True Love Hunting

Chaper 26

Spencer dropped me off at the Barrett's after work, not letting me escape his jeep without a lingering kiss goodbye. I felt like I was on cloud 9. I had feelings I had never experienced before; I was giddy and had a swirling of excitement in my core when I thought about our discussion that morning.

I had been blushing at my thoughts almost the entire day, and my walk up to the Barrett's door was no exception. I needed to go up and speak with Aurora before I talked with Cassius; I had to get it out of my system before discussing serious things like visions. I also didn't want to hurt Cassius's feelings.

I knocked on the door and waited. Dragos answered and gave me his crooked smile, noticing my blush, which only made me go more red.

"Hmmm. What has you worked up, Sweet Cheeks? Thinking dirty thoughts about me again, are you?" I huffed in annoyance and rolled my eyes before pushing past him. He gave me a laugh, his eyes amused.

"Aurora in her room?"

"Her beau's, I believe." He was like that annoying brother, annoying as hell but endearing at the same time.

I gave him a smile saying, "Thanks." Before I headed up the stairs to search for my friend, I finally located her in Micah's room, and we escaped to hers to talk.

After motioning that I didn't want the vampires to hear, we snuck into her bathroom and turned the faucets on so I could whisper in her ear about my 'official' status with Spencer. She screamed in enthusiasm and hugged me while jumping up and down. For once, I joined in on her antics, and we both ended up laughing. We talked for a few more minutes before I headed downstairs, now calmer, to meet with Cassius.

"Nadya, it is good to see you," Cassius smiled at me as he took my two hands and held them in greeting. I smiled back.

"Thank you for being willing to help me."

"It is my pleasure. Come, let's go for a walk, shall we?" he suggested. I smiled and nodded at him. He released my hands and offered me his arm, surprising me, but I took it. The old-fashioned sentimentality was flattering.

He escorted me out of the house and into the gardens behind the manor. We walked in comfortable silence for a couple of minutes as we made our way around the gardens. At last, he led me over to a garden bench so we could sit and talk.

************

Cassius could hear the change in Lenny's mind. She was excited about something. Was it her show the following night that had her so excited? It tasted of excitement but also whimsy? It had to have something to do with Spencer. He had heard Aurora's excited scream upstairs. She sighed, and her mind returned to the pensive seriousness of the vision she had received. There was some anxiety about the vision as well.

"Relax, Nadya. We will get the vision figured out. Now take a deep breath and close your eyes. Think about what you can remember from the vision." Cassius brought his hands up to touch her head and closed his own eyes in concentration.

************

I did as he said. I felt his gentle touch on my temples as I thought back to my vision. It played in real-time in my mind, and I still missed all of the snapshots that were there. The vision started over again, but this time it was slow.

The first scene was of a hooded figure kneeling over wolf tracks, touching the ground with his fingers as he looked down at them. You couldn't see the face. The vision moved on to the next scene, which was of a knife blade flashing in the dark and a splatter of blood on a tree trunk, pulling a gasp from me. The scene changed to a partial view of a man's dead body hidden in the underbrush near an aspen grove. The last scene was of two wolves, one black with yellow eyes like my wolf and another grey one, running through the woods, searching and finding the body and howling.