In Bloom - Felix Volturi

37. Bait

 By the time I was racing through the vast expanse of the dry Texas desert, clock on the dashboard of Tom's car was hovering around 3AM. I didn't have time to waste, and there was no way to know when or if I'd found the most ideal spot.

Maybe there just wasn't a 'most ideal' spot to dump the body of an ex.

I donno, I could be wrong.

Regardless, it'd been a good hour since I'd seen a light as I rode down the highway, not since I'd pulled away from the long out-dated gas station I'd stopped at just long enough to refuel the car - and fill a couple of five gallon gas canisters. It was going to be a long ride.

Out in the desert, I was alone. I could see anyone, hear anything. I kept going for a few more minutes - for the hell of it - and without much thought, I jerked the steering wheel to the right and peeled off of the vacant highway. Dust billowed from underneath the car as it barreled farther from the road, into the true nothingness of west Texas. The last fifteen minutes of the ride were rough, the car wasn't built for off roading, to say the least. I clenched my jaw and powered through, sending a patch of tumbleweeds billowing away as I sped by.

I abruptly jammed my foot on the break, bringing the car to a shuddering halt. Without hesitation, I swung the driver's side door open and hauled myself out of the car, leaving the keys in the ignition. I yanked my luggage out of the back seat and tossed it away from the car, narrowly missing a patch of cacti. I wasn't concerned, I just needed it out of the way.

Next came the gasoline. I unloaded the canisters from the floor of the passenger seat where I'd wedged them back at the station. Gas sloshed as I doused the interior of the car - I coated as much surface space as I could. Once one canister was empty, I simply tossed it into the backseat of the car and popped the second one open. I saved most of the gas in that one for the trunk; the corpse needed to burn, and it needed to burn fast.

Not that I suspected anyone would be unfortunate enough to stumble upon this wreckage before it way too late. Tom was gone. Just like that, I'd wiped him off the face of the earth with just a little gas and a Zippo.

Scorching heat billowed across the earth, engulfing me at all angles, when the car erupted into flames. The fire roared as it reached high into the night sky; the car, and everything in it, didn't have a prayer.

My hair whipped around my face as I stared at my handiwork, taking a moment to enjoy the grim serenity of the moment. I still had to get my happy ass back to Italy - and with nothing but a suitcase and a guitar, I knew I'd have to get creative.

"Well, I'll be damned," I heard Felix's voice come from the surrounding darkness.

I didn't make a move to look for him.

"I didn't think you'd actually do it," I heard him say, much closer now.

"Don't underestimate me," I said. It came out like a threat.

"Fair enough." Felix was standing next me then. I peeked up at him, not wanting to give him any more attention than I absolutely had to. He didn't deserve it.

He caught me staring and grinned widely at me. Cocky motherfucker. He knew I missed him; and if he knew what was good for him, he had better have missed me three times as much.

"Nowhere to hide out here like a little bitch," I sneered.

"You needed time to yourself," Felix replied, his smile unwavering. I don't want to honk my own horn, but he did seem pleased to see me again.

"Why even bother coming back?" I deflected. "Obviously I don't need you for shit."

"You truly believed I would be able to leave you behind?" Felix asked, shifting to look at me head on.

"I'm too human for you, remember?" I mocked him.

"You're colder than I expected," he allowed.

"You're cold enough for the both of us."

"I'm not that bad," Felix chucked, flashing his fangs.

"You're a professional executioner - and you love your job," I pointed out.

"Hmm," Felix exhaled loudly. "Then maybe I can tolerate being with a woman who is a little...soft at times."

"Call me soft one more time and I'll set your big ass on fire," I threatened him with a small shove. My hair swished against my back as I strutted over to grab my bags. "Let's get the fuck out of here," I called over my shoulder. "I'm ready to go home."

"Not so fast," Felix said.

I set my bags back down and raised an eyebrow at him.

"I spoke to Aro."

Of course, Aro knew what Felix was up to this whole time. Fucking liar. But what else was new?

"He has instructed me to clean up your mess and take you to a meeting point to wait for the rest of the coven to arrive."

"The whole coven?" I asked, trying to hide my shock. I knew I'd been chaotic lately, but damn. I didn't think it warranted getting the whole coven involved. "Why?"

"He's been successful in extracting information from our little friend from Amsterdam," Felix elaborated, strolling closer. "We are to meet with the rest of the coven so we can address the root of the problem while we are already out here in the US."

"What exactly did he find out?" I asked, curiosity overruling all of my senses.

"There is a larger group out in the backwoods of Idaho. As it turns out, our little friend was a part of a much larger group. They were one of three vampires that were going about forming a following of human worshippers. The group resides on a central compound; most, if not all, of the criminals can be located there."

"Do the followers, the humans, know what they are?" I asked. Any human with any knowledge of our kind had to be executed; a circle of groupies would meet the same fate.

"Yes."

"How many?" I almost didn't want to ask.

"Thousands."

"Thousands?" I repeated, almost choking on my own breath.

"Yes," Felix confirmed without an inkling of concern. "But, don't concern yourself with the matter. It will all be taken care of by this time tomorrow."