Chapter Sixteen #2
“She wanted to be one of you so badly that I’ve been reduced to nothing but a hunter,” Lance answered.
“I showed her what having me as an enemy would be like. I went easy if anything. I could have slit her throat without a thought, but I simply toyed with her to give her a taste of what she has to look forward to.”
His composure was back as Lucien interrogated him. It was as if the old Lance was gone for good. Lucien tried to launch the fire in his hand at Lance, but I grabbed it to stop him. The flame extinguished before I could touch it while Lucien looked disappointedly at me. I shook my head.
“Don’t stoop to his level,” I pleaded before rising to my feet. Lance watched me as I brushed the glass from me with small hisses of pain as they exited my skin.
“Mel—.” Lance didn’t get the chance to say any more than that as my fist made a connection with his face. I kneed his groin after. Then, as his head lowered to groan in pain, my knee rammed into it. I exhaled loudly, flipping the hair out of my face to stare daggers at him.
“Let me stoop to his level,” I finished. Lance cupped his nose, leaning his head back as he struggled with the blood gushing out of it. “And that’s for earlier.”
“What the hell did I walk into?” my dad asked from the entryway to the kitchen. He took in the broken glass, my beaten state and Lance’s worsening state. “Get out of my house now, boy. It seems my daughter did quite the number, but if you don’t leave now then I will finish what she started.”
Lance left and I sagged back to the floor weakly.
Lucien caught me, his head burying in my hair.
I grasped where my stomach would no doubt bruise while tears filled my eyes.
My pain was deeper than the battered skin as I came to terms with my new relationship with Lance.
He was right to say we were enemies. There was nothing more we could be.
“What did he do?” my dad asked.
“I made a comment about him being like his father, using the term ‘hunters’ and he snapped,” I explained before delving into the full story of what had happened.
Lucien used the first aid kit we had to patch my wounds. I hadn’t gotten all the glass out and with his vampire vision, he was able to make sure every bit was extracted from my skin with the tweezers from the kit.
Silence followed my retelling of the events. Dad looked more enraged than I had ever seen him while Lucien was too distracted with the glass in my wounds to show what he felt, but I knew it was anger. I reached out to him, grabbing his hand as the other continued with the tweezers.
Once his head lifted to look at me, I spoke. “I’ve endured worse so please don’t go silent on me. It makes me worried.”
“I’m trying not to track him down and rip his heart out.”
“I’ll help you hide the body,” my dad joined in. Lucien smirked at his comment. “I remember when that boy could barely gut a fish. Now he’s attacking my daughter.”
“Someone should keep an eye on him,” I directed at Lucien. “If he can snap like that on me, I have no doubt that he could do worse to someone he hates. Lance hated everyone in this town when he left. If he’s the killer, I want revenge.”
“You’ll get it,” Lucien assured me before pressing a kiss to my lips.
My dad cleared his throat at the kiss, causing us to break apart and for me to blush.
Lucien finished with my legs and I looked down to find no wounds. Lifting his hand that had held the tweezers, I saw the last sliver of a cut on his thumb before it healed. “I used a little of my blood to heal the wounds.”
My dad took to cleaning with Lucien once I was placed in the living room.
I wasn’t allowed to move, even when the others came over.
Ambrose approached me first, eyeing me in a particular way that made me feel uncomfortably exposed.
I raised the blanket to my chin, leaning away from him as he continued looking at me.
“Nope, I sense no dark magic. She didn’t get the chance to release it,” Ambrose deduced. Erie exhaled in relief. “We got lucky this time, but she is untrained and her necklace is missing.”
“Wait, what? When did my necklace go missing?”
Erie punched her twin’s arm, glaring as she communicated with him silently. Isadora pinched the bridge of her nose while Lucien looked at them for an answer as well. “She asked a question and I would also love to know how the last object she had of her mother went missing. When?”
Isadora answered first. “Look, we had it in Agatha’s jewelry box for safe keeping. However, after you two went to the hunter, someone came while we were hunting and trashed the place. We cleaned it up, but we still can’t find the necklace or um… the stake.”
I shot to my feet, my own worries flying out the window at the mention of the missing stake. “The stake is missing as well? We were supposed to use that to track the killer!”
Lucien moved to my side, trying to calm me down. I wasn’t angry at them, but at whoever had taken the stuff. We were so close and our hesitation caused us to lose everything. My dad entered the living room then, having heard everything.
“The killer must have known that you were onto them. Who else knew that you had the stake?”
We pondered for a moment before we all settled on an answer. “The hunter. Hugo knew.”
“He told us to use it to find the killer. Wouldn’t that rule him out?” Lucien asked.
I shook my head. “No, he could have thrown us off by trying to be on our side. He could have even faked the attack and that’s why it was only a graze. The only other witness for that attack would have been Lance. Or—.”
“Your werewolf buddy worked there. He could let us take a look while distracting Lance. If we find the stake and necklace there then we can finish what he started,” Lucien commented. I gave him a look as he referred to Bryon as my ‘werewolf buddy’, but didn’t say anything on the matter.
“I’ll watch the hunter since I’m more experienced than these two. They can remain at the house in case there’s another break in. You two can go to her friend and see what he knows,” Isadora suggested.
“Sounds like a plan,” I nodded in agreement. My dad said nothing as he observed, but the worry in his eyes spoke volumes.
“We’ll be safe, dad. Don’t worry.”
“I always worry, Mel. That’s my job as your father.”
We parted ways with Isadora going after Lance, the twins to Agatha’s while Lucien and I went to Saddleback to talk to Bryon.
We found him outside, but he looked worse for wear when we arrived. He didn’t seem too pleased by Lucien, but that didn’t last long as I appeared from behind him.
“What brings you over here so early?” Bryon asked with a warm smile.
“We think Hugo or Lance might be the killer. The stake that I took from Jeremy’s body is missing and so is my necklace. The only person that knew about it was Hugo. We need to search the shop, but kind of need your help.”
Bryon hesitated. “Speak, boy,” Lucien taunted. Lucien didn’t react as Bryon shifted nervously with his hand rubbing the back of his neck.
“Um, this is going to make me look super suspicious, but I found your necklace last night actually. Now, the stake I didn’t,” Bryon informed us before producing my necklace from his pocket.
I snatched it back and placed it back around my neck, sighing as I felt the magic grow quiet in my blood.
“I was in wolf form when I found it. I thought it was you, but it was this. It was in the forest near where Agatha’s body was found.
It looked like someone had tried to bury it, but didn’t get to finish. ”
“That answers that question, but keep your nose out for the stake. I’m sure that sniffer of yours will find it,” Lucien teased.
“Grow up,” I hissed at him, seeing Bryon curl his fists. “Bryon has done nothing to you and even got me my necklace back. Why do you continue messing with him?”
“It’s the nature of our kind,” Bryon sighed with bitter disappointment. “Don’t worry, witches and werewolves have a better relationship than witches and vampires.”
“Kind of ironic to say that when she’s my mate. Perhaps times have changed for you foul bloods.”
“But time never changes for you bloodsuckers,” Bryon snarled as his eyes glowed with a green hue. Lucien flashed his fangs at him, but got no reaction. “Vampires always have to show their fangs for intimidation. One day a change will come for your kind, but I don’t see it in this century.”
“Okay, you two to your corners,” I snapped. My arm looped through Lucien’s as I began dragging him away and Bryon chuckled. “Don’t encourage it!”
“Goodbye, Mel. See you at the dance this weekend!”
Lucien allowed me to get him to the truck before turning on me in a flash. “What dance is he talking about?”
“It’s a Founder’s Day thing. Yes, you’re going. No, I’m not going with you as my date because my dad is always my partner. Yes, I will save you a dance. Now get in the truck.”