Chapter 328

Third Person POV (Eevee/Penny)

Returning to the place Penny considered home for the last several years felt nice. The farm was a comfortable place for her and despite the fact that she was only using him, she came to like her darling husband, Rick. He was rather good-looking and great in bed. Not to mention he loved her; or at least he thinks he loved her.

She touched the warm stone nearly burning a hole in her chest and she smiled at the sharp sensation. It was filled with so much power that she thought it might explode. She had been controlling Rick for quite a long time and she was pleased that the power still worked even after Lucias’ death. He showed her how to control others with this stone as well. All she needed was a small DNA sample of those she wanted to control and bathe it with the stone in warm salt water. It didn’t require another witch or any type of spell because there was already one placed on the spell.

It was so easy; a baby could do it.

She lied to Rick and told him that she was off visiting a sick reality on the other side of the world, but in reality, she was traveling around to each vampire tribe and witch coven and collecting DNA samples from each of the leaders. It was easy when Penny was a master of disguise and very good-looking.

They were practically putty in her hands; some were easier than others. But it didn’t require much to get a small DNA sample. She was gone before they could even blink.

But that wasn’t her only mission.

She sat in her room, opening a small chest that she kept secret. Inside of the check was a small black pouch, tied close with a white string. She placed the pouch in this chest this evening when she returned home. But she wanted to make sure nothing had changed; this was very important to her.

She undid the strings and opened the pouch. Inside were 4 glowing crystals of different colors. Red, for fire, blue, for water, white, for air, and green, for earth. She was only missing one…. Purple, for the spirit.

The last one was much closer to home than she thought and once she realized this…she came straight home.

….

Third Person POV (Ruby)

The one thing Ruby couldn’t stand was being left in the dark. She knew her best friend was in danger, but she couldn’t communicate with her. She loved her time at the vampire academy, she was learning so much and her instructors and trainers were amazing. They were much kinder than she thought they would be. She also liked that she got to see Joseph whenever she wanted because he was able to feed her information about what was going on in the outside world, not to mention he often gave her messages from Carter and Tessa.

Her heart ached at the thought of Carter. She missed him so much. Sure, she got to speak to him on the phone occasionally, but it wasn’t the same as being wrapped in his arms and kissing his handsome face.

They never even established their relationship. Right now, they were just friends who flirted with one another and held obvious interest. But until she graduated from this school and became a member of their tribe, they decided not to put a label on their relationship.

Lucy and Ruby were sitting in the student lounge, working on their homework when a groggy haze washed over Ruby. She knew it had to be a vision; her visions didn’t usually come to her like this. Typically, they came right before she was going to bed or if she was in her room. This was the first time it came to her in a public setting in front of other students.

She couldn’t control it.

She knew it had to be something incredibly important.

“Ruby?” She heard Lucy asking, worry etched in her tone. “Are you okay?”

Her voice sounded distant and soon faded away as darkness clouded Ruby’s vision.

The darkness didn’t last long though because soon she was standing in the middle of a bedroom, she didn’t find familiar. She looked around, frowning and then she froze when she saw a picture on the nightstand. It was a photo of Rick and Tessa. Tessa was only a child in this photo, and she had the biggest smile on her face.

It warmed Ruby’s heart to see it and she quickly realized she must have been in his bedroom.

The door of the room opened, and she gasped, jumping away, when she saw Penny entering. Of course, Penny had no idea Ruby was there. Nobody could see or hear Ruby in a vision but momentarily Ruby forgot about that fact and went to hide.

She paused though when Penny walked right through her and toward the nightstand.

She opened the drawer and pulled out a wooden chest. She also pulled a key out of her breast and unlocked the chest, only to grab a black pouch.

“I just need one more…” Penny breathed. “The purple one.”

When she opened the black pouch, Ruby noticed a faint glow that lit up Penny’s features and made her eyes sparkle with mischief.

A purple one? Ruby thought to herself. A Purple what?

She wondered if she was able to look inside of the pouch to see what Penny was looking at, but Penny closed it quickly when she heard footsteps outside of the bedroom door. She quickly locked the pouch back in the chest and put the chest away before turning her attention to the door, just in time for it to open and Rick stood before her.

“Penny?” He asked, his brows furrowed together. “What are you doing back so early?”

She smiled at him.

“I wanted to surprise you,” she said, a smile lighting up her face.

He frowned at her, looking uncertain.

“I’m glad you are here,” he finally said after a short pause.

She smiled wider and went to embrace him, but he quickly took a step back, his brows pinched together.

“I spoke to Tessa about you recently,” he said quickly, making her freeze in place. “She came by with Joseph and said some stuff about you. I wanted to ask you what she meant…”

Ruby watched as Penny wrapped her thin fingers around the necklace she wore and squeezed tightly.

“And you don’t believe a word she says,” Penny said simply; it wasn’t a question, but an order in the tone of a statement. “You know she’s lying to you. She’s trying to get in the way of what we have. But you love me more than anything… including your daughter. You will always take my side over hers and if she crosses you again or speaks ill of me, you will make sure she understands where you stand.”

Ruby watched as a dark flash crossed his eyes and she gasped, staggering backwards. Tessa’s father was under some kind of spell!

“Yes, of course,” Rick said, closing the distance between them, wrapping his arms firmly around her waist and pulling her into his body. “I love you so much, Penny.”

She smiled at that and kissed him deeply.

Ruby’s heart hammered against her chest. It was obvious that this moment was turning intimate rather fast. Just as they started to strip one another of their clothes, the Moon Goddess gave Ruby mercy and ended the vision.

Her eyes opened and she found herself on the ground in the middle of the student lounge with many eyes fixed on her face. The one eye she paid the most attention to was Lucy.

“Are you okay?” Lucy breathed. “Was it a vision? You had me scared.”

Ruby’s head ached from the tension of the vision, and she quickly sat up, taking a deep breath to steady her rapid heart beating.

“Yeah,” she murmured. “I’m okay…”

“Ruby?” Another voice sounded and she blinked a few times, realizing that the headmaster was walking in her direction.

One of the other new vampires must have retrieved him.

“Come with me,” he ordered, motioning for her to follow.

Lucy helped Ruby to her feet and gave her a small and reassuring smile.

“I’ll see you later,” Lucy said. “I’ll meet you in our dorm and you can tell me all about it.”

Ruby nodded and thanked her roommate, who had quickly become her friend since arriving at this school. She sheepishly followed the headmaster out of the lounge, ignoring all the wandering eyes that were focused on her retreating form.

“I didn’t mean to cause a scene,” Ruby finally said after a long while as they walked across the campus and toward the headmaster’s office.

The headmaster glanced down at her with no emotions on his face.

“It’s alright. I understand it can’t always be helped,” he stated simply. “You have a gift, and it must be used. But there is someone here who needs to speak with you.”

“Someone wishes to speak with me?” She asked, clearly confused.

He nodded but said nothing more.

They entered through the front door and passed by the other offices until they reached the back of the building and entered the headmaster’s office.

Standing in the middle of the room, tall and radiating with power was a gorgeous middle-aged woman. Her face was serene, and her dark blue eyes practically glowed in the illuminating lighting of the room. Her blond hair was long and silky; she had it pulled back in a low sleek pony. She wore a business suit and dark heels. Her arms were folded across her chest as she waited but when she saw Ruby, she dropped her arms to the side.

Ruby’s heart nearly crashed deep into her stomach and her mouth fell open.

This couldn’t be happening.

She wasn’t really here…. Was she?

Around her neck she noticed a necklace; It was a purple crystal with a golden casing, and it was practically glowing on her chest. Her eyes shot back up to meet his woman’s and her mouth had gone completely drawn.

“Hello, Ruby,” she said in a low tone.

In a shaky tone, Ruby finally spoke…

“Mom?”