Poppy’s smile faded as she watched her sister go away. There was a time when she hadn’t gotten along with Magnolia too well, and back then, younger Poppy would never have imagined that she’d feel so mournful at watching her leave. She wanted to call out and ask her to come back, and she would! She absolutely would, without question. She’d stay and she’d hang out with Poppy and watch chick flicks or help with chores or really whatever Poppy needed. That was why she was a great sister—she was there for Poppy, without question and without end.
Poppy’s hand raised to call her back, but she didn’t speak. Her lips twitched. Poppy had been alone for a long time now. What was a little longer? She needed Oakley’s help more than she needed anything else. Now that they had a serious, viable other candidate that the Immortal Council had somehow missed, all Oakley had to do was step back in for a second and the whole tone of the case could be flipped over on its head. Or, even if he came back at all. She missed him, missed how his strong arms felt around her and how safe and protected she felt every time he was around. Missed how wanted she felt, and how at peace she was.
She missed her mate.
Magnolia turned around and waved before getting in her car. A smile snapped onto Poppy’s face and she enthusiastically waved back before stepping into the house and closing the door.
Back before you notice I’m gone.
Yeah, right.
11
Just as the sun crested over the horizon and hung in the air, an unexpected visitor showed up at the overlook.
Oakley had stuff to do. He couldn’t just sit around all day thinking, but he’d pushed that stuff back. There was time today. He’d make time, and he’d spent the morning pondering. Looking out at the expanse, reflecting.
Then he heard the gentle putter of a small engine getting closer to the overlook. He curled his lip up. Ugh, he didn’t want company. Nothing like reflecting about major life choices while someone else sat fifteen feet away and made out with their significant other on Lookout Point. Still, he lazily tossed his head around to see his company.
A cute red VW Beetle in desperate need of a wash puttered up, pulling up next to his car and parking. A hint of red shone through the windshield, and for a second, his heart froze. Poppy? Wait. No, that was ridiculous. She couldn’t leave the house without being immediately tracked down and arrested. A slight chuckle escaped his lips. Man, he was really losing it.
A woman with red hair and friendly blue eyes stuck her head out the window. “Hey, are you Oakley?”
Oakley paused, twisting more to see his new companion. She certainly looked like Poppy. A shorter version, maybe, and a different haircut, but everything else looked the same, from the luxurious red hair to her ivory skin and her easy smile. “Yes? And you are?”
The engine shut off and she stepped out, wearing comfortable, fashionable clothes. She boldly set her feet, puffing her chest out and making it clear that he was about to get a lecture. She’d come here with a purpose, a purpose that she promptly elaborated on. “I’m Magnolia. I’m Poppy’s sister, and you should know that you’re making a big mistake!”
For a second, he just stared at her blankly. “Oh?”
Oh. That was all he said. That was all that prompted a thirty-minute presentation that seemed suspiciously well rehearsed covering every single thing that he could imagine. Neither one of them moved. She stood there with her hand still on her door and he sat in the spot he was already sitting in and she talked. She explained why she’d come back and that Poppy needed him, and that her mark had come on when she’d touched him, and what the hell a mark was, and why he probably felt some strange, unnatural feelings about Poppy. And about the video, and about Jade and about the fact that Poppy would never do that. And everything and then a few other things.
When she was finished, her mouth snapped shut and she stared at him for a few seconds. “Look. I don’t know you. But I know the mark, and I know what it means, and you’re meant to be her mate. She needs you right now. It’s not too late. She wants you back.” Her eyes fell. “Please. She needs you.”
Goosebumps snaked over his skin as he looked at her. This was the sign he’d been looking for. The unturned stone. The message, the reason, the explanation for literally everything that he’d been feeling. And every single thing that she’d said felt right to him. It made sense, and he believed it. All that didn’t make sense was why he’d been such an absolute ass and abandoned her. Of course she hadn’t been in the video. He’d jumped too soon, reacted too strongly. Someone had looked identical to her against all odds.
And then, his smile vanished as a chord of fear echoed through him. “Wait. How’d you find me?”
“A locator spell.”
He surged up, pushing himself off the ground. “Can you do that with the vampire?”
Magnolia nodded, though she looked a touch confused. “Right now?”
For a reason that he couldn’t explain, an overwhelming need to get back to Poppy right now washed through him. She needed him! Right now! She was in danger, and maybe it was their connection or maybe it was sheer luck, but all of a sudden, he knew that he had to get to her and protect her right that second.
“Come on!” he snapped. He started towards his car, but stopped. There was no time. He had to get there faster. With a grunt of exertion, he started to transform into his griffin form. There were risks, but they were risks that he had to take to get there. Magnolia’s eyes widened and she stumbled back in shock as he transformed.
“Shhhh, easy now. It’ll be over soon.”
Jade’s hot breath tickled Poppy’s ears as Jade’s fangs sank deeper. Dying was nothing like Poppy had ever expected. It was…soft. Easy, or at least it was easy now with too much of her blood gone. She felt weak. The arms that she’d used to fight back against Jade fell away limply and all she could do was stare up at the ceiling as it swayed and moved.
The evidence of the struggle lay all around them—an overturned coffee table, a busted chair, and broken glass shards all across the floor. Jade had come minutes after Magnolia had left, and without her powers, Poppy hadn’t stood a chance against a vampire. Once she’d gotten her fangs in her, it was all over.
Poppy’s eyes blinked slowly. Where Jade’s fangs had latched onto her shoulder, a single drop of her blood escaped Jade’s greedy appetite, trickling down Poppy’s throat before hitting her shirt and being absorbed.
Fight! Her body screamed at her to move, to shove her off and scream for help, but all she could manage was a limp, pathetic movement. Why would she want to move? Here was comfortable. She couldn’t even see anymore. Everything swayed around in her vision, and all she could do was hear a few fragments of words, sounds. Her right arm pushed Jade in her chest, but she was too weak and Jade didn’t even try to push her arm away.
This was what dying felt like. Slipping away, seeping away her fight along with her blood. Seduced by death’s icy touch, forgetting the reasons to fight as her strength left her bit by bit, drip by drip. Her limbs hung too loosely and her mouth couldn’t seem to form words anymore. She was trapped, but that was okay. She couldn’t remember why she needed to push Jade away anymore. It still felt weird, feeling her heart start to beat harder and harder with less and less to pump, draining out of her shoulder. Jade felt hot, so very hot, against her.