It wasn’t long before the vampires came. One-by-one they appeared from the treeline, hesitated, and continued. Whatever Molly had told them, they were timid and flinched when Rory spoke. It gave her more than a little thrill being the bogeyman to the things she’d been so terrified of a year ago.

“Billie, are you sure you’re comfortable taking the liaison position?” Rory had already asked him the same question a few times, but she wanted to be sure.

“More than comfortable. They’re my friends.” Billie was lanky and while he’d never be handsome by any means, it was hard not to be charmed by his ever-positive attitude. “They might feed off me a little, but I don’t mind.” He winked at her.

An image of Billie, moaning in delight as Byron fed occurred to her and Rory held back a shiver.

“All right. Nadine and I plan on leaving for Inboco today. If there're any problems-”

Billie waved a slight hand at her and giggled. “But there won’t be.”

She gave him a disappointed look.

“But if there is, I’ll tell Mr. Sven.”

“Thank you,” she said, relieved he’d listened.

Sven’s abilities or maybe just his addictions made his blood toxic to vampires. She’d already seen the effects with her own eyes, and the vampire that fed off him was wandering around outside. It was safe to assume the others knew.

While she was thinking about it, she added, “Also, no inviting them in the house.”

“Hadn’t even crossed my mind. If anything happened to someone and it was my fault…” He gulped and shook his head.

“I believe you.” From the window, she could see the undead creatures milling about on the front lawn. “Looks like Molly might be the one to talk to first. You know which one she is?”

“Oh, yes.” Billie nodded dreamily as he walked off in the redhead’s direction.

“Rory,” Sven said as he rounded a corner and stopped in front of her. “Made all the alternative I could, but I’m out of a few other things. Made a list since Doc mentioned you and Dini was headed off to Inboco without him.”

“Was he mad?” She’d purposefully made the plans without telling Doc.

“He was furious. Doesn’t want you left alone with Asher.”

She stifled a nervous giggle and tried to focus. “Do you have the list of things you need?”

He pulled a wad of paper from one of his many pockets and handed it to her. The writing was spidery cursive that took an extra moment to read. “Dini’ll know what they all are. I’d give it to her myself, but…”

“It’s fine. I’ll make sure she gets it.”

“It’s appreciated.” Sven licked his lips and looked around them. “Last thing before you go.” He took two vials from his pockets and put them in her hand. “Can’t figure out invisibility yet, but I’m workin’ on it. In the meantime, a chameleon potion’ll do. You’ll blend right into the background. Long as you don’t move.”

She closed her fingers around the offered items with a mumbled thanks. Eating or drinking anything from Sven was a gamble. It almost always worked the way he said it would, but nearly always came with side effects. Especially since he was prone to adding whatever intoxicants he had on hand.

“They ain’t drugged. Promise this time. Dini’s already pissed. Don’t need to give her more reason to hate me.” He turned to walk away and stopped. “Keep her safe, yeah?”

“Promise.”

He nodded, waved a hand behind him and made for his room upstairs.

“I’m ready,” Nadine said, securing her bag to a shoulder. She watched Sven’s slow ascent up the stairs. “He’s still moping?”

“Like a sad puppy.” Rory frowned. “I know he fucked up, but it’s hard seeing him like that.”

“Not going to worry about that right now,” Nadine said and waved a hand. “We’re going to go meet new people and have some fun.”

“We’ll be back sometime tomorrow,” Rory called up the stairs.

Doc ran from his bedroom and down the steps in a few strides. “Are you sure you don’t need me to go?”

“I’ll be fine. They need you here in case the vampires get out of hand.”

“Besides,” Nadine said. “We’re making it a ladies trip. Holga is already there. Why not?”

His jaw tensed, and he took a deep breath. “All right. Just be careful, please?” He grabbed them both into a bear hug, stroking Rory’s back, and kissed each on the top of their head.

“Be careful yourself.” Rory stretched to kiss Doc’s cheek, and he bent to receive it. She gave his hand a quick squeeze and the two women made their way to the cellar.

“Here.” Rory gave her one of Sven’s vials. “He promised it’s not spiked. It should help us move from one portal to another in Alma. He said they’ll make us blend into the background.”

The look on Nadine’s face said she’d rather not drink it. “Wonder what he used,” she said, uncorking it and sniffing the contents. “Wish I hadn’t done that.” Her face turned green.

“Bottoms up.” Rory cringed, took the top off and swallowed before the odor could hit her nose. Her entire body shivered, and she fought back the urge to vomit. “Blah, it tastes like burning rubber smells.”

Nadine drank hers and gagged. “Oh, goddess, you weren’t joking.”

Rory watched as Nadine vanished, pulsed back into sight and faded again entirely. If her friend moved, she could see a scant outline, but otherwise, the effect was like her body became a screen, projecting whatever was behind her.

“Ready?” Nadine’s voice quavered.

“Let’s go.”

They walked through the portal to Alma. On the rough floorboards of Nadine’s house, they moved forward as quietly as possible, exited to the garden and slipped through.

Rory took a quick look around and whispered, “We can make it to Doc’s without trouble if we hurry.”

They rushed to his neat little house and snuck in. No candles were burning, and it was dark, but as long as the Daughters hadn’t rearranged things, they could make their way without issue.

Rory held her breath as she walked. Every step sounded too loud. Could they hear them all the way to the Catherine’s chambers?

Light from the portal guided her steps the rest of the way until Nadine and Rory were safely on the other side, all the way in Inboco.

They both breathed a heavy sigh.

“I almost didn’t think we’d make it,” Nadine said. “Kept imagining the Daughter’s barging in on us just as we were about to go through.”

“Wouldn’t that be our luck.”

“Um, hello?” Holga called out. She’d been sitting on the couch when they went through and, in the excitement, hadn’t announced themselves. Or explained why she couldn’t see them. She pushed her glasses up her nose and glanced around, holding an enormous book like a club.

“Holga, it’s just us, Rory and Nadine. We had to go through Alma, so Sven gave us a potion.” She waved her arms to make the lines of her figure more obvious.

“I’m happy you’re alive and well. I’m glad you’re safe, Nadine,” Holga said to Rory.

“Over here, dear.”

“Have you found anything useful?” Rory recognized the book she held as a bludgeon.

“Yes, actually. It would be in our best interest to acquire the Catherine’s dowsing rod.” Holga moved back to the couch and the nest of books and notes that surrounded it. “It’s borderline unusable by a normal person’s hands, but in ours, it would be a powerful artifact.”

“Well, I’m glad there’s only a mob of bloodthirsty priestesses standing between us and it,” Rory said.

Holga blinked in her general direction.

“What does the dowsing rod do, anyway? Apart from kill the occasional rampaging, tainted vampire?” Rory knew little about the Catherine’s rod. Other than it melted through Sharona’s body when the vamps attacked Alma.

“In the hands of a pure human—virgin—it’s only useful for purifying water and emergency undead disposal.”

Rory couldn’t help but laugh nervously as a wave of nausea churned her stomach.

“Oh, goddess, no. Do you feel ill too?” Nadine dropped her bag, and it popped into its normal blue and tan colors once out of her grip.

“Yup. I think the potion is almost done.” Rory burst out the front door and emptied the contents of her belly into a patch of greenery. When she wiped her face and turned, Nadine came into focus. “Glad that didn’t happen in Alma. But it would have been nice if Sven had warned me.”

“I’m just glad he was true to his word and didn’t spike it.” Nadine wrapped her arm around Rory’s waist and they walked inside together, appearing normal, if not a little pale.

“Sorry about that, Holga,” Rory said and combed a snarl out of her hair. “You were saying that virgin humans can make the dowsing rod do a little. What about witches?”

“In our hands, it’d be like we were holding the sun. Or a miniature version of it, at least. The last witch to wield it was named Gloria, but it was before the Immaculate Daughters came into power. It didn’t protect Gloria and two others from falling victim to a witch hunt though. You know that bronze tree?” Holga adjusted her glasses and shook her head. “You want to know why it was bronzed? To memorialize the event.”

Nadine frowned. “How has no one mentioned this before?”

“Dirty secrets. The book’s author wrote that part in code, but they only used a simple rail text cipher.” She showed them the nonsensical words and her neatly handwritten solution underneath. “The hardest part was finding the breaks for the next line. Otherwise, it was easy.”

“Holy shit, Holga,” Rory said. “You’re a total badass.”

She shifted uncomfortably from the praise. “Thanks, I guess.”

The three pored over the notes and books together until there was a faint knock at the door. At the interruption, they all snapped to attention.

Nessa walked in, holding a handful of wildflowers. “I’m ready for our date.” Her smile faded, and she gushed, “Nuts. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you had visitors. I’ll go.”

Rory’s eyes widened, and she looked between the two, gazing longingly at each other. “Ooh. No, come on in. I should take Nadine here to meet Rosemary. It’s wonderful to see you again, Nessa.”

“Likewise.” She grinned mischievously at her. “Hey, make sure and say hi to Asher. I’m pretty sure he’d enjoy seeing you again. You must have made one hell of an impression.”

“Maybe I will. Thank you.”

Once outside, Nadine said, “They make a cute pair.”

“I’m just happy to see Holga moving on. What do you make about the Asher thing? Do you think she was picking on me?”

“Absolutely not. I don’t think that girl has it in her. She’s about as harmless as a kitten. Why wouldn’t you make an impression on him?”

Rory sighed. “Last thing I need is to get all bothered by another guy.”

“Nothing like getting into another saddle to…” Nadine started but her voice dropped. She held Rory’s shoulder painfully tight and squeaked. “Oh, goddess… Stand very still.”

“Why? Shit, what the hell is that?” A massive black and white leopard sauntered in their path. She’d seen a few at the zoo, but this was at least three times the size. Its blue eyes focused on them with a bright intensity.

The gaze made Rory pause. She’d seen those eyes before. Twice. They were the same crystal-clear blue orbs Rosemary had passed to Asher.

A deep rumble came from the cat’s throat as it paced.

“Asher,” she managed the word, but it came out weak and whiny from fear.

The cat stretched, and magic pulsed in the air. As it stood, its form changed. Spotted fur became tattooed flesh and Asher stood in front of them.

“You are super naked.” Those are the first words we say, Rory? Really? Way to go champ.

Asher drifted to her with a feline grace that made all the more sense now. “Like what you see?”

She fought for words, and he gave her a coy smile, flexing and twitching his muscular chest. Visions of him taking her flooded her mind.

“Do you have pants? Please put on pants.” She wasn’t above begging.

He looked down at himself and back up into her eyes. As he had when they first met, he sniffed the base of her neck, this time in short huffs. His top lip curled back ever so slightly. His arousal on full display.

“Doesn’t look like Nessa was lying,” Nadine said in a singsong voice.