Kicking away from the body, I clawed for my messenger bag, and hurried away from the woods where a small fire was burning.
"Uh, bodyguard, or whatever? I need Elliot, now!” A shadowy mist formed around me and then Elliot was in front of me. I pointed at the woods, then, remembering Booger, began walking towards her yard
"Are you all right?" He held me out at arms length, his gaze sweeping over me to make sure I was okay. Wrapping me and Booger both in his arms, he kissed the top of my head. "What happened?" I opened my mouth and burst into tears feeling ridiculous, but not able to stop.
"Booger escaped…body…fell…on me. Petrel…dead," I gasped, pointing in the direction where I'd left Petrel. Elliot's eyes widened and he frowned.
“Deep breath,” he said. I took, a long, shaky breath, holding it for a moment to calm myself.
“My neighbor’s dog got loose. I followed her and Petrel’s…body…fell on top of me. He’s dead, and I…might’ve set him on fire, the woods, too.” Booger growled nervously and licked at the tears staining my face.
"Where does the dog live?” Elliot said, like I hadn’t just confessed to lighting someone on fire. I jerked my head towards the fence and Elliot took Booger from me. He placed her in the yard.
“She’ll get out again,” I said. Elliot flicked his fingers at the fence.
“Not with that spell,” he said. “Damn it! They were supposed to be watching you!" Elliot said. He took off towards the woods in a blur of movement, but before I'd taken four steps he was beside me again.
"Someone told you I needed you, right?" I asked.
"No, I heard you call my name. We can discuss that later, somewhere safe. Can you stay away from home tonight?" I felt my cheeks flush.
"What do you mean?"
"Petrel is Savian's fledgling. Something like this could cause a major retaliation."
"I didn't kill him! He just…fell on me. He was already dead when I used my fire magic on him.”
"We're going to have to sort this out before you can go home. Unless you think your mother would be helpful in hiding a body, we can't discuss it in front of her. We'll contact Gemma and then decide what to do from there."
"What if whoever killed Petrel comes after my mom or Gemma?"
"I don't think that's going to be a problem," Elliot said.
"Why?"
"Because whoever left Petrel wasn't after you. From his appearance, I'd say he was left as a gift," Elliot said.
"A gift?!" I cried. "What the heck kind of gift is a dead vampire?" Elliot pursed his lips and crossed his arms over his black sweater covered chest.
"The perfect gift for a girl who he's bitten. That, or an easy way to get rid of the vampire who marked you. Thus, eliminating the vampire who has claimed you and freeing you up to be claimed by another vampire."
"Claimed? As in, taken by?"
"No," Elliot said. "As in turned. Whoever did this wants to make you a vampire and by what they did to Petrel. They're thinking sooner is better than later."
“My life sucks.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
GEMMA
"Wait, wait…hold on a second. So, someone dropped a dead vampire on you when you were walking through the woods, alone?" I asked.
"Yeah," Ascher said.
"Are you purposely trying to audition for the blonde girl who loves to die in every horror movie? What the hell were you doing walking through the woods alone?"
"Gem—"
"I'm coming to get you. I can't believe you’re walking alone…"
"You don't need to come. I'm with someone," Ascher said.
"Who?"
"I've, sort of, been seeing someone."
"Who?!"
"Elliot Ambrose. The time-shifter that helped me get out of Savian's club."
"The vampire servant? Oh, my gawd, Asch. What the hell do you think you're doing? Why didn't you tell me?"
"Oh, I don't know. Probably because I knew you'd react like this. And you're one to talk. Why didn't you tell me that you saw Savian Radbourne last night."
How the hell did she know that?
"I don't…how did you know about that?"
"Uh, take a wild guess. I'm dating his servant, duh," Ascher said sounding very much like herself at age eight.
"Don't be a brat, Asch. I didn't tell you about him because I didn't want to worry you and, besides, I've been doing research on him and vampires in general. I'm taking care of it."
"Well, I'm taking care of this. God, someone throws dead-Petrel at me and I get yelled at? Nice," Ascher said.
"Petrel?"
"Yeah."
"I saw him this afternoon. He was at the movie theater when I went with Matt. He was all, 'We need to see Ascher' and stuff.”
"Well, what did you say?"
"I told him where he could stake it. What do you think?"
"Oh, well. You have to tell Mommy that I'm spending the night at Denise's because Elliot and I have to take care of this."
"Not gonna happen. I'm coming with, Ascher." She was silent on the line so long I'd thought she'd hung up. "Hello…Asch?"
"We're taking care of it, Gemma. Besides, someone was trying to send some sort of message and I think it would be a good idea if someone were to stay with Mommy, just to be on the safe side.”
"You think someone's going to come after Mommy?"
"No, it's just…good if you stay with her tonight. Listen, I've got to go, but will you cover for me with Mommy?" I chewed the inside of my cheek and frowned.
"It looks like I don't have much of a choice, but you'd better call me if you need anything. Call me every hour or I'm coming after you, okay?"
"Alright. I gotta go. Love you, Gemma. Bye."
"Bye, Asch. I love you, too. Be careful or I'll claw your butt." Ascher's laughter sounded through the phone and then she hung up. I leapt backwards onto my bed and grimaced.
"My baby sister has a boyfriend?" I asked no one in particular. She'd said his name was Elliot Ambrose. "Let's see if these books have anything to say about you, Elliot."
PART FIVE
PACK MENTALITY
Chapter Twenty Four
ASCHER
Elliot held me close to him, his leather trench coat wrapped tightly around us to help protect me from the bite of the cool night air rushing past my skin. Because he was only a vampire's servant, his shadow-shifting abilities were limited. He couldn't teleport through the shadows as much as he could levitate and propel himself where he wanted to go.
We'd been moving fast for awhile now and I felt myself smiling at how close I was to Elliot. The left side of my face pressed against his chest, I could feel the steady drum beat of his heart. He smelled faintly of cologne and I found myself taking deep breaths as if to memorize the scent.
Oh, Elliot, I love you so…
Elliot jerked us sharply to the side and I felt his feet hit something hard as his grip tightened around me. I peeked out from behind the flapping leather of his lapel and saw we were at least ten stories up, on the platform of a balcony leading, through glass doors, into a brightly lit room. I felt Elliot's hand press against my mouth. I arched my eyebrows in question and then frowned when I saw he wasn't looking at me. He was leaning towards the closed double doors of the balcony, a pensive look on his face. I heard the crisp shattering of glass sound from somewhere inside and Elliot moved me away from the curtained window just as a large chair came crashing through the glass.
We were suddenly air-born, Elliot's arm encircling my waist as we soared away from the building. I could just make out the faint light of stars in the sky when I gazed down to the glittering lights of Chicago. My stomach flip-flopped and rose like I was at the apex of a rollercoaster and I shrieked, turning into the warmth of Elliot's body for protection.
When we landed again, it was next to a dumpster beside a brick building, facing the busy lines of traffic. I could hear the faint murmur of music, but didn't know which direction it came from.
"What
was that?" I asked.
"I thought we could stay at Cadence's for the night, but it seems someone is already there."
"Well, do you think she's okay?" I asked. Elliot brushed the dark brown curls off of his forehead and shrugged.
"I'm fairly certain she's out of town until early tomorrow morning, that's why I thought the apartment would be empty. I just need a moment to rest before we continue. We'll need to find somewhere else to stay."
"Can't we just use a mirror and stay in the time-realm thingy?"
"I need to speak with Cadence about what happened. She's Savian's second so she should know how to handle this."
"But I didn't do anything wrong…"
"It doesn't matter. I don't think the vampires will believe that you could destroy a vampire as old as Petrel even if you wanted to, but it would be the perfect excuse to tangle you and your sister up in their world." I heaved a sigh and dug the heel of my boot against the brick.
"You know. This stuff always seemed so exciting and cool in books and movies, but this just sucks," I said. Elliot's body tensed and he spun to face the opposite side of the alleyway. I heard a low rumble as if from an engine followed by the bark of laughter and the clickety-clack of heels on the pavement. He motioned for me to move behind the dumpster.
Frenzied laughter floated towards us, causing the hair on my arms to stand on end. It wasn't a joyous sound I heard, but a cruel, almost cackling noise that made my stomach turn.
"Stay here. I'm going to see who's coming," Elliot said. He moved away from me with one last look, pressing his finger to his lips to make sure I knew to stay quiet. Like I was going to leap out from the shadows of a deserted alley and start introducing myself, or something.
My nervousness made my palms itch with the need to let my magic out. I swayed as my vision blurred and I grew dizzy. Bracing myself with one hand against the dumpster, I doubled over and waited for the dizzy spell to end.
"Did you see the looks on their faces when you said who we were? I swear, they were this close to wetting their pants," a female voice said.
"God, you could smell the fear all over them."
"I could taste it on my tongue," came the low grumble of a male voice.
"I still want to go home, you guys. I'll take a cab so you can stay out with the Benz."
"No dice, Rube. Dad'll … shhh. Someone's here. Hey, you lost, trenchcoat?" Grumbly voice guy had spotted Elliot.
"Just trolling for a midnight snack," Elliot replied. I grimaced.
"He's not alone. I smell someone else, a girl."
"Ah. That would be the scent of my snack. I must've said something wrong because she turned into fast food and ran away." Torrents of laughter sounded from the others.
"You do know you're in pack territory?" Grumbly said.
"And who are you?" Elliot asked. More laughter, then.
"Quillan Wolcott, firstborn son of the Alpha of Chicago. This is my twin sister Ruby and little sisters Luna and Diana."
Uh, oh. He'd said Alpha and his little sisters had moon names. Werewolves.
Chapter Twenty-Five
GEMMA
If my little sister thought I would just sit on my butt while she was in danger then she needs her head checked. I'd just finished locking all the windows and double-checking the locks on the patio and front doors. Not that those flimsy little locks would truly keep out the things that go bump in the night, but it made me feel better anyway. I still didn't know if it was true that vampires couldn't come in unless you invite them.
Note to self: ask the Bruers
After an non-fruitful hour of trying to find Elliot in the vampire books, I'd decided to read up on my spells and see if I couldn't work my mojo on Chicago's supernatural ickies. Glancing at the heading of the page, I paused: Invoking Your Spirit Animal. Hmmm…that sounded promising. Let's see- I needed a Tiger's Eye (it’s a gemstone, chill,) some cinnamon, dried rose petals, powdered vervain and an essence of your spirit animal.
I had everything, but the essence so I decided to wing it and grabbed a pinch of cat hair out of Angel's brush and a scoop of clean litter from the cat box and the insides of one of Angel's catnip mice. Nothing says essence quite like kitty litter, fur and catnip. At least, that's what I hoped. It's not like I could call the Bruers and ask, and I certainly wasn't going to make one of the cats sit in the cauldron.
Gathering my supplies, I tiptoed into Ascher's room, switched on the light, and starting setting up for the spell. The spell required moonlight and Ascher had the biggest window, so I figured it would work better. I opened her floral curtains, feeling creeped-out by the empty dark below me.
***
Breathing deeply, I smelled the strange fragrance that the combination of ingredients had created. I was sitting on the floor, in the middle of a circle I'd made out of salt. The curtains billowed inwards, brushing dangerously close to the candle that provided my only light. Leaning over to reach the top of the circle, I struck a match and lit the first candle, which represented North.
"Spirit animal, I call you. Come, come to me now, fast and true." I lit the second candle. "And when the moonlight marks your path, I will possess all that you hath." I touched the match to the third candle. "What you are this night, shall I be. What you discover, I will see." The flame touched the tips of my fingers as I lit the final candle." And what I seek, under moon's glow. You will lead me to, you will show." I pinched some of the mixture, sprinkling it over the flames of each candle. "By witches' crede, I do agree. Come, come to me…so mote it be." A breeze seemed to enter the room from nowhere and the candles blew out, leaving me cradled in darkness.
I reached for Ascher's lamp, but I couldn't find it. Suddenly, voices came to me and I saw three girls and two boys talking. At first the image seemed to be projected, like you might watch a movie screen, in front of your eyes, but then, my surroundings began to shift and change until I could feel concrete under my feet and smelled garbage on the air. It looked as though we were in an alleyway. Turning to my right, I saw Ascher cowering behind a dumpster, a look of pure fright on her face. I made my way towards her.
Chapter Twenty Six
ASCHER
"If I'm in your territory, then I offer my sincerest apologies on behalf of my master, Savian Radbourne, but, be assured, I brought my own food."
"All the same…you should get going…"
"You know, he doesn't smell like a vampire," a girl said.
"I'm not. I'm the first servant to Savian Radbourne, Master vampire of the city of Chicago,"
"Uh, duh," a girl said.
"Um, yeah. We know who he is," said another.
"You don't want to go over there, I assure you. I'm still cleaning up after my dinner," Elliot said.
"I thought you said she ran away," Quillan said. "Ruby, check it out." I flinched as a girl, my age, peeked her head around the corner. She had straight, jet-black hair and silvery-blue eyes so light they looked like they belonged to a husky.
Or a wolf.
The scent of burning trash and rotting food flared into the night. Gazing to the right, I saw the dumpster was on fire. I must've ignited the fire through the metal of the dumpster. Trying very hard not to look as scared as I felt, I called my fire, but before I could aim, the girl disappeared.
"It's nothing, Quill. Let's go. I want to get to Crave before all the poseurs show," the girl said.
"The dumpster's on fire," Quillan of the grumbly voice said.
"Yes. I, uh, tossed my cigarette in there," Elliot said. Even I thought it sounded like a lie. The loud snap of something breaking sounded and I heard Elliot cry out in pain.
"Ascher, run!" He cried. Starting to move, I knew I was already too late. Freezing in mid-step, I found myself staring into the hungry faces of a teenage boy and two girls who looked thirteen or fourteen.
"Mmmm," one said. I didn't waste any time. I launched a fireball at her. She moved out of the way, but it caught her on the shoulder and she let out a sound very like the whim
per of a puppy. The other girl seized me by the arms and pulled them behind my back, slamming me into the brick of the building. Ruby, the girl Quillan had sent to look behind the dumpster appeared, looking both bored and sad.
"God, Quillan. Just leave them alone. The last thing Daddy needs this close to the full moon is a problem with the vampires," Ruby said.
"It's a warlock, not a vampire," Quillan said. The girl standing next to me fixed me with her husky eyes. She and the other girl, who looked to be her identical twin, both had hair as pale as Quillan and Ruby's were dark.
"I dunno, Quillan. She smells like witch."
"Yes, I know, but her powers are…wait a minute. You're that half-breed fireshifter!" Quillan said. I frowned, not liking him or his choice of words.
"Yeah? Well, at least I'm not some flea bag werewo…" Quillan dismissed the sister who held me with a gesture and wrapped an arm around my back. He pressed a long-nailed finger to my lips in a quick movement, and I must've jumped because he smiled and his sisters laughed. All except Ruby who looked like she might be sick.
"Shh. Play nice, witch," Quillan said.
"Some witch. She's more like a bitch," the sister I'd burned said.
"Hey, you're the werewolf-girl," I said. Quillan turned, his finger still on my lips. I shoved him away from me. He pushed me to the wall with one hand, using the other to cover my mouth. If it was anyone else, I probably would've bitten him, but I didn't really want to piss off the Alpha's son.
"Luna, do you want me to tell mom you're talking like that?" Quillan asked. The younger girl paled, clutching her shoulder and glaring at me.
"She started it," Luna said.
"We'd better get out of here before that guy wakes up," Ruby said.
"Ooh yeah, 'cause he was scary," one of the blond sisters said.
"Yeah.” Quillan smiled at his sisters, then turned his silver eyes back to me.
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