So this was ‘Chuck’. Mother would’ve hated his name. She would have insisted on calling him ‘Charles’. But he was not posh enough to be a ‘Charles’. He’d tripped over the doormat as he’d entered and then said ‘fiddlesticks’, which made me laugh. Melinda says some funny words when she’s trying not to swear, but what are fiddlesticks? Why would you fiddle with a stick? It was such a goofy, old man thing to say.
“You must be April,” Chuck said to me. I waited for him to finish his sentence …Sandy Moss’s daughter. I stayed silent, politely, so he could ask me about her. “I must admit I was quite surprised…” that Melinda knew Sandy Moss’s daughter, “that Melinda had a friend I didn’t know about. It’s lovely to meet you. I can’t wait to learn all about you.” …r mother.
No?
I wasn’t really sure what was going on here. Was it a trap?
“I’m Sandy Moss’s daughter,” I blurted out.
He nodded. “I’m sure you’re more than that.”
Chuck turned his attention back to Melinda and I realised that I was just staring at him and I hadn’t even greeted him properly or anything.
“Hello Chuck! Do you need the bathroom? How was your journey? Would you like some soup?” I babbled. Oh my god. Again with the soup? What the hell? I thought vampires were supposed to be all dark and aloof and edgy. Why am I still this awkward thing? Admittedly, I never greeted guests at home; that was Broof’s job and I never paid attention.
Maybe he offered soup, too.
Chuck smiled at me and I could tell that he thought I was weird. “Hello. Just water is fine. Thank you, April.”
I headed to the kitchen area to fetch him a glass of water, cringing and listening to his conversation with Melinda. Within three sentences they’d both said ‘I love you’.
No one had ever said that to me. I’d said it to Caleb because he was my boyfriend, so it was right to, but even he hadn’t said it back yet. Literally all he’d done in the last couple of days was to take me up to his room and hold me for hours, while he talked about the future and I felt sick.
Was that love?
I stood and watched Melinda interacting with Chuck for a while. It looked so effortless and playful. It was so different to anything I’d ever experienced with my parents. It was almost like how Melinda and I talked.
Did that mean she loved me? Did I love her? Not romantically, obviously, because she was a girl, and girls can’t love girls. Thinking about it was making me sad, but I couldn’t stop watching them, because it also made me… happy?
Chuck looked nothing like I’d expected from Melinda’s and Faith’s descriptions. He looked very ordinary and nothing at all like Melinda, but I guessed that was because Melinda was adopted.
He was a soft-looking man, wrinkled with nice eyes. Friendly eyes. He looked like he’d be smiling even if he wasn’t really smiling. A bit like Mother used to, but not in a fake way; in a natural way, like his soul was happy. It was hard to explain, but I liked him very much.
He’d made Melinda smile for the first time in ages. Properly smile, not that sad little smile she does. I don’t know why I expected any differently, but physically, Melinda and her Father looked nothing alike. But I could tell they were bonded.
They stood alike, they smiled alike. When they talked, they even somehow sounded alike, even though Chuck’s voice was warm and boomy and Melinda’s could have probably been best described as ‘squeaky’. Sometimes, when she’d get super excited or angry, she’d get so squeaky that it was almost impossible to discern her words.
She was so funny.
Then again, no one ever said I looked like my parents, except that guy with the nice eyes back at that club who said I looked like Mother. Maybe I was adopted, too.
When I first found out Melinda was adopted, way back when, I didn’t even know that was a thing; that children could be taken from one family and put with another one. I sometimes wished that had happened to me, but maybe it did. I never felt like I belonged in that family.
I made myself a promise, then, that my baby would feel like she belonged. That I would tell her that I loved her and I would track her down if she ran off with a vampire because, looking at Melinda and Chuck, right at that moment, I understood that parents should do those things.
The two of them were having a little casual catch up after the whole ‘OMG you’re really a vampire!’ bomb had been dropped; standing apart just inside the doorway. Lilith had told Melinda not to touch her father, and he looked like he’d received the same instruction, but both were twitching in the direction of the other, like magnets fighting to connect. Like, not touching was weird, which knowing Melinda it probably was, as she always hugged everyone.
I felt so bad that she couldn’t hug him because of me. I really wished that she could. I really, really wanted her to just be able to hold him, just for a minute.
That was another thing I would do with my baby, then. I would hug her all the time and then she’d turn out as good as Melinda.
I was so preoccupied in this daydream about being a non-shit mother, that I only superficially registered that Melinda had her arms around her father. Oh no! Lilith explicitly told her not to touch him! Should I say something?
Lilith was thoughtfully looking at some wood carvings on the fireplace. Maybe I had missed some conversation, a clearance while I was daydreaming; that happened a lot. Maybe Lilith had decided that actually it was safe. Melinda was super controlled, after all. She was hardly going to bite him.
Chuck was rocking Melinda in his arms, cooing soft words to her about how special she was and how he’d missed her and joking that she was ‘popsicle cold’.
And then he went quiet.
It took a minute for me to register what was happening, and I only really knew because Chuck was gargling in that way that humans do when being drunk from, like they’re trying to tell us to go away, but can’t.
But Melinda couldn’t have been drinking from him. She wasn’t even in dark form, she’d never drunk from Danny’s neck and Lilith was standing just there.
Surely she’d be intervening if Melinda was attacking Chuck. Wouldn’t she? I must’ve been misunderstanding something, I must have.
“What’s happening?” I asked, but no one answered me. “Melinda? What are you doing?” I muttered, reaching for her arm.
Her skinny arm swung out, making contact with my torso. At least I think it did. It all happened so fast. The force that she struck me with and the speed at which she hit me sent me literally flying.
“Melinda!” I cried out, from shock, from horror, rubbing my ribs which hurt so badly I wondered if they were actually broken. She had hit me; she had actually hit me.
I tried to fight against the overwhelming sadness and my brain’s default to ‘stay down’ because something was super wrong here. Chuck was pale and looking at me with pleading eyes. What was Melinda doing? Why wasn’t she stopping? Why wasn’t Lilith doing anything?
Had she noticed?
“Lilith! Do something!”
Lilith snapped round as if waking from a dream, focusing on the scene before her with an expression of pure horror. Immediately, she ran over and tried to pry Melinda from Chuck, but to no avail.
Melinda blocked and thwarted her every attempt; slippery and super-fast as she was now. Lilith was swearing and trying to place her fingers on Melinda’s temple, for some reason, but one swift swing from Melinda and Lilith, too was sent crashing to the ground.
I tried to get up, tried to help, but my body was not cooperating with my commands to get off the floor. Stay down, stay down, stay down! My brain shouted at it. It’s safer! Another thing I would do with my baby. Or rather, not do! I would never, ever hit her.
Lilith was trying to get up with the aid of a chair. But the stuffing had clearly been knocked out of her; the guttural noise she was making was terrifying, like she was fighting her own demon.
So I did the only thing I could think to do, even though it never usually helped.
I screamed my bloody head off and prayed that someone would hear me.
I might have been screaming for seconds or hours, I have no idea. But as I watched Chuck wilting like a flower in front of me and Lilith make it to her feet, I heard heavy footfalls coming rapidly down the stairs behind me.
It sounds super stupid now, but seeing big, black boots arriving from a level that I thought was unoccupied, made me think of Father Winter. I imagined that he’d parked his sleigh and his reindeer on the roof and was coming to give Melinda a big lump of coal for not obeying Lilith’s instructions.
But it was not Father Winter. Obviously, because that would have been silly, it only being May.
Seth stopped abruptly in his tracks, looking as shocked as I felt, Faith clattering down the stairs behind him. Ever since the party, where he was super nasty to my friends, I have tried to avoid him when he’s visiting. But, oh my goodness, I’d never been so happy to see anyone as I was to see him right then.
With merely an aggressive-looking wave of his hand he had Melinda’s wrists pressed together behind her back, as if she were wearing invisible handcuffs, her head yanked back like someone had pulled her ponytail and then she dropped forward, and both she and Chuck sank heavily to the floor.
Close, but crucially, apart.
For a moment there was silence, punctuated by Chuck’s laboured breathing, Faith saying ‘fuck’ quietly, over and over and Melinda’s whimpers as she slowly seemed to lose consciousness. Then Seth’s voice roared out so loudly that the glasses on the wall shelf shook.
“Have you lost your damn mind?!”
I thought that he was shouting at me, or perhaps Melinda, but when I forced myself to glance up at his seething face, he was focused entirely on Lilith, who had finally managed to stand and looked to be in pain.
“Don’t shout at her; it was an accident,” I heard myself whimper, surprising myself at my audacity. If I’d spoken back to Mother like that, she’d have beaten me with the heel end of her shoe.
Seth shot me a look that stripped me of my newly found bravery. I folded into myself and fell quiet as he stormed to the door, dragging Chuck to his feet.
“You all right?” he asked. The edge was unmistakable in his voice but there was also almost a softness. Chuck nodded, clearly in shock, his eyes still locked on Melinda’s unmoving form.
“Is she all right?”
“She is, I’ve only immobilised her,” Seth assured him. “This is no place for you.” He motioned to the door, but Chuck didn’t move. Seth growled, pushing him outside, niceties gone, “Get out, Charles,” he muttered. “Before I tear out your trachea myself.”
“W-wait for me in the car, Chuck,” Lilith managed just before the door closed behind the human man, who couldn’t flee fast enough at Seth’s warning; she was clutching her side but remained stoic and upright as Seth shook his head, laughing at her.
“’Wait for me’?”
“I don’t know what happened,” Lilith hissed. “But I certainly could hazard a guess.” She glared at Seth, an accusation.
“You’d be wrong.” He sneered, looking first at Melinda, then straight at me. “What do you have to say for yourself?” he asked.
“I couldn’t stop her,” I whispered. “I tried.”
He stared at me a while longer, then turned his attention back to Lilith. “You bring him to death’s door and you’re surprised by the outcome?” Seth scoffed. “And, oho! You still expect him to wait for you. Will you ever change?”
“Will I change?” Lilith sputtered, aghast, gesturing at Faith. “Says you, with your new obsession. Faith, isn’t he just everything you dreamed of? Doesn’t he make you feel so damn good about yourself?”
Seth waved his hand dismissively. “Envy is not becoming, Lilith. Faith, I’ll be back for you at nightfall. I can’t stay in this house a moment longer with these goddamn hypocrites.”
Faith ran to him so fast that she stumbled and likely didn’t realise that she’d trodden on my fingers as she’d passed me.
Don’t leave me here with her. I don’t trust her.
Seth glanced both at myself and at Lilith as Faith spoke. “Faith—”
“Please,” she whispered. Take me with you. We don’t have to come back.
I tilted my head to my shoulder. Faith’s voice sounded different, but I couldn’t put my finger on why. I couldn’t see her mouth from my position on the floor, so I wasn’t sure if she was just mumbling or something.
“Don’t go, Faith,” Lilith said, it almost sounded like a plea but she was smirking. “Trust me, he’s not what he says he is. He only cares about himself, about becoming more powerful. He doesn’t even want you, he only wants what he can take from you. Ask him! He can’t lie. Ask him if he even cares.”
Faith hadn’t even looked at Lilith when she’d spoken; she was rude like that. She continued to stare at Seth as she asked her question, but not the one she was instructed to. “Should I trust Lilith?”
Seth inclined his head, holding her gaze and replied, “No.”
“Seth… what?” Lilith began, her mouth hung open.
“She’s hiding something from me. She’s buried part of me. She is lying to you, to everyone around you. It’s all she does,” he went on.
“I have to!” Lilith screeched.
He waved his hand in a see? kind of way. “And, pray, why is that?” he snarled. At Lilith’s silence he shook his head, and dramatically groaned.
“A century of this bullshit. Is it any wonder I’m fed up? It’s always to ‘protect’ me, to prevent ‘corrupting’ me with this imagined threat of hers. It’s a lie; everything is,” he hissed, motioning to me again. I blinked, confused.
What did he mean by that?
“Ask me,” he said to Faith. “Go ahead. Ask me if I care.”
Faith spoke, her voice small and wavering, uncharacteristically unsure. “Do you care about me?”
Lilith laughed. Proper guffawed. “This should be good! Which deflection tactic are you going to go for this time? Or are you actually about to out yourself for the heartless twat you are?”
“I do care about you,” Seth replied softly and without hesitation, offering his hands to Faith.
“W-what?” Lilith stammered. “No! He’s lying! He must be!”
“You just said he can’t lie,” I pointed out, causing Lilith to turn her death stare on me. I cowered. “Oh! I don’t know who to believe,” I groaned, rubbing my head.
“I do,” Faith murmured.
“If you meant that,” Seth said, quietly. “Know that if you leave me with now, we won’t come back.”
Faith swept her gaze over Melinda, who was still slumped on the floor, and briefly over me. She turned back to Seth, slipped her hands into his, chin defiantly up, and nodded.
“Look nowhere else, right?”
Before I could ask what this meant, before I could say anything, a dark mist had risen from the ground, enveloping the pair and dissipating to reveal the spot that they had occupied now empty, save for the faintest wisp of black.
After staring at an empty space for ages, like a moron, I finally managed to work some words together as I crawled towards Melinda who was regaining consciousness.
“Melinda? Are you OK?” I asked, scooting my hands over the dirty stone floor as I crawled, allowing the abrasive surface to slough off the skin on my palms. A brief reminder that something was tangible in this huge, complicated mess. “Why did you do it?”
Lilith sank to the floor beside us, fixing me with another wilting stare as she gently stroked Melinda’s arm, coaxing her back to life.
I don’t think she had a choice, April.
< Previous Chapter | Index | Next Chapter >
Almost Eternal 
It’s the reunion party, yay!
Ooh, April’s perspective, fun! It’s been a while since we’ve heard from her. Chuck’s chuckness must have been such a lovely experience for her. So she does have some feelings for Melinda, just very repressed. I wonder what Caleb’s plans for the future that he’s sharing with her are. Planning is clearly not his strong suit.
Yes, Lilith, now is the time to look away dreamily. We did see afterwards that she wasn’t able to separate them regardless, but one would think she’d at least attempt to supervise…
And now for the fun blowout. There’s so much going on. April can hear Faith’s thoughts, interesting. It’s been implied she had some mindreading capabilities before, but that sort of got written off as a result of the bond. Clearly it has something to do with Faith touching her. I guess Faith is just projecting thoughts out without knowing how to only direct them at Seth?
So the bit at the end almost seems to suggest Lilith thinks Seth compelled Melinda to feed on Chuck. But his surprise and his frustration with Lilith seemed genuine, unless he’s a brilliant actor. Then again, he did assume he would be seeing Chuck again. Was this how he envisaged the encounter? Tough to say. If he does plan to sway Melinda, having her attack her own father would be a way to kick that off, that’s true. But so many elements of this scene looked very unrehearsed and raw, and I don’t think he’s that good to be able to fully fake it. Then again, he seems to have overcome screaming cat lady when lying. Unless he’s not. I clearly have no idea, haha.
We did see Lilith tell Seth something along the lines that Faith was going to “corrupt” him and that she tried to warn him way back, and they were alone, so presumably that was not for show. And she did claim to Chuck just a chapter or two ago that it’s Faith she’s trying to protect from Seth. Soo, with all the unknowns about Seth in this chapter, he does have a point about Lilith not being entirely transparent either way…
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Reunion party! Tinned soup, being drained of some blood and thrown out the door. I’ve been to worse parties.
Lilith was really into those wooden sculptures; who was I to interrupt her mindless moment?
Ooh, fun theories. What can I comment on without spoilers? Faith is definitely not aware how to project her thoughts to only Seth, no. Right, next paragraph, lol.
Lilith blames Seth, but what else is new? He might be a brilliant actor; he’s had to dance around lying for a long time now, but this certainly does seem a bit of a balls-up, yes. I like that you say you have no idea, but you actually do. I won’t tell you which bit is right, though. 😉❤
Lilith is as transparent as concrete.
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I’m sure the fact that Lilith already told him everything that happened to Melinda helped, but the guy earns some major points by so readily getting over his daughter’s fangs and accepting her anyway. She’s turned into a literal blood-sucking monster that is a danger to every human around her and he still wholeheartedly accepts her. If that’s not true love, then I don’t know what is. 🥰
I wonder if enough time with Chuck and Babs would help April get rid of some of her harmful Sandy thoughts. Or at least recognize them for what they are. What she really needs is therapy but dang, to actually be surprised that someone is interested in her for her and not her mother… poor girl. Aaaaand now I want Chuck, Melinda, Babs and Lilith to all go on a camping trip together.
Haha, don’t worry April, you’re almost there – just offer a drink instead of soup and you’ve got basic hospitality down to a T. 😁
I’m simultaneously relieved that holding April for hours was all he did and wondering what they actually talked about. What kind of things would Caleb be planning? How far in the future can he think, for that matter? He has a job now. We never really saw his thoughts stretch out past “get a job and provide”. Also, ouch, dude, telling someone you love them and not getting that back hurts real bad. I guess it’s less bad if you don’t really mean it yourself. Maybe.
Girls can’t love girls. Right. *angrily hurls potatoes at nothing* I wonder who taught her that one. Sandy? Television? The crowd Sandy hung around with?
Oh, April. She and Melinda would be so sweet, but she’s stuck being a marionette to a mental toddler with adult urges and if she’s really Wyatt’s kid, then her mental age might be lower than we realize, too. “like his soul was happy” she’s so cute.
Whoa, April, don’t go slipping into dark form 😶 Wait why is she showing her dark form eyes now? Isn’t that a sign of them being very thirsty or experiencing intense emotions? No wait, that’s not completely right either is it? Holy potato did Melinda finally crack and want to hug Chuck himself, or… or did April just make her do it? 😮
Oh no. Oh no. Oh noooooooooo 😨
Dear lord I dislike Seth intensely but thank the gods that they were there at that moment. Caleb was at work. And if Lilith can’t do it, then nobody would have been able to pull Melinda off of Chuck until it was too late, maybe 😰 Lilith is very quick to blame Seth and normally I would do the same, but he seems genuinely shocked and paired with April’s blue eyes from before… oh lordy, it really was her, wasn’t it? Either her or Lilith, and Lilith seemed completely elsewhere with her thoughts.
Oh no. And here is the part that made me want to throw things again (in the best way, I’m loving the drama 😘). It is such a punch to the gut to see that Melinda built Faith up time and time again, minimizing herself in the process, and when the roles are reversed and she’s at a low point and in need of help, Faith just… abandons her. Just like that. Not just her, but April too. Doesn’t even think twice about it. And she doesn’t intend to come back. Dear gods. Lilith and Seth are both acting weird but in this scene, it’s Faith that made my mouth fall open.
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Aw. Back in chapter 1.23 on their phone call, Melinda asked Chuck if he’d still love her if she was different. He said yes. Seems he meant it. ❤
Oh, she really needs therapy, the poor girl. Hopefully she’ll get a referral at some point. A camping trip, hey? Be careful what you wish for.
There you are again, reminding me that when you visit I should immediately offer you a drink. I might still offer you soup, though. Maybe a mug of soup, cover all bases.
Holding her for hours when she wanted to talk to Melinda is still pretty weird though, right? But yes, could have been worse. You’ll learn what they spoke about next chapter. Aw, would it be better if he said it and didn’t mean it?
Who would teach her that? Definitely not Melinda. I’m sure she’ll bring it up with someone at some point and be informed otherwise. Maybe with this imaginary therapist she’s being referred to. She is cute, she makes such sweet faces but, oh dear. Yes, if she’s Wyatt’s and he’s only now 19 at the grand age of 76… oof.
Extreme emotion or urge will get them to slip form, typically. But when they get these eyes flashes, might be a little something else in there too. Could be coincidence, but she was willing it very hard, wasn’t she?
Oh no.
Thank goodness Santa saved the day. Yeah, where was Lilith?
A Faith rant! Seems she either hates Lilith so much or loves Seth so much that she’s willing to drop her bestie just to get the hell out of there. It’ll probably bite her in the ass; who will build her up now?
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Despite this all seeming quite random, I’m still suspecting Seth’s hand in this outcome. Why? Because of his first encounter with Chuck. He practically put him into Lilith’s care. He knows her and he must have known where it could possibly go from there. Could he also have done something to make Chuck irresistable as food for Melinda, I wonder. Or was it all just a result of her starving herself nearly to death? She barely drank from their prisoner and the temptation to drink from someone who isn’t afraid of her and embraces her willingly was just too strong to resist. Maybe all of these things combined. But it all played into Seth’s hand nicely. He couldn’t predict the precise outcome, but I dare to say he hoped to gain something when the reunion happens. And he was there for it at the right time. How convenient. And the whole event just tipped the scales and sent Faith right into his arms. Seems to me he couldn’t lose mo matter what.
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You’re not wrong. Seth told Lilith that she’d recognise Chuck and he knew from his venture into her head when he was first introduced that she was feeling protective of Melinda. He knows her well enough to know that she would reunite them, eventually… and why.
Melinda’s been taking the bare minimum from Danny so yes, she was probably starving. But it does seem to have worked to Seth’s favour doesn’t it? I guess when one has studied how all the pieces move, there are few surprises. 😉
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It just occurred to me Chuck better not donate any blood anytime soon. How much was actually drank from him in the past few days or weeks? Seth drank from him, Lilith did, now Melinda. How is he still walking?
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Safe to say he’ll be skipping his next donation; he’s given enough. How is he walking… i guess that depends on who took what. The only one we know is that Lilith took the minimum required to regain control which for her is very little as she functions on tiny amounts. Chuck was showing some symptoms of significant blood loss when Seth dumped him with Lilith, but a day later was fine. So either Chuck recovered insanely quickly or Seth didn’t take as much as he wanted Lilith to believe. And Mel? Clearly not a load as Chuck ran off pretty quickly there. 😆
This has been another vague and confusing non-answer by SnuffyBucket.
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It was interesting to see the meeting between Chuck and Melinda through April’s eyes.
Unfortunately, it did not go too well 😬
Was it really April who pulled the strings?
Suddenly, Chuck and Melinda embraced despite all of Lilith’s warnings. Sweet gentle Melinda turned out to contain a bloodthirsty devil.
For once, the always-controlled Lilith had disappeared in a daydream 🙄
That Seth suddenly appeared as the knight on the high horse was really interesting.
Is he a psychopathic manipulator or is he really a soft man in borrowed feathers? 🐓
He likes to brag about his brutal human sacrifices but as yet no one has seen anything but his ugly teeth. Not even Faith has been allowed to participate in his hunts.
I only know that Seth likes soft white cats, that he loves nature and he is suddenly capable of lying.
The relationship between Seth and Lilith still hides many hidden lies, disappointments and concealments.
This puzzle is still missing a lot of pieces 🤔
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The meeting could have gone worse, so that’s something, right? 😬 Strings were being pulled, but good question. Who was pulling them?
Seth has a habit of appearing in response to a cry for help. Maybe he’s not as bad as he makes out, or maybe he likes to set up scenarios to play the hero in. Time will tell.
We’re rolling towards the end of book two now, so you’ll get a load of new pieces for your puzzle very soon. Hurrah! 😄
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Hmm, that last line sounds to me like Lilith was implying that April might actually be unintentionally at fault for that outcome. She was lost in thought wishing Mel and Chuck could touch and then next thing you know…
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It does seem like too much to be a coincidence…
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*sigh* Caleb is definitely messing up whatever little thing he´s had with April before, which is pretty bad given they´re very stuck together.
And I´m guessing the part about “girls can´t love girls” is Sandy voice again. After all this time, we´re still learning new bits about that woman and it only ever gets worse.
…and there goes the disaster. April´s eyes tell me she was probably using some of her powers while wishing Mel could touch Chuck, yes. And, going by how Faith managed to wipe out Lilith, I wouldn´t be surprised to find out April caused even the part where Lil was staring off into space. I mean, if Lilith was aware, Melinda couldn´t touch Chuck so for the wish to work, clearly, Lilith could not be aware.
Ow, wow. Mel really is good with those reflexes, isn´t she. Looks like each of those girls is really powerful already. Either that or Lil let herself get really, really weak.
I also daresay Seth had /not/ expected this. For Lilith to try and reunite Mel with her father, yes. But the when and how and it being in front of April too? No. The impression that made on me was like maybe Seth was /saving/ whatever plans he has with Chuck there. Honestly, when we only saw those boots, I had a moment wondering if he´d even bother to intervene… because, really, even Lilith had thought that Mel would probably eat Chuck at some point and… you know? But that would apparently do more harm then good to his plans. (I´m definitely not fooling myself into thinking that was conscience. XD)
And, heh. This, now /this/ is the Seth I remember and love with his subtle and his well chosen words. And nowhere in there did he give Lilith /proof/ that he can lie, even, which is a bonus, really. She seems to have started suspecting when he said she was untrustworthy, but he explained it away very skillfully indeed. And then there is the question of whether he´s learned to ignore Medusa that well or if he´s just used a some sort of a half-truth… I mean, he is being jealous which, while not exactly caring by our standards, might be enough for the demon not to screech…
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He definitely is but the protective instinct is strong and new to them both.
“Girls can’t love girls” is yet another gem from April’s late mother, yes.
Lilith has let herself get really weak. She is a shadow of her former, terrifying self. Although that’s not the say that girls aren’t powerful, they very well could be; they are from good vampire stock.
Whatever Seth’s plans are/were with all his little pawns, letting Mel kill her father in front of everyone, when they knew he could prevent it, was probably not going to work in his favour, no.
Ah Seth, ever manipulative and open to interpretation. Correct, Lilith doesn’t actually know if he can outright lie. And good point; whilst what he does is not caring by our standards, compared to how little regard he usually has for anyone, his attention to Faith is actually caring, right? 😆 We get a little of his POV in two chapters time which should shed some light.
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*sigh* And I understand why she´s allowed that to happen, given the price of power… but, given the company that tends to… be around her… is being unable to stop things that are happening really for the best?
That, and he hadn´t had the chance to have that second chat with Chuck, either, which might be sort of important for all we know…
*le sigh* Harsh. I mean, given his track record, could anyone even blame him if he tried very hard /not/ to care? No, scratch that. Someone /could/ blame him, Lilith does. Quite viciously at that…
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“given the company that tends to… be around her… is being unable to stop things that are happening really for the best?” It is an odd thing for Lilith to do, to reduce herself to this, isn’t it? A point for you to hold on to in the coming chapters, I think, as is your last one. 😉
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…unless of course she fears what /she/ could do more than anything and any/one/ else, yes. Couldn´t blame her if that was the case. Pity as it is, to see her this way, a new vampire hunt is the last thing we want.
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