Chapter 3 Chapter 3

I stepped out of the portal on my front porch. I love my house. Several decades ago I had discovered the cabin in the clearing while hunting down a coven of evil witches that were using it as their base of operations. It had taken multiple cleansings to get rid of all the bad juju the coven had left behind but, the cabin was worth it.  Woods surrounded it on all sides for privacy. The front porch wrapped all the way around to the covered deck in the back.  Which sadly meant the two car garage was detached. But it’s not like I own a car.

Coming through the door I went down the short hallway past the door to the spare bedroom and made a left to the stairs. Stomping up them muttering to myself I pulled my phone out of my pocket and sent Connor a quick text to meet me at my place. Throwing open my closet doors I glared at my clothes. Black leather and pink silk would not blend where I was going. Casual would probably be best. I pulled out jeans and a shirt. Dressing quickly I stopped by the bathroom to fix my frizzy hair. A glance in the mirror showed me that even at over five centuries I could still pass for twenty-five. However, currently I looked like a reject from some survivor show. Twigs and leaves were twisted through my hair. Along with what looked like part of a spider web. I started muttering about how much I hate stomping through the freaking woods. Thankfully it didn't take long to get rid of the debris. I was doing my imitation of a sulking teenager when I headed down the stairs. Connor walked through my front door just as I reached the last step.

Not yet done with my tantrum, I looked Connor over. He looked like he was well rested and hadn't been called to the woods at the butt crack of dawn. His dark hair was perfectly gelled and appeared to have given serious thought to his ensemble. That was the only word to describe what he was wearing. Sleek black leather jacket over a perfectly pressed button up. Black skinny jeans covered his legs. Skinny jeans!  To finish his look he had on a pair of black motorcycle boots.  Tucked into the little slit of a pocket of his jacket was a pair of aviator sunglasses. His slightly sharp features were wearing a smug look.  Someone needed to wipe that look off his face and who better to do it than me?

"Let me guess, you were just at a boy band audition? Your stage name could be Old Spice!” He just kept smiling. Unacceptable. “If you're looking smug because you got laid I don't want to hear about it." I snapped at him as I reached into the front closet to pull out my leather jacket. Sarcasm dripped from every word as I said "I'm sure the latest conquest is MENSA bound."

He grinned at me with mischief in his green eyes. I didn't care for that look. No good ever comes from it.

"I found this on the front step. “ He pulled a basket with red netting around it out from behind his back. He sat it down on the table by the door and unwrapped the basket. Lifting one of the little Styrofoam boxes with ribbons painted on it he read the label. "Who knew you could send a gift basket of blood? I certainly didn’t.” He slowly spun the box around admiring the detail work of the decorations. "Hallmark thinks of everything don't they?"

I glared at him as I snatched the containers and carried them into the kitchen. Glancing at them I made sure they were properly labeled and noticed that they were all wizard blood. MMMMM. Made me hungry just looking at it. It was too bad wizards could turn their blood to fire to prevent us vamps from feeding on them if they weren’t in the mood to be dinner. Unless of course we wanted to risk bursting into flames. Nothing was tastier than magical blood. Not to mention we could catch a buzz from it.

I stashed the boxes in the industrial size freezer in the section were I keep my specialty bloods. I grabbed some plain ole O neg and popped it into the microwave. Opening the cabinet with my to-go containers I swore as I was viciously attacked by lids and cups. Someday I was going to clean that damn thing out. But today I had to track down a werewolf and convince him to go hunting a murderer with me.

After pouring the blood in a cup with a lid I headed back into the living room. Where Connor was still standing with the smirk on his face and a twinkle in his eyes. Obviously I hadn't been mean enough to him. Narrowing me eyes I started to open my mouth to say something snarky. Hadn't given much thought to what, but I do have a natural talent. Open mouth, snarky comes out. Unfortunately he beat me to the punch.

"You didn't read the card" His voice was so sweet. Gah. "How will you ever know who sent you such a thoughtful gift?" He fluttered his hands around like a magician.  A gold card appeared in his left hand. It would have been a neat trick if he was human and if I couldn't smell the magic in the air. I cocked my head to the side and smiled with lots of fang showing. Quickly I brought my hand up and shot a ball of fire at the card. Connor started swearing when it hit its mark. He shook his hand as the ashes fell on my hardwood floors. A wave of my hand and the ashes were gone.

"So why are you in such a fine mood this morning?" Connor asked.

"Got a call couple of hours ago from Jeremiah. Turns out he has a dead wolf in the woods. “I told him all about my morning in the woods. When I told him the identity of the wolf he came to attention.

"Cyrus Howl is dead?! Has the council been notified? “He demanded

"Don't know. Jeremiah didn't mention it. He did have other things on his mind. “I filled him in on the whole Tristan thing. Conveniently leaving out the blackmail. Connor didn't know about the incident and I planned on keeping it that.

He folded his arms across his chest while giving me a speculative look. I nonchalantly took a sip of blood while not meeting his eyes. Fighting the urge to whistle was so hard. There was a chance I was going to lose the fight not to fidget. To keep my hands busy, I shoved my newly purchased from the clearance section sunglasses on my head. "Why did you agree to this?"