Chapter 2

Once she was behind the wheel of her Skyliner, which she parked in the alley behind the butcher shop, she headed for her apartment on Oak Drive. She wasn’t sure how much the elf knew about her, but she hoped Harry could keep him busy long enough so that she could grab some things out of her place to take with her. It was time to move. Again. She hated that, too. Brighton Cove had become a home to her in a quest to never settle down, never get involved with a community. However, after only two months, she already wanted to settle down, surrendering her centuries-long mantra of always being on the move.

She pulled into her driveway, shoved the car into park as she opened the door, already stepping out of the vehicle before even turning off the engine. She didn’t need much, a few clothes, some of her keepsakes she collected over the centuries, reminders of when she had grown too close to people. It was never a good thing, allowing herself to fall in love with people. It never ended well.

As she stepped up onto the front porch, she paused to glance up at the sky. The sun was setting, the gray of dusk swallowing the brightness of the day, her last day in Brighton Cove. Soon, she would be able to escape. She gripped the doorknob and entered her home for the last time.

“What are you doing home?” Steve pushed himself out of the recliner, throwing the newspaper on the table beside him as he did. “I thought you were working until nine tonight?”

“I have to leave. That infernal elf has found me again, and I can’t stay here. It’ll only be a matter of time before he discovers where I live and tries to send me back to the Nether. I’m not going back.” The sky outside the windows grew darker. She was almost safe if the elf appeared now. Almost.

“Okay,” he said, his voice hesitant, nervous. “What do you need me to pack? We can be out of here in ten minutes, and I can always have Mark close up the house, tell him we had a family emergency and needed to leave right away. He won’t question it.”

Her heart twisted in her chest. It never ended well for those she grew attached to, even when they knew her secret, knew what she was. It couldn’t end well. Not when she had to run. “Steve, I’m sorry. I…I can’t take you with me.”

He reached her, his hands gripping her arms, his eyes imploring. “Babe, there’s no reason I can’t go with you. It’s not like I don’t know what’s going on. I signed up for this when I fell in love with you.” He was smiling at her, trying his best to be reassuring and loving. “Now, just tell me what you need, and it’s yours.”

“Your blood.” Her tongue shot out, stabbing him with the barb at the tip, piercing his heart, making him scream out, as she started to suck the blood from his body. As she did, his flesh transformed, shifting into the hardened shell of a banana tree trunk, his body replaced with the foliage. It would look just like another statue, a replica of the person missing. No one would ever know it was actually Steve.

Once she was done, filled with the life force that was Steve’s blood, she eased the hardened shell of him to the floor. With a final look at the one she had grown to love, she caressed his forehead, a lone tear spilling from her eyes. It never ended well for those whom she loved.

There was no time. She needed to get away. Now. Before the elf arrived.

Racing through the house, she yanked a suitcase out of the hall closet, dragging it to the bedroom, and tossing it onto the bed. She started shoving clothes inside, heedless of care or even what was going into the suitcase. She grabbed a couple of small bags, backpacks, and grocery bags, and started stuffing them with keepsakes, jewelry, even her toiletries, anything she thought she had time to pack.

Grabbing the suitcase and one of the bags, she headed for the Skyliner outside, the adrenaline pumping through her as her nerves screamed at her. She shoved her way out the front door… Only to stop abruptly as she spotted the elf standing there. She dropped everything she was holding, the luggage hitting the porch and falling down the stairs, the sounds of ceramics breaking into dozens of pieces, just as it seemed her life did at that moment.

“Aswang, it is time for you to return to the Nether,” the elf said, his glamour gone now, no longer appearing as a man, but in full Warrior mode. “You have done enough harm to the humans.”

Giselle straightened her back, stiffening her resolve as she faced the pointy-eared menace. “I will not go back there. Never.”

The Warrior reached to his side and drew the Guardian Sword he wore, the bronze blade pulsing its bluish light, his countenance never changing. “If you do not return, then I have no choice but to kill you. Would you not rather live?”

The night wind blew across the porch. Steve’s life force filled her. She could feel the vibrating, his very essence sending energy through her body. She had at least made it until dark. She wouldn’t die. Not today. Not tonight. The elf must have known his timing was poor, so why did he confront her now, when her powers were their strongest? Afraid that she would get away from him again if he hesitated? “I am not going to die tonight, elf. Nor am I going back to the Nether.” She felt her body shifting, transforming. Her legs shriveled into talons, her arms shrinking to long feathered wings.

The elf screamed, raising his sword as he ran to her, ready to strike her down before she finished transforming.

Too late, he was. “Goodbye, elf,” were her last words as her mouth stretched into a beak and her legs pushed her up into the air. The wind of the sword sliced underneath, catching the talon on her right foot and severing the last two claws from her body. Yet, it didn’t stop her as, in her hawk guise, she beat her wings, lifting her high into the air and away from the elf below. She would start over. Again. There was no choice now. She had done it before. Could do it again. She’d be more careful. She would be more discrete. She could do it. She had to do it if she was to stay alive. She just needed to find somewhere safe to form a life.

And she needed to stay away from love. It only ended badly for those to whom she gave her heart.