by Lola Gabriel
“And neither has Josh,” Cedric finished for her. “You’re not actually suggesting Josh, my best friend, would be working with Fabian behind my back, are you?”
“No,” Cassie said. “Of course not. And like I said, it’s probably nothing, but I really don’t feel good about this, Cedric, and you’re the one who is always telling me to trust my gut instincts.”
“Okay,” Cedric said, standing up. “You’re right, I do say that. Let’s go back to Laila’s place and take a look around, see if we can find any clues as to where she might have gone.”
“How will we do that?” Cassie asked.
“You’re her landlady. Use your key,” Cedric said.
“What if she comes home and catches us in there?” Cassie protested as she followed Cedric out of his house and toward Laila’s place.
“Well, hopefully your instincts will kick in and tell us when she’s on her way,” Cedric grinned.
Cassie opened her mouth to tell Cedric off for mocking her, but she closed it again when she saw Gretel, one of the pack, hurrying toward them. Gretel’s expression looked grim.
“I was just on my way to your place, Cedric,” she said. “I was just down at the store and old Mavis Tierney approached me. She looked freaked out and I asked her what was wrong. She said she saw a woman being dragged into a car. I quizzed her and it was one of Fabian’s cars. Don’t worry, I gave Mavis some water under the pretense of calming her down and I slipped a little memory potion in it so she won’t remember seeing anything untoward, but I think Fabian has taken someone and people are going to notice someone is missing. We can’t wipe the whole town’s memories.”
Cassie and Cedric exchanged a glance and Cedric turned back to Gretel.
“Did Mavis know the person who was taken?” he asked.
“No,” Gretel said. “She didn’t recognize her. She said she had long, blonde hair. Curly hair, I think she said.”
“Thank you, Gretel. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it,” Cedric said.
Gretel nodded and began to walk away. Cedric glanced at Cassie and started walking, now heading in the direction of Main Street and the mountains behind it.
“Don’t even think about saying I told you so,” he said.
“I wasn’t going to,” Cassie said, running a few steps to catch up with Cedric, who was moving with a lot more urgency now. “What are you going to do? You can’t go up there alone to fight Fabian. He has guys up there that are loyal to him. You know that.”
“I’m not going to fight him. I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse,” Cedric said. “Don’t ask me what the offer is because I don’t know yet, but I’ll work it out on the way up there.”
“I’m coming with you,” Cassie said instantly. “And don’t even think about arguing with me. You might be our leader, but you’re still my brother and that means I get to have a say when your safety is at risk.”
* * *
Cedric did want to argue with Cassie. Fabian was damned dangerous and he didn’t want Cassie getting mixed up with the dark side of their species, not because of him, but he knew it was pointless to argue with her. Alpha or not, when Cassie’s mind was made up, she didn’t take orders from anyone.
They walked in silence, both of them lost in their own thoughts as they headed toward the mountains. Cedric had debated going back for his car, but he figured it might be better to be able to sneak up on the castle and have a scout around before his presence there was noticed and there was no way he could do that in his car.
Although he was angry with Fabian for taking Laila, and worried about her safety, he was also a bit excited. The fairies of Greer all knew that Fabian occasionally dabbled a bit as a Matchmaker, and if he had an interest in Laila, that could well mean that she had Sanmere in her blood. That could only be a good thing, assuming he could get her back before Fabian sold her off to the highest bidder. He figured he could. She hadn’t been missing long and Fabian would have to find a buyer for her and have them get to the castle to collect her, which could take time. Unless he already had a buyer up there waiting for her. Cedric refused to listen to that thought. It was too much for him to even bear thinking about.
“You know, I’m starting to think it’s time we did something about Fabian’s presence here,” Cassie said from beside him, pulling him back out of his thoughts at just the right moment to cut off the voice of doubt in his head. “This Matchmaking thing is sick, and I hate having him so close to us. And if anyone ever gives our secret away, it’ll be him. Like Gretel said, we can’t wipe the memories of the whole town, and sooner or later, Fabian is going to take someone that makes people sit up and take notice. That means cops. And that means IDs, real ones, which none of us have.”
As much as Cedric wanted to dismiss Cassie’s worries as pointless, he knew she was right. The humans in Greer already had a legend about a castle in the mountains where a dark fae lived. A dark fae who took women. In the story, he kept them a prisoner in his castle rather than selling them, but it still wasn’t good that they knew so much. And if that story got into the hands of the police, Cedric knew it wouldn’t be good. They wouldn’t believe it at first—who would?—but all it took was one immortal on the force who gave the theory a bit of thought and looked into it. It wouldn’t lead to Cedric or the pack being arrested, but it wouldn’t bode well for him as an alpha that he had a Matchmaker right on his doorstep and he hadn’t taken care of it yet.
And then there was Laila. He wasn’t entirely sure he could convince her to keep all of this quiet, even if he managed to rescue her. That would mean using a memory potion on her, and the thought of tampering with the mind of someone his fae recognized as his mate was almost unthinkable to him.
“Yeah, you’re right,” he admitted. “Let’s sort out this thing with Laila, and then we’ll talk to the pack and come up with a way to rid Greer of Fabian’s influence once and for all.”
7
Laila’s jaw dropped when the man before her tried to claim he was her father. She didn’t know what she had really been expecting him to say, but it most definitely hadn’t been that.
“You look surprised,” he smiled.
“I’m surprised you think I would be stupid enough to fall for that,” Laila said, forgetting for a moment that this man could well be dangerous. “My father died when I was just a baby. So why don’t you tell me what you really want with me?”
“Your father died when you were a baby, huh? Is that what Polly told you?” the man smiled.
Laila’s heart skipped a beat.
“How do you know my mother’s name? Or my name, for that matter?” she asked.
The man sighed and sat down on a chair opposite where Laila sat.
“I know your name because you are my daughter, Laila. And I know Polly’s name because she’s the one who stole you away from me. I’m Fabian, by the way. I think it’s only fair you should know my name when I know yours, don’t you?” Fabian said.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Laila demanded, ignoring his introduction.
Polly had stolen her? Fabian was clearly mentally ill or something.
“Polly posed as a midwife and got quite friendly with my wife, your actual mother,” Fabian explained. “Your mother went into labor while I was at work in the town. Polly didn’t bother to call me. And by the time I came home from work, your mother was dead, murdered on the very bed she gave birth on. And you were gone. I always wondered what your mother thought of me for not being there for your birth. If Polly pretended she had called me and I just never showed up. But in the big scheme of things, that was the least of my worries.
“I called the police, of course, but by then, hours might have passed for all I knew. The police never found Polly, and in the end, they closed the investigation. I hired a private investigator of my own. He was able to find out that Polly was never a midwife. Before she moved to Greer, she had lost a child of her own. Stillborn. I believe she took you as her replacement child. She w
as clearly mentally ill. It gave me hope in a way, though—it meant she wasn’t likely to hurt you and that meant I still might be able to find you and bring you home with me.
“The private investigator found out that your birth had been registered, and that your name was Laila Kent. And that was it. He couldn’t find hide nor hair of Polly, and in the end, I had to accept that you weren’t to be found. I never gave up hope, though. Not fully.”
“And what? I turned up here and you just assumed I was your prodigal daughter for no apparent reason?” Laila asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Not quite,” Fabian smiled. “I saw you on Sunday. You were coming out of the library. I did a double-take when I saw you. It was like your mother had come back to life and not aged a day. I told myself it had to be a coincidence how much you looked like her, because the chances of you ending up here of all places was so small as to be impossible. But I couldn’t let go of the idea that you could be my daughter. In the end, I called my private investigator again, Alan, the man who brought you here today, and he confirmed that you were indeed Laila Kent and that you were the same Laila Kent who had been registered as born to Polly Kent.”
Laila took a moment to try to process everything he was telling her. She wanted to just dismiss it as nonsense. As if Polly wasn’t her real mother! As if Polly had killed a woman and stolen her baby! It was absurd. But there seemed to be something genuine about the way Fabian spoke, something that felt like there was a certain truth in his words.
He reached into his pocket and Laila flinched. Fabian didn’t seem to notice. He pulled his hand back out of his pocket holding a wallet. He opened it and smiled sadly into it. He turned back to Laila. It was like he had forgotten she was there for a moment.
“I know this all sounds crazy, but seriously, take a look at this picture and tell me I’m wrong,” Fabian said.
He handed Laila his wallet, opened to a photograph. Laila felt a shudder of fear run through her.
“Why do you have a photograph of me in your wallet?” she asked.
God, he’s some sort of crazed stalker type, she thought to herself. But he didn’t seem crazy. He seemed rational. Normal.
“You see it, then,” he smiled. “You must if you think that’s a photograph of you. Look at the photo again, Laila. Look at the background of it.”
Laila did as he said, simply because she didn’t know what else to do. Her eyes widened when she saw the castle she was in right now in the background of the picture. She studied the woman carefully and now she saw a few subtle differences. Her eyes were brown, not blue. And she was a couple of inches taller than Laila. She looked up at Fabian and he smiled again.
“That’s your mother,” he said. “It was taken a couple of weeks before she got pregnant with you.”
“I… but…” Laila stuttered.
She stopped even trying to form words. She didn’t even know what she wanted to say. She kind of believed Fabian, but to fully believe him meant believing that her mom wasn’t her mom. It meant believing the woman she loved most in the world was a crazy murderer.
“Was Polly kind to you, Laila?” Fabian asked.
That was something Laila could answer. She smiled as she thought of her mom.
“My mom is the best mom in the world,” she said, meaning it.
“She’s not your damned mother!” Fabian snapped.
Laila jumped and he shook his head.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to shout like that. But try to understand how hard it is for me to hear you say that woman who killed your real mom and took you from me is your mom.”
Laila fell silent again. She wouldn’t betray her mom by calling her anything other than her mom, but she didn’t want to antagonize Fabian into harming her.
“I’m sorry,” he said again. “I’m glad she was kind to you, Laila, but it doesn’t change the fact that I believe you are my daughter. And no, I don’t expect you to just take my word for it. Wait here a moment.”
He got up and left the room. Laila debated running, just running down the mountainside, going home, getting in her car, and driving away from Greer, from Fabian, from handsome strangers who made her feel all tingly inside, and never looking back. But still, despite everything, she was curious. It was such a strange story for anyone to make up, and Fabian did seem to know details of her early life. And there was no doubting the woman in the picture was almost her double. But Fabian was young, way too young to be her father. None of what he was saying could possibly be true.
Fabian returned to the room, and Laila half kicked herself for missing her chance to leave, and half congratulated herself for staying to see what else he had to say. He carried a box in his hands which he showed to Laila.
“It’s a DNA testing kit to see if I’m your father or not. If you’re willing to find out for sure if you’re my daughter, all we need to do is take a little swab from the inside of each of our cheeks and send it back to the lab. I bought it when Alan, that’s my private investigator, confirmed you were my daughter. Are you willing to do it?” Fabian said.
Laila took the box from him and read over the instruction booklet inside. It looked legit, like it was really from a lab. Would it hurt to find out for sure one way or the other?
“What happens when we get the results, assuming I do the test?” she asked.
“Well, if I’m right about this, I would like to get to know you, but if you don’t want that, I’ll understand. Just knowing you’re okay and you had a good life will have to be enough for me. And if I’m wrong? Well, I guess I’ll go back to wondering where my daughter is and what sort of life she has. And, of course, I’ll owe you one hell of an apology,” Fabian said.
Laila’s curiosity was aroused enough that she felt herself nodding her head.
“Okay. Let’s do it,” she said.
She couldn’t help but wonder whether he really would have taken no for an answer if she’d decided not to do it, but she ignored the thought. She would never know now, would she?
Fabian opened up the swabs and handed one to Laila. She rubbed it on the inside of her cheek as Fabian did the same with his. She put it in the test tube he held out. He put his in a matching one and sealed them both in the included envelope.
“And now we wait,” Fabian smiled. “I’ll get this mailed in the morning and we should have the results back within a week. Laila, I know this is going to sound strange, but would you consider staying here in the castle with me until we get the results?”
“Do I have a choice?” Laila asked, feeling afraid again, remembering the flash of the gun as Alan told her to get into the car.
“Of course you have a choice,” Fabian said, looking genuinely surprised that she would even ask such a question. “I only suggested it because honestly, I’m afraid you’ll skip town before the results come back.”
“I have no intention of leaving Greer,” Laila said. “I have a job here, a house. I’m not going anywhere. But if you’re serious about there being a choice, I want to go home,” Laila said.
“Why were you so sure that you wouldn’t have a choice?” Fabian asked.
“Well, your little henchman who brought me here made it quite clear he had a gun and I got the distinct impression I didn’t have a choice about coming here in the first place,” Laila said.
“Oh God, Laila, I’m sorry. I told Alan to do whatever it took to convince you to hear me out. I meant talk to you, make you understand why I needed to talk to you. I see he misunderstood me. I certainly didn’t mean for him to threaten you. You must have been terrified,” Fabian said, looking horrified.
Laila felt herself smiling. Fabian’s reaction was genuine—she could see that much. And she felt much better knowing he thought she had just been persuaded to come and talk to him and not threatened into it.
“Yeah, it was a little unnerving, to say the least,” she agreed.
Fabian shook his head again.
“There’s an understatement if ever I heard one,” he said.
“I was going to ask Alan to give you a ride home, but obviously I need to have a little talk with him before he is allowed near you again. I will take you home myself,” Fabian said.
He stood up and Laila stood up too.
“It’s really not necessary. I can walk home,” she said.
“Nonsense,” Fabian said. “You must already think badly enough of me after the way you were brought here. I won’t have you thinking I also let you walk home alone.”
Laila smiled and nodded her head.
“Then thank you. That would be great,” she said.
Fabian led her down the hallway and outside of the castle. He led her to a car and opened the passenger side door for her. She thanked him and got in. He made his way to the driver’s side of the car and got in.
“You’re very trusting,” Laila said, nodding to the keys that sat in the ignition.
“No one ever comes up here except my staff,” he shrugged. “Which leads me to ask a favor of you. If we get a positive test result and you’re willing to let me into your life in any way, then I will quite happily shout it from the rooftops. Until then, I would ask that you keep this meeting between us. The townspeople have a rather bad impression of me, I’m afraid, and I would rather that wasn’t passed on to you just yet.”
Laila nodded and Fabian winced.
“I can see from your expression that I’m a little late to stop you from hearing bad things about me. Let me guess. You’ve heard the charming little local legend that says I keep women as prisoners here?” he said.
“I didn’t honestly put it together that the story was about you until now, but yes,” Laila said.
“I should have just kept quiet,” Fabian sighed. “But I had no idea they would have started spewing their nonsense already. Apparently, it’s a crime to keep to oneself around here. You know the legend also says I’m some sort of immortal wizard, right?”
He grinned at her and started the engine as he said it. She felt herself relaxing a bit now that he was heading back toward the town.