my eyes widened when I realized the problem with that.

"Where are we getting a car?" Jeanne asked grimly.

"We could just find one and hotwire it." Miles suggested.

"In other words, steal it," I said skeptically.

"Well…yeah." Miles admitted.

"I'm fine with that. If Delos doesn't get to Circle Daybreak, then all the humans are going to be killed anyway, right? I think one can live with his car being stolen if it means the world gets to live." Jeanne put in.

"That's one way of thinking of it. Yeah, I guess I don't really mind." I agreed.

"Can one of you actually drive a car?" Delos spoke up.

I looked at Miles. "You're driving. I drive, and we crash. Jeanne drives, we crash." I shot her a smile. "And if Delos drives…"

"It can't be that hard." Delos protested.

"You don't even know what a car is." I told him.

"And your point would be…"

I rolled my eyes at him and said firmly, "Miles is driving. Besides, we're going to have to stop at fast food joints. It's better if the female worker isn't distracted with staring at you to make our food properly."

He scoffed but said nothing more. Then we reached the pass. It was actually a space between two boulders, a very small space. Miles ended up just shifting and flying over. Delos easily climbed over the boulders, and when he reached the top he reached a hand down for me. I gratefully took it and he lifted me up beside him like I weighed two pounds. Jeanne looked up at us, then at the smooth surface of the rock and shook her head.

"I'll do it my way." She said, turning sideways and managing to squeeze through to the other side.

I laughed and jumped down beside her, Delos landing soundlessly beside me like a cat. A black hunting cat. Miles gave a screech in his falcon form, turning a few spirals and rolls and swoops before finally going into a nosedive back to the ground. He shifted back to human form and took Jeanne's hand. Then we looked around us, wondering which direction to go in now.

"Did you see anything while you were up there, or were you to busy fooling around?" Delos asked Miles haughtily.

"No, actually, I did see something." I thought Miles was going to make a joke about seeing trees or something, but he gave a half-decent answer. "I saw what looked like a town over that way."

Miles gestured to our right, so we nodded and kept walking. Miles shifted back into a falcon and soared back into the sky to lead us in the right direction. I looked around our surroundings, and discovered that we were in what looked like a prairie. A prairie near the coast of the USA? Maybe we weren't quite where we thought we were…Fortunately, the town was near enough, so we came across it soon enough. I searched for a sign telling us what town it was, but when I found one it was too far away for me to read.

"Yakima." Delos said to Jeanne and I, and Miles shrieked agreement from the sky.

"Yakima! We're still in Washington! About middle of the state, I think." I said excitedly, recognizing the name. (A/N yes, it is a real town/city.)

"I'll take your word for it." Delos muttered to me.

I smiled and said, "I know what I'm talking about. I hope."

Miles flew down to us and shifted to human behind a sign so no one inside the town would notice him. Although it was kinds weird, seeing a falcon dive behind a sign and then a teenage boy walk out five seconds later smiling. Not very inconspicuous. He walked over to us and we went into the town together, looking around for signs of people or a car we could take or something else we might need.

"We should get a map." I realized suddenly.

"Obviously, Mag." Miles rolled his eyes.

"Well, no one said anything about one before. I'm just reminding you. Look, there's a gas station right there, they'll have maps." I pointed, and we set off in that direction.

I glanced up at Delos. His face was expressionless as always, but his eyes were flickering like crazy over everything around us. He was like a cat dropped in an ocean. He didn't know what to do with himself and he didn't recognize anything. He was drowning in new discoveries. I gripped his hand tighter. Delos felt it and returned my squeeze.

This is what the rest of the world looks like. I thought at him, knowing he'd pick up on it.

I see. Delos managed.

Then an eighteen-wheeler semi roared past us. We were on the sidewalk, it was on the road, and Delos still went rigid and stared at with unreadable eyes as it blew past.

"What was that?" he asked tightly and quietly.

I knew he hated asking. It was a blow to his pride. I understood, so I answered as quietly as he had.

"They're called semis. They carry supplies, cargo to plants and factories or stores or wherever. There's a driver in the cab part that steers it and makes it go at whatever speed they want. You do not want to get hit by one. I mean, at least a human doesn't." I explained softly.

What's making it run? Not horses, obviously. Now I could hear genuine curiosity and thirst for knowledge in his voice.

You remind me of Miles. He's always asking how things work. And I don't really know exactly how it works, but under that front part, the hood, there's an engine. The driver pushes the gas pedal up or down, and that controls how much gasoline goes to the engine. The more gasoline in the engine, the faster it goes. They can slow down by raising the pedal, so they're sending less to the engine, so it goes slower. I thought.

I get it. So eventually you run out of gas. Then you go to a… 'gas station'?

I was stunned for a moment. If I was in his place, there would be no way in hell I would have thought of that without someone explaining.

You remind me of Miles, but you're a lot smarter than he is. I grinned as I thought it. Yeah, you're right. At the gas station you pump more gas into the tank, and you're on your way again. You know if you need to stop and get more because there's a gas gauge that beeps when you're getting low.

How does it know when you're getting low? Now he was really curious.

But I didn't really know the answer to his question. I don't know. It just does. Somehow. Ask Miles. I bet he knows.

I said it, but I doubted he actually would.

"Hurry up, you two." Jeanne called back at us.

I glanced up at her. Sure enough, her and Miles were waiting at the door, way ahead of us. Delos started walking faster, and, his stride being much longer than mine, I pretty much had to jog to keep up. Jeanne and Miles went inside and we followed. Miles cheerfully took Jeanne's hand and walked to the counter, where all the maps were on a shelf. The clerk was giving us a weird look, and then I realized that we were dressed like people from the 1400s.

"Costume party." I said quickly.

His brow cleared and he nodded. Miles picked a map up and apparently decided it would do, because he handed it to the clerk and he rang it up before handing it back and giving Miles his change.

Delos raised an eyebrow. Explain.

Um. Okay, Miles gave him a five dollar bill, which is way more than the cost of the map. The cashier put the barcode of the map into the little machine, and the machine tells him how much change to give for a five.

Ah.

Then Miles turned and we walked back out of the store.

"So where are we stealing a car from?" Jeanne asked, looking at me.

I turned to Miles, who turned to Delos. "Can you influence the humans to just give us a car?"

Delos nodded. "Shouldn't be too hard."

"Look, let's go over to that mall. There's bound to be people driving in and out that we can stop." I suggested.

Miles agreed, and then we took off towards the mall I had pointed to. For five minutes we prowled around the parking lot, feeling like criminals. Well, I should say Delos prowled. Miles, Jeanne, and I tried to look remotely as expressionless and carefree as him, but we didn't succeed. We looked like criminal wannabes. He looked like a panther in human form.

"That one!" Miles hissed.

We looked where he was gesturing, and Delos set off to 'convince' the owners that they didn't need their car anymore. Thankfully it was a middle-aged man, with no kids. I would have felt bad if we were leaving kids stranded. Jeanne, Miles and I quickly followed Delos, but we stayed a few feet away as he strode up to the man. Delos looked him in the eye, and I could see that his golden eyes were persuasive and slightly threatening.

"You don't need your car anymore. You can give it to us." Delos said, his voice convincing. If I were in the man's spot, I would have given him the car right away.

"Yes, yes, of course. I don't need my car. You can have it. Take the keys." The man said, his eyes glassy and the pupils dilated.

Then he reached into his pocket and threw the keys to Delos. It was a bad throw, but of course Delos wasn't going to miss with his vampire reflexes. Deftly catching the keys, he said to the man, "Now you are going to walk into the building, and you are going to forget you ever did this. You are going to forget you owned this car. Now go."

The man turned and hurried off, and then Delos turned and tossed the keys to Miles.

"Let's go." He said.

Miles nodded and walked around to the driver side. Opening the door, he commented, "This was a good one to take. There's room for us, and it's not big and conspicuous."

He was right. It was a little dark blue Alero. Miles sat in the driver's seat, and Jeanne quickly claimed the passenger seat. Delos and I sat in the back, and I watched in amusement as Miles reminded himself what did what up front.

"As long as you know which one the gas pedal is, we're good." Jeanne smiled.

"And the brakes. Let's not forget the brakes." I told her.

She looked at me and scoffed, "Who needs brakes? If we have to stop, it's either because a car's in the way, or an animal's in the way, or there's a stop sign. If a car or animal are in the way, we can swerve and go around them. If there's a stop sign, well, what's it gonna do, bash you over the head if you don't stop?"

I stared at her. "Jeanne, you are most definitely not ever driving. I'll have Delos hold you down if you try it."

"Maybe he's on my side. Maybe I'll show him how to drive if he let's me try first." Jeanne cocked her head at Delos.

"Not a chance, Jeanne. If Maggie says you're not driving, you're not driving. And besides, I'm not blind. I can watch what Miles does and learn that way." Delos said, his eyes amused.

"Humph." Jeanne grumbled, turning back to the front.

Miles pulled out of the parking space and drove out of the lot and onto the road. Delos was watching what he did like a hawk. Miles got us out onto the highway before he passed the map to Jeanne and she opened it to figure out where we needed to go. She stared at it for about five minutes before shaking her head and shoving it at me.

"I don't do maps." She said simply before looking out her window.

I sighed and unfolded it to trace my finger along the highways until I figured out where we needed to go and which roads to take. Delos leaned over and looked blankly at the map.

These are the highways, and that's a river, and these are the towns. See, here's Yakima, and here's Seattle, and here's Hannibal. So…the fastest way, I think, would be to take these roads. I explained gently, pointing out all the roads.

He nodded and settled back into his seat, putting his hand over mine.

"Maggie, which way do I turn?" Miles asked as the road we were on made a T with another road.

"Uh, left." I said. "Miles, I think the first thing we should do is go to a clothes store and find some modern clothes. The less time we spend walking around like this, the better."

"Good point. There's a mall right on the south side of Seattle, I think. We can stop there." Miles announced.

The rest of the drive was uneventful, until Jeanne's stomach started growling. Not long after her, mine started growling as well.

"We need to stop for food, as well, I take it?" Miles grinned at Jeanne.

"Yes, please." Jeanne groaned, rubbing her stomach.

I glanced at Delos. As if reading my thoughts, he murmured to me, "I'm fine. I'm not thirsty."

"Hm." I gave him a suspicious look. "That's what you said last time."

"And I meant it last time, and I mean it now."

"You were thirsty last time!" I said indignantly.

"I was not. You cut your lip and made it impossible." Delos denied.

"Oh, sure." I rolled my eyes, but neither of us said anything else.

Miles turned into an A&W, and he ordered two burgers for himself and one each for Jeanne and I. The worker handed us our food, and we drove off. As soon as Miles had his window rolled back up, Delos said flatly, "That was a werewolf."

I stared at him. "Are you sure?"

He looked at me. "Of course I'm sure."

"He's right. I knew there was something about him." Miles said.

"And he's going to be wondering what a vampire and a shapeshifter are doing with two humans." Delos said.

"But what can he do?" I wondered.

"Nothing, really. It's just that if word gets to someone more important, like an Elder, the might recognize a description of me. And they'll know something is up if they find out I haven't killed all three of you." Delos explained.

"We'll just have to hope that they don't find out." Jeanne said, easily brushing it off.

I sighed and returned to my food. Nothing else happened until it got dark and Miles looked like he was going to pass out soon. I wasn't much better. My head was on Delos's shoulder, and he was slowly rubbing my back. My eyes felt heavy, and then I fell asleep.

(A/N And for once I won't end it when she falls asleep.)

When I woke up, I was lying down. I cracked open an eye and looked around. When I didn't recognize my surroundings, I shot up and looked around wildly.

"Relax, Maggie. We're at a hotel. Miles and Jeanne are in the room beside us." I heard Delos's voice in the darkness.

My eyes weren't adjusted yet, so I felt around for him. My fingers collided with something hard. His arm? I closed my fingers and decided that it was his arm.

"When did we get here? How did I get up here?" I asked.

"We pulled over into this hotel when Miles was going to collapse. He made it to the desk and checked us in and made it to his room, and then he crashed on the bed. I carried you up here." Delos explained.

"Okay. What time is it? How long have I been asleep?" I fired some more questions at him.

Then I waited while he rolled over and glanced at the clock. "It's 2:00 in the morning, so you've been asleep for seven hours. We're on the very edge of Seattle."

"Did I wake you up?" I wondered guiltily.

"No. Even if you did, I sure wouldn't care. I was awake, trying to figure out what the hell we're going to do if Circle Daybreak relocated somewhere else. And I didn't think of anything."

"We'll figure something out." I told him, dragging myself over to him and pressing my lips to his.

Ah, sweet heaven. Delos lifted his arms and placed them around my waist before pulling me down on top of him. That's when I happily discovered that he didn't have a shirt on. I deepened the kiss, and wrapped my arms around his neck, one hand in his black hair. Delos raised one hand off my waist to touch my cheek gently. I leaned my face into his palm, and his thumb caressed my cheekbone. Then I opened my eyes to look into his golden ones. They were soft and caring, and so tender my heart swelled just looking into them. Delos rolled over then, so he was pressing me into the bed. He laughed at my surprised expression, and then I pulled his head down to me. I swear my heart will never cease to beat twice as fast when he's kissing me. I think he heard it pick up with his vampire hearing, so he pulled his mouth away and laid an ear on my chest, just listening to it thump. I tangled my hand in his hair, playing with it while we lay there. Then he raised his face to look at me again.

"I love you." I murmured.

"I love you, Maggie." Delos whispered back.

Then he lifted himself off me and lay beside me. I rolled onto my side so I could rest my head on his bare chest, raising one hand to trace it while I listened to his heartbeat. I fell asleep listening to it. Thump, thump, thump…

Okay, I lied, I did end when she fell asleep. But are you satisfied, or do you want more romance, Ayr? Who am I kidding, of course there'll be more!

Lol. Not much to say here this time.

Thanks to ILOVEYOUPAT for suggesting a song!

*SanraitaFang*