***You'll enjoy this chapter, it's in third person throughout and – drum roll – it's in Christian's POV! There won't be many of these chapter's but it's worth seeing into his mind.**

DON'T FORGET! THIRD PERSON OK.

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It took Christian Beaumont far longer to recover than it should have.

To be honest, he saw it coming. Well, that was a bald face pile of shit, he saw something coming. There was no other reason for that beautiful cat-like creature he sired to be within a hairs-breadth away from him. Hell, Christian did exactly the same thing to her earlier. Not once in his seven years of knowing her had he ever hugged her. Even through the blinding pain he was feeling as he dropped to the floor, he smiled thinking how foolish she was for falling for it.

He blamed himself. He was the foolish one now wasn't he? But come now, did she really think she could get away so easily? Standing, he exhaled sharply and adjusted himself through his shorts. She had one hell of a kick that was for sure. She probably could have kicked harder and for that he mentally reminded himself to thank her for not doing so.

Christian waddled with a wince and a mild grunt to the threshold and tried to shake off the hilarity and nausea as quick as he could. Because really, why was he smiling? For all he knew, she's probably ran out into the arms of one of the Steinsson's henchmen and all he could think was, I'm going to have to rip someone's heads off in broad daylight. Speaking of broad daylight, he'd have to scold Kate for making her a new daylight bracelet/necklace/ring.

So with a quick shake of the leg, and one more adjustment to the crotch, he grabbed his bag and raced out of the building. It didn't take long for Christian's small bout of amusement to crumble into thin air. Because Chelsea was reckless. There was no denying that, he's always thought so. Ever since he turned her she's always been the type to do first then think later. He's watched her walk away from him, claiming she didn't need his help, then he picked up the pieces when reality creeped and hooked it's claws into her very being. She was as reluctant as ever to accept any form of help from him – as usual – but she had no choice. He made her. She was his responsibility.

Everyone has their dark moment after turning into a vampire. Some moments may last a life time and Christian was lucky he caught onto hers quick.

He shook his head. What did she think she was going to do now? Run off on her own? No, she wasn't that reckless. He imagined she had some sort of boring plan. Probably called Kate so they could meet.

Her scent lingered in the air. Everyone always thought Chelsea's scent matched her completely. Whereas his was rich, dark and sweet – someone once described it as the taste of warm chocolate. And hers, a spicy ginger complimented by a sugary honey. Her personality completely whereas his... not so much.

He ran through the streets past the unsuspecting humans. She was fast. He smiled wryly. But I'm faster. Entering the busy markets, her scent disintegrated. Dammit, there were too many smells around him to find her. He figured she must not be far; this was technically a good place for a meeting. He was actually pleased with her train of thought. At least she wasn't stupid. In this place, it would be too hard for anyone even a vampire to pinpoint one particular person.

As he wove in and out of the crowd, he ignored the beckoning sellers and kept his bag in front of him. His eyes scanned over every head, over every pair of dark eyes and then paused on a head of blonde hair twenty yards in front. She was clearly looking for someone, her head darting from left to right.

He'd told her blend in. To at least try. Because she was as inconspicuous as a tall tree in the middle of a football field. With quick movement's he snuck up behind her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Her body stiffened as soon as he made contact and he was surprised he didn't get another kick to the crotch.

"Are you looking for me kitten?" He rasped, trying as hard as he could to keep his anger in check. When it came to Chelsea it was back and forth, back and forth, banter upon sarcasm, that's how they communicated. But right now all he could think about was shaking some damn sense into her.

Her shoulders relaxed under his arm but only a little. "Clearly, I didn't hit you hard enough."

"And a very prominent part of me is glad you didn't. You should be happy to hear I'm still a little bruised though. Now, do you mind telling me what the hell was running through that thick head of yours?"

"Running was exactly what was going through my head." Her mouth curved into a devious smile. "But to be honest, I kind of already knew you were going to catch up."

Christian gritted his teeth and her smile only widened. He quickly studied her face before looking around the throngs of moving people. Anybody could be lurking and he had to stay alert. "The kick could have been avoided then. We need to go, it isn't safe here. Where's Kate and Callum?"

"I'm not sure I've been looking for them since I got here."

When she moved from beneath his arm his eyes zeroed in on two males one more familiar than the other. Dante. And he sported a wonderful black eye. Dante glanced to another corner of the market where two other men, both suspiciously trying to make eye contact with another two males on the other quadrant of the market. They were all manning an entrance. This wasn't good.

He grasped her hand. "Stop, no. They're here. We have to go right now."

Christian could see the flicker of reservation in her eyes but she masked it very well. "What, where?"

"Everywhere." As quickly as he could, he pulled her with him keeping his eyes on every wary man and woman he could pin-point. "We're making our way out of Cairo - now."

She tried yanking her hand away attempting to halt their steps but he clutched onto it as tight as he could without hurting her. "The only thing I said to Kate on the phone was if we didn't make it just go without us. Does she even know where we're going?"

"Not really but she'll have a vision I guarantee it. We'll catch up to them. Don't say out loud where we're headed. We don't know if there are vampire's around."

All he could think now was that it was definitely going to be a while before they caught up to Kate and Cal. Both parties will be on the move constantly and without having a witch to their advantage, the only thing he and Chelsea could do was lay as low as possible and hope that whoever was chasing them weren't smart enough to trace their phones.

But as soon as they broke from the crowd onto the streets and spotted Feisal hanging around a mere few feet away from them, he knew they probably were tracing their calls. What the hell did the Steinsson's want from him this badly?

Christian was lucky he made a sharp right without him noticing them. He was lucky she didn't say a word when he shoved her into the first cab they could find. And even more so when he saw Feisal walk in the complete opposite direction the cab was going.

"Where?" The driver demanded gruffly..

"Travel east to Ismailia." He said lowering himself in the seat as far as his legs would allow. "Keep your head low until we're out of the city. And turn off your phone."

She did as he asked and he turned off his own phone just as she did. The atmosphere between them was thick and heavy with tension as the car slowly but surely made its way out of Cairo. She was as silent as a mouse even after they were clear out of the city and driving at eighty miles per hour on a straight and narrow road. At this speed, Christian still kept his wits about him and checked the mirrors to see if anyone was following. There were only tourist buses and cars trailing behind and passing.

And an hour and a half later, only fifteen minutes from Ismailia, Chelsea decided to finally speak, "I need my necklace back."

He handed it over without a word and she swiftly clipped it back on. She lifted her foot onto the edge of the seat and he watched her unclip a silver anklet. Clever girl.

"You got money for this journey?"

Shaking his head, he grumbled, "Not enough. But we won't need it."

"Because you're going to compel him to forget he ever drove us here, right?" She supplied quietly, glaring at him. "You're despicable, do you know that?"

He rubbed a hand over his bare face – God he hated being without facial hair. "I'll give him something but we'll need the money more later." His voice was barely a whisper. "I only have one hundred and twenty US and four hundred pound."

"Why have you got US?"

"It's worth more here than Canadian."

"I've only got six hundred pounds." She sighed. "I don't agree with us not giving him anything."

"Tough." He grunted. "We need it later not now."

The city came into view and the driver asked where they wanted to be dropped off. "Keep going to El-Qantara."

The driver glared at him through the mirror and Chelsea eyed him suspiciously. "That's further up the coast."

"I said Ismailia in case Feisal heard. We're going to El Qantara and we're making our own way from there."

**

Half hour later, Christian asked the driver to stop near the bridge, compelled the guy to forget and handed over two hundred when Chelsea smacked his arm claiming how unfair it was for him to drive so far with no pay blah, blah, blah.

The heat wasn't unbearable but around four o'clock it would be. They didn't have any time to waste at this point so they had to keep moving. He moved his bag off his shoulder to pull out a baseball cap.

"Now what?"

Stepping in front of her, he placed it on her head and said, "Now we move forward."

Her eyes narrowed. "Kate and Cal..."

"If she saw us, they would be here, waiting for us or at least making their appearance around now, but they haven't. So we have to keep moving."

He saw her tell-tale signs of anger, the tick to the brow, the twitch to her mouth. "No."

"What are you going to do, stay here? Wait for those men to catch up with us? Fine." Tightening the back strap to her head, she narrowed her eyes further. "You can if you want, but I'm heading out. Katherine isn't an idiot and neither is Callum plus they have a car. They're probably ahead of us already. They'll meet my contact before us."

"How?" She demanded pushing his hands away. "She doesn't know where we're going for crying out loud."

"We're going to the city, Arish, a hotel there called the Swiss Inn on the beach. Now she knows. But plans have changed. We were supposed to meet him there tonight, I have to contact him and tell him about them so he knows they'll be getting there first. It'll probably take us three, four days tops to get there without any transportation. We have to find somewhere to stay tonight across the bridge."

And with those words he turned east and headed across the bridge leaving her to gather her backpack and catch up.

It was almost at the hottest point of the day and there wasn't one cloud in the sky. There was no way for them to have any respite from the sun or heat especially when they were about to walk into the desert. He was thankful for the small gusts of wind that would hit them whenever a car would pass. And with the way Chelsea stomped on behind him, he hoped she appreciated it too. He felt like an idiot for forgetting to bring any bottles of water.

He glanced over his shoulder; her eyes were stuck to the ground her mind probably running a mile a minute. Veering slightly from the road in case any of Steinsson's men happened by, she followed quietly. One more look, and he started to hate how silent she was. He preferred her chitchatting – or more like nagging – his ear off.

He slowed to a stroll beside her. "You going to talk at all?"

She licked her lips. "About what exactly?"

"Chelsea McDonald speechless? Well, that's a first." He grinned trying to get her mood to turn.

"To be honest, I'm trying not to melt into a puddle and talking won't exactly help that."

Inhaling and exhaling sharply, he wiped the sweat from his forehead. "It'll keep your mind off the heat."

"Oh, yeah? Where'd you learn that, the geography channel?"

Christian chuckled. "And she's back."

He spied the tiniest of smiles beneath the shadows of the hat but it disappeared as fast as it came.

"You're really unhappy with me about leaving them aren't you?"

"Wouldn't you be if it were the other way around?"

"No." He shrugged. "As long as everybody's safe."

"How would you know that?" She stopped walking. "What if they've been taken? We literally don't know, Christian and I'll never forgive myself if-"

He sighed and stopped a few feet in front of her. "Do you trust me?"

"Barely."

"That's fair but trust me enough to believe me. They're fine okay? Come on." He picked up the pace and carried on down the endless road stifling a frown. He had a feeling they were fine but he understood her niggle of doubt.

"Do you ever worry? You always play around, the only time I've ever seen you look so serious was last night."

"I'm a very serious man."

She snorted. "Yeah, okay. Not even when I first turned were you ever that serious."

Christian remained silent, thinking of when he pulled her out of her rut. He was pretty damn serious then. She's chosen to forget about it and he didn't blame her. He found himself darting his eyes over her face once again. She was brave, he knew that. Those few months when she retreated into herself that was the only time he'd ever seen her look... vulnerable.

She hated what she'd become. She didn't say it in those words but he knew it, he sensed it. She'd been a vampire for well over four months before one night, he'd walked into her apartment in Vancouver and she was a complete mess, crying, screaming. Emotions when you're a new vampire are overwhelming, uncontrollable almost. He took her away from Vancouver to his house in Alaska – where Kate or any other witch couldn't see them – and helped her. There was so much anger in her but she barely released it. She believed she had no soul. He was a fool to say what he said about her soul yesterday – was it only yesterday? – when it meant so much to her.

Chelsea barely left the cabin and never in Christian's nine hundred years had he felt so helpless.

After four weeks of convincing her she was wrong, that they all still had a soul – which he barely believed himself – she simply thanked him and left; took her first overseas job in Africa and didn't tell anyone when she was coming back. Naturally he followed, made sure she was okay, and as soon as she found out he'd followed she started to push him away, mock and pretend those four weeks were nothing but a conjured fantasy.

She caught him staring at her and he simply looked away and trotted on. He put it down as natural instinct. To open up so much of herself to a virtual stranger, you had to close yourself off somehow.

Around four-thirty – an hour and a half after they started walking – he was starting to flag and so was Chelsea. Her bag was hanging off one of her shoulders and he swiftly grabbed it from her before she ended up collapsing with it. He saw a small town in the distance just off of the main road and he thanked the stars. They'd have to stay there for the night or at least until they were recuperated enough to start travelling again. Night time might be the best time for them to travel.

Strolling into town, they looked completely out of place. People stared or whispered and that didn't bode well with them trying to stay under the radar. Dragging Chelsea closer to his side he spied a small one story shabby bed and breakfast off the road. He clocked all of the buildings, one that looked like grocery store, four of them small apartments and homes and the rest he wasn't sure but he assumed they were shops too.

Out of the sun after two hours of walking in it, Christian wanted to kiss the floor of the b&b and judging by the way Chels was leaning into him, she probably was going to. In Arabic, he asked for a room for the night. The woman behind the desk looked between them with wide eyes and thankfully obliged without any questions. Two people completely covered in dirt, sunburnt and sweaty, anyone would be asking questions.

As soon as they stumbled into the simple room, Chelsea collapsed onto the bed with a goat like groan. "Thank you God for air conditioning."

"You okay?"

"I will be once I've gotten over this little bit of heatstroke." She groaned pressing a hand to her head. He watched her wince. "And sunburn. I'll heal soon right?"

"Most likely half an hour. I'll go get us some water don't leave the room."

"Like I would anyway. And could you try get some food too, I'm starving."

He shook his head and left her to go back to reception area. "Do you have a phone I could use?"

The woman was still staring exactly like earlier and Christian started to get suspicious. "What?"

She went beneath the counter, pulled out two bottles of ice cold water – and a note. Keeping his eyes firmly on the young woman, he slid the note toward him and skimmed over it.

Then he smirked. "Thank you."

Quickly calling Troy, his contact, he left a message telling him that Katherine and Callum would be making it there before him and to give them what they need for them to continue. Back in the room, Chelsea still hadn't moved from her spot on the bed.

"Here," He said dropping the note beside her head. "I told you they were fine."

Katherine and Cal had passed the town two hours ago. She knew he wanted them to carry on, he didn't see any point in them hanging about especially if it was dangerous for them as well. She did say, quote, "be careful in the next two towns you stop in," and to, "find a couple that own a tourist bus business. They're partial to a good runaway couple." They'd be the ones to get them through their final leg to Arish. She'd leave a note on their next stop if they were going to run into any trouble.

The relief that passed over Chelsea's startling blue eyes made him relax just that little bit. For that brief moment, he was mesmerised by that play of emotions in her eyes. Relief mixed with worry, that stubborn flicker when she caught his eye and of course the ever prominent one he's seen over and again – distrust. He had to smile because it was just like Chelsea, even now when it was just the two of them and she had no reason to not trust him, to look at him this way.

Turning away from her he put the bottles on the table opposite the main window. "You want to use the shower first or not? Because I'll gladly go fir-"

But she sprung up whipping the hat off her head, grabbing her bag and snatching the water from the desk and locked herself in the bathroom.

Christian sat on the edge of the bed with a breath. For who knows how long she'll be his responsibility. And with her impulsiveness he knew he'd be kept on the tips of his toes.

Over the noise of the shower he suddenly heard her ask, "Did you also find any food places?"

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The journey begins ;) tell me what you thought of Christian's POV I enjoyed writing it!! Drop those comments guys!