Page 110 of Starry with a Chance of Nightshade

Stratton tensed. He’d not sensed Fae on her. But how could that be?

Dave huffed. “The pendants. Astria has one. So did her mother and her father. The pendant holds whatever is imprisoned in it, but it does something else. It masks the wearer. What they are isn’t easily sensed by others. In fact, often what they are is totally masked, making them impossible to detect or discern from a human.”

Stratton let the information soak in. He gasped. “Torid was given to her to keep her safe from me, wasn’t he?”

“Not from you, dumbass,” said Dave, groaning. “From the rest of the Nightshade Clan that run around like they can do no wrong whenallthey do is wrong. Amice had other reasons for wearing hers. That isn’t my story to tell. But I can tell you this, Torid may be very capable of killing, but he’d never harm her. He’d give his life for her. You may not understand how it is for Dark Fae creatures, but they never forget a debt. And because of her, because his pendant was the one that masked her scent and abilities the most, his life was spared. He’d have been executed for his crimes. You know how the Nightshade are. They aren’t known for leniency.”

Stratton stared at the goblin in question, remembering just how fiercely he’d protected Astria when she’d been a child. “I’ve seen him do it. From the start, he’s tried to protect her from me. He sees me as a threat to her, doesn’t he?”

Dave smiled, but it wasn’t exactly jovial. “Hunters caught him, and the Nightshade are who sentenced him to that containment pendant. He sees them all as threats. His bond with her is for life. He’ll always want to see her safe, even if he’s ever freed from the pendant.”

“You speaking from experience?” asked Elis.

Dave was a quiet for a second before nodding. “I was forced to serve a hundred-year sentence in one.”

“And you’re still close to the person who held your pendant?” asked Elis.

Lowering his gaze, Dave shook his head. “She died thirty-six years ago. But I’d been freed from my containment pendant for close to fifty years by then. She wore the pendant of another after me. That demon was there when she was in an automobile accident. Her husband didn’t like it being out of its pendant, so it was locked away then, unable to assist.”

Astria drew in a sharp breath. “You’re talking about my mother, aren’t you? She wore your pendant?”

Dave nodded. “We’d been friends a long time already when I was sentenced. She pleaded my case, trying to make them understand I’d done what I had to keep innocents safe, not to harm them. The council didn’t care. I was a demon, therefore I was guilty. But Amice, she wouldn’t accept it. She fought for my sentence to be a hundred years rather than life. And she didn’t give them a choice. She insisted I be given to her for safekeeping.”

Astria tipped her head, staring at him. “You loved her?”

“Not in the way you’re thinking, but yes,” said Dave. “She was like a sister to me. She was one of my best friends. I never thought when I put a stop to the underground paranormal black-market trading in London all those years ago that I’d end up befriending a mad scientist, one of his creations, and then a Fae woman, but it happened, and I don’t regret it. The only thing I would change is that I’d have stayed by her side when she married Henry.” Dave swallowed hard. “I didn’t agree with the choice. There was always something about him I didn’t like. But she was expecting a child, lonely and vulnerable. Henry was obsessed with her and swore up and down he didn’t care that the baby she was carrying wasn’t his. That he’d love it as if it were his own.”

Stratton’s shoulders squared as his hatred of Henry filled him once more. “He lied.”

“I know that now,” said Dave. He looked at Torid. “He told me everything when I found him rummaging through my trash bins. He said he’d been given to Astria when she was born. That she was a Frankenstein and that her mother had been Amice. He said Amice spoke highly of me. And that she’d even told Torid where I was—that Grimm Cove was a safe place to guide Astria should the need ever arise.”

Astria’s gaze slid to her goblin. “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“Because I asked him not to,” said Dave. “You’d moved on with your life and were doing so well here. When Victor and Adam arrived in town to visit me, I learned then the truth about who fathered you. I’d always had my suspicions, but Amice wouldn’t tell me.”

“She’s Victor’s, isn’t she?” asked Stratton. “That’s why she can control lightning. Because he was left with that ability when his experiment went sideways.”

Dave chuckled. “He’s a ladies’ man, that’s for sure, but no. She’s not his.”

Stratton stepped back, unable to believe what Dave was saying. “No. She can’t possibly be…”

“Who is Adam?” asked Austin.

Astria staggered somewhat. “I ought to be thy Adam.”

“What?” asked Austin.

Bram hugged his wife to him. “It’s a line from Mary Shelley’s book. When the monster is addressing his maker, he names himself.”

Austin glanced around at everyone.

It was Cadee who spoke. “Astria’s father is Adam, isn’t he? Frankenstein’s monster?”

Dave nodded. “Yes. And before anyone thinks her father is anything like what we fought tonight, you need to understand he’s different. Vastly different. In fact, you wouldn’t know he’s technically one of them if you met him. Sure. He’s freakishly big but he kind of looks like a big scary biker dude. I’ve been at him for years to ditch the leather jackets he likes wearing. Makes him look even scarier.”

Cadee gasped. “The man who was following me. He was like that. Huge. Long leather jacket.”

Dave laughed softly. “Makes sense. With the rise in demonic activity here and with Astria suddenly coming back to Grimm Cove, it doesn’t surprise me at all that he’d be here too, probably watching over her from afar still. And if he was to happen on a young woman he’d seen near his daughter, one who was nice to Astria, it stands to reason he’d want to be sure she was safe as well. There is no better way to do that than to scare her onto campus grounds when there is a horde of monsters in the area. I’m not sure what workaround the monsters found, or why they stopped being scared to set foot on the grounds, but in theory, it should have been a safe space.”

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