Chapter 1
The dream kept playing through her head. The one thing guaranteed to send Jacinda running after deciding she wouldn’t.
Chatan, nailed to a wall, otherworldly symbols burned into his naked flesh, pain etched into his features as the light faded from his eyes. And all she could hear was Thanatos’ evil laugh, even if she didn’t catch a glimpse of the foul creature.
Jacinda needed help, and there was only one person she trusted to give her a direction. And maybe she should have stopped to contact her mother, but she didn’t want to be away from Chatan any longer than she had to be.
Besides, the dream took place in her mother’s bedroom in the old house. That’s where Mom had been.
She gripped the wheel tighter. Chatan was going to be pissed when he woke up. If she could have slipped out before he woke up she might not hate herself so much. But he had come in while she wrote the letter telling him to wait. She had to put him under.
A cry escaped her lips as she punched the gas and pushed her car faster than it probably should go. The ancient Tercel had been good to her, but she drove it a lot. One day, it would break down.
She wiped at the tears that wouldn’t stop falling and tried to hold it together to figure out where she was. Almost to Highway 101, and she could stop for gas.
Her heart cracked and threatened to shatter. But if she could stop the monster who tore apart her family, she could go back to Chatan and never have to worry about another thing the rest of her life. Okay, maybe they would have to worry about a few things, but nothing like Thanatos.
Would he forgive her? She convinced him and everyone else to let her help when he played bait for a strigoi who wanted to tear the magic from his body. And now, she was running to danger instead of away from it and hadn’t given him any indication why.
Her choices were losing him to Thanatos or forcing him back to sleep. She picked the only thing she could live with. Once she got her mother away from danger, she could go back and explain, and hope like hell he forgave her.
She cried out. “Damn it, I should have contacted her first.” Maybe Mom could have met her halfway.
Jacinda pulled into the gas station and headed inside to get food, caffeine, and to pay for gas.
She managed to keep it together until she got to the car and started the gas. A hawk landed on the roof of her car, his eyes locked on her, his head cocked.
He watched her, far too interested in a human pumping gas.
Stepping closer didn’t send him flying away. She tapped the hawk on her pendant. “Do you know this one?”
The bird watched her without a sound. Maybe the pendant called to the bird. Either way, she felt as if Chatan were there. Maybe he could see through a hawk’s eyes? He said that was his spirit animal.
“If you are a messenger for Chatan, tell him I can’t go back. I need to keep moving. If I don’t...” Her voice broke and the bird leaned closer. She couldn’t tell him he would die. “If I don’t find my mother, she’s going to die. Tell him not to follow. I have to go. I’ll be back. Soon.”
She hoped.
The gas stopped. She put the nozzle back and climbed into the car, hoping the hawk was only curious about her necklace.
That didn’t make sense. Didn’t matter, she didn’t believe the hawk would be able to keep up with a moving vehicle.
On the freeway, she headed for her parents’ house on the Mississippi river. As long as she kept moving and only stopped for a rest when she had to, she could make the trip in two days.
When she stopped to sleep, she’d attempt to contact her mother. Maybe she could shorten the trip.
* * * *
Jacinda made it to Utah before she pulled over at a motel. Traffic had been brutal, and she was all cried out, though she felt like hell. She missed Chatan so damned bad she might break in to pieces.
The woman behind the lobby counter didn’t look up from her book. “What can I do for you?”
“I need a room, please? I won’t be there all night, but I need sleep before I get back on the road. I’m paying cash.”
“Sure, of course.” She finally looked up and the smile fell off her face. “Leaving a man?”
“Only to deal with family business. Then I’m going back.” Would he hate her for leaving?
“Whatever it is, I wish you luck,” the woman stated.
Jacinda paid, took the key, and headed to her car to grab her box. Something brushed through her legs as she put the key in. She looked down to find a black cat purring as he wove between her legs, rubbing against her.
Tears filled her eyes. For some stupid reason, the cat made her miss Chatan even more. The door creaked open and the cat darted inside. He explored the room.
She set her box down on the chair and crouched down. “Come here, kitty. Your owner isn’t here.”
He came back and sat his butt down, staring up at her with his head cocked.
“Go on, leave. I’m sure you don’t want to be around me.”
He lay down with a meow.
“Are you lost?” she asked.
The cat stared at her.
Frowning, she stared back and received no further response. “Okay then, hang on.” She grabbed the bag of jerky she couldn’t force herself to eat and a couple of dishes she shifted into bowls. One she filled with water, the other with jerky she tore into small chunks before putting them on the floor.
She glanced back at the cat, who didn’t move. “In case you’re hungry.”
She pushed herself to a stand and fell onto the bed, curling on her side as the first tear fell. She missed Chatan so damned bad and she had no way to contact him.
The cat pushed his way under her arm and nuzzled her face. Stroking his fur, she cried herself to sleep.
* * * *
Fear rolled through Jacinda as she pulled up to her mother’s home. No light was on, no sense of Mom’s presence. She climbed from the Tercel and made her way up the steps.
The door hung open, a trail of blood on the floor, leading to the dining room. She crept through the living room and found her mother chained to the table with black metal wrapped around her wrists and ankles. Charred symbols covered her body.
Jacinda turned to find the giant winged creature reaching for her throat.
Jacinda bolted out of bed, fighting back the scream. She reached for Chatan, but he wasn’t there.
Blinking, she looked around.
There was no one there.
Right. She was alone because she wanted him safe.
A toilet flushed and her heart stuttered. She stumbled to the dark bathroom. Soft fur brushed her calves.
The cat.
Dropping to her knees, she scooped him up. “What are you doing? Trying to give me a heart attack?”
He purred, rubbing his face against hers.
“Why do you remind me of him?” She hugged his body close. He even smelled a little like Chatan. “I left jerky for you. It’s all I had.”
Jacinda put him down and filled the sink with water, hoping to reach her mother. Maybe she could go back to Chatan if she did.
Why didn’t I start there?
She cast the spell and found herself looking up at the mural on her mother’s bedroom ceiling. No one came to the bowl. Her heart shuddered and Jacinda called out, “Mom, you there?”
Nothing. Mom only left the bowl filled with water on the nightstand when she went to bed, just in case Jacinda needed to contact her.
Something was terribly wrong.
She hurried back to the living room, shifting her clothes as she went. She scooped up her bag and headed for the door.
The cat followed, staying at her side, and when she opened the back door, he jumped into the car, climbed over the front seat, and made himself comfortable in the passenger seat.
Frowning, she placed the box in the backseat and looked at the cat. “What happens when your owner comes back for you?”
He put his head down and closed his eyes.
“Fine, I’m not arguing with a cat.” She went inside, filled the water dish, and brought both to the car, placing them on the floor. Then she turned in the key.
The cat hadn’t moved.
“Guess you need some real food. So do I.” Not that she was hungry. “I still think you should wait for your owner. I’m not great at taking care of myself. Probably why I’ve never had a pet.”