“Do not worry about that now. He would have already chosen his next target by now. You have to go back to your body, my daughter. I will be with you until it is all over. Save the fae girl before it’s too late,” she told me while her form disappeared in front of me. I could no longer feel her hands.
She was gone in an instant and in the next, I was opening my eyes to stare up at the living room ceiling. Lucien sensed my pain and was by my side in an instant.
“I didn’t get to say goodbye,” I sobbed. He pulled me into his arms, letting me cry into his chest as the others watched. Ambrose looked away, as if too embarrassed to be seen sympathizing with my situation.
“We can mourn later,” he finally spoke up. “You were mumbling about saving a fae girl. We need to do that now. Who is fae in this town?”
I shook my head, unable to answer that. Lucien took over to answer, “There’s four in this town. There’s only four of us that can travel in enough time, but that leaves Melinda unaccounted for.”
“I can go home and see if that bastard is still there. If he is, I could try to stall for enough time for you all to locate the fae girls,” I offered.
Lucien shook his head, but Ambrose approved of my suggestion, “Very well. We will go with that plan. Go now, Melinda. Time is against us to save this last victim.”
I nodded and Lucien handed me the truck keys reluctantly. Anxiety gripped me as I grabbed onto the keys, remembering the last time I was behind the wheel alone. I shoved the anxiety down, knowing I couldn’t afford to hesitate for a second. I ran from the house and into the vehicle, giving the truck no time to adjust as I shifted into drive.
Gravel and dirt flew around me with the speed I took the roads, needing to get home as soon as possible.
When I arrived, I took immediate notice of the lights still being on inside. I left the truck running as I ran inside. Gene was there, filling a bag with some herbs I didn’t recognize. I snatched it from his hands and threw it into the trash.
“Melinda Marie Hardgrave! What in God’s name are you doing?”
“I know. I know everything, Gene. I’m not going to let you hurt another person.”
He searched my face, looking for something I wasn’t sure of. Whether he found it or not, his paternal mask fell away to expose the dark hatred that twisted his face. “Well, then let’s not keep pretending,daughter. You won’t be able to stop me. Since you started accepting that abominable blood of yours, I made sure the house was warded against magic. Let me finish this last sacrifice without interference and you can ride off into the night with your vampires.”
“No. This stops now. I will not let you kill another and I’ve already called Dorian. The police know everything and are on their way,” I lied as well as I could manage in the high stress situation I was in. It didn’t appear too convincing, however, as he didn’t bat an eye at my threat.
“I would love to stand and wait for nothing, but I have a fae tied up in the barn and I am on a time crunch. If you try anything, I will put you down just the same.”
He turned to leave, but I rushed in front of him, arms splayed out as I blocked his path, “No.”
Rolling his eyes, he pulled a fist back and delivered a punch to my stomach. All the air left my lungs with a wheeze, my body folding. The next blow was to the back of my neck, knocking me unconscious almost instantly.
I had failed.
I only hoped that the others would come find us before this monster killed the fae girl that would complete his sinister ritual.
Chapter Twenty
Melinda
The smell of hay, wood and gasoline wafted around me as I slowly regained conscience. After I became aware, I felt a throbbing in the back of my head where Gene had hit me. He was not my father, nor had he ever been. I had lived a lie for my entire life. He had every opportunity to tell me, but waited until he decided to start killing people to tell me the truth. Only when I knew his dark secret.
Lies.
My entire existence had been fueled with lies. From my mother’s death to now. The only truth was Lucien. It was Isa, Ambrose and Erie as well. Even Bryon had hidden what he was from me, even Dorian, so had everyone in this godforsaken town. Groaning, I rose from my propped position against a hay bale.
“Easy, Mel. He wasn’t gentle with you,” a feminine voice spoke from the other side of the hay bale. I peeked around it to find Taffy. “Hey.”
“Taffy? When did he grab you?” I asked as I knelt beside her to untie the ropes that were grounded by a makeshift hook. I noticed her skin began to bubble as I moved around the rope. “What is happening?”
Grunting she shifted to look at me, “That would be holly. Poisonous to fae.”
“You’re fae?”
“I told your mate not to say anything when we met at the grocery store that day. I’m glad he honored it. I’m Seelie, which means I cannot lie. So, believe me when I say, none of us suspected your own father. Your father has broken more than mundane laws.”
I heard gravel crunching and quickly focused on the rope. I imagined it unweaving until it was loose enough that Taffy could pull her hands free. My magic worked with me, giving me no trouble in the already high risk situation.
