Running out of wall, I launched myself toward Henry, but tripped over my own feet, my legs suddenly going numb, and landed sprawled out on Dottie’s Persian rug. I tried to get up, my will to reach my son, to save him from Dottie’s betrayal, giving me enough adrenaline to drag myself forward a few feet before I collapsed again.
I stretched out a hand toward him, willing my arm to work, but it flopped onto the floor, useless. “Henry,” I called, but my voice was faint, hardly a whisper.
Dottie’s face appeared before me. Now on her hands and knees, she bent forward to look into my eyes. “I knew I could count on Pearlie and June to try to make you one of us when they realized what was happening between you and Whit,” she said, her grin triumphant. “They’ve always been sodedicatedto keeping the line going. Clearly, they’ve been prepping your system for all these months. I’m just speeding things along, honey. Don’t fight the transformation when it’s offered, Zellie. It’ll be better for both you and Henry if you just accept it. They’ll only offer once.”
Transformation? What the fuck?
I wanted to scream at her, demand she tell me what the hell she was talking about, but I could no longer speak.
“I’m sorry, honey,” Dottie said, gently wiping away the single tear that slid along my cheek toward my nose. “I truly am. But they have to die for what they did to my sister. I allowed myself to become part of the family and so did my lover, just to wait until the perfect moment. You see, ifIwere to do it, I’d be hated, hunted, and then where would I be? I’ve tried to get others to avenge Alice’s death for me, but they just didn’t possess the talents you do. Or the connection to Whit. Who knew that would be the key to their undoing?”
I narrowed my eyes at her, hoping she could see how furious I was.
She just smiled and patted my cheek. “Yes, that’s it, honey,” she encouraged. “Use that hatred and rage. You’re going to need it. You can do this. I have faith in you. Oh, you might not be able to get them all, but any will do. You’re a good mama, Zellie. I know you’ll do whatever you have to do to protect Henry. Whit has already removed June for you, so that’s one less to worry about. Isn’t that nice? Just take out as many of them as you can for me before they kill you.”
“Dottie, darlin’, we should go.”
That voice. I recognized it.
“We don’t want to be here when they arrive.”
I gasped, suddenly realizing who Dottie’s lover was.
Carter Dean.Dottiehad been the woman on his arm in the wedding photo!
“Help me,” I tried to cry out, hoping perhaps Mr. Dean would put an end to this madness and be a voice of reason, assure Dottie that she was only leaving Henry and me to the mercy of the very monsters she despised.
But before I could plead with him to help us, my world went dark.
The voices sounded muffled, far away. But I was still cautious when I opened my eyes just enough to see without alerting anyone that I was awake. I was in a basement. But not at Dawes House.
The carriage house? Some other property entirely?
I moved my eyes ever so slightly, searching for Henry. He lay on a low table or bench that was draped with a black cloth, still asleep from what Dottie had given him or newly dosed with something from our captors.
The room was dim, lit only by flickering candlelight that cast dancing shadows upon elaborate tapestries covering the walls. And then I saw them. Several people dressed in crimson robes, standing in a circle across from me. Candelabras like what I’d seen in my dream of Chase and Merilee were arranged around the edges of the room.
Oh, God.
As my brain came back online, my thoughts began to race, searching for a way to grab Henry and escape before they noticed I was awake.
But before I could react, someone grabbed my elbow and dragged me to my feet, clamping my wrists in manacles that hung from a beam. I struggled to get away, pulling against the heavy iron restraints. When that didn’t work, I kicked out at the person who stood before me, nailing him in the crotch.
He cursed and pulled back his hood, his eyes blazing with fury as he took hold of my throat.
Chase.
“Not yet, baby,” Merilee called out, interrupting what most likely would’ve been my crushed windpipe.
He cursed again and shoved me away before stepping aside, revealing Merilee in her crimson robe, sitting on the bench where I’d seen Henry. She now held him on her lap, cradling him against her as she rocked gently.
She grinned at me. “Welcome back, Zellie-girl. We were worried you might miss everything. But don’t worry—you woke up just in time.”
“Please, Merilee,” I pleaded, tears in my voice. “Please just let Henry go. I’ll do whatever you want.”
Chase gripped my face in his punishing grasp, his laughter filling me with terror. “Let him go?” he repeated. “Why, Zellie, he’s one of us. Seems my clever cousin hid him from us all these years.”
“Oh, don’t you worry, Zellie,” Merilee said, her grin widening to reveal her maw of fangs. She kissed Henry on the top of his head, then added, “We’ll take good care of your sweet boy. Raise him right.”
