I am met with a similar scene as downstairs, only this time, the hero of the hour is Remiel protecting his daughter with a fierceness that can only be described as maddening. Fortunately, he has erected a shield around Delinda so she is jumping up and down on the bed unharmed and safe, whooping with a shockingly bloodthirsty delight as her Papa takes out a Vampire, so old he must have been one of the first Masters, by literally tearing him limb from limb, saving his head for last.
They weren’t messing about when they sent him here to…? What? Kidnap her? Kill her?
“Remiel!” I shriek at him as he spins around, ready to kill the rest of us that arrived unannounced. “It’s just us!”
He stops his attack midway and regains his composure as if nothing had ever happened and he hadn’t just torn a Vampire to shreds in front of his daughter. “Aefre,” he says. “What in the devil is going on?”
“A good question,” I say, indicating he should release Delinda from her shield. He drops it and she bounces off the bed into my arms with flushed cheeks and a big smile.
“Papa was awesome!” she yells into my ear.
“Humph,” I mutter as I glare at Remiel. I am more than a little concerned about her ability to think this is fun and not scary and dangerous as all Hell. “I was also attacked downstairs.”
Remiel comes to me with concern on his face. “Are you harmed?” he asks, reaching for my arm.
“No, I saved her,” Frederick says before I can utter a word.
“Erm,” I say. “I could have handled that.”
“You froze,” he points out bluntly. “I don’t know the extent of your new abilities, but you were outmatched. You needed me.” The sly look on his face incenses CK.
“She does not need you,” he spits out. “And you were told never to come near her again.”
“But what a blessing that I was here, or she might not be alive to pop that child out for you,” Frederick says, turning to his old master and not backing down an inch from the rage that is brewing before him.
“Frederick,” I warn him. “Don’t.”
They glare at each other in silence for a moment before Frederick steps back with his hands up. “I am here to help, trust me on that.”
“I don’t trust you,” CK says, crossing his arms. “What are you doing here?”
“The bigger question is why did a bunch of Vampires come here to attack me and Delinda?” I interject, trying to get them to focus on something other than each other. In CK’s present mood, the last thing I need is him trying to kill my former love right in front of me...
“They said you were a diversion,” Frederick says. “They were after Delinda.”
Remiel lets out a low rumble and tries to grab her from me.
“Stop it,” I say as he tugs on her. I want her in my arms after this ordeal.
“This was their move,” CK says and then shoots me a look. “I told you they were being too quiet.”
“Their move?” I repeat with disbelief. “They want Delinda? What for?”
“I think that is obvious,” CK drawls.
“But her Light Fae side is so much stronger,” I argue.
“Which can also be used for the Vampires to walk in the sun, Aefre, remember?” CK says quietly and I swallow loudly and blanche as I remember that while her “power” is temporary, she is immortal, and I feel sick to think of her being imprisoned and used that way.
“Over my dead body,” Remiel growls and I thank the old gods that she has him to protect her. Frederick was right: I was pretty damn useless downstairs. I panicked, not wanting to put my unborn child at risk by jumping into the fray, but my daughter’s, and my own safety, was in jeopardy. I can never let that happen again.
“Mmph,” I mutter as the pain in my belly returns and I go lightheaded again. I squint at CK, who has raced to my side in order to grab Delinda before I drop her. I double over with a gasp.
“Dr. Hathaway, now!” he insists, taking my arm and Teleporting me downstairs and back into the messed-up doctor’s office.
Chapter 3
Ponte, Italy, October 2014 - Aefre