Page 97 of Thunder with a Chance of Lovestruck
I started to protest, but Robin put his hand over mine.
“Do what she asked, Rachael,” he said.
I listened, pulling off onto the shoulder of the highway. Thankfully there weren’t many cars on the road right now. I put the Jeep in park. “Okay. I’m pulled over. What’s up?”
“Your uncle and brother were released six months ago,” she said, her voice trailing off slightly.
Robin gasped. “What?”
I gripped the wheel tight, shaking my head, not believing what I was hearing. “No. They’d never let them out.”
“They did,” she said. “And from what my sources told me, they were released at the same time and pretty much given the royal treatment on their way out the door.”
Robin put his hands on his knees, his breathing increasing. “This is bad. Really bad. It means they had help from people in power.”
“And it explains what else I have to tell you,” said Sherri.
“Oh God, what else could there be?” I asked, scared to hear her response.
“I’m seeing chatter on the hunter underground forums that zombie-like creatures are popping up in large numbers. That these creatures, like a zombie, love munching on brains, but they’re something different—something more. I nearly wrote it off until I noticed several people comment on the fact the creatures look almost stitched together.”
I thought for sure I’d be sick then and there. “They’re making monsters again?”
“I think so,” she whispered. “And, Rachael, the sightings of these things are coming from South Carolina and the surrounding states. Looks like the activity is primarily focused in—”
“Grimm Cove,” I whispered.
Robin’s head snapped up. “Demi!”
My foot was slamming down on the accelerator before he could say anything else.
ChapterThirty-Three
Drest
Drest heldthe photograph of his daughter Astria had given him. He had yet to set it down, despite it being hours since he’d been given it. A quick glance toward the dining room study window showed the sun had already set.
Drest hadn’t realized that much time had passed since he’d first gotten to the old home and discovered Stratton with Astria. The day had been a whirlwind following that. He’d been able to speak briefly with Astria and Stratton before others had arrived. In that time, he’d learned that his daughter had enough Nightshade Fae in her that Rachael had sought help in hiding her. That help had come from Rhys of all people.
He'd secured a containment pendant for Demi that had been presented to her shortly after birth. It was something that normally only happened to those in the Nightshade who were part of the Keepers Guild. They were game wardens for things like demons, goblins, and any other Dark Fae that needed to be supervised. The majority of them worked within the Fae prison system, tending to the prisons, holding facilities, and so on, but they also controlled and monitored the pendants.
If a child were destined for the Keepers Guild, they’d be awarded their first pendant at their gifting ceremony on their fifteenth birthday. But that hadn’t been the case with Astria or Demi.
They’d gotten them at birth as a way to hide in plain sight.
Being a pendant wearer came with a strange side effect. The inability to be sensed by others. It made sense now that Drest thought harder on why Rhys would make sure Demi had a pendant. The Nightshade Clan was well known for thinking themselves above all others. For looking down their noses at anyone or anything that wasn’t full-blooded Fae.
Some of the old regime would sooner kill someone with muted blood than have them walk among them. Seeing as how Drest was a member of the single most powerful family in the Nightshade Clan, having a “diluted one” among them could lead others to think it was okay to taint the bloodlines. Drest thought it was all total and utter crap, thought up by men who had lost touch with reality hundreds, if not thousands of years ago.
Fate obviously hadn’t agreed with them either, considering the fact it had made Drest and Rachael mates. And even if Fate had somehow made a mistake, he didn’t care. He would never change Rachael. He’d love her no matter what.
If the last thirty-six years hadn’t proved that, he wasn’t sure what would.
He held the photo tighter in his hand, staring at the product of their love. Demi looked a lot like Rachael. She was beautiful.
“Demi,” he said softly before chuckling. He finally had a name to go with his child. Now he just needed to figure out where she and Rachael were.
Having Astria in his life again gave him the hope he needed to keep going. He’d find them no matter what.
