Part 17
The human sister was a much easier target then the werewolf assassin. Easier to approach Marlon had managed to make the first contact with her right off. Sincerity was intrigued by him. The next part of the plan was the harder part. The whole turning the girl into a werewolf thing.
He had several hours to come up with a solution before he picked her up after school. He needed to find a werewolf willing to make the change. There were no other werewolf in the small town apart from Meegan Hawthorne, and he seriously doubted she would be willing to change her sister.
Marlon didn't want to ask any of the other Night People in the place, he doubted they would know or would even care what Fortuna was up to. But the question that bugged him was who had bitten Meegan in the first place?
He had driven out of the small town and was headed for the outskirts of the nearest city. There were rumours of a werewolf pack. Most likely one had them had got bored and wandered into the next town. Or Meegan had been caught in the city.
If I was a werewolf where would I be? he thought, manoeuvring his way through city centre traffic. He didn't really want to get into a shapeshifter's way of thinking, but as crazy as her plan was, he had promised Fortuna he would do what she had asked him to.
Though as he parked and started to wander around the city centre, he was really starting to wonder why. He'd barely gotten to the end of the street when he heard the soft, measured sound of footsteps.
"Should have known better than to follow a leech," a sultry female voice said, approaching him."
Marlon's eyes rolled, but a smile curved his thin lips as he looked at the girl. She was tall, at least six feet, dressed very elegantly in brown leather pants, and a sleeveless sky blue cashmere scoop necked sweater. A string of pearls graced her swan-like throat. Long blonde hair fell in gentle waves to her shoulders. Aqua coloured eyes regarded him, pouty full red lips were frowning at him.
"And you would be?" Marlon could match her mood. If she wanted to be a cold-hearted bitch, then so could he.
She scowled at him. Marlon felt a sense of power ripple through him, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, almost like a kiss of a cold wind. He eyed the girl, whose lips had now taken on a smile. Looking around he was pleased no one else had noticed the power display.
"So you know a little power trick in the middle of the day," Marlon said, unimpressed, though he guessed the girl was probably pretty high in her pack authority. "And the point is...?"
"The point," the girl snarled, "if you're out your territory here, leech. This is pack grounds."
"Says who?" Marlon smirked. "There's now law against claiming one city for one. Ever heard of gang warfare?"
"There are no others here." The girl smiled.
Marlon stared at her, not bothering to hide his contempt or disbelief. An entire city with no Night People but werewolves just did not seem possible. "Who are you, anyway?"
"Mona Carmichael," she answered. "Is there a reason you came here?"
An idea sprang into Marlon's mind. He'd promised he'd get Sincerity Hawthorne turned into a werewolf, and he'd just pissed off a high ranking one.
"I was bored with Blue Bird. You know the place - about an hour's drive away?"
Mona nodded. "Yes, I've been a few times. Nothing to write home about." She eyed him.
"Clearly, we've got off on the wrong foot. How about I make things up to you and your pack?"
Mona smiled. "And the pack? What'd you have in mind?"
"Have you seen Sincerity anywhere?" Meegan frowned, not happy to be approached by Kitty as she left her latest class. People were still avoiding her. Apart from Victoria who was just now annoying. "No, actually."
She hadn't seen Sincerity all day. Which was weird enough. She had never known her sister to cut a single class. Sincerity hated taking days off, even when she was sick.
Kitty frowned. "Weird. Because no one else has either."
Kitty walked away. Meegan didn't know what to do next. She had enough problems of her own.
"Your sister's smart, she'll come without someone to hold her hand."
"Don't do that!" Meegan snapped as Victoria appeared behind her, no doubt looking into her mind.
Victoria just smirked. "Whatever. I thought you were sick of being in your sister's shadow."
"Yeah. I don't care," Meegan said dismissively.
Still, she felt a disturbing twinge in her stomach.
"There's a bunch of us getting together tonight. We're hanging out then hunting. You game?" Victoria didn't seem to take the hint that Meegan wanted to be left alone. Since she was trying to keep up with the new image, she might as well humour Victoria.
"Yeah, sure whatever."
"Call you later." Victoria walked back without looking at her again.
Meegan wondered how she did it. Victoria didn't care what anyone thought of her. She just brushed off the comments and raised eyebrows.
"Your sister's taken up the crazy bug that's infecting your family," was the first thing Tara-Lee said when Meegan sat next to her in last period chemistry.
"What are you talking about?"
"Yesterday when you left some creepy looking guy was following you. This morning he gave Sincerity a lift. Like you, Sincerity cut her classes this morning."
Meegan remembered feeling someone following her. She had gone to Shadow, who had made the suggestion someone might have a hit out on her. But if that was true, then why would he go after Sincerity? Unless, Meegan thought with a sinking feeling, the hit was never on me at all. What if someone knows about my vermin family?
"And your point?"
Tara-Lee eyed her. "Aren't you a little bit concerned?"
Meegan tried to tell herself she wasn't. But that nagging doubt that had been with her since she'd run into Kitty earlier hadn't gone away. She'd vowed to keep the Night World for herself. If Sincerity got involved with an assassin, she'd be dead before she knew what had hit her. Or even worse, what if Sincerity became a Night Person.
"When did she show up?" Meegan whispered, trying to pretend she was paying attention as the teacher talked. Chemistry was one of her favourite subjects. One of the lessons she usually always paid attention and excelled in. Today she was too distracted to even work out what the lesson was about.
She could see Sincerity in her usual seat a few rows ahead. Beside her sat the new girl whose name Meegan didn't know.
"After lunch. Marie told me her excuse was a severe stomach cramp. It cleared up so she came in for the afternoon. Neither of you bothered showing up for your morning classes. Where were you?"
"She sure as hell wasn't with me. I was with the new boy."
"You mean - "
"Twice," Meegan answered with a smirk. Though thinking of Sam didn't make her feel any better. He was a Daybreaker, she was a Night World assassin. Nothing could ever happen between the two of them.
"You amaze me," Tara-Lee muttered, shaking her head in disbelief. "I guess you and Brian are through."
Meegan nodded. "Yeah. What a loser."
She stared at the desk. She had to figure out what that bitch of a sister of hers was up to. When class ended Sincerity put her books away, said something to the new girl, and walked off. Meegan hurried after her sister, calling her, but her sister didn't turn. Sincerity wasn't even stopping to talk to the friends who were also calling her.
Outside the school a sleek soft topped Mercedes with a gorgeous driver, dressed entirely in black complete with long black hair. He smiled and opened the passenger door. Sincerity got in the shiny red car. Several girls near by were watching and talking amongst themselves, envy clear in their expressions.
"Kitty?" Meegan caught the blonde girl amongst one of the other groups watching. Kitty stiffened as Meegan approached her. "Did Sincerity tell you who that guy is?"
Kitty nodded. "Said his name's Marlon Blackthorn."
"Blackthorn?" Meegan's teeth gritted in annoyance. If she remembered correctly, Blackthorn were a lamia clan. Shit, she thought. What are you up to, Sincerity?
Let her be okay, please let her be okay. Ginger paced around the living room of the safehouse. Upstairs Dayna and Trent were working their healing magic on Sincerity. Her new friend Marlon had brought her Sincerity to the safehouse about an hour or so ago, battered and bleeding. They'd been attacked by werewolves. He was alright, but feared Sincerity might have been bitten.
"I'm sure she'll be okay. Dayna and Trent are really good healers," Marissa said, taking Ginger's hand and pulling her to sit on the couch in the safehouse between her and Sam. Sam's arm wrapped comfortingly around Ginger's shoulders, holding her close.
Everyone now new about she and Sincerity were soulmates. Ginger didn't care, Sincerity loved her and that was all that mattered. Marlon was standing in the doorway, staring silently at the carpet.
Ginger just shrugged, tears stinging in her eyes as they fell down her cheeks. She couldn't loose her soulmate, not after just finding her.
"How is she?" Marissa stood up as she saw Trent coming down the stairs.
Ginger looked up, wiping her eyes.
Trent nodded. "She'll be fine." The front door opened and a tall brunette in a long green silk dress, carrying a white canvas bag walked in and up the stairs. "Star is going to do a signing to finish off."
Ginger breathed a huge sigh as relief crashed through her exhausted body. She'd heard of singing as a form of witch magic before, but had never really been sure what it involved. She was sure Trent knew what he was doing.
"But," Trent added, and Ginger felt her heart tighten. Of course there was a but. There was always a but in situations like this.
"When Sincerity wakes up, she will be a werewolf."
"You had us thinking it would be something terrible," Marissa snorted.
"Her sister's gonna have a hissy fit when she finds out about this," Sam muttered.
Ginger smiled weakly. The order had come through that they were to bring Meegan Hawthorne back to Circle Daybreak. If she refused, they were to take her out. Sam had also confessed that Meegan just happened to be his soulmate. If the situation hadn't become so serious, the irony of the whole thing might be amusing, she and Sam /both/ finding soulmates in the good twin and the bad twin they were sent to spy on.
But Ginger couldn't find any amusement anymore. She didn't know what would happen next.
The human sister was a much easier target then the werewolf assassin. Easier to approach Marlon had managed to make the first contact with her right off. Sincerity was intrigued by him. The next part of the plan was the harder part. The whole turning the girl into a werewolf thing.
He had several hours to come up with a solution before he picked her up after school. He needed to find a werewolf willing to make the change. There were no other werewolf in the small town apart from Meegan Hawthorne, and he seriously doubted she would be willing to change her sister.
Marlon didn't want to ask any of the other Night People in the place, he doubted they would know or would even care what Fortuna was up to. But the question that bugged him was who had bitten Meegan in the first place?
He had driven out of the small town and was headed for the outskirts of the nearest city. There were rumours of a werewolf pack. Most likely one had them had got bored and wandered into the next town. Or Meegan had been caught in the city.
If I was a werewolf where would I be? he thought, manoeuvring his way through city centre traffic. He didn't really want to get into a shapeshifter's way of thinking, but as crazy as her plan was, he had promised Fortuna he would do what she had asked him to.
Though as he parked and started to wander around the city centre, he was really starting to wonder why. He'd barely gotten to the end of the street when he heard the soft, measured sound of footsteps.
"Should have known better than to follow a leech," a sultry female voice said, approaching him."
Marlon's eyes rolled, but a smile curved his thin lips as he looked at the girl. She was tall, at least six feet, dressed very elegantly in brown leather pants, and a sleeveless sky blue cashmere scoop necked sweater. A string of pearls graced her swan-like throat. Long blonde hair fell in gentle waves to her shoulders. Aqua coloured eyes regarded him, pouty full red lips were frowning at him.
"And you would be?" Marlon could match her mood. If she wanted to be a cold-hearted bitch, then so could he.
She scowled at him. Marlon felt a sense of power ripple through him, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, almost like a kiss of a cold wind. He eyed the girl, whose lips had now taken on a smile. Looking around he was pleased no one else had noticed the power display.
"So you know a little power trick in the middle of the day," Marlon said, unimpressed, though he guessed the girl was probably pretty high in her pack authority. "And the point is...?"
"The point," the girl snarled, "if you're out your territory here, leech. This is pack grounds."
"Says who?" Marlon smirked. "There's now law against claiming one city for one. Ever heard of gang warfare?"
"There are no others here." The girl smiled.
Marlon stared at her, not bothering to hide his contempt or disbelief. An entire city with no Night People but werewolves just did not seem possible. "Who are you, anyway?"
"Mona Carmichael," she answered. "Is there a reason you came here?"
An idea sprang into Marlon's mind. He'd promised he'd get Sincerity Hawthorne turned into a werewolf, and he'd just pissed off a high ranking one.
"I was bored with Blue Bird. You know the place - about an hour's drive away?"
Mona nodded. "Yes, I've been a few times. Nothing to write home about." She eyed him.
"Clearly, we've got off on the wrong foot. How about I make things up to you and your pack?"
Mona smiled. "And the pack? What'd you have in mind?"
"Have you seen Sincerity anywhere?" Meegan frowned, not happy to be approached by Kitty as she left her latest class. People were still avoiding her. Apart from Victoria who was just now annoying. "No, actually."
She hadn't seen Sincerity all day. Which was weird enough. She had never known her sister to cut a single class. Sincerity hated taking days off, even when she was sick.
Kitty frowned. "Weird. Because no one else has either."
Kitty walked away. Meegan didn't know what to do next. She had enough problems of her own.
"Your sister's smart, she'll come without someone to hold her hand."
"Don't do that!" Meegan snapped as Victoria appeared behind her, no doubt looking into her mind.
Victoria just smirked. "Whatever. I thought you were sick of being in your sister's shadow."
"Yeah. I don't care," Meegan said dismissively.
Still, she felt a disturbing twinge in her stomach.
"There's a bunch of us getting together tonight. We're hanging out then hunting. You game?" Victoria didn't seem to take the hint that Meegan wanted to be left alone. Since she was trying to keep up with the new image, she might as well humour Victoria.
"Yeah, sure whatever."
"Call you later." Victoria walked back without looking at her again.
Meegan wondered how she did it. Victoria didn't care what anyone thought of her. She just brushed off the comments and raised eyebrows.
"Your sister's taken up the crazy bug that's infecting your family," was the first thing Tara-Lee said when Meegan sat next to her in last period chemistry.
"What are you talking about?"
"Yesterday when you left some creepy looking guy was following you. This morning he gave Sincerity a lift. Like you, Sincerity cut her classes this morning."
Meegan remembered feeling someone following her. She had gone to Shadow, who had made the suggestion someone might have a hit out on her. But if that was true, then why would he go after Sincerity? Unless, Meegan thought with a sinking feeling, the hit was never on me at all. What if someone knows about my vermin family?
"And your point?"
Tara-Lee eyed her. "Aren't you a little bit concerned?"
Meegan tried to tell herself she wasn't. But that nagging doubt that had been with her since she'd run into Kitty earlier hadn't gone away. She'd vowed to keep the Night World for herself. If Sincerity got involved with an assassin, she'd be dead before she knew what had hit her. Or even worse, what if Sincerity became a Night Person.
"When did she show up?" Meegan whispered, trying to pretend she was paying attention as the teacher talked. Chemistry was one of her favourite subjects. One of the lessons she usually always paid attention and excelled in. Today she was too distracted to even work out what the lesson was about.
She could see Sincerity in her usual seat a few rows ahead. Beside her sat the new girl whose name Meegan didn't know.
"After lunch. Marie told me her excuse was a severe stomach cramp. It cleared up so she came in for the afternoon. Neither of you bothered showing up for your morning classes. Where were you?"
"She sure as hell wasn't with me. I was with the new boy."
"You mean - "
"Twice," Meegan answered with a smirk. Though thinking of Sam didn't make her feel any better. He was a Daybreaker, she was a Night World assassin. Nothing could ever happen between the two of them.
"You amaze me," Tara-Lee muttered, shaking her head in disbelief. "I guess you and Brian are through."
Meegan nodded. "Yeah. What a loser."
She stared at the desk. She had to figure out what that bitch of a sister of hers was up to. When class ended Sincerity put her books away, said something to the new girl, and walked off. Meegan hurried after her sister, calling her, but her sister didn't turn. Sincerity wasn't even stopping to talk to the friends who were also calling her.
Outside the school a sleek soft topped Mercedes with a gorgeous driver, dressed entirely in black complete with long black hair. He smiled and opened the passenger door. Sincerity got in the shiny red car. Several girls near by were watching and talking amongst themselves, envy clear in their expressions.
"Kitty?" Meegan caught the blonde girl amongst one of the other groups watching. Kitty stiffened as Meegan approached her. "Did Sincerity tell you who that guy is?"
Kitty nodded. "Said his name's Marlon Blackthorn."
"Blackthorn?" Meegan's teeth gritted in annoyance. If she remembered correctly, Blackthorn were a lamia clan. Shit, she thought. What are you up to, Sincerity?
Let her be okay, please let her be okay. Ginger paced around the living room of the safehouse. Upstairs Dayna and Trent were working their healing magic on Sincerity. Her new friend Marlon had brought her Sincerity to the safehouse about an hour or so ago, battered and bleeding. They'd been attacked by werewolves. He was alright, but feared Sincerity might have been bitten.
"I'm sure she'll be okay. Dayna and Trent are really good healers," Marissa said, taking Ginger's hand and pulling her to sit on the couch in the safehouse between her and Sam. Sam's arm wrapped comfortingly around Ginger's shoulders, holding her close.
Everyone now new about she and Sincerity were soulmates. Ginger didn't care, Sincerity loved her and that was all that mattered. Marlon was standing in the doorway, staring silently at the carpet.
Ginger just shrugged, tears stinging in her eyes as they fell down her cheeks. She couldn't loose her soulmate, not after just finding her.
"How is she?" Marissa stood up as she saw Trent coming down the stairs.
Ginger looked up, wiping her eyes.
Trent nodded. "She'll be fine." The front door opened and a tall brunette in a long green silk dress, carrying a white canvas bag walked in and up the stairs. "Star is going to do a signing to finish off."
Ginger breathed a huge sigh as relief crashed through her exhausted body. She'd heard of singing as a form of witch magic before, but had never really been sure what it involved. She was sure Trent knew what he was doing.
"But," Trent added, and Ginger felt her heart tighten. Of course there was a but. There was always a but in situations like this.
"When Sincerity wakes up, she will be a werewolf."
"You had us thinking it would be something terrible," Marissa snorted.
"Her sister's gonna have a hissy fit when she finds out about this," Sam muttered.
Ginger smiled weakly. The order had come through that they were to bring Meegan Hawthorne back to Circle Daybreak. If she refused, they were to take her out. Sam had also confessed that Meegan just happened to be his soulmate. If the situation hadn't become so serious, the irony of the whole thing might be amusing, she and Sam /both/ finding soulmates in the good twin and the bad twin they were sent to spy on.
But Ginger couldn't find any amusement anymore. She didn't know what would happen next.