Page 16 of Velvet Folds (Velvet)

Chapter 16

In which our heroine’s father proves to be a problem

I don’t go home.

I check on Felicia and her mother, and make sure their door has been scrubbed clean.

I go to the patch of blood blossoms and pick the buds before they can bloom with the moon.

And I watch the sky, waiting for the sun to fully set.

When it does, I walk the path to the sacrificial stone, to tell whoever is waiting that it is not their turn after all.

But when I see the person laying on the block, my steps stutter and my soles scuff on the stones.

“You need to go home.” My father says, laying with his eyes still closed.

He looks so peaceful, like he could be asleep… or dead.

“No, you need to go home.” I go to him, taking hold of him to drag him away, but he shoves me back.

“Whatever you have planned. Stop it.”

“I will not let him feed from my daughter again.” He is too still. Too calm.

“You were fine letting him feed from Felicia? Or any of the other men and women in the village?”

“ They are not my daughter.” The words come out in a bellow and then he clamps his mouth shut and the forest goes silent. After a deep breath, he says. “Others may choose how to make their sacrifice. You may not.”

“You swore you wouldn’t hunt him. You made a promise to my mother on your life.”

“And your mother is welcome to fallow through on her threats the next time she is here. I will do what I must.”

“What you must ?” I take hold of his arm again. “I know you were raised to believe anything that appears to be a monster was evil and needed to die. Adrik is not.”

Swallowing, I tell him, “I won’t let you hurt him.”

He wrenches his arm away, tearing his sleeve off and I see the marks.

Needle marks…

“What did you do?”

“What I had to.” He snarls and rubs at the bend of his elbow. “He’ll choke on the silver sail in my blood. And I will hear him die.”

The mixture won’t kill my father. In the morning he will wish he was dead, but for the moment, he’ll feel stronger, he’ll hear better, his mind will work more quickly.

And if Adrik bites him…

But he won’t.

I exhale, at peace with the understanding that Adrik won’t have to be anywhere near him. Because the stone doesn’t matter to him. Gathering up my skirts, I start for the path, but Robert steps out of his hiding place and into my way.

He holds a stake like the one my father asked me to carry.

“Do you want me to let her leave?” He asks my father, eyes fixed on me.

“No, she should stay and watch.”