This is the Seventh Part of Maggie’s Point of View of the latest scheme from Luna and Maggie.

If you’re trying to keep track, the first part was Newfound Depths by Luna,

The Second was Unusual Depths by Maggie.

The Third was Newfound Desires by Luna.

The Fourth was Unusual Desires by Maggie.

The fifth was Newfound Strength by Luna.

The sixth was Unusual Strength by Maggie.

The seventh was Newfound Determination by Luna.

The eighth was Unusual Determination by Maggie.

The ninth was Newfound Dangers by Luna.

The tenth was Unusual Dangers by Maggie.

The eleventh was Newfound Realities by Luna.

The twelfth was Unusual Realities by Maggie.

The thirteenth was Newfound Existence by Luna.

Now comes Unusual Existence from this corner…notice a theme? LOL.

Oh for anyone that is trying to catch up late in the game, all of the chapters can be found in the files section in the folder “Newfound and Unusual Series.”

My chapters can also be found on my website under “fiction” then “Unusual Series.” There is a bunch of background role-play stories that explain a lot of the past posted there too though I am still constantly updating it. The site is at: www.oocities.org/margaret_mary69 Oh there is a link to Luna’s sections from the Unusual Series as well as a link to her homepage from my Fiction page.

Disclaimer: Laurell K. Hamilton and the Berkley Publishing Group do not authorize this author. All characters that you recognize belong to Laurell K. Hamilton except for the ones created by the people in this group. This is solely for entertainment purposes.

Rating: PG-13 to be safe for some language

Thanks: To Luna for being an awesome beta, and great friend. I can’t wait to see you at Christmas!!! *hugs* Also thanks to anyone out there that takes the time to read my humble efforts. I appreciate it!

I hope you’re all enjoying reading this as much as we are writing it.

Hugs!
Maggie

Unusual Existence

Driving down back roads outside of town, I tried to decide which way to turn next. The problem was I just didn’t have that many options. My list of possible allies hadn’t gotten any longer while I was being held hostage by JC. If anything, it had gotten shorter. I quickly realized I didn’t have many friends in town, at least many that weren’t tied to Jean Claude. There was no way I wanted to endanger the few outside friends I had by involving them. Either they didn’t know about the darker side of my job, or if they did, they were trying to keep a low profile from the head bloodsucker themselves.

Looking ahead, I realized that my ambling trek had led me back near the entrance to Haven, my home. A few more seconds and I would be passing the driveway. Jean Claude had unfortunately just taught me that once again home did NOT mean safety. I started to cruise past our private road.

‘SHIT! This is my home.’ I turned the wheel sharply causing the car to briefly fish-tale as I swung into the drive. A blaring horn was my first hint that there was car behind me on the main road. I looked back to see the driver shake a fist at me before moving on. I really should have been paying more attention. What if I was being followed?

Driving down the private road, all I could hear was the wind blowing through the trees. Perhaps there was some wildlife scurrying in the woods, but they were keeping their distance. I wasn’t the only skittish one wandering blind in the wilderness it seemed. Rolling to a stop near the house, my VW was where I left it. That was good to know, not that I would take it now. Jean Claude’s crew might have put a tracking device on it in case they didn’t catch me that first night. I shook my head as I realized I was thinking more and more like Luna. Where WAS my crazy soul sister anyway?

Looking around I got out of the car and headed to the front door. I tried to be aware of everything around me so I wouldn’t be caught by surprise. Unfortunately that had me jumping at every branch swaying in the wind. Eventually, I took a deep breath and tried to block out my physical senses so my metaphysical ones might have a better shot.

It felt like my heart was racing so fast, it might beat it’s way out of my chest any minute. This was still tricky for me. I wanted to open myself up enough to know if there were any malicious souls around but not enough to attract any stray spirits in the area. Reaching out, I couldn’t sense any souls alive or undead in or near the house.

I quickly shut down my shields, hopefully before anything could notice me and headed up the stairs to the front door. Punching in the security code, I entered the house. I reactivated the alarm after I got inside. I don’t know why I did it. Jean Claude knew the code now. If things were desperate enough that I might need the few extra seconds it would take them to punch in the code, I was in deeper shit than I thought.

Walking through the quiet house, I could hear the clock ticking in the distance; the refrigerator hummed from the kitchen. My footsteps seemed obscenely loud in the empty house, but it was home. Just being here made me feel closer to my family and boosted my spirits.

I went upstairs to survey the damage from my capture. Nothing seemed out of place in the hallway. I walked into Luna’s room and found her Teddy sitting on the bureau near where I had no doubt dropped him when I was grabbed. Shaking my head, I thought Jean Claude’s lackeys were nothing if not thorough.

I picked Teddy up and hugged him to me. If I couldn’t have Luna with me at least I could have something that belonged to her close to me. Heading into the spare bedroom, I saw the candles had burned out, the circle otherwise much as I had left it when I ran out of the room several nights ago. Shrugging, I guessed that even JC’s people were reluctant to mess with unknown magic.

I still had no idea where Luna could be. Looking around the room, I tried to figure out where they could have been taping me from that night. I couldn’t see any obvious hiding places. Perhaps the tape itself would give some clue, assuming Noah had gotten it that was.

Noah, I didn’t know what to think about him at this point. He had been responsible for my initial capture. Granted he had been worried about me and had helped me escape eventually, but what the hell was he up to? Now that my anger was cooling, I had a bad feeling about leaving him behind to face a pissed off Master and Nimir-Raj to boot. Surely they would know I had help. Hell, this was getting me nowhere and I was wasting time. I needed to get the hell of dodge before it was too late.

I went across the hallway to Lija and my room. Opening the large closet, I moved clothes aside, moving toward the back corner of space. There was a hidden removable panel in the back wall. Feeling my hands along the smooth surface, I quickly found the button to release the panel. Reaching inside, I pulled out a dark zippered bank bag that held one of our emergency cash supplies in it. I wasn’t going to leave a paper trail for my pursuers. Grabbing a backpack, I stuffed the bag in the front pocket and threw some clothes into the pack before taking one look around and heading downstairs.

Sitting at the kitchen counter with a snack, I had time to think. I had money and I supplies but where the hell was I going to go? Any obvious place would be just as obvious to the bloodsucker and his crew. I couldn’t bring this fight to hospital much less my friends’ doorsteps. Where did that leave me?

I wanted to call Lija so bad I could taste it. I needed nothing more than to leave the world to deal with its own problems and run away to my lover. I wanted to call Liam or hell even Killian at this point and ask for them to arrange my flight to Ireland. Nothing sounded so good at that moment as the thought of being held in my Druid’s arms and having him tell me everything would be all right.

Closing my eyes, I felt I could almost touch Lija. I could smell the rich earth and taste the moisture in the air. It had been raining that day. Reaching out, I could smell that pure masculine scent I always associated with Lija. If I got a bit closer I would be able to run my fingers through his hair. My lover may be stuck in Ireland with his Master but that didn’t mean we were completely out of touch. What’s more, I knew that my druid trusted Killian and the Dublin master would help me if Lija asked.

A dark laugh ringing in my head was my first clue I wasn’t alone in my travels. Pulling back from Lija, I shut down that link and looked to see who was probing. It was Jean Claude of course. His voice was smooth velvet in my head but it made my skin crawl all the same. “Mademoiselle, what makes you think that the Master of Dublin would care to help you? I find it amazing that one so distrusting of vampires, even those she knows have taken care of her in the past would trust an unknown Master who could be playing his own game. Perhaps he encouraged his servant’s interest in you to undermine my position, divide your loyalties as it were. Perhaps, I should bring his interfering tactics up to the council. They might have something to say about your druid’s future. Where are you hiding little one?”

I could feel him trying to press for more information but he had just pushed too fucking far. Searching my mind, I found the doorway he had always used to reach me since the first time he rolled me. I threw a ball of metaphysical energy at him forcing him back out the way he had come. I heard him gasp in surprise right before I made a mental cave-in on that doorway to bar any future entry and shut my shields down tight. The French fop had just made a big mistake, possibly the last he would make if he pushed any further.

It must have been the mental distraction that kept me from hearing the back door open because I didn’t know I had company until I felt myself being pulled up into a tight hug and swung around in a circle.

“I found Maggie!” Joshua’s voice sounded horrendously loud in the silent kitchen.

I grimaced before finding enough air to tell him, “Down Joshie. I need to air.”

He set me down, but didn’t move immediately away. He nuzzled my cheek, sniffing and rubbing his hands along my arms. It was if he was afraid I would disappear if he let go. At the moment, I needed the reassurance possibly as much as he did so I let it go. Aries, James and Lydia came trudging through the door looking like they were ready to fight. I guessed I couldn’t blame them. Josh hadn’t said it was safe in here.

The other three leopards came over to make sure I was okay as well, though they weren’t quite as demonstrative in their concern as Josh was. Lydia did come over and give me a quick hug though she seemed a bit shy about doing it. They didn’t know me as well. Of all of Luna’s so called children that lived at Haven, Josh was the one that I knew best. He had sort of become like a kid brother to me, annoying at times but amusing to have around.

He was the first to notice my backpack sitting on the counter and asked “You going somewhere?”

I looked from it to them and thought about what Jean Claude had tried to do to me. I grinned at the foursome and shook my head. “No, I’ve had a change of plans but things are about to take a turn around here. Let’s go sit down and I’ll tell you all what’s going on. Then you can tell me where the hell you’ve been.”

Curled up in the entertainment room and a bit more comfortable now that I wasn’t alone, I told them my tale from the beginning, waking up to find Luna gone, the spell, the kidnapping. I think they were ready to go after JC then and there but I stopped them. We needed a better plan and I wasn’t going to give him home field advantage. If he wanted to fight, it was going to be on my terms. I found out that Luna had sent all the kids out on a two day training exercise the night she did her spell. She really had covered all her bases for making sure no one was there to stop her. If only she had planned the outcome as well as the execution, I sighed.

The rest of her ragtag crew was still out looking for her. Josh was going to stay with me in case there was any immediate trouble while the rest went to find the others and let them know what we were planning. I knew there were loyal to Luna. I didn’t expect them to follow me just because our relationship. I was going to leave it up to each of them whether they wanted to stand with me, or hide until the smoke cleared and Luna hopefully came home. It was their choice, but if they chose to stand with me, they needed to know this was my fight and I wasn’t going be kept out of it.

I picked up the phone to call Raven. I hated to get her involved any further but I needed advice on what to try next to contact Luna. She answered on the first ring, almost as if she had been expecting me. I quickly told her about my failed spell and all that had come after. “Raven, I know you don’t know me that well. I don’t expect you to get any further involved and risk the wrath of the Master of the City. Could you just suggest where I might look next for that portal spell you said I might have to try if this last one didn’t work?”

I heard her take a deep breath as if she was weighing her answer. “You’re planning on making your stand at Haven aren’t you?”

“Well, I… You really don’t need to get involved.”

“Give me directions. I’ve got my stuff packed up already. I’m coming to you.”