Vampire Academy: Last Sacrifice (Dimitri's POV)

Chapter Five

This Alchemist, Sydney, had our new car. It was from Louisiana. Brilliant. Nobody would ever think we drove our current car all the way over there. Rose had something to say about it though.

"What the hell?" she exclaimed. "Is this daring escape being sponsored by Honda?" Nobody replied, although it reminded me of the adverts before all the John Wayne films I'd watched on TV. She tried another question, "Are we going to New Orleans?" I presumed that this was Sydney's allocated area. We were in the car now and I realised Sydney was a very careful driver. This was going to be boring next to our Formula One PC Game recreation. She reversed out of the parking area slowly.

"No," she replied. "We're going to West Virginia." Rose gave me a sharp look.

"I assume by 'West Virginia,' you actually mean 'Hawaii,' or some place equally exciting." Being Rose, she didn't appreciate the beauty of the area. Although I had to admit, Hawaii did sound pretty appealing. Sydney frowned.

"Honestly, I think you're better off avoiding excitement right now. And West Virginia's actually really pretty."

"Why are you helping us?" Sydney grimaced.

"Why do you think?"

"Abe." Abe Mazur, or so I'd heard, was a very ingenious man. He wasn't even from royal bloodlines but could manipulate anything and anyone. With Janine Hathaway as her mother and Abe as her father, it was no wonder Rose was notorious for her crazy plans. It seemed that Sydney owed something to Abe.

"I'm beginning to wonder if New Orleans was worth it," she sighed. This gave me more clues in this never ending puzzle. I tried to keep my face calm as I realised that Abe must've done something pretty big to get her back home. She seemed extremely loyal to people she believed were 'creatures of the night'.

"Okay. So why are we going to Vest Virginia?" Rose was starting an interrogation now. Sydney was about to explain but I knew Rose better. If she knew what we were up to, she would find some way out of it.

"Not yet," I interrupted. I couldn't risk losing her out there. She glared at me, her brows lowered over her light brown eyes.

"I am so sick of this!" Her outburst seemed to shock Sydney, but I was prepared for it. "We've been on the run for six hours now, and I still don't know all the details. I get that we're staying away from the guardians, but are we seriously going to West Virginia? Are we going to make some cabin our base of operation? Like, one on the side of a mountain that doesn't have plumbing?"

Again, Sydney gave an exasperated sigh. Even in the few weeks she'd known her in Russia, she'd realised that Rose was a force to be reckoned with, but not the sharpest knife in the drawer when it came to academic subjects. "Do you actually know anything about West Virginia?" Rose, naturally, ignored her.

"You know we've been set up, right? We didn't really do anything. They say I killed the queen, but-" Sydney cut her off.

"I know. I've heard all about it. All the Alchemists know about it. You two are at the top of our most wanted list." Huh. We even beat Victor Dashkov. The silence was awkward, and I knew Rose and I both shared the same urge to make at least a small conversation to break it up. Tension radiated off of Sydney, and I believed that was mainly due to me. Sydney was used to Rose, but I could easily imagine myself towering over her. The thought was quite intimidating, so I tried to appear as calm and easy-going as possible.

"I didn't do it." Rose's claim broke the silence, but I still believed that Sydney was sceptical.

"You should eat. Your food's getting cold. We've got a little over three hours to go and won't be stopping except for gas." At this, Rose ripped open the bag. The smell of melted cheese and salty chips wafted through the air and it had never smelt so good. She handed me a cheeseburger.