EIGHTEEN (ISELEN POV)

The human is a good driver, I think, I'm not an expert in motorized vehicles but she looks calmed, keeps a constant speed, she doesn't stop abruptly and the car doesn't veer. The truth is that I've been comfortably sprawled on the back seat for almost three hours and even managed to take a nap. My body needed lot of energy to heal my wounds yesterday and didn't rest well but I'm feeling much better now.

Ruby takes a look at my face through the rearview mirror and I smile in response. She's been doing that since I woke up on the living room floor yesterday evening, with my mouth dry and a terrible headache, which happens every time I'm exposed to the sunlight, but it seems to me that the pretty human needs to check I'm all right obsessively. I'm not complaining because I love when I get her attention, but I think I've traumatized her... This is not the first time my skin gets burnt and it wasn't even serious, but Ruby looked really concerned when I opened my eyes finally and saw her lying on the couch near me, watching me.

She insisted on checking that there were no wounds on my skin, sliding her soft hands all over my body till I felt drunk because of her touch and perfume, and she kissed me deeply, an amazing kiss, hot and intense, that tore a moan from my throat. I told her I would willingly spend an entire morning under the sun if she kissed me like that again but she shook her head, still worried, and got up to open the door for Terra who was carrying a big tray. The wolf had made a special breakfast with coffee, my favorite sandwiches and cakes and a glass of wine and blood. The smell made my mouth water and I ate everything at vampire speed... It feels so good when two amazing women take care of you.

Later, the furry plush toy helped me to take a shower because my skin still felt a little oversensitive while Ruby made sure that the ghosts didn't bother me appearing out of the blue in the bathroom. We held another meeting, this time in the library on the first floor of the house, to tell the witches, necromancers, the druid and the half-demon the news and to draw up another plan. Terra changed into her wolf form and ran to her former pack's campsite to check that everybody was okay after the fight and to get Wayne's address. I wanted to go with her but she didn't let me follow her, she wanted me to stay in the Wind Rose to protect our human, and was sure that demons wouldn't attack her because the Key was not with her. I knew she was right but I admit that felt concerned and tense for hours till she got back home safe and sound.

Luckily, Ruby still had the car she'd rented to go on vacation to the national park but the trip would be too long to go to Santa Rosa and back home during the same night, so Maeve decided to help her to find a good and discreet hotel and booked a room online in case we needed a refuge for the day. The witches promised they'd take care of her dogs and Terra got some protective charms from a friend, a very powerful sorceress, that could keep demons away for a few days. They're not as good as the magical barrier but will work quite well, in theory. The human also explained us what we could expect: heavy traffic, strong smells, noise, lot of people around us, even if that city was not big.

I was ready to leave the Wind Rose for the first time in years. Usually, the werewolf was in charge of going grocery shopping to a near village, but now she's found a new and better way of getting what we need helped by Maeve: they buy stuff online and parcels arrive to a farm we've rented near the nature park, even my bags of blood, and we carry them to the house later, where we have big freezers and pantries. Ruby is the first human I've talked to in long years but that will change tonight, no more being an introvert vampire... It's fine, I guess, going out and seeing the modern world instead of hiding in a refuge for crazy supernatural creatures.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Ruby asks for the umpteenth time looking at me through the rearview mirror and I nod.

"Of course, babe, fully healed."

"The bloodsucker is strong, I told you she only needed to rest..." Terra replies from the passenger's seat, absentmindedly, because she's focusing on the map showing the route on Ruby's phone screen, while I lean forward frowning.

"It's Beta Bloodsucker for you," I whisper in her ear and she looks up, blinking bewildered while the human chuckles.

"Do you realize you've just admitted that Terra is the Alpha of this pack? Your superior officer..." Ruby asks amused and I shake my head.

"I haven't admitted anything, it's just that I was shocked when she told her father that..."

"I was trying to explain everybody the special place you have in my life in a way that wolves could understand it, I wanted them to show you some respect..." Terra shrugs and smiles. "What I said makes sense from a werewolf point of view."

"Seriously?" I ask confused.

"Of course, Iselen, you're the person I trust the most, apart from Ruby, you're my partner and my right-hand woman. The Wind Rose wouldn't exist without your help and I'd be fighting in a senseless war... You're my Beta and I love you."

"Wow, thank you," I whisper, blushing awkwardly. "I love you too... I love you both. I know I don't say this often but..."

"We know that, funny and adorable vampire, but know I'd like to talk about what we're going to do when we get to Wayne's house. According to my father, he lives on the outskirts of Santa Rosa and there're only a few neighbors near, which is great for us, and only accepts visitors if he invites them previously... although we're going to show up there unexpectedly."

"If I worked forging documents, I'd live in a discreet neighborhood far away from gossipy people too," Ruby admits while holding the wheel firmly. "Are you sure we can trust your father's instructions? I believe he's still very upset because you left your pack to go to live with Iselen."

"I know, but his attitude has changed since I helped them to protect the cubs from the attack of those demons, we're not friends and not all is forgotten yet... but he feels more relaxed around me. And he's really scared of his Luna..." The werewolf chuckles, shaking her head. "Sirona is a woman with a strong personality."

"And how was your mother?" Ruby asks cautiously but with curiosity and I can almost feel Terra smiling sadly even if I can't see her face right now.

"My mom found creative ways to get what she wanted, eventually, but never fought with my father in front of their children or the pack. You have to turn right... I think this is the spot." The human stops the car and checks the map too before nodding and pointing at the last house on the other end of the street, small and painted in a light grey color, surrounded by an overgrown garden. It looks kind of dull and, to be honest, doesn't draw attention.

"Let's wait half an hour to make sure the neighbors have enough time to have dinner and go to sleep or are watching TV in their living rooms, too busy to notice who's walking down the sidewalk, begore getting closer to take a look discreetly," Ruby turns her head to point at a backpack on the seat next to me. "Can you give me the bag of cookies, please? I'm really hungry."

"What if Wayne goes to sleep too?" I ask taking a can of soda and handing it to the wolf.

"We'll wake him up... Poor guy, it'll be like a nightmare for him, a werewolf and a vampire scaring the hell out of him..." Terra shakes her head, amused. "My father said the guy doesn't like to meet supernatural creatures in person because he gets very anxious. Wait, he's opening the front door. What are we going to do?"

"Get down!" Ruby whispers hiding behind the wheel. I obey quickly but manage to take a look over Terra's seat while Wayne carries what looks like a garbage bag and tosses it in a container near the road. He's a short guy with chocolate skin and short afro hair, wearing blue jeans, grey T-shirt and horn-rimmed glasses... He looks like a simple boy and a little dull, he doesn't draw attention, exactly like his house does. I guess that's good considering his line of work, maybe it's even deliberate... "At least now we know he's not sleeping."

"What do you think, Ruby? You're the expert in humans," Terra admits while we watch Wayne going back home.

"He looks like a nerd who spends his days sitting on a chair in front of his laptop, a quiet and harmless guy... but I don't know. My world turned upside down the night I met you and I don't know if I can trust my instinct anymore."

"What if we take a closer look?" I ask impatiently. "It's dark, there aren't neighbors on the street and a vampire and a werewolf know how to move stealthily. I don't think it'll be dangerous if we walk towards the house... I'm tired of being here, sitting and talking but doing nothing..."

"Okay, you're right. We can't stay in the car all night long. Come on," the wolf heaves a sigh and opens the vehicle door.

Terra takes our pretty human's hand and they walk slowly ahead of me while I scrunch my nose for a second when the smell of exhaust fumes, food being cooked, dog poop on a nearby garden and stinky garbage in the container, hits me hard. I wish all humans could smell as good as Ruby and her well-cared pets, but it's not like that, unfortunately. Luckily, my nose seems to get used to the stench after a few minutes and I can ignore it. The neighborhood is quiet and there's no noise apart from the distant buzz of the TVs and a cat meowing in an alley. The three of us stop in front of the house, looking around cautiously, and Ruby decides to move closer to the front door to try to get a look through the living room door despite it's covered with a white curtain.

"What the...?" I growl angrily.

"Fuck!" Terra whispers rubbing her forehead with her fingers and grimacing in pain. The human turns around and watches us puzzled standing in the middle of the path that crosses the front garden.

"What's wrong?" she asks confused when she sees me raising my hand and leaning it against... nothing. There's some kind of invisible barrier between us and my hand can't get through it, it's hard and cold like crystal under my fingers, Terra taps on the surface with her knuckles but it's not making noise while Ruby keeps watching us in shock. It looks like we're copying the movements of a mime artist...

"Babe, come back..." I whisper worried. What if the human can't walk back and gets trapped inside Wayne's front garden forever? But it doesn't happen: my pretty girl walks back to the sidewalk without problems, puzzled, and the wolf hugs her tight, relieved. I guess she's thought we'd lost her too. I raise my hand again and lean it against the barrier, tilting my head to ask Ruby to copy my movement. She obeys and her hand finds nothing, there's no barrier standing in her way.

"What's that?" she asks perplexed.

"I bet Wayne asked a witch to pay with a spell instead of money," Terra answers sighing. "A barrier protects his house and prevents supernatural creatures from getting inside without his permission, this is why he doesn't accept visitors without an invitation. What are we going to do? We cannot get closer than this and he won't leave the house till tomorrow... or maybe he'll stay inside for days. Wait, where are you going?" Ruby gets rid of the wolf's arms easily and goes back to the garden while we stay behind, kicking the invisible glass wall that keeps us stuck outside. "Honey, come here, don't do anything stupid."

"She's doing something stupid," I whisper watching her ringing the bell. "If that guy hurts her and I can't get there to help her, I swear I'll lose it in the middle of this street and humans will freakout."

"Oh, come on, they'll see your red eyes and fangs and will think you're a Goth girl getting ready for Halloween. That's not big deal... However, they'll see me turning into a big and furious wolf..." Terra replies rolling her eyes hard.

"Yes, that's even worse. And I bet a neighbor has a hunting rifle or something like that..."

"Great," the werewolf growls and gets tensed next to me when the boy opens the door and stares at our human, bewildered.

"Hello, Wayne, it's nice to meet you. I need your help to..." I can't see it from here but I'm sure Ruby's smile is so bright and warm that could melt an iceberg, although the guy doesn't seem impressed by it.

"I don't work for people I don't know. You'll have to call to get an appointment and will need a letter of recommendation from one of my old clients because otherwise I won't trust you..." Wayne moves a step back and tries to close the door but Ruby stops him with her foot on the threshold.

"Actually, I'm not here for a job. We just want information about one of your clients..." she points behind her shoulder with her thumb and the boy realizes we're standing here, waiting in front of his garden. Suddenly, he looks concerned, almost scared, and shakes his head.

"I never disclose information about my clients and if you and your friends don't leave my property, I'll call the hunters... that kill whatever thing they are, I warn you."

"You don't understand it, there's a demon that... Ouch!" Wayne pushes Ruby hard and slams the door abruptly. The human remains still in the middle of the garden, staring at us confused, and shrugs. "That didn't go as planned, I'm sorry..."

"What now?" I ask looking around, angrily. "It's getting late and we have nothing... Damn it. Do not say out loud..."

"We need that information so you'll have to do your thing," Terra whispers crossing her arms over her chest.

"I told you not to say it..."

"May I know what's going on here?" Ruby cuts us off, staring at us baffled, and I clench my jaw while the werewolf waits quietly. "Iselen?"

"She doesn't like to talk about her weaknesses," the plush toy whispers.

"I know that," the human answers quietly too and they both look at me, smiling mockingly, waiting...

"I'm not good at that," I admit reluctantly, running my fingers through my hair. Terra nods slowly but Ruby's still staring at me perplexed. "I'm not good at manipulating humans' minds and reading their thoughts, this is a skill that all vampires are supposed to master but not me, unfortunately. I can hypnotize them with my charm and they'll forget that they saw my face and that I fed on them, a very useful trick to escape from any danger, but it's hard for me to force them to do something I want and give me information I need. My blood father was great at this, but I'm useless... I drove a man crazy once when I broke his brain barriers to be able to read his thoughts."

"Do you have a better idea?" the werewolf asks and I shake my head after thinking about it for a minute. "You'll do great, baby, I'm sure." She leans her warm hand on my cheek, reassuringly, and her perfume of pine branches and berries fills my mind. Ruby gets closer and hugs my waist quietly, rubbing my back up and down with her hand, her soft lips graze my jaw line.

"All right, you're both manipulative bitches even if you can't control my mind, you know that, don't you?" I complain and the women smirk mischievously. They're so beautiful that take my breath away for a second. "You're lucky I love you so much. Let's do this..."

I take a deep breath, staring at the house and trying to focus on the human living inside. I can hear him typing in front of the screen and taking a sip of coffee, I can smell the shampoo he used to take a shower and the anchovies on the pizza he's eating... Yikes. Now I only need to untangle the jumble of thoughts and memories to find what I'm looking for, but that's difficult and Wayne fidgets awkwardly on his chair. I grimace and dive deeper in his mind, the human stops typing and frowns, I think I'm giving him a headache because he gets up and goes to the kitchen looking for a glass of water. I keep focusing in following the threads of thought in his brain and ignore his movements while he swallows a painkiller and goes back to his chair in front of the screen.

"Come on..." I whisper probing deeper. I just want to get through this as soon as possible without causing him a stroke or something like that. I almost lose my focus when I picture the guy falling dead on the floor, the neighbors calling the police because of the smell of the body, officers rummaging in every drawer... I hope he keeps all the information about his clients in a safe place because they'd freak out... or they'd probably think he was crazy. "Oh, shit no..." I growl sighing and breaking the mental connection.

"What's wrong?" Ruby asks concerned.

"He passed out," I confess embarrassed. "I think I didn't hurt him and will only wake up with a headache, but I was unable to get the address of the half-demon who asked for a complete pack of ID documents suitable to live in Los Angeles. And your father was right, Wayne's services are very expensive, I saw it in his mind... He's going a buy house on the beach on a Caribbean island."

"What are we going to do now?" Terra crosses her arms over her chest again.

"At least, I got a name but I don't know if that will be enough... David Eric Marsh. How many guys will we find with that name living in LA?"

"I know one," Ruby looks at us with her eyes wide open. "And if he's a half-demon pretending to be human, he's doing it all wrong. The guy is an asshole."