Moonlight

Chapter 23

Gamichee stopped in for a few minutes when dropping Merissa and Adley home. Merissa had something to discuss, minor but important.

As he sat on the lounge, Gamichee lifted the small playsuit and gave his daughter a curious look.

"Not three?"

Merissa shrugged.

"We've decided to dress individually rather than similar. That way we can have lots of different clothes rather than three of everything."

"A wise decision. Now, what is going through your mind?"

"I've decided that I will look for my siblings but not at the moment. When things have calmed down and there's no risk to their lives or mine, it will be easier and less stressful."

"That's a good idea."

She nodded. Merissa had thought about it for a while in the sense that it was actually possible to find them. Before this upheaval, Merissa had thought of her siblings and believed that finding them was impossible. Gamichee had no records, there was nothing in the files at Fielding Hall. Not that Merissa expected them to be. She never saw them at the house and now that she knew it was the place where Gamichee hid children, it was to be expected. Merissa thought that there might be a few houses like Fielding Hall across this city. From the exterior, they looked like normal houses but beneath the false facade was a place of sanctuary for those who had lost everything.

"Do you know where they are?"

"I thought that you were not doing this at the moment."

"Dad," Merissa chided.

Gamichee sighed heavily as he leaned back into the lounge seat. No matter how hard he tried, he could never avoid this moment. Gamichee thought that it would have happened a few years ago. Still, the thought of this always lingered in his mind. How to tell her what he knew, how to discuss the worst day of her life while remembering that she had no memory of it due to her mind blocking it out.

"They were in Fielding Hall until you came to my place. Once your eldest sister knew you were safe, she agreed to the bigger plan. Fielding Hall was used to keep siblings together so for the three of them to remain there was not ideal. We took them out of that place, changed their names and sent them to separate orphanages. They agreed that splitting up was for the best. It was done on the understanding that I would keep tabs on them to ensure that once it was safe, the four of you could regroup and become Korden's again."

"But it's not safe."

Reluctantly, Gamichee shook his head.

"Sadly, no. Marin is a clear example of that. A mere stroll through a cemetery to visit graves and we are faced with death of a different kind. I know that you will want to return to visit your parents, Merissa but you must wait until this is over. Things will only get worse and it will not be safe. They will wait there to see who visits the graves. Marin's death will buy you anonymity for a while longer but even that I cannot guarantee. I'm sure they are actively searching for you and your siblings."

Merissa's mind grumbled with the thought that the security detail would remain.

"The sooner this is over, the better."

"Oh, I agree however it won't be any time soon. Not unless you'd like to enlist our lovely gun-toting vampire to do a little work for us. I'm sure Lyla would make short work of them as she did with Charlton and Marin."

Gamichee grinned wildly at the thought of Lyla doing his dirty work for him. It was a delicious thought to him, insanely perfect.

"Well," Merissa drawled out. "They are technically threatening her family. If the council wants all pureblood lines taken down, that means Lennon and Sammy are in danger. I guess all you'd need to do is drop a few names and locations with the information of their intentions. You could sit back and watch the fireworks."

That was a good idea. It was logged into his mind with the addition of discussing the finer details with Carson.

"However, she's tired, stressed out and still struggling with Eloise's death. Asking her to do your job is probably not a good idea. At least not at the moment."

"What if I made her life easier?"

Merissa shrugged.

"Start with getting her into bed for a long-overdue sleep. When she's actually coherent, then she might be more agreeable to your request. And this time, you might want to tell her. She was not a happy woman in the days after coming back from that place."

"None of us were."

"I did not expect that you two would go. In fact, I thought that Lyla would make the trip by herself considering that she was running around this town killing vampires without the three of you by her side. If I thought for even a second that she would include all of you, I would have been a whole lot more forthcoming."

"Dad, you clammed up about everything. That's not how you should do things. Promise me that if you're going to try and enlist Lyla to take down the council, you tell her everything."

Gamichee stared at his daughter for a second then relented with a nod and his agreement. The days of keeping secrets and offering very little information were now over and he had to give all the information that he had. Otherwise, he would be faced with another nightmare. Gamichee didn't want to say it but when he found out that Merissa was in Charlton's house, he got angry. The only thing that kept his emotions in check was the fact that she was in the place with three people who he knew would protect her. Still, he got in the car with Carson and drove straight to the place. He held back because he could see that she was okay and that Lyla had the situation covered. Like he'd said to her at the time, she'd taken longer than he'd anticipated but that was because of Lennon.

Gamichee never expected that Charlton would dangle the proverbial carrot in front of Lennon but he had. It caused issues but in a way, it was a good thing. Lyla snapped and the anger she unleashed on those vampires was nothing short of stunning.