Page 20 of Awakened Light

She chewed on her lip as her worry lines deepened.

“Cat.” I stepped forward and took her hands in mine. She tried to pull away, but I held onto them anyway. When I felt her soften, I gave a gentle squeeze. “I know your tribe hates us. I know that you’ve spent your whole life hearing that we’re nothing but monsters. But you’ve met us now. Me, Annella, Lothaire, and Aiden. We’re all vampires. Do we seem like heartless, bloodthirsty monsters to you?”

With a deep sigh, she shook her head. “No. None of you seem at all like I expected vampires to be.”

“We’re good people. And Annella and Lothaire are the best of us. We’re out of options. Please help them... help me.”

Those intense eyes softened as she nodded slowly. “Okay. Fine. But we need to do this quick before my mother finds you.”

“Thank you!” I reached forward and pulled her into my arms for a hug. Her body stiffened for a moment before relaxing and pressing against me.

I held her a few moments too long before releasing my grip around her.

We both stepped back as I cleared my throat. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” she answered as she dropped her gaze to the ground. “Did you bring something of hers and a map or something I can use to locate her?”

“Yes and yes,” I said, then flashed to the boat to retrieve the duffle bag and flashed back. “Here are her earrings and here is a map of Scotland. I brought several other maps in case they took her out of the country, and several maps of some bigger cities so you can get me a more accurate location if she’s in one of them. But let’s start with this one.”

“Lay the map on the sand.”

I grabbed the large paper map and unfolded it, holding the corners tight so the breeze didn’t whisk it away.

She opened her hand. “Give me an earring.”

I pulled them from my jeans pocket and handed them to her. We both kneeled beside the map, and Cat placed the earring in the center. I watched with bated breath while she closed her eyes and held her hands over it. She chanted quietly while I stared at the earring, waiting for it to start moving to the location where Clan Lennox held Annella.

The location that would be a bloodbath when we got done with them.

But the earring didn’t move.

Catrain closed her eyes tighter, her chants growing louder as she continued trying.

Nothing.

“What’s wrong? Why isn’t it working?”

She stopped chanting and sat back on her heels. “I don’t know. It should have moved. Are you sure this is her earring?”

“Yes. They’re her favorite ones. She’s had them for over a century.”

She furrowed her brow and stared back at the map. “Then it should have worked.”

“What does that mean? Why can’t you locate her?” I asked, then swallowed hard. “Does that... does that mean she’s... dead?”

“No,” she answered quickly, but then I saw the uncertainty in her eyes. “I... I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Panic caused my voice to jump an octave. “Have you ever not been able to locate someone?”

She held my worried stare while she shook her head. “No.”

“So, she could be dead,” I whispered, barely able to say the words.

“That’s not necessarily what it means. Maybe it doesn’t work on vampires?”

I perked up. “Okay. Good point. Here.” I slid my ancestral ring off my finger and placed it in her hand. “Try me.”

Catrain handed me back the earring and placed my ring in the center instead. I shifted back and forth nervously while she performed her spell.