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  “What is it?” She looked at me with sleep in her eyes. The longer I looked at her, the more I wondered if I looked half as bad as her in the morning. If so, it was no wonder people were afraid of me.

  “She wants a pink eye,” I sighed. It sounded so stupid!

  “I know you already know what the pink eye is. Now we have to find a coven of them. That is going to be tricky.” She looked at the clock on the wall and grimaced.

  “Yeah. Wesley is the only one I know of who has a pink eye.” I rolled my eyes.

  “Well, if he has one, there is another one who will as well,” Prudence shrugged.

  She was supposed to be one of the all-knowing, why was she giving me vague information. I was sure she already knew all the paths in time we could take to get to the final moment. She chose not to speak of them just in case it was one that led to the ultimate outcome.

  “We have today and tomorrow because we have to drive to El Paso.” I grabbed my glass of water and finished it.

  “El Paso, huh?” she asked. I could see the wheels turning. Had she just omitted all paths that led anywhere else?

  “I’m to deliver it to the place that I ran. It was the only place I ran to,” I answered her.

  “All right, so what do you want to do?” she asked.

  I stood there and thought for a bit. It would have been nice if she would have broken in with an idea or two, but she stood there watching me and waiting for me to make up my mind. There were many places we could look, but there was only one place that gave me the willies.

  “Go into the woods.” A cold sweat ran up my spine.

  “Why the woods?” She raised an eyebrow carefully and waited for my explanation.

  “I was always afraid to go in there. I never wanted to know what lived in them when we were here last.” I wiped my mouth and smiled at her. I know she could see right through me. I was scared to death to go into the trees. Especially after what had happened to Wesley.

  “I suppose it’s a good thing we have a werewolf with us then,” Prudence noted with a nod.

  I admit I was not thrilled with her statement, but it was true. Kelly could sniff out a vampire with ease.

  “She could be useful,” I answered slowly.

  “Are you glad they came along now?” She sat down on the couch and crossed her ankles elegantly.

  “I’m grateful to Marshall on many levels. If it wasn’t for his soul, I would still be in bed fighting my father.” I grinned at her. I was still refusing to give her any satisfaction.

  “As you should be,” she answered with a broad smile.

  I watched her for a bit as I picked at my jeans. My conversation with John had been far more exciting.

  “Uh, there are some dresses in my closet you may like. I know they aren’t fancy like you are used to, but I got them before Wesley left, I just never wore them.” I pointed toward my room and bit my lip.

  Prudence smiled and winked at me.

  “I bought a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. I think I will wear. You kids nowadays dress so differently from how I did when I was first here. I suppose women who dress like your stepmother would be considered snooty.” She laughed.

  “Mona is a special woman. She has the money, so she flaunts her style,” I shrugged.

  “I suppose that to be true. I have money; I just have no clue where the hell Sheridan put it all,” she growled.

  “I’m sure we can find it once we find her.” I attempted to give her hope.

  “You would think,” she groaned.

  The conversation staled even quicker that time. I should have been able to talk about Mona for hours, but having a conversation with my doppelganger was already creepy enough.

  “I guess I will get the others up. We will hit the woods near midafternoon.” I stood up and began to walk toward the guest room. I was ready for some normalcy. Kelly and Marshall were far more normal than either Prudence or myself.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Into the Woods

  At a quarter past four, we were standing just outside the entrance to the forest. Kelly and Marshall had been quite receptive to the plan. After a quick session of cursing me for putting them in danger, we were finally ready to complete the quest. Apparently, the pink-eyed vampire was very well known in shifter and werewolf packs as malicious assassins.

  Kelly looked at me from the corner of her eye as she placed her nose in the air. I watched as her pupils began to dilate, and the iris turned a deep purple. I wasn’t sure if it was a good sign until she lowered her face and turned her head toward me.

  “There is at least one about half a mile in. Not sure if it’s the pink eye you want, but I’m getting something at least.” She glanced at Marshall. “Your turn.”

  Marshall kissed her on the cheek and then turned his attention to me.

  “What do you want? A bunny? A dog?” I already knew how much he disapproved of me having Kelly involved, so it was no shock to find he was the bait and not her.

  “Just something that moves fast and doesn’t draw suspicion,” I suggested with a shrug. I wasn’t a shifter; I had no idea what he could do.

  “Are there mountain lions in the woods?” he asked as he cracked his knuckles.

  “Yes, I’m sure there are,” I nodded. I had never seen one, but I had heard comments here and there of their existence.

  Marshall gave me an irritated grin as he started to painfully convulse. The last time he had mutated had been while my eyes were blindfolded. I had not seen how he was able to complete his transition. However, now that I was looking at him, I could tell it was not a pleasant experience. In the moments that followed, my companion had turned from a man into a mountain lion. The mountain lion blinked a few times in my direction before rubbing against Kelly’s hip. She patted the top of his head lovingly just before he ran off into the trees.

  I should have known Kelly had a trick up her sleeve as well. Marshall may have been against her being the bait, but she wasn’t going to let him travel alone. She gave Prudence and me a salute as her body began to quiver and pop. Prudence winced a time or two as I covered my face to avoid having to watch.

  “That was interesting,” I muttered as I lowered my hands and looked at Prudence. “What happens to their clothes?”

  “You know I have often wondered that myself.” She gave me a shy giggle. “First time, huh?”

  “First time?” I asked as I raised a single eyebrow in confusion.

  “To see them change.”

  To say this was the first time would have been an understatement. I had never even asked them how they changed. I had seen so many movies that depicted shifters changes as magical and far less painful. Bones had popped and reset, human faces had turned to fuzzy animal snouts, and everything that was once Kelly and Marshall was no longer present. You could see it was them in the eyes, but if a being hadn’t known them, they would have never thought the creatures were humanoid.

  “Yeah,” I laughed nervously.

  “Quite amazing, isn’t it?” she mused, looking in the direction the others had run.

  “Quite indeed. Should we follow?” I smiled at her as she nodded politely at me.

  “I think we should.” Prudence grasped my hand, and together, we entered the woods.

  The trees seemed far more daunting then they had the night Wesley had disappeared. The mood was morose, and the ground we walked on still soft from recent rain. The trees gave off their distinct smells, and cracks of branches ahead of us only made my heart quicken. There had been a reason for me avoiding this place, and I had a feeling I was about to find out just what it was.

  Kelly and Marshall had run quite a bit ahead of us. I could no longer sense their presence near me, and I was straining my eyes to see past the trees into the slowing darkness. Each smell was new, and each location had a different feeling of dread. Honestly, that could have been my own fear, but either way, the further we moved into the trees, the more anxious I became to find a pink-eyed vampire.

&nb
sp; “Try opening your mind. You will find you won’t have to strain so hard,” Prudence suggested.

  I looked toward her from the corner of my eyes. Why hadn’t she suggested that when we first entered the trees?

  I opened all my senses to the plants around us. I could hear the owls in the branches, the animals on the ground, even the trickle of a creek just ahead. When I opened my eyes, I saw the forest in a whole new light. I no longer needed to strain to see ahead of us, and the world around us shimmered in its own makeshift lightening.

  I gave her an appreciative smile as we kept walking. After another few minutes, I became concerned. There was no sign of my two friends anywhere. No footprints in the soft dirt. Not even the sound of their animal forms running through the trees.

  We had taken no more than another five steps when my stomach began to twist, and a sick feeling took me over. That was when I noticed a small female body curled up in a ball on the ground ahead of us.

  I raced toward Kelly and instantly placed my fingers to her pulse. I let out a heavy sigh once I learned she was merely unconscious. It took me a moment to go from relieved to panicked. Something had to have knocked her out, and I could sense nothing in the area. I looked up at Prudence, who was already on guard, her hands moving slowly in circles as electric currents passed between her fingers. I watched the power twist and dance around her fingertips.

  Without any warning, my eyes began to burn. Usually, I could control the transformation from my humanoid body to my Warden form, but this time it seemed almost automatic. I could smell them with their faint musty scent. Prudence’s nose flared; she could sense them as well. No sooner had a prepped myself for an attack, seven pink-eyed vampires surrounded us. The must have been moving quickly if their smell had been nonexistent, not even two minutes before.

  “What do we have here?” one of the males asked as he crossed his arms over his rather muscular chest. Unlike Edmund’s coven, these vampires’ fangs were extended past his lips.

  “Three lost little girls,” another one giggled, as she danced around her friend almost impishly.

  I could smell power, great power from one of them, and my body took control. I stood up and felt the flames surge through my veins. I could always use a good power boost. Instantly, my feet slowly rose from the ground, and I felt the fire start to swirl invisibly around my body. Sheridan needed a pink eye, and that was just what I was going to get her.

  “You want some? Come and get it,” I taunted them with a cruel smile on my face.

  Wesley had mentioned the pink-eyed species was far more ferocious and more likely to attack without much pressure. Honestly, that is what I needed from them. If one came at me, I had every right to defend myself, I wasn’t going to blindly attack them without knowing what kind of abilities they had first.

  “She smells weird,” one of the females mentioned, lifting her nose to the breeze. Her red lips spread apart in an almost disgusted expression.

  “She smells sweet,” chimed in another one.

  I was becoming irritated by their lack of response. All I needed was one of them to go for the bite.

  “No! She’s one of the ones we were warned about,” the powerful one said as he stopped the others from advancing.

  He was taller than the others, and far more built. His pink eyes were hidden under blackened sunglasses, and his skin appeared almost sunkissed. I couldn’t see any amulets of protection around their necks, which meant they had not chosen a side. One wrong move, and we could lose the support of their specific species.

  “That Warden left months ago,” the female explained, smiling snidely up at me. “She’s nothing more than an escaped pureblood.”

  “No!” the powerful one said again, pushing her back before she could strike.

  “What are you afraid of?” I asked out of annoyance.

  The way the others moved around him suggested he was their sire. They cowered away as he took several steps toward me, his hands planted at his side, his lips moving into a cruel smile.

  “I know what you are doing, temptress,” he growled at me.

  I looked down at him and crossed my arms over my chest. Clicking my tongue at him, I let out an amused laugh. I had been called many things in the past, but temptress was new to me. I was about as alluring as a skunk.

  “How about you tell me?” I suggested, grinning at him.

  “The fire in your veins would kill me on contact,” he spat at me.

  I wanted to pat him on the back and tell him well done. They must have knocked Kelly unconscious and realized biting her would only cause them harm. That would explain why she was left where she laid.

  “How do you know it’s fire?” I pouted.

  Sheridan had made this far more complicated than I had anticipated.

  “I can smell the char on your skin.” He looked at his circle of cohorts.

  I raised an arm in front of my face and sniffed, he wasn’t lying.

  “I thought I had masked that smell.” I blinked at him.

  “What do you suggest we do about this?” Prudence asked from the sidelines.

  The vampires had been paying so much attention to me. I had forgotten Prudence was there as well. Their heads turned her direction, and I felt the attention of the powerful one turning from me to her. He had no idea what he was getting himself into. Biting me might turn him to ash, but Prudence would make his death far more painful than anything I could muster.

  “Tell me why you are here? The Wardens are not known for attacking stray covens.” The powerful one spoke to her.

  “True.” Prudence smiled as she tapped her fingers on her other arm. “What if I was to tell you that she strayed? Would you believe it?”

  “No,” he answered with a snarl. “This town already has a Warden. The redhead promised nothing would happen to us as long as we kept to ourselves.”

  I could have punched Rose at that moment. She would strike deals with the local rogue covens. Her way of trying to gain an alliance, I’m sure.

  “Then, let me ask this.” Prudence took a step forward and placed her hands neatly behind her back. I could see her fingers working in twisted ways. Either she was binding him, or she was trying to protect me; either way, whatever she was doing was brilliant. “I need an eye.”

  “An eye?” he laughed.

  “Just one eye. Nothing you wouldn’t grow back overnight.” She tried to sound sweet, but her accent made her sound deranged. Prudence was about as seductive as I was.

  “Wait, I’ve heard about you. You’re the Priestess.” He pointed at her and frowned.

  “Something like that.” She looked displeased at his realization.

  Something odd sparked between Prudence and me. She knew something I didn’t, and she was using it to get what we needed. The coven leader was onto her, and while she put on the façade she cared, I knew she didn’t.

  “Yeah, I don’t think we will be parting with our eyes any time soon.” He said to her and glanced up at me.

  “Have it your way,” Prudence growled as she threw an electrical ball into his chest.

  After that, all hell broke loose. Vampires were attacking; fire was flying; Kelly’s body was still motionless on the ground. The whole battle was nothing more than hair, teeth, and eyeballs. The only problem with the eyeballs was none of them were parting with one.

  The fight went on for a while between the group of us. The lesser vampires fell rather quickly, turning to ash in an instant, pissing me off beyond belief. They had paid no attention to their sire when he had told them one bite would kill them. By the end, all that was standing between us now were two conscious females and one powerful pureblood.

  I twisted my fingers around in circles, forming a ball of mixed flame. I still had enough power to take on the coven leader. Yet, before the fire could even leave my fingers, the unexpected happened. Marshall leaped from the tree above, his claws ripping down the face of the vampire. With blood drenching the forest floor, Marshall quickly transitioned i
nto his human form. Throwing his hand behind his head, he said some words to himself and thrust his fingers into the vampire’s eye socket, ripping out the pink eye with a sickening thud.

  The vampire screamed as his hands flew to his already healing wounds. That was our cue to leave. Grabbing Kelly, Marshall took the lead. Prudence and I followed behind, struggling to keep up as he sprinted through the trees.

  We reached the Bentley in a matter of minutes, throwing our bloody bodies onto the expensive upholstery. I threw my head back on the headrest and breathed deeply.

  “Rose is going to hate me,” I groaned. “I broke her promise.”

  “All of that, and you are worried about Rose. We just made enemies of them. I wouldn’t be surprised if every last pink-eyed coven didn’t flip sides,” Prudence laughed.

  “What are they called anyway? I feel bad by calling them pink eyes.” I took another deep breath and put the key in the ignition. The car started, and we were off again, heading toward the house. There was no denying our departure from Midvale the next morning. We needed all the time we could muster to make it to El Paso before the cut-off.

  “This coven was Occhio Rosa,” Marshall mentioned softly. He hadn’t spoken since he had attacked the leader.

  “And the others?” I asked, speeding down the two-lane highway toward the house.

  “Let’s take it one coven at a time.” He didn’t want to talk, that was apparent.

  “It means pink eye,” Prudence giggled.

  I looked at her, a bit confused. It almost seemed like she was high from the fight. I had never seen a woman so fluid with her magic. Not even a drop of blood stained her white t-shirt. Her hair was a little out of place; there was a tiny cut on her face, but all and all, she was untouched.

  “Well, that is original,” I grumbled as I tightened my grip on the steering wheel.

  “I will put it under a spell when we get back to the house to keep it from drying out,” Prudence promised before we drove the rest of the way in silence.

  I nearly screamed when we got to the house. Sitting in the driveway was Adam’s SUV. He was standing at the front door, waiting.