"I'll explain when you get here. I'm scared, Tab. Really, really scared."
"Okay. Stay on the phone with me while I head over. Hey, Maria," Tabitha called to her store manager. "Take over the shop for a while. I have an emergency. Call the cell if you need me."
Bride sighed, only partially relieved. Tabitha's store on Bourbon Street was just a few blocks over from her house. It wouldn't take Tabitha more than ten or fifteen minutes to get here on foot.
"Is he still there?" Tabitha asked.
"I don't know. I threw him out and locked the door and I'm having these horrible flashbacks from bad movies where the demon people break through the windows to grab me."
"He's not a zombie, is he?"
She rolled her eyes at Tabitha's suggestion. For most people that would be an attempt at humor. Tabitha was serious. "Hardly."
"Is your wolf with you?"
"No," Bride said, her chest tight. "He went out and I haven't let him back in yet. Oh God, you don't think he'd hurt my wolf? Do you?"
"Don't worry. I'm sure the wolf can handle itself."
Bride could tell by Tabitha's breathlessness that her friend was running now. God love her. Tabitha was the best in a crisis. Everyone should have a friend like her.
There was nothing Tabitha wouldn't do for a friend or her family.
"You still there?" Tabitha asked.
"Yes."
Bride chatted with her the whole time about nothing while she checked outside to see if Vane was still there.
He wasn't.
After a few minutes, she heard her wolf growling outside the door.
"Shh," Tabitha said over the phone. "It's just me, boy."
"You here already?"
"Yeah," she said. "Hang up and open the door."
Bride did. To her relief, it was just the wolf and Tabitha outside.
"It looks clear," Tabitha said as the wolf ran into the apartment. "He must have left."
Bride took a deep breath in relief, but she still locked the door tight. "I've never been more terrified, Tabby. It was awful."
Tabitha scanned the apartment. "What happened?" she asked as she opened doors and looked out windows.
"I don't know. We were having a late lunch and everything was great until I saw this…" She held her palm up for Tabitha to see the strange tattoo mark on her palm. "He had one identical to it on his palm."
"You're kidding."
"No, and the weirdest part is that I don't know how I got it. Remember when we were eating and it just appeared?"
Tabitha took Bride's hand into hers and studied the tattoo.
"He branded me or something, didn't he?" Bride asked. "He's placed his mark on me and now he's going to kill me. I knew it was too good to be true."
Tabitha shook her head. "Honestly, I can't answer that. There haven't been any murders like this in the state, I know that much."
And Tabitha would. She made it a habit through a friend of hers in the police department to stay on top of all murder investigations.
"So what do you think?"
Tabitha held her hand closer to her face. "It looks Greek in origin. Tell you what, let's make a break for my sister's house. We can ask her husband what he thinks."
"Which sister?"
"The twin one." Tabitha released her hand.
Bride balked at the thought of going to Amanda. "Amanda knows my psycho boyfriend-turned-serial-killer. She even set us up on our date!"
Tabitha made a disgusted sound. "Figures. Mandy has always been a rotten judge of character. Jeez! Never let her set you up with any guy."
"I thought that's what they say about you, Tabby?"
Tabitha ignored her. "You know, it might be a good idea for you to pack a bag and camp out at Amanda's at least for tonight, until we find out more about your serial-killer friend. If he does know Amanda, then he knows enough to leave her alone."
Bride didn't argue. In all honesty, she didn't want to be home alone even with her wolf to guard her. If Vane really was psychotic, he could kill her pet and then her.
"Okay, give me a sec."
Tabitha petted the wolf while Bride grabbed a change of clothes, her makeup, and something to sleep in.
Vane lowered his head as he watched Bride packing. He was relieved at her actions and Tabitha's suggestion. Kyrian lived in a house that not even Vane could break into. It was protected against not just human criminals, but otherworldly intruders as well.
There, the rest of his pack couldn't trespass unless Kyrian allowed it, and the former Dark-Hunter knew better than to let a pack of Were-Hunters in.
He nuzzled Tabitha's leg, grateful she wasn't a complete lunatic.
In no time, Bride was packed. She turned off the lights and opened the door.