Page 67 of This Blood That Breaks Us

“Have to be. My little brothers loved bedtime stories and had short attention spans.”

The sharp pain hit me in the chest, and it almost made me drop my pen as I initialed the final page. I handed it to Zach so he could sign too.

“Little brothers, huh? Where are they?”

“Somewhere that’s . . . not here.” I smiled, handing her back her papers and pen.

“Hm. I’ve got a little brother too. He’s also anywhere but here. Thank god.”

She gathered her things. “Pleasure doing business with ya both.”

We shook her hand and said our goodbyes.

“That took too long.” Zach groaned.

“I know. We have to hurry.”

We needed to deliver word about the meeting to Ezra and make sure we got an eye on his location before disappearing into the crowd. Zach and I had done stuff like this before in Brooklyn and in New York. Pickpocketing was easy as a vampire. I didn’t mind it too much because all our targets could afford to lose a little money and not think twice.

After a few minutes, Zach motioned to a girl more worried about her dog than her fluffy keychain hung on her bag. We found our mark. Someone with a phone and a tracker on the keychain.

“There.”

I waited to see if she’d unlock her phone. My brother already knew what to do. He bumped into her and distracted her with a cunning smile while I snatched the phone she’d set down and the keychain from her purse. We convened in a small alley between two shops.

“They should be in the tunnels by now,” I said as I scrolled through the girl’s phone and made sure her keychain tracker worked.

A rumble of thunder echoed in the seaport town, and the drizzle switched from a mist into droplets. I brushed the wetness from my eyes and the phone screen.

“It works.”

“Perfect. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

We started that way with our heads down. My pulse picked up, but I focused on getting home. A place where I could shed all these clothes and crawl into a warm bed. It felt close. Like if I could keep my head on straight a little longer, it would finally be over.

Ezra was waiting at a pub in town. He ended his phone call as we approached.

“How’d it go?”

“Great. Signed the paperwork. Aine was nice,” I said.

“She thought we were pretty.” Zach’s smile seemed genuine.

“Good. Want to meet me at the ferry in about an hour? I have one more thing I need to do. You can both explore.” He handed me a wad of cash. “Buy yourself something. Have fun.”

Ezra patted me on the shoulder, and Zach snuck the tracker into his pocket. This was what he wanted. Two obedient pets. He liked this version of me. Agreeable and upbeat.

He didn’t like the hopeful version of me. When he realized we were gone, he would be mad. A sinking feeling sloshed in my stomach. Ezra would never stop looking for us. Home might not be a singular place but an infinite number of hotel rooms and hideouts. We may never get to be free from them.

Once we were a safe distance away, I asked, “Did you get it?”

“Yep. So far so good.” Zach’s hair was soaked.

“Let’s meet them at the church.”

I remembered the pamphlet well. The bridge tunnel led the way to a church on the other side of the city, and that cathedral was open to the public for viewing during the day. It was a popular tourist attraction. From there, the tunnels led to the next city over.

We worked quicker and darted through the crowd of umbrellas as fast as we could. Their color stood out among the gray and cobblestones. It made it easy to hide. We’d stop between buildings to conceal ourselves if we saw anyone from The Family meandering around.