Read Online Preda's Voice (Guardians of Vaka Book 1) by Carolyn Gross - Free Book Online
Authors: Carolyn Gross
Ads: Link
and found several sets of shirts and pants as well as a bag to keep them in.
“I hope everything fits all right,” he said. “We’ll be waiting in the car whenever you’re ready. I’ll take Fiver.”
After Al left with Fiver in his arms, Preda immediately started rummaging through the new clothes. They felt expensive. They looked fitted. There wasn’t enough black, though. She sighed and grabbed a light blue silk top and jeans and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and change.
As Preda gazed in the mirror with her toothbrush in hand, she felt as if her face had changed. It seemed impossible, but the girl who had woken up yesterday was a different person today. Her eyes looked a shade brighter green. This time, though, when she gazed back at herself, she didn’t have the compulsion to look away.
When Preda was finished, she stuffed her new wardrobe into her bag and considered her oversize gray hoodie. With a sense of finality, she chose not to take it with her and left it lying across the bed. She took one last look at the cracked ceramic pot Al had saved for her and shut the door behind her.
Preda walked out of the house and locked the door behind her. Both men were sitting in the front of the Crown Vic, and she crawled into the backseat with Fiver. “Would you like music?” asked Al.
Preda said yes, and he found a generic classic rock station they could all agree on. Foxy gave his assent with a grunt when asked if it was acceptable. They drove back onto I-95 northbound, and no one in the front of the car seemed eager to divulge exactly where they were going. Preda busied herself with stroking Fiver’s fur through the bars of the carrier door, and she felt him purring. Eventually she rested her head on top of the carrier and fell asleep. She drifted in and out of sleep but occasionally caught snippets of conversation.
“The cat is going to be an issue,” she heard Foxy say.
“The only issue I foresee is if we try to take the cat from her,” Al replied.
Preda smiled to herself. She knew he was right and fell back asleep. She had no dreams and no concept of how much time had passed until she awoke suddenly to Foxy parking the car. She looked out the window and saw a sign that said Fort Lauderdale Airport.
Preda wiped the drool from the side of her face with the back of her hand and dried it on her jeans. She imagined this probably wasn’t very Vozia-like behavior, whatever that was supposed to be like. She hastily smoothed her straight black hair back from where it was sticking upward on the left side of her head, and moved to open the door. It was locked. She caught Foxy’s eyes in the rearview mirror and belatedly realized Al was no longer in the car.
“We’re waiting for Al’s signal,” Foxy said.
Al’s signal? Preda almost laughed to herself. This was too much like a spy movie to take seriously. She stopped as soon as she saw the trace of anxiety in Foxy’s eyes. Fine, she thought. We’ll wait for Al’s signal.
“Can we turn the music back on?” Preda asked after what seemed like at least five minutes of silence.
“No,” he replied.
After what seemed like an eternity, Foxy’s phone vibrated on the console. He hesitated to answer after glancing at the caller ID. “I told you to await further instructions,” he said curtly after picking it up. He spoke to the person on the other end with barely restrained anger. “You’re where?”
There was silence for a solid thirty seconds. Preda felt uncomfortable listening to the conversation, but she couldn’t do anything. She was locked in the car with no music for distraction and no one else to converse with. She could see Foxy’s knuckles had turned white where he gripped the phone. Finally he sighed and started speaking again. “There will be disciplinary action for this, but since you are already there…Puerto rendezvous eighteen hundred tomorrow.”
He hung up the phone, pressing the button a little too aggressively. Preda
“I hope everything fits all right,” he said. “We’ll be waiting in the car whenever you’re ready. I’ll take Fiver.”
After Al left with Fiver in his arms, Preda immediately started rummaging through the new clothes. They felt expensive. They looked fitted. There wasn’t enough black, though. She sighed and grabbed a light blue silk top and jeans and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and change.
As Preda gazed in the mirror with her toothbrush in hand, she felt as if her face had changed. It seemed impossible, but the girl who had woken up yesterday was a different person today. Her eyes looked a shade brighter green. This time, though, when she gazed back at herself, she didn’t have the compulsion to look away.
When Preda was finished, she stuffed her new wardrobe into her bag and considered her oversize gray hoodie. With a sense of finality, she chose not to take it with her and left it lying across the bed. She took one last look at the cracked ceramic pot Al had saved for her and shut the door behind her.
Preda walked out of the house and locked the door behind her. Both men were sitting in the front of the Crown Vic, and she crawled into the backseat with Fiver. “Would you like music?” asked Al.
Preda said yes, and he found a generic classic rock station they could all agree on. Foxy gave his assent with a grunt when asked if it was acceptable. They drove back onto I-95 northbound, and no one in the front of the car seemed eager to divulge exactly where they were going. Preda busied herself with stroking Fiver’s fur through the bars of the carrier door, and she felt him purring. Eventually she rested her head on top of the carrier and fell asleep. She drifted in and out of sleep but occasionally caught snippets of conversation.
“The cat is going to be an issue,” she heard Foxy say.
“The only issue I foresee is if we try to take the cat from her,” Al replied.
Preda smiled to herself. She knew he was right and fell back asleep. She had no dreams and no concept of how much time had passed until she awoke suddenly to Foxy parking the car. She looked out the window and saw a sign that said Fort Lauderdale Airport.
Preda wiped the drool from the side of her face with the back of her hand and dried it on her jeans. She imagined this probably wasn’t very Vozia-like behavior, whatever that was supposed to be like. She hastily smoothed her straight black hair back from where it was sticking upward on the left side of her head, and moved to open the door. It was locked. She caught Foxy’s eyes in the rearview mirror and belatedly realized Al was no longer in the car.
“We’re waiting for Al’s signal,” Foxy said.
Al’s signal? Preda almost laughed to herself. This was too much like a spy movie to take seriously. She stopped as soon as she saw the trace of anxiety in Foxy’s eyes. Fine, she thought. We’ll wait for Al’s signal.
“Can we turn the music back on?” Preda asked after what seemed like at least five minutes of silence.
“No,” he replied.
After what seemed like an eternity, Foxy’s phone vibrated on the console. He hesitated to answer after glancing at the caller ID. “I told you to await further instructions,” he said curtly after picking it up. He spoke to the person on the other end with barely restrained anger. “You’re where?”
There was silence for a solid thirty seconds. Preda felt uncomfortable listening to the conversation, but she couldn’t do anything. She was locked in the car with no music for distraction and no one else to converse with. She could see Foxy’s knuckles had turned white where he gripped the phone. Finally he sighed and started speaking again. “There will be disciplinary action for this, but since you are already there…Puerto rendezvous eighteen hundred tomorrow.”
He hung up the phone, pressing the button a little too aggressively. Preda
Similar Books
