41. Abbey

41

ABBEY

Abbey hid the only place she could think of—she crawled under her bed, which wasn't easy to do with her vision making everything into a big, dark, scary blur. But somehow she managed it and then she just lay there, heart pounding as she listened to the footsteps outside the door.

She'd considered trying to get out the window, but the handyman Aunt Rose had hired to paint her room last year had painted it shut. Abbey had tried several times to get it open, but it simply wouldn't budge, no matter what she did. She'd been meaning to take a knife to the paint at the seams—after all, it was a fire hazard not to be able to get out—but somehow she had never gotten around to it.

So now here she was, hiding under the bed like a scared little girl hoping and praying that the intruder would give up looking for her and leave. But so far it seemed her hopes were in vain because she could still hear him pacing around out there.

Then she heard her doorknob rattle.

"What's this? You locked me out?" the intruder asked. "For shame, Abbey—and I thought you missed me! Well, I guess I'll just have to get in by myself."

As something heavy thudded against her bedroom door and the lock rattled, Abbey nearly screamed. Oh God, he was coming in—there was no way he wasn't going to break the lock. It wasn't strong enough to keep him out.

Thud…thud…THUD! CRACK!

Sure enough, the door gave way. And then Abbey heard the footsteps coming into her room.

"Did you miss me like I missed you, babe?" he asked casually, as though he hadn't just broken down the door of her room. "You know, I had forgotten all about you until I saw you in the news. And then I remembered how you were the one—the only one—who ever got away from me. Which is why I decided I needed to come back for you—come back and finish the job."

Abbey shoved a fist in her mouth to keep back the cry of terror that rose in her throat. At the side of her neck, she could feel Spex trembling in fear. The little Eye-pet was absolutely quiet, though. The two of them huddled in the darkness under the bed like a pair of rabbits trying to avoid the wolf.

"Oh please," Abbey prayed silently, though she didn't even know who she was praying to. "Please send someone to save us! Please don't let this be the end!"

"Courage, daughter—I am with you, even in danger."

The warm, feminine voice filled her inner ear, but Abbey had a feeling she was the only one who could hear it. With it, came a warm presence that wrapped around her like a homemade quilt.

"Who are you?" she thought at it, not daring to speak aloud.

"I am the Mother of All Life and I say to you now that your life will not end here. Be of good heart—help is coming to you!"

"It is? From where? From who?" Abbey thought frantically, but the warm voice and the presence that went with it were suddenly gone.

"I know you're in here." It was his voice again—Henry's voice—the Wheelchair Killer. The serial killer that her guide dog, Major, had saved her from. But Major was gone now and Spex was too little to do anything but hide, shivering in her hair.

Abbey tried to hold onto the warm and comforting feeling she'd felt when the voice spoke to her, but it was terribly hard to do with a serial killer creeping around her bed, looking for her.

Suddenly, a hard hand grabbed her by the ankle.

"Got you!" His voice was triumphant—like a hunter that's bagged an especially good trophy. "Come out, little blind girl—it's time to play!"

"No! No!" Abbey shrieked, kicking wildly. She wasn't going without a fight!

"Whoa—hold still now, babe," Henry—if that was even his name—crooned as he grabbed for her other leg. "It'll all be over soon if you just…hold…st?—"

But his last word ended in a choked-off gurgle. The hand on Abbey's ankle tightened at first and then let go abruptly.

Abbey yanked her legs back under the bed just as she heard a low, animalistic growl. And then a flat crack! Then silence.

She lay there, trembling under the bed, not knowing what had happened. Tears were streaming silently from her eyes and she didn't dare to move. What was going on out there? What had happened to her attacker? Where?—?

"Lelka? Are you there? Are you all right?"

The deep, rumbling voice was the most welcome sound Abbey could imagine. Gasping and crying, she crawled out from under the bed, aware that she was probably extremely dusty and not caring a bit.

"Solon?" she gasped, reaching for him. "Where are you?"

"Here, lelka—I'm here." And then the big Monstrum was gathering her into his arms and holding her close to his broad chest.

Abbey broke down completely. Pressing her face to the side of his neck, she sobbed out all the terror and tension she'd been feeling just moments ago. Solon said nothing—he just held her and stroked her trembling back and shoulders, letting her know that everything was all right now. She clung to him and breathed him in, taking his Bonding Scent deep into her lungs—the scent of love and of protection and of safety. The scent that meant she was finally home.

"How?" she managed to get out at last, when her sobs had tapered to sniffles. "How did you know to come to me tonight? Did…did you come over to try and get back together?" she added hopefully.

"I'm afraid not," he rumbled. "The Goddess warned me you were in danger so I came as soon as I could. I saw your front door standing open, which I knew wasn't right since you humans always lock your domiciles. Then I heard that male calling for you." His voice dropped to a growl. "Is he the one who attacked you before? The one your faithful canine saved you from?"

"Yes—the Wheelchair Killer," Abbey confirmed. "He…he's killed fifteen women and girls. And he was trying to make me number sixteen," she added, feeling sick.

"Well, he won't get a chance to kill anyone else because he's dead himself," Solon said flatly. "This time I didn't waste time with punishment—I just broke his neck."

Abbey remembered the flat crack! she'd heard as she hid under the bed and shivered.

"Oh my God—is…is that his body?" she asked, nodding at a dark blur in the middle of her tan carpet. For once she was glad she couldn't see details clearly.

"Afraid so. I think we need to call your authorities. We might want to call the human lawyer, Lizabeth Paige first, though," he added. "At least I have a witness who can testify on my behalf this time."

"You do? Who—me? Because I didn't, uh, see anything, though I can certainly tell them how he was trying to drag me out and…and…" But Abbey couldn't make herself say the words.

"No, actually I have my friend Brone with me. Brone?" he rumbled and a large, dark shape appeared in the doorway.

"Sorry, I was trying to give you guys some privacy. Yeah, I saw it all—I was here for backup but Solon didn't need me. He snapped that guy's neck like a fucking chicken bone," a deep male voice said.

"Brone is the one who helped me re-route your exemption paperwork," Solon told her. "But he is not to blame—I asked him to do it."

At the moment, Abbey wasn't up to blaming anyone for anything.

"Hi, Brone," she said, nodding in the general direction of the doorway. "It's, uh, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too. Hey, you two relax—I'll call the lawyer," Brone told them. "She helped me last year when I had to defend my mate against an attack. Excuse me."

He left, presumably to make the call, and Abbey looked up at Solon.

"I'm so glad you came in time—I didn't even hear you come in!"

"Well, I can be quiet when I need to be. I wasn't sure if the attacker had a weapon or not."

"Did he?" Abbey asked anxiously.

"He had a knife," Solon said shortly. "There's no blood on it, so I assume he didn't use it on you. Are you all right? Did he hurt you?"

"No." She shook her head. "Spex saw him looking at me through the window and warned me. So I was able to get in here to hide—but I wouldn't have lasted two minutes once he dragged me out from under the bed." She shivered again. "I'm so glad you came, Solon! And I'm so sorry we broke up."

"I'm sorry too." He sounded sad. "But I want you to know, I respect your wishes. I've Renounced my Claim on you so you don't have to worry that I'll try anything to resume our relationship."

"Wait…what? What does that mean, Renounced your Claim?" Abbey demanded. But just then Brone came back into the room.

"Both the lawyer and the human authorities are on their way," he informed them. "I'm hoping the lawyer gets here first. Less messy that way."