Page 61 of The Monster's Mate

Donald Templeton has a bead of moisture that runs down the side of his face. His mouth opens and closes like a fish.

Lilaina taps her foot. “Let me get this straight. Your sister, River, who is now a citizen of the Bronian clan on the planet Pimeon, was given the mark of the devil on her cheek by her adoptive father. And you are the devil’s daughter?”

There are more dramatic gasps in the crowd and Duke splutters. “How dare you? She wasn’t born with that name, she was given that name by my sister when she was dropped off at the home.” He turns to point accusingly at Samantha. “Her mother.”

“But didn’t you just announce you were her father? You signed the name change, didn’t you?”

He’s caught. He willingly changed the name and pronounced himself this devil in front of these people who have issue with that. And he just announced that Samantha and Lucy are related, though he has no idea why that’s important. He’s simply panicked with the way the crowd is looking at him.

The drone is flying near the prophet, who tries to swat it away like an insect. “We had no idea what her name was. We reject the gift.”

“No matter,” Duke hisses at Lucy. “We know where you live. That bitch, Isabel’s, house. She’s River’s mother and you have her employed here, cleaning the church! Let everyone out there know”—he speaks directly at the drone— “that she lives just outside the commune with Isabel Milles.”

He grins evilly, thinking he just ruined Isabel’s name and reputation along with Lucy.

“Steve Milles’ daughter? The same male who shunned his teenage daughter for getting pregnant? By you? The organizer of your political party that was running against me?” Lilaina asks, and one word ruins his partner’s career along with them.

Duke’s grin falters when he realizes it.

“Well, thank you for that info,” Lilaina says. “Secret service?”

Several of her uniformed female officers step up.

“Please escort Duke Milinazzo, Prophet Josiah—though he’s holding onto payment given to him by the Britonians, so allow him to give that to the good people here in the commune—and Donald Templeton to jail. You see, gentlemen, you’re not allowed to kidnap women. Not on the outside, and not here inside the commune. Lucy is a woman in her mid-twenties and by the marks on her face, she’s been beaten. In fact, it looks like all your wives have been beaten,” Lilaina says mildly. “Ladies, would anyone like to press charges?”

The three females standing behind Lucy look at each other as if they’re tempted. But then the one in the middle shakes her head.

“Well, by the tape we all saw across Lucy’s mouth, she was kept from speaking. In fact, her hands are still bound behind her back. Someone untie her, please.”

Mikhail moves up to the stage, gently removing Lucy from Duke’s grasp and unbinding her wrists.

“You’ll still suffer,” Duke hisses as Mikhail brings her down the steps to me.

I wrap her in my arms but over her head, I stare at him. My throat swells, my poison glands threatening to spit darts. Something in my face scares him because he looks away quickly.

“Oh, wait,” Samantha calls out, and then Mejak and Kalrian escort her back on stage. “You mentioned I was allowed to bring a relative or two? I’d like to bring my cousin, Lucifer’s Daughter, with me to Pimeon. Though, we’d rather call her Lucy.”

I pull the pins from Lucy’s hair and it bounces down to her shoulders in the usual, sexy waves.

“Lucy, would you like to leave for the planet Pimeon?” Lilaina asks.

“Lucy-my-love,” I correct.

Lucy looks up, into my eyes. “I do.”

The crowd is silent when I lean down to kiss her. Afterward, I look up to catch Duke’s eye. “Thanks for acknowledging her relationship to your family. I appreciate your niece for taking care of her—though I’m appalled that your sister sent an innocent child to a group home and changed her name—but I’ll make sure your daughter is taken care of on our planet.”

The incredulous look on his face at the way he was outmaneuvered is enough to settle my glands.

Chapter Seventeen

Lucy:

“Good morning, beautiful. Drink this.”

“Sky? Are we here?” I blink, but then I gasp. It’s obvious where we are. The sky isn’t blue. The sand isn’t sand. It’s a fine, silky gold dust that’s warm from their bright sun.

I sip the drink he’s holding for me. It’s slightly sweet and a little tangy. A juice, I guess.

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