Leaning toward the mirror, I checked out my stubble. I'd never grown it out this far, but it was looking pretty good, not that anyone here cared what I look like. I guess it was practice for when we graduate, and I could get the hell out of this town.

Finishing up, I realized the house was way too quiet. Jolie should've wanted the bathroom, so she was either running really late or unusually early. I was betting on late since she was outside with Ash last night.

Knocking on her door, I wasn't surprised she didn't answer. She probably still had her head under her pillow. I yelled, "Wake up! Time to go!"

When she still didn't answer, I let myself in and found her room empty; weird. I called down the stairs, no answer. I checked, and her book bag and shoes were gone. She must have gone to school early to catch up on everything she missed.

It wasn't like her to leave me. Looking out the window, I saw our car was still there. Maybe she and Ash decided to walk together? They must have fixed whatever was going on last night. That was good, and as a bonus for me, I could get to school without running late.

Pulling into the lot, I was surprised to see Ash standing there in his usual spot, by himself. Where was Jolie?

As soon as I got out of the car, Ash was in front of me, "Good morning. Why isn't Jolie with you?"

"That's what I was going to say. I thought she was with you." Why does he look worried?

"Why would she be with me? You come together every morning, in this car."

"I know that. When I got up, and she was already gone, I figured you guys decided to walk in together when you talked last night."

He turned to me in surprise, "What do you mean when we talked last night? On the phone?"

"Umm, no. After she met you outside on the porch." Why is he freaked out?

"She never came outside; I waited over an hour. I thought she changed her mind and didn't want to talk to me."

If she wasn't home, and she wasn't with him, where could she be? "She went outside. I saw her heading down the stairs. She was going to talk to you."

He looked at me with big eyes like this was all news to him, but I saw her going out there. Why would he lie?

"She looked upset. Were you guys arguing? What the hell happened?"

I couldn't imagine him doing anything to her, but then where was she? Why was he trying to deny seeing her?

That kind of stuff was on the news all the time; a girl goes missing, and it ends up being the boyfriend or husband. Everyone they interview says he seemed like such a nice guy.

Even if he was mad, I don't think that could happen to Jo. Ash is pretty big, but he wouldn't be standing here without a scratch on him.

Looking at me through slitted eyes he said, "Calm down Mark, I don't know where she is. I'm telling you the truth. I never saw her last night, we only spoke on the phone. We need to find her."

"You're trying to tell me, I saw her going out to meet you, you never saw her, and now she's just missing? I don't believe that." I took a step closer to him, "I need you to come up with something more believable."

Ash looked up in surprise, but he wasn't looking at me; he was looking behind me when he said, "What are you doing here?"

I turned and saw the most striking man I'd ever seen in my life walking toward us. Holy hell, he was beautiful. Tall, with wide shoulders and long jet black hair that lay in messy, windblown waves.

His eyes were the brightest blue, and when he turned them on me, he smirked. It's possible my mouth was hanging open. I tried to shut it, but my brain had stopped working.

When he spoke, his voice was rough and raspy in a way that made him even hotter. "It looks like I'm just in time to watch you get your ass kicked by this guy," he pointed his thumb toward me, and I was snapped back into reality.

Ash faced the newcomer, "Jolie never came out to see me last night, and she wasn't home this morning." He tilted his head toward me, "Mark seems to think I've done something to her because he saw her going outside to meet me. We're obviously not going to fight."

He was pissing me off with his bland recap of events. "It's not so obvious to me. I still haven't heard anything that makes me think you're telling the truth."

His friend grinned, "Hi, I'm Tate." Turning to Ash he said, "I like him, he's spunky."

I was really getting angry. Spunky? Was he freaking kidding me?

Ash sighed, "Tate, you're not helping things. Why are you here?"

Tate pulled a rolled-up paper from his back pocket and handed it to Ash, "This came for you. I thought it could be important since it's her first correspondence. Now, I'm wondering if this timing is a coincidence; read it." He waved his hand at me, "You can go on to school."

Hot or not, I was going to lose it on this jerk. "Excuse me? I don't know where my friend is. Ash is looking real damn suspicious to me, and you think some mail is important enough to make me go away?"

Besides slightly raising his eyebrows, he was showing a total lack of concern that was about to push me over the edge. Before I could say anything else, my thoughts were interrupted by Ash sucking in a deep breath like he was in pain. He was gaping at his mail like it was destroying him.

Tate put his hand on his shoulder, "What did she say?"

Ash fell back against the car as though he couldn't hold himself up anymore. "She has her; she wants me to come home now."

"Has who? Jolie? What the hell are you talking about?" I felt like I might throw up. Ash handed me the paper; Tate didn't look happy about me having it.

Ash was bent over with his head in his hands, "I have to get her back."

They started a quick mumbled conversation; it sounded like they were talking about traveling. I unrolled the weird paper, it felt rough and the ink was a weird reddish-brown, like rust.

My Dream Walker,

    It has been brought to my attention that you are becoming too comfortable in the human world. It's time for you to come home. Hurry, I have a gift. As much as I despise these things, I suppose you could keep your pet if you can continue to prove yourself useful to me.

That was it. I read it twice and still had no idea what was going on. "What is this? Who is it from? It's not even signed. What does it have to do with Jolie?"

Ash didn't look like he was capable of answering, so Tate did, "Don't worry, we'll go get her and bring her back. You go about your day like normal."

Again, he waved his hand toward the school to dismiss me, and again I thought I might punch his handsome face.

Ash lifted his head, "Stop. Please, there's no time for this. She's already been gone since last night. What must she be thinking? What has Crystal done to her?"

Tate let out a huff that wasn't quite a laugh, "So it's just Crystal now?"

Ash looked outraged, "I'm done. Any loyalty I felt toward her is gone. She's not my Queen. If she's hurt Jolie, she won't be anyone's Queen much longer."

Tate looked thrilled, "Finally, a fight I can get behind." He patted Ash on the back. Sobering, he looked down, "You should know, this letter appears to be written in blood."

Ash's eyes widened, but Tate went on before either of us could say anything. "It's not a long letter; it could just be a finger prick, she does that, she's dramatic," he rolled his eyes.

"Who the hell writes letters in blood?"

They both glanced at me, but neither answered. They just walked off toward the woods.

"Umm, hello, assholes. Do you want to tell me what's going on now, or do you want to wait until the police get here? Because I'm about two seconds from calling them."

They both stopped and turned to face me. Tate opened his mouth, but Ash spoke before him, "Come on, we're going to get her. We'll explain everything at our house. It's only a few minutes from here."

"Sure, that would be smart of me," I said with as much sarcasm as possible. "You two sound like you're on drugs, talking about a Queen writing letters in blood. No thanks, you can tell me here now."

Tate laughed, "I really do like him. He's funny. Why haven't you brought him to the house?"

Ash let out a deep, frustrated breath, "That's it." Looking at Tate, he said, "Once we're out of sight, run. I've got him; you get his bag."

What the hell was that supposed to mean? I didn't have to wonder long. Faster than it seemed possible, Ash was next to me, one hand on my back pushing me toward the trees.

"What are you doing?"

He didn't answer. As soon as we were in the tree line, he took his hand off my back. Turning toward him, I said, "If you think I'm going to run somewhere with you guys, you're crazy."

Ash shook his head, "You wouldn't be able to keep up."

He leaned forward, and before I knew what was happening, I was thrown over his shoulder. He held my legs against his chest, my head was dangling at his back, and he ran.

He was so fast that the wind blowing past me was almost enough to lift me, and the ground was a blur.