49. Chapter Forty-Nine #2
Temica waved one of her elegant, well-manicured hands. “I changed my mind. And I do what I want. I think I’ll start with the little girl.”
Doug
Doug was cashing out old Mr. Lewis from the bank when he heard thunder rumble in the distance. Jolene, his employee working the other till, looked over at him.
“I didn’t see a storm in today’s forecast.” Jolene turned and looked the window and he followed her gaze.
The sky was a rolling mass of dark grey clouds.
It lit up with a strange, pink-hued light, followed by another roll of thunder that rattled the grocery store.
Rain began to fall in fat drops, collecting on the store’s front window.
Mr. Lewis whistled. “Sounds real close. We’re in the thick of it.”
No, Doug thought. It wasn’t right over them, it was closer to the cottages.
He wasn’t sure if it was his dad-sense kicking in, but something compelled him to step outside.
Wind whipped around him as he rounded the corner of the store, looking down the road towards where Cody’s cottage was—to where he had dropped off Gracie less than an hour ago.
Jolene and Mr. Lewis were right behind him.
Doug watched in awe as a flash of pink lightning struck: right where Cody’s cottage was.
“Was that pink?” Jolene asked. “Never seen anything like that before!”
“Jolene, watch the store.”
“But Mr. Callahan—”
Doug didn’t hear whatever Jolene’s objection was. He was already running to his truck in the back lot. Whatever was happening, it was happening right where his little girl was.
He tore down the dirt road, only slamming on the brakes the second he rounded the corner into Cody’s driveway.
Doug checked the workshop first, but it was empty.
He was about to check the cottage when he heard voices down by the beach, behind the cottage.
He ran down the path in time to hear a woman say:
“…think I’ll start with the little girl.”
Her back was to him, but the pink hair was a dead giveaway: it was the gift shop owner, Temica.
Doug quickly took in the scene but couldn’t make much sense of it.
Temica was slowly walking toward Cody and Morgan, Cody was in a fighting stance, fists up, and Morgan was just behind him, hugging Gracie protectively to her side.
Epic music was playing, like a soundtrack from a fantasy movie about dragons and wizards, and it was clearly the villain’s ominous theme song.
He had no clue where the music was even coming from and yet it was surrounding him.
“Gracie!” Doug called.
She looked over at him, his voice pulling her attention away from Temica.
“Daddy!” She pulled herself free from Morgan and went rushing past Temica and into his arms. He was so fucking relieved that she’d come to him.
That he was holding her. He hugged her so tight she made a little ‘oomph!’ noise, and he loosened up.
Temica turned and scowled at him, her eyes blazing with fury.
Doug didn’t know what was happening, but he was most definitely leaving and taking his daughter with him.
“Morgan! C’mon,” Doug said, not wanting to leave his sister behind. He had a sinking feeling whatever the hell was happening, it was Cody’s fault and he’d let him deal with it. He knew he had made a mistake letting those two kids get back together. Cody was bad news. Always was, always would be.
Doug was walking briskly to his truck, Gracie clinging to him, when Temica materialized in a cloud of pink sparkles, just a few steps ahead of him.
“What the—” Doug muttered, stumbling slightly, stunned at the impossible thing he’d witnessed with his own two eyes.
Temica sneered, her beautiful face contorting in anger. “I said I wanted to start with the little girl.”
“Get the fuck outta my way, lady,” Doug said, then whispered a quick apology to Gracie for swearing.
Temica raised her hands. A pink ball of lightning crackled between her palms. Before Doug could register what was happening, she hurled the pink lightning ball at him.
He heard Morgan scream as he turned his back, instinct driving him to shield his daughter.
Pain exploded in his right shoulder and his whole right arm went numb.
He felt Gracie slipping from his grasp. His heart sank as he felt himself dropping her, feeling like he’d failed her, but then he looked up in time to see her roll away and jump to her feet, seemingly unharmed.
Another blast hit him in the back, and he fell to his knees.
“Daddy!” Gracie screamed as she started to run back to him.
“Go!” Doug shouted, looking up at Morgan and Cody. “Morgan, get her out of here!”
He felt another blast on his back, excruciating pain spiking up his spine. So much pain.
“Mmmm, fucking delicious,” Temica said. “Maybe I’ll play with you all day and make your daughter watch. Won’t that be fun?”
She shot him again. He could tell the bitch was toying with him, that she wasn’t about to kill him, but it didn’t make it hurt any less.
It felt like every nerve ending was on fire.
His vision grew blurry, and he was pretty damn sure he was about to pass out.
Then he saw something…something with glowing red wings came flying out of the forest and hurled itself in his direction. And then everything went black.
Yana
“How many more?” Yana asked.
“I have fifty Maple Keys, you have forty,” Nyrah said. “So that’s, uh…”
“Ten more,” Yana said, just as a bolt of pink lightning lit up the sky.
Nyrah whipped around to look behind her, towards Cody’s cottage, where the lightning had struck. “Is that normal? Do they have pink lightning here?”
“I don’t know.” But Yana had a feeling the answer was no. She’d been out in that storm with Cody just a few days ago, and the lightning was definitely not pink. Rain began to fall, making pitter-patter noises on the leaves, and the sound of thunder filled the forest.
“I think Cody’s in trouble. I…I just feel it. Through our Heartbond.” Nyrah looked back at Yana. “We should go to him!”
“We’re not done,” Yana said as the rain fell harder. “We’re short ten Maple Keys and we still need one more flower.”
Something white flew by, screeching loudly, followed by the build of epic music. It swooped by again, its outstretched claws grazing Yana’s head. It was that chicken!
Yana was about to chase after it, but Nyrah cried out her name and she froze in place.
“Yana! The knife inside my brain is telling me I should go to Cody right now! The Knife has a plan!”
“Then go!” Yana glanced at her Stamina Bar: ninety-two percent. Good. She started gathering her [Life-Force] in her hands, scanning the trees for the chicken.
“I don’t want to leave you! Come with me!”
“No, go to Cody!” Yana shouted. “I’ll be fine. This chicken is mine!”
“Yana…”
Yana paused searching for Henry to look at Nyrah. “Nyrah, I love you. But if you feel that Cody is in danger and the knife thinks you should go to him, then you need to go! Now!”
“I love you, Yana,” Nyrah said.
“Go save Cody!”
Gracie
Gracie was angry. Pink Lady was hurting her daddy!
And she might hurt her Aunty Morgan and Mr. Pinecone Man, too!
Aunty Morgan had dragged her to hide behind her daddy’s truck, but she could still hear the mean lady shooting her daddy with pink lightning.
She needed to do something. Gracie wasn’t sure if it was going to work…
but she put her hand on her daddy’s truck and concentrated real hard and made the whole thing disappear.
She did a quick check: Yep, Daddy’s Truck was now in her Inventory.
“What the…?” Aunty Morgan’s eyes had gone wide, staring at where the truck had just been.
But there was no time to explain to her aunt.
Gracie slipped away, heading for the nearest big tree.
Gracie had a plan and, luckily, she was real good at climbing trees.
She jumped up, grabbing the first branch, and quickly climbed up through the branches.
It was difficult because it was really raining hard now, and some of the branches were slippery, but she made it high enough.
Nyrah
Nyrah ripped her necklace off, quickly transforming into her nekofae form.
Luckily, she was wearing a halter top so her back was bare, and her wings burst free without ripping her shirt off.
She pushed herself as hard as she could, her wings flapping furiously as she zipped through the forest and back toward Cody.
He was hers. She finally, truly had him.
He said the words: I love you. It was undeniable that they both felt the Heartbond every time they made love.
And they needed to make love more. So much more.
Enough to make several babies and have their happily ever after.
If someone tried to stand between her and her happily ever after with her Heartmate, she would rip them to pieces. She would tear their heart out with her claws, cut it into pieces, and use it as fishing bait.
When she arrived at Cody’s cottage, Temica was there, surrounded by a shimmering pink bubble.
That. Fucking. Bitch. Temica was standing in the grassy yard that led to the gravel driveway, next to Cody’s cottage.
But it wasn’t Cody that Temica was attacking, it was that tall ginger man, Doug; Morgan’s brother, and little Gracie’s father.
Temica shot bolt after bolt of pink lightning from her fingers at Doug, who was writhing on the ground, clearly in pain.
Cody was nearby, eyeing Temica with pure hatred in his eyes. It was clear he wanted to help Doug, but he probably knew it was useless as long as Temica was protected by her forcefield.