Chapter Eleven: Stefanie Salvatore
Present day
Atlanta, GA
As soon as they had left the mall, they noticed the BMW convertible behind them. It wasn't particularly unusual at that time since the witches-versus-vampires mayhem had caused a lot of people to rush back to their cars and drive as far away as they could. It became a little more suspicious when they were followed towards the interstate, and then evidently clear the moment they stopped at the lights turning onto the interstate, the top came down, and one of the vampires jumped out of the car, speeding past a dozen other cars to reach them on foot.
"Vampire up my rear," Phoenix yelled, choosing to run the red light, which, moments later, turned green anyway.
"It wouldn't be the first time, Phoenix," Stef mocked, looking behind at the vampire who'd failed to reach them.
"Oh, fine, make fun of my bisexuality, why don't you?" Phoenix replied, sliding onto the shoulder to skip the queue of traffic. "Besides, you're one to talk. You think I don't know that our best bartender, Tiffany, quit because you smooched and scrammed? It was during peak season too – do you realize how often I had to re-watch that security footage of you two kissing to justify how many extra shifts I had to pick up?"
Stefanie was aghast. "You were spying on me?"
"You were making out with Tiffany in the store room, of course I was spying on you."
Adam leaned forward in the back seat. "Are you two always like this?"
Simultaneously, Stef and Phoenix yelled, "Yes!" and Adam raised his eyebrows and sat back down.
Phoenix jutted a finger towards Stef. "Tell you what? Next time, don't rely on me for a lift, you can just piggyback these two to safety instead."
"Might be faster," she grumbled, the car behind gaining on them.
Stef leaned over in her seat, sticking her head out of the window, trying to get a better look at how many were in the car that was now also following them up the shoulder. Meanwhile, Raid edged forward, leaning his elbows on the front seats, and asked Phoenix curiously, "So what's the quality like on that make-out footage?"
"Crystal clear," Phoenix declared with a chef's kiss.
Stef dropped back into her seat. "Ava's in the car," she announced.
"Oh, damn, if anyone wants you dead more than Dimitri, it'll be Winifred's daughter." Phoenix pulled back into a lane, putting more pressure on the gas, the road finally clear ahead.
"She still got that weird crush on her brother?" Raid asked.
Phoenix extended a finger to correct him. "Step-brother," he clarified, "and I'm shipping it so long as it gets Cristian off Stef's back, regardless of how weird it is that they grew up together."
"They're gaining on us," Adam warned him.
"Not difficult considering they're in a better car than me," Phoenix replied tartly, the BMW now coming up fast alongside them. "If I don't survive, tell Gabe that it was the cheap-ass salary he gives me that got me killed."
Stef unbuckled her seatbelt and wound down the window. "Knowing Gabe, he'd consider that money well spent." She then pulled herself outside the window, sitting on the doorframe, just as a vampire jumped from Ava's vehicle onto the hood of their car. She thrust her magic into him, causing him to shoot off onto the road, leaving only Ava and one remaining vampire in the vehicle.
She felt a hand grab protectively onto her thigh. She looked down at Raid and smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, vampires have exceptional balance."
The car suddenly shook violently, causing Stef to grab onto the roof of the car.
"Oh, she wants to play at that spell, does she?" she challenged, bringing her foot upon the doorframe.
"Stef, don't be crazy, get back in here!" Phoenix shouted.
Stef bent down to frown at him. "Phoenix, please, have you ever known me to fall, even once?" With that, her other foot came up onto the doorframe, hoisting herself up until finally both feet were on the roof of the car.
Another blow rocked the car, and Stef slid down the windshield onto the hood. She rolled onto her front. Okay, once! she mouthed at Phoenix through the windshield, pointing one finger up in a tally. She regained her footing and charged back onto the roof, facing Ava, who was in the backseat. Palms out, Stef shielded Ava's magic from making contact with their car.
"Very brave, Stefanie," Ava taunted, her thin lips curving into a smile. "But you can't shield your car from magic and stop us from running you off the road." Her car, driven by the vampire, moved across lanes, getting closer.
Ava was absolutely right. "Phoenix, window down!" Now safe enough, he followed her command. Stef knew she couldn't jump into Ava's car, she would just redirect her magic and propel her into the road. She had to attack her while remaining on the vehicle. There was a way, it wasn't well practiced, but her car was almost close enough for it. Just a little closer. "Door open, NOW!"
Stef dropped down, grabbing onto the top of the window frame as Phoenix swung open his car door, her feet pushing off the rear door to gain momentum. If she missed, she'd swing back, but at least she'd still have a hold on the car. She didn't miss. She swung towards Ava, hitting her with her legs so she slammed into the back of the front seats and collapsed into the footwell unconscious, the spell instantly disabled. As the door swung back, bringing Stef along with it, she swirled behind it, slamming it shut as she fell into the car and onto Phoenix's lap.
"Celebrating already?" he teased.
"Hardly," she replied with the double entendre as the vampire started steering Ava's car away from them. "Get me closer." Climbing out of the window, she placed her feet on the doorframe, ready to jump. The vampire swerved left, nearing the left-hand shoulder, which is exactly where she wanted him. With nowhere else to go, his face whipped back and forth between her and the road as she jumped into the passenger seat and snapped his neck with both hands. Phoenix positioned himself behind the car, slowing down while Stef steered Ava's car onto the shoulder, using her magic to apply pressure on the brakes until it stopped.
Phoenix pulled up behind them. "Winifred's going to be pissed you kicked her daughter in the face," he said, as Stef got into the car.
"Winifred needs to teach her daughter not to mess with me," Stef replied. "How far is the safe house?"
"North Carolina," he said, eagerly preparing some music for the long drive.
"I'm sorry, why do we still need to go to a 'safe house'?" Adam asked. "Aren't we safe now?"
Phoenix started counting the reasons off on his fingers. "Firstly, this day has been exhausting and we need to sleep. Secondly, Zara told me we need to get the vervain out of your system –"
"Wait," Raid interrupted, "I haven't been around my ex-girlfriend for days, there's no vervain 'in our systems'."
"Hand!" Phoenix ordered, unconvinced, placing out his palm to receive Raid's. As soon as Raid held his hand out, Phoenix immediately yanked it towards him, extended his fangs, and bit it.
Raid threw himself back in his seat, inspecting the bite marks. "What the fuck, Phoenix!"
Phoenix spluttered heavily, then grimaced like he'd just sucked on a lemon. "Damn, that was fresher than I expected," he said hoarsely.
"It seems someone's been slipping it to you recently," Stef said. "What have you had to drink today?"
"I don't know." Raid struggled to think. "Bottled water – sealed – the coffee...? That's it."
"Did you leave your coffee unattended?"
"No, the only other people near it were Adam and Zara."
"What does it matter if it's in our system or not?" Adam interjected.
What could Stef say to that? Dimitri already suspected they took part in the ritual. They'd never be safe, no matter how far they went, if she compelled them to leave again. There was a protection spell she could cast on them once the vervain had worn off, working much like her compulsion on witches, but it only lasted twenty-four hours and, to be strong enough for the spell, it required drinking directly from the vein. That was something Stef really didn't want to do. Could she imagine herself doing that every single day for the rest of their lives? Feeding on humans? Random strangers? The thought of it made her feel sick.
"Thirdly, Zara will be there," Stef pointed out, dodging Adam's question and adding to Phoenix's list. "She can give you back your memories." What Stef was going to do beyond that remained undecided.
Adam's mouth twitched into a smile. "You convinced me at 'Zara will be there'."
