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My eyes burned with unshed tears as my power pulsed through my skull, urging me to follow my worst impulse of revenge. Even if he’d ‘saved’ him, I knew far too much about this man’s nature to believe for a red hot second he’d acted out of the goodness of his heart.

“Why?” I bit out. “Why were you even there?”

“He was working on research for my sire, and he refused to share the findings, so my colleague ripped out his throat.”

The lack of remorse sickened me. Worse than that, the bored drawl of Carmichael’s voice had me itching to slice his head off and stake him for good measure. But I would not allow him to make me into a murderer. Wasting even another minute with him was too much.

“You’re going to go home and punish yourself,” I settled on after a moment. “You will not attack me again or follow and spy on me as you obviously did tonight. You will not ever force yourself on another person without their express permission. If you so much as think about it, you’ll punish yourself immediately in the worst way you can think of. Start now.”

Carmichael zoomed back through the woods to whatever hole he’d crawled out of, and I shoved my hair back. I didn’t have time to process what happened or the rush of adrenaline that poured out, leaving me weak in the knees. I had to find Julian and Sam before one of them ended up dead if they hadn’t already. But where were they and how was I supposed to get there?

I scooped up my wet belt, then made my way back into Sam’s house to sit on the large, squishy couch in front of the giant flatscreen TV. Then I rummaged inside the magic compartment and pulled out a Restore Charm along with my cell phone. Thankfully, it appeared the interior of the space was waterproof.

Nice job, Daphne. That nymph was prepared for just about any eventuality.

I’d expended far too much magic to think I could make it any further without a little help. Lucky for me, Zoe’s charms always did the trick, though it was likely the effects wouldn’t entirely restore my energy. I chewed the coffee-flavored spell. Whatever it could help with, I’d take.

Ignoring the dozen missed calls and messages from Julian, I went straight to the island’s private search engine. A quick glance revealed the number for Mabel’s taxi, and I dialed right away, chewing my cheek as it rang. She picked up on the fourth ring.

“Taxi.”

“Hi, Mabel it’s an emergency. I need your help.”

“Char?” She sounded unsure.

“I’m at Sam’s house.”

“Be right there.”

True to her word, she showed up in minutes, beeping her horn for me as I hurried out to climb in beside her.

“Is Sam okay?” she asked, eyeing my outfit.

“I honestly don’t know.” I proceeded to tell her what happened, leaving out the part about Carmichael. “I guess Sam sucked enough poison out for me to recover quickly,” I lied.

She’d started driving the minute I mentioned Julian’s entrance.

“The problem is I don’t know where to look,” I said.

“I’m thinking we try the base or the vamp’s house,” Mabel said, taking a wild turn so hard I had to grab onto the seat and dash. A string of crystal beads on her mirror swung wildly. “They’d stay where it’s private, so no one interrupts until they settle things.”

I swallowed, not liking the sound of that, and leaned against the side of the car. I was so tired I nearly missed my phone buzzing. I lifted it with a heavy hand and squinted at the screen.

Zoe: Party just crashed by a cyclone made of Sam and Julian. You safe?

Me: Yes. No thanks to the shitheads

Zoe: Binx got everyone out. Mama’s not happy.

I winced as I finished by saying I’d be there ASAP. I filled Mabel in, and she swung the car around and headed for my place.

“Why’d you disappear the other night?” I asked while I had the chance.

Mabel spared a glance, and I could’ve sworn her cheeks filled with a ghostly blush.

“I didn’t want Sam to get in trouble. Lauren deserved every word of what he said, but I was afraid you’d make me say something against him with your…you know.” She gestured toward me in a general way, obviously referring to my mind-bending abilities.

“You ditched us because you didn’t want to badmouth Sam?” I asked, shocked.