Lifting her head, she looked wildly around.For some reason, this offense frightened her more than what justhappened. If the cops came by, they would be arrested. But no, herfather would have planned for that. He planned for everything.
They would have timed out the patrol of thepolice officers. He would have made sure there was a distraction incase this takedown coincided with any patrol occurring around now.And for all she knew, there wasn’t one.
But her father would know.
Half a dozen men and a couple of women joggedout of the shadows and homed in on Kyle. A scream lodged in herthroat, as did her words. She wanted to yell at them to stay away,but her lips were glued shut. She knew where they would take him,and she couldn’t stand the idea of Kyle in one of those cages.
But she didn’t say a word because shecouldn’t speak. Her voice had been as stolen from her as the littlemermaid’s was by the sea witch.
A buzzing like bees swarming her sounded inMelanie’s ears as she tried to process what was happening. Onesecond, Kyle was saying he loved her, and the next, he was turninginto a monster. One second, she was happier than she’d ever been inher life, and the next, she was a shellshocked version of thatwoman.
“Melanie, we have to go,” her father said ashe gripped her arm.
She didn’t resist him as four men lifted Kyleand started running with him through the park. She wasn’t entirelysure her feet were touching the ground as she jogged numblyalong.
She didn’t say anything as her father led herto the open back door of a waiting van. He turned her to him andpulled the mace from her pocket.
“Do you have any other weapons on you?” heasked.
Melanie blinked at him. When he repeated thequestion, she managed to whisper. “No.”
“Good,” he said before helping her into thevan.
Before he closed the doors, she spotted themloading Kyle into a different van. It wasn’t until the vehiclestarted and the floor beneath her feet vibrated that she realizedshe was as imprisoned as the vampires. No light infiltrated theback of the van; it had been reinforced with steel plates on allsides to ensure nothing broke out.
A wall divided the back of the cargo van fromthe two front seats. When the vehicle lurched forward, Melanieskidded on the floor before falling on her ass.
Her breath was knocked out of her, and ittook her a minute to get it back. The pain in her ass was nothingcompared to the wrenching of her heart as the full horror of whatwas happening sank in.
Barely able to keep herself from sobbing,Melanie crawled to the wall dividing the back of the van from thefront and leaned against it. She drew her knees up to her chest andhugged them close as the vehicle lurched and swayed through thecity.
It came to a stop soon after. She strained tohear anything beyond the walls as the seconds dragged on. She wason the verge of screaming, but the walls would muffle almost allnoise.
They’d taken Kyle. She knew what they woulddo to him, and though the discovery he was a monster incapable oflove was still fresh, she couldn’t stand the idea of them harminghim. And they also hadher.
Suddenly the back doors flew open, and theglow from the streetlights poured inside. Lucy jerked her arm awayfrom Melanie’s father, but he caught it again and spun her towardthe back of the van.
Then, Lucy’s eyes met hers, and her jawdropped. “Melanie!” she blurted. “What is going on? Whathappened?”
Melanie didn’t have a chance to explainbefore her father propelled a now limp Lucy into the back of thevan. Lucy was so stunned over seeing Melanie in the vehicle thatshe didn’t start fighting again until it was too late. She spunback toward the open doors and threw herself at them a second afterthey slammed shut.
“No!” she yelled as she battered her fistsagainst the doors. “Let us out of here! Let us out!”
Some of Melanie’s shock wore off, and sherealized what was happening. They were forcing them back to thefacility.
She’d been anxious about what they would doto Kyle; now, her attention shifted to what they would do to herand Lucy. They were about to be locked away again. And this time,they wouldn’t be let out.
They would pay for their defiance, and shewould pay for Kyle.
She scrambled toward the back doors. It waspointless, but she couldn’t stop herself from lowering her shoulderand ramming it against the steel plate covering the doors. She beatthe metal until her hands went numb and pain reverberated down herarms.
As she’d known they would be, her effortswere futile. The van lurched into motion again, and the vehicleswayed its way through the city. It occasionally stopped for whatshe assumed were red lights.
After a while, she retreated from the doorsand returned to the front of the van. Lucy remained by the doorsfor a few minutes before finally joining her. Her hand fumbled overMelanie’s shoulder before she settled onto the ground beside her,and they huddled together.
“What happened?” Lucy whispered.
No one could hear them. There was no place tohide a bug in here and no way for others to watch them but talkingin a normal voice seemedwrong.
