Kyle dropped to his knees, grunting with pain.
Xander put out an arm as though to protect his Beta. “Stop. We’ll go with you.”
I carried Monique toward her bedroom and threw a smile at my father. “Thanks, Dad.”
He nodded and walked to the front door. While his back was turned, I stared at Xander and tried to communicate everything I could with him.
I’m on your side. I’ll come for you.
He nodded, a tiny movement, but it was enough.
Then I marched into Monique’s bedroom and lay her on the bed. “Let’s get you naked, beautiful,” I said in a loud voice.
She wasn’t passed out, but she was... intoxicated. Barely able to move.
I used my magic to strip off her clothes, leaving her in her underwear for modesty. I needed this to look as real to my father as possible, but a corpse-like woman was one of the biggest turn-offs I could imagine.
She couldn’t give consent, let alone be enthusiastic.
I lay down beside her and began to stroke her body. Her face, her belly, smiling down into her drugged eyes.
Just as I expected, my father popped his head in.
I looked up at him, disgust dropping like a lead weight into my belly when I saw how happy he was to see me taking advantage of Monique in this way.
“We will set the wedding for tomorrow,” he said. “But take your time with her tonight. No-one will disturb you.”
Vomit.
“Thanks Dad.” I waved at him, pasting a happy smile on my face.
He left and I finally heard the front door shut.
I relaxed back onto the bed with a heavy sigh, taking a moment. Fuck, that had taken every bit of control I’d had.
Maybe Kyle had been right? Perhaps we should have just fought him now. But I wasn’t sure I could kill my father, or stand by while someone else did it. He was clearly crazy, but he was still my father, and I didn’t want him dead. I just wanted him to stop with the crazy.
But what if killing him was the only way to escape this realm? If my father died, his power over this realm and everything in it would transfer to me. That was something I hadn’t admitted to the wolves.
I should have... perhaps. But giving them another reason to want to kill my father hadn’t been something I could face.
Given what I knew were his plans for them... I was second-guessing that choice now.
Monique moaned beside me and I rolled off the bed and got to my feet.
I waved my hand over the bed, dressing her once more and withdrawing the love potion from her body.
She titled her head back and opened her mouth, the pink vapors rising up and into the air before dissipating into nothing.
I’d deliberately brewed a strong love potion, but with a very short lifespan. It had been wearing off even as I pulled it back out of her body.
Monique’s eyes sharpened suddenly, then she sat bolt upright, looking around with shock plastered on her face. “What the hell happened? Why am I in bed?”
Then she narrowed her eyes at me. “What did you do?”
I conjured up a stool, sat on it and explained everything that had happened while she was under my spell.
She jumped to her feet. “We have to go get them!”
I put up a hand. “Stop. We have to find a weakness in the veil, so when we find them, we can escape quickly. My father isn’t expecting us to come to him until tomorrow, so we have time to create an escape route first, and then we can rescue them.”
She planted her hands firmly on her hips and glared at me. “They could be dead by then.”
I shook my head. “No. If he wanted them dead, they’d be six feet under already.”
She inhaled sharply, worry creasing her eyes. “Then what do we do?”
“Sit down,” I said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do.”