Witch Way to Turn (23 page)

The blood-bond
.

For once she was thankful for the connection to the vampire.

Breena leaned down, being careful to keep her mouth far enough away so a big jolt of turbulence wouldn’t cause her to end up in a deadly lip-lock with the brunette. She took a deep breath. Then another. Soon the sweet, thick fog floated out of the woman’s mouth and into Breena’s. As she breathed it in through her mouth and nose, she let it fill her body, warm her glacial bones.

When the woman’s face grew pale, Breena knew she had to stop. But how? For all Myles’s instructions, he’d forgotten the key part.

Breena did the first thing she thought of. She coughed.

It worked. Breena managed to pull herself away from the woman and the fog stopped coming out of her mouth. She braved a look in the mirror. With her irises back to their normal violet, she yanked the hat off to find that her ears had retracted. Letting out a sigh of relief, she twisted around to the flight attendant. “Thank you. Now count to ten and you’ll be fine.”

Breena peeked out the bathroom door before stepping out, although she wasn’t sure what she planned on doing if someone stood there. Thankfully, no one did.

Myles waited for her to sit down before he spoke. “Feel better?”

“Yeah.” Breena glanced over at Jenny, who’d fallen asleep. “I just don’t understand.”

“What?”

“How did that happen?” She pointed at her currently normal-looking ears.

Myles’s mouth curved into his trademark smile and Breena felt hot-and-bothered all over again. “Probably my fault.”

“Why?”

“I obviously turned you on.” His damn grin put the Cheshire cat to shame.

“No you didn’t,” she lied.

“Bree, being aroused or angry are the two most common ways to trigger the need.” Reaching up, he caressed her cheek.

What in the world? Myles knew she was with Orin, even if her feelings were all over the place. She grabbed his hand, yanked it down and gave him the evil eye. “Hold up. Ori–”

“Or you could hear her soul.” He’d changed the subject mid-sentence.

What in blue blazes was going on? She dropped his hand like a hot potato and faced the seat in front of her. Mr. Mysterious was still gawking.

“What’s the deal with creep–”

Myles shot Breena a look that said,
Keep your mouth shut if you know what’s good for you
.

Deciding she’d better heed his advice, she leaned back against the seat and tried to fall asleep. It didn’t take long before she was out like a light. Thankfully, the hunger had been satisfied. For the moment. Now she just had to worry about when it would strike again.

When she woke up, her neck ached from the odd position she’d slept in, and her eyelids raked open as if sandpaper had gotten stuck under them. Blinking a few times, she realized her stomach had dropped to her feet again.

The plane bumped along the runway until it came to a stop. A few last minute announcements were made over the intercom then the herding off the plane began. It seemed like it took forever but, finally, their turn came.

Mr. Mysterious still sat in his seat, watching as they walked by. A low hiss came from behind Breena. When she glanced back, she saw Myles giving him a grim look. She tried not to worry about it, but something about him made her think it wasn’t a coincidence he was on this particular flight. Since they only had thirty minutes to get across the airport to their commuter plane, she stopped obsessing and focused on the task at hand.

The airport swarmed with people. It reminded Breena of a beehive she’d once found in the backyard at Norma’s that had fallen to the ground and broken in half. Only, she’d been afraid of the bees. Now
she
felt like the creature the humans had to fear.

Omigod. Did I just say humans?

She was still human, dammit. Well, half anyway. She had a soul. Just because she’d started thinking about people as food didn’t make her evil, right?

Thankfully, no one hummed at the moment. Flicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth, she tried not to think about each individual soul buzzing around her. Tormenting her.

Myles gave Breena a once over. “You okay?”

“Fine. How much farther?” she sniped.

“It’s the smaller plane up ahead on the right.”

Scanning out the window, she spotted the one he’d pointed to.

Jenny tugged on Breena’s hand. “I gotta use the bathroom.”

“Be right back,” she told Myles, and steered Jenny toward the ladies room sign on the other side of the hall.

Breena waited for her sister outside the stall. A nervous energy gnawed at her and she decided to wash her hands just for something to do. As she turned on the water, a leggy girl with bleached blond hair came out of the stall next to Jenny’s. A couple seconds later, another woman staggered out of the same stall. The woman looked pale and weak as she made her way to the exit.

Blondie came up to the sink, washed her hands and looked at herself in the mirror. Her eyes went from solid black to a dull brown.

She tossed a sideways glance in Breena’s direction. “Airport’s a great place for a snack, don’t you think?”

Breena reached over for the paper towel dispenser, keeping her focus on the blonde in the mirror. There were no other souls in the restroom besides Jenny. Blondie must’ve realized it, too. Breena hoped she’d leave before Jenny finished up.

Just then, the toilet flushed and the door swung open.

Damn.

Breena dashed between Jenny and the preternatural.

A sinister grin tugged at the tall woman’s lips. “It’s not the girl he’s after. But it’s good to know you have weaknesses.” She poofed out of the restroom.

“Bea, her glow scared me.” Jenny stood frozen in place.

“It’s okay, short stuff, I won’t let her hurt you.” Granted, Breena wasn’t exactly sure how she would’ve fought the blonde, but she sure would’ve tried.

“Is she like Orin?” Jenny inched over to the sink and washed her hands.

“Yeah, she’s a preternatural.” Breena handed her sister a paper towel. She still hadn’t told Jenny about her half-and-half status. Part of her wanted to, but she just didn’t know where to begin.

Myles stood directly across from the ladies room entrance. They walked in silence out of the restroom and into the throb of people. Breena couldn’t help but notice that a couple of those people didn’t make a sound–no hum–but they did seem to migrate in her direction, to mirror her movements. One girl in particular brushed past Breena and looked as though she wanted to say something but Myles caught Breena’s elbow and guided them to the waiting area before she had a chance to figure out what the deal was.

Probably just her imagination.

“I thought I might have to come find you two,” Myles joked.

“Nope,” Jenny said, bouncing along beside him. “Bea took care of the pre.”

“Jen.” Breena gave her sister a scolding glance.

Jenny huffed and shot it back.

“What’s a ‘pre’? Breena, what happened?” Myles seemed to hold back some of his panic, probably for Jenny’s sake.

“Preternatural. Nothing. It’s fine.”

“Somebody’s after Bea, and I’m a weakness.”

Breena rolled her eyes. The girl couldn’t keep her mouth shut to save her life.

“Flight 130 to Addison now boarding,” the announcement blared overhead.

“Come on, Myles, we need to go.” Breena took Jenny’s hand and walked away.

Myles trailed after them but Breena could tell he wasn’t happy about it.

Chapter 19

Waves of heat wafted upward the moment they disembarked from the plane. They walked across the practically steaming tarmac into the airport and followed the signs to baggage claim. This airport was tiny in comparison to the Dallas-Fort Worth hub, so they didn’t have far to go. Once their bags came around the belt, they headed to a waiting area next to the sliding double doors.

A girl, a little younger than Breena, watched them approach, her gaze intent on Breena. The girl wore black leather pants and a lime green tube top with matching green stiletto heels. Breena had never seen anyone look good in leather pants, but this chick rocked ’em out. Her long black hair hung in a thick braid over her smooth brown shoulder and, when they got closer, Breena couldn’t help but stare at her pale gray eyes.

She walked directly to Breena, like a magnet to a fridge, except Breena didn’t know the girl from Adam. They stood in silence, facing each other in a strange stand-off.

Myles eased past Breena to lay a hand on the tanned girl’s shoulder.

With bright eyes and a straight face, she said, “Master, you’ve arrived.”

Myles just shook his head and gave her a patient smile. “Dandelion.”

The girl turned to Breena and spoke before she could be too jealous of whatever connection he shared with Gray Eyes. “You must be Breena Cross. I’ve heard so much about you. I’m Dandi.”

Dandi.
Right.

Damn, she was hot.

Something about her made you just want to drool all over yourself. So of course, Breena gave Myles her best you’ve-got-some-explaining-to-do look before turning back to the gray-eyed girl. “Strange,
Master
hasn’t told me anything about you.” Was Dandi the reason Myles kept pulling away?

“We can do backstory later. Right now the president is waiting.” Myles nodded toward the glass doors.

Maybe if Breena stared at Gray Eyes long enough, she could figure out some of Myles’s secrets. Her gaze didn’t waver, and neither did Dandi’s.

“Screw the president.” Gray Eyes addressed Myles, but kept her gaze dead-set on Breena.

“Dandelion Peace Camp, do you really want to live forever in Addison, Texas?” Myles scolded.

Dandi cut him a snide look with squinted eyes and pursed mocha lips. It reminded Breena of a look Jenny sometimes gave her.

“Funny name.” Jenny chimed in.

“Jennifer Doe.” Breena flicked her sister’s arm. The game of eye-chicken with Gray Eyes had come to an end.

“Hey.” Jenny pouted and rubbed her arm.

Dandi laughed. “You’re okay with me, squirt. It is a funny name. My dad was a hippie and my mom was Cherokee.”

“Are they dead?” Jenny swung her arms back and forth.

Breena’s eyes widened at her sister’s question.

“To the point. I like it. I can see we’re gonna be good friends.” Dandi ignored Breena’s obvious shock. “Yup, they’re dead as a doornail. Myles is my only family now.”

“We need to go.” Myles made a circular herding motion for them to move along. “Dandi, where’d you park?”

“Out front, of course. You don’t expect me to walk far in these heels, do you? You’re gonna love my new ride, Myles,” she prattled on, not taking a breath.

“What did I buy you now?” He smiled at Dandi as they followed her outside.

She pointed to the fire-engine red Hummer parked partially on the sidewalk to fit into the narrow spot behind a row of parked cabs.

Myles just shook his head. Even though he acted annoyed, he wasn’t. Breena felt it in her blood. He watched Dandi like a dad looking at his kid with a new toy, amusement in his eyes.

A cop waited for them by the passenger door of the Hummer. The girl sashayed up to him, swinging her hips–an impressive feat in leather pants–and batting her eyelashes. They didn’t hear what she said, but Breena knew Dandi wouldn’t get a ticket. If anything, they might score a police escort to wherever they were going.

“To the Betty Lou compound,” Dandi announced as the cop padded off down the sidewalk wearing a stunned grin.

* * * *

Myles caught Breena before her face had a chance to plow into the pavement.

Stupid Hummer
, Breena grumbled mentally, feeling absurdly like Dandelion had bought the car just for a chance to humiliate her.

The vamp’s hands gripped her shoulders a second too long. Then he apologized at the same time as she said thank you. Awkward didn’t cover it.

“Ick. No PDA, pa-lease.” Dandi made a
yak
sound while she opened the back door to get out the luggage.

Breena wiggled her way past Myles to grab her bag and hand Jenny hers.

Aware Dandi was watching her every move when it came to Myles, she hung back with the black-haired girl as the other two moved ahead. Breena grinned as she watched Jenny take Myles’s hand. They walked side by side, swinging their arms. A wave of contentment washed over her, until it was pulled away from the shore by the force of Dandi’s glare.

Skipping, Jenny chattered away about the flight and how much fun she was having. Guess she’d already forgotten about the crazy preternatural in the bathroom. Breena hadn’t. Who was she? Had the pre, to use Jenny’s term, been talking about the same
he
the wolf had mentioned?

An enormous building, resembling a pyramid with windows, lay ahead of them. “Is this where we’re staying? It doesn’t look like a hotel.” Breena glanced at Dandi.