The Waning Moon Read online

  He sat down. His glum look was belied by the twinkle in his eyes. “At least there’s cake.”

  Florence handed out cupcakes and we munched in silence. My mood was much better than it had been before the birthday festivities and I wondered if Florence had decided to force the birthday issue to jolly me out of my funk. I looked at her. She was eating a pink champagne cupcake with a look of bliss on her face and I thought maybe this had nothing to do with me and she really, really liked cupcakes.

  “What’s on tap for the rest of the day,” she asked, grabbing another cupcake—this one a red velvet cupcake with a cheesecake center.

  “It’s a waiting day,” I said. “We can’t pick up our new identities until tomorrow. Let’s take Florence out for a fancy steak dinner after sunset. It’ll be like the first time we all had dinner together.”

  “As long as Raj doesn’t bite you again,” Isaac said.

  “Since 100% of the people at this picnic table have allowed Raj to take a sip, there is no room to criticize. You know I’m not interested in giving Raj more blood since we don’t know what that will do to him.”

  Isaac grinned. “Sometimes you’re so easy.”

  I punched him in the shoulder and he winced and rubbed it in mock pain.

  “After dinner, we need to come back here and have a team summit, but until sunset, I’ve nothing planned. What would you like to do, Florence?”

  “I saw a flier for hot air balloon rides.”

  “I’d love to do a balloon ride,” Isaac said.

  “That does sound like fun,” I said. “I’ll stay behind and make sure the car doesn’t get stolen.”

  Two sets of eyes swiveled towards me and their heads tilted to one side. It was reminiscent of the bobble-headed stripper still jiggling away on the other end of the table and I giggled a little. “No ballooning for you?” Florence asked.

  “I’m not exceptionally fond of heights. There’s a reason I’ve never flown.”

  “You’re a dragon,” Isaac pointed out.

  “In an airplane, smart ass.”

  “But still, you’re a dragon. If something happened, as unlikely as that is, you could turn into a dragon and fly away.”

  “Hot air balloons are creepy. It’s all gases and silk and trusting in science. Why don’t I stay here and get in touch with Arduinna?”

  “What if Finn comes back?” Isaac said. “I’m not sure you should be alone.”

  “I handled him last time he showed up. I’m strong enough again that my shields are at full power. I could stop him like a gnat in a spider web. And he still has a few body parts to lose.”

  “I don’t want to leave you behind,” Florence said. “It’s not a fun birthday celebration if not everyone’s included.”

  “We could go play paintball,” I suggested.

  Florence laughed. “I am serious, Eleanor. I’m not hung up on the idea of a hot air balloon ride.”

  I waved at them, “Go! Fly in the tiny basket held up with nothing but air and a giant pair of novelty boxers. Admire the fall foliage. Florence, I am counting on you to save my mate when it all goes terribly wrong.”

  She placed her hand on her heart. “My word of honor no harm shall come to him.”

  I smiled at her and then turned to Isaac. “Seriously, go. I need to talk to Arduinna. I can more than take care of myself against all comers.” I flared fire into my fingertips until I looked like I was going for the Guinness Book of World Records fingernail length title. I shot the flames at the kindling I’d channeled my anger into earlier, and the wood in the fire pit burst into flames for a few seconds before the wood burned up. When there was nothing but ash, and the fire should have gone out, I held it there by force of will to make my point.

  “If my shields don’t stop an assault, and the fire doesn’t ignite their desire to be far, far away from me, then I still have a few more things up my sleeves.” I pushed up my sleeves and showed off my throwing knives. Each arm had a silver and a steel knife, and I had another set of each in thigh holsters.

  “You’ve exceeded the legal limit for puns in your self-defense speech,” Isaac said.

  I grinned. “If I can’t scare them off with magic or weapons, I’ll make bad jokes. Or, I can turn into a giant motherfucking dragon and eat them.”

  “Save room for dinner,” Florence said. “I wouldn’t want you too full to enjoy your steak.”

  “I promise. Now go. I can take care of myself.”

  Florence gathered her gifts and the leftover cupcakes and took them to the car. Isaac pulled me into his arms. “Are you sure?”

  “Absolutely. Florence should get her birthday wish, and it sounds like you’d enjoy it, too. Have fun. See you in a few hours.”

  “You’re not pushing me away because you’re angry?”

  “I’m still angry, but that’s not why I won’t trust a fire and fancy bed sheet to keep me aloft.”

  “Control freak.”

  “You know it.” I kissed him and pushed him away.

  He strode to the car, and minutes later they were out of view.

  I woke a few hours later feeling refreshed and ridiculously hungry. A nap had been exactly what I’d needed, and it was nice to have some time to myself. I made a sandwich using some of my legen—wait for it—dary kitchen skills and after devouring three sandwiches, was ready to call Arduinna.

  I grabbed my rapier, double-checked my knives, and walked out. I really wasn’t expecting an attack. We’d been here less than twenty-four hours and that seemed a little soon for the haters to get a bead on me. However, I wasn’t an idiot, either, and certainly wasn’t going anywhere unarmed.

  Arduinna waited for me at the picnic table. She stood when I came into view.

  I drew my sword. “How’d you find me?”

  “You called earlier,” she said.

  “Not on purpose. I’d told the others I was going to call you. I must have put more intent behind that than I’d thought.”

  She bowed but her eyes never left my face. “What can I do for you, Highness?”

  “Update on the state of the union. You know, the usual.”

  “May I sit?” she asked.

  “Of course,” I waved towards the picnic table. “May I get you something to drink?”

  Arduinna made a short, harsh barking noise and it took a second for me to realize she was laughing. “What’s so funny?” I asked.

  “You offered to serve me. You are going to turn the courts upside down and sideways if you keep acting like this.”

  “I’m not ill-informed enough to let you get away with mocking me.”

  She sobered immediately, but the amused glint didn’t leave her eyes. “You’ll not harm me, Highness. I’ve taken your measure these last months.”

  “You know I won’t harm you like Finn knew I wouldn’t harm him?”

  “I am safe as long as I don’t physically harm you or yours, or put you in a position that would cause harm.”

  I resheathed my sword. “You’re right, of course. But it’s still not polite to make fun of the boss’s daughter. And my question still stands. Would you like something to drink? The cooler is over there, and it’s fully stocked with soda, bottled water, and all sorts of delightful booze. Help yourself.”

  “Thank you, Highness. Your hospitality is overwhelming. I will decline for now, and with your permission, get right into the report.”

  “Please do.”

  “President Murphy and General Aldea are planning on going public around Thanksgiving. From what I can tell, their plans include a retelling of your legend about pilgrims, American Indians, and ritual sacrifice.”

  I tilted my head to the side. “Ritual sacrifice? I don’t remember that from my school pageants.”

  Arduinna was still for a moment and I had a feeling she was accessing some memories that weren’t readily available at the surface.

  “The killing of the large bird for a feast thanking your gods for a prosperous year?”

  “When
you put it that way, it does sound like ritual sacrifice, but most Americans won’t think of it that way. They’ll regard it as a turkey dinner.”

  “Noted,” Arduinna said.

  “We have the greater part of the month to get our shit together in Savannah and to prepare to potentially be outed. Do the country’s fearless leaders have a plan to keep all the supernaturals from getting lynched? I wouldn’t want some neo-pagan teens at a Ren Faire to get burned at the stake.”

  “An appeal to your countrymen’s fine moral fiber, I believe.”

  “Shit. We’re doomed.”

  “I do not understand,” Arduinna said. “You keep saying your fellow Americans will react poorly to finding out there really are vampires, witches, and shifters, but what makes you certain? Isn’t it as likely they’ll say, ‘nothing has changed since yesterday except my knowledge of the world around me has grown’?”

  “That’d be great, but it’s more likely they’ll look to all the unsolved murders, mysterious happenings, and terrible tragedies, and finally have someone to blame. Everyone wants a scapegoat, and now they’ll know who caused the crib death, or the plane crash, or the heroin overdose, or the suicide. It was the monsters. The scary thing for me is some of them will be right. But for every vamp out there trolling the back alleys for a quick meal there are vampires who are creating families with those who desperately need a family. For every werewolf who loses control at a full moon, there are a dozen in public service—the military, the police forces, the fire brigades—who take the jobs too dangerous for humans. And for every witch who causes a crop failure, there are several who work to ensure good weather for harvests, who protect our forests, and who work to repair the depredations visited on our earth.”

  I had gotten loud by the end of my speech, and if I didn’t know better, I’d think Arduinna was laughing at me.

  “So you feel strongly about this?” she asked.

  I sat down with a thump. “A bit,” I admitted.

  “And nothing to say about the Fae?”

  “Not a lot. I don’t have a large sample size. I’ve met a lot of shifters and witches. I’m not as familiar with vampires, but the only Fae I know have fallen into two camps. Those who are being used and those who are using.”

  “What about the Brownie in Chicago?”

  “I’m guessing he’s being used. By you. I don’t remember mentioning him to you.”

  Arduinna bowed from her seated position.

  “I don’t know what we get up to in the dark of the night, but I’m not sure there are any altruists among us. The others—the shifters, vamps, and witches—are at least human-based. We are other.”

  “And like anyone, we have our good folk, our middling folk, and the bad ones. Would you not consider yourself one of the good ones?”

  I stared at her, “Are you kidding? I’m traveling around the country destroying the world. I sliced two fingers and an ear tip off of our favorite rogue elf. I am not exactly the good guy here.”

  “Then we have already lost.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “If you do not believe in yourself, our people have no hope at successfully crossing the barrier and regaining our rightful status in this land.”

  “I’m not following. And for the record, I believe what I’m doing is right—or at least the most right decision I can make—but that doesn’t mean I think it’s good.”

  Arduinna sighed, startling me. She was beginning to be more unguarded around me, and I wasn’t sure if I appreciated or was suspicious of her growing trust.

  “Anything else I need to know?” I asked.

  “The shields on the nuclear power plants are holding and the accelerated decommissioning seems to be going well. We cannot have oral reports due to the nature of the shields, but it looks like our test plants are managing to accelerate through at the rate of a month to every week. After the equivalent of one hundred years have passed, we will dismantle the plants and storage facilities and create magically enhanced concrete storage vessels for the waste material.”

  “One hundred years? What of the human workers inside? What will become of them?”

  “They will die.”

  “But don’t you need their knowledge?”

  “No. By the time they die, the knowledge transfer will be complete, and the Fae at each site will be able to complete the final stages.”

  “Will the Fae be unchanged after being dosed with radiation?”

  “I do not know. I hope they can leave a written report for us, but they will not survive to be studied. They will kill themselves after the final stage is complete to avoid contaminating the rest of us.”

  “Help me with the math, Arduinna. If the time is passing at the equivalent of one month for every week, and they are planning on staying for one hundred years, when, in our timeline, will this be finished?”

  “It will take about twenty-three years.”

  “Wow. That is crazy.”

  “There’s been no news of Finn on either plane,” Arduinna said, done with the nuclear talk.

  “He was there, you know, at Samhain.”

  “Was he? I didn’t see him.”

  “Stop prevaricating with me, Arduinna. What do you know?”

  “I’d heard he was there, it appeared he attempted to stop you from opening the gates.”

  “He said he wasn’t trying to stop me, but rather to prevent me from noticing what was going on with Isaac.”

  “And what was going on with Isaac?”

  “He was being given a choice. A choice to go Underhill and rescue someone to whom he feels responsible, or to stay with me and know his lack of action is resulting in her slow torture.”

  “So he will stay,” Arduinna said.

  “He says he hasn’t made up his mind.”

  “You will not let him leave. You need his strength.”

  “Unfortunately—or not, actually—he doesn’t regard me as his liege lord.”

  “He calls you Princess. Does he not recognize you as such?”

  “Nope. It started out as a sarcastic thing, and now is a term of endearment.”

  “And you allow this?”

  “I’m not the boss of him.”

  “You have lived too long among the humans. This will go poorly for you when you take the throne.”

  “I’ll work on my royal manners, but a partnership of equals is preferable.”

  “I bow to your superior knowledge of the intricate workings of romantic unions.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Anything else, Arduinna? I’m a little nervous about the President’s coming out party. Will she be coming out? What about the General?”

  “I am not sure if their plans include revealing their own supernatural origins, or if they are planning on using exemplary poster children—who will not actually be children, if I understand correctly.”

  “If you find out anything else, let me know. We’ll be here through tomorrow, and then we’re headed down to Savannah, Georgia.”

  “That is the location of the fourth gate?”

  “It is.”

  Arduinna stood and bowed, but didn’t do anything else. I stared at her for a second before catching on.

  “Dismissed.”

  After Arduinna left, I showered and got dressed. Florence and Isaac weren’t back yet, but they should be soon. It was inefficient to get sweaty by practicing my blade-work so soon after a shower, and eating before we went out to dinner, even though I was hungry, was also impractical.

  I was about three seconds of brooding away from hitting a major funk when there was a knock at the camper door. I looked at the door suspiciously for a second before drawing my sword and striding forward to answer it. Who would be knocking at my door?

  “It is I,” Raj said with a ridiculous amount of pomposity.

  I grinned, opened the door, and resheathed the rapier. “Come in,” I said.

  “I’d rather you come out,” he said.

  I realized then he’d
never been in the camper. I grabbed a pair of shoes and sat to put them on. “Why don’t you want to come in?”

  “Your scent is too strong in there. I would rather have the open air to disperse it.”

  “Are you saying I smell bad?”

  “The opposite, actually. It is harder to remember why I shouldn’t press you for another drink when I’m surrounded by your scent. The wolf’s scent neutralizes it a bit—shifters don’t smell as appetizing—but he hasn’t been here for a while and you are overwhelming my senses.”

  I stood up, grabbed a jacket and my weapons, and made my way out of the camper. Raj waited for me by the picnic tables and I went and sat next to him.

  “Where are the wolf and Florence?” he asked.

  “I like that you call him ‘the wolf’ like learning his name is beneath your notice. You two are bros, now.”

  Raj grinned, and for a moment his fangs flashed at me. He was usually more careful with his smiles—several lifetimes of practice I assumed—but for some reason that glimpse didn’t scare me. If I was honest with myself, the sight of his fangs caused some heat to pool low in my core. I tried to think of something else before he picked that thought from my mind. By the sudden intensity in his gaze, I guessed I was too late. I thought back to his actual question and answered, hoping to move on. “They went hot air ballooning to see the fall colors,” I said. “It’s Florence’s birthday and that’s what she wanted to do. I stayed here to guard our stuff.”

  “You’re afraid of flying?” Raj asked.

  “Flying is unnatural.”

  Raj stared at me for a moment, then hovered off the ground. “It comes naturally to me. And I’ve seen you in the air a time or two.”

  “That’s different. If they’d asked me to go along and fly beside them, I would’ve. Although that might have been hard to explain. But airplanes? Balloons? And let’s not even talk about helicopters.” I shuddered, and it was only slightly exaggerated. “Flying not under your own power is an abomination unto the Lord. It’s in Leviticus.”

  “No, it’s not.”

  “It will be once I’ve made some much-needed edits. I have a few other ideas as well.”

  Raj smiled at me and there was another flash of fang. This time, I was sure he was doing it on purpose.