He had thought about that but he was fairly sure that a small town like this would be relatively safe for him and for his pack. If there was more of a danger would the elders have sent them out at all? Even with Ansuya and Alexiares? With everything that had taken place today he had to wonder just how much the elders were willing to sacrifice for the safety of seven shape shifters. But if they were willing to make that sacrifice…

“Nic?” William asked suddenly. “Can you remember any of your vision?”

The scout rolled his head over on the pillow to look at him out of one eye, “What vision?”

“The one that sent us out here.” Nicolas gave him a blank stare. “The one you had with the elders two or three days ago? The one where you described something as being ‘elegant’ and ‘gorgeous’?”

Nicolas looked at him sideways as if the enforcer had suddenly sprouted two heads. William knew that it was an act. Nicolas finally said, “I don’t know anything about all that, but I do remember something about Fullerton near L.A.”

William nodded. “Yeah, that’s the place you told Ansuya this morning in the city. But can remember what you saw?”

Nicolas’s face scrunched up as he focused his memory on whatever it was that had been gained in those three days with the elders. He tilted his head as if hunting for something and he could get a better angle on his memory if he moved his head. After a while though he shook it from side to side. “Nope, I got nothing.”

William shrugged as he slid down the wall behind him to sit on the floor. “Well, it was worth a shot.”

Charles leaned behind him toward a table with several pieces of paper on it. Shuffling them around a bit he found what he was looking for. Holding up the singular piece of paper he turned back around to face his pack mates, “Should we get some food?”

The three men all looked at the menu and made their selections. Charles called down to the kitchen and put in their order. In thirty five minutes the three were enjoying their meals, almost.

“I have had some bad pizza before, but this tragedy of squashed tomatoes has got to be the worst pie I have ever had, hands down,” Nicolas complained.

Charles shook his head as he stuck his fork into a piece of chicken breast. William replied, “Leave it to the kid from Brooklyn to order a pizza and complain about it.”

Nicolas wheeled around to face him. “Ok, Cali boy, you look at this and tell me it is even close to resembling a pizza.”

William leaned over to look at the plate that Nicolas was holding up. The triangle wedge of dough, red sauce and pepperoni looked like a pizza to him. He would concede that the dough looked like something he could find on a decent frozen pizza but he didn’t see anything wrong with it. He shrugged and sat back up again, “looks fine to me.”

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“Then, you’re blind. You’re blind, and you wouldn’t know a real pizza if it dropped out of the sky and slapped ya,” Nicolas retorted harshly.

William shared a look between him and Charles as he shook his head with a wry smile on his face. William had decided to go with the ten ounce New York strip steak. The beef was a little over seasoned but it was rare and really good. There was very little liquid blood from the plump red flesh. After eating venison for so many months it was good to get a good chunk of cow. He smiled to himself as he swallowed another bite.

The three finished their meals in relatively short order and put their dirty plates in the sink. Nicolas stripped off his shoes and laid down on the bed with his clothes on. William dragged out a blanket from the closet and made himself comfortable on the floor while Charles stripped off his shoes, shirt, and pants and slid in between the covers on his bed. They didn’t bother to set an alarm or call the front desk for a wake up. It was silently agreed between the three of them that when Ansuya wanted to move, they would be informed. William turned out the lights and slid down to his “bed” on the floor and went to sleep.

The next instant he was awake, there was someone knocking on their door. William was surprisingly awake for having just gone to sleep. He threw his covers aside as he pushed himself up onto his feet. He quickly strode over to the door and opened it.

Ansuya was standing there. She was back lit beautifully by the hallway lights. The warm orange glow of the hallway gave her a saintly halo that enshrouded her long black hair. Her deep brown eyes bored into his. He felt that same weight that he felt every time he looked into an elder’s eyes but it wasn’t painful. It was still there but less somehow. He couldn’t explain it and right then it wasn’t important anyway.

“Get yourself and your pack mates ready. We leave in ten minutes.” Without any further explanation she turned around and walked down the hallway, back the way she had come.

William slowly closed the door, shutting out the warm light from the hallway. Something in his brain was working on something but he couldn’t figure out what that might be. He moved slowly as he let his brain freewheel as it worked on whatever problem it had set for itself. He flicked on the room lights absent mindedly.

“What the hell! Come on, man! Jeezus, turn those fucking lights off!” Nicolas swore as he tried to bury his face deeper into the pillow that he was cradling.

“What is it, Will?” Charles asked as he blinked heavily into the sudden brightness of the room.

William shook himself as his brain finally let go of whatever was so important a moment ago. He had no idea what it was or why he had strained over it. He hoped it wasn’t something important. He looked over at his friend, “We have eight minutes before Ansuya leaves.”

Charles nodded and jumped up from his bed. Nicolas on the other hand stayed on his and pulled the pillow over his head. “I just need a few minutes, just a…few…minutes…” William didn’t need to hear the rest to know that Nicolas was already passed out.

Charles pushed past him toward the bathroom and William was happy to let him have it. He never had gained a comfortability with sharing a bathroom with anyone. So he stood there making sure that all their stuff was ready to go. That was easy. They didn’t bring any stuff with them. He stripped off his shirt and waited for Charles to get done with the bathroom.