Free Alix (The Coven's Grove Chronicles #1) by Virginia Hunter

death the way he had was beyond incredible. It was a miracle.
    Troy’s capacity to avoid an untimely demise wasn’t the only thing that had changed. His strength and stamina had been bolstered as well. Although those mutations seemed to become active depending on the particular situation at hand. At the moment he felt normal, functioned normally. But once under duress, his body would become an indestructible wrecking machine. Perhaps one day they would be able to discover what it was that Alix had done to him, what her full potential was, and what the future had in store for them. For now, they just needed to survive.
    “We need to talk about those things that were after us back in New York,” Troy said out of the blue.
    Alix stopped munching mid-chip. Sam picked up the remote, and reluctantly turned off the TV.
    Neither of the girls seemed in a mood to initiate, so Troy continued. “Do either of you know what they want?”
    “Other than looking for Alix, not a clue,” Sam replied. The poor girl looked beat, her tone only enforcing the fact. She slumped back against the headboard, and glanced at her friend.
    Alix finished her chip, and shook her head slowly. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like those guys before.” She shrugged her well-shaped shoulders. “I can only assume it has something to do with my power.”
    That’s what Troy was thinking as well. The only other “supernatural” being he’d seen outside the monster that had attached them, was Alix herself. To run into both anomalies in the same place at the same time, couldn’t have been a coincidence. He nodded. “Yeah, that makes sense, but why?”
    “And who the hell are they?!” Sam asked. Her tangled blonde hair whipping around, as she looked from Troy to Alix.
    “Guys, I wish I knew,” Alix blurted. “I wish I had some answers, but I’ve got nothing.” She held up her hands in surrender. “I mean, I don’t even know how they found me.”
    Sam gave Alix an accusing look. “Are you sure you didn’t accidently join the Legion of Doom or something? Cuz that one gorilla dude kinda looked like Grodd.”
    Alix snorted, and shook her head. “Shut up.”
    Troy appreciated the humor, but they needed some answers, or at least a plan. “Look, I’ve got some relatives down in Oklahoma. Maybe we head that way until we come up with a plan?”
    “Sounds good to me,” Sam replied.
    “We’re gonna need to get some cash,” Alix said. “I can pull my savings, if we stop by the bank.”
    Troy smiled. He had plenty of money for the trip, but if it made Alix feel better by sharing the load, he wasn’t going to argue. “Okay then. South we go.”
    “I need to do something first,” Alix stated, as she got off the bed. “We aren’t going out there without some kind of protection.”
     
     
     
    “Dude, this is awesome!” Sam said, as she looked over her new tattoos. “You should like, do this for a living or something.” Her sardonic smile widened.
    Alix rolled her eyes, and gave Sam a stern look. “I’m not sure what that will do as far as protection, so don’t run out in front of a car or anything. Okay?” She knew her friend wasn’t paying attention, and even if she was, she wouldn’t practice caution—it just wasn’t in the girl’s nature. Alix sighed, and examined the imprint herself.
    Similar to Alix’s tats, Sam’s took on a vine-like design that intertwined up her arms, and across her chest. The colors and type of vine were completely different though. Where Alix’s were purple, yellow and teal flowers, Sam’s were rusty thorns and needles, with bright crimson roses. The imprint continued over her shoulders, and all the way down her back, ending at the slope of her butt. All-in-all, the design looked complete. Alix just hoped it would help Sam if they got attacked again.
    “No wonder you always had the cleanest tats,” Sam said, as she put her bra back on. “Damn cheater.”
    “Hey, I did a lot of those by