Boundary Born (Boundary Magic Book 3) - Melissa F. Olson Page 0,76
to rise toward me. “I see that my son has hurt you,” he said disdainfully, eyeing the bruises on my face and neck. “That was not his place. You can be certain that I will have words with him when we get home.”
“Home?” I squeaked.
“To your brothers and sisters. They have been waiting for one such as you.”
My knees gave out then, and I collapsed into the grass on the other side of the driveway. Fear washed over me, and for the first time in my entire life, I didn’t bother to even fight it. He began to bend toward me—to take me, I think, but I didn’t care anymore. I was done.
And then Simon’s little Chevy plowed into the creature’s knees with enough force to send it exploding through my garage door.
The driver’s door flew open right in front of me, and Lily’s head popped out. “Get in the fucking car!” she screamed.
I stumbled to my feet and ran.
I don’t remember fastening my seat belt, or any of the ride, for that matter. There was a buzzing that wouldn’t stop, some bright lights, and my hands were clutched tight around my seat belt. I’d drawn my knees up to protect them, protect my insides. Eventually the car stopped, and my door was opened. There were voices, too, and they were raised, but I wasn’t registering any of it.
“I swear, Simon, we are deep in we need a bigger boat territory here. I don’t know what that thing was, but it was after her. And now she’s catatonic, and I don’t know what we’re supposed to do.”
“Did you look at the guy’s aura?”
“Uh, no, Si. I was a little too busy getting us the hell out of there before it ate us!”
“I highly doubt he was going to eat you. Could he have been her father?”
“Um, does she look half-blue to you?” Lily’s voice scoffed. “No way.”
“He wasn’t really blue, Lily. I told you, your eyes were playing tricks on you. You should have taken a picture.”
“Taken a . . . Are you kidding me?”
I wished they would stop. I wished they would just go away and leave me here. Maybe I could pass out, and Sam would be there, and she could explain. Or maybe she could get our mother to explain.
But would it even matter?
The voices eventually faded, or maybe my brain finally figured out how to tune them out. I stared at the dashboard, and time stopped meaning anything to me. It wasn’t meditation, and I’m not sure it was shock. I was just done. Time passed, and I was fine with that.
I started in my seat when a cool hand touched my cheek. I was still clutching the seat belt in front of my chest. I didn’t let go.
“Lex,” Quinn said quietly. He was kneeling awkwardly in the footwell of the passenger side. There was no sign of Simon or Lily. “What happened, honey?”
“That thing is my father,” I whispered. “I’m half monster.”
I let him reach across me and unclick the seat belt, then carefully thread it through the space between my arms and my body until it wound back into its spot. Gently, he grasped my ankles one at a time, sliding them off the seat. I didn’t resist when he reached down for me, just allowed him to wrap my hands around his neck and pull me out of the car. I couldn’t seem to find my footing, so I leaned against him, letting his arms keep me from crumpling.
He stroked my hair. “It’s okay,” he whispered.
“No. It’s really not.”
“Lex,” he said again, his voice patient. “Look at me.” But I couldn’t. He reached down and tilted up my chin. “You’re talking to a vampire,” he said, with just a trace of humor on his lips. “I have to drink human blood in order to function. I can press any human to do anything I want. I’ve killed people, Lex. For no other reason than my boss said it was necessary. Who’s the monster here?”
The first tear wobbled its way down my cheek. He reached up with a cool thumb and wiped it off my face. “I guess I’d just gotten used to the new world order,” I mumbled. “Vampires, witches, werewolves. But that thing we saw wasn’t any of them, and it wasn’t human. And I’m its daughter.” My body began to shudder. He held me tighter.
“And now that you know this, are you any different than you were yesterday?” he asked. Pragmatic,