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  I held my hands out in front of me and dug my sneakers into the worn wooden floors of the tiny cabin to ground myself. With my head high, I focused on Bram.

  “Darkness fades to light in day, hear these words that I say, protection finds me in all its power, to banish evil from this hour.” The words vibrated through me, gaining power with each syllable. I could feel the shift in the air as the magic I was building drew everyone’s attention to me.

  I repeated the words, knowing this time there was even more power and authority behind them. Once the last word flowed past my lips, Bram came to a standstill. Time seemed to stop as everyone else froze as well. I was positive they were all wondering what was happening—what I’d done.

  So was I.

  Bram’s eyes found mine. I watched as the blackness of his vampire leaked from them, revealing their greenish-blue color again. His lips formed a smirk that sent a shiver down my spine.

  “Smart, little witch,” he said just before he dissolved into a flock of crows.

  Their flapping wings and screeching caws filled the tiny cabin, piercing my eardrums. I covered my ears and watched as they rushed to the open door behind me before vanishing into the night.

  “What the—Where did he go?” Benji asked. “What did you do?”

  My hands fell to my sides and I blinked. “I don’t know.”

  “Holy shit! What just happened?” Hazel asked in a shaky voice.

  Her unblinking eyes stared into the space Bram had occupied seconds ago. It was clear her question hadn’t been directed to any of us, but instead was more for herself. She stood on the bed with her back pressed flat against the wall.

  “Ridley did some badass magic,” Benji said. His lips hooked into a half grin. “That’s what happened.”

  A satisfied smile pulled at my lips. “It was pretty badass, wasn’t it?”

  “I’d say so.” Benji stepped to me.

  “How?” Hazel asked. “How did you do that?”

  My gaze shifted to her. She was still on the bed with her back flat against the wall, but her eyes had locked on me. They were wide and wild looking as they reflected her panic.

  “We can answer all of your questions later,” Ivette insisted in her sweet, soothing voice. “Right now, you need to pack a bag and come with us.”

  Hazel’s attention snapped to Ivette.

  “I’m not going anywhere with you people,” she said. “Not until someone tells me what’s going on. Who was that guy and where did he go? How the hell was she able to turn him into a bunch of crows?”

  Hazel glanced around the cabin as though she expected Bram to pop back into existence any second.

  I found myself doing the same.

  There was no telling how long he’d be gone or where I’d even sent him.

  “I’ll explain everything, I promise, but first you need to trust us that it’s time to go.” I cast a quick glance around the cabin. “Pack a bag like Ivette said. I don’t know how much time we have before Bram comes back.”

  The chant had worked well when I was a kid, but only because I’d recited it until I fell asleep. The sun would come up and everything would seem okay again. I had no idea how well it worked against true evil, though.

  A duffel bag on the dresser caught my eye. I crossed the cabin and picked it up, then held it out to Hazel.

  “Pack,” I said. She didn’t take it. “Look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. It’s your choice. Either way, you’re coming with us. We’re not leaving you here to fend for yourself against him.” My insides shook with an urgency I couldn’t tame.

  “You should listen to her,” Benji insisted. He crossed his arms over his chest and managed to appear intimidating as hell.

  Mina inched forward and let out a low growl as though she and her wolf were agreeing with me too. Hazel let out a yelp and pressed herself harder against the wall behind her.

  “Can someone please call off their guard dog,” she said. There was a tremor to her words when she spoke.

  Benji burst into a fit of laughter, and I opened my mouth to say something to Hazel about Mina not being a dog, but a swift change in the air had me pausing. Mina was shifting into her human form again.

  That should be answer enough.

  “I’m not a guard dog. I’m a werewolf,” Mina said without hostility entering her tone. Although, she did manage to toss Benji a heated glare for laughing before directing her attention back to Hazel. “And, I’m not going to hurt you. I’m here, along with the others, to protect you.”

  If Hazel hadn’t already been questioning her sanity thanks to tonight’s events, I was positive she was now. She’d just witnessed a wolf turn into a girl—a girl who was standing in front of her naked.

  Benji grabbed a folded long-sleeved shirt and some yoga pants from a laundry basket nearby. He stepped to Mina and handed them to her while keeping his eyes on the floor.

  My chest warmed. He was a true gentleman.

  “Here,” he said. “Sorry for laughin’.”

  Mina took the clothes from him. “It’s okay. It was sort of funny.”

  “This is it,” Hazel whispered. She smoothed a hand over her face. “I’ve completely lost it. I’ve been working too hard and now I’ve broke. None of this is real.”

  “You haven’t lost your mind and you’re not going crazy. I promise. This is all real, and I’ll explain everything once we get in my car and get on the road,” I said.

  “She’s telling the truth,” Ivette chimed in. Her tone was soft and calm. “You’re going to be okay, but you need to pack your bag so we can get out of here.”

  Hazel released a shaky breath. Her gaze locked on mine. I didn’t look away because I knew she was debating whether she could trust me, trust us. I held the duffle bag out to her.

  “We’re not going to hurt you,” I insisted. “But if you stay here and Bram comes back, he will.”

  She took the bag from me and hope bloomed through my chest.

  “How will I be any safer with you?” Her gaze landed on Mina, who was now fully clothed.

  “You’re just going to have to trust us.” I knew it was a lot to ask, given what she’d seen, but it was the truth. If she didn’t trust us, she was in big trouble. The kind that would get her killed.

  “Give me a second,” she said as she hopped off the bed.

  She headed to the bathroom with her bag. The sound of her tossing things into it in a hurry carried to where I stood. Relief trickled through me and I glanced at Benji. He gave me a thumbs-up and winked. It was then I noticed his busted lip and the blood on his shirt. My gaze skimmed over him, but I couldn’t find its source. Either it was Bram’s blood or the cut it had come from was already healed.

  Vampire healing was insane.

  When Hazel came back into the open area of the cabin, she grabbed a few things from on top of the dresser, the clothes from the laundry basket Benji had grabbed from, and then made her way to the front door. She spun to face the four of us once she reached it.

  “Okay, I’m packed and ready to leave,” she said. “Now, start talking.”

  Chapter 18

  “You can’t be serious.” Hazel scoffed from where she sat in the passenger seat of my car. We were making our way back to Mirror Lake. Benji had opted to sit in the back with Ivette and Mina so I could fill Hazel in on the ride home. Plus, she’d made it perfectly clear she wasn’t sitting in the back with a werewolf. “There is no way some crazy vampire-witch is after me because I have family magic he wants.”

  “I’m telling you the truth,” I insisted. She wasn’t believing me. At all. I gripped the steering wheel tighter and ground my teeth together. “I know how crazy it sounds, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true.”

  Why couldn’t she believe that? Especially after what she’d witnessed tonight.

  “Listen, I’ve never had any sort of magic in my entire life.” She laughed as though she’d reached a point where the conversation seemed silly. “I think all of you, ev
en this Bram guy, have the wrong girl.”

  “We don’t. Your mom bound your magic when you were little. She wanted you to have a normal life.” I glanced at Hazel, taking my eyes off the road for a split-second to see if what I’d said got through to her at all.

  It didn’t seem to. In fact, the mention of her mom had caused her to put her guard up even higher. Or was that sadness I was seeing stiffening her features?

  “I’m sorry for your loss, by the way,” I said, rolling with it. “I know she passed away not too long ago.”

  “So what, you think because you know she’s dead that proves anything you’re saying? It doesn’t.” She leaned back in the passenger seat and released a sigh. “For all I know, you could’ve been stalking me online and learned of my mom’s death that way. Like, scouring my social media accounts or something. I know I posted a few pictures with her up after she died and talked about how sad I was.”

  “That’s not what’s goin’ on here. Not really,” Benji chimed in. “I mean, Ridley did a few spells to find you, but none of us have been stalkin’ you.”

  “Seriously, you should be thanking us for saving your butt back there,” Mina added. “If it weren’t for us, you’d be dead.”

  I could feel Hazel’s tension leaving her body. We were getting through to her. Finally.

  “I agreed to help you and that’s all I’m trying to do,” I said as I adjusted my grip on the wheel. “But, you have to believe what I’m telling you. It’s the only way I’ll be able to help you at all.”

  I took the next exit. We were an hour away from Mirror Lake now, and oddly enough, I wasn’t tired at all. Adrenaline still flooded my system.

  “You agreed to help me?” Hazel glared at me. “Who asked you to?”

  I licked my lips. The name I was about to say was either going to tip her over the edge or make her believe in what I’d been saying even more. “Your grandmother—Adele.”

  Hazel’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know that name? How do you know about my grandmother?”

  My lips pursed together, because Hazel had only thought she’d fallen down the rabbit hole before. Things were about to get real now.

  “She told me.” If we were going to build trust with one another, it was imperative I didn’t lie about a single thing, no matter how crazy it made me sound. “I’m an anchor to the other side, and your grandmother’s spirit reached out to me. She told me I needed to get to you before Bram, that I needed to save you.”

  “You’re saying my grandmother is dead too?”

  Oh, crap. My stomach dipped. I thought she’d already known.

  “She is. I’m sorry,” I whispered.

  No one spoke. We all allowed Hazel a moment to come to terms with the newest devastating news she’d gotten. My chest tightened, and a sense of thickness built in the back of my throat. I hated being responsible for tearing her world to shreds one word at a time tonight, but it had been inevitable. She needed to know these things in order to survive. In order to live.

  “Where are you taking me?” she asked when we were almost to the welcome sign for Mirror Lake.

  “That’s a good question,” I said. My teeth sank into my bottom lip. Where was I taking her?

  I hadn’t thought that far ahead. My gaze locked with Benji’s in the rearview mirror. He shrugged, offering me no help.

  “It might be best if she stayed at my house,” Ivette said. “We have plenty of space.”

  While the space thing might be true, was the Montevallo mansion the best place for Hazel? I’d been the one who agreed to keep her safe, shouldn’t she stay with me? I mean, the inn did have plenty of space too.

  “I’d offer to let her stay with Eli and me, but all we have is a couch for her to sleep on,” Mina said.

  “Maybe stayin’ with us would be the best place for her,” Benji said. My gaze locked with his in the rearview mirror as I came to a stop at a traffic light. “I mean, if she stayed with you at the inn, wouldn’t it put humans at risk if Bram finds her there? Plus, you’d have to explain things to your aunt.”

  Crap. He was right. She couldn’t stay at the inn. It was too dangerous for the guests and I dang sure wasn’t ready to explain everything to my aunt yet.

  “She’s staying with you guys,” I said.

  It wasn’t ideal, but it would have to do.

  “Can you drop me off before you head there?” Mina asked.

  “Sure.”

  I headed to Mirror Lake Trailer Park, wondering how I would balance home, school, and everything to do with Hazel if she wasn’t at the inn.

  Hazel shifted to look in the backseat of my car. “And the two of you are?”

  My brows furrowed as she seemed to address Benji and Ivette. Did she want a formal introduction before staying at their place or something? Weird.

  “Oh, I’m Ivette.”

  “I wasn’t asking your name,” Hazel said. Had she rolled her eyes? It sounded as though she might have. “I was asking what you are. Both of you. She’s a werewolf, and this chick is a witch, but what are the two of you?”

  “Vampires,” Benji said as he coughed into his hand. It was clear he was uneasy to admit what he was. I hated that.

  “Vampires? Oh, that’s just great.” Hazel leaned back against the passenger seat again. “I’ve got a psychotic vampire-witch hybrid after me, and the only safe place to stay is in a house full of vampires where I have the potential to be somebody’s main course. Lovely.”

  “You will be no one’s main course,” Ivette insisted. “We prefer animal blood.”

  Hazel twisted back around to glare at her. “You prefer animal blood? That’s like a normal person saying they prefer a tofu burger over a regular one. Not likely.”

  I stifled a laugh. While I could see the point she was making, she really didn’t need to worry.

  “You’ll be safe there,” I said. “I wouldn’t leave you with them if I didn’t think so. Besides, I’ll be there with you. I’m staying the night.”

  “You are?” Benji asked.

  I locked eyes with him in the rearview mirror. “Yeah.”

  An adorable smile spread across his face, causing butterflies to burst into flight through my lower stomach. This would be the first time we’d spent the night together in his room. While I didn’t think anything sexual would happen, I thought some kissing might.

  Thank goodness we were back to kissing.

  After I dropped Mina off at the trailer park, I headed to the Montevallo mansion. Hazel didn’t seem surprised by the size of it or its beautiful architecture. At least, if she was, she didn’t let on. Maybe exhaustion had finally sunk in. When I pulled up behind Julian’s car, I could feel the first waves of it rolling through me.

  Tonight had been long, intense, and scary as hell in some places.

  “What’s so safe about this place? Can’t that Bram guy find me here?” Hazel asked when I cut the engine on my car. She wasn’t looking at me. Instead, she was staring at the house. “After all, he is part witch. Isn’t that how you found me? Through a spell or whatever?”

  I leaned back against my seat and yawned. The clock on my dash said it was 5:05 a.m. I needed sleep, but I also needed to know we would be okay while I did. Hazel’s questions had me thinking. How could I make sure we were safe here from Bram? The chant I’d performed at the cabin wouldn’t work for this situation.

  The book.

  There had to be something in the book on gray magic for this. Maybe a spell on cloaking people or a specific location.

  “Let me worry about that,” I yawned.

  “I’ll meet you three inside,” Ivette said. “I’m going to let my siblings know we have company staying with us and prepare a room for Hazel.” She slipped out of the backseat before anyone could reply.

  “Siblings?” Hazel shifted in her seat to glare at me while she arched a perfectly sculpted brow. “How many siblings does she have? I was only being dramatic when I mentioned staying in a house full of vampires.”

&
nbsp; “Three,” Benji answered. He popped open the back door and slid out of my car.

  “Great. Awesome,” Hazel muttered. “I’m staying the night in a house with four freaking vampires. How is this my life right now?”

  Benji opened my door and held a hand out. “Come on, let’s get you inside and settled too. I’m sure you’re exhausted.”

  “You have no idea.”

  “You should have let me drive,” he insisted.

  I took his hand and slipped out of my car. “Driving was what kept me awake.”

  After getting our bags from the trunk, the three of us headed inside. Ivette opened the door before we reached it and motioned for us to come in. There was a wide, friendly smile on her face directed at Hazel. Part of me wondered if the idea to have her stay with them had been because Ivette was in need of something to focus on other than cooking horrible sweets and pastries.

  “I’ve got your room ready.” Ivette beamed.

  Hazel glanced around the house. “That was fast.”

  “Vampire speed.” Ivette shrugged.

  Hazel flinched at the word vampire, but Ivette didn’t seem to notice.

  “Follow me, I’ll show you to your room,” Ivette walked to the stairs, assuming Hazel was behind her.

  She wasn’t. Instead, she remained rooted in place. Her brown eyes locked with mine.

  “You’re safe here. Please trust me,” I said. “Trust them.”

  She chewed her bottom lip. A drawn-out moment passed before she moved to catch up with Ivette. When the two of them disappeared, I pulled off my glasses and rubbed my tired eyes.

  “Let’s head up to my room,” Benji insisted. “You look like you’re about to keel over you’re so tired.”

  “I am.” I yawned. “It’s been a long day.”

  Once we made it to his room, I kicked off my shoes and slipped out of my jacket before flopping across his bed. A sigh escaped me. This was the most comfortable bed in all of existence.