Lure of Obsession (The Muse Chronicles Book 1) (23 page)

Callie helped Polly with face painting, and Clio was manning the coloring station.

Mel kept watching Nate at the grill, turning hot dogs and talking to John. Yes, the danger was still out there somewhere, but for today, the sun was up, the kids were having fun, and she was in love.

She tried to focus on that and just enjoy it, but the damned muse inside of her wouldn’t leave her alone. Nothing could be this perfect. She scanned the area while she folded the bandana to blindfold the piñata smackers. Nothing seemed wrong, though. There were two other parties with inflatable jumpers, kids everywhere, moms with strollers, a few dog walkers, but no gold masks, no black robes.

Nate caught her eye and called over to her. “Everything okay?”

She nodded in answer but wished she felt more certain.

Maggie ran up, eyes wide, as Mel laid the blindfold on the table next to the bat. “Mel! Lexi and me are racing to the swings. Can you judge?”

“Sure.” She walked toward the finish line, the sun warming her back. The girls got ready and then sprinted toward her. They were neck and neck until Lexi took a tumble.

Maggie stopped and looked at the swings, then back at her fallen friend. Mel held her breath. Maggie turned and jogged over to Lexi, offering her a hand. She helped her sweep the grass off her clothes, and they giggled as they walked together the rest of the way.

Mel smiled, releasing her pent-up breath. Maggie was making friends.

After face painting and games, lunch was almost ready.

“Can we swing a little more?” Maggie asked.

Nate gave her the ten-minute signal from the grill. She turned back to Maggie. “Sure. We’ll call you when the food is ready.”

As the girls neared the swings, Mel’s cell phone chimed. She had a text from an unknown number. She opened it and her hands started to tremble as she scrolled through pictures of Maggie in the park followed by a single text.

She’s in the center of my rifle sight right now. Come to the library next door. Alone. Now. If the detective is with you…Maggie dies.

M
el squinted into
the sun. Even with her hand shading her brow, she couldn’t see the library roof clearly enough. The photos came from that direction, though. Her heart hammered in her chest.

There must be something I can do.
Think.

Her fingers shook on the screen as she typed.

I need a minute. If I don’t tell him I’m going, he’ll follow me.

She took two steps back toward the party area, and her cell rang.

“Keep this line open,” a cold, masculine voice commanded. “Hang up and I shoot.”

“I’m coming. Please leave her alone.” Her pulse fluttered as she passed the swings where Maggie and her new friend were playing.

“Mel, where are you going?” Maggie shouted.

“Just have to get a book at the library. I’ll be right back.” She didn’t look at them but kept her eyes on the building ahead. Like a lamb to the slaughter.

“That’s it,” he purred in her ear. “Keep walking and she’ll be just fine. You’re the one we want. They don’t need to be involved.”

Mel’s pulse raced, sweat coating her palms. She needed a plan. But there was no time. Every stride brought her closer to the person on the other end of the line—the man who killed Nia. Now she would be next unless she could come up with something fast.

So it was her or Maggie.

And Maggie wasn’t an option.

At least this way, Nate and Maggie would be safe and off the crazed Kronos fanatics’ radar. Her heart ached. She’d never in her life wanted to live more than she did right now. The damned irony wasn’t lost on her.

“Mel?” Nate jogged up next to her. “Is everything okay? Where are you going?”

Oh shit.
She kept her eyes on the library, praying the shooter would wait. She lowered the cell phone without disconnecting the call. “Just going to see what the library has handy that I can read to the party-goers after the piñata.”

“A book?” He frowned, trying to get into her line of vision. “You planned this whole day already. Story time wasn’t on the list.”

“Plans change. I’ll be right back.”

Nate followed her gaze to the library, assessing, then back to her. “Talk to me. What’s going on?”

She couldn’t look at him. He wasn’t going to let this be easy. She wanted to tell him a rifle was aimed at Maggie right now, to show him the photos on her phone, but anything she said would be heard by the gunman, and if she ended the call, Maggie would pay.

Her stomach twisted as the realization dawned. She needed him to leave and let her walk away alone. To save Maggie, she would have to hurt Nate.

Mel forced her eyes from the library roof, praying Nate would figure out what was really happening. They hadn’t been together long enough for little silent signals to develop. He’d only just let her into his heart, told her he loved her.

In the distance, Maggie giggled. Pure joy. Mel needed to protect her. And if she lived, she’d make it up to Nate.

Be strong.

She set her jaw and forced the words out. “I need a break, okay?” She rested her hand on her hip, heart pounding in her ears. “Why don’t you hang out with Maggie? I’ll meet up with you later.”

He frowned. “What am I supposed to tell her when she asks for you?”

“I don’t know. Tell her I got sick?” Her stomach tied in knots. “Take her home for all I care.”

“Take her home?” Confusion lined his face. “This party was your idea.”

Please, Nate. Get her out of the rifle’s range.

“I’m well aware of that, but it turns out I wasn’t as ready to pretend we’re a happy family as I thought I was. I need some breathing room. I’ll meet you at your place later.”

His shoulders tightened, and she prayed he’d do as she asked. If Maggie was out of the equation, Mel could run.

He crossed his arms. “You didn’t bring your car. How will you get there?”

“Enough with the inquisition, okay?” She raised her voice, desperate for him to go. “Maggie is
your
responsibility, not mine.” She swallowed hard and braced herself. “It’s easier to love someone when you’re naked in his arms. I didn’t sign up for an instant family.”

He almost flinched. The surprise and hurt in his eyes made her physically ill.

“I don’t understand.” He shook his head. “I thought you…” His words died on his lips as a well-worn mask of indifference settled over him. “Never mind. I should’ve known better. Go. I’ll take care of Maggie.”

He stormed away, widening the distance between them as her heart tore in two. Tears stung her eyes. Seeing the way he’d closed himself off from her, and knowing it was her own fault, seared her, but not with sorrow.

With rage.

This had to stop. She wouldn’t be played like a puppet.

She lifted the phone to her ear. “Why not just shoot me now?”

“No questions. Keep walking.”

She glanced back at the party. Nate was back at the grill. He didn’t take Maggie out of the park. She didn’t really expect him to, but it was her only hope. There was no other way out now. She’d have to give herself up. Two more steps, but when she looked back this time, Nate was rubbing his shoulder. His green eyes met hers.

His mark. He would know she was in danger.

She spun around before he came after her and walked to the corner of the library. “Okay, I’m here. Leave Maggie alone.”

Her instinct to run and save herself overwhelmed her, flooding her with adrenaline and fear. But somewhere deep inside, a voice whispered that Nate would come. Even though she’d hurt him, he’d still come for her because he was her Guardian. Regardless of how betrayed and pissed he might be right now, he wouldn’t let them kill her.

A man in a black suit and dark glasses approached her, grabbing her upper arm hard. “Give me your phone.”

She handed it to him, and he raised it to his ear. “I’ve got her.”

He ended the call and pocketed her cell. She’d get it back after Nate kicked his ass.

The muse inside her railed against the spark of hope, but Mel held her head high as the guy shoved her into the back of a black SUV. Nate might not ever trust her again, but he’d still save her life. She had to believe that or she’d lose her mind.

And for now, that was all she had left.

Nate glared at
Mel as she continued toward the library. What the hell happened? She’d seemed so happy earlier. He reached for the tongs to turn the hot dogs and burned his fingers on the grill.

“Dammit!” The pain from the burn snapped him back in time, reminded him he was nothing. Damaged goods. Mel could do better.

Maybe she finally figured it out, too.

He lifted his gaze, and she turned around. For a moment, their eyes met and his birthmark throbbed. He frowned, reaching up to rub his shoulder. When he looked back, she was gone.

His wounded heart was glad. It was easier to forget someone if he couldn’t see her. Forget her and never make this mistake again.

But his shoulder hurt like hell, burning more than his red, angry fingers.

John came over. “You’re turning the dogs into charcoal, Malone.”

“Take over for me.” He handed his partner the tongs. “I’ll be right back.”

Nate walked toward the library, replaying his last conversation with Mel. It made no sense. She’d made him believe he was a Guardian, her hero. Why? Why do that and walk away?

He had too many questions and not enough answers.

And for the first time in his life, he believed he deserved them. He wasn’t nothing, goddammit. He was a good detective and a good man. Mel helped him recognize that and see past his scars.

The closer he got to the library the less his heart ached and the more his gut burned. He would get her out of whatever mess she was in, and then he’d demand an explanation. By the time he neared the corner of the building, his shoulder was throbbing. She was definitely in danger.

He boxed up his emotions and ran.

At the back of the library, he stopped and checked in both directions. No sign of Mel. He grabbed the pole on the corner of the building and a vision bloomed. A man in black gripped her arm and held her cell phone. He walked her around to the front and into a black SUV. Nate struggled to see its plate number.

But then the vision faded.

“Shit.”

He jogged around the front of the building, scanning the lot. Nothing. He was too late.

“No, no, no…”

At the curb, he leaned on a parking meter and Mel’s face filled his head. The man in black shoved her into the SUV and raced around to the driver’s seat. Another man in jeans and a black T-shirt hustled to the passenger door, a rifle at his side.

It vanished as quickly as it had come. “Dammit!”

His heart pounded in his ears. The visions weren’t enough. If he couldn’t figure out where they were taking her, they would kill her. And without a plate number to call in, he was fucked. He raked his hand through his hair, struggling to think straight.

Then it came to him. Thinking was the problem.

He ran back to his car, calling to John, “Watch Maggie for me. I’ll be back.”

John waved the tongs in reply, and Nate started his car. He pulled out and took a deep breath, anything to quiet his scattered thoughts and clear his head. One time he’d accidentally jogged to the theater and stopped the Kronos cult from blowing it up, and another time as he’d driven home, he’d ended up at Callie’s place instead. He just needed to trust it would work this time, too.

Fighting the urge to try to deduce a potential destination, he focused on Maggie and how happy she’d been all day. He wanted her to have that every day. Mel had been right about the barbeque. Maggie was making new friends. There was still a chance he could save that little girl when he couldn’t do the same for her mom.

Up ahead he caught a glimpse of a black SUV as it turned a corner. His pulse surged. It was working. He gripped the wheel tighter and punched the accelerator. After he made the turn, he eased up on the gas. If he got too close, they might spot his tail.

There was no guarantee this was even the right SUV, but the burning in his shoulder told him it was, and after the past few crazy weeks, he trusted his new senses. He didn’t have any other choice anyway.

The SUV parked at a warehouse with a For Lease sign on the wall. Nate pulled into a nearby alley and held his breath, watching in the rearview mirror. The man in black got out of the driver’s side and opened the back door. He yanked Mel outside. She stumbled, and Nate tensed. If they hurt her, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to stop at just arresting them.

The two men looked up and down the street and then hauled her inside.

Nate got out of his car, drew his Glock from his shoulder holster, and made his way across the street.