Page 104 of Moonlit Thorns

“Did Asher Voss do this?” He stands, towering over me, his eyes and finger pointed to my forehead.

“Of course not.” I roll my eyes at Galen and take another sip of my drink.

“What happened then?” Anger rolls off him like a tumbleweed.

I press my lips together. I can’t tell him what happened to Preston. That Asher killed him. I might be pissed as hell at Asher right now, but I would never let him go down for protecting me from a predator like Preston Wallace.

Time runs too short, and my mind too occupied with what just happened that I’m unable to come up with a convincing lie.

“That’s what I thought.” He slams his hand on the bar top, and I flinch. “I’ve had enough of the Vosses thinking they can do whatever the hell they want around here. One little call from Asher to my boss, and I’m shut down from pursuing anything against them. They’re not above the law. But this.” He stares at my forehead again. “This is where their privilege ends.” He stalks toward the door.

I grab my purse off the bar top and race after him. “Galen! Galen, wait!”

He ignores me and pushes the door open. He’s not in uniform, but he has his police cruiser with him, parked at the side of the building.

“Wait!”

“I should’ve done this a long time ago,” he says as he whips open the driver’s door. “All those mystery cars coming and going. The parties that no one knows what’s happening up there. I’m done letting them take what’s mine—my authority, my town, my woman.”

“Galen, wait!” I come up behind him, pulling on his arm to get him to turn around. “Asher didn’t do this to me, I swear.”

“Sure he didn’t.” He wrenches his arm out from my grip.

“I promise you it’s the truth.” I grow frantic, and panic courses through me.

Galen pats my shoulder. “Okay, okay, Anabelle. Relax, okay?”

Thankfully, he seems calmer, so I shake my head, ready to convince him further.

“You’ve been drinking. Do you want me to drop you off back at Oak Haven?” he asks.

If it means getting him to give up on going up to Midnight Manor, then yeah, I do. “That would be great.”

“No problem. You’ll have to sit in the back though. I’m not allowed to have anyone ride up front with me.”

“Sure, whatever.” I mindlessly wait for him to open the back door. As long as I get him to my estate, he’ll forget this whole thing with Asher.

He opens the back door for me, and I slide in. Once both feet are in, Galen rips my purse from my hand and slams the door shut. I lunge for the door handle, but there isn’t one, and the locks click into place in the front.

“What the hell?” I bang on the window with my fists.

Galen bends down so his face is on the other side of the glass. “I won’t let you screw this up for me.” He fishes my keys out of my purse and stalks over to my car. He gets in and drives away.

No, no, no!

I bang on the window until my hand aches and try unsuccessfully to get the door open, but there’s no way to unlock it from back here. Standing between the front seats and me is a black metal cage-like partition.

I have to stop Galen. He’s on a mission, and I just know it’s not going to end well.

After banging some more on the window and getting nothing but an aching hand, I lie down on my back and start kicking the glass. It doesn’t budge, but I keep trying.

After about a minute or so, I hear, “Anabelle?”

I whip up to see Cinder staring at me with wide eyes. She must be coming in to start her shift.

“Cinder! Oh thank god. You have to get me out of here.”

“What are you doing back there?” She tries the door, but it won’t open from the outside either.

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