Chapter 23

Osip stepped out of the taxi cab and stared at the almost deserted downtown Phoenix streets. He was annoyed that Dragomir had insisted that they use conventional travel while in Phoenix. It was understandable to expect them to travel extreme long distances by car, ship, or plane -since vampires eventually tire and need to rest- but once in the area of their destination, he saw no reason why they couldn’t simply shimmer or fly. Taking conventional travel required money.  Since vampires didn’t work, money had to be either stolen or acquired through the sale of something they considered worthless and of little use, but humans looked upon as a rare antiquity. Osip had nothing to sell.  On the few occasions he’d found himself in need of money and his benefactors weren’t about, he’d had to resort to thievery.  Thievery was something he considered beneath him.  

He stood in the shadows of the doorway of an abandoned building whi