Page 49 of Curse the Dawn (Cassandra Palmer 4)

We eventually came to a small trailer park. Most of the plots marked off by white stripes of paint were empty except for some windblown gravel. It was summer, and few people thought that 120-degree heat equaled a fun vacation.

I watched dust devils blow across the sand like miniature cyclones while the guys broke into one of the trailers that stayed there all year round. It looked like it came from the same era as the car, miniscule and vaguely round, with white aluminum sides and a small covered patio. A bedraggled honeysuckle vine was trying its best to decorate the latter, along with a wind chime made out of old forks.

They rattled in the strong breeze coming off the lake as the door opened and Rafe came out. “No phone,” he told me. I shrugged. I hadn’t really expected one. He had a large yellow and white bottle in his hand that turned out to be sunscreen. “I left some money on the counter,” he told me, as if worried that I might think less of him for stealing.

“Blocks eighty percent of UV rays,” I read. I looked at him skeptically. “Think this is going to help?”

“At this point, I am willing to try anything,” he said, slathering the milky stuff all over his face and hands. Despite the fact that most of the dust had washed off on the way here, Rafe was still bright red. Noonday sun is hell on vampires.

“Here.” Pritkin poked his head out of the trailer and handed me a bottle of warm water. Since I’d already swallowed half a gallon on the swim to shore, I passed it to Red, who was looking a little shaky. Pritkin’s shot might not have been fatal, but the guy had lost a lot of blood. He needed medical help and we all needed to get out of the heat.

Tremaine emerged a minute later, carrying some plastic deck chairs. “I’m going to hike up the road to the ticket office, see if they have a working phone,” he announced.

“You going with him?” Caleb asked Pritkin as Rafe and I got Red off the concrete and into a chair.

“Hadn’t planned on it. Why?”

; “He’s a convict. None of this changes that.”

“Cassie and I also have warrants out for our arrest,” Pritkin pointed out. “Are you planning to turn us in as well?”

“I’m planning to do my job,” Caleb retorted. “Or do you think I should let this one go, too?” He nudged Red with his knee. Red spit out a mouthful of water and started looking slightly hopeful. “Where do we draw the line, John?”

“You know what he did.”

“And I know what they say you did.”

“And I thought you knew me better than to believe it.” The two men stared at each other for a long minute while Red and I watched and Rafe smeared himself with more SPF 80.

Caleb swore. “You have to go in. You have to end this. If there’s been a mistake and she really is legit, people need to know.”

“Then tell them,” Pritkin snapped. “Not vague rumors or memos from higher-ups, but what you heard, what you saw, what you experienced. But don’t be surprised if you end up in a prison cell for your trouble.”

He and Tremaine took off without another word, and Caleb settled against the trailer, arms crossed and a dark frown on his face, watching his prisoner. I don’t know why. It’s not like any of us were going anywhere.

Rafe went back inside and emerged a few minutes later with a couple of white sheets that he proceeded to wrap around himself. With his riotous brown curls and easy smile, he looked like a particularly charming bedouin. A bedouin with a face full of sunscreen and a pair of designer sunglasses.

“Where’d you get the shades?” I asked.

“Rome. They’re Gucci.”

“Very nice.” I glanced at Red. “Vampires have coagulants in their saliva that aid in healing. If you’re still bleeding, Rafe could stop it.”

Red gave Caleb a panicked look. “You keep that thing away from me! I know my rights! You can’t let him feed!”

“He’s offering to help you,” Caleb said mildly.

“Yeah, help me out of a few pints! I know how they are!”

“I believe the bleeding has stopped, mia stella,” Rafe said wryly. “And I do not normally feed from, ah, that particular region.”

“What region?”

“Pritkin shot him in the ass,” Caleb said bluntly.

I looked at Red with more sympathy. I could relate.