The Vampire Diaries: Trust In Betrayal (Kindle Worlds) (In Time We Trust Trilogy Book 3) Read Free Page A

cover it.”
     
    “Right,” Cali says, looking a little uncomfortable for once.
     
    Elena smiles hopefully, and Jeremy’s eyes bob back and forth between the two of them.
     
    “The thing is,” Cali says, lowering her voice as if that will make a conversation at a table of eight strangers more private, “those places don’t always do the best job.”
     
    Elena’s face falls and I swallow a sigh. When we had Cali stuck in the basement, she was whiny as hell about the grandma, which is why Elena compelled the best standard of care in seven countries and two commonwealths into the nurses at Compassionate Care. My girl may be like the battle-hardened spirits of Valhalla risen again when you threaten her family, but she has the tender heart of a preschool teacher when it comes to shit like this.
     
    “Yup.” I nod and Cali’s eyebrows shoot up at my agreement.
     
    I signal the geriatric waitress for coffee. Swear to God, if she doesn’t get here in the next two minutes I’ll feed her my blood just to give her a little spunk and speed up the service. Her husband’s Viagra prescription can thank me later.
     
    I give Cali an artificial smile. “That’s why I called another agency and made sure we’d have an extra nurse on staff at all times. They’re from competing companies.” I give her a wink. “People do better when they know they’re being watched.”
     
    Cali’s mouth falls open slightly.
     
    “You made me call,” Ric protests from the other end of the table.
     
    “I was driving. Safety first. Besides, I gave you my fake credit card number and my fake phone to do it, so I don’t think a little gratitude is out of the question,” I complain.
     
    In my bag of tricks in the trunk I always keep an untraceable credit card and a bundle of cash, and tonight that’s coming in very handy. The only thing left I haven’t used yet is extra bourbon and vampire killing weapons, and I hope to remedy that in short order.
     
    “It’s not a fake phone,” Stefan says. “It’s pre-paid. And speaking of that, the phones we got all of you are limited to—” I tune him out when he starts talking numbers, and cast a look around for the damned waitress.
     
    I finally spot her headed our way with the coffee pot, but we’re going to have to put her on a moving walkway if we want caffeine before Christmas.
     
    Leaning back in my seat, I close my eyes tiredly. Elena reaches under the table, her slim fingers walking their way inside the loose curl of mine. I snap my hand closed, a smile tickling the corner of my mouth, and she tugs playfully, pretending to try and get away.
     
    “Were the new phones really necessary?” Katherine asks. “What are the chances that a bunch of amateur hunters have the skills or connections to trace our locations based on our cell phones? I think somebody’s been watching a little bit too much Arrow .”
     
    “Wait, you’ve been watching Arrow ?” Jeremy snorts.
     
    Caroline leans back in her chair and folds her arms. “Have you seen the abs on that show? Even my mom’s been watching it.”
     
    “Of course she has. It’s not like there’s anything else to do in Mystic Falls,” Katherine says.
     
    “So move,” I tell her.
     
    Stefan sighs. “Can we stop talking about abs and make a plan, please?”
     
    “I think we all need to get some sleep,” Elena says, and squeezes my hand pointedly.
     
    My eyes pop open and I give her a narrow-eyed, affronted look. I can drive all day and still be fresh for fighting by sundown and she knows it. I was just resting my eyes.
     
    She just smiles. “There’s a motel down the road from here, and with the sun coming up, the Augustines will be stuck inside for long enough that we can relax for a while.”
     
    “Before nightfall, we need weapons,” Ric says. “My stash in the trunk of Damon’s car isn’t enough. Plus, we need more concrete.” He tosses me a significant look and I curse and scrub my hand through my