“I wasn't to begin with, that other guy was, but when the council caught him, he decided to step aside, so that moved me to the top.You'll be mine, and your sister will be sold to the highest bidder.”Jake explained.
“You've become a flesh peddler as well as all the other bad things you've done?”Harry asked.
“How do you know of me?”He asked.
“I have some friends who are witches.Even though I'm not supposed to listen to them when they talk, I do.They dislike you a great deal.”Harry admitted.
“They don't know what they're talking about.I don't hurt anyone; I just make my money where I can.”Jake insisted.
Darren understood that she was trying to get some information, but maybe she should get out of there now with the ringleader and not worry about the rest.The wardens could figure things out.
“You're going to wish you had left me alone.The wardens will come after me, and then you'll cry.”Harry offered.
Jake began to laugh.“They'll never find you here, and your witches won't be any help either because this place is spelled, and you can't escape.Just accept that you belong to me now, and when you are old enough, we will mate.Take her to her room and guard her.”
Was that the problem?Harry couldn't get past the spell, and now she was stuck?At least it didn't look like they were leaving anytime soon, and maybe the wardens could get to her in time to save her.At least Jake thought she was a child and had no plans for her.Where did Harry know him from?Wherever it was, she didn't like him much and had no respect for him.Now she was sitting in a room with her TV on, apparently unable to escape or to deal with the big boss or any of his people.The good news was that Damon and his crew were headed to the resort where they would take those people prisoner so Harry could escape.
Even the best plans could go awry.It still might work out in the end, and that's all he could hope for.Maybe two hours later, he could hear a sharp rap on the door, and someone opened it.Now he heard screaming, and he could only hope that Damon and his team were taking down the bad guys and ensuring that Harry could get loose.He could see Harry's face in front of the camera now.
“Damon and Marissa are here and taking prisoners.I'll be with you in a second.”Harry announced just before she appeared in the dining room.
“Are you alright?”Flo asked.
“Yes, but I must have food,” Harry mentioned.
“We'll take care of you,” Liza said.Darren hadn’t noticed her coming into the room.
“Why didn't you escape?”Lottie asked.
“I wanted to be there to slow them down if they tried to get away.”Harry declared.
“Could you change back to yourself?It's a little unnerving having two Adeles running around.”Darren observed.Harry immediately changed back to herself.“You could escape, but you stayed?That makes no sense.”
“It was the only way to ensure that they would be captured, and they couldn't escape.He's a bad one, but he never became a flesh peddler before.”Harry said.
“Who is he?”Darren asked.
“I'm not sure how you would describe him.He puts people together to make deals, illegal deals.It's true that he's rich, and the wardens have never gone after him actively because he skirts a gray area where it's immoral but not illegal until now.I hope they lock him up and throw away the key.”Harry admitted.
“Will they?”Darren wondered.
“Probably not.He'll have a heavy fine, and now that they know who was after the girls, they will keep an eye on him.I think it's only because they hope to get another heavy fine out of him.Sometimes the council sucks.”Harry declared.
“You can say that again,” Darren observed.
“We’ll know in the next few days what the council intends to do with him,” Harry stated.
“We can only hope that they'll take some stricter action.Unfortunately, from what I've seen, all they will go after is money.”Darren admitted.
It was true, and the sad part was that Damon had done a lot to make the council better than it had been before.He was glad that he had not seen the council in the old days because it had been terrible.Many of the corrupt councilmen were gone, but not all, and some weren't corrupt, just afraid of losing their power.That is what made them vote for things that were wrong, just because they had been done before.It was still a good thing that they had found the leader in the attempts to abduct his daughters.Even if he wasn't put in prison, they would take some of the money out of his hands that he was using to do this, and they would keep a watchful eye on him.
There was no doubt that both of those things would improve his situation.The girls were learning self-defense and how to hide from a potential abductor.They also had artifacts that would help protect them, but only to a point.They were good to have, but the girls had been warned not to rely on them solely.
“I'd best be off because I have a case right now and it's a tough one,” Harry said as she popped the last bite of food in her mouth and flashed away.
Darren could not deny that he really liked Harry, even though she was kind of weird.She was good-hearted, and she tried to help people.As a witch, she had a lot of power and an ability that few others had, from what he had been told.Lottie said Harry was much stronger than she was, but Harry said that Lottie had a lot of potential and if she worked at it, she could be a strong witch too.Hard to say how he felt about that.
As far as his daughters’ safety was concerned, he would wait and see.He and Lottie had a supper appointment with Ariel.The girls would stay here with their mom and stepdad.They would talk to Ariel about a house, and if they liked one, they would bring the girls back to see what they thought.If asked, he was sure that the girls would say they'd prefer to go with them, but he thought it was safer if they stayed here.He wasn't sure what this appointment was for, and even though he hoped to discuss a possible house with her, he didn't know what she wanted to discuss here.
