“Stop the car,” I said, spotting a sign for a pharmacy up ahead.

Vincent’s brows pulled together in the rearview mirror, scowling. “We’re not stopping until we get back to the coven.”

I tapped on his heavily muscled shoulder and gave him a honied smile in the rearview mirror. “Stop the damn car, asshole, or I’ll be pissing all over your fancy leather upholstery.”

Corry snickered.

“Real cute, Princess,” Vincent growled but pulled the car over into the pharmacy parking lot and cut the engine. “Make it quick. Don’t try running either, because I will find you.”

Scoffing, I slammed the car door behind me and went into the pharmacy.

A little bell sounded as the electronic door of the building slid open for me, causing me to jump. Seeing things on TV was different than actually experiencing things, so even though all this looked familiar, it still felt like I was on an alien planet.

Before I had left the house with Vincent, he’d allowed me to say goodbye to my mom even though she was still in a trance from his weird vampire hypnosis. It was a bitter goodbye because I was angry at her. So I hadn’t felt too bad for swiping her wallet from her dresser. Thankfully it had a handful of cash in it.

Walking to the hair care section, I found what I was looking for.

Bright red hair dye.

Mom never let me dye my hair. And it’s not like I had the luxury of the teenage rebellion phase because she kept me locked in my room.

I stared at the model on the box for a second, glaring at the beautiful woman on the front with cherry-red hair.

I knew exactly who I wanted to be, who I should be. But the bars and the locks and the fear of a nonexistent heart disease had kept me from being that person.

So today, I would be reborn. And it started with some dumb gesture because, hey, I knew it would make me feel better. Tonight was the start of a new life for me, one of freedom. And I’d mark the occasion with a new kick-ass hair color that my mother would have never allowed.

“That will be $16.98,” the cashier at the front counter said with an unenthused smile.

My gaze fell to the shelf behind her, and my curiosity piqued. “Can I also get a bottle of that?” I pointed to one of the bottom shelf vodkas.

Okay, so I didn’t want to be a stereotypical twenty-three-year-old buying cheap liquor when I definitely shouldn’t be getting drunk, not when I was in the company of strangers being taken to who the fuck knew where. But it was a night for firsts, and tonight I wanted to try booze.

The cashier asked for my ID, and I showed her my mom’s. Luckily it was an older picture where mom was a lot younger. We looked similar enough for the lady to hesitate.

“You don’t seem old enough to have been born in 1980.”

“Yeah, well, good genes.”

“Uh-huh…” The cashier’s line of sight shifted to someone in line behind me. Her eyes lit up, and her bored expression disintegrated instantly. “Hi! Can I help you?”

“Um, I was here first. Can I at least buy the—”

“I’ll get these things for her,” a familiar voice said behind me. “Also, this.”

Corry stepped up to the counter beside me, flashing the cashier a dimpled smile as he laid down a box, his ID and some cash.

“Oh um, sure!” she said, giving him a flirtatious smile as she rang him up. I rolled my eyes at her as she looked at his ID a little too long.

“Wow, you live in Provincetown? Do you know The Feral King?” she gushed.

“Yeah, I know him. We’re practically brothers.”

“No way!” She held the ID like it was Brad Pitt’s ID she had been handed and not some random guy’s from Provincetown. “You live at the old Knight Mansion? You live with him?”

“Okay,time to go,” I grumbled, snatching the plastic bag with the hair stuff and the vodka from the counter. “I’ll be in the bathroom.”

“Hey, wait up!” Corry left the girl behind, jogging behind me. “I bought the booze. At least share.”