L-pov

I felt the heat invade my lungs. The air was filled with the heavy smell of junk food while two walls of muscles were placed on either side of me. Moans of satisfaction cut through the tension-filled cabin, and I couldn't help but wriggle my nose in slight disgust.

"Hey Rose, are you enjoying that cheeseburger? It is a little hard to tell, you are being so quiet," Christian snarked sarcastically beside me while a small smile graced his lips.

"Mmm, it is a double bacon cheeseburger, for your information, and I think I am in love with it," she moaned, stuffing more in her mouth.

Adrian chuckled. "If I had known six months ago that was all it would take to hear the L-word, it would have saved me a lot of money!"

She glared at him. "Six months ago it would have cost you more than a burger. Two burgers probably, and three big fries – actually why didn't you get me fries?" She asked half-offended, and he sighed.

"Because, as the woman said, they would have to make them first, and we don't have time for that. Now, are you sure Abe is going to meet us there?" Adrian asked, a tiny bit of annoyance sneaking into his voice.

Rose shrugged and swallowed another bit before answering. "No idea, but that is where my mother told us to be."

"Why didn't you just call him directly?"

She laughed a little. "It is not like I have his number. He usually just shows up out of nowhere." She shrugged and dug back into her burger. Adrian groaned but took the next exit, as Guardian Hathaway had instructed. I tilted my head slightly to look out the window and accidentally ended up leaning against Christian's shoulder. When he didn't protest I stayed there and stared out the window. It was almost 8 hours since we left court, how long till the day was up? 24 hours, or just until midnight? Or well midday, if they were on vampire schedule. And did it end when the day was up, or would it continue till we stopped them?

"Why are we stopping?" Christian's voice broke me out of my thoughts. We had pulled in at a gas station, and Adrian had turned the engine off and was on his way out of the door.

"Because we need gas and I need a break from driving – is there anyone who can take the wheel for a while?" Turned out the only one with a license was Dimitri, through Rose protested, claiming to have excellent driver skills. She did, I knew from experience but choose not to tell, as I felt a bit uncomfortable letting the suicidal woman drive. So, despite her protests, she and Dimitri ended up in the front while Adrian climbed in beside me in the back. I think Adrian was actually trying to get a little distance from Rose before he snapped at her. I had seen the annoyance in his aura for a while, as Rose kept not taking this seriously. Meanwhile, I saw Rose's grow a shade darker, as Dimitri sat in the driver's seat beside her. She huffed and leaned against the window, only speaking when giving a direction. It didn't get long till we pulled up at a movie theater. It was noon human-time, and there were only a few cars scattered around the parking lot. One was a black SUV and caught my attention – was this a goddamn spy movie?

No, it was not. Instead of a man with sunglasses jumping out of the black SUV, it was a woman in a long sundress that waved us over to a silver-gray Toyota C-HR. Rose was first out of her seat, jumping out and demanding answers from the woman immediately.

"Are you one of Mazur's people?" I never heard her refer to her dad so business-like, but figured she didn't want to reveal their relation to a stranger. The woman nodded and held out a set of keys for the car.

"The coordinates are already put in the GPS, Mazur awaits for you at the destination. He said to leave any cell phones here as they can be traced, I have left two with his and each other's numbers coded in." She held an expecting hand out for our cells. It draws on me that most people would have one, but apparently, no one in our group was carrying one. The woman realized that too and awkwardly pulled back her hand. "Good luck." She bid us and let us take off. Dimitri took the wheel but ended up with Christian in the passenger seat as Rose climbed into the backseat with Adrian and me. She leaned against the window and pretended to sleep. I looked at Adrian, who was watching her from his spot beside me.

"What happens after we find Abe?" Christian asked from the front, and Adrian shrugged.

"I don't know, but it will be a lot easier to protect her from herself when we don't have to hide from a series of assassins."