Chapter 2

Her boots slipped into the soft, thick mud on the riverbank. Sara Strange moved forward slowly, examining the ground with her knees bent in a crouch to better view the rocks beneath her feet. She picked up a muddy old stone—a placid gray on the outside. But it would be a beautiful clear quartz on the inside.

She let the stone fall back to the mud, her fingers thick with the gritty substance. Sara didn't mind in the least. She had always been the child to play out in the mud when she was younger. Now, it had become a full-blown fascination with geology and rock classification.

She hiked up her jeans as the hem attempted to dip in the mud. She should have thought better than to wear the pair of jeans that Blade had gotten for her. The jeans were designer, fancily cut with zippered pockets and clung snuggly to her butt and hips. She was more of an old cutoffs or comfy sweats girl, but she'd wear them for Blade—because he thought they looked nice on her.

"So," the gentle voice rustled the hair at her right ear. "How do you like your first day of freedom?"

Sara's lips twitched in a smile and she leaned backward lightly, resting against a hard wall of compact muscle. Blade's arms encircled about her middle, sending a soft tingle through her nerves. She rested her hands on his, bare skin to bare skin.

Their soulmate connection was a little different from the others she'd come across. There was no flash of helplessness, no sense of falling into each other's minds. There was only the utter sense of belonging and attraction, making her want to move ever closer to him. And when they exchanged blood, she could feel his mind, so vibrant and loving. When she reached out to brush him with tender tendrils of thought, he was always just out of reach.

And it hurt like she never thought possible—to be so close to someone and just barely out of reach; someone she loved and adored so infinitely. But she knew it was right—knew they were right—because they just fit. Just like the way she was so perfectly enfolded in his arms right now.

She took a long deep breath, feeling the peace in his soft soapy scent. "Wonderful," she murmured, closing her eyes for just a moment. "I thought I would feel so restless, but circle daybreak is already putting me to good use. I have a feeling that this summer is going to be a good one."

Blade chuckled deeply, leaning his chin onto the top of her head and pulling her in tighter. He was always amused by the fact that she just kept on going—the way she rarely took the time to lean back and relax. But why would she do that? The world would just pass her by in the process.

She opened her eyes and glanced up at the steep path that cut into the mountainside. She'd been out to the Miatar National Park enough times for rock samples to know that there was a much more user-friendly path on the other side of the mountain.

They'd purposely avoided it despite the Daybreaker scout's accounts. The camp of werewolves and vampires had moved on. Lupe and Aaron were out and about, searching for signs of where the Night Worlders had moved off to even while Sara and Blade were cuddling and wasting time.

She felt a twinge of guilt.

She was out here because the Daybreakers depended on her. She was out here because she lavished in facts about geology and chemistry. She was a right little bookworm so there was really no point in denying it.

Besides, she owed Circle Daybreak for all they'd done for her.

Some hikers had come back with tales of some strange black substance emitting from Cawley's Cave. So it was her job to check it out. The situation was strange indeed, especially considering the outbreak of the black vapor was in very close proximity to the campsite.

What did the Night World want with Miatar National Park anyway? The Night World had more important matters on their hands than camping trips out near Cawfield. The sleepy New England town held a small, nearly inconsequential resistance movement to the Night World. As of yet, Sarah had had very few run-ins with the Night World.

She had the feeling that that was about to change and it filled her with a dizzy sort of excitement mixed with dread. Maybe something would happen soon. Maybe the next wild power would be found and converted to the good side. It was better than all this endless waiting. The millenium had come and gone and it felt like everyone was just waiting with bated breath.

Of course, there was no reason the end of the world had to occur right on the millenium. The prophecies worked on tentative timelines. But Sara had the feeling that something was going to happen soon—It just had to.

Sara pulled from Blades arms. He let out a sigh of resistance.

"We need to keep moving," she said, trying to keep the scolding from her voice as he attempted to pull her back to him. She hopped out of the way of his arms moving up to hold her and sent him an apologetic smile. "We've got work to do."

Blade only nodded and moved after her as she started picking her way up toward the path. She had the feeling that he was slightly disgruntled with her. She knew she was always pushing him away in an effort to get stuff done. She only wished that she could know exactly what Blade was feeling. He had the tendency to curl his negative emotions up deep within him, letting them build and fester where she couldn't fix them.

She tried to focus her mind on something that she could manage to understand: the black vapor. There had been recent outbreaks of the substance worldwide. In South America, a dormant Volcano had erupted, releasing the mysterious substance into the neighboring communities and causing much havoc. In India, the black vapor had been released in a preliminary earthquake. There was talk of a bigger earthquake to come within a few weeks.

It was only Sara's luck that the vapor had been released close to home. The worldwide reports of the black vapor had fascinated her and she wanted the chance to study it for herself.

"Lupe's coming," Blade announced suddenly into the silence, letting out a crooked smile that lit up his handsome features. "I'd know the sound of that gait anywhere. So eager but limping. She can't seem to stop hurting herself."

Sara smiled as well. Why Lupe had ever come from all the excitement in Las Vegas to live out in the middle of nowhere was beyond Blade's understanding. Sara, herself, imagined that all the open space had been a deciding factor for the ferocious girl. There was plenty of space to hunt. She often left on mysterious trips, only offering the information that Thierry needed her on duty.

The interworkings of Daybreak's capital were of much mystery to most members of Circle Daybreak. It was all hush hush. The more high-classified information that was leaked into the Daybreaker's general population was also more likely to get into Night World Hands.

Sara turned her face toward a small ledge to the right of the riverbank just in time to see a pretty face pop into view. Lupe's lip was split, but her face was bursting with a grin. She held up a test tube with the vapor distinctly swimming within the vial.

"No need to make the trip up. While you slackers were getting friendly, I went up and got the sample."

Sarah smiled sheepishly, her cheeks tingeing in pink as Blade simultaneously cleared his throat. She moved over to the small ledge with her hand outstretched for the sample.

"Thanks," she said.

Quick as lightening, the tube was snatched from her immediate grasp and Lupe held it up, dangling it just out of reach. She grinned mischievously. "Come up here and then you can have it. We need to get moving. Aaron needs our help with that witch. He's putting up quite a fight."

"Witch?" Sara asked, moving as she spoke to clamber up the side onto the grass, nearly tripping on a stone. Blade's movements were quick and balanced—like a true fighter—even though he was the gentlest vampire alive.

At times like these, she wished that she had gone through with Blade's offer to turn her into a vampire.

Lupe barely waited for them to catch up before she was at a loping pace. Sara started to jog, moving her legs in long strides. She was in fairly good shape, but she found herself panting a fair distance behind the others.

She bit her lip and quelled the sudden resentment welling up inside of her. Lupe needed Blade to help with the witch. It was selfish of her to feel bad at getting left behind at a moment like this.

She stretched her legs into a longer gait and moved from a jog into a full out run, her feet pistoning against the ground, occasionally dotted by soft islands of grass. The air rushed in and out of her lung. She stopped up short a half a dozen feet from where the others had gathered over a prone form, his face in the dirt.

Some dangerous enemy, she found herself thinking and immediately felt bad for the thought. Aaron Maltin was resting his hands on his knees and was panting just as heavily as she was.

"I got tired of restraining him," the blond witch apologized. "He was quite a handful. So I knocked him out."

Lupe nodded, satisfied with his form of restraint. "I didn't like the look of him from the beginning. He looks like trouble. Besides, he's got the smell of the campsite on him. He was with the Night World group."

Sara looked down at the back of the witch's reddish-brown head. He didn't look so dangerous in his unconscious state. She found it bugged her that they left him like that, with his face rubbing in the dirt.

He deserved at least some dignity, Night Worlder or not. He was still a person.

Sara moved forward cautiously to the boy's side. Blade let out noises of disagreement, but didn't move to pull her back.

She reached out the smudged fabric covering his shoulder and pushed to roll him over onto his back. An icy, expectant shiver raced along her spine. She didn't know what she expected to see, but she found herself fascinated as every angle of his face appeared until it was entirely revealed.

The boy was probably about her age, maybe a little old. He wasn't particularly handsome, not like Blade with his shock of dark hair and regal features. A smattering of freckles crossed his cheeks and his chin was a little sharp. She found her eyes tracing along the shape of his high cheekbones and along the line of his nose to a sensuous mouth, relaxed in his unconscious state. She could imagine a perpetual smirk playing along them when he was awake. She found his features comforting.

"Sara, you shouldn't be so close to him," Blade scolded. "He might wake up and I doubt he'll have any sympathy for a human."

She felt a rush of annoyance at his over-protectiveness.

"I'm fine," she insisted.

"Uh huh," Blade responded in a slightly sarcastic tone that wasn't common to his nature. "And the Wild Powers aren't here to save the world."

She ignored the comment and nudged his shoulder once more. For some reason, she wanted him to wake up…because something would happen when he opened his eyes.

Don't be silly, she scolded herself.

But then his eyelashes fluttered, like half-moon's against his cheeks. Her breath caught in her throat and she was riveted.

The eyelashes raised to reveal a pair of warm brown eyes flecked with reddish-gold, unfocused and confused as he stared up at her. And for a moment, they stayed like that staring at each other in shock and recognition.

I know you…

But she didn't. She had never seen him in her life.

And then an arm looped around her waist, pulling her away from the boy.