Nathan Poole is ready to become Sarah's Warden, but a long lost family heirloom changes his life and future.     Trial and Heiress Chapter 8 By Amethyst

Thanks as usual to Eof for a great universe to play in and to Eof, Maggie F and Donjo for their input. And thanks to my readers for reading what I put out here and being patient when new chapters are delayed.

“Their leader mistook Moriko for you didn't he?” Becky said, breaking the silence that had fallen over us. “In your clothes she did look like you in the dark.” I sighed and nodded. Of course Becky would pick up on something like that, probably more too. She confirmed that as she looked me right in the eyes and said, “Pixies, 'friends in high places', creatures we've never heard of before coming after you, that armor, and of course your family heirloom matches it. Nat, we're all your friends but whatever is going on with you put us in danger tonight. I think you have some explaining to do.”

I sighed as I looked over my gathered friends, Moriko and Erin. The latter two weren't really friends yet, but they were one of us so they were friends in waiting. “Before I can tell you anything I need you all to promise me that this goes no further than this campfire. You can't tell anyone else, not even your parents, until I give the okay. This needs to be kept quiet, even from other Unseen.”

There were a few looks of uncertainty at that but each one of them promised to keep their mouth shut until I gave the okay. “We've all promised,” Becky said, “Now spill it Nat.”

“You all know who my cousin Nathan got sent to reform school right? And how I came here after my family died in a fire?” There was a chorus of nods at that. I took a quick look over to where Jason's, Sarah's, and my own parents were waiting for the Coven clean up crew to arrive, before speaking again quietly. “Every word of that is a lie. I am... was Nathan Poole.”

Most were shocked by the revelation but Becky and a few Weres merely nodded as if they had already suspected as much, “This has something to do with your family heirloom doesn't it?” Becky asked. I nodded and began to tell them all the story of how we had found the Glove, how it had changed me and a good portion of what had happened since.

“So you see,” I finished, “This Glove is sort of an agreement between myself and Queen Titania and I'm our representative to the Aos Sidhe. If she needs my help I'm to rally the island's Unseen and if we need help and I ask for it she'll bring reinforcements from the Valley. It's supposed to benefit us all. But the Aos Sidhe don't want to blow the whistle to all the Unseen on the island that they exist yet unless it's urgent.”

Andrew chuckled, “Unseen within the Unseen, who'd have thunk it.”

Chloe nodded, “Yeah, but I can kinda see why they don't want their presence known unless it's necessary. And it does explain a lot, especially the Valley.”

“Well now those assholes will know better than to mess with you Nat,” offered Jackie. “You know if you ever need any back up every one of us would have your back. If this Ly Erg or any of his toadies come calling again just give one of us a call and we'll spread the word and come help.”

I smiled at her, “Thanks Jackie. I'll remember to add a bunch of your numbers to my speed dial. I'm sorry I couldn't level with you all earlier, but this was strictly need to know and to tell the truth I'm still a little self conscious about the whole being a girl thing.” A glance at Moriko showed her give a small nod at that. I sighed and looked around at the others. “So I guess before we all go home or to the clinic we have one more important bit of business to discuss.”

“Oh? What's that?” asked Daphne.

I looked pointedly toward the Lynxes. “Moriko seems to have literally no clothes, she's wearing mine right now, which is probably why those morons thought she was me. Since I'm not into the whole shopping thing and Erin is still new here herself, we'll need volunteers who like and are good at shopping to take the Brand girls around town tomorrow and get Moriko what she needs.”

Moriko blushed as Jenny and Jackie quickly volunteered simultaneously, both putting an arm around our new Japanese friend. Jenny was grinning like, well like a Fox as she winked at Jackie. “Oh we are all over this. Tomorrow kitties we are going to shop 'til we drop.”

Moriko groaned, “Just what I needed.”

Jackie completely ignored her dismal tone of voice. “Sure it is. Retail therapy will cure all your ills. A few hours of shopping with us and you'll forget all about Japan.”I felt almost sorry for Moriko being stuck shopping with her cousin, Jackie, and Jenny but it probably wouldn't be near as bad as doing it with her mom and a pixie like my first time out. They'd take care of her and Erin and it was a good chance for them both to make a couple good friends.

Not long after that Dr. Dennis came to take Max, Chloe and myself to the clinic to check on our injuries. Chloe's sprained wrist was relatively minor and probably wouldn't bother her much. He told her to try not to do anything too strenuous with it for the next week or so. Max got off easy, he only got a bit of bruising when he twisted his ankle and with his Were healing would probably be fine by morning. I on the other hand had lots of bruising and four cracked ribs. My breasts were extra sore and sensitive from the bruising and on top of my period that didn't make me a happy camper. I resolved that next time I wore armor to have something padded to wear underneath.

Over the next few months things were quiet. Well at least we hadn't been attacked again by the Winter Court. Mom and I had come up with a pair of padded quilted leggings and a similar shirt with a Kevlar vest sewn on to it to provide me with more protection when wearing armor. I was also spending what little time I did have for physical training practicing my fighting while wearing my armor to get used to the weight and how it felt.

Most of the rest of my afternoons and evenings were devoted to learning magic. In light of the attack both mine and Sarah's moms had decided to put more time into out magic training. The only real time I had for socializing was in school and what free time my mom would let me have on the weekends. The increased training was helping though. Now in addition to my command spell I had four others: a spell to make things hot, one to create light, a tracking spell, and a spell that causes confusion. The spell to make things hot took quite a bit of practice as when I used too much of my own power and the Glove amplified it things got a bit too hot, too fast. It took a couple small fires and over two dozen exploded microwave dinners before I learned how much power to use.

What little free time I did have was spent with Jason and Sarah though occasionally Moriko would come over to spar or practice with me. She was really good and she showed me a few new tricks in martial arts that worked well with my fighting style. By the time the last day of school before winter break came Sarah and I were both burnt out. I was at my locker putting my things away and getting out my coat and gloves when Sarah and Jason made their way over to me. “Am I ever glad we have a few weeks off school,” Sarah said with a sigh.

“I know what you mean,” I replied tiredly. “Mom's been working my butt off since Halloween and I really need a bit of me time. At least she said she'd let up a bit on the training over Christmas break. I just hope the Winter Court doesn't live up to their name and choose now to try to attack. I'm too tired to fight for my life again.”

I yawned and made sure to be quiet while a group of Norms passed us, one of which was sadly Eric. He gave us an arrogant smile as he handed both Sarah and I an envelope. “Merry Christmas ladies. Here's a little something for you both so you don't miss me over the holidays. If you do anyway give me a call and we can get together. I always have time for you two.”

I groaned and shook my head, “Don't you ever give up Eric?” If there was what I thought was in those envelopes I'd be using my hot spell on them really soon. I looked over his shoulder and pretended to notice someone. I waved at the imaginary someone excitedly. “Hey Moriko!”

Eric paled at her name, “Uh, I gotta go home. Later.” He didn't even bother to look back as he took off down the hallway to the exit.

We all laughed as he took off and Jason grinned at me, “That was a good one Nat. I don't think I've ever seen Eric that eager to get away from a girl before.”

“Well if all a girl has to do to get him off her back is kick his ass maybe I should think about doing it myself.” I said as I grinned back at him.

Sarah just smiled and shook her head. “I don't think it was just the fact she kicked his ass but the way she acted when she did it that has him spooked.”

I stifled a girly giggle, “True, she's my friend and she was so cold it scared me.”

Sarah jabbed me in the shoulder, “Wow Nat, coming from you that's saying something. You might have competition for the ice queen crown.”

I stuck my tongue out at her, “I'll have you know I'm very friendly... to certain people.”

“Who are all present and accounted for,”joked Jason.

“Very funny,” I deadpanned. “I gotta get to the shop and do the whole mother/daughter work and learn thing.” I looked at the envelope in my hand before adding, “And burn this.”

Christmas morning I was woken by Rick pounding on my door at five o'clock. “Come on Nat! Get up there's gifts to open!”

I groaned as I looked at the alarm clock. “Rick do you have any idea what fucking time it is?!”

Rick's answer was to open my door, “Come on Nat! It's tradition for me to come wake you early on Christmas, I've been doing it since we were kids.”

I sat up in bed, my over sized t-shirt threatening to fall off my shoulder as I glowered at him, “Looks like one of us still is a kid. And you should know better to come into a girl's room like that. What if I wasn't decent?”

“You're never decent,” he said with a goofy grin. “And what's with this admitting to being a girl? I thought you were still all 'I'm a guy' and stuff.”

I lifted my legs over the side of the bed, “Oh how droll, humor at five o'clock in the morning. Remind me to laugh when I wake up. As for the girl thing, well if the boobs fit... I may be a girl but I'll be one my way. Hasn't Mom said often enough that it's a woman's prerogative to change her mind?”

Despite my protests Rick dragged me out of my room and downstairs still clad in only the t-shirt and my panties. We got downstairs to find Mom and Dad already seated by the Christmas tree, Verbina on the arm of the sofa looking far more alert than should be legal at that time of the morning, and Dani flying around looking at all the presents. Rick pulled me over to the fireplace where there was a stocking hung with my name on it. “Oh come on! Aren't I a little old for a Christmas stocking?”

Mom smiled at me, “We thought that since it was Natalie's first Christmas a stocking was in order. I think you'll like what's inside.”

“Fine, I'll play along.” I shrugged and took the stocking before going to sit on the floor beside my mom in what was probably a very unladylike manner. Inside were some chocolates and other sweets as well as an envelope. I carefully opened the envelope and unfolded what looked like some sort of legal documents inside. I took a few minutes to look them over before asking, “Is this what I think it is?”

Dad nodded, “The adoption finally went through, you're officially our daughter now.”

I grinned, “Awesome! That means no more calling you Aunt Nora and Uncle Will. Keeping that up for the Norms and those that don't know about me was driving me crazy. I don't have to worry about calling you Mom and Dad anymore!” I gave them both a big hug before sitting back down and nibbling on a chocolate. Yes chocolate before breakfast, I am such a bad girl.

“Okay time for presents!” Rick said as he tossed one over to me, “Open mine first Nat. I had it made special for you.”

“Someone's in a chipper mood this morning,” I grumbled as I started to unwrap the bulky, soft package to reveal black cotton. Once the black cotton was shaken out it turned out to be a black hoodie. Emblazoned across the chest in cursive pink script were the words, I joined the dark side and all I got was this lousy hoodie. I rolled my eyes at him. “Oh very funny, asshole.” I had to try very hard not to crack a smile.

He grinned at me, “I thought you'd like it.”

“I opened yours, so you open mine now.” I said, trying to hide a smirk.

He opened the wrapping to reveal a small oriental looking box. Inside were a pair of metal jingling balls decorated with the yin yang symbol. “Are these...” he began to ask.

“Baoding balls or chinese medicine balls, they're supposed to help with dexterity and they're really relaxing. I thought you might like them. I also thought you could use a pair since Gwen has yours.” I stuck out my tongue at him.

“But I've never had a pair of...” he started and then he suddenly got my joke and grumbled, “Oh that's really funny coming from you Nat.”

The rest of the gifts were opened after that. I mostly got new clothes and a few new bras and such. Some were a bit girly but those were mostly from Dad, but he wasn't used to buying clothes for a teenaged girl who used to be a teenaged boy, and they weren't too bad. The bras Mom had got me because mine were starting to get a little too tight. They were simple white and black like I liked them, but they had a bit of lace. I didn't really care too much about that as hopefully nobody would be seeing me in my underthings any time soon and my tender growing breasts would appreciate them.

I had gotten a gift of sorts for both of my Pixie pals and presented them to them once all the other gifts had been opened. Verbina had been hard to shop for so I had tooled around in the workshop and made her a small Pixie-sized shield out of copper and leather to go with the sword she seemed to pull out of nowhere whenever she needed it. Dani had been a bit easier to figure out. I had gotten her some Pixie cartoon DVDs that I would keep in my room for her to watch when she wanted. Dani was like a kid on her first Christmas, which I guess she kinda was. Almost as excited about the pretty paper I had wrapped it in as the gift itself.

After presents had been opened I went into the kitchen to help Mom make us all a big breakfast. I had been learning to cook from her since we spent virtually all of my time together when I wasn't in school and I was getting pretty good at it. Home Economics had helped quite a bit with that too. So we were both happily puttering round in the kitchen when I happened to look outside and saw white. I rushed to the window almost forgetting the sausages I was frying, “Holy crap! Mom it's snowing!” We didn't get much snow on the island, mostly just rain. Whenever we did get snow it usually didn't stay long, a few days at the most.

The sputtering of grease on the griddle reminded me to keep an eye on the sausages. They were finished so I scooped them onto platter and started on a large batch of scrambled eggs while Mom continued working on the pancakes. Mom managed a peek outside. “Well what do you know, a white Christmas. I hope it stays long enough for you kids to get some enjoyment out of it.” I nodded in agreement as I added some milk and spices to the now beaten eggs and mixed them in. Then I poured the mixture on the griddle to cook.

Breakfast was delicious and I was kind of proud that I had done just as much work to make it as Mom did. As much as I might protest at times, as long as it wasn't overly girly I was actually really enjoying what Mom referred to as mother-daughter bonding time. Speaking of enjoying, Dani discovered that she loves pancakes smothered in maple syrup. Verbina seemed to like them a lot too. I gathered that I'd be making pancakes more often now.

After breakfast I changed into a pair of my new jeans, a new panty and bra set, and the hoodie Rick had gotten me. I had just started one of Dani's Pixie movies for her when my phone rang. Before I could even get a hello out I heard Sarah's voice screaming, “Snow! There's snow Nat!”

“I know! I know Sarah!” I replied copying her tone. “How about we see if Jason is up to going with us to Johnson's Hill? I wonder if he still has that toboggan.”

It turned out that Jason did still have the toboggan as well as a few crazy carpets from when we were kids. We'd had to look through their garage to find them, but it didn't take too long and soon were were loading them in the back of Jason's dad's truck. Johnson's Hill was on the edge of town close to Sorcha Bay where the cliffs overlooking the ocean had become merely a very steep hill. It was named after Edward Johnson. In the late eighteen hundreds he had led an attack against British seal hunters who had wished to use the island for hunting and as a base of operations. The attack had been launched from the hill that was named after him. A fact only known to the island's Unseen is that Johnson was a Selkie.

We spent the day sledding, building a snowman and having a snowball fight with Moriko, Erin, Jackie, Jenny and Max who had also shown up to enjoy the snow. Once we had had our fill of the snow we all headed over to Ground Zero for some hot chocolate. Meara O'Connor, the owner of the coffee shop, was a fiery lass from Ireland and didn't have any family on the island so she often stayed open during the holidays. Meara was in her early twenties and had come to Sena Island from Dublin a few years ago. Like Jackie and her O'Brien cousins Meara was a Selkie.

After chatting over hot chocolate we all said our goodbyes to Meara and split up to head home. I spent the rest of the day spending time with the family and laying on the couch with Dani and Vina while we watched movies. After dinner I got in some fighting and weapons practice with Rick before joining Mom in the workroom to start learning a new spell and to meditate and get more in tune with my body and my magic. Mom felt that one of the reasons I was having trouble controlling my magic and learning new spells was that I wasn't in tune with being a girl and a Witch yet. As a result meditation and self discovery was added to my daily routine.

During dinner on December 27th Mom and Rick were distracted. It wasn't like Rick to be so quiet, and Mom was only like that when she was trying to solve a problem. After I had cleaned off my plate I gave them both a long look. “Is something wrong? You two haven't said much of anything all night.”

Rick nodded, “Nat, do you remember my buddy Keith?”

How could I not, he and Rick were best friends when I was a kid, he and Gwen were always around. “Yeah, he's Gwen's cousin isn't he?” I asked.

Rick let out a long sigh, “Yep. He's off at University in Toronto. Usually he calls home every year on Christmas day. This year he didn't and Gwen and his family are starting to get worried. I'm worried too, it's not like him not to call home.”

I thought about it for a moment, “Is there any chance he just got caught up in something and forgot?”

Rick shook his head, “Not much unless that something has him away from home for days at a time. His family have tried calling, so has Gwen and her mom. Hell I've tried calling myself, but there's no answer. If he was going to be away he would have told Gwen, she chats with him fairly regularly online. There's been no sign of him online either. He hasn't logged into his instant messenger account and there's been no replies to email. We're all beginning to fear that something bad has happened.”

“Couldn't we use magic to find him?” I suggested.

Mom shrugged, “I and half the other Witches on the island started looking for him by magic today. I haven't heard anything from the others yet, but I've had no luck whatsoever.”

“Could it be you're too far away?” I asked.

“I don't think so,” mom replied, “But I suppose it's possible.”

“What if I tried the spell? The Glove amplifying it might help if it's a range issue.” I pulled up my sleeve to offer my Gloved hand.

Mom considered it for a moment before nodding. “It's worth a try. The spell isn't a difficult one, not too different from the tracking spell I taught you actually, and amplifying it could help.” She stood up and took my offered hand, “Let's go to the workroom, we have work to do.”

After an hour Mom felt I was ready for trying the spell. She had given me one of Keith's hairs that his mother had gotten from his baby book and had me tie it to a crystal pendulum on a length of cotton thread. After that I had spoken the words, while focusing on memories I had of Keith from my childhood. I kept my focus on finding Keith as I tried holding the pendulum over first a map of Toronto we had printed out and then a map of North America. There was no pulling feeling from either of them and the pendulum just hung like dead weight. “Nothing. I'm getting nothing Mom. I know I'm doing it right but it's like he doesn't exist.”

She nodded and sighed, “I was afraid of that, I got the same thing when I did it. Lena and Gwen are not going to like hearing this”

I was sitting on the sofa watching television with Verbina and Dandelion on the 29th and it was after midnight when the phone rang. Mom and Dad had already gone to bed and Rick was dozing in one of the chairs so I got up and answered it. “Hello.”

Gwen's voice was on the other end, "Hello. Natalie? Sorry to call this late.”

“It's okay Gwen,” I replied, “What's up? Any news on your cousin yet?”

Her voice had a tinge of excitement to it when she answered. “Yes, there's a... ummm... lead. I need to be at the airport in Vancouver tomorrow morning at seven to fly to Toronto. I was trying to call Rick to make sure he could fly me there but he seems to have his cellphone off or forgot to charge it again.”

I laughed at that, “He probably forgot to charge it. He's right here asleep in a chair. You want I should wake him for you?”

“Thanks Nat, I'd really appreciate it.” she answered.

“My pleasure Gwen, and I really hope you're able to find your cousin.” I put down the receiver and walked over to Rick, delivering a hard kick to his shin.

Rick almost jumped out of the seat, “Ow!! What the fuck was that for Nat!?”

“You forgot to charge your cellphone again dumb ass, Gwen's on the phone for you. She needs you to fly her to mainland in the morning.” I answered with a smile as he glared at me. Rick nodded and grunted something like a thank you as he got up and headed to the phone. Not wanting to eavesdrop I returned to the sofa, my Pixies, and a documentary on the life of the Canada Lynx in the wild.

It was after breakfast on New Years day and it was dreary out. At least the rain seems to be stopping, I thought, so maybe I can manage some fun with Jason and Sarah today. My thoughts were interrupted by my mom calling, “Natalie, Helen Roseberry is on the phone, she wants to talk to you.”

“Okay Mom, I'm coming,” I called out. I wondered what I could have possibly done recently to get a call from the Coven's High Councillor. Could it have something to do with why Mom had to leave for Coven business after midnight last night? Come to think of it that Coven business happened pretty close to the same time that Rick got back home from picking up Gwen. I shrugged and picked up the phone, “Hello Mrs. Roseberry, you wanted to speak with me?”

The woman on the other end sounded tired which wasn't surprising given how late that Coven business had lasted. Mom had gotten in late. “Hello Natalie,” she said. “I was wondering if you could do a little favor for me. Consider it Coven business if you like.”

“Umm, sure, what can I do to help you?” I answered, wondering just what I was getting myself into. Is it serious enough she needs me to call in a favor from Queen Titania?

“There's a new Unseen girl on the island around your age. I would like you to show her around town today and let people see you both if possible. She's new to being Unseen and may have some problems adjusting to her new situation, so she may need a friend. Gwen brought her back with her from Toronto and they were attacked from Hunters while there. So make sure she knows how to keep a low profile and stay out of trouble.”

“New to being Unseen?” I asked. “Is she some sort of Were? If that's the case asking one of the Were families would be better wouldn't it? Or is she a Witch and that's why you asked me?”

I heard her chuckle, “No she's not a Were dear. She's not a Witch either though she was born to a Witch family. She's a Vampire.”

I nearly dropped the phone. “A Vampire?! What if she like thinks I'm a snack or something?”

Another chuckle as she replied, “Gwen said they show a lot of restraint about feeding. They don't kill their meals and they make them forget what happened. They mostly try to blend in.”

“They? There's more than one?” I asked now a bit worried. Vampires gave me the willies.

“The only one you need to worry about is Kayla. The other one, her Maker, will be spending her time with Gwen. There was a third but Gwen said she perished in that fight with the Hunters. The other two and Gwen were lucky to get out of it alive. Gwen counted around twenty Hunters in all,” Mrs. Roseberry replied.

“They took out twenty Hunters?!” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Remind me not to get on their bad side.”

She laughed at that, “Vampires can be very formidable adversaries. I am glad these ones just want to blend in and seem to be willing to work with us.”

I nodded in agreement though she couldn't see it. “Yeah me too. Is it okay if I bring some friends along and make it a group outing? Meeting some other Unseen besides me might help.” And I'm not really sure I want to be spending the day alone with a Vampire, I thought.

“Of course,” was her answer. “Come over as soon as you're able, I'll let Kayla know you're coming.”

I hung up the phone and went to my room to get my cellphone and get Sarah and Jason in a conference call. Once they were both on the line I asked, “Jason do you think you can get your dad's truck today? And do you both think you can spend the day hanging out?”

Jason answered first, “I can try to get it, and I've got nothing to do today. I thought we were all going to hang out anyway. Just a sec, let me go ask Dad about getting the truck.”

Sarah answered while Jason was off talking to his Dad. “Sure Nat, my schedule is wide open today. You got something special planned?”

“You could say that. I'm doing a favor for Gwen's mom and I thought it would be better as a group,” I replied.

Jason jumped back into the conversation, “Dad says I can have the truck today. So what are we doing?”

“Cool,” I said grinning, “We're going to be showing a new Unseen girl around the island. Show her some of the sights, tell her some of the history from an Unseen point of view, and stuff like that. Maybe we can go for pizza or something too. She's supposedly around our age so I imagine she'll be going to school with us when it starts up again. I'm a bit nervous about meeting her and I thought a group outing would be more fun and make me a bit more relaxed.”

“Sounds like a good idea to me Nat, but why are you nervous about meeting her?” Sarah asked. “What kind of Unseen is she?”

I sighed, “I'm nervous because I've never met an Unseen like her before. We've never had one of her kind on the island before.”

“Oooooh!” Sarah squealed happily, “A type of Unseen we've never seen before?! Come on Nat, spill it, what is she?”

I groaned as I replied, “She's a Vampire.”

“Whoa, no way! A Vampi..” Jason started to say.

“Get out!”Sarah broke in, “Is she more like the Twilight Vampires or, Bram Stoker's Vampires?”

I sighed at her exuberance. “Sarah, please tell me you're not going to go all Vampire fangirl when we meet her. She's pretty new at being one from what I was told and she might be uncomfortable with it.”

Jason asked, “So why did she come here of all places? I would have thought the Coven would have been against having Vampires here. And I bet they're gonna hear about it from the Unseen Council tonight.”

I shrugged as I answered, “I have no clue. From what Mrs. Roseberry said, Gwen vouched for her and the other Vampire she came with. She said they try to blend in and they don't kill their meals. Can't say the same for Hunters though. She told me Gwen and the two Vampires along with a third took out twenty hunters.

“Holy shit!” Jason cursed, and I could hear his mom in the background telling him to watch his language. “Twenty? And they're going to be living here?”

“Awesome!” Sarah squealed again. “So she's more like the Blade type Vampire, kicking ass and taking names. I wonder if I could have a Vampire as my Warden? You know, since my first choice didn't pan out.”

“Hey!” I shouted, “I was supposed to be your Warden!”

“Well you can't be now can you? You're a Witch too, we'll both have to find Wardens. Maybe Jason could be yours?” She was teasing me now, mostly, and I knew it.

In answer I blew a raspberry at her over the phone, “Whatever, let's all get ready to meet this new girl. We can all meet at Jason's once we're ready.” We all hung up and I put on a grey hoodie, jeans, sneakers, a warm jacket and gloves. Then I headed down to the kitchen where Mom was baking some cookies and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I'm heading out Mom. Jason, Sarah and I are going to go to Mrs. Roseberry's house to pick up the new girl so we can show her around.”

I guess Mom was in on the secret because she nodded and joked, “Try to relax and have fun, I'm sure she won't bite.”

I groaned as Verbina and Dani flew up from the table where they'd been keeping Mom company while I was on the phone. “Ummm girls,” I said as they landed on my shoulders, “I know you both want to be able to protect me, but I don't know much about this girl yet. I certainly don't know if I can trust her. Just in case she might be able to somehow see you both I want you to keep your distance whenever I'm with her. At least until I know she can be trusted.”

Verbina nodded, “Yes Natalie, we'll watch the house while you are gone then. You should be safe enough if you stay in town or close to it. If you have need of us just use your magic and we will come find you.”

Dani nodded as well but she wasn't very happy about it.“I wanted to have some fun with you and your friends today.”

Mom came to the rescue, “Dani I thought you were going to help me finish these chocolate chip cookies. And since Natalie will be gone I'll need someone to taste them and make sure they turn out okay too.”

The yellow haired Pixie looked torn for a moment but gave in, “Okay. I'll help you, they do smell really good. I'll see if they taste as good as they smell.” I chuckled and gave both Pixies a very light hug. After all this time I still find hugging my Pixie friends a bit weird. They're so tiny I'm afraid to hurt them, especially their wings but they both liked the show of affection from me. With my goodbyes done I headed out the door and over to Jason's place.

Sarah had caught up with me on the way and when we got to Jason's he was already waiting in the truck. We both climbed in and once we were in our seat belts Jason put the truck in gear and headed into town. The town was quiet today but that was to be expected with the holiday. The weather was cold but at least it wasn't raining anymore, the sky was starting to clear up which made me wonder if this Vampire girl could go out in daylight. I suppose I'll find out soon enough, I thought as we pulled up in front of the doors at Roseberry Manor.