I wake with my heart pounding, gasping for air. Jo. I dreamed about Jo. Or was it a dream? Horrifying images flash through my mind. Jo, bruised and bloody, barely strong enough to lift her head from the filthy stone floor. Jo clutching my arm with bruising intensity and striking at my wrist with her long fangs until I feel so weak I have to beg her to stop. Jo warning me to get away while I can. 

I can’t breathe. Panic sits like a boulder on my chest. I have to move. I have to get out of this tent. I nearly fall on my face trying to get out of the sleeping bag without unzipping it all the way. I finally step outside and an arctic blast of wind turns trickles of sweat on my body to icicles. Gasping, I stumble through the trees, away from the campsite, fumbling with the coat zipper. What was snug and warm while I was sleeping is now too tight around my neck. Stars start to fly around in my vision before I finally manage to pull it down a few inches and I tug at the scarf wrapped around and around to insulate my neck. My fingers scrabble on rough bark, trying to use it to stay upright, while my mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water. As my eyes become blind, I collapse backwards into another tree, the impact of my back slamming into the trunk somehow freeing my breathing. My vision slowly comes back as I heave great gulps of air in and out of my lungs. 

 

I don’t so much see bodies as sense their presence pressing in. I focus on the person crouched before me as I catch my breath. “How long have you been here?”

“Since you tore out of that tent like the fires of hell were on you. Night terror?”

I study Janelle as I ponder her question. Flapping ears tell me at least one of the wolf-shifters on four paws is nearby. I could almost imagine it’s someone’s big friendly dog shaking its head. It grounds me. “I—I’m not sure.” I rip off my glove and blink at the smooth skin. I tug the glove back over my numb fingers.

Snow crunches closer and closer until Emma squats beside me. She looks back and forth between Janelle and me.

 

“What’s going on? Libby? Are you okay?”

Janelle shrugs. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”

I look into Emma’s tired eyes. She’s still so beautiful, my best friend, no matter what those bastard fae did to her. Thinking about that, images from my dream, or whatever that was, come back to me. “I—I don’t know, Em. It wasn’t a night terror. I’m not even sure it was a dream. It felt...real. Like I was actually there. Like it was happening.”

Emma grabs my shaking hands in hers. “Like what was happening?”

I stare into her blue eyes, trying to remember. Grasping at wisps of memory I try to say the few bits I can remember. Nothing makes sense, though. Then, as green bleeds into Emma’s eyes, memories flood my mind. Suddenly I’m back standing in that cave surrounded by fog, but it’s different, too. Like an echo of the last time, like watching a movie rather than living it. I tell them everything, from thinking paint had been spilled on the floor to Jo drinking from me. I don’t say Jo didn’t seem surprised to see me. And I leave out how much it hurts, but I realize I’m rubbing my wrist when Janelle pulls my arm away and pushes up my coat sleeve to get a better look. She sniffs my arm. She pulls down the sleeve and releases me with a bewildered look, but she doesn’t speak. When I finish, Emma’s turquoise eyes return to their normal clear blue. I’m not sure how she was able to help me recall the dream in such detail, but I resolve to ask her about it later.

 

***

 

Marcos pushes a hand though his hair. “What I don’t understand is, how do we know it isn’t just some awful nightmare brought on by your exhaustion and a legitimate fear for Jo?”

Kate throws up her hands. “We’ve been over this and over this. We don’t need to understand it, okay? The fact is, Libby experienced something, the exact same something, twice. All those details were way too clear to just be some kind of dream. It’s too real. Beyond that, who cares how or why or whatever? Jo is in trouble. And probably, she isn’t the only one we love in trouble.”

Len slaps her thigh. “But none of that tells us where anyone is. A cave? Really? Do you know how many caves are in these mountains? In this country? In this world?”

“Now look,” Emma starts, but Carmelo interrupts.

“All right. That’s enough.” He looks at each of us in turn. “That’s enough. We know a lot of people who attended that summit are in bad trouble. Beyond that, we stay on course. We’ll get to her villa and see where the clues take us.” He turns to me. “In the meantime, if you have any ability to direct what you see, or learn, try to find out where she is, if she’s the only one there, and who’s holding her. I understand she’s mostly speaking French, but she understands you. Try to get some information from her, if you can.”

With my rudimentary French, I don’t know how I’ll understand her. And I’m not even sure I’ll remember any of this when, if, the dream comes again. I mean, it has to be a dream. What else could it be? But he’s right. I have to try to find out where she is, who’s holding her, where the others are being held. With a deep breath I nod at him. “Okay. I’ll do my best.”

 

Carmelo turns to Len. “It’s close enough to dawn and everyone is up anyway. Let’s get breakfast and pack up. Lotta ground left to cover.”

Breakfast is rice and beans. That makes the third meal in a row. I pretty quickly went from it being the best food ever to I’ll be happy if I never have to eat rice and beans again. But it’s hot and I’m ravenous so I keep my ungrateful thoughts to myself. Or at least, away from everyone except Janelle. Thinking of her reminds me of the look on her face when she smelled my arm. I want to know what that was about. It’s still dark and while I can see lots of people and wolves milling around, I can’t make out many distinguishing features. So, I call her in my mind. But even though I call her a couple of times, she doesn’t materialize. I guess she’s out hunting. I hope she’s successful. I remember Jo striking my arm like a snake and shudder. It felt so real. I remember Jo telling me it felt good when a vampire drinks from a person, just like the vampire romance books say. And she hasn’t pressured me at all, but I can tell she’s excited to drink from me when we’re in the throes of passion. And when she drags her fangs over my inner thigh it definitely feels hot. Still… 

Aargh! Is Marcos right? Is my imagination just conjuring up aspects of my fear? Is it a prophetic dream, like they said that little girl Gracie has? I’ve never had one before. Not even after Mr. O’Shea granted me the boons. The only other thing I’ve done that it reminds me of is when Emma was in the hands of the horrible fae and I received visions she sent me. But Jo isn’t a fae. 

Carmelo calls, “Five minutes!” breaking up my thoughts. Just as well. I wasn’t getting anywhere anyway. I pack away my trash and stuff a few energy bars in my coat pockets. I’ll be pretty glad when I don’t have to eat another one of these, too.

 

As I fall in line behind Emma, I catch sight of Janelle. I call to her but either she isn’t listening to me, or she’s avoiding me. I don’t like either of those possibilities.

He was easy on us yesterday. Today we jog. A big part of me is glad to be moving faster toward Jo. We stop periodically, to catch our breaths, hydrate, and eat. I’m not the only one keeping my complaints to myself. He agreed to let us come and I’m not going to gripe about getting there a little faster. Still. We keep going at that grueling pace until well after the sun disappears. It was a relief to see it go, actually. It was so bright. Too bright. And it glittered and slanted blindingly off of every snow-covered surface. Mostly he kept us moving through trees. But every time we were out of the trees we kept single file, one hand on the shoulder in front of us, our eyes mere slits. I’ve gone through five of those energy bars and two more MREs, and the second we stop again I’ll happily fall on whatever food they hand me, if I don’t pass out from sheer exhaustion first.

Many hands make light work and for the second night, our camp is set up quickly and efficiently. We gather around a roaring fire Kate got going. I eat with single-minded purpose, too tired to talk, too worried about what the night will, or won’t bring. Since Emma helped me re-envision it down to the last detail, all day I’ve had flashes of the cave, Jo’s emaciated, injured body. But I’ve tried not to think about much, honestly. Emotionally, I’m balancing on the edge of a cliff, just trying to hold myself still. One tremor, one breath too deep, and I’ll tumble into the pit of despair. Heh. I don’t hold out much hope that it won’t be littered with R.O.U.S’s down there. 

After dinner, I can’t avoid it any longer. Carmelo and Len join Kate, Emma and me. We talk, well, mostly they talk and I listen to reminders of what information I need to get from Jo. I just want to scream, It’s just a dream! But now not even Marcos is willing to believe that’s all it is. When we climb into our tent, I zip myself into a sleeping bag on the outside in case I have another panic attack. Emma takes the middle bag. 

I roll to face her and our eyes meet. “I know you have thoughts about what this is. Care to share?”

Emma gazes at me a moment. She gives me a sad smile. “No. I’m afraid anything I say might mess up – whatever this is. And I feel like this is too important. We have to find them, Libby.”

Kate wiggles closer like a fat caterpillar. When she’s snugly spooned against Emma’s back, she lifts her head to look at me. “I don’t know if you need to hear this, but I believe in you. I don’t know what’s going on, and right now all I know is that anything is possible. I also know how strong you are. And I know that you can do anything.”

 

Emma smiles. “And I’ll remind you what my daddy said. Trust Libby. She’ll always be true. And she’ll know what to do. But I didn’t need his premonition to tell me that, honey. I know you. And I know you’ve got this.”

I swipe at the tears wetting my cheeks. Smiling through my tears, I can’t form words. I just nod at them. Then I roll over, close my eyes, and focus on my love for Jo.

When I find myself back in the cave surrounded by thick fog, it all comes back to me and I realize I’ve been here twice before. I march through the fog, not wanting to waste time, not knowing how much time I’ll have. My stomach heaves knowing what I’ll have to do. When I come to Jo, I crouch down in front of her curled up form, shaking with remembered pain. But her pain is so much greater than anything she’s done to me feeding herself. She’s dressed but her suit is in shambles, blood-stained and torn up. What I see of her through the strips of material looks awful. No human could survive this level of injury. I straighten my back, take off my glove and shrug my arm out of the warm coat. Goosebumps scatter under the shirt as I push it up, but I don’t shake when I touch her shoulder. 

“Jo. I’m back. Here. You need to eat.”

“Blood,” she moans. As she has both times before, Jo strikes with frightening efficiency. I distract myself from the pain by looking her over. And I realize she’s in better shape than she has been. Her bones aren’t as stark and several cuts have healed over. As if she’s really been drinking blood. My blood? I look back at her sunken cheeks as she draws my blood into her mouth. She draws my blood into her mouth. I touch my lips. They’re starting to tingle. 

“Jo, you have to stop. Honey,” I reach out and touch her face. “Jo, please. I need you to stop. You’re taking too much.” My stomach heaves and my head feels too heavy. “Jo. Jo. Stop. Please. Please. Stop.”

When I open my eyes, she’s looming over me, smearing her wet finger over my mouth. I lick my lips. Blood. I struggle against her. “Stop it. Don’t give me your blood. You need every drop.” After smearing some more on my lips Jo releases me, and slumps back against the cave wall. And for the first time I realize two things; she’s chained hand and foot with links the size of my arms, and it isn’t paint or blood forming those rivulets and puddles all over the floor and walls of the cave. It’s black tourmaline.

Until now, Jo has been hunched up and I haven’t gotten a good look at her. Now, I wish I couldn’t see the state she’s in. How is she still alive?

Her voice raspy and weak, she still manages to pull of a little attitude. “And you need not sacrifice yourself to save me, Chérie.”

Oh, thank the gods she’s speaking English this time. I lick my lips clean, grimacing, and add blood to the list of crap I don’t ever want to eat ever again. But my heartbeat slows and my head stops pounding. I lose the dizzy wooziness, too. Mind clearer, but suddenly freezing. I push my arm back in the coat sleeve and as I pull on my glove I realize it stopped aching, too. I zip my coat all the way up and lift the hood back over my head. “I didn’t intend to. Look, we don’t have much time. Do you know where you are? What happened? Who has you? Where the others are being held?”

Jo holds up a hand, cocking her head to listen. After a moment, she lowers it. “I love you, Cherie. No. Yes. The Roman. Here.”

“I love you, too! Wait, what? Who’s the Roman? Can you elaborate, like at all?”

Jo rearranges herself, trying to get comfortable, I assume. It doesn’t look like it’s possible. “First know that no matter what happens, you are the only thing I care about. You must take care of yourself. Promise me now.”

“I promise, Jo. I’ll be careful.”

“Good. I will give you what details I can until you disappear. I do not know where we are, but I know we are all being held here together. Who is with you?”

“Ah, Emma, Kate, and Janelle. And the wolf shifters from Colorado – the one’s Mac stayed with.” Before I finish, several wolves howl, the mournful sound echoing off the walls from some distance away, and nearby several someones rattle chains. When the sound dies down, I go on. “Dex survived the plane crash, too. But Nicolette didn’t make it.” My eyes fill with tears. I’ve managed not to think about her for at least a few hours. But telling Jo, her loss feels fresh all over again. I swipe my eyes and continue. “The one’s pursuing us are dead. The pack took care of them when they were looking for us.” 

Jo studies the floor and sighs. “Okay. The attack was well-planned and executed. They knew who would be there and how to incapacitate us all, even the wolf shifters. I was unconscious when they moved us. I do not know for how long. I just woke up here, chained.” She points down at herself. “I was not even aware for most of the beatings, the cowards.” Her battered face turns hard. “Janelle knows The Roman. Tell her not to trust any of them.” She looks at me, her eyes red. “You do not come looking for me, Libby. Swear it on—” 

I open my eyes to navy nylon and fumble with the sleeping bag zipper. In my noisy haste I wake Emma and Kate. “Sorry, sorry. Go back to sleep.”

Kate huffs from the other side of Emma. “As if. I’ve been laying here for the last half hour waiting for you to wake up!”

Emma narrows her eyes at me from her reclined position. “Well, you aren’t in a panic. So either you didn’t dream of Jo and you just have to pee, or you did and it didn’t send you into a blind panic.”

Kate’s head pops up and she lays her chin on Emma’s shoulder. “So which is it?”

I finally get the zipper low enough to maneuver and I stand up and face them. “You’re right. I’m not in a panic. And I did dream; I even remember it this time.” I turn to unzip the tent doorway.

“Hold on! You can’t just drop a bombshell like that and then expect to walk away without telling us about it!”

I duck out the door and stick my head back in. I frown at Emma. “For your information, you were also right about me needing to go to the bathroom. Hang on. I promise I’ll tell you everything.”

By the time I walk back the camp is awake and Kate is lighting kindling for the morning fire. She’s come a long way in controlling her gift. Pretty cool to see her able to use it to such good purpose. I join the breakfast preparations and a wolf shifter everyone calls Panda because her wolf form is black and white hands me a cup of that decadent hot chocolate. Now this, this is one thing I won’t get tired of. 

I’m surprised Kate and Emma haven’t asked me for the story again. I’m grateful for the reprieve. It was so vivid, so real, I need time to come to terms with everything I saw, what I learned. And what I still didn’t learn and won’t be able to tell them could fill a stadium. How are we going to find Jo and the others? In time?

Over the ubiquitous beans and rice MREs, I tell them everything, from realizing it was my third visit to how clear it is that she’s been doing some healing since the first time I saw her. I don’t tell them about her taking too much and having to give me blood to revive me. I turn to Janelle. “She says you know who the Roman is.” 

Janelle nods. “Not the Roman, The Roman. But before I get to that, you should know that when I smelled your arm yesterday, I didn’t scent even a trace of blood. But I did pick up a scent that shouldn’t have been there. I smelled Jo. So even though there was no evidence of her drinking from you, her touch lingered on your skin.”

Marcos chokes and sputters. We all turn to stare at him as he stands up and coughs and hacks until a bean flies into the fire. It sizzles. His legs fold under him and he sits heavily. A wolf shifter I can’t remember the name of pats him on the back. He shrugs it off. “Are you telling me—”

Emma cuts him off. “Are you seriously saying that your, what, 180 pound human body turns into a 250 pound four-legged beast, but you have trouble believing in magic?” Her question is met with nervous laughter. 

“My wolf is easily 350 pounds, ma’am, and point taken.”

“What do you know of magic? You’re part fae,” Panda spits on the ground. 

Emma narrows her eyes. “Where do you think magic comes from, genius?”

Carmelo makes a slashing motion with his arm and Panda slumps back, scowling. I stare at Emma’s hostile face. I’m not sure I love this side of the new Emma after those evil fae tortured her and drained some of her goodness. I hope she gets it back. She turns her heated gaze to me. What she sees on my face takes her aback. Her face crumbles and she turns back to Panda. “Sorry. Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. It isn’t fair. Most people have no idea that all magic stems from the fae. But not the one’s you’re used to. I’m talking about the first ones to walk the earth.”

“Like your father,” I say.

She nods at me. “Like my father.” Emma studies me a moment longer. “So what do you know about your grandparents? Your great-grandparents?”

That takes me aback. “I—I don’t know. My mom’s parents cut her off before I was born. I never met them. I have no idea if they’re even still alive. My dad’s parents died when I was just a kid. I barely remember them. Why?”

“Because you shouldn’t be able to do the things you do, Libby. I love you and all, but there’s no way you should have been able to pick up my call when I was in that dungeon. I didn’t even realize that’s what I was doing. I’d never used the call before. I just missed you so much, I was so desperate, it just kind of came out of me. And now this. Libby, you astrally projected yourself, but on top of that, you became corporeal. Do you have any idea how hard that is to do?”

 

I blink at her. I’m suddenly aware of everyone in camp staring at me. “I didn’t mean to,” I say in a small voice.

 

Emma laughs. “Ohmygod that’s the whole point! You didn’t try to do any of those things. You just, did them. See, Daddy thinks that you already had some latent magic in you and with us spending so much time together growing up, mine kind of nurtured yours along. He felt it when he gave you the boon. It magnified his gift so that your innate magic was magnified. He isn’t sure how much. We were just waiting to see which gifts would manifest.”

I sit there staring at Emma, my head reeling. Fae? Magic? Me?

Carmelo rubs his face and blows out his breath. He tips his head at Janelle. “You were going to tell us about The Roman?”

Janelle laughs but nods at him. “Yeah, I can do that. Take some of the heat off my magic girl.” She winks at me and my cheeks warm. I adjust the scarf a little higher to hide them. 

“As a human, she struck fear in the hearts of generations of Romans. Even after a millennia of living she’s sharp. You probably know of her other name, The Empress.”

Carmelo swears. “I’d heard rumors that she was still alive, but she’s been quiet for decades. I had no idea she was strong enough to take them all on.” 

Len cocks her head. “Why now? What made her come out and attack like this? What drives her?”

Janelle points at her. “Exactly. What’s her motivation? What’s her end game? What does she hope to gain from this?”

 

Kate squints, frowning in thought. “But why take all of them? What do Mac, Jo, and the rest of them have that The Empress does, or does not want?”

Marcos, apparently recovered says, “Well everyone knows JN Securities. I mean, they’re the toughest branch of private protective services I’ve ever seen. They’re right up there with your Spec Forces, boss.” 

Carmelo nods. “That’s the truth. Over the years I’ve talked to several packs around the country who have reported positive interactions with them.” He turns to Kate. “To answer your question, she would have had to take all of them. Because if only the wolves were taken, we’d go after them, but we’d know that JN Securities had our backs and we could call on them if we needed them.” 

Janelle nods. “You’ve got that right. It’s drilled into us. We’re like the boy scouts, always prepared. If someone asks for help, we show up. And if only vampire were taken, we’d go after them, but we’d know that we could call on a local wolf pack if we needed them.”

Len shakes her head. “Okay, but that can be said about most vampire and most wolves. What’s so special about Jo and Niall and the Duncan Pack? What’s the link?”

Goosebumps scatter over my arms at the same time Emma jumps to her feet and I know she came to the same conclusion I did. 

“It’s me. Daddy went to the vampire and asked JN Securities to protect my mom, and to help him find me. We’re the link. Daddy and me. We’re what sets y’all apart from any other vampire or wolves.”

Kate slaps her forehead. “And Mac has been friends with Jo for years. And, oh my gosh! Why didn’t I think of it before? When that dark fae came after me, he said “she” would finish the job. He had to have been talking about this Roman Empress, right?”

“I’m sorry but that don’t make no damn sense. The oldest living vampire, a purist in the extreme, teams up with dark fae to go after you?” Janelle points at Emma. “And then after you.” She shifts her finger to point at Kate. “I don’t mean any offense but who are you? And when it didn’t work out the way she wanted she just up and goes after everyone else? Besides, I thought all those fae died. Are you saying there’s more of them?”

Emma throws up her hands. “She’s Mac’s mate, that’s who she is. And how am I supposed to know how many of them are still out there? We don’t exactly talk, you know.” 

Someone has to nip this in the bud before tempers flare too hot. “Janelle, theories as to why aside, do you have a better explanation than it somehow has to do with all three of us, vampire, wolf shifter, and fae, working together?”

 

Carmelo focuses on Emma. “But you aren’t just any fae, you and your father, are you, Emma?”

My best friend’s cheeks redden above her scarf. She shakes her head ruefully. “No, no we are not. Daddy is a first.”

“And if I’m not mistaken, his true form is even more breathtaking than what you showed us, is that fair to say?”

Emma seems to blink back tears. She just nods.

Carmelo turns his attention back to the group of us, looking at each of us in turn as he counts things off on his fingers. “So we have one of the most powerful vampire conglomerates in the world, thanks in part to the might and goodwill of their security arm.” He taps a second finger. “We also have here the most powerful fae on Earth and his daughter who is a power in her own right. And,” he turns to his pack and taps a third finger. “Us. It might have just been the Duncan pack because they joined the vampire in cleaning out that nest. But their pack has a connection with us through Mac. And now Mac’s mate has a connection to everyone, too.”

Marcos stands up. “Well, that’s all well and good to know and all, but how does that help us find her holiness so we can send her ancient ass to her maker?”

“An excellent point as usual,” Carmelo says. He claps his hands together once. “We’re losing what little daylight we get. Let’s get packed up. We pushed hard yesterday and today we should reach the villa before nightfall. So stuff your pockets with energy bars and let’s move out in five!”

​