Part 4 (1/2)

Tristan raised an eyebrow at me. I gave him a slight shake of my head. He doesn't know where she is.

”Let's go then.”

To the plane?

”No, I told Charlotte to take off. Go home.”

With a nod, I sprang from Victor's back and landed next to Tristan. In a flash, we appeared in our garage, which gave us a few moments before we were bombarded by an eight-year-old.

”Victor was telling the truth?” Tristan asked, his voice harsh. I stopped myself from throwing my arms around him when I saw sparks of anger in his eyes.

”Um ... not exactly. It hasn't been months since he's seen her, like he said ... in fact, it was only last week in Key West. But get this ...”

Victor's memory, now my memory, played in my mind, and I shared it with Tristan. Vanessa had turned from the blond male in the alley to look at Victor. She lifted her lip in a snarl, and her musical voice warned Victor to lay off.

”He's mine,” she hissed, and the memory faded.

”She was with ... Owen,” I said with disbelief. But I couldn't decide if seeing them together shocked me more, or if the vision of him tilting his head, as if offering his neck to her, did.

”That's ... unexpected,” Tristan agreed. ”At least we know he survived it.”

”We know nothing, Tristan! She could be slowly sucking him dry, and he's letting her. Victor was p.i.s.sed she wouldn't share him and all the power in his blood.”

”She doesn't exactly have a reputation for sharing,” Tristan muttered, which reminded me of the last time I'd heard her declare someone as hers-me.

Only, I had to admit, there was something different about the way she said it this time. Murder filled her voice when she spoke of me. Something else, something just as pa.s.sionate yet different, colored her tone when she spoke of Owen.

”Oh, no! What if he's letting her kill him on purpose? What if he's suicidal?”

”Nah,” Tristan said, but he stroked his chin as if he wasn't so sure. ”No,” he said more firmly. ”Besides, Vanessa won't kill him. He's too valuable. It'd be more likely that she'd infect him. Or perhaps convince him that he's already Daemoni because of his ties to Kali.”

Exactly my fear. ”He'd rather be dead than be a vamp or any kind of Daemoni. We need to find him. And if he's converted, we need to save him.”

”And if he doesn't want to be saved?”

”Don't be ridiculous,” I scoffed.

”Alexis, that's part of preparing for your role. You need to be able to face that possibility.”

”We're talking about Owen, though. He doesn't really want to be part of them.”

”You have no idea what's going through his mind right now.”

I put my fists on my hips. ”You're wrong. I do have an idea. I know what it's like to find out your sperm donor is evil. I don't know what the physical ties are between him and Kali, but he has her magic. He was essentially raised by her without knowing it.”

”So it's a little different than finding out someone you never knew is your enemy. Owen might handle his news differently than you handled yours.”

”He can't want to be evil, Tristan. Not Owen!”

”And if he does? Can you kill him if it comes to that?”

I turned my back on him and crossed my arms over my chest.

”We can't let it come to that,” I said, then I strode out of the garage and headed for the house.

Tristan's hand clamped on my shoulder, and he spun me around. ”We're not done yet.”

But apparently we were, for the time being anyway, because Dorian's voice rang from inside the house and the backdoor flew open.

”Mom's home!”

Chapter 5.

I rearranged my mental focus and put myself in Mom mode right when a not-so-little boy came sailing at me. Using his own special skills, he slowed in mid-air to avoid a collision-he was already big enough that he could have easily bowled me over. I wrapped my arms around him as he embraced my neck.

”I told you I'd come home,” I said. ”Did you miss me?”

”Lots! But Blossom's been here and she does everything for me. And she's made cake every day! I think I want to marry her. Is that okay with you, Mom?”

I chuckled. ”Isn't she a little old for you?”

He shrugged. ”Nah. And she's beautiful.” He paused. ”But so is Heather. She's younger. Maybe I'll marry her instead.”

I knew Blossom-the cake-baking witch with blond hair, big eyes and a spell-enhanced chest, who had become a good friend-but I didn't know Heather. The name rang some kind of bell in my mind, but I couldn't immediately place it.

”Who's Heather?” I asked him.

”She's been helping Dad and Blossom. She's here right now.” Dorian tugged at my hand to pull me inside, but my feet remained planted outside the door. I looked over my shoulder at Tristan.

”Heather?” I asked.

His angry scowl transformed into a guilty grimace. Jealousy's green tentacles tried to slither around my heart, but then the image of a handwritten note appeared in my mind, a letter I'd received right after the trial, signed by Heather. She'd been the girl whose dad I'd punched in the nose ten years ago, and a few weeks later, he'd driven his car into Mom's bookstore. She'd written me to ask for my help, believing that her sister Sonya, who had stalked me, the author, had become a vampire. Ah, c.r.a.p. I wasn't in the best mental or physical state to take this on.

”Sorry,” Tristan muttered. ”I should have given you some warning. She was sitting on the front step the day Dorian and I arrived, and she hasn't left since.”

I drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

”Come on, Mom,” Dorian said, still tugging on my arm. ”You're letting the bugs in.”

I reluctantly crossed the threshold and into my home-the place I'd lived in for only a few months and had been gone from twice as long. It didn't feel quite like home at the moment. Especially knowing my two men had been here earlier with the two women sitting at my dining table. Well, one woman and one girl. The unfamiliar one, with shoulder-length, brown hair and blue eyes, couldn't have been more than sixteen years old.

”Hi,” she said with a little wave of her hand and a wide smile that showed nearly all of her pearly whites. ”I'm Heather.”

Before I could get a word out, Blossom sprang out of her chair and threw her arms around my neck. ”Alexis! It's so good to see you!”

Then she jerked out of my arms and started mumbling apologies for her behavior as she dipped into a curtsy.