A/N: I'm still working on editing the early chapters. The way it works out makes it so I have to post the edits for the first three chapters all at the same time because of something stupid I wrote/fixed in the first chapter. This chapter has feel more like the edits.

Odette woke the next morning refreshed and feeling much less embarrassed. Though the events of the last twenty-four hours were rather horrifying, the day was brilliant and markedly less prone to scorch. Odette stretched, reaching her hands up towards the ceiling. Deciding to leave Mark to his own devices, she went and ate a hearty breakfast. Odette looked at the stack of homework that she had to do, and abandoned it. It held no appeal to her today. She changed into a tank top and denim short-shorts. Normally she would wear more clothing, but she wanted to feel the grass on her legs.

Odette walked out of the back door barefoot, gardening gloves in hand. She inhaled the scent of warm dirt and sighed happily. She started in the vegetable and herb garden, ruthlessly ripping out the few weeds that had found their way through the spells about it. She checked each plant for fungus and disease, silently rehearsing their scientific names. She finished that garden and moved on to the flowerbeds. The work went by quickly, until she reached the orchids. Mark found her there at noon, cursing under her breath and talking to the flowers.

"Come on! It's nice, you've been getting enough water, and the heat spell cracked today. What's wrong? Dammit, has mommy been fertilizing you enough?" Odette's foot twitched when Mark's footsteps stopped. "No, Mark, I am not insane. The orchids are drooping."

Mark frowned. "You're an Earth Magus. Just fix them."

Odette looked at him like he was insane. "That would be artificial fertilizer, Marcus. We reserve our magic for client's flowers. What I'm doing here is a different kind of magic. I befriend the flowers; ask them to do as I wish. It's what hedge witches do."

Mark knelt beside Odette. "I thought Magi were supposed to eat a lot. You have not eaten for five hours."

Odette flushed and looked away. "Thank you for reminding me." She dropped her gardening tools and stood up, walking inside. Mark just watched her with appreciative gaze. Her legs were gorgeous.

Odette shook as she layered chocolate-hazelnut spread on her bread. This was the first rule of magic. She had learned it the first time she had manifested magic in front of her parents. A Magus must supply the energy used for their magic. If they do not, they are burned out.

'Burned out' was a euphemism for 'die of organ failure at an extremely early age'. That did not make Odette like the idea of eating food any better. But she had seen what happened to Magi that did not eat. It was incredibly unpleasant, both for the Magus and for those who were there. Worse, nothing could be done to help them. She drank a glass of strawberry flavored milk with the makeshift sandwich and went back out to the garden. Mark was whispering to the hibiscus, which made Odette smile.

Mark stiffened as her scent hit him. He had been prepared when he had walked out, but the overpowering scent of honey now could be, should be, his downfall. When she paused behind him with a sharp intake of breath, he thought that somehow she had noticed his uncomfortable posture, his darkened eyes. When she collapsed, he knew otherwise.

Mark was instantly at her side, sniffing discretely to make sure that Odette was uninjured and chemically balanced. All that registered to his senses was that blissful scent of honey and unspilt blood. His witch, his beautiful witch, smelled glorious. Odette was curled in a ball, her eyes clenched shut, and she was shaking from what Mark presumed was pain. "Odette?"

Odette's eyes flickered open, and she stared up at him in terror. "Th-they killed it."

Relief flooded Mark. So, it was her first time dealing with the Guardian instincts. The problem, whatever it was, had not killed a normal, or even a hominid abnormal. Odette had said 'it', which meant that the creature killed was something that she did not think about in the terms of gender. "Who killed what, Odette?"

Odette snapped out of the hold the magic had on her. She scrambled up, her expression changing to one of determined fury. "A werewolf that I can only assume is our bounty hunter just killed a cow up on the mountain. I have to go clean up the mess he made."

Odette stalked into the house for sandals, loudly rummaging around for about five minutes before she strode out the front door to the car in an austere manner. Mark met her by the passenger door. "I can't let you go out there alone."

The look in Odette's eyes made him pause. "Are you insinuating I cannot handle a werewolf without a vampire's protection?" Mark backed away, afraid of her venomous tone. If Odette had been using magic, he had no doubt he would no longer exist. Mark wondered what it was that had set him so off balance today.

"No no no no! That is most certainly not what I meant. I just thought that maybe you might . . ." He realized that Odette was not believing a word. "I was just a little worried. I have heard many stories about shapeshifters."

Odette fingered her crystal pendant, causing Mark to flinch. "You've heard more about Guardians. Now get in."

Mark was glad that Odette paid even more attention to the road when she was in a rage. If she had been one of those people who got distracted, she would have wreaked havoc. If Mark had still been mortal, he would have most definitely been in the market for tea. Chamomile tea. Just thinking of it soothed his nerves. Better, mint tea with honey for-

Mark halted his train of thought. That was a dangerous road to wander down, especially with an angry and highly sensitive Guardian sitting next to him. No honey for him. He reined in his thoughts, focusing instead on where Odette was taking him. The road was winding, and when they came to its end, Odette got out of the car and slammed the door.

"The farm is up ahead. I expect you not to wander." Odette's expression was still stony. She refused to look at Mark. He would distract her. Odette knew this in the depths of her heart. One day, she would fail her duty, and it would be because she had too much invested in the blindingly beautiful vampire. Odette shook her head. Now was the time to focus on the present, with all her senses. Odette sent out feelers with her magic, just to find that the culprit had fled. No matter, she could feel slight bits of his aura, especially around the kill. She would not miss him again.

Relaxing, Odette sighed. What was she going to do about the cow? It did not look like a boar attack, nor were there any other great hunters on the island, with the exception of hominids. Odette frowned, held her hands out in front of her, and whispered a few quick words. Now it would look like a wild boar had done this. She turned around, ready to go back to the car.

Mark's eyes were as dark as pitch. He took a shuddering breath. "I am sorry. I have not fed well in far too long." He had four ounces of blood the day before, but that was all he had fed upon in the last three weeks.

Odette leveled a glare at him. "Have fun pig hunting, then. I expect your eyes to look natural when you get home." Her honey scent confused him. He wanted nothing but to feed on her, but he could not. Even if he could, how would he live without that enticing scent for the rest of his undead life? No, it was better this way.