“The land is under my name, but the house’s deed is under your name,” he informed her. “It was that paperwork I had you sign on your eighteenth birthday. I had just had my heart attack and I got worried that I didn’t have everything in order in case I—.” His words drifted off, but she knew what he was trying to say. The thought of it made her heart hollow and stomach cramp. She never wanted to see that day.
“They said we could hire a lawyer. I think that if they come by again that we could threaten them with that. Do you know any lawyers?”
He shook his head. “Don’t trouble yourself with this, Mel. Your old man has it handled.”
Melinda opened her mouth to speak. He silenced her with a kiss to her temple and left the house. Sighing, she put everything back into the filing cabinet and went up to bed again to try and sleep more.
After a few hours, Melinda found it increasingly harder to fall asleep. His image played like a broken record through her mind. The eyes that had the appearance of liquid amber with glimmers of sadness and anger in their rich depths. She traced his chiseled features in her mind. The only comparison were the tragic statues of weeping male angels with their heads bowed in solidarity or in their hands.
Melinda tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Every time she closed her eyes she saw his face and felt that electric heatfrom that night. It felt as if the world under her had opened and he was the only thing keeping her from falling into the center of it.
Morning finally came and Melinda changed into her running outfit, stumbling down the stairs. The first thing she noticed was that her dad hadn’t returned from hunting last night. It was pointless to wait for his return, so she shoved her earbuds into her ears and stretched out front with the morning sun heating her cool skin.
Dad always kept the house so cold that even in summer she would use her winter blankets. She bent over, her hands wrapping around her ankles as she stretched and as she rose back up, she noticed a familiar face.
“Henry, good morning. You’re early with the mail," Melinda greeted while pulling out an earbud.
A smile graced his wrinkled face as he held out the mail to her. She shuffled through the mail while he went on a tangent about the latest gossip of the town. “Everyone got a startling wake up today. Apparently, another body was found by the creek behind that old sycamore. A girl just around your age. Heard the poor thing had been burned alive. There’s a town meeting tonight about a possible curfew so everyone is moving around earlier today.”
“Was she blonde?”
“Not sure, but she wasn’t wearing local attire. Poor girl must have been visiting and whatever monster is doing this got to her. Stay safe, Melinda. You’ve always had a good head on your shoulders, but it means nothing if the monster gets you by surprise.”
“I’m never unarmed, Henry. I promise I’ll be safe," Melinda promised. He gave a nod of approval before getting into his car and riding it to his next house. Once he was out of sight,Melinda ran as fast as she could to Isadora, praying her fears weren’t reality..
The house came into sight and she began shouting Isadora’s name, not caring who heard her. Melinda just needed Isadora to hear her. She needed to know Isa was safe. The door to the house opened to reveal her and a confused Erie.
“Why are you screaming my name?” Isadora asked. Melinda barreled into her, wrapping her in a tight hug, needing the physical confirmation of her breathing. “I haven’t heard from you in days, I should be the one hugging you. Whoa, you okay? You’re shaking.”
As she said it, Melinda realized she was right. Her body was trembling from the anxiety that had overwhelmed her at the thought of Isadora being the next victim. She squeezed Isa tighter, releasing a breath of relief. Erie tugged on Melinda’s shirt and she looked over at Erie to see the young vampire pouting.
“Do I get a hug like that too?” she asked. “I’ve never had a hug from a mundie.”
Melinda chuckled and switched to Erie, pulling her into a hug as she welcomed the distraction. Isadora looked at Melinda with worry, expecting an explanation.
When she let go of Erie, Melinda gave her that explanation, “The mail man came by today and told me they found the body of a girl my age. She was burned alive and he said she wasn’t wearing normal clothes. I thought it might have been you.”
Isadora smiled sadly before placing a hand on her heart. She spoke softly with understanding and calm reassurance, “I promise that I won’t fall victim to your serial killer.”
“You better not,” Melinda teased before leaning against the railing.
She should have realized how run-down the house was, but at that moment she just needed to rest from exerting herself. The railing gave way and she yelped as she fell backwards. It wouldn’t be much of a fall, but it might bruise her a little and she braced for that impact.
Only, it never came. Instead, Melinda landed in the arms of a familiar smirking blond male vampire.
“Clumsy aren’t we?” Melinda glared at him before trying to escape his hold, but it was no use. His vampire strength kept her from escaping. “Perhaps you should stay right here while we discuss some things amongst mates.”
“Mates?” Isadora nearly screamed as she heard his words. Mate. The word barely registered with Melinda. It was a concept known with animals, but yet here was a vampire stating she was his.
Melinda shook her head at the unwilling upgrade to her life the fates had planned for her. “No. No, no, no, no. Did I say no?”
“I don’t believe we get any say in destiny, darling. Isa, perhaps picking your jaw off the ground would be a good start to this conversation. I expected you to find the humor in such an arrangement," Lucien said while keeping his eyes on Melinda. She couldn’t deny the feeling it gave her to stare into his amber depths, but the all-consuming feeling made her nervous.
How could her body already have such a reaction to someone she just met?
Isadora recovered from her shock and appeared in front of the pair. “I would have found humor in this if it was anyone other than Mel. Choose another human, Lucien. Literally any other human.”
Lucien inhaled before exhaling just as harshly. Melinda’s eyes drifted down to the silver cross inlined with red rubies thathung around his neck on a chain. Humor bubbled in her chest at the thought of a vampire wearing a religious talisman like that.
