It would be a risk to her parents to delay, but a risk to them if they didn't... but Geraint was selfish enough that he didn't give Vara's parents thought past what she felt about them.  He had enough empathy to know she was being torn inside by the indecision, but he would sacrifice her parents to save her.  They meant nothing to him, though he would try to save them, if possible because she wanted it.  It made it easy for him to accept her reasoning.<br/><br/>He got up from the cot.  He told himself that everything was disposable.  The world was full of new things, there was no point in clinging to the old ones.  Still, the little lair had served him well, and he would miss it.  He would never - never - come back to it to hide.  It was forever tainted in his mind.  He got his clothes on, including the pistol, and opened a box and took all the powder, shot, and percussion caps he had in a sling, plus a kit to make more shot.  He found a knife the size of a short sword, too, and clipped it onto the gunbelt.  Then he filled a backpack full of food.  Both of them had great endurance, but so would any of their pursuers, and if they didn't bring food they might be able to outrun them.  They would have to make do with whatever water they found, which was simple enough unless they had the bad luck to drink something tainted beyond their ability to recover.  It could happen.  There were more nuclear spirits in low areas, where water pooled and ran.<br/><br/>"If Blackvayne spoke to you through dreams, and is serious, then he'll have to wait for you to sleep, again, and knows it.  He might still send people as a back-up plan, of course, I think I would, but if he's being honest they won't press us.  Still, I don't want to meet them until we have the drop on<i>them</i>."  He didn't believe in fair fights, only winners and losers.  He liked to fight when he knew he could win and preferred to run at all other times.  Fighting when you might lose meant something terrible had happened.  He did not understand werewolves who lived for fair fights except in sport.