Marshall Twins [2 - Twins Series]

6 - Beautiful Mistake

Book: Marshall Twins
Chapter 6
Word Count: 2556

The streets of the French Quarter were bustling as Avery walked down the sidewalk and left Davina a voicemail on her phone.

"Hey, Davina. It's me. I, um, am running a little late, I should be there soon." Just then, Avery glanced over at the nearby window and saw that a dark-haired man was standing nearby and following her slowly. Avery, looking tense, sighed. "On second thought, I'll be a little longer."

Avery continued walking down the street as she hung up her phone. She cut down an alley full of abandoned construction equipment, on alert for the imminent danger the man posed. Avery made it down to the end of the alley and turned left around the corner.

Moments later, the man following her finally turned down the alley the way she came and paused to try to sense where she went.

Just then, an empty can of paint rolled down the alley toward him, which he eventually stopped with his foot. He took a few more steps forward until Avery appeared behind him, looking annoyed.

"You're not very good at tailing, are you?"

The man, whose name was Shen Min, span at vampire speed to face her before then vamp-speeding behind her, sneering at her.

"My talents lie elsewhere."

Avery immediately span around to punch him in the face, but he dodged it easily, along with the kicks and punches that followed it. When she went to hit him again, Shen Min broke her arm, kicked her in the abdomen, and shoved her against the wall before grabbing her throat in a choke-hold.

She grabbed desperately at her throat, and just when he thought the fight was over, she shoved her palm into his face, distracting him enough to grab his hand and bite it hard, causing him to roar in pain. Avery pulled away, her vampire eyes and fangs out, and while Shen Min cradled his bitten hand, Avery kicked him away from her.

---

Marcel and Hayley has just met Avery at the vampires' fight gym at St. Anne's Church, where her stalker from earlier had been thoroughly tied to a chair with rope and was still unconscious as a result of the hybrid bite.

"You guys might remember him from that pretentious excuse for a party." Avery spoke. Marcel looked at the man for a moment.

"Shen Min. 800 years old. According to Tristan, he was a torture consultant for Genghis Khan."

"I don't care if he's a Gemini who likes long walks on the beach." Avery rolled her eyes. "Why was he following me?"

"I don't know." Marcel sighed.

"You don't know, or you're sworn to the code of silence?" Hayley spoke up, siding with her sister.

"Hey! Easy!" Marcel exclaimed defensively. "We're all on the same side here."

"Then prove it." Avery mumbled, annoyed. Marcel anxiously wiped at his face with his hands while he tried to think of his next move.

---

At St. Louis Cathedral, Freya was preparing to cast a spell while Elijah paced around the room and watched. She has dozens of white candles lit on the table around her while she poured drops of various colored potions and pinches of herbs into a small stone cauldron.

"Mikaelson blood tracks Mikaelson blood. I should be able to find Rebekah." Freya spoke anxiously. She looked at Elijah with concern as he took an athame and sliced his palm with it, dripping his blood into the cauldron. "I don't understand. Why bring her into it?"