Page 41 of The Monster's Mate

“What’s going on?” I growl. “I need more explanation.”

Samantha turns to me. “Lucy’s father is friends with Isabel’s. They’re in a partnership, Isabel’s father, Steve, gains clients and invests their money. Lucy’s father gets him those clients and I’m not sure that Lucy’s father knows she’s impersonating Isabel. He may be trying to flush her out by mentioning her friend, see if he can get a rise out of her. Maybe he guesses that it’s a possibility and thinks he’ll scare her. It could be that they both remember that visit Isabel made five years ago and that she moved near the commune. That she and Lucy somehow met. I’m sure if my uncle suspected me, he’d have confronted me or had me followed and there’s been no chance of that. I never had to see him much until this political movement they started.” She sighs unhappily. “My parents started the funding.”

“Mikhail has done a sweep of her person, property and belongings,” Mejak says. “There are no tracers anywhere, so we’re sure he doesn’t suspect Samantha of helping Lucy, or even introducing the two. However, since his friend, Steve, is Bel’s father, he may think that Samantha and Isabel remained friends after that day when she gave her a ride from his party. Right now, Duke is on a political cruise with Samantha’s parents. The article came out and unless he gave it to the paper in advance, it might be Steve who took it down to the publisher for him.”

“But that also means that Steve knows Duke is harassing a woman—his own child,” Samantha says. “Which makes Isabel’s father truly unsalvageable. He hasn’t once sought her out to apologize. Instead, he treats her just as poorly.”

“Steve works for Duke?”

“And Duke is the party who they’ve picked to run against Lilaina. He has family money—well, it comes from his sister’s family, her husband. Samantha’s father.”

“And you don’t have other mothers?” I ask Sam, aware that most Earth families have one father to multiple wives.

“My mom is actually his third wife. The first two passed. No children. My mom is very manipulative. She’s probably convinced my father that they’ll make a huge investment in controlling the government from the inside. Because if they place her brother in office, they can basically do anything they want.”

“Don’t they already?” I ask.

Samantha nods. “Yes, but when you get a sense of that power, it’s never enough. You want more.”

“What can we do?”

“Mikhail visited us. Normally he doesn’t get involved with politics, but in lieu of the situation with Lilaina being knocked from ruling, he thinks this is our time to ruin the campaign. If we can get Duke out of the running, it will make his issue with Lucy dissipate. That’s the hope, at least.”

“How will we do that?” Lucy asks, her hands fluttering.

I soothe her with a tentacle wrapped around her waist and she rewards me with a grateful look.

“Well, that’s easy,” Mejak says, looking at me. “Mikhail will convince Isabel and River to confront his new campaign manager, Steve. Isabel’s father.”

“Confront him how?”

“We can’t go after Duke without retaliation on Lucy, so we tarnish his partner’s reputation by letting the world know that Steve didn’t protect his fourteen-year-old daughter. When Isabel shows up with the proof of that daughter, they can’t hide. And when people get a whiff that she was only fourteen, they’ll know that Steve lied when he said she was out of control and shamed herself. You see, for a long time he hid her pregnancy and the birth of the child. But the proof will be right there. Isabel and River have never been together on Earth but they’ll be right there as Isabel introduces her to her grandfather.”

“What keeps Steve from simply withdrawing from the campaign?” I ask.

“Nothing. But even if he does, the damage is done. No one will look at Duke the same and others may start to wonder what skeletons hide in his closet. It buys us some time to see what we can do to protect Lucy”—his voice turns to a growl— “and Samantha.”

“I snooped in my mother’s office today,” Sam says. “They’ve planned a meeting for two months from now. They’ll have a meeting in an exclusive club for some of the wealthiest of backers. They’re hatching the plan to overthrow Lilaina there because it’s a location where only men are welcome.”

“Mikhail knows what’s going on?”

Mejak nods. “We’re keeping him updated. But when her parents return, we need to head back. And Kal and I—we need Samantha watched over. She refuses to join the Match Program.” He glares at her briefly and I can tell it’s something they’ve discussed thoroughly.

“It’s pointless for two reasons,” Samantha says. “If I were picked, I could bring a relative with me, the way River did with Isabel. But there’s no way to link me and Lucy. Her adoption paperwork was destroyed thirty days after she turned eighteen. All a bystander would have to do is request proof and I don’t put it past someone to do that.”

“They didn’t do it to Isabel.” I remember, I was there when we brought her through the portal.

“Each match becomes a learning experience. People like my parents seek out the government and demand changes according to what happened with the previous match. When River’s shunned prophet heard from bystanders that she was allowed to bring someone with her, he pointed out that she was adopted and an orphan, so from now on, any relationships have to be proven with identification.”

“What’s your second issue with being matched?” I ask.

“Earth will never allow double mates and I can’t pick one over the other.” Samantha reaches out and clasps a hand from each male in hers.

“It doesn’t matter to us,” Kalrian growls. “We’ll share no matter who gets named.”

“Samantha,” I say gently. “I’m sure Lucy wants you just as protected as you want her. And like it or not, her father… or Bel’s, are going to talk about their sins one day and realize that the piece connecting their two problems is you. If Mikhail has one more match he can swing, please take the opportunity to go to Pimeon.”

“I-I can’t. I can’t get matched to just one—”

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