the blood of her sire, whoever that is," I replied. I flicked my gaze to Elyssa. "It must be the Master, right? I mean, who else could it be? Unless Maximus has more than one elder vampire helping him."
Elyssa pulled a ring from her pocket, crowned with a tiny red gem. "Meghan made this to help. She charmed it with Felicia's blood so when we're within a few yards of her sire, it'll glow. The closer we are, the brighter the glow."
Nyte oohed. "A magic ring?"
She smiled. "Yep. Not much else to it, though."
"I wish I could do magic," Ash said, looking glum.
I stared at the ring, my mind wandering in a thousand different directions.
"You've got that look," Elyssa said, crossing her arms.
I turned to Nyte. "When is the orientation?"
He checked the time. "At midnight, a couple of hours from now."
"Please tell me you're not thinking what I think you're thinking," Elyssa said, a note of alarm in her voice.
"Your father won't even be ready to attack for a couple of days," I said. "By then, it might be too late for Felicia." I sighed. "It might be too late for me."
"We'll do whatever it takes," Ash said.
Nyte nodded. "No matter what, guys, we'll help."
"If I can help, I will," Katie said, giving Ash a concerned look.
I took Elyssa's hand. "Trust me, babe, I have a plan." My stomach, heaved. Apparently, it didn't think my plan was so great. I grinned to cover my nerves. "Where's a good Goth store?"
An hour later, I stood before a mirror, a man transformed. My eyes gleamed red. Fake fangs protruded beneath my lips. But the biggest difference was my hair. Elyssa's mom, whose day job was hair styling, cropped my hair close and bleached it blonde. By the time I put on the designer jeans and long-sleeve button-up shirt, I looked like a vampire who'd escaped a steamy romance novel.
"Your father doesn't like this plan one bit," Leia said, looking me over, and preening my eyelashes.
Elyssa took a towel and brushed something off my ear. "We don't have time to wait for him to be ready."
Leia looked at her daughter. "He promised not to get in your way, but he is sending a squad of his best people to go along."
"As long as he doesn't storm the castle," I said. "We don't need a bloodbath."
"Why do you think he hasn't gone in already?" Leia said. She took Elyssa's hands. "I'm not saying the plan is a bad one. Just be careful."
Elyssa offered her mother a smile. Nodded. "We will."
Her mother turned to me. "Bring my daughter back, Justin."
It was hard meeting her eyes, but I forced myself to do it. "Yes Ma'am."
Someone knocked on the door. Elyssa opened it. Adam Nosti stood outside, tablet in hand.
"I did some digging and found some background on Maximus and the Master." He stepped inside. Gave a nod to Leia. "Want to see?"
"Let's save it for the group," I said, motioning toward the door. "No sense in repeating it."
"You don't look half bad as a blonde," Elyssa said, running a hand through my short hair as we stepped into the hallway. "Will you be able to mask yourself from the vampires?"
"I did it the last time," I said. "Considering all the freaks after me, it's a matter of pure survival."
We made our way to the main hall where the rest of my so-called team waited. As my eyes wandered over the assembled crowd, I found it hard to believe how large the group had grown. Cinder sat isolated in a chair near the corner of the room, his gray eyes never leaving the motley crew. Katie also sat somewhat apart from the group, her uncertain eyes regarding Ash. She'd been through a lot. Seen a lot. And she'd killed. I knew from experience how bitter a pill that was to swallow.
I also wondered how deep her emotions ran for Ash. Had his change from gentle Goth nerd to vampire changed her feelings? No telling. Trying to understand women was like—well, like trying to understand something that's super hard to understand. But maybe things would work out. I spotted Ash where he stood next to Nyte, taking in the motley crew. But I also caught his furtive attempts to look at Katie, worry on his face.
Man, I knew the feeling.
I still felt the weight of my mental scars after seeing Brad Nichols and others die as a result of the vampling curse. I had also killed people. Some