Hunters

Chapter 9

Rachel stepped out of the baggage claim area and scanned the crowd. People leaned against frail metal railings, some with flowers, on tip-toes, waiting for their loved ones, some with homemade signs, waiting for complete strangers, others just hanging in the background.

Outside, the sky was cloudy. Perfect. She'd left her sunglasses in France. Together with all her luggage.

"Welcome to Romania." Daniel said cheerfully, already moving around the railing.

Rachel followed, craning her neck to read the odd writing around her and pick up bits of conversation. She loved traveling.

"Excuse my ignorance, but isn't Romanian supposed to be a Latin language?" she asked while he led the way out of the airport. "Sounds like Russian."

"You don't know Russian." Daniel looked around as though expecting someone. "It actually sounds like Portuguese."

"That sounds like Russian, too."

"I'd love to stand here and explain the roots of the language, but we have work to do." He crossed the street toward the parking lot.

"Grand theft auto again?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of rent-a-car, but if you find it sexier, I'll steal one." He grinned.

Rachel stopped for a fraction of a second then hurried to catch up with him. Why was he flirting with her? And why did she enjoy it so much? He wasn't over Cheryl yet, she knew that. But that didn't stop her entire body from feeling like it was about to combust. Which was weird. Daniel had never made her feel this way before. Heck, Chris had never made her feel this way.

She snapped out of it and concentrated on the procedure of actually getting a car. Daniel conversed with the rental guy in fluent, flawless Romanian, and the two of them were soon inside one of the local brand cars, driving on a four lane road toward downtown Bucharest.

"It's pretty nifty," Daniel said, checking out all the features. "Works well for a seven thousand dollar car."

Cars interested her as much as sports – not at all. Now, if Daniel wanted to discuss weapons, she'd be willing. Rachel sighed and looked out the window. Giant billboards and open fields... more boring than Daniel's car analysis. She looked back at him.

"How long until we get to Bucharest?" 

"A couple of minutes, I guess." He tapped the brakes as they went over a bridge. 

A sea of cars awaited them on the other side, all of them lining up in front of a distant traffic light. A shopping complex, complete with IKEA, stretched to their left. The familiarity of it brought a smile to Rachel's face.

"Where are we going?" she said as they moved an inch forward before stopping again.

"To a hotel. The rental guy suggested a few places. We need a base of operation."

Rachel shifted in her seat. "And how will we pay for all that? We'll need new equipment, too. All our stuff is in France. My credit card is maxed out, and since we're renegades, I doubt the Council will pay us for killing vampires."

"Whoa, hold on a sec." Daniel slowed to a halt and turned toward her. "You thought our money was coming from the Council?"

Rachel frowned. "Well, yes. It's our job to kill vampires, so I supposed we were being paid for it. You gave me that credit card soon after I was turned. You have an identical one."

"Yeah, I know, but the money on it never came from the Council. I'm a renegade, remember? I'm not sure they even pay people for killing vampires."

"Then where is all the money coming from?" Her eyes widened. How come they'd never discussed this before? She could almost hear Daniel saying something like 'who cares where it's coming from?' She cared!