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Chapter 4

We'd be driving for a while, the whole time I spent trying to decide what was going on in Rose's head.

Neither of us had said as much as one word and I knew that she was lost in her own thoughts.

Her forehead was a little bit scrunched up, indicating to me that she wasn't just thinking about small trivial things. How could she, after everything that had happened?

I kept my eyes on the road but was very much aware of how she kept glancing over at me, unconsciously, every few minutes, before returning her gaze out the window.

After about an hour, I decided it was time to put a stop to her train of thoughts.

"I know what you're thinking." I said, breaking the silence.

"Huh?"

I couldn't help but feel a little amusement at her. I wasn't even sure why. It was just Rose being…well, Rose.

"And it won't work." I told her, knowing full well that she was planning to escape from me. I knew her that well.

ʺYouʹre planning how to get away from me, probably when we eventually stop for gas. Youʹre thinking maybe youʹll have a chance to run off then.ʺ I knew exactly how her mind work and would put any amount of money to bet that this was her 'plan'.

ʺThis is a waste of time,ʺ she said, gesturing around the car.

ʺOh? You have better things to do than flee the people who want to lock you up and execute you? Please donʹt tell me again that this is too dangerous for me.ʺ I warned her.

I saw her glare at me from the passenger seat.

"Itʹs about more than just you. Running away shouldnʹt be my only concern. I should be helping clear my name, not hiding in whatever remote place youʹre undoubtedly taking me to. The answers are at Court.ʺ

ʺAnd you have lots of friends at Court who will be working on that. It'll be easier on them if they know youʹre safe.ʺ I tried to convince her, not sure if I'd be very successful. I knew Rose well…meaning I knew exactly how stubborn she could be…especially when it came to accepting help from anybody else.

"What I want to know is why no one told me about this – or, I mean why Lissa didn't. Why'd she hide it? Don't you think I'd have been more helpful if I'd been ready?" She asked me. I had a feeling she'd be annoyed about that.

Rose, like me, did not like being out of the loop.

"We did the fighting, not you. We were afraid if you knew, you might give away that something was up." I explained to her. It had originally been Abe's idea, but I had agreed. We didn't need any suspicions whatsoever.

"I would have never told!" She exclaimed. I could see her indignant look from the corner of my eye.

"Not intentionally, no. But if you were tense or anxious…well, you guards can pick up on those kinds of things."

ʺWell, now that weʹre out, can you tell me where weʹre going? Was I right? Is it some crazy, remote place?ʺ

I didn't answer her. I knew I could trust Rose, that much I was sure. But was it safe to tell her yet? I knew that she'd try to escape from my clutches, but if keeping secrets from her kept her with me I was more than willing to try it.

"I hate being out of the loop." She all but growled at me.

The corners of my mouth raised themselves of their own accord slightly.

"Well I have my own personal theory that the more you don't know, the more your curiosity is likely is to make sure you stick around with me." I told her.

sure you stick around with me.ʺ

"That's ridiculous," she replied, starting to argue with me.

I heard her sigh softly.

"When the hell did things get so out of control? When did you guys start being the masterminds? I'm the one who comes up with wacky, impossible plans. I'm supposed to be the general here. Now I'm barely a lieutenant."

I started to tell her that with her attitude and 'Rose-logic', she could never be just a lieutenant when I flash of car headlights caught my eye in the rear view mirror. I saw a black Sudan following along behind our car.

I swore under my breath and quickly racked my brain to find a way to get away from them.

"What's wrong?" Rose asked me. I saw her tense up, no doubt at my own serious state.

"We have a tail. I didn't think it would happen this soon." I told her, my eyes darting from the road to the rear view mirror.

"Are you sure?" she asked me.

I didn't have time to answer her, the Sudan was getting closer to us.

I saw my chance and took it. There was an exit off to the side and I cut across two lanes, ignoring the honks of the cars I had cut in front of. The side of the car clipped the exit ramp's rail.

I looked back and saw that the Sudan had made to follow us.

"The Court must have gotten the word out pretty fast. They had someone watching the interstates." I said, more to myself.

"Maybe we should have taken the back roads." She said to me.

I immediately disagreed. "Too slow. None of it would have been an issue once we switched cars, but they found us too soon. We'll have to get a new one here. This is the biggest city we'll hit before the Maryland border." The bigger the city, the more people and traffic, which meant we would be a lot harder to follow.

We reached Harrisburg and I drove a busy road, still watching the Sudan watching and following our every move.

"What exactly is your plan to get a new car?" Rose asked me, a little timidly, as though she was afraid to hear the answer.

Unfortunately for Rose, this wasn't the time for fear.

I couldn't explain it to her though, we were running out of time and it wouldn't be much longer until the Sudan caught up to us.

"Listen carefully," I started. "It is very, very important that you do exactly as I say. No improvising. No arguing. There are guardians in that car, and by now, they've alerted every other guardian around here – possibly even the human police." It was a possibility. Normally, guardians would keep these situations between fellow guardians but this was not a normal situation.

"Wouldn't the police catching us create a few problems?" Rose asked me, taking in my every word.

"The Alchemists would sort it out and make sure we ended up back with the Moroi." I answered her.

Rose stayed quiet for a few moments while she processed all this. I scanned the area using my guardian senses and skills to look for danger.

"No matter what you think of the choices everyone's been making for you, no matter how unhappy you are with this situation, you know – I know you do – that I've never failed you when our lives were at stake." I needed her to understand this, and to listen to my every word. "You trusted me in the past. Trust me now."

I knew I was asking for a lot. She had trusted me. I had since lost that trust, and that pained me. But I needed her to do this now.

She looked like she was about to argue but thought better of it.

What was that about?

I realised what she was probably thinking. When I was…Strigoi, I'd hurt and used her.

Of course I had let her down.

"Okay." She said softly, snapping me out of my thoughts. "I'll do whatever you say. Just remember not to talk down to me. I'm not your student anymore. I'm your equal now."

Whoa…Where had that come from?

I looked at her, surprise evident on my face. How could she think that I thought she was beneath me in some way? Even as a student I had treated her like she was my own age.

"You've always been my equal, Roza." I told her honestly. I wasn't sure why, but I felt that it was vitally important that she knew this.

Her face softened slightly and I realised that my old nickname for her had slipped out subconsciously.

I guess old habits die hard.

I turned my attention back to the oncoming Sudan, and then back to my surroundings.

"There." I said, pointing to a sign. "Do you see that movie theatre sign?"

Her eyes followed where my hand was pointing to the busy cinema.

"Yes." She replied.

"That's where we're going to meet." I told her, still keeping an eye out for any immediate danger, apart from the hoard of guardians no doubt still right on our tail.

Rose looked as though she was about to argue but remembered that she had promised not to argue. I was glad; neither of us could afford wasted time.

"If I'm not there in a half hour, you call this number and go without me." I told her quickly and handed her the piece of paper that Abe had given me that morning. I was obviously going to try my best to make this plan work, but there was also a strong possibility that I could be taken down by guardians before we got out of the city.

Rose started speaking again but I was too concentrated on making an abrupt, and also dangerous turn in an attempt to lose the gaining Sudan behind me. Luckily, this time, the turn I made was too fast for them to catch it as well; buying myself and Rose some extra time.

I drove into a packed parking lot outside a crowded mall. It was the perfect setting; full of humans so we blended in quite well.

I jumped out of the car and Rose followed me as we walked quickly to the doors of the wall.

"Here's where we split up," I told her. "Move fast, but don't run when we're inside. Don't attract attention. Blend in. Wind through it for a little bit; then get out through any exit but this one. Walk out near a group of humans and head for the theatre." I told her quickly, finishing just as we entered the building.

"Go!"

I gave her a small push to get her moving towards the first floor while I took off along the main one.

I walked quickly, but without attracting attention. The place was buzzing with people as I pushed my way through the crowd.

It took me a good five minutes to manoeuvre my way to the other side of the building, where I slipped out the back door. I was half expecting guardians to be waiting at every entrance but apparently they were further behind that I thought they were. They were probably only discovering our abandoned car now.

When I reached a distance I deemed far enough away, I broke into a light run. I needed to find a car and then get Rose, and get back on the road again.

There was a small neighbourhood in the town and I slowed myself as I made my way down the quiet footpath.

I scouted around the edge of a house, checking and double checking the windows to make sure nobody was home. From the looks of it, there wasn't.

I efficiently lifted the big door of the garage up over my head and peeked inside.

A red convertible beetle.

Damn.

Not inconspicuous, and definitely not ideal for two people on the run.

I dropped the door quietly and ran back to the footpath. I spotted a deserted car pack on the far side on the housing estate and made my way to the other side, jumping the wall efficiently.

About 20 minutes had passed since the time I left Rose so I needed to get a move on. I hoped she'd made to the theatre and was just waiting for me to get there.

I scanned the parking lot quickly and spotted a grey Honda Accord.

I went for it, breaking open the door and ripping off a piece of the plastic under the wheel. I found the ignition wires and started entwining them together, crossing them.

The car started without a problem and I jumped in.

I drove quickly out of the exit to the parking lot, cutting across someone coming from my right.

I drove back across town and stopped on the road outside the movie theatre, my eyes scanning the crowd for Rose.

It didn't take me long to spot her. Her hair was now tied up, but falling out of its messy bun. Her clothes were slightly ripped. She was looking around her, searching.

"Rose!" I called out the open driver's window to her.

Her head turned quickly and without hesitation, she ran to the passenger seat and climbed in.

I gave her a quick once over, all the while hitting the accelerator and speeding away from the cinema.

I made my way back to the main road and kept checking the rear view mirror for fear they had caught on and followed us. It didn't seem like it.

We were both silent for a few minutes but Rose spoke.

"Is there anyone behind us?" She asked me, just as I reached the highway.

"It doesn't look like it. It'll take them a while to figure out what car we're in." I answered her, still not looking in her direction.

"Did you hotwire this car? Did you steal this car?" She asked me, her tone of voice a little disbelieving.

"You have an interesting set of morals." I commented. "Breaking out of jail is okay. But steal a car, and you sound totally outraged."

"I'm just more surprised than outraged." She told me, relaxing a little into the seat and sighing softly. "I was afraid…well, for a moment there, I was afraid you weren't coming back. That they'd caught you or something."

I couldn't help but feel a very small piece of warmth in my chest when she expressed her concern for me.

"No. Most of the time was spent sneaking out and finding a suitable car." I told her. In truth, I was more than lucky to not have fun into any guardians.

We fell into silence once again.

"You didn't ask what happened to me." Rose said after a while, something in her voice telling me that something had annoyed her a bit.

"Don't need to. You're here. That's what counts."

"I got in a fight." She stated.

"I can tell. Your sleeve is ripped."

Rose glanced down at her clothes as though only noticing there dishevelled state.

"Don't you want to know anything about the fight?" She asked me, trying to get my attention.

"I already know. You took down your enemy. You did it fast, and you did it well. Because you're just that good." I told her straight out.

She stayed quiet for about thirty seconds before speaking again.

"Okay. So what now, General?" I felt a little pang of some unidentifiable emotion when she called me General…it was similar to her strange nickname she had given me when we first met. "Don't you think they'll scan reports of stolen cars and get our license plate number?" she continued before I had a chance to try and figure out the new feeling.

"Likely." I answered her. Yes Rose was reckless…and yes she was impulsive, but dumb she was not. "But by then, we'll have a new car – one they won't have any clue about."

I saw her frowning at me from the corner of my eye. "How are you pulling that off?"

"We're meeting someone in a few hours." I told her, remember the clear instructions left by Abe.

"Damn it. I really hate being the last one to know about everything." She grumbled.

We didn't speak again for a long while. I concentrated on driving and keeping an eye out for pursuing guardians while Rose seemed to be lost in her own thoughts. I found myself feeling curious as to what she was thinking.

I refrained from asking her and drove a couple of hours until we arrived in Roanoke in Virginia.

I kept an eye out for a McDonald's sign where told me we were to meet the Alchemist. He had said she was trustworthy and that she and Rose had met before. I had been a bit apprehensive about involving someone I knew nothing about, but if Abe trusted her…I had to too.

"I don't suppose that this is a food break?" Rose asked, obviously spotting the McDonald's sign.

"This is where we catch out next ride." I told her, looking out for this Syndey Sage's car in the parking lot.

I spotted a girl on the far side leaning against a tan SUV, matching the description Abe had given me.

I pulled up next to her and Rose jumped out of the car before it had even stopped moving.

I climbed out after her and saw Rose addressing the young woman. She looked to be about Rose's age.

"Sydney?" she asked her.

The human girl turned at the sound of her name and I noticed the gold tattoo on her cheek.

It was definitely the right girl.

"Hey Rose," she spoke, a small smile on her face. She held up a brown paper bag with a golden arch on it.

"Figured you'd be hungry."

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