Chapter 8
Chapter
Eight
Vampires weren’t all that common. Unlike shifters, many of us lived alone and scattered across the world, few living in close proximity to each other. Lore said we could be indiscriminate killing machines. For me, that was only true when I didn’t have caffeine in the morning.
I didn’t sleep in a coffin, nor did I need much blood to survive, choosing to refill maybe once every couple of months through a small vial purchased via a discreet seller.
After Fee slammed into me with the force of a freight train, I hadn’t needed blood since, something I was still struggling to comprehend.
Evie never asked me about how I managed my hunger.
She wasn’t one to pry. Everyone else assumed I had it under control, so no one knew I was on my eighth month without a refill.
My stash was no longer any good, and at first, I kept repurchasing, only for each vial to go bad when another month passed without needing to refuel.
I was beginning to feel the first twinges of hunger once more, but nothing like I had before Fee.
My fatigue had increased a little, though it was still minimal.
If something happened and the hunger came back with a vengeance, I might have to go hunt in the woods while I waited on a shipment.
But I was beginning to suspect the blood hunger was gone, and my body no longer needed it as fuel. Only time would tell.
Sometimes late at night, I wondered if I was still a vampire.
Certain blood still attracted me, and I still hungered sometimes, but those instances were more craving than need.
Ethan’s blood sent my own pumping, and I had to stop myself from nicking him just to see what he tasted like.
The Lord would never forgive me if I took something from him without permission.
My lack of need for blood hadn’t dulled any of my senses.
The opposite happened. Everything sharpened.
My sense of smell improved so much I could smell a drop of blood from over a mile away.
The first time it happened, I went to my knees with sensory overload.
Only diligent practice helped my focus, and now I could tune everything out and focus on one thing.
That’s what I did today. While Soren and Seth shot straight in the direction of the witches, I closed my eyes and searched for their scent. Both he and his Second had an advantage. They’d traveled there before. I was flying blind.
There. Herbal, a touch astringent, the scent of bonfire smoke woven in, and an odd touch of some kind of darker magic. And blood. So much blood.
In case they were leading me astray, I veered to the left, toward the coppery scent that told me we were not dealing with white witches. Whoever this coven was, they were using human sacrifices.
I kept Seth and Soren’s scents available, ensuring I knew where they were at all times.
To keep them from seeing the full extent of my abilities, I kept a slightly behind pace and stayed close enough where they could still sense me.
As we ran, leaping over rocks and fallen trees, I fell into a rhythm, the crisp but warm smell of the Ponderosa pines filling my nose and lungs.
I liked this place. Wild and untouched, the forest came alive under my feet. Things hidden in burrows and holes slithered and swished, birds flew from their perches high in the trees, alarmed by our presence. The sun was slowly beginning to set, sending long purple and orange fingers over the sky.
And still we ran.
When the scent of the witches grew close, I slowly veered away from Soren and Seth, far enough where they could no longer sense my presence.
Then I opened up and let myself be me. Wind whipped my hair from its messy bun as I flew through the forest, taking insane leaps over leaf litter and rotting debris.
A wild laugh broke from my throat as I ran, my arms and legs pumping in a blur.
Seth and Soren were at least half a mile behind now, neither having any idea where I’d gone or what I was up to.
I pushed myself, harder and harder, the sheer joy of being able to really let myself go breaking something free in my chest. This is who I was, who I was always meant to be—something wild and uncaged, animal yet not, female yet something more.
I was something to be embraced and feared, a contradiction to myself and my heritage, and something original, wholly unknown to the world.
As I all but flew to my destination, that spot in my chest began to glow, so bright you could see it through my clothing and the heavy jacket I wore, Fee’s purple and orange sending a glow over the trees and sky.
I touched my chest and felt the warmth. Fee, in whatever form she still existed in, was happy. Tears sprang to my eyes. “Hi, Fee,” I whispered.
A pulse of bright blue answered.
I smiled and kept running, letting Fee enjoy the moment just as much as I was.
Half an hour later, Soren came into view, skidding to a halt gape-mouthed at my presence by the tree. Seth skidded to a stop beside him and let out a loud crack of laughter.
“Goddammit,” Seth said, slapping his thighs. “I knew she was going to win!”
“She shouldn’t have,” Soren snarled, his eyes narrowing as he studied me.
I sat against the trunk and gave the men a little wave. “Hello, boys.”
“How.” A ring of gold outlined his irises.
I studied my nails. “A girl never reveals her secrets, Lord.”
Seth let out a low whistle. “How much are you gonna peg him for?”
I’d been contemplating the answer while waiting. “The Tiffany Victoria Mixed Cluster Drop earrings, please.”
Neither man would know the price. Seventy thousand was a good start to buying my silence.
Soren whipped out his phone and searched. A shrill hiss sounded from between his teeth. “Fucking hell, Moira.”
“A deal’s a deal,” I said sweetly.
Seth’s eyes widened as his gaze bounced between us like a tennis match. “Twenty?”
I shook my head and jerked my thumb up.
Seth blinked. “Fifty?”
I grinned and motioned upward again.
His low chuckle made Soren’s jaw tighten. “Let’s hope your dinner tastes are a little less high class. I’m a working man, darling.”
He stuck his thumbs through his belt loops and pretended to hike his pants up.
“There’s a burger place in Emberwood aptly called Ember’s. I’ll text you my order.”
“A burger.” His grin widened. “I got the better part of this deal, boss.”
Soren’s nostrils flared. “How’d you win?” he asked again.
All the Lords hated losing. Guess winning was ingrained into their DNA.
Telling him would only make him madder, and I liked having something to lord over him. “I already told you it was none of your business.”
He turned in a slow circle, studying the lay of the land.
There were no advantages out here, though he couldn’t be sure I hadn’t cheated because Evie hadn’t ceded control over the land.
It was feasible I’d come onto the land beforehand and made things easier on myself, but he would have scented me around this area and he knew it.
His jaw tightened. “Fine. Send it to the Keep?”
“Care of Evie Quinn,” I added with a bright smile.
A few clicks later and I had a pair of ridiculous diamond earrings on the way to Evie’s house. My bestie was going to get a kick out of this when I told her what happened.
When Soren finally dropped it, I jerked a thumb over my shoulder. “They’re doing dark magic in there. Awful stuff with human sacrifices. Are you sure you want to do this?”
Soren’s lips thinned. “A certain vampire told me I had to.”
I’d been here for a while, and even this far away, the scent of their horrific magic was cloying to my senses. But there was something else I needed to tell him, something neither he nor Seth had picked up on yet. “That’s before I smelled shifter blood inside those wards.”
Soren and Seth froze.
Seth took a step forward and lifted his nose into the air, inhaling deeply. Soren watched him, and when Seth gave him a sharp shake of his head, Soren stepped up next to his Second and did the same thing.
When they both turned to me with quizzical looks, I tapped the side of my nose. “Vampires have always had keener senses. We may not be better trackers, but we scent blood like a great white. There’s shifter blood behind those wards, Lord. Mark my words. Are you missing anyone?”
Seth shook his head. “Our numbers are low, but as of this morning, everyone’s accounted for.”
“If we drop the wards, you’ll be able to scent the shifter in question. If we leave now, we can regroup and figure out a way to take them out. An apology seems dumb in hindsight, Soren. I don’t think you should approach them directly.”
Yes, he was an idiot for sleeping with eight witches in the same coven. The fact didn’t make me want him dead, though. If he walked up to those wards, the odds were high they’d sling a spell at him before a word left his mouth.
“She’s right,” Seth said, seeing the wisdom in my words.
But Soren was staring toward the direction of the coven. We were still too far away to see any of the witches, but their presence weighed on my mind like an oily substance.
“There’s one who will listen to reason.”
I shook my head. “Bad idea. Maybe two years ago she would have, but things have changed. I can’t imagine you’d sleep with someone who smelled the way that coven does now. Would you?”
He inclined his head. “I wouldn’t. But I still think she will listen.”
“I can’t protect you without revealing myself,” I said.
“Then we lure her out,” Seth said.
“This is a terrible idea,” I warned them.
“Then it’s a good idea you’re with us, so we can blame you,” Soren drawled.
I gave him the bird and rose, slapping the leaves from the back of my pants and thighs. “Alright then, spill. Tell me how you’re going to lure one witch out without alerting the rest.”
Soren held his cell up and waved it in front of my face. “Through the magic of cellular. I’m going to text her.”
Seth snorted. “Sorcery,” he agreed.
“You still have her number?” If Soren had a physical little black book, it’d be a thousand pages. I wonder how much storage all the phone numbers took up inside his phone.
He didn’t respond, instead typing out a quick message on his phone. “Now we wait.”
To my enduring horror, the woman responded almost immediately. From the smile on Soren’s face, her response was not the ass chewing I expected. “She sent me a location outside the wards and asked me to meet her there in half an hour.”
Seth and I looked at each other. “Could be a trap,” he said.
“How far away is she from that spot?” I asked Soren.
“Fifteen minutes give or take a few.”
I chewed on the side of my lip. “Too short notice to spring anything other than a prepared spell on him.”
The best spells took a lot of time and care to craft. Potions worked in a pinch, some better than others, but if they wanted Soren dead, they would have delayed him by at least a day.
“What do you think?” I asked Seth.
“I’ll be there with him.”
Soren glared.
“Yes, I know you can take care of yourself,” Seth said with an eye roll, “but in case she has a nasty surprise up her sleeve, you should have someone there with you. I’ll stay downwind. She won’t know I’m around.”
Witches had good senses, but they weren’t up to par with a shifter or vampire.
“I’ll stay close, too.” Since we’d established I could move faster than either of them, I was best suited to respond quickest and get Soren out if need be.
“I’ll set it up,” Soren said, a grumble of disagreement in his voice.
“Send the location to us,” Seth said.
A few minutes later, we all left to scope out the meetup spot. If they tried to kill Soren, doing so in the middle of nowhere was a good spot.