Growing Wildflowers | WLW

Dandelion

Sophie's phone rings before we leave her office. She bites the inside of her cheek when she checks the name and presses the phone to her ear.

"Parker, you'd better be damn good at hiding because when I find you—"

"Is the human lover with you?" I can hear Parker loud and clear on the other line.

Sophie shakes her head even though he can't see her. "Don't call her that."

"I'd like to speak with her," Parker continues.

"Too bad."

Parker chuckles. "Trust me. She wants to hear what I have to say."

Sophie hesitates.

I hold my hand out for the phone. Maybe I can get him to stop all this. Maybe I can talk some sense into him. Grief set him over the edge. Maybe common sense can bring him back.

Sophie thinks while she stares at my hand, opening her mouth to protest only to close it again and hand the phone over.

"Good," Parker says as I lift the phone to my ear. "Do you know why I'm calling, Gwen?"

I clear my throat. "Not quite."

"Do you know how badly it hurts to lose someone you love?" He scoffs. "No. I'm sure you don't."

My body goes hot, my fists clench on their own. How dare he assume anything about me.

"Both of my parents were killed when I was eighteen so if you're looking for pity you're talking to the wrong person," I snap.

The line goes quiet for a beat but when Parker speaks again, he sounds angrier than before. "Not like this. You don't know loss like this. But you're going to." He breaks into a fit of laughter. "God, you're going to." He doesn't leave time to respond. "You and Sophie were supposed to rescue Andrew, not..." He doesn't finish the sentence. "You didn't try. You didn't fucking try! And now I'm going to show you what it feels like. I'm going to make you wish you'd tried harder."

"Parker," I try but he's mumbling to himself.

"Your girl is beautiful. Even for a human. I understand the appeal."

The blood runs cold in my veins.

"Parker."

"You know, you should really return her message. This is... What? The fourth time she's checked her phone in the last ten minutes?"

I pull the phone from my ear and look at Sophie. "He's with Jamie." I press the phone back to my ear, the words flowing on their own now. "Parker, I swear to god, if you touch her, I'll make you wish losing Andrew was the worst pain you've ever felt." Is this what Leah feels like before she tortures somebody? Is this how she does it? She pulls all the anger in her body to a ball in her chest and unleashes it on her victim?

It's quiet a beat and I check to see if he hung up when he chuckles. "I'd like to see you try." The line goes dead and I'm pushing Sophie's phone into her hands and running out the door without thinking.

"How did he find her?" I ask Sophie as she jogs to keep up.

"We have a database of all the hunter's addresses." She shakes her head. "He doesn't have access to it anymore though. We must have someone feeding him information. It's the same way he got his presentation working in the auditorium. He has someone on the inside."

John's standing by the exit door, still talking to Aurora but he steps forward, holding a hand out as we pass. "What's going on? Where are you guys going?"

"Paying a visit to Parker," Sophie answers.

"I'm coming with you," John says.

"John," Sophie groans.