Page 101 of Grayson’s Challenge

“The same way Faye would have found Cain,” Grayson said, “if you hadn’t continued to pump him full of dead man’s blood.”

Something lit up in Abel’s eyes, and he pinned her with them. “A telepathic bond.” Abel shook his head in disbelief, though the movement was slow and barely perceivable, the pain this action cost him evident. “William should have told me. Useless bastard.”

Monique moved her head from side to side. “Still blaming everybody else for your failures. Yeah, you’re really not worth my time.” She looked at Isabelle and pointed to her belt. “May I, Isabelle?”

Isabelle handed her the stake, and Monique gripped it firmly.

Abel’s eyes widened as much as they could given the injuries to his face. “You wouldn’t—”

She slammed the stake into his heart. “Yeah, I would.”

Before her eyes, Abel dissolved into dust. A cell phone and a ring clattered to the floor, together with his belt buckle. Abel was no more.

She felt Grayson’s hand on hers, taking the stake from her. He handed it back to Isabelle.

“I’ve already called home to let them know that you’re okay, Monique,” Isabelle said.

Monique gave Isabelle a grateful smile. “Thank you.” Then she looked at the other vampires and hybrids in the room. “Thank you, all of you.”

“Let’s go home,” Grayson said softly.

She turned to him and locked eyes with him. The nightmare was over.

44

After returning to the Woodford residence with her rescuers, Monique and her parents had shed tears of joy, and she’d never hugged her parents so tightly. But there was still something on her chest that she had to take care of.

“Dad, can we talk?” she asked him. “Just you and I?”

Cain nodded, and she motioned to the stairs and ushered him to the guestroom the Woodfords had prepared for Faye. Once inside, she pulled the door shut behind them. He turned around to her, and she noticed that he wasn’t quite himself yet. The effects of the dead man’s blood he’d been injected with multiple times over the last few days had not completely waned.

He smiled at her. “So you and Grayson…”

“Yeah. You were right all along. We are made for each other.” She hesitated. “But there’s something…”

Monique tried to find the right words, and Cain waited patiently. She appreciated it.

“Oh, Dad, I’m so sorry for all the terrible things I said to you.” The words suddenly burst out of her. “It was out of line. I should have never spoken to you like that. I don’t hate you, Dad. I don’t. I love you, and when you were gone, and I was scared that I would never see you again, I felt so ashamed. And I wished I could turn back time. I hurt you, Dad, and I’m so sorry for that. It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t run out like that, if I’d come to the party with you and Mom, then maybe Abel wouldn’t have—”

“Stop, Monique,” Cain said softly and took her hand. “It’s not your fault. It was good that you weren’t there, or Abel would have gotten you too. And you know what would have happened then? He would have touched you…” Cain shook his head, a painful expression on his face. “It was fate that you and Grayson had to work together to rescue me and Samson. And it was fate that Grayson and you blood-bonded. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to rescue you.”

Cain pulled her into his arms and stroked his hand over her hair.

“I love you, Dad.”

“I love you too, sweetheart.”

She sniffled and lifted her head. “There’s something else. About the new Scanguards branch in New Orleans.”

“Yes?”

“I don’t want the job anymore.”

“I thought you wanted to lead the branch. What changed?”

“I realized that I’m too emotional to lead. Give the job to Grayson. He deserves it much more than I. He’s a good leader. He’s strong. He’s decisive. He doesn’t crack under pressure.”

Cain smiled. “That wouldn’t have anything to do with you wanting Grayson to move to New Orleans?”