"I think I saw one in a cave down the road,' I said.
That almost got a smile from her. "There's got to be some town close by where I could use my laptop.'
"But it's probably not a good idea to take the car out anywhere in this state,' said Dimitri. "Just in case someone at the motel got your license plate number.'
"I know,' she said grimly. "I was thinking about that too.'
Our brilliant scheming was interrupted by a knock at the door. Without waiting for an answer, Sarah stuck her head inside and smiled. "Oh, good. You're all awake. We're getting breakfast ready if you want to join us.'
Through the doorway, scents of what seemed like a normal breakfast drifted in: bacon, eggs ... The bread had gotten me through the night, but I was ready for real food and willing to roll the dice on whatever Raymond's family had to offer.
In the house's main section, we found a flurry of domestic activity. Raymond appeared to be cooking something over the fireplace while Paulette set the long table. It already had a platter of perfectly ordinary scrambled eggs and more slices of yesterday's bread. Raymond rose from the fireplace, holding a large metal sheet covered in crisp bacon. A smile split his bearded face when he spotted us. The more of these Keepers I saw, the more I kept noticing something. They made no attempts to hide their fangs. From childhood, my Moroi were taught to smile and speak in a way that minimized fang exposure, in case they were out in human cities. There was nothing like that here.
"Good morning,' said Raymond, carefully pushing the bacon onto another platter on the table. "I hope you're all hungry.' "Do you think that's, like, real bacon?' I whispered to Sydney and Dimitri. "And not like squirrel or something?'
"Looks real to me,' said Dimitri.
"I'd say so too,' said Sydney. "Though, I guarantee it's from their own pigs and not a grocery store.'
Dimitri laughed at whatever expression crossed my face. "I always love seeing what worries you. Strigoi? No. Questionable food? Yes.'
"What about Strigoi?'
Joshua and Angeline entered the house. He had a bowl of blackberries, and she was pushing the little kids along. From their squirming and dirty faces, they clearly wanted to go back outside. It was Angeline who had asked the question.
Dimitri covered for my squeamishness. "Just talking about some of Rose's Strigoi kills.'
Joshua came to a standstill and stared at me, those pretty blue eyes wide with amazement. "You've killed the Lost? Er--Strigoi?' I admired his attempt to use "our' term. "How many?'
I shrugged. "I don't really know anymore.'
"Don't you use the marks?' Raymond scolded. "I didn't think the Tainted had abandoned those.'
"The marks--oh. Yeah. Our tattoos? We do.' I turned around and lifted up my hair. I heard a scuffling of feet and then felt a finger touching my skin. I flinched and whipped back around, just in time to see Joshua lowering his hand sheepishly.
"Sorry,' he said. "I've just never seen some of these. Only the molnija marks. That's how we count our Strigoi kills. You've got ... a lot.'
"The S-shaped mark is unique to them,' said Raymond disapprovingly. That look was quickly replaced by admiration. "The other's the zvezda.'
This earned gasps from Joshua and Angeline and a "What?' from me.
"The battle mark,' said Dimitri. "Not many people call it zvezda anymore. It means "star.''
"Huh. Makes sense,' I said. The tattoo was, in fact, kind of shaped like a star and was given when someone had fought in a big enough battle to lose count of Strigoi kills. After all, there were only so many molnija marks you could cram on your neck.
Joshua smiled at me in a way that made my stomach flutter just a little. Maybe he was part of a pseudo-Amish cult, but that didn't change the fact that he was still good- looking. "Now I understand how you could have killed the Tainted queen.'
"It's probably fake,' said Angeline.
I'd been about to protest the queen-killing part, but her comment derailed me. "It is not! I earned it when Strigoi attacked our school. And then there were plenty more I took down after that.'
"The mark can't be that uncommon,' said Dimitri. "Your people must have big Strigoi fights every once in a while.'
"Not really,' said Joshua, his eyes still on me. "Most of us have never fought or even seen the Lost. They don't really bother us.'
That was surprising. If ever there was a Strigoi target, a group of Moroi, dhampirs, and humans out in the middle of nowhere would be it. "Why not?' I asked. Raymond winked at me. "Because we fight back.'
I pondered his enigmatic statement as the family sat down to eat. Again, I thought about the entire community's willingness to fight when we'd first arrived. Was it really enough to scare off Strigoi? Not much scared them, but maybe certain things were too much of an inconvenience to deal with. I wondered what Dimitri's opinion would be on that. His own family had come from a community that separated itself somewhat from mainstream Moroi life, but it was nothing like this.
All of this spun in my mind while we ate and talked. The Keepers still had a lot more questions about us and Tatiana. The only one not participating was Angeline. She ate as little as Sydney and kept watching me with a scowl.
"We need some supplies,' said Sydney abruptly, interrupting me in the middle of a gruesome story. I didn't mind, but the others looked disappointed. "Where's the nearest town that would have a coffee shop ... or any restaurant?'
"Well,' said Paulette. "Rubysville is a little over an hour north. But we have plenty of food here for you.'
"Its not about food,' I said quickly. "Yours has been great.' I glanced at Sydney. "An hour's not so bad, right?'
She nodded and then glanced hesitantly at Raymond. "Is there any way ... is there any way we could borrow a car? Ill ...' The next words clearly caused her pain. "I'll leave the keys to mine until we get back.'
He arched an eyebrow. "You've got a nice car.'
Sydney shrugged. "The less we drive it around here, the better.'
He told us we could take his truck and that he "probably' wouldn't even need to use the CR-V. Sydney gave him a tight smile of thanks, but I knew images of vampires joyriding in her car were dancing through her head.
We set out soon after that, wanting to be back before the sun went down. People were out and about in the commune, doing chores or whatever else it was they did with their lives. A group of children sat around a dhampir reading a book to them, making me wonder what sort of education process they had here.
All of the Keepers stopped whatever they were doing as we passed, giving us either curious looks or outright smiles. I smiled back occasionally but mostly kept my eyes ahead. Joshua was escorting us back to the "parking lot' and managed to walk beside me when we reached the narrow path.