Livy

"Well, this is not at all what I expected," Livy said.

Everyone but Hailey nodded their heads in awed agreement. Hailey just smirked and killed the engine. "I told you we leave him alone."

Van spun around to face the Slayer. "You said because he kept his nose clean. Not because he lives in a freaking gingerbread house."

Livy wrinkled her nose. The cottage looked as if someone had ripped it from the pages of a fairytale book. A stately Victorian home in spring green with cream-colored gingerbread trim sat nestled between snow dusted pines. Dozens of wind chimes clinked together, creating a cheerful melody. The higher notes were punctuated by lower creaking notes coming from the gently moving rocking chairs on the wrap around front porch.

"You know what else lived in a gingerbread house?" she asked the group with a sinking feeling in her gut. "A witch that ate children."

"Hector doesn't eat children." Hailey tilted her head and winced. "Anymore."

"So what now?" Bane asked. He pressed his face against the window and scanned the woods. "I thought getting to him would be more difficult."

Livy looked toward the front and caught Hailey chewing on her bottom lip, which immediately drew her thoughts back to the supply closet. Had that kiss really happened just hours ago? It felt like a lifetime already, and it didn't help that sitting next to Bane the entire car ride had muddied her feelings more. How could she want to kiss Hailey and Bane? Did that make her a terrible person?

She snapped out of it as Hailey started talking. "That does have me worried. I thought it had been a little while since the Slayers paid this place a visit, so I expected it to be crawling with vamps, but maybe I just missed it. It wasn't like I was high enough up yet to actually come with them during the Cleanses."

"Cleanses," Bane spit out.

Hailey whipped around in her seat, her blond hair swishing across her face and her blue eyes shining with held back tears. "I'm using the language they use, Bane, and slapping another word on it doesn't make it any prettier. I could call it the home visits if it would suit you, but that doesn't change the fact it was mass murder. Okay? So get the stick out of your ass and deal with it. That's the world I was born into. It's not the one I chose."

Livy and Van sucked in simultaneous breaths. There was no doubt Hailey's outburst was tied to past conversations, and it made her wonder what else the two had talked about. She'd assumed their time together was mostly physical, but two people not interested in more than a hookup did not have these types of discussions.

"Alright," Van jumped in, her hand on the door handle. "Let's table that one for later. We're wasting time. Let's just be grateful for the easy access to Hector. We can ask our questions and get out. There's four of us and one of him. We've got this."

"Famous last words," Bane muttered before jumping out of the car and flipping the collar of his jacket up as if to protect his face from the harsh winter air, but since he was a shifter and didn't experience the cold like humans, Livy figured it was to hide his scowl.

Hailey and Livy closed their doors softly and stood side by side for several seconds, looking over the house and the yard. Their shoulders were only a breath apart, close enough that Livy could feel the other girl's body heat, and she forced herself to remember this was not the time or place to ask her about the closet. She also made a mental note to rip Luca a new one when they got him back because this rescue mission was seriously interfering with everything else.

"This feels off to me," Hailey whispered.

"It's a vampire's lair. It's supposed to feel off."

"No." The blonde girl shook her head. "My Mom used to talk about Hector. She said he was always outside in his garden or sitting on the porch."

"Not exactly how the world pictures vampires," Livy said with a little laugh. She knew they could go out in the sun. Most didn't enjoy it much, but they could tolerate it.

"That's how they like it." She was quiet for a moment. "I think we need to approach carefully."

Livy hissed, and fur rippled over her arms. "Too late."

While they were talking, Van walked up the steps and twisted the doorknob, determination hardening her features. Bane, who had been investigating the perimeter, saw her at the same time as they did, and between one step and the next, he traded his human form for a sleek black panther. Lips pulled back in a snarl, he raced up the steps and reached her just as she pushed open the door, Livy and Hailey just a few steps behind but close enough to hear Van's gasp.

"Gabby."