“Having a mate has changed her into a real beauty.” She heard her brother snarl something, but she didn’t care at the moment. Vinnie was walking through the woods with a large panther. And when they both stopped, Millicent knew that one or both of them could see them. “Horrie, your daughter can see us. And I don’t think she’s none too happy to find us here.”
“Good, then she can hear me too.” He moved toward them and the panther’s hair stood on end. Millicent wondered if she could do much harm to Horrie, and found that while she loved him, she didn’t care if he was gone. As he approached them Millicent hung back, wanting no part of this or whatever outcome there might be from this. But she didn’t leave, wanting to hear what Vinnie had to say to the man that wanted her dead too.
“Father. What is it you’re doing here? I thought for sure I’d sent you to hell.” He lunged at her, only to have her laugh. “That will do you no good, I’m afraid. I’m a good deal stronger than you are at the moment. Not to mention, I’d not fuck with me today. I’m not in the mood for your bullshit. Not that I ever was.”
“You think so, cunt? I got news for you, you’re going to pay for killing me. See if you don’t, and when I’m done with you, nobody is going to want a thing to do with you.” The panther growled low but didn’t move. It was then that Millie realized the cat could see them as well. “What the fuck are you doing hanging around these animals anyway? You should be with your own kind.”
“Like you?” He nodded at Vinnie, and she laughed again after a few seconds. That was when Millicent realized Vinnie couldn’t hear or see her father. She was relying on the panther to tell her everything. A panther necromancer? Millicent took a step back and felt the man behind her before she could disappear.
“Move and I’ll hunt you down.” Nodding slowly, she closed her eyes. “What does he want here? Or for that matter, what do either of you want here?”
“That’s his daughter and my niece. I only came to see if I could talk to her.” The man behind her said nothing, and she turned to look at him. It wasn’t Steele but the other man, Mitch. And he looked no less scary. “You’re going to kill him, aren’t you?”
“You too if you fuck with what is mine.” He looked at Vinnie as she spoke to her dad, and she did too. “She’s my mate. But you never answered me; why are you here? Are you with him, a part of his plan to kill her?”
“He wants the house. I’m not sure what plans he has for it, but...well, I don’t want to help him. I might have as a living person, but not anymore. Whatever he wants in that house...he says there is treasure, but I don’t know. But whatever he wants with the house, it won’t be good for the humans around here.” He looked at her, and she could swear he was looking into her very heart. “I don’t want to hurt you or Vinnie. I’ve discovered, too late as it turns out, I want to live a peaceful and quiet life. Or death, I guess. And if...no, when you kill him, send him away, I’m going to enjoy my death much more than I think I ever did my life. I wasn’t a nice person.”
“My name is Mitch Riley, and you’re Millicent Graham.” Millicent nodded. “She thinks…Vinnie thinks you’re in with her mom and dad on whatever it is they’re planning. And that you might try to hurt her or her grandmother.”
“I’m not. I have to...I can’t not do what he tells me so long as it’s not harmful to others. If he wants to me hurt someone I can refuse it, but coming here, to see if I could get in the house, I had no choice but to try. In the event you don’t know, I can’t.” He nodded as if he knew this already. “I can help you. That is if you’ll let me. I know that you’ve no reason to trust me, but I really do want to help.”
“Do what?” Yes, that was a good question, and one she didn’t really have an answer for. “From what I can see, you’re here with him and he’s out there now screaming at my future wife to get her to allow him into her home. Why? And since you say you don’t know other than this treasure, you’re really of no use to me.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard that my entire life.” It hurt her that he was right. And worse yet, she hated that she could not go back and change what had passed. But she really did want to help him, help them both. “I could find out what they want the house for and tell you. I mean, I don’t know how to tell you anything you might not already know, but I could listen to him when he complains.”