Chapter 29

Raymond Deslairs lay on his bed in the tiny room he managed to rent at the last minute, he was still tingling, and he had to get rid of the clothes he was wearing. They smelled like burnt hair.

He was livid. How dare they do this to him now; he is so close he needed her blood, the fact that she was so heavily protected meant to him that she was indeed the one he was seeking.

Imagining the look on his client's faces when they learn there will be no more Elixir, he didn't want to go there. Instead, he thought about how much they will pay for the new Elixir.

Money was at the center of his life. It always had been even before he was turned; just because you're a vampire doesn't mean that you are suddenly rich and powerful. He was always poor, and he was tired of it, tired of working for other vampires.

He had thought about trying the Elixir himself to see but being a Vampire meant he didn't have to worry about getting old and ugly.

He could never understand why the shifters wanted it. True, they were not immortal, but they didn't age all that much either and lived a lot longer. They don't age all that much, not even at the older stages of their lives.

It wasn't for him to understand; they can do whatever they like as long as they keep paying his prices.

He did occasionally wonder about the side effects of the Elixir. To be honest, he didn't care enough to look into it; he didn't have to suffer, so why bother.

He was thinking of how unhappy he was about what Blane had done. Now he knew that Blane was a few fries short of a happy meal, so he shouldn't have been that surprised. He was just pissed at himself for getting too complacent with the psyco.

Deciding finally that he would sleep off the effects of the shield, he finally calmed down, and while planning his next moves, he drifted off to sleep.

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Daisy was dreaming. She remembered falling asleep on the couch, and she was aware that she was walking through a field of For-get-me-nots on a bright blue sky day.

In the distance, she could see another. They were too far away to tell who they were; she knew anyway, it was her Mother Clara.

She did not know how but her mother was in the distance one second and standing in front of her in the next.

She was young and beautiful, giving Daisy a brilliant smile. She could tell that smile was full of love and pride for her.

"Hello, my lovely daughter, it has been a long time I have longed to call you that. I wanted so much for you to call me Mom, but I knew that could never be till now."

"Mom? Is this real or just a dream?"

"It is both, my sweetie; it is both."

"There is no time to waste my daughter, a great evil has come, and you are needed to help stop it; you are the center stone of it all. Without you, they will fail."

Daisy didn't say anything. She was too happy to see her mother again.

"I will tell you all that you need to know and show you how it has to be done. You will need your handsome mate to help you. You have to have an iron will and not bend nor give in. I wish I could be there for you, but I have to wait now."

She touched Daisy's forehead, and she felt warm and loved all over. She saw flashes of images of her childhood and the good they had shared, and all the knowledge of the purebloods came to her and everything that she must do.

Daisy looked around her, and the flowers were fading, and the day was gone. It was now night; there were stars all around them. It was as if the ground was gone, and it was all the stars.

"It is time for me to go now, my Daughter, you can not stay here, nor can I go with you, go now and do your duty and have a happy and wonderful life with your mate and lots of grandbabies."

Daisy reached for her mother, and they held each other. She could smell her perfume and feel her warmth again; it was the most comforting feeling of coming home anyone could ever experience.

She started to cry while her mother held her in her arms one last time as Daisy pulled out of the hug to look at her mother.

Her mother was fading into the starlight...

"I will always love you, my beautiful Daughter. Never forget that."

As Daisy reached out to her to touch her one last time, she had faded entirely into the starlight.

When she woke up with tears running down her cheeks, she realized that the sadness and grief inside her felt less heavy, and she knew that her mother had healed her and guided her one last time.

She smiled at the memory, knowing that perhaps the dream would fade away from her mind, but the feeling in her heart was there forever.

Looking up and blowing a kiss into the air, she whispered, "I love you too."

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A man can take only so much, and Sheriff Brad Thompson was at his breaking point. Not only were five of his citizens now dead at the hands of a Serial Killer, now he has to drop the case and move on.

Sometimes being friends with David Whitmore was like being on good terms with a feral dog. Now he is off at the Lucas Mansion doing what he didn't know.

He said it was for the whole planet and that Brad was keeping all the townspeople as far away as possible and locking up the town.

He did as David asked, but this time David was not leaving till he was given a full explanation of what was going on over there. He understood the shifter world, or as he always put it, the other side of the woods.

He never asked questions most of the time, but something seriously wrong was going on, and he wanted the answers to all his questions this time.

Just as he was about to leave for the night, his phone went off; he looked at the caller ID. It was David. He answered it quickly.

"Sheriff Brad Thompson, how may I help you?"

"Very, funny asshole. Got a minute? I would like you to come over to the mansion. I have some quick explaining and a favor to ask of you."

"Fine, I will be there in five."

He got into his truck and was off down to mirror lake and the Lucas Mansion; well, he wanted to know, now he would get his wish.

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Everyone was looking at David, Micheal Devore, Nicolas Lucas, Jack Dawson, Sam, Fleur Tolver, Marco Andrews, Chief Stormwalker, Dancinglight, and NightSinger.

"Well, David, is he coming?"

"Yeah, he is coming, Jack, but I don't think he is going to be happy to learn what is going on here."

"Ok, now is the hard part. Who is going to tell Noah that we need his mate here too?"

"I will do that." Micheal volunteered.

With that, Micheal shimmered and was gone to do his duty; he didn't like it, no one did, and Noah was going to be pissed.

The only safe way to do this was if Micheal transported her and Noah with him back to the mansion.

Since they had an intruder, Micheal knew it had to be Raymond trying to gain his prized blood donor.

He reappeared on their front doorstep, he could have just gone into the house, but he didn't want to interrupt them by barging in on them. He didn't want to see his daughter doing anything with her mate.

Before he could knock on the door, Noah had opened the door; when he realized that it was Micheal, he let out a sigh. He stepped aside to let him in.

Micheal noticed that Noah was on high alert; this was going to be more complicated than he thought; not only was he going to have to reason with the man but the Tiger. He wasn't sure he wanted to do that dance.

Tigers can be unpredictable, especially when they feel their mate might be in danger; they can be unreasonable and quickly become deadly vicious.

They didn't have any time for this; he would have to be as quick and precise as possible, or this would go south fast.

"Noah, you are not going to like this, but there is nothing else that can be done; we need Daisy to help us destroy the Wendigo."

"No"

"I am sorry, but there is no other way. She has to be part of the circle, and you will have to come with her to ground her to this plane of existence."

"No"

"Noah, please understand."

"I understand just fine, Mr. Deveroe, and the answer is still NO."

Just then, Daisy came into the room. She was dressed to leave, with a look of determination that was not to be messed with; at that moment, Noah knew he had lost, and they had to go.

Raja was pissed; he started to growl low in Noah's throat.

Daisy walked up to them and placed her hand on Noah's chest, and Raja calmed down some. The matter settled. They were ready as they grabbed Micheals's hands, and in an instant, they were standing in the foyer of the Mansion.

Just as Sheriff Brad Thompson came through the front door, a low rumble could be heard coming from the room where the cocoon was, along with a high-pitched whistling sound like a teapot only louder. Their time had just run out.