The tint had been scratched away from the rear window of the van. It was less than the size of a quarter, so not much to worry about. That was unless you were fast asleep, your name was Megan, the sun was beating against the rear doors, and you were a vlad. All this Megan had ticked off the list as her head lolled from side to side. None of this she had worried about as she’d dozed. Soon she would, but for now, she had her mind fixed on Sanders and how far behind he was. She had to let Gabriel know she had been turned, yet she had to hide the fact she was a vlad, and that she had been planted back in the pack to get to Kelvin.

It had now come to light that Sanders needed a shaman as much as Gabriel did. The daywalkers that would be created could do just that; walk in the daylight without withering away. There was the stake through the heart and the hatred of garlic. And all the clichés from movies were right. The vlads were not invincible, they could be killed, hence the shaman. Sanders found he was close to having all he needed to make a vampire-werewolf that could walk in the day. Yes, one that was invincible, and as a result, immortal as well.

His ultimate plan was rejuvenation. He already had Megan and Tanya as his personal cherubs who were more than satisfactory. Once he had all this, he could claim what was rightfully his. Yes, a seat on the throne which ruled the entire world.

It was a tall task by anyone's estimations. Sanders knew he could do it. Megan knew he could do it, and that was what she thought about as the dot of sunlight moved up her leg and was mere inches from the bare skin of her hand.

They’d traveled barely a mile from when the sun crept onto Megan’s skin. Maria held her fingers to her nose. "Jesus Christ, what's that smell?" she asked.

"It's not me if that's what you’re thinking," Kelvin yelled from the front seat. “Christ, no one can let fly in a closed van!”

Megan felt a searing pain on the back of her hand. She could’ve woken quickly, but her dream happened to have Sanders sinking his teeth into her breast which filled her full of pleasure and satisfaction. Gabriel saw the thin plume of smoke rise up from her smoldering skin.

He yelled and shook her at the same time. "Megan, you're on fire!"

Megan bolted upright and looked around. Rubbing her eyes, she looked at Gabriel. "What do you mean I'm on fire?" She looked at the back of her hand. "Oh!"

Megan noticed the dot of sunlight shine through the rear window. Her legs pulled up under her arms as the light passed her and made its way to the back of the driver's seat. Dustin focused on the road ahead, and the fuel gauge meant that it was either broken or that they were almost of out gas.

"Didn't you feel it?" Gabriel asked. "And why are you burning?"

Megan had to think pretty-damned quickly. There was a bunch of smart people who sat around her who could quickly piece it together, given half a chance. She noticed a half-empty bottle. She thought back to high school chemistry. It might just work as it had done when she was in school. It had burned holes into the skin of toads and caterpillars. They’d never been thrilled, she supposed, yet Megan had a thing for teasing and messing with things that were weaker than her.

Baffle them with bullshit.

"Refraction."

"What do you mean by refraction?” Maria asked, now digging her elbow into the rolled-up sleeping bag as she turned to face Megan.

"That bottle. The sun must have hit it, been magnified, and then scorched me," Megan commented. Maria had to think it was plausible. California forest fires started in the same way. "I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and we're lucky we were moving. If we'd stopped for gas, we coulda lost the van."

She licked the back of her hand where the scorch mark slowly started to heal. She leaned back against the mattress Dustin borrowed from a downstairs apartment. He knew a twenty-hour trip wasn't going to be the most comfortable situation they could’ve wished for.

Megan closed her eyes and pictured the conversation that would follow. She thought to herself: You have the excuse for burning, but don't forget you killed Kat, so you have to slip in who might be behind it all. Enforce your cover, that's what Sanders said.

"What were you dreaming about?" asked Gabriel.

Megan looked into Gabriel's eyes and made out she still had a killer of a migraine. Her hand pushed against the side of her head. "You know, I think I'm a wolf," she said as Gabriel found the words hard to believe. Megan showed him the back of her hand with no burn, and he started to accept the fact as being one hundred percent truth.

"Why didn't you mention it, are you trying to hide something from us?" Gabriel asked as Dustin banged his fist on the dashboard muttering the words, “You fucking piece of crap” under his breath.

"Honestly, I wasn't aware of it until that cleared up. Actually, it’s been ever since I had my memory brought back and remembered Uncle Garrett and Aunt Abigail. I've been a bit foggy in the brain department, and then I’ve had these migraines too, so calling on my inner wolf has never been at the front of my mind," she explained. "And, if you have any idea at all that I’ve got anything to do with Sanders and his vlads, then you're mistaken." Maria glared across the van with a thought that had niggled inside her mind until Megan settled her mental dispute aloud. "I did kill Kat who we found to be —one of them."

"She's right. If Kat came with us, who knows what pile of shit we’d be in," Gabriel remarked.

"Yeah, I suppose!" Maria said as Megan bobbed her head to look out of the area with the scraped off window tint.

She had her eyes closed and waited for the burning sensation and smell. None came, so she knew it was safe to open her eyes or at least get out of the van when they stopped for gas and for dinner. For a while, she could forget the migraine story and save that for the following day. Tonight, she was safe. As safe as she could wish for, with no assumptions about her vlad status or any suspicions raised.

Gabriel's eyes closed as he felt the van pull over, and he knew they'd soon stop for something to eat and to get some gas. His head bounced against the side of the van as he thought of something which began brewing in his mind. He hoped it wasn't a trend and that it was an only a coincidence.

Why the hell do I end up with women who are werewolves, while I'm stuck being a crappy human? He opened his eyes as the gas station and the diner came into view. Sorry God, no harm intended. I’m sure you have some kind of plan, right?

"I hate situations like this," Declan said as he paced back and forth in the bedroom with Drake hanging over his shoulder, now giggling.

Noelle watched on as any concerned mother would. Her child was draped over a shoulder and half-hanging upside down. Werewolf or not, the last thing she wanted was for Declan to throw his arms up in the air and let Drake fall onto his head.

"Relax will you. They're on the road for a good two days, at least. You can't expect Maria or Dustin to contact you every step of the way," Noelle replied, blowing kisses to Drake as he lifted his head and began smiling at her.

"I know. I just hate situations like this. I can't help, and it frustrates the fuck out of me."

"Language!" Noelle snapped.

"God-damn," Declan said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a twenty. He folded it and pushed it into the hole of the brightly colored plastic pig that sat there with a huge grin on its face. "You are going to be one hell of a rich kid by the time you're eighteen," Declan surmised.

Noelle giggled and then she moved forward and took Drake from over Declan's shoulder. "The way you’re going, he'll never work a day in his life, and he'll have paid his own way through college too," she said.

Declan walked to the window and stared into the early evening sky. He watched as a heated haze rippled in front of the sun. The final remnants of the day before night finally descended across the country. A country where Gabriel and the rest of his band of followers were safe, and making their way toward New Orleans to find the shaman Gabriel desperately needed to see.

At that moment in time, Declan was unaware that one: Sanders was behind it all, and two: Sanders needed a shaman. He would have kittens the moment he found out, and that, he would do when he later picked up his phone and spoke to Maria.

"Are you gonna check in with Gab?" Dustin asked.

Maria nodded as she bit into her triple steak burger, as rare as they could make it, she’d instructed. Blooded oozed and ran from the corner of her mouth. The steak had only been shown the pan. That's how little they’d cooked it.

Maria chewed and relished the taste of blood as it slipped down her throat. It never lived up to a good kill though, and she'd seen a small group of trees as they’d pulled down the slip road toward the diner.

After calling Declan, I'm going to see if Dustin wants to kill something.

The meal was eaten mainly in silence. The back of a van was a little too close for comfort, and that twenty-four-seven-stir-crazy-feeling began washing over you as it washed over prisoners in the penitentiary. You couldn't get out, so you were stuck there. They were both similar scenarios. Either the back of a van doing seventy down a freeway, or death row, waiting for the shackles and the needle in your arm. That's what their silence was, and that's why Maria wanted to kill something. If it wasn't a rabbit or a deer, she was going to kill Kelvin, Gabriel or Megan. They were all close to saying one word too many, and for her, another word would be over the top. Her brain enjoyed peace, it craved it. Maria hardly said anything, so she couldn't be blamed for the idle chit-chatter. She hoped her quietness would be a hint for them all.

"I'm going to head outside and call Declan. I bet he's pulling his hair out," Maria said as Gabriel nodded to approve where she was going. "I'll keep in sight of the window so you can see where I am. You know, just in case."

Maria pushed open the diner door and walked around the corner and headed toward the van. The night air was chilly as the wind quickly started to blow from the north. With one hand on the phone and the other stuffed in her hooded sweatshirt pocket, she leaned back on the van. The cold of the vehicle slowly chilled her clothes and prickled against her skin. Maria tensed her muscles, and half-called on her inner wolf. The hairs on the back of her neck stood rigid, and the cold had gone. It was only one of the many tricks Dustin had taught her when she was younger. He’d always said you should never see a wolf complaining about the cold. He was right. She’d never seen a wolf who’d complained, maybe in human form they might’ve, but not as a wolf. Maria looked left and right to make sure she was alone.

"Hey," she yelped as Declan answered the phone much faster than she expected. "Did you have your hand on the phone?" She smiled.

Declan lied a white lie. "Of course not, I was just passing as it rang. I wasn't waiting for your call or anything." Maria heard a faint voice in the background as Noelle shouted.

"He's a god-damned liar. He's been there all night!"

"Okay-okay, I was on tenterhooks," Declan commented. "It's not often the remainder of your pack do a runner from some vampire-werewolves in the hunt for a shaman. The whole thing is weird."

"I suppose it is kinda new."

"Tell me about it. I wish I had more control, that's all," he said.

"Well, we’re at the first stop, and if we aren't in New Orleans this time tomorrow, we should be, the following morning. One day and one night max," Maria said. She pushed herself from the side of the van and turned her back to the diner window. "Did you know Megan was a wolf?"

"Nah! Not that I remember. That was a long time ago though," he replied.

“She said she couldn't remember because her memory was locked (the same as Abigail and Garrett’s) by Edmund, and since she drank that tea he gave to Abigail, she was having bad migraines," Maria explained.

"I know we had to be careful with that tea. The plants were poisonous, and each one canceled the other out, to produce the tea that was safe. If she was turned, I have no idea who that could have been by.”

"She mentioned Sanders."

Declan thought for a second or two. "It can't be him. I bet he couldn't even wipe his own ass now. He looked a hundred when I saw him."

"Well, he could have found the fountain of youth. The secret to immortality," Maria replied.

She heard a giggle from the other end of the phone. Declan laughed as he answered. "Immortality? Nah! It doesn't exist."

As they chatted, she thought how well the first day had gone, and if luck was on their side, they could have Gabriel almost back to a wolf in the next twenty-four hours or so. All was well until the van rocked and she heard the sound of punctured tires. Shit.

"Souls deep in the soil, heavy in their despair. End of all ends, bodies into dust. To greet deaths friends, extinction is a must."