Gulping, I take a tentative step forward at the same time Kael groans, tilting his head back as he leans away from his target. I watch every inch of him. The way his fingers clench at his sides, the way he cracks his neck with a relishing snicker, and the way his chest heaves with every breath he takes. Catching a glimpse of his side profile, I spot the familiar traits he displays when his vampire is at the forefront, taking control. His eyes are bleak and dangerous, his teeth are elongated and ready to feast.
I take a deep breath, shock threatening to floor me, but before I can take another step toward the madness, Kael steps to the right, revealing his victim, and my world stills.
“Dad.”
One word, one breath from my lungs, and everything stops. Four sets of eyes look my way.
A shadow fae.
A wolf.
A vampire.
A monster.
“What is she doing here?” Kael snarls, his attention darting to Thorne, who shrugs.
“I’m done fixing him for you to break him again,” he states, but my attention keeps drawing back to the man I thought I had outrun.
My back heats under his stare. His face is puffy and swollen from the beating he’s taken, but the stains on his dirty tank top are layered with new stains on top of old.
“What the hell?” I murmur, my heart racing so fast in my chest I’m certain I’m going to be sick. “How long has he been here?”
“Too long,” Thorne grunts, wiping a hand down his face, and my heart stills as I dare to acknowledge the truth that I already know.
The day I ran, the day I felt the familiar stone beneath my palms with the trailer park in the distance, is the same day Rion admitted we could leave The Vale. He told me exactly where they were going, but I was so caught up in my own mess that when I returned at the hands of Walker and the pair of them were already here, I chose to think nothing more of it.
How naïve of me.
“You did this. You brought him here.” I exhale,but the tightness in my muscles only grows more tense as I glance between Kael and Thorne, neither of them showing a hint of remorse.
My mind swirls, and my lips dry, when Thorne rakes his fingers through his hair and turns for the door, leaving without a single word or a backward glance.
He was happy to lead me to the truth, but he clearly isn’t willing to handle the consequences that come with it.
Before I can consider chasing him down or not, Rion shifts from wolf to man before my very eyes, rising to his full height, naked from head to toe.
“Petal, I need you to leave,” he murmurs, hands out wide at his sides, like he’s approaching a wild animal, but one glimpse at my father and his sinister sneer, and I’m unable to move.
All of the fear, all of the pain, all of the haunted nights come flooding back, each one at the hands of this man, and just when I’m sure I’m ready to break free of his spell, he returns.
“I knew she didn’t know,” he grunts, blood coating his teeth as he speaks and Rion takes another step toward me.
“We can explain,” he murmurs softly, eyes wide as he tries to make himself look as innocent as possible, but a predator can never disguisethemselves as the prey, especially not when his dick twitches with excitement.
Forcing myself to meet his hazel eyes, I clear my throat. “What is he doing here?”
Rion comes to a stop in front of me, but drops his hands to his sides as he speaks. “Paying.”
“For what?” My pulse quickens, my heart racing so fast I’m sure it’s going to burst from my chest while he raises an eyebrow at me.
“You know what.”
I gulp as my eyelids fall to half-mast. There’s the truth I wasn’t willing to acknowledge, but there’s no denying it now. I saw it in his eyes that first moment in the shower. I heard it in his voice when he growled to know who hurt me, and now here we are.
“Set me free, Elodie,” my father calls, but I force myself to ignore him as I glance between Rion and Kael. The latter remains at my father’s side, eyes dark and twisted as he watches my every move.
“So you’re torturing him,” I state, unsure of what it is I feel inside that actually makes me say it out loud.
