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Violet
On their last day in Arizona, Violet was cleaning up the area in the desert where they'd made camp. They always planned to leave no trace that they'd ever been there.
Violet had just smoothed the trampled sand out when one of the witches came running back from town. Her eyes were wild, and she was panting and waving her arms with frantic motions. Violet had never seen Onyx like this before. Still, Onyx said nothing. Violet grabbed her shoulders and held on tight. "Onyx. What's wrong.?"
"I saw a vampire. It was here in Arizona. They never come this far south. The sun is not comfortable for them, and they hate the desert heat. But I saw one."
Austin moved forward, having overheard the tail end of the conversation. He made a face. "Are you sure? How do you know it was a vampire?"
"Because I was walking outside the old used bookstore in town and I saw it in an alley, and it hissed at me. And then it showed me its fangs.”
By now the rest of their small pack had gathered to listen.
Violet could hear Austin’s heart beating quickly. "Did the vampire see you? Did it follow you here?" he demanded. He was one of the pack members with a child, so he probably felt the same panic that Violet was feeling right about then. She glanced over where their three kids were playing with a pile of rocks, making a cave and creating stick figures to play in it.
"Of course, it didn't follow me back here; I'm not an idiot. I know how to lose a tail."
"I'm just making sure,” Austin said. “It's kind of a big fucking deal if a vampire follows you back to our home."
"Listen, let's all stay calm. We were planning to leave tomorrow anyway. We could all go to the airport now,” Violet said.
"Is an airport protection against vampires now? How does that work? Do you toss a rolling suitcase at them? Does the very human flight attendant offer them a soda?” Austin asked. He threw his hands in the air.
Angelina stepped into Austin’s space. “Stop ranting. Do you ever hear about vampires attacking in airports? No, you don't. And there's a reason for that.” She leaned closer to Austin. “Because vampires don't attack airports.”
Austin was not impressed. “But they could. If they got on a plane, they’d have over two hundred victims.”
“I’m not having this conversation,” Angelina said. “Vampires keep a low profile. They keep a low profile for a reason because they don’t want humans to know they really exist. Eating an entire plane’s worth of passengers would be the exact opposite of keeping a low profile.”
"I think I may know of something that can help,” Linden said. She was half witch, half bear shifter, and she was one of the quieter members of their group. She’d been raised in a coven and had been working on gaining more magical knowledge over the last few months.
Violet turned to face her. “What is it? Is it one of your artifacts?"
"Yes. It's an artifact. It's very powerful. It paralyzes any supernatural creature for hours and it works the best against vampires."
Violet wasn't sure she liked the sound of this. “You have a weapon that will paralyze any of us and you didn't mention it?"
That was the issue with collecting new members in a pack. They might seem okay at first, but you didn't truly know them. It took years to really get to know somebody even when you were living inside their pockets.
But if there were vampires lurking, then it might be worth it to hear her out.
"No. No, I don't have it,” Linden said. “But someone I know has it.”
"Could we get it?” Violet asked. They didn't have a lot of cash left after buying plane tickets.
"Yes. I'm going to get it," Linden said. “It’s our best defense.”
"I'm not sure that's a good idea,'' Austin said. “What if it affects one of us?"
"That's a chance I’m willing to take, if we can use it against a vampire. We'll just have to keep an eye on each other and stick together,” Violet said.
Nightmare scenarios flowed through her head about being tracked by a vampire. There had been rumors about them in Canada and Alaska. About how they would get obsessed almost with a certain person, or even a shifter, and once they were focused on that shifter, there was nothing anyone could do to escape from them.
For one pack close to her, it hadn’t been just a rumor. The Alpha of a neighboring bear pack had shown up at her father’s pack, screaming.
That bear pack was just as traditional as her wolf pack. They didn't socialize often because they were not allowed to intermarry. But every now and then, if her father or the bear Alpha thought strategy was needed, then they would meet and talk.
She had never seen that bear Alpha be anything but cold and taciturn. But that night he had run over, in his human form. His screams had been wrenching. He had been holding one of his teenage nephews in his arms. The boy had been bitten by a vampire and nearly drained. The vampire had not attempted to turn the boy. But, instead, it drank all of his blood, killing him.
