Free Magic & Memory by A.L. Larsen Page B

anger drained away, carrying the blade to the trunk and setting it in the weapons cache. Then he turned back to Joey and asked, “Is there some reason you’re still sitting there?”
              Joey grinned at him. “I figure after a show of insubordination like that, I should probably wait for my maker’s permission to get up.”
              “Seriously?” Lu exclaimed from a few feet away, her voice incredulous as she shifted from panicked to severely annoyed.
              “Oh for God’s sake,” Alastair grumbled. “Get up, Joey, and let’s get out of here.”
    Alastair went to close the trunk, but Lu’s hand caught it. She tossed a sharp wooden stake back in with the other weapons.
              “And what exactly were you going to do with that , Cupcake?” Joey asked, coming up beside them.
              “I was going to jam it through your heart to keep you from killing Alastair.” She glared at him, and Joey laughed.
              “That’s awesome,” Joey said. “I love that you’re totally a badass.” He was smiling delightedly, and patted her on the back as if she’d just earned straight-A’s on her report card.
              “Hardly,” Lu told him. “I was just doing what I had to.”
              “Thanks for having my back, Lu,” Alastair said, a little grin playing on his lips as he slammed the trunk.
              “Hey,” Joey beamed at him. “You almost smiled! I think getting your fighting groove back was good for you, Allie. You’ve shaken off a little of that doe-eyed lost boy thing. Which, don’t get me wrong, was clearly working for ya.” He tilted his head toward Lu.
              Alastair raised an eyebrow at him and said, “Don’t push it, Joseph.”
              Joey laughed again. “You sound like my dad. But Joey isn’t short for Joseph, just FYI. It’s long for Joe.”
              Lu smirked slightly. “Your parents named you Joe? That’s it? Just Joe?”
              “Really? You’re going to criticize? You’re aware that your name’s Lu , right, Cupcake?” Joey’s eyes sparkled mischievously in the moonlight.
              “If you must know, it’s short for Luna,” she told him.
              “Ha!” Joey let loose a single burst of laughter, and Lu rewarded him with a hard punch on the arm. “Ow!”
              She punched him again, and once more he cried out, then asked, “What was that for?”
              “Uh, duh! That’s for scaring the crap out of me by making me think you’d gone all Cujo on Alastair,” she said, knitting her brows.
              Joey snorted with laughter. “ All Cujo . Nice. I’m totally gonna use that.”   
              Alastair already had the passenger door open and one foot inside the Impala. “Can we please get out of here? It might be nice to make it to San Francisco sometime before sunrise,” he said.
              “Yeah, good point.” Joey jogged around the car and got behind the wheel, and Lu climbed into the backseat.
              “So did I pass your test?” Alastair asked as Joey swung the car around in a wide arc.
              “Yes and no,” Joey said. “You remember how to fight, so that’s good. But at one point I was almost able to get the better of you. That would have never happened in like, a million years normally, so you’re a little off your game. It’s not as bad as I feared, though. You’ll do ok when we get to San Francisco.”
    “Why were we headed there when we got snowed in?”
    “Because there’s been increased vampire activity in the bay area lately, so we were gonna take care of it,” Joey told him.  
              Alastair glanced at Joey. “Ok, next question. If I had driven that blade through you, would it have killed you?” 
              “Nope. One thing the vampire stories get right