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my muscles tensed.
    “Sorry,” she muttered, pulling her face away.
    I know a really quick way you can get warm.
    “If it involves me getting naked, forget it. You are such a pervert.”
    Can’t blame a guy for trying. Now let’s get moving so I can get you home.

     
     
     
    5 BEATEN PATH
     
    “Slow down,” Ash told me as she gripped me tight. “It’s just beyond this hill.”
    I could barely make it out in the dark, but I headed where she pointed me. The sooner she grabbed whatever she wanted, the quicker I could get her home and fed.
    What would she be hiding from me, I wondered. What would be more important than her being fed? She could hear these thoughts, but she never responded. I bounced down the hill and barely made out a clearing. What was so damn important that she had to come back here? I should have just dragged her ass home, then come back another day when she was stronger.
    There was a tapping of rain on the tent before I saw it. I stopped beside the shelter. Ash slid off my back and unzipped the tent. She looked back and forth, then stood and started franticly searching.
    What’s the matter? I asked.
    “Gone,” she whispered.
    I could feel her panic. Out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw something move behind a tree. I turned to look.
    What was that? I thought.
    “Abigail!” Ashley called out.
    Abigail? What? There’s someone out here with you? I turned toward Ash and a small shadow slipped out from behind a tree. It approached us cautiously.
    “I heard someone,” came a high feminine voice.
    My eyes adjusted and my nose picked up the new stale smell. I felt my jaw drop. The little girl looked at me with pale eyes blending with her white vampire skin. Her dark hair hung in a mess to her shoulders. For a brief second I thought I was looking at a shorter version of… Verloren. The girl’s image in the moonlight conjured an odd distant memory.
     
    I sat in the passenger seat of the Grand Prix and drummed the dash. It was late and the highway was deserted. The singer erupted with the song’s chorus; I mimicked him.
    In my peripheral vision, a solid white hand grabbed the radio knob and turned the volume down.
    “Hey!” I protested, glaring at Verloren.
    His green-black hair fluttered in the breeze from the open windows. His pale blue eyes reflected t he lights from the dash panel and a smirk played on his lips.
    “Who sings that song?” he asked.
    “From Atlantis.”
    “Let’s keep it that way.”
    “Fuck you; my singing isn’t that bad.”
    Verloren laughed. I turned the volume back up and continued to serenade him.
     
    As h flinched at my mental image. “It’s okay, Abigail,” she said, reaching to the child. “This is Jason. He’s a werewolf. Remember I told you about them.”
    The girl took Ash’s hand reluctantly, steering away from me. She clung to Ash, cowering into her side.
    Ash chuckled. “He’s not going to hurt you, Abby.”
    “I’m hungry,” the girl whispered. “I smell blood.” Then she turned her pale eyes on me and looked at my bandaged arm.
    “We’ll get you something soon,” Ash comforted her.
    Ash… where did you find her? She’s just a baby, I thought.
    “I’m not a baby. I’m eleven,” Abigail countered.
    Ash could let other people communicate through her mind, using it as a conference room for thoughts. When she did, it made her a hub for people to communicate wordlessly. Ash must have let the girl hear my thoughts.
    Don’t let her hear me , Ash. Block your thoughts from her.
    “I didn’t. She read your mind herself,” Ashley answered.
    How? I asked, dumbfounded.
    “Because I made her,” Ash said.
    I just stared at her in shock. You have some serious explaining to do.
     
    Promising to return soon, we left Abby in the tent. The rain died down to a mist and the moon lit our path.
    After we’d moved outside Abigail’s thought range, Ash turned to me and spoke: “I know what you’re thinking…”
    Ignoring formalities, I