We finally arrive back at my grandmother’s and to my great disappointment, there is no message from my solicitor. My grandmother is in, and I decide to have a chat with her, update her on matters of my new home and apologize about well — to be frank — being a complete bitch about the whole Protectors thing.
Just because I was upset about her not telling me what she knows, doesn’t mean she cares less, and after what I’d seen in the woods, I wonder how much everyone’s silence is related to fear? Still, if Grandma Eve knows anything about the prophecy, she’s going to tell me whether she likes it or not.
Walking into the sitting room, I’m shocked at how old she looks. It’s as if she’s aged ten years in less than a day.
“Oh my god, are you okay?” I demand as I rush to her side. Kneeling beside her chair, I reach toward her and grasp her hands in mine. “What’s happened? Are…”
“I’m fine, Candi. I am so glad to see you. I thought you’d gone. I thought I had driven you away like your mother,” sobs Eve, distressed at the thought of history repeating itself.
“Like my mother? What do you mean?”
“I drove your mother away, because I wouldn’t support her relationship with your father.” Eve gulps in a large breath of air before carrying on. “I had warned your mother about The Protectors, but she was deeply in love with your father, and he felt the same.
“Yet a warning had already been sent, and I had pleaded with your parents to separate. They refused. I told them I wouldn’t help them, hoping they would go their separate ways if they thought there was no one to help, but they left and I never saw them again.
“They wrote to me when you were born, and your mother wrote to me when your father was murdered, and that was the last time I heard from your mum. If I had been more supportive, if I...”
“They would still be dead and so would you, Grandma,” I interrupt. My grandmother’s grip on my hands tightens as if she can prevent me from leaving unlike my mother.
“Mum and Dad talked about you often, and I grew up with knowledge of you and a picture of you by my bedside, and one of you and Mum on the mantel piece. They loved you and told me often how much they missed you. I once asked Mum why I’d never met you, and she told me it wasn’t safe. For us to go back would endanger you. She wrote you letters every week, and after she signed them she would burn them.”
“Why did she never post them?”
I watch as a look of puzzlement flickers across her face, before my grandmother focuses her attention back on me. I see regret and confusion swirling in her gray eyes, as well as sadness and grief.
“Because she was terrified they wouldn’t reach you and someone would find us. The letter Mum sent you after Dad was murdered was sent because we were moving. They knew where we were. Sending the letter wouldn’t matter for we’d gone by then,” I explain.
“Why did you think you had driven me away?” I gently ask turning my hand so I held my grandmother’s back.
“Because you were gone. I haven’t heard from you since you left me at lunch. That was two days ago,” sighs Eve, with a note of reproof in her voice.
“Oh my God, oh no, it’s just so much has happened,” I exclaim. “I found a body in the woods.”
A shocked gasp escapes with her questions, “What? When?”
“After I left you at lunch.” My grip on her hand tightens as I prepare to tell her the final part. “He was mortal and was murdered by The Protectors.”
“No, you can’t be right.” She shakes her head in shocked denial. “Humans are safe…” Trailing off, Eve stares at the ceiling as if it holds the answers she’s looking for.
Changing the subject before I tell more than I should, I tell Grandma Eve my news about the house and my hope that I would be able to move in by the weekend. After discussing furniture and what work needs to be done to the house, we eventually call it a night.
Wishing my gran a good night, I quickly look in on
Jasmine and find her fast asleep. I climb the stairs and prepare for bed. I’m so exhausted I’m surprised I don’t fall asleep while getting undressed. With a jaw breaking yawn, I finally crawl into bed.
Chapter 6
On waking up, I feel rejuvenated and relieved at having spoken to my grandmother. I hadn’t realized how upset I felt, not at the argument itself, but by the lack of communication between us. I hadn’t realized Grandma Eve blamed herself for the deaths of my parents. I feel relieved I’d put her mind at ease, and so I decide I will do something nice for her.
I quickly get myself washed and dressed and head downstairs for breakfast before heading out for my morning run. Zipping up my lightweight jacket, I call Jasmine, lock up, and pocket my keys. By silent agreement, we head toward the woods, but away from where the murder happened.
We run in silence.
The only sound the pounding of my footsteps and the lighter padding of her paws in rhythm with mine. There is the occasional snap of a twig underneath our feet and the wind rustling the leaves of the surrounding trees like a parent would fondly ruffle the hair of their children.
Squirrels run back and forth as they gather nuts for their families. The birds gather worms to feed their young. The further we run the lighter I feel.
I know we made the right choice keeping secret that Jasmine is a shapeshifter. With a crazy unknown man out there, it’s safer this way; otherwise I’d fear he’d come after my grandmother. Of the three of us, she’s the one most easily found on her own. Also, with us moving out in less than a week, safety is the key.
****
After a couple of miles, I become aware the gentle rustling of the wind had changed to a more distinct whipping of a storm brewing quick and fast. As one we turn around, pick up our speed, and head back the way we’d just come.
A rumble of thunder growls overhead, and the sky opens up crying out her anger and frustration. Another rumble races across the sky, followed by a flash of lightning, and the rain beats down harder and faster drenching us in seconds.
Speeding up, we run even faster, just as another rumble of furious thunder grumbles and growls, followed by a blazing fork of lightning striking farther into the woods, as the crash of thunder roars overhead.
I can feel the heat from the lightning bolt as it zings over my head, and in that split second I know where it has landed. The trees and earth are being cleansed from the act of violence that had taken place and with a gut wrenching instinct, I know something has happened to the only drop of blood from the killer. Gritting my teeth, I run faster and finally break out of the woods and race toward the house.
I quickly phone the fire brigade and then the number Detective Kheda gave me.
“What happened to the blood sample?” I demand when he answers the phone.
“How did you know something happened to it?” enquires Kheda, surprise and frustration layering his voice in equal measures.
“Mother Nature just cleansed the area, and she is very pissed off,” I reply. “Now what happened?”
“Someone broke in and destroyed all the blood samples and results. I can’t be sure if our sample was the one they were after or if it’s just an unlucky coincidence.”
“Fuck. Okay I have to go.” I hang up in frustration. I can’t or won’t believe this happened by chance. The lab was broken into, and all blood samples destroyed on the night we find and hand in the killer’s blood. I grow more determined to find the killer, and the answers about how The Protectors came about, and why.
****
I tell Jasmine what Detective Kheda said as we head upstairs to get showered and changed. I let her shower first and when she exits the bathroom, she is in dog form but smelling of my shampoo and shower gel.
After I have showered and dressed, we head back downstairs and I prepare some brunch for us. I stare out the window, without seeing anything. My thoughts chasing around my head, I feel unsettled and restless.
Thinking about the destroyed blood, I decide to send Victor a text message to keep him updated. I know I would be seriously pissed off if no one had informed me. Thinking of Victor sleeping, I wonder if he sleeps naked, as an image of his gloriously muscled body lying naked beneath cotton sheets flashes across my mind. I release an involuntary moan.
Needing a distraction from my wayward thoughts, I decide to cook dinner for my gran. Writing out a shopping list, I quickly put on my shoes, grab my purse and keys, and collect my phone, and leave through the front door, lock up and climb into my car before driving to the locale supermarket.
I arrive at the store and realize I’ve forgotten the shopping list. With a grumble of annoyance, I stalk into the supermarket and snag a basket, pausing to decide what I need to buy for dinner. With a huff of annoyance, I go to the fruit and veg aisle, collect some potatoes, carrots, and leeks, and then I move on to the meat counter and pick up some pork chops.
I look at the spices and collect some garlic, chives, and paprika, all I now need is a bottle of wine and some dessert. I pick up a fresh cream cake and ice cream and a bottle of white wine before heading to the checkout to pay for my purchases. As I near the cashier, conversations cease around me. Hmmm, I wonder what they were saying?
“Please don’t stop gossiping on my account.” I cheekily smile.
Someone gives a gasp of shock, and from behind me comes a rich deep laugh, like melted chocolate running over rich velvet, dark and deeply sensual.
Turning around I look into Victor’s face, with a sigh of appreciation.
“Hello, Victor, how are you?” I politely ask as I mentally strip him of all of his clothes and an image of him naked in bed flashes before my eyes, but this time I’m curled up beside him just as naked. Bad girl, do try to behave, I mentally tell myself off as I suppress a lascivious grin spreading across my face.
“I’m very well, thank you, and I must say you’re looking quite delectable,” replies Victor with a wicked glint in his eyes, and a knowing smirk on his face.
Damn, can he read minds, or was I being a little obvious when I was checking him out?
A snigger behind me snaps me out of my mental debate. With an embarrassed flush, I turn around toward the lady at the tills and empty my shopping basket. I pack my items as soon as they are scanned, pay for them, and wish everyone a nice day. I say goodbye to Victor and calmly leave the shop.
In reality, I want to smack the sniggering woman. I had noticed the spiteful look in her eyes when I’d turned away from Victor, but thoughts of harm happening to my gran, kept me from doing anything stupid.