Romeo
Vincent flashed across the clearing and even in my supernatural form, I did my best to track his movements. It was a futile effort at best. My powers may be stronger, but I was no match for my vampire’s speed. He’d assured me that my strength and resolve were the only things that had saved us from Floyd and his gang of werewolves, but I wasn’t so sure about any of that.
Sid had been instrumental in helping me come to terms with what and who I was. Finding out I was a magical creature had initially been a shock to my system, but I was learning a lot about myself as my vampire faced off with me in the open field. He may be able to flash across the clearing faster than my eyes could track, but in my unicorn form, there was no doubt I would never be in danger from any vampire, especially this one. He liked me just a little.
After we’d faced the Frederick pack and Floyd himself, and I’d soundly ended their plan to kill my vampire that night, Vincent had urged me to practice my magic. Floyd’s final warning in Vincent’s yard two weeks ago had been as clear as the night sky. He and his wolves weren’t finished with us. That had been a wakeup call to us both, but I acknowledged that I lacked Vincent’s experience. He’d survived over seven hundred years, no doubt facing foes just like Floyd and his pack, so I’d decided it would be best to do as he encouraged and learn about myself and my unicorn powers. We’d practiced every night since that fateful night in Vincent’s front yard.
I snorted out a massive laugh as he flashed up to me, stopping only inches from my muzzle with his fangs bared in a massive grin. Before I could catch him with whatever magic had allowed me to trap the much slower alpha werewolf, Vincent vanished in a blur to the far side of the clearing. I tossed my head, still getting accustomed to my rainbow mane as it flowed like silk around my long, muscled neck. In a flash, my vampire was back in front of me. I watched as he leapt into the air and vanished from my sight only to feel him straddle my back seconds later. He leaned down and hugged my neck, burying his face in my hair.
“You’re trying too hard,” he whispered, hot breath on my neck. “You can’t follow me with your eyes, love. Reach out with your magic like it’s just another sense. Focus on what you need it to do, and it will happen. You have it inside you, Romeo. Reach down and try to find it. It only takes a little training.” He kissed the side of my neck, his lips hovering over the thick vein that pulsed there for a few seconds before he was gone again. I tracked the blur of his movements to the far side of the clearing where he stopped once more. His chuckle was both annoying and encouraging.
He had to be right. I’d found my magic when I really needed to. I’d saved Vincent from being torn apart the way they’d done to poor Buck Walters. I had the magic inside me, but I needed to be able to call on it at all times, feel it pulsing inside me like other supernatural creatures did. Both Vincent and Sid had told me that they knew I was—as Vincent described—"special” when they first met me. Maybe I was trying too hard. I knew my vampire wanted only the best for me, so I did as he suggested.
Seeing him flash back and forth across the field, I focused on summoning my powers, trying to trap him the same way I had caught Floyd when he and his wolves had come to kill us. That time, I’d simply known on instinct what to do. I’d somehow sent out a blast of power that had grabbed the werewolf, lifted him off the ground with the force of a tornado, and set him down unharmed on the road a quarter mile away. After that, he hadn’t been back to bother us. Since that had been only two weeks ago, I expected we’d be seeing more of the werewolf and his pack once they’d had time to process.
“Use your powers, Romeo,” Vincent said, flashing up to me and snapping me out of my wandering thoughts. “You have to practice or you won’t be able to protect me or you.”
I really wished I could communicate with him telepathically. When we’d gone back into the house after bloodlessly dispersing Floyd and his pack, Vincent had explained some of what he knew of werewolf culture and powers. As far as he knew, when in wolf form, they communicated with each other using telepathy. I hadn’t been able to do that so far. I hadn’t asked but I’d almost wondered whether that had something to do with the fact that Vincent was technically dead. Since I couldn’t reply, I simply tossed my head and concentrated all my power on moving my lover the way I’d done with Floyd.
“I feel your power, Romeo. It’s an incredible force but it’s widely scattered. You need to focus it down into a single pinpoint to achieve what you want to do with it.”
I cocked my large unicorn head to the side as I narrowed my eyes at him.
He chuckled and lifted his arms, glancing up into the midnight-blue sky. “Look up, Romeo. Look at your light.”
I did as instructed and was shocked to see the clearing around us bathed in all shades of purple, everything from the palest lavender to the deepest violet. The air literally shimmered with energy, though, none of it was focused. Vincent was right. My power, if that’s what this was, had
