Primal Kill (The Order of Vampires #5)

“No buts.” She walked quickly toward the store. Unsure how far her protective spell reached and unwilling to find out, Adriel hurried after her.

The glass door of the establishment magically parted and beeped as they entered. The hum of electricity buzzed to the overhead lights and strange devices on the counter. Adriel was unused to such technologies and wondered how mortals tolerated the constant beeps and buzzing.

Smooth tile turned to flat carpet underfoot, and a man stepped out of the back office,chewing something and wiping his mouth with a napkin.

“Can I help you?” When his glance finally took in their appearance, his eyes widened, and he looked around nervously. “Are you ladies actors or something?”

“We need a car. Something that gets good mileage.”

His stare dragged over their dirt-stained clothes, lingering at the sight of dried blood crusted to Adriel’s neck. She self-consciously covered her throat with her hand.

“Should I call the police?” He reached for the telephone.

“No,” Juniper snapped, buying them a few seconds. She shot Adriel a sharp glance and whistled. “Now. Do it now.”

“Oh.” Adriel was shoved toward the counter to meet the man’s gaze. Unsure what Juniper wanted her to achieve, she first focused on buying time. “You will not call anyone.”

His hand retracted.

“Tell him we need a car,” Juniper instructed, glancing out the window nervously.

Morally torn, she forced the words out. “We need a vehicle. Which one works best?”

He pointed toward the storefront window. “I have a decent hybrid Prius. It has a combustible engine and an electric motor?—”

“We’ll take it.” Juniper jumped back from the window and was at the counter, her fingerstapping incessantly on the smooth surface. “Tell him to give us the keys.”

“Find us the keys.”

Without another word, he turned to a cabinet on the wall and removed a small black device.

Juniper snatched the device. “You have to erase his memory. And ask him if there are cameras.”

“Are there cameras recording us?”

He nodded and pointed to the corner of the storeroom.

“Tell him to erase the feed.”

“I want you to erase any recordings of us.”

“I’m not supposed to mess with?—”

“Do it,” Juniper snapped at the man, then looked at Adriel. “I thought they couldn’t object to compulsion? Isn’t that how this works?”

Adriel wasn’t used to compelling mortals to do her bidding, so she supposed she wasn’t using a strong enough command. Lifting her chin, she pushed further into the man’s mind. “What’s your name?”

“Matt.”

“Matt, you’re going to destroy any traces of us being here. Then you’ll forget that you saw us. You came to work, ate your breakfast in the back, and had a slow morning with no customers.”

His eyes glazed over as he turned to the computer and pressed several keys. Juniper backed toward the door, and Adriel followed. As they crossed the threshold, the monitor beeped again, but Matt never looked up from his task.

“Come on.” Juniper rushed out the door, jogging toward the cars in the lot. A horn chirped, and lights flashed on a small vehicle. “There’s the car. Get in.”

Adriel had never been inside a motor vehicle before. The upholstered seat was surprisingly comfortable, and her hearing was muffled when both doors shut. It was an airtight space, quite different from a carriage.

Juniper seemed to know exactly how to operate all the bells and whistles. She slid back her seat, adjusted the mirrors, then pressed a button and the car purred to life.