Page 121 of Kick the Candle (Knight Games 2)
I molded my face into the most surprised expression I could muster, fighting down the pure joy that threatened to expose itself. "Why?"
"She's just too young. Works all day and stays out half the night. It was fun while it lasted but now she seems, I don't know, distracted. Not to mention, she's obsessed with knowing where I am at all times. Probably wigging out right now."
"She doesn't know you're here?"
"Hell no. I'm just waiting for the right time to let her down easy."
"So then, you can stay a little longer to..." I was going to say 'sober up' but the face he gave me clearly indicated he would not be receptive to his daughter taking away his keys. I needed to be smart about this. "I have a movie I was going to watch and I don't want to watch it alone." I put the bottle of scotch away in the cabinet and retrieved a Coke from the fridge to replace it. "Would you mind hanging out for a couple of hours? It would mean a lot to me."
He fixated on the Coke, then lifted his eyes to mine. "What movie?"
"Young Frankenstein."
"You've had that movie for years."
"Never a bad time to watch a classic. It's your favorite, right?"
He nodded slowly. I led him and his Coke into the family room and started the movie. He was asleep on my sofa before Igor retrieved the abnormal brain from the brain repository.
oghouse
On my way back to Red Grove, I tried to call my father to begin the supplicatory process for a later closing date. He didn't answer his phone, an oddity for my super real estate agent dad. Usually, he could sign papers, show a house, and answer his phone simultaneously. Hell, I had suspicions he answered his cell on the toilet.
And that's when my anxiety really took off. What if Anna Bathory had gotten her hands on him to get to me? Julius said the nekomata and the vampires were sworn enemies. The nekomata were close to obtaining the book, which would mean Anna was desperate. My dad might be strung up in her dungeon at that very moment. Or drained by Julius! Worse, what if either one of them compelled him to do something really drastic, like jump off a bridge or be used at the Mill Wheel by any female vamp who wanted him? I started to sweat thinking he might be dead or permanently missing. Why hadn't I thought to give him some sort of protective charm while I could?
When the phone did ring, I snatched it up so fast I swerved into the opposite lane. "Dad?"
"Um, excuse me. I'm trying to reach, Grateful Knight?"
"This is," I said. I recognized the voice but couldn't place it.
"It's Silas, Detective Silas Flynn."
"Oh, Silas. What's up?"
"Unfortunately, I'm calling on official business related to the crime scene at Maison des Etoiles." I pictured the werewolf in my mind. I'd seen him at Valentines but voices always sounded different to me over the phone. I'd completely forgotten I'd given him my number, and that he'd promised to call with information on the finfolk and mountain troll attack.
"I traced the finfolk back to a community living in Red Grove Lake. The finfolk king claims he knew nothing of the perpetrators' plans. I expected as much. No supernatural in their right mind would admit a connection."
"Uh huh."
"But here's the interesting thing, Grateful. He claims there've been Nightmares in the area. Became a little flustered just talking about it. A few of his people have gone missing and he blames them. He believes our perpetrator was possessed by one and didn't know what he was doing."
"I had a woman come into my ER possessed by one. She was infected at Red Grove Lake. Sounds like we have an epidemic on our hands."
"Do you know much about them? We've never encountered this problem before on the force. Normally, Nightmares are a mild annoyance to humans, not a threat," Silas said.
"You know about as much as I do. A magical entity has to be facilitating the possessions. Nightmares can't do that on their own. Any idea who might be helping them?"
"None."
"Did you find out about the troll? Was he a victim as well?"
"We can only assume. The trolls were...uncooperative. I couldn't get any information out of the community and narrowly avoided becoming a lot thinner under one of their clubs."
"Ah. But given the troll's natural tendency to avoid humans, it would fit the profile."
"I was thinking the same thing."
