Chapter 12
“Selene! Selene! Are you all right?” Tim bolted across his front lawn toward her. Marley was just behind him, wings fluttering while he hefted a pail with water sloshing over the edges.
The panicked pair stopped just short of them.
Marley hovered a few feet off the ground, holding the bucket aloft, as his eyes flashed around the lawn. “Where did the bloodsucker go? Where is he?”
“He’s gone,” Fen said. “I doubt he’ll be back tonight.”
The moment he spoke, Tim and Marley both froze. They exchanged a glance and simultaneously inclined their heads to Fen.
“Fenris,” Marley murmured as he landed and slowly lowered the bucket. “We heard the commotion and wanted to help.”
“We didn’t mean to imply that you couldn’t handle the situation,” Tim added and edged closer to Marley.
“It’s fine. I’m glad to know that Selene has such vigilant friends nearby.” Fen smiled, and they both relaxed visibly.
“Why do you have that bucket?” Selene pointed at the tin pail.
“Holy water,” Tim said wryly. “We keep a big plastic tub of it on hand. But it was in the backyard shed; that’s why it took us so long.”
Fen’s laugh was so much like a roar that Selene jumped away from him.
“I’m sorry you didn’t get here sooner.” He grinned. “I would have liked to have seen that fool doused.”
“We’ll keep it close to the front door from now on.” Marley smiled sheepishly.
“Let’s hope you never have call to use it.” Fen’s amusement faded. “There will be hell to pay if he fails to heed my warning.”
Tim’s gaze had fixed on Selene, who had begun to sway on her feet. “Uh oh. Selene, are you breathing, honey?”
“Are you going to faint again?” Marley peered at her.
She managed to shake her head, but the lawn still felt like it was rocking beneath her.
Daniel Brix is a vampire. They were going to throw holy water on him. Because he is a vampire.
“I should get her inside,” Fen said and put a supporting arm around her waist. “She’s had a bit of a shock.”
“Who was the vamp?” Marley frowned. “Why would any of them come after Selene?”
“Allie’s father,” Selene said. “He’s . . . a vampire.” Even as she said it, she stumbled, and Fen pulled her against him.
“You’ll be all right, Selene,” he said quietly. “We’ll talk inside.”
“Daniel?” Marley gasped. “Allie’s father came to Avondale?”
Selene nodded. The ground lurched again, and she vomited on Fen’s shoes.
“Oh dear,” Tim said. “I see you had sushi for dinner.”
“Do you want this water, Fen?” Marley offered the pail.
Fen shook his head. “I’ll leave my shoes on the porch and clean them off later.”
He lifted Selene into his arms. “I do appreciate you watching out for her. Good night.”
Marley’s and Tim’s eyes were owlish as they watched Fenris carry Selene back to the house.
Fen brought her inside, and she squirmed in his hold. “Put me down. I’m fine now.”
“I don’t—”
“Put me down, Fenris.”
He didn’t argue again, setting her gently on her feet.
“I need to brush my teeth,” she said, not looking at him. The sour taste was overwhelming, and not just because of the sushi.
“I’ll be waiting in the kitchen.”
She nodded and went to the powder room, locking the door behind her. It wasn’t that she expected Fen to try to follow her, but she needed to feel secure. Even the tiniest bit helped.
Selene turned on the basin tap and rinsed her mouth out several times, then splashed cold water on her face. Too many feelings slammed around inside her: shock, confusion, embarrassment, fear.
Her first encounter with a vampire—and it had been Daniel Brix.
I was alone with him last night. Bile tried to rise in her throat again.
Natalie’s words slid into her mind. “Forcing someone to drink their blood isn’t too much of a challenge.”
If he’d attacked her . . . But he hadn’t. That wasn’t what Daniel wanted, was it? To turn her into a vampire? To turn Allie?
He hadn’t explained why he was here. A long story. That was his excuse yesterday. Is that why he came to the door tonight? To tell Allie and Selene his story? Or was it all a lie? A way to get in.
“Do not ever invite him into your home, Selene.”
Fen. Fen knew who Daniel was. What else did he know?
And why the hell didn’t he say anything?
Daniel was dangerous. He’d become hostile the moment he realized Selene wasn’t going to give him what he wanted.
Fen not only witnessed Daniel’s aggression, he’d anticipated it and had answered in kind.
Yes, Fenris had protected her and Allie, but on his terms. She resented that he’d kept so much vital information to himself when he’d had opportunities to tell her the truth about Daniel. Hell, he could have even hinted at it.
Selene dried off her face and went to the kitchen.
“What can I make for you?” Fen asked, pulling out a chair for her. “Tea? Unless you’d prefer something stronger.”
“No, thank you,” she said in a flat tone as she sat. “But there’s ginger ale in the fridge.”
Fen frowned but found the ginger ale and brought it to her.
“I should talk to Allie,” Selene said to herself as she opened the can.
“Yes,” he said. “But you and I should have a conversation first.”
Selene took a sip of ginger ale as she ran over what had happened since the doorbell rang, coming to the same conclusion she’d arrived at when clearing her head in the bathroom.
Fenris had kept silent when he should have done the opposite.
She needed to understand his reasoning and determine whether she could live with it.
She sat up straighter and looked at Fen with narrowed eyes.
“You’re right.” Her voice was sharp. “We should.”
Her tone made his eyebrows shoot up.
“You knew Allie’s father was a vampire.” Her rising anger made the dizziness subside a little.
“I did,” he replied calmly.
“And you knew he was living in Avondale.”
“He only recently arrived in Avondale,” Fen said. “No more than two weeks ago.”
“Two weeks?” Her eyes widened. “When were you going to tell me about this?”
How could he have kept that from her? What if Daniel had gone to Allie first?
“I’d hoped I would never have to tell you,” he answered in the same matter-of-fact tone.
She stared at him, incredulous.
“Selene.” He sat in the chair next to hers. “Daniel has caused Allie pain in the past and would only cause you both more pain in the future. I thought it would be better if you never encountered him again.”
“That wasn’t your decision to make,” she said quietly but firmly.
Inside her mind, things were far less peaceful.
She knew she’d come to pretty much the same conclusion when she’d decided not to tell Allie that Daniel had returned.
But while Allie might be on the cusp of adulthood, she was still a child.
If Fenris saw Selene in the same way, it was condescending and insulting.
Is it because I’m human? Does he think I’m unable to make wise choices when it comes to the paranormal? If that’s true, he doesn’t respect me or my responsibility to Allison. Not in the way I need him to, especially if we’re . . .
She cut off that painful line of thought.
It was hard to believe that a short time ago, in this very kitchen, she’d shattered with pleasure in Fen’s arms. Now she was kicking herself for her naivety.
She was foolish to trust him, much less let him get so close.
He was hot. Okay, exceptionally hot. It didn’t matter.
She knew better than to act on impulse. Look where it left her. How she’d endangered Allie.
I’ve been so irresponsible. Her eyes burned. I will not cry. I refuse to cry.
As Fen watched emotions roll over Selene’s face, his gaze hardened.
“It wasn’t my intention to manipulate you, Selene,” he said. “The regulation of paranormals moving in and out of Avondale remains in my control. Daniel became subject to me the moment he entered this town. His interest in you and Allie complicated matters somewhat, but not extraordinarily.”
Not extraordinarily. Selene wrapped her hands around the can of ginger ale and tried to gather her thoughts.
“Marie came to me and expressed concern about Daniel’s intentions toward you and Allie,” he continued.
“Who is Marie?” she interrupted.
“Marie is the leader of Avondale’s vampire coven,” he said. “Any vampire who chooses to make their home here answers to Marie. And Marie answers to me.”
She frowned. “What did she say about Daniel’s intentions?”
Fen looked uncomfortable. Selene leaned forward.
“What?”
“Whether he’s been entirely truthful to Marie is uncertain, but he claims he returned to Los Angeles looking for Emma and Allie,” he said. “He’d been traveling abroad prior to a few months ago. When he discovered Emma was dead and Allie was living in Avondale, he followed.”
“Why?”
“Immortality seems very glamorous at first,” he replied after a small hesitation. “But an eternity of solitude is more punishment than reward. It seems likely Daniel seeks to reclaim that which he discarded all those years ago.”
She stared at him and then drew a sharp breath.
“Are you saying he came to Avondale to make Allie a vampire?”
“I believe so.” His voice was low. “But I can’t be certain.”
“Will he do that?” she whispered, suddenly cold and as shaky as she’d been in the front yard.
“Not without permission, from both Marie and me,” he replied. “And I would never permit such a thing to pass.”
She cleared her throat. “All right—but as a hypothetical. What if it were something Allie wanted?”
He looked at her sharply, and she held up her hand. “Hypothetical, Fen. Daniel is her father.”
His jaw tightened. “You believe Allie would consider a life where she never felt the sun again?”
“No. Of course not.” She shuddered. “But I need you to answer the question.”
He offered her a razor-thin smile. “The turning of a mortal to either vampire or werewolf can happen . . . if it truly is voluntary and for the right reasons.”
“What are the right reasons?”
“Love would qualify.” He answered quietly as he watched her. “Fear of death would not.”