A Shade of Vampire 11: A Chase of Prey Read Free

brought a sheet down with us, or maybe we could ask the woman for one.”
    Not waiting for Caleb’s answer, I walked back up to the reception desk and placed my hands on the counter.
    “Um, excuse me.”
    The woman peered up at me through her spectacles.
    “Do you have a sheet you could spare?”
    “Eh?”
    “Uh, a sheet. You know…” I began making a rectangular motion with my arms, which only seemed to confuse her further. Apparently she didn’t get many English-speaking tourists here. Either that, or she refused to learn English.
    Caleb gripped my arm. “Forget it,” he muttered. “A sheet wouldn’t be thick enough anyway.”
    “What about a blanket?”
    “We need something that’s fitted or it’s going to keep coming off.” He pulled me away from the woman, who looked happy to get back to her newspaper, and returned to the entrance. “We’re better off looking for some kind of long… raincoat. I’m sure they sell something like that in the market to tourists who come trekking here in the Amazon.”
    “Okay,” I said. “I’ll go to the market and get it for you. Give me the wallet.”
    He looked annoyed with himself as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out the wallet. “There weren’t any raincoats around when I walked around the market earlier this morning or I would have swiped one then. You should get yourself another bottle of water and something to eat while you’re out.”
    I opened the wallet and ran my thumb along the notes. There weren’t many left, but I hoped that there would be enough.
    I motioned to leave but Caleb held me back. He looked down at me seriously. “Be careful. And don’t be longer than ten minutes. I’ll be waiting here in the lounge. A minute longer, and I’ll come looking for you.”
    I nodded and checked the clock on the wall. “I’ll hurry.”
    I tried to leave again, but again he held me back. He slipped a hand into his shorts pocket and drew out a sheathed knife. He gripped my hand and placed it into my palm, closing my fingers over it.
    “What? Where did you get—”
    “Just take it with you,” he whispered.
    I looked around the lobby, hoping nobody had seen what Caleb just handed me. We were the only ones in reception other than the woman, who was busy reading. I exhaled, hiking up my dress and fastening the knife to my underwear as best I could. I dropped my dress and straightened it out. “Okay.”
    Finally, Caleb let me go. I rushed through the main entrance and down the steps to the street below. The sun blinded me as the heat hit my skin, and I could already feel myself beginning to sweat. The street bustled with life. Market stands were set up on either side of the road. I held the wallet closer against me as I scanned the stalls. I couldn’t afford to have anyone pickpocket me .
    I passed a fruit stand and eyed the ripe papayas hungrily. They also sold cold drinks. But my priority was the raincoat. Once I was sure I had enough money for that, I could spend the rest on food for myself. Without the raincoat, we weren’t going anywhere.
    I was beginning to notice a pattern in the types of stands I was passing. During my first minute of jogging along the sidewalk, it was mostly food stands, but now I was approaching more souvenirs, and soon clothes. I stopped at what seemed like the largest garment stall and began sifting through the racks.
    “Posso ajudar?”
    I looked up to see a young man with deep tan skin peering over one of the racks.
    “I’m sorry, I don’t speak Portuguese.”
    He smiled. “Oh, I speak English. No problem. Can I help with anything?”
    I nodded enthusiastically. “I’m looking for a raincoat. The longest one you have.”
    “Planning to go trekking through the rainforest?” He flashed me another grin.
    “Uh, yeah.”
    He walked over to the opposite end of the stall and sifted through the hangers. He pulled out a long black suit and handed it to me. It was clearly designed for exploring a jungle. It was