Slade

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Slade

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* * * *

Melody sucked in her breath. “No,” she answered. “Are they absolutely positive?”

I nodded. “Yeah. Liam found...” I stopped myself from saying ‘their remains’. “He found them. It was too late.”

“He saw their bodies?” asked Chelsey.

I turned back to look at her. “Yes. I’m... sorry for your loss,” I replied gravely, although it sounded inadequate, even to me.

Her jaw tightened and Chelsey looked away. She looked so utterly beautiful and vulnerable, her full lips trembling in the darkness.

“What about my mother?” asked Melody, fighting tears. “Or our grandmother? Do they know for sure if they were also killed?”

“Unfortunately, it sounds like the Roamers may have murdered them all.”

“How in the hell did they find out where we even lived?” cried Chelsey. “I just don’t get it. How they could have worked so fast?”

“Maybe from your friend Susan,” I answered, resisting the urge to pull over and offer some kind of comfort to the girls. Not just a pathetic – “I’m sorry your parents were ripped to pieces. Where to now?” But, I needed to keep my distance. Even now I had to ignore the tantalizing smell of their youthful bodies, which wasn’t easy. I hungered for Melody’s blood, but I ached for Chelsey in ways that I’d denied myself for decades.

“Actually, I lost my purse after they kidn*pped me,” said Melody, grabbing a napkin. She wiped the dampness from her cheeks. “My driver’s license was in there. Along with my fake one.”

“That and Caleb knew my address, too,” muttered Chelsey.

“Susan spoke to him after we left the club,” said Melody. “I’m sure he called Faye right away. He’s definitely involved.”

“He’s a Roamer,” I replied. “And, he works for Faye. Of course he’s involved.”

“What do we do now?” asked Melody, staring ahead at the road.

“We find you a place to rest. Somewhere safe,” I answered. “We’ll talk about what to do afterwards.”

Neither of them answered. I turned up the stereo again and we drove in silence.

*****