“It smells weird.”
“I know I don’t cook as well as your dad, but it’s not that bad.”
She pushed her plate away.
I’d never seen her misbehave like this, act so defiant. My impulse was to berate her, to raise my voice the way Benton did until she complied, but I’d never struggled to get her to do anything before. I took a different approach. “Something on your mind?”
“Dad’s mad at me.” She kept her eyes down.
“Honey, he’s not mad at you.”
“I think so.”
“I’m the one he’s mad at. But…we resolved it.”
Her eyes flicked up. “Yeah?”
I nodded. “Now eat.”
She pulled the plate back toward her and grabbed her fork.
I took a few more bites and felt my stomach tighten suddenly. It was almost like a cramp but more intense. My fork was returned to the plate when I suddenly got a small hit of vertigo. It only lasted for a second. It came out of nowhere, and the only thing it reminded me of—
Claire got a piece of chicken on her fork and brought it to her mouth.
I knocked it out of her hand. “Don’t eat that.”
The fork clattered on the table, and bits of chicken got everywhere.
“Shit…no.” I grabbed the edge of the table to steady myself because the room started to turn.
“Constance? What’s wrong?”
I closed my eyes because the room wouldn’t stop. “Don’t eat the food…”
“Constance?”
I felt my body slide to the floor, felt my cheek hit the rug with a thud.
“Constance!” She crawled to me across the floor and gave me a shake.
My eyes opened, but I didn’t see the chandelier above the table, the crown moldings along the ceiling, the dimmed lights. I saw decayed branches, moonlight through the trees, and then a face…
His face.
“Constance!”
“Claire…do as I say.” It was the most powerful hit I’d ever taken because it was embedded in my food. I hadn’t noticed it…probably because I was still used to it. My arms couldn’t lift me off the floor—not for life or death. “Call Daddy…”
“I don’t know how.”
“My phone… It’s on the table.”
Her blurred form moved in my vision, a shadow in the tree line. She came back, her fingers hitting the screen to make it light up.
“The green button…in the corner.” I closed my eyes, the demon’s eyes looking into mine. Horns. Teeth. Wings. There was nothing I could do but stare, watch the demonic grin. The trees caved in. The rain turned to hail. The hail turned to snow. I shivered as the water soaked into my skin…and then I started to drown.
“Daddy, Constance needs help…”
Fourteen
Benton
The door was unlocked when I arrived.
I drew my gun as I entered the house at a run. “Claire!”
“Daddy!”
I followed her voice to the dining room. Broken plates were on the floor, food tossed everywhere, and Claire was hiding underneath the table, her arms around her folded knees. When she saw me, she tried to crawl out.
“Claire, don’t move.” I did a sweep of the room and checked the hallway and the bedrooms downstairs. There was no sign of forced entry—and there was no sign of Constance either. I ran upstairs, searched that place high and low, and then I ran back downstairs. “Constance!”
I came back to the dining room, where Claire remained cowered under the table. My daughter was here, and I was relieved.
But my woman was gone, and I was fucking terrified. “Claire, what happened?” I yanked a chair away and helped her out. My hands ran over her arms and checked her for signs of injury. She was in the same condition as I left her, just with puffy cheeks from all the crying. “Where’s Constance?”
“I don’t know…” She could barely speak between her sobs. Her chest heaved and gasped for air.
“Tell me what happened.” I grabbed her arms and kept her still. “Come on, sweetheart.”
“I don’t know… We were eating dinner…and then she fell.”
“On the floor?”
She nodded. “It’s just like…when they would make her take that stuff.”
I knew who they were…and the stuff she referred to. My eyes darted to the food all over the floor—and I made the connection. “Claire, did you eat anything?”
She shook her head.
“Not a bite?”
She shook her head again. “She told me not to…”
“Has anyone been in the house?”
“No.”
I got to my feet and left her on the rug. “Where’s Constance?”
“I couldn’t understand anything she said…she was just talking. And then she went around the house and kept making weird noises…and then she left.”
Now I knew why the door was unlocked.
“Daddy…I’m scared.”
I pulled out my phone and made the call.
It took several rings for him to answer. “What do—”
“Shut up and listen. I need you at my house now. No questions asked.” I hung up. “Claire, listen to me.” I grabbed her arms again. “Uncle Bleu will be here any minute. You’re going to wait right here—”
“Daddy, no. Don’t leave me here.”