AMelodyInParadise Read Online Free Page A

of the stage.
    His instincts told him to go to her. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. The air literally stank with no good. Someone around here intended to do another harm. He could smell the intent in the air. Like a beast protecting its young from a predator stalking its prey, he instinctively moved closer to Carmen, as did Mitch. They didn’t have the right to dictate to Carmen’s friend, but they had every right to protect the daughter of their hearts.
    “Hey, hey! What’s going on, you two? Let’s not get weird here.” Carmen pushed them away. Looking at each of them in turn, she narrowed her eyes. “All right. What’s wrong?” She crossed her arms as they continued to scan the area around them.
    “There is someone here who means to do someone harm and we are merely ensuring that someone isn’t you.”
    Carmen gasped, her already large brown eyes growing larger. “It’s not me they’re after. I would almost guarantee that it’s Melody.”
    Wyatt took her by the shoulders when his beast snarled a denial. “Why Melody?”
    “She’s been getting some really strange hate mail lately. She’s been shrugging it off, but I know it bothers her.” She stood on her toes to look out over the crowd. “I can’t see her.”
    “She’s already left the stage.” Wyatt turned to Mitch. Get Carmen to the car. I’ll go find Melody.”
    “No. She doesn’t know you.” Carmen pulled free from Mitch’s grasp. “I’m going with you. To her, you could just as easily be her stalker than anyone else.”
    “I thought you said she’s seen our photos.”
    “She has, Uncle Mitch, but she doesn’t really know you like I do, now does she?”
    Carmen rested her hands on her hips and tapped her foot, looking so much like her mother it made Wyatt want to laugh and cry at the same time. He missed his adopted sister so much it hurt sometimes.
    “Come on then and stop wasting time,” Wyatt practically growled as he headed across the stage, expecting Mitch and Carmen to follow close behind. The last thing he wanted was to have something happen to Melody, especially if things were as he suspected and she was their mate.
    He heard a blood-curdling scream just before a loud crash and he poured on the speed. He didn’t run fast enough to draw attention to himself, but he knew a human couldn’t move quite as fast and he was sure to reach her first.
    When he arrived, he found Melody lying unconscious on the floor, her violin held tightly to her chest. The woman had obviously dove out of the way of the falling spotlight apparatus and somehow managed to land on her back so as not to damage her violin.
    Wyatt pulled the instrument from her unconscious death grip and threw it to the side to examine Melody for injuries, while Mitch scanned the area for someone who could have damaged the equipment and caused it to fail.
    Carmen gasped. “Be careful with that! That violin is worth more money than we can make in a lifetime.”
    “I don’t know. I can make a lot of money in my lifetime.” Mitch knelt on her other side while Carmen retrieved the violin and stood off to the side.
    “She would never forgive any of us, including herself, if anything happened to this. It’s her life.”
    “Not the way I see it,” Mitch grumbled. “It’s nothing more than a bit of wood, varnish, glue and wire to me.”
    “It’s a Stradivarius!”
    Wyatt could have laughed at her tone if this wasn’t so damned serious. As it was, the girl had been out of it far too long in his opinion. “Something’s wrong. Shouldn’t she have come to by now?”
    A man pushed his way through the crowd. “I’m a doctor. Can I be of assistance?”
    Wyatt looked at the man and narrowed his eyes. He didn’t like the way the doctor smelled. He wasn’t sure if it was because the man was responsible for this, or if it was because he lusted after Melody. Whatever it was, Wyatt didn’t like it, or him.
    Mitch stepped forward with a growl. Apparently