on what was happening all around me. He marched back to his horse and pulled himself back into the saddle, but he looked tired, just from the way his body moved. I wondered how hard it was to sleep for centuries and wake up like nothing had happened.
What had changed for him?
It was a question I couldn’t answer, but watching him gave me hope. If we could figure out how to end him, then I felt like it might just be achievable. Now I just had to figure out how to let the others know what I’d just seen, if it was even possible.
22
Mae
We were flying down highways, going faster than I’d ever gone in my life. My mind boggled at the speed. I thought the only time I’d ever felt anything close was on the back of Ellis’ bike, and even that wasn’t as fast as we were moving now.
“Where are we going?” I asked after listening to Alastair give Hunter directions for a while. We’d been on the road most of the day, first getting to Rumpelstiltskin’s place, then getting out of that godsforsaken city that felt like death clung to the very air and heading toward…something.
“We’re heading toward the cursed ground from the Battle of Bloodshed,” Alastair said grimly, his mouth flattened into a thin line as he stared down at the old parchment in his hands.
“What’s the Battle of Bloodshed?”
“It was one of the first battles of supernaturals on American soil. Vampires, shifters, witches, fae, everything and everyone got involved. It was how the first supernatural council came to be. The field has been rumored to be cursed, due to the amount of supernatural blood spilled on it and the bodies that were left on the field to rot. With the blood combined with the magic that was used during the fight, there was nothing that could be done to save the land. Much like what I understand the ground directly around the building of WhisperWinds is like, nothing will grow. Some say a few brave supes have tried to build homesteads there, since it would be a lovely plot of land, but they all went mad and killed one another within a few weeks.” Alastair recited the information as though he’d memorized it earlier, and maybe he had.
“What makes you think that the head is there though?” I asked, still not fitting all the puzzle pieces together.
“There was a side note in one of the books I found that said a god lost his head on the field,” Alastair replied before going back to studying the map and trying to line it up with anything that would give us a present-day reference.
“That’s it?”
“Do you have anything better to go on?” Alastair asked as he looked over at me, raising one eyebrow.
“No, I’m just surprised, that’s all.”
“I figure it’s best to chase down the best and only lead we really have. If it doesn’t pan out, then we can go back to researching, but I don’t want to waste time. Time costs lives, as you know.” This new Alastair was more serious and aggressive, and while I missed the jovial side to him, the assertiveness that had taken its place was undeniably sexy.
“You raise a good point, sir,” I said, my eyes locked on to Alastair, watching his reaction.
The same as when I called him sir earlier, he gave me a sharp look, but there was some heat behind it. Was Alastair a little kinky? I couldn’t say for sure, but my curiosity was certainly piqued. He watched me for a moment over the top rim of the glasses he’d been using while on his laptop, and the effect it had on me was surprising. The heat in his gaze seemed to spark my own, and suddenly, there was a sizzling tension between us.
It felt like he wanted to scold me for calling him sir, but also reward me for it. He was a very confusing man, one I couldn’t wait to unravel, if he would let me. Finally, he looked back down, and I felt like I’d just been standing in the sun and now a cloud was passing overhead. It wasn’t that I didn’t feel this way with the other guys, but I never had with Alastair before, and it gave me butterflies.
“Most people don’t remember the Battle of Bloodshed,” Ellis said from next to me.
I turned to face my unicorn so I was looking at him as I asked, “How long ago was