PROLOGUE
MERRY
I hadno idea what I was doing.
None.
Okay, so that's partially a lie.
I did know I was packing up my meager belongings and my computer. Then, I was getting the hell out of town.
Where to?
No clue.
I laughed to myself at the little mental rhyme and then shook my head in disgust. I'd been alone for so long that I was beginning to talk to myself, not just out loud, but in my own head. And not in the ordinary way that a person might talk to themselves silently.
No, I had to be amusing.
Or slightly creepy.
As I stuffed the last t-shirt in my suitcase, I glanced around the sterile studio apartment that had been my home for the last six months. There was little more than a bed in one corner, a kitchenette in the opposite corner, and a garage-sale sofa in front of a giant big screen TV from the 1990's that had to weigh a couple hundred pounds. I assumed the owners left it there because it was too heavy to move.
I'd already packed up my small supply of non-perishable food and eaten the last two bananas I had. My clothes and laptop were all ready to go.
The only thing missing was a destination.
But I had to leave. There was an instinctive part of me that was screaming I needed to run as fast and as far as possible. That someone, orsomething, was coming for me and I wanted no part of it.
Considering what had happened to me nearly a year ago, I wasn't going to question that instinct.
Being held hostage by an insane witch with a scary pet vampire that drank life force instead of blood had cured me of any skepticism when it came to sixth senses.
Magic existed. Evil existed.
And both had promised to return for me.
I sure as hell didn't want to be easily found when it did.
As I stared around the crappy apartment, it came to me.
Austin, Texas.
It was as if someone whispered those words in my ear, calling me to a safe haven.
Again, I didn't question the gut feeling that I should head in that direction. Logic had no power against the sort of magic I'd faced.
Seeing as Austin was several states from St. Louis, maybe it would make it even more difficult for Rhiannon to find me when she came back.
And I didn't doubt that she would return. Though she was a powerful witch, I'd dealt with women of her sort before. The kind that were cold inside, cunning, and cruel.
Somehow, they always got their way.
Probably because they didn't care who they destroyed on the path to success.
While I might not have the magic to fight her, she didn't have the technological know-how to track me, which was why she'd kidnapped me in the first place. She'd needed my computer skills.
I made sure to pack every item I owned and donated my single sheet set, blanket, and small collection of mismatched dishes. Every other piece of furniture, cabinetry, and even the walls, had been wiped down from top to bottom. Then, I intended to cleanse the room with burning sage just to be on the safe side.
A year ago, I would have scoffed at the idea of cleansing a room with smoldering dried herbs, but after watching Rhiannon do it on more than one occasion, I wasn't going to discount it any longer.
Once that was done, I would be on my way to Austin.
And, hopefully, to safety.
