“No doubt she does. No one here has done
anything but tell her what she can and can’t do from the beginning. Even Mac is
going to have a long road if he doesn’t stop being his father.”
Lizzy thought her dad was wonderful. Then
smiled. Okay, he was a little overbearing…a lot really. She moved to the
outside of the building and looked up at the lowering sun.
“Mac is going to be pissed when she gets
there. If she goes there, and right now I’m doubting that’s where she’s headed.
She wasn’t real happy with me when she left here.”
Lizzy sniffed
the air.
“Mom, are there vampires working here with her?”
The quiet terrified her and she reached
beyond the building and the surrounding woods to see who was there. Nothing,
but there had been. Evil had been there just beyond the parking lot and they’d
left the imprint of their anger. Lizzy nearly missed what her mom was saying.
“…now Lizzy. Find her and see if you can
make sure she comes here. Someone else besides her stepfather is looking for
her and he might be the one that’s killed all those women.”
Lizzy shifted and took to the skies. It
only took her a few minutes to find her scent and she followed her to the hotel
off Main Street. She relayed the information back to her mom, who told her to
stay put until someone arrived to get her to come home.
Lizzy agreed, but was reasonably sure
that whoever had come had better be prepared because she was sure that Andi
would not go along easily. She settled on the branch and waited. This was going
to be one hell of a show and she wasn’t going to miss a minute of it.
Chapter 11
Mac stood outside the little bungalow
and tried to calm himself. It wasn’t easy for him. He was used to people doing
what he wanted and, when someone didn’t, he could easily convince them to do it
anyway. Never anything bad, but sometimes for their own good. Like with Brandi.
She couldn’t stay here. Not because of
the maniac running around and her stepfather, but because it wasn’t safe for
him. He had a thought that was her plan, to have him come there and meet the
sun, but he also knew that she couldn’t harm him. At least, that was the
theory.
He looked down at the daisies in his
hand and wondered if he should have gotten the roses like his mom had
suggested. But when he’d seen the daisies he knew that they suited her much
better than roses did and had asked for them instead. He knocked on the door
before he could make himself sick with worry.
She didn’t answer right away and that
worried him. When he started to open the door with his foot planted firmly
against it, he stepped back when it jerked open. Lizzy was right there beside
him. And all thoughts of begging Brandi to stay with him flew out the window.
Someone had beaten the shit out of her and he wanted answers right fucking now.
“Who did this to you?” They stepped in
the room and he slammed it behind him. Tossing the flowers on the bed he gently
cupped her face into his hands. “Who hit you?”
Her face had been battered. And someone
was going to pay. Her lip was swollen and cut and looked to need a few
stitches. Her left eye was swollen nearly shut and the right was not much
better. It was her shallow breathing that alerted him that something more had
happened to her. She struggled with him for a few seconds when he tried to lift
her shirt up, but in the end he won. Her chest and ribs looked nearly as bad as
her face.
“I fell, that’s all. Happens to me all
the time.”
He simply raised a brow at his sister,
who shrugged.
“When I was here, no one entered. He
must have been inside when she pulled in because some guy came out after a
little while. ”
He let Brandi pull away as Lizzy
continued.
“She shut the door after he left, but I
didn’t think to come and check on her. I’m sorry, Mac. I didn’t think beyond
she was safe inside the room.”
“So now you’re having your family spy on
me? What the hell, Mac? I thought we had this settled.”
He looked at her face, then at her
hands. They were bruised as well.
“It’s fine. I’m fine. Would you just let
me go?”
Mac moved her to the bed and sat her on
it. He wanted to check her entire body, but first he needed a moment and went
to the bathroom to get a washcloth to clean her up. The man in the mirror
staring back at him looked out of control and nearly over the edge. Several
deep breaths did nothing to help him. By the time he went back to the little
bedroom she was picking up some things from the floor and Lizzy was gone.
“I’ll get that.” He handed her the
washcloth and knelt to the floor to pick up a pizza box and a few bottles of
water. The scent all over the items would be one he’d never forget. “Did he get
you when you came in?”
She picked up the ice bucket and wrapped
ice in the cloth. The rest of the icy mess lay on the floor. “I was coming in
and there he was. And it doesn’t matter. I’m pretty sure he got what he wanted
from me.”
He looked up at her as she lay down on
the bed and put the icy towel to her head. He wanted to take her into his arms,
but was afraid of hurting her more. He finished picking up the mess and sat on
the bed beside her. She didn’t move. He was sure she wasn’t asleep, but she had
to be hurting.
“Do you think he’ll be back?”
She shrugged then moaned.
“What did you give him besides a place
to use his fists on?”
“Money. I didn’t have a great deal to
begin with and now I have none.” She peered at him from beneath the cloth. “Why
don’t you go home? He won’t come back tonight.”
“Which implies he’ll be back. I can’t
leave you here. Not like this.” He looked down at her bloodied shirt and felt
his beast rise again. Looking away, he spoke to her as gently as he could. “I
have a doctor friend who I’ve contacted. He’ll be here in a few minutes. If he
says you’re alright to travel, I’d very much like to take you to my parents’
house. I want to hold you.”
Mac had reached for Thomas Reilly and
asked him to come to where he was as soon as he’d seen her. He explained that
the girl was human and that she was his mate. Thomas said he’d be there as soon
as possible; he couldn’t travel like he did and needed to wait and have Megan,
the other doctor, bring him.
A few minutes later, there was a brisk
knock at the door. He let Thomas and his father in and watched as the vampire
doctor checked Brandi over. He and his father stood helplessly by while Megan
talked softly to Brandi.
“Do you know who hurt her?”
Mac shook his head at his father’s
question.
“I assume you have something that will
tell you who if you should ever meet him. And for the record, I’d very much
like to be there when you do. I have a bone to pick with him myself.”
“His scent was all over the room when I
arrived.” Mac looked at his dad. “He hurt her. Whoever it was is going to pay
for that. And I will be the one to do it.”
“No doubt. It’s more than likely this stepfather
of hers. Did she tell you what he wanted?” He told his dad what she’d said and
his dad nodded. “I hate to ask you to do this, son, but we can’t protect her
from a person we don’t know. Could you—”
“No, I can’t. If she doesn’t want me to
have it, then I’m not going to take it from her. I can’t do that, Dad, and you
know it. You heard what Lizzy said. I won’t have her thinking that of us any
longer.”
His dad nodded sadly.
“I believe you’re right about her
stepfather. And I’m telling you right now, human or not, he’s fucking dead.”
“I’ve given her something for the pain. Humans
can be so stubborn. She thinks she’ll be fine so I might have miscalculated on
the dose. Give her a few minutes more and she’ll be out like a light.” Thomas
looked back at the girl on the bed when Mac did. “She’s hurt badly. I’d say she
took a beating from this person, enough to fell a normal human. What is she?”
“Human,” Mac answered. “For now. I think
that she might have a little more magic in her than she thinks. And her mind is
certainly strong enough.” He walked over to the bed and sat down again. “She’s
going to be pissed when she wakes up.”
His dad nodded and grinned when he did. “I
have no doubt that you’ll bear the brunt of that anger too. Are you up for it,
son?”
Mac looked back at his mate sleeping so
soundly on the bed. Up for it? Yes, he was. He’d been fighting against this for
nearly all his adult life and now he found he wanted to fight with her. Daily. The
makeup sex would be… He turned to his dad again. “Yes. I’m actually looking
forward to it.” He kissed her brow and then stood. “Dad, do you think you can have
someone bring her vehicle home? I want to get her to bed before she throws off
whatever Thomas gave her.”
He had no doubt that she would too. And
when she woke he wanted to be there for her. Actually, he planned to heal her
before she woke and then make love to her the rest of the night. Smiling, he
picked her up.
After making arrangements for the truck
to be brought home he willed them to the house. Duncan was there waiting for
him, as was his mother. They both helped him turn down the bed and fussed over
her for a few minutes.
“The young miss, sir, she will be all
right, will she not? She is most friendly to me. I have not had such a good
conversation with a younger woman other than Miss Lizzy for some time. I should
like to help her if possible.” Duncan looked at Brandi. “She is most lovely, is
she not, sire?”
“Yes, she is, Duncan. Very. And I hope
to keep her around for a long time yet as well. But she will be upset when she
wakes.”
Duncan nodded at him. “You must be very
romantic sire. I have found that women like a man to be romantic. Perhaps you
should ask your father some tips. He can make your mother most happy at times.”
Mac nearly killed himself trying not to
laugh. His mother turned a bright shade of red, which only made Duncan
confused. They were moving toward the door when he’d finally given in and
laughed. Duncan was a man among men, that was for sure.
After they left he took off his clothes
and got into bed beside her. Damn, but she was going to be pissed.
~~~
Reggie looked down at his hand. It was
broken, he was sure. And so were a couple of his ribs. He limped over to the
bed and sat down gingerly. The fucking bitch wasn’t going to get by with that. Not
this time.
He knew he should have learned his
lesson a few years ago. She was mean when she wanted to be. And when he went
after her now he knew that he had to grab onto her hands. She couldn’t make
that shit of hers work without her hands. He grinned.
That was the best part about being a
cop. He had learned all sorts of stuff to get inside of houses where he
shouldn’t be, as well as the right word or two to say when he needed to get
into somewhere that was usually off-limits to others. Like her hotel room.
He’d had a little trouble finding his
stepdaughter. Usually, she’d work in a place long enough for him to get wind of
her then, when he got there, she’d be gone. He was fully expecting that when he
got to this little town. He’d been both happy and a little scared that she was
still here. He thought maybe it was because she had herself a boyfriend again
or maybe a husband. But she didn’t have nothing. And what she’d given him
wasn’t nearly enough. Not even close to what the bookie wanted from him.
Reggie took off his uniform and hung it
on the hanger in the bathroom. Turning on the water to the hottest setting he
closed the door, hoping the steam would take out the wrinkles from his pants
and shirt.
He no longer carried a badge. His now
dead wife had turned him in when he’d hit her a few months before she’d been
killed. Well, he’d killed her, but that made her no less dead.
He’d tried to convince his captain that
she had deserved it, but he’d told Reggie that once maybe, twice…well, that was
beginning to look bad, but nineteen times in the past seven months was more
than anyone could tolerate. Especially when the new mayor was a female. Damned
voters didn’t have a clue when it came to voting in the right person, Reggie
still thought.
Brandi was the real reason he was so far
in debt that he couldn’t catch a break. If she’d only done what he’d told her
to do then things would have been just peachy. Her mother wouldn’t be rotting
in a shallow grave and Brandi wouldn’t be hurting like she was. The damned girl
didn’t have the sense to get in out of the fucking rain.
Reggie walked over to the television and
turned it to the news. He expected to see that she’d been beaten up and wanted
to know what she’d told the cops. Not that anyone would believe her lying ass,
but he also didn’t need anyone to know where he was right now.
There wasn’t a word on the hotel or
about any girl being beaten and robbed. Brandi had been up and about when he’d
left her. Maybe the next time he’d make sure there were a few more broken bones
on her so that she’d have to call the squad to fix her up. She’d not tell
anyone it was him either. Brandi was as afraid of cops as he was of her getting
her hands free when he tried to get at her.