One Crossroads Later

Chapter Three

"God, this place gives me the creeps every time I see it," she said, letting herself relax for the first time that night. Her and her companion had been hidden down the street, nestled inside a vacant store with windows facing the estate grounds. A few times, she'd gotten bold enough to slip out of hiding to take a better look. When two of the vampires came out arguing, though, she hadn't had to move very far.

The night had turned quiet, though. As Monica Alexander sat on a dusty counter, in what might have been a small café, she let her feet dangle and kicked them while lost in thought. The leather from her black jacket creaked with the subtle movements, her skirt waving and boots occasionally hitting the backstop of the counter. Her gloved hands had been folded on her lap, but she freed one to tuck back the one strand of blonde in her otherwise brown hair.

"Looks like there's some problems in Lover's Lane," her companion said, drawing her attention. As she glanced at Martin, she managed a grin, mostly at his soft and subtle way of stating the obvious. He looked more concerned with her than with the content of his statement, and she read the intention that wasn't being spoken. 'Are you okay?' he asked without asking.

God, she wished she could say yes.

Instead, she took a deep breath and looked away again, toward the window where they'd been spying. "I guess it keeps proving the theory we have about the one vampire," she said, folding her hands together again. "Ponytail Boy seems to be the one sane one in the mix."

"Yeah, but can he be trusted?" She saw Martin shrug in her periphery. "I mean, he's good looking, I'll give him that much."

"You hound." When she made eye contact with Martin again, her smile broadened. He was easily double her size, and several inches taller, with more muscle than she'd ever seen in her life. Alone, he'd be an intimidating presence, but the fact that he shifted into a large dire wolf made him a more potent threat. She'd already run her fingers through his sandy brown hair and knew what his brown eyes looked like while came. He'd started as a bodyguard and magical focus.

The other benefits soon followed.

As much as she wanted to think about that and not the scary other things, Monica realized something had changed that couldn't be undone. "So, what I'm gathering is that our boy did something bad tonight that's going to get him in a lot of trouble," she said.

Martin nodded. "If I was hearing them right, he killed a vampire elder," he said. "Sabrina mentioned using it to inspire fear."

"Fantastic." Monica played idly with the long, satin scarf around her neck. She'd worn it, at first, as a vampire deterrent but now, it had become a permanent fixture in her ensemble. "She knows what she has. You can't convince me that she doesn't. Which means she also knows what she's abusing."

"Oh, no doubt. But you think him doing this has bigger consequences?"

"Yeah, I feel it in the wind." She sighed, in part to loosen the amount of weight that felt attached to her shoulders. For five years, she'd been waiting for this day to happen, but nothing about experiencing it made her feel any more settled.

"If she knows what she has and what she's abusing," Monica continued, making eye contact with Martin, "then this means that she has big plans. I know Ponytail Boy doesn't know them, but I wouldn't be surprised if Flynn doesn't either."

"I think Ponytail Boy's name is Robin," Martin inserted idly.

"Why am I not surprised you caught it?" Monica shook her head, turning serious again. "Anyway, she hasn't used him in five years. And now she's suddenly making moves?"