“I can do that,” Alexander said. “Anything else?”
“Yeah.” I cleared my throat. “What do you know about vampire hunters?”
There was a choking sound on the other end of the line. “What did ye say?” he sputtered.
“You heard me,” I grinned.
“Bloody hell, Mackenzie. Please tell me ye have nae been dealing with hunters,” he groaned. “They’re bad news.”
“How do you think I got out of jail?” I chuckled. “One pretended to be my lawyer and got me out. So, what do you know about them?”
“Ruthless humans who should stay out of supernatural business and feck off, is what I know. They’re murderers, and no friends of ours.”
I snorted. “Well, this one seemed super friendly.”
“Be careful, Mackenzie. They believe vampires have no souls and they’re all bad. Don forget yer best friend is a vampire, and so is mine.”
The irony.
We spoke for a little while longer before ending the call and promising to speak soon. Alexander was still worried, especially after hearing about the hunter, but at least he wasn’t going to show up in the States with Ranulf to start an international scandal.
I looked out the window to the backyard garden to see that night had fallen, which meant I was locked in the house until daytime. Well, at least until Bobby returned with more of that potion that cloaked me from locator spells. Going from one prison to another drove me crazy, but it also gave me time to think. I needed a game plan if I was going to get out of this situation.
The cure was safe for now, but the minute I was captured by the vampires, they’d start torturing me for information on it. So, maybe working with that hunter wasn’t such a bad idea. If I got rid of the Elders, I got rid of the problem. But then who would lead the vampires? If left leaderless, would they revolt against me? I needed someone on the inside. Someone I could trust, who wasn’t happy with the status quo. I needed to go back to The Third Eye. The bar was a hub for gossip, and I was sure to find an unhappy vamp in the midst who could be my eyes and ears inside the cathedral. Bobby had a connection, but I needed to get one of my own. I didn’t trust the warlock.
I went downstairs and told Jackson and Amy my idea.
“Are you stark raving mad?” Jackson’s mouth fell open. “We barely got out of there alive the last time!”
“This time we’ll be prepared.” I shrugged off his concern.
“How about Jack and I go, and you stay here? Where it’s safe,” Amy suggested.
I shook my head ruefully. “I need to be there.”
“Why?” Jackson shouted. “Why the hell do you need to risk your life? Again.”
“Because it’s my life, and if I want to risk it, so be it.” I threw my hands in the air. “Look, I’m not trying to be an asshole, but this is my mess. I need to be the one to fix it.”
Amy frowned. “Kenz, this is my fault just as much as it is yours.”
I knew she was saying it to make me feel better, but I knew I was to blame. As always, I reacted without thinking. My animal instinct took over, and the human side didn’t have time to catch up. Now I was paying the consequences. But I was learning, slowly but surely, from my mistakes.
I ignored Amy’s admission. “So, we go tomorrow night?” Jackson and Amy looked at one another and then to me and nodded. “Perfect,” I smirked. “Now, this time, I want to wear a disguise. Go completely method. Change my hair color and everything. Really get into character.”
Amy rolled her eyes. “This is what you’re thinking about?”
“My name will be Daenerys Targaryen—Mother of Dragons—and I’ll be a dragon shifter.” I nodded thoughtfully.
“You need Jesus,” Amy sighed. “No one will believe that.”
“They won’t believe I’m the Mother of Dragons, or they won’t believe I’m a dragon shifter?” I quirked a brow.
“Neither!” she shouted and slapped a palm to her forehead. “We’ll go incognito, but no characters. It’ll only get us into more trouble.”
“I don’t know, Amy,” Jackson shrugged, “I kind of like the idea of being Fabio, Merman of the Seven Seas.” He looked wistfully ahead as if daydreaming.
I laughed. “You want to be a mermaid?”
“Merman!” he corrected.
“We’re getting off track here!” Amy interjected. “No one is being anything. It’ll only lead to trouble.”
“Fine,” I said, exasperated. “You’re no fun. But I’m still going to ask Bobby to give me a disguise. I can’t walk the streets looking like myself. I’m too recognizable.”
“Agreed,” she nodded. Thus settled, we continued to plan for tomorrow night.
As daylight crept across the sky, sleep overtook Amy. It was coming for Jackson and me, but we had to wait for Bobby’s return. Jackson had called last night to notify him of my return, so we were expecting him. Except the warlock was taking his sweet ass time, and we fell asleep in the living room until the afternoon, when he burst into the house and we startled awake.
“What the hell?” I garbled when the front door banged open. I jumped up from the recliner and Jackson rolled off the sofa and onto the floor. Not so gracefully, I might add.
“Good morning!” Bobby sang as he strolled in with a messenger bag slung across his chest. “Rise and shine.”
I looked at the time on my phone. “It’s the afternoon, Bobby!”
“Meh, semantics,” he replied airily. “Welcome back, Princess. How was lock-up?”
I gazed at him through bleary eyes, and if looks could kill, he’d be a pool of molten lava right about now. “Not so pleasant. Thanks for the assist.”
He held up his hands. “There’s only so much I can do. I’m not God.”
“Although you like to pretend to be.” I gave him a scathing look.
“Well, someone came back from the slammer in a mood.” Bobby narrowed his eyes at me. “Nevertheless, I’m here to give you aid. I was told you needed another cloaking potion?”
“And a disguise,” I said. This made him raise a brow.
“Come again, Princess?”
“I need to look like someone else for the night. You can cloak me all you want, but the minute people see these eyes, they’ll know who I am. There’s no hiding it.”
In the Lycan world, gray eyes came from one bloodline only, and that was the MacCoinnich. When they glowed silver, it not only announced the arrival of my inner wolf, but it was a dead giveaway of who I was. Because there was only one Luna—female wolf—in America who had them. And that was me.
Bobby twisted his mouth to the side in contemplation. “I can temporarily give you a new face and hair, but one thing I cannot do, is change your eyes.”
I frowned. “Why not?”
“You know there’s Fae magic tied to your bloodline. A magic so powerful, not even I can touch it. Your eyes are coated in them. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before.”
I attempted to hide the shock from my face, but I didn’t think I was doing a good job. According to Drusilla, the Fae Queen I killed, she’d endowed my family with Fae magic to keep us strong when she fell in love with one of my ancestors before he left her for his soulmate. It was why she was a bitter harpy. But I digress. Fae magic was why Alexander assumed I was able to become a hybrid; not only a Lycan, but an oracle like my biological mother, Adaline. Which was supposed to be impossible. That must be the Fae magic Bobby saw in my eyes—the oracle sight. I didn’t say anything to him, because my hybrid nature was a secret that only a few trusted people knew.
“Can you get me colored contacts?” I suggested, trying to steer the conversation away from the magic in my eyes.
“Now that, Princess, I can do,” he smirked. “So, tell me. Who do you want to be?”
I turned to Jackson, who was picking himself off the floor. He looked like he had the biggest hangover, without actually having consumed an ounce of alcohol.
“Jack, what do you think? Should I go blond? They do
say they have more fun.” I grinned.
He rubbed his hands up and down his face. “I can’t believe you’re doing this. Bash would lose his mind.”
“I thought he liked blonds,” I bitterly commented.
“I’m so not answering that.” Jackson backed away.
“Good boy.” I gave him an evil smile. “Now, help me find a new face. Amy’s not here to help.”
We spent the next few hours letting Bobby work his magic—quite literally—in building my new persona. Since Jack and I were sleep-deprived from having stayed up with Amy, Bobby let us get some sleep while he worked. But he told me that when I woke, I’d awake as a brand-new person. The thought of being someone else was a little terrifying, but also exciting to the point I almost couldn’t fall asleep.
Alas, I knocked out and awoke hours later in the evening. I reached for my phone to see it was already eight at night. I noticed my arm and hand were whiter than my normally tan skin. My nails were painted bright red, and I cursed at the sight of them. I never painted my nails. Especially not red.
I hurried out of bed and to the bathroom that was attached to the bedroom. With my eyes closed, I entered and stood in front of the mirror. It was the moment of truth, and my heart raced with fear of being turned into the hunchback of Notre Dame. It would be something Bobby would do.
I slowly peeked one eye open and gasped, my other eye snapping wide in shock. I didn’t recognize the woman in the mirror. The structure of my face had completely changed. It was heart shaped, with thicker lips and a cute button nose, and a smattering of freckles that covered my cheeks. My hair was golden blond with highlights that flowed to my mid-back, and I had bangs that fluttered on my eyelashes. Then there were the gray eyes that stared back at me. Those damn recognizable eyes. Hopefully, he’d gotten the contacts. Nonetheless, I was beautiful. A total blond bombshell. And a complete stranger.
Goose flesh rose on my skin as I stared at my reflection. I couldn’t believe the extent that magic could go. How dangerous it could be. It made me shiver.
With that thought, I walked out of the bathroom, threw on some clothes, and realized everything fit a little tighter. I was about to burst out of my shirt when I realized what had happened and I ran downstairs.
Bobby, Jackson, and Amy were in the living room chatting when I stormed in.
“You enlarged my breasts?!” I shouted at the warlock.
Jackson and Amy stared at me wide-eyed like I had three heads sprouting from my neck.
“Kenz … is that you?” Amy whispered.
“Yes, it’s me!” I shrieked. “Bobby! You were only supposed to touch my face, you perv!”
The warlock was on the recliner laughing his ass off, to the point he was coughing and his eyes were tearing.
I’d been so stunned by my facial reconstruction that I hadn’t noticed the double D’s on my chest. Okay, so maybe they weren’t doubles, but they were huge.
“Sorry, Princess,” Bobby gasped between laughs. “I couldn’t help myself.”
I growled. “When does this wear off?”
“Twenty-four hours and you’ll be back to your lovable self.” He tossed me a small white box. “Here are your contacts. I thought hazel would be a nice color.” He chuckled, still finding this all very amusing.
I caught the box and barely controlled the urge to throttle him. Why couldn’t I just be some random blond chick and not a walking stereotype?
“You should take a picture and send it to Bash.” Jackson grinned.
I turned the full force of my glare onto him.
He lifted a shoulder. “What? He might like the new model.”
“I’m gonna kill you.” I vaulted over the coffee table to strangle him, but Jackson was fast and hopped off the sofa, out of my reach within seconds. As I chased him around the room, it turned into a playful game. Bobby yelled at us to be careful with his antiques, and Amy joined in when she pulled out her phone and started to record me. I definitely did not want any proof of my transformation. I’d burn everyone’s phones if I had to.
“Say cheese!” Amy yelled. I spun around and saw the flash go off. I hated being tag teamed.
When I’d had enough, I flopped onto the couch and surrendered. “Fine, whatever.” I waved them off. “Show Bash once this is all over. Just don’t send it now, or he’ll freak.”
Jackson tumbled onto the sofa next to me, put his arm around my shoulders, and took a selfie. I glared hard into the camera while he smiled from ear to ear.
“I’m sending that one out in next month’s Lycan newsletter,” he smirked.
“You don’t even have a newsletter.” I rolled my eyes.
“You’re not subscribed?” Amy raised a brow. “It’s supposed to only be for the Northeastern Pack, but I signed up,” she said with pride.
I couldn’t believe there was an actual newsletter. And he wouldn’t dare.
“Jackson, I will murder you in your sleep if you share it with the Northeastern Pack,” I growled. He only grinned conspiratorially.
“Are you children quite done?” Bobby interjected, looking at his watch. “It’s time for you to get going, and for me to go to sleep. So, get out.”
Not wanting to get sidetracked again, we all nodded our heads obediently and prepared to leave. I went back upstairs to put on my contacts, which were a bitch to put on. God bless my twenty-twenty vision, because I poked my eyeballs one too many times. But once I finally had them in, my look was complete. I didn’t look so bad with hazel eyes. I might just keep the contacts to see how they looked with my real face. It could come in handy in the future when I needed to hide who I was.
With my eye color changed, I grabbed a hair tie and pulled my hair into a high ponytail, letting my bangs hang over my forehead. I tried to find the dressiest outfit I owned – which, let’s be honest, I didn’t really have – and settled on non-ripped jeans, a black V-neck shirt that was way too tight on me but showed the girls, and a pair of Converse low tops. It was the best I could do. I definitely didn’t have dress shoes. It was either sneakers or boots—and the only boots I had were combat or work.
Checking to make sure I had money in my back pocket, I went downstairs and met the others by the door. Bobby had my potion waiting for me like a mom with medicine. I slammed it back in one shot, and we were out the door. Even if we went over the four-hour life-span of the cloaking spell, it was okay because I was undercover. No one would know it was me, and I left my ID at the house.
Jackson’s SUV was still in the shop after the accident, but his insurance gave him a rental in the meantime, so we still had a ride to The Third Eye. The whole ride there, we spoke about the plan and where to meet if things went awry.
This time, we learned from our past mistake and didn’t park in the bar’s parking lot. Instead, we parked a couple of blocks down. Once we exited the vehicle, I let Jackson and Amy go on ahead of me. They would go in as a couple. Amy needed the back-up in case any vampires recognized her. But it wasn’t her they really wanted, it was me.
I stayed by the car for a good fifteen minutes before I made the trek toward the bar. It was eleven-thirty at night, and at midnight, all the creatures would come out to play. The streets were already full, and by the time I made it to The Third Eye, it was packed. You could barely fit a soul in there. For a second, I thought I wouldn’t be able to get in.
“It’s okay, honey, come on in,” the bouncer by the door said as he looked at my chest. Not once did he look at my face.
“Eyes up here, buddy.” I pointed two fingers at my eyes and then at his. He looked up shamefully and nodded.
I entered and had a moment of déjà vu for a second, remembering my time as a bouncer at a little dive bar. Granted, I wasn’t a creeper like that guy, but it seemed like a lifetime ago. Hell, it was another life. It was where Bash found me. An ache in my gut appeared and I frowned. There was a tug in my abdomen, a longing, and it changed my whole mood. I missed him. He should be here with me. Helping me. I shook my he
ad. I couldn’t be that selfish. Bash had already sacrificed so much for me, I couldn’t ask for more.
I blinked a few times as if coming back to reality and buried the feelings away.
I stood at the entrance of The Third Eye and scanned the room. I needed to find the vampires. I walked around between the tables, past the booths and bar. I saw Amy and Jackson standing at a high top. They were laughing, and it looked like they were doing nothing more than having a good time with some drinks. The opposite direction held the pool table area, so I decided to start my search there.
Gathered around one of the pool tables was someone I knew very well. It was just my luck he was hanging out with some vampires.
I strode toward them, snatching a pool stick from the rack, and entered their group.
“Can I play?” I batted my lashes and gave them the sweetest voice I could form as I leaned on the stick.
The four guys looked at one another and grinned. Two of them were vampires, but the other two were clearly Fae.
Fae continued to have a bad rep since the Freedom War, and though much of the supernatural community didn’t want anything to do with them, some were starting to warm up to them. They were coming out more, from the looks of it.
One of the Fae, boasting shoulder-length, auburn hair that was braided at the sides and plainly showed his pointed ears, stepped up and smelled the air.
He smiled ruefully. “What’s a Luna doing out here without her Pack?”
We all had different scents, and Lycan had a very earthy, woodsy scent. It was very recognizable and made us easy to distinguish among other supernaturals.
“I’m just looking to blow off some steam.” I shrugged playfully. “Is this a boys-only club?” I looked at them through hooded lashes.
I sucked at flirting, but I hoped my new persona would lend me some courage and game that I seriously lacked as Mackenzie Grey.
One of the vampires, a Hispanic with curly dark hair, stepped forward and showed his fangs. “This is most definitely not a boys-only club, señorita.”
“Good,” I purred. “Then whose team am I on?”
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