Vampire Mine - Kerrelyn Sparks [43]
“Ye had no way of knowing,” Connor said.
She opened her eyes to see the compassion on Connor’s face. He wasn’t judging her, and that touched her heart. “It was still wrong of me. I should have trusted in the Father’s wisdom.”
“I guess faith is hard for all of us,” Father Andrew said with tears in his eyes.
She nodded. “My healing powers were stripped, and I was made into a Deliverer. My punishment was to deliver all the women who were raped and murdered by the monster I had allowed to live.”
“He killed women?” Robby asked, his face pale. “What was his name?”
“Otis Crump.”
All four men flinched.
“Bloody hell!” Robby jumped to his feet.
Marielle stiffened at the furious look Robby shot at her before he stalked away. Her mind raced, seeking an explanation for their reaction. Otis had been human all the years she had delivered his victims. She’d been so relieved when he’d finally been imprisoned that she’d immediately put in a request to become a Healer once again. While her request was being considered, she’d been assigned to delivering the elderly. She hadn’t found the work objectionable until tonight when Zackriel had told her to deliver the children who had been attacked by Cheaters.
The order had infuriated her. It was the Cheaters who should be delivered, not the innocent children.
“I’ve heard enough,” Robby growled as he paced around the dinette set. “Angus will have my report. We will have nothing to do with her.”
Connor strode toward him. “Wait—”
“Nay!” Robby glared at Marielle. “She may have killed Shanna, and she came damned close to killing my wife!”
Marielle gasped.
Father Andrew and Gregori stood, so she rose to her feet, also. Her heart pounded as she tried to understand what was happening.
“This proves how dangerous she is to us,” Robby announced.
“Nay,” Connor protested. “It proves how important she is. Her fate has already been linked to ours.”
“I have to agree with Connor,” Father Andrew added, then turned to Marielle. “Robby’s wife, Olivia, worked for the FBI. She was the one who put Otis Crump in jail.”
Marielle’s skin pebbled with goose bumps.
“Aye, but the bastard still tormented her for years!” Robby yelled. “And then Casimir teleported him out of prison and transformed him. He nearly killed Olivia!”
Marielle stumbled back and knocked against the rocking chair. “I—I didn’t know.”
“Ye’re a bloody angel. Ye’re supposed to know everything!” Robby shouted.
She shook her head. “I don’t. Humans, even vampires, have free will. I can’t predict what they’ll do.”
“Ye can predict I want nothing to do with you,” Robby growled. “And I’m telling Angus to do the same.”
“Then ye’re a fool,” Connor said quietly.
Robby spun to face him, his face darkening. His hands curled into fists. “Ye care to repeat that, Connor?”
“Enough!” Father Andrew strode toward them. “Robby, your wife is all right, and Otis Crump is dead. Marielle had nothing to do with him being transformed.”
Robby shot an angry look at her. “She was supposed to let him die.”
“Aye, she disobeyed,” Connor said. “And she was punished for it.”
Marielle’s vision blurred as tears threatened to fall. “I am aware that my mistakes have caused others to suffer. I am truly sorry.” Her gaze met Connor’s, and the fierce determination in his eyes gave her comfort.
“Robby,” Gregori began. He ran a hand through his thick hair. “Dude, we can’t just . . . drop her. What would happen to her?”
Robby folded his arms across his chest, scowling.
“She can sense death,” Connor announced.
Robby glowered at him.
“The next time Casimir and his minions feed and the victims start dying, Marielle will know,” Connor explained before glancing at her. “Ye know exactly where death is happening, aye?”
She nodded.
“Wow,” Gregori whispered.
“We’ve always followed Casimir’s trail of dead bodies,” Connor continued. “But then we arrive after the fact, after Casimir and his minions have escaped. Imagine how it will be if we can arrive while they’re still feeding and we