The Waning Moon Read online

  “Stop it.”

  His smiled broadened, and I crossed my legs in an attempt to tell my body to chill out. Why were his fangs hitting my mental g-spot?

  I cast around for my train of thought. “Ummm…after they get back from their ballooning adventure, provided they survive it, we’re all going out to dinner at a local steak house to celebrate Florence’s birthday and recreate our first group meal.”

  Raj raised an eyebrow. “The entire night?”

  “Isaac says we will not be recreating the bite.”

  “That was the best part.”

  “I’m concerned about what another sip of my blood would do to you.”

  “Concerned is not the word I’d use.” He winked at me.

  “One small taste made you immune to silver and removed the threshold prohibition. I don’t know your other weaknesses, especially since sunlight isn’t one anymore, but I’m not sure we need to find out.”

  “I don’t have any other weaknesses.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Seriously?”

  “I have a reflection, garlic isn’t an issue, a holy water bath would get me clean, and a stake in my heart—unless it was laurel—would be uncomfortable, but not deadly. The only ways to kill me now are decapitation or getting me to hold still long enough to set me on fire.”

  “Raj, if you’re drinking from a Fae who creates fire with her mind in human form and with her mouth in shifted form, how long would you stay vulnerable to fire?”

  His eyes lit up with excitement and anticipation, and his fangs lengthened. Dammit, I was going to have to change my panties if he kept flashing his fangs at me.

  “This would be a worthy experiment.” For a moment, I thought he was going to see how many fang flashes it would take before I’d need a change of undergarments, but then I realized he was talking about increasing his immunity to fire.

  “Or,” I said, suddenly inspired, “It might be too much for you and you’d go up like a yule log after another sip of my blood because my blood is fire, and internalizing it would set you alight from the inside?”

  “I didn’t feel any heat last time I tasted you.” His eyes began to glow, and I had trouble looking away. “Other than the heat in my loins I always feel when you are near.”

  I shifted and desperately sought for a way to change the subject. He reached for my wrist. “One taste, Eleanor. A drop. I can make it feel very good.”

  I slowly pulled my hand away and tried to pull my gaze away as well. My heart rate increased, which only fueled the intensity in his eyes. I couldn’t break eye contact and a thin film of sweat broke out over my body. Heat pooled low in my center as my stomach knotted and I wasn’t sure if Raj’s blood lust was making me nauseated or aroused. I heard a car approaching and nearly did a dance of excitement that I wouldn’t have to address my internal conflict.

  Raj heard the car a moment after I did and the glow faded from his eyes. It was weird watching him wrench the control back. His eyes returned to their normal beautiful rich brown, and his fangs became less prominent. My fear faded at the same rate. Raj moved, putting space between us. “My apologies, Eleanor. I got carried away. Between the possibilities your blood offers and the smell of your arousal, I forgot myself. I’d like to say it will not happen again, but I try not to make promises I can’t keep. I was unprepared for you.”

  “Apology accepted. There may be a day when I will allow you another taste, but not today. Keep your fangs covered and let’s go have a wonderful birthday dinner with our favorite magic practitioner.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  AFTER DINNER, WE reconvened at the campsite for our strategic planning meeting. Raj flew ahead and was waiting with a glass of wine. It occurred to me that, except for when he drank the witch to convince her to give up information, I’d never seen him truly drink. I’d seen him take sips from Florence and me, but I was curious. Did his donors like it? Did he have to compel them? Was there a defense against being made into a juice box with legs? I eyed him contemplatively until I realized everyone was staring at me. Isaac did his best to look neutral and impassive, but a small twitch by his left eye gave him away. He was not looking forward to this. I reached out, squeezed his hand, and opened our mental connection. “If you want, you can take a short walk while I explain the situation. I’ll let you know when I’m done.”

  I saw him consider it, and knew he was tempted. He said out loud, “Thank you, Princess. I will rely on you to relate this news that should rightly come from my mouth, but I will be strong enough to stand here and hear it.”

  I squeezed his hand again and then let go. “Okay, tough guy. A beer then?”

  He strode to the cooler “Florence? Eleanor?”

  I nodded in answer, but Florence said, “No, thank you. I’d rather have a glass of wine if Raj doesn’t mind sharing.”

  “Of course not,” he said. He grabbed the bottle and Isaac brought over a cup for Raj to fill for Florence. After everyone settled in with their beverages, I started the story.

  I related what had happened to me as I finished opening the gate. “It was the easiest opening for me yet, but it was delayed somewhat when Finn tackled me, and a lot of the energy I was trying to channel out slowly slammed back through me burning out some of my synapses and magical channels until I was able to concentrate enough to push it back out to finalize the opening.”

  “The elf should die,” Raj said. “It was unfortunate we left him alive after our last confrontation.”

  Florence shook her head. “He needs to live. Please trust me, but without him, the world will burn.”

  “I trust you, Florence,” I said.

  “You just don’t want to kill your lover,” Raj said.

  “Ex-lover, and even that’s too strong a word. But you’re right, I don’t want to kill him. Not because he briefly warmed my bed, but because he was once my closest friend. I can’t believe he’s irredeemable, but his latest cockfuckery makes me wonder if I’m wrong.”

  Isaac slammed shut the conduit between us and I felt dizzy for a second. This was the first time since we’d bonded that he’d completely closed the door. I didn’t even know it was possible. It was weird being alone in my mind and it took me a moment to adjust. When I looked up again, Florence and Raj were looking at me expectantly and Isaac wasn’t looking at me at all.

  “A little warning next time you do that, Isaac,” I said softly. He looked at me briefly, and then went back to regarding his toes with a clinical-like fascination.

  I took a deep breath. “When Finn tackled me and I asked him what he was doing, he told me he was stopping me. I told him it was too late to stop me and opened the gate. He said he wasn’t trying to stop the gate; he was trying to stop me from noticing what was going on with Isaac.

  “You both know that Fae attacked Florence, but they were a distraction. The last one touched Isaac and commanded him to “see.” He saw a bed, and on that bed was a woman—a shifter—chained. The shifter’s name is Emma, and she was Isaac’s girlfriend after he escaped Michelle the first time. He believed her to have been kidnapped and slowly dismembered until he agreed to trade himself back to Michelle for Emma’s freedom. By the time the trade happened, Emma had been convinced the entire kidnapping and torture was an elaborate game designed by Isaac and Michelle for their own amusement. The trade happened on the full moon and when Emma’s bonds were loosed, she attacked Isaac. He shifted, he fought—first to defend himself—then he killed her.”

  Raj looked like he wanted to interrupt, but I held up a finger. “Let me finish, Raj.” He leaned back and nodded.

  “After Isaac got a good look at Emma on the bed, Michelle appeared. She was flirtatious and offered a little BDSM fun. When Isaac refused, she revealed her agenda.

  “Michelle said Isaac will have the next weeks to decide what he’s going to do, but when I open the gate on the winter solstice, Isaac will need to have made a decision. She said, and I believe I am quoting, ‘If Isaac walks through the gate, I will unchain
Emma and push her through to this side.’”

  “She is not expecting him to walk through the gate,” Raj said.

  “That is exactly what I thought.”

  Isaac pushed off the tree and strode forward. “You think she’ll expect me to stay on this side?”

  “We’ve been over that. She expects you to go through the gate. She knew you well and knows what buttons to push to get you to do what she wants. She’s not expecting you to walk through the gate. She’s been Underhill for a long time and has become skilled at lying with the truth.” I turned towards Raj. “What did you want to say a while ago?”

  Raj said, “First, I would like to renew my vow that I will help you find and destroy Michelle. She is a true monster in a species of abominations. I wish I’d killed her when I took over Portland, but she has gifts I do not. Might I ask a question, Isaac, about the night you believe you killed Emma?”

  Isaac jerked his head down in a nod.

  “Was Michelle present at the exchange, or did she send others to do her dirty work?”

  Isaac raised his head and stared at Raj. “She sent lackeys. I didn’t see her until they’d chained me.”

  “That doesn’t sound like Michelle, does it? She’d want to be there to see her plans come to fruition, to watch you tormented.”

  “That’s true,” Isaac said slowly. “But I don’t understand why you’re asking.”

  “Michelle is almost as old as me. We all have gifts, some stronger than others. There are ancient vampires who will never be strong, because they were weak in life and there are vampires who are reborn incredibly strong—like Rasputin—because they were able to bring supernatural skills from their previous existence into this life.

  “I’m not bragging when I say I was strong in life, and even stronger in this existence. Even before I drank the blood of a true-born Fae, I was strong. My gifts are psychic in nature. I can communicate with almost everyone, read their thoughts, and interject my thoughts into their minds. I am persuasive and can convince people they’ve forgotten me if I wish.

  “Michelle, whose human origins are a mystery to me, has the ability to use glamour to appear as she is not, and not even I can penetrate it. It’s my guess Michelle was present at the exchange she orchestrated, but playing the part of your Emma. Unless you removed her head and heart during your savagery, she would’ve healed, and quickly if she had a werewolf donor on standby. This is the reason I was unable to kill her when I came to Portland. The vampire queen wanted her head, and I was unable to deliver. It was the first time in over a thousand years —since I lost my kingdom—I’d failed to destroy my enemy. It’s why I didn’t know I was hosting a werewolf in my basement. She’d erected a psychic barrier between the sleeping quarters and the area she was using as a dungeon. I could feel something was off, but didn’t know what. It was only when I started using some of Michelle’s people as a food source that I realized something was wrong. I sent those who were able to ensure my guest was fed and looked after, but they were unable to release him from his bonds, and I was unable to penetrate the wall. It took fifteen years for the barrier to fall, and I think it only fell when she left this plane. Once the barrier fell, I was able to go into the dungeon and free my prisoner, which I did immediately.”

  Raj stopped talking but the tension did not disappear into the silence. Although the connection between Isaac and me was still shut down, he wasn’t as in control as he’d been a few minutes ago, and anger, despair, and self-hatred leaked through. I looked at him and saw he was shaking. His eyes were streaked with yellow, and he was holding on to his control by the skin of his teeth.

  “Isaac,” I said, trying to put as much command as I could, “Change and sleep.”

  He looked at me, but before he could answer, he was shifting. His clothes ripped and then he padded over to me, curled up behind the table, and fell asleep.

  I look across the table at Raj and Florence. They were both open-mouthed with astonishment.

  “His wolf regards me as his Alpha,” I said. “Don’t tell anyone.”

  They nodded.

  “He was about to lose control, and I didn’t want to have an Underworld battle.”

  More silence.

  “When he wakes, he might still be angry at you Raj. You should leave before that happens.”

  “Will he not be angry with you? You forced the change and put him to sleep.”

  “That makes it sound like I euthanized him,” I protested. “I can’t make him do anything he doesn’t really want to do. He might be angry with you right now, but he likes you and doesn’t want to kill you. When he wakes up and is calmer, he’ll realize his ire is misplaced.”

  “What do you think he will choose to do?” Raj asked.

  I looked at the sleeping wolf. “He’s already decided to give Michelle what she wants. He agreed with me that his sacrifice won’t mean Emma’s freedom, but I don’t think I convinced him. He’ll pretend to go along with whatever alternate plans we devise, but in the end, he’ll leave me. He’ll walk through the gate to save a woman he’s thought was dead for thirty years, and he’ll do it knowing it could mean his death, and it’ll definitely mean leaving me. I won’t be able to follow—I have a job to do.”

  Tears leaked from the corners of my eyes. What I’d said was true, but I hoped we’d find another way. Maybe if I could love him the way he needed me to love him, he’d stay for me.

  Florence sat beside me, put an arm around me, and pulled me into her shoulder. I sobbed against her neck like a child. Raj reached out and held my hand until I cried myself out.

  “We’ll find a way to save him,” Raj said.

  I looked at Florence, hoping for comfort from my prescient friend. She met my eyes, but did not offer any assurances.

  “We aren’t going to find a way to save him, are we?” I whispered.

  She smoothed back my hair. “There’s always a chance.”

  “But?” I prodded.

  “Will you not leave well enough alone, child?”

  “You know I won’t.”

  “In most of the futures I see, you enter New Orleans without him by your side.”

  “Most?”

  “In some, you don’t enter New Orleans at all and the world burns.”

  “Fuck.”

  Raj left and Florence drove back to town. I sat nursing the six-pack waiting for Isaac to wake up. I tried to work through every worst-case scenario, tried to get out all the tears, so when he woke I could be what he needed.

  Maybe what I needed was a short flight. I stripped off my clothes, and called to my dragon. My body elongated and my face changed shape. My arms shortened, my legs lengthened, and those magnificent wings grew. Soon I was standing on all fours, my wings stretched out, catching the slight breeze. I leaned back on my haunches and sprung into the air. It was glorious; freeing. I glided around, staying away from the lights of the city.

  After an hour of gliding in lazy circles in the general vicinity of the campground, I could feel my connection with Isaac stirring. I flew back and landed.

  Isaac was calmer when he woke up. “Are they gone for the night?” he asked.

  “Yes. They left a little over an hour ago.”

  “What did they say after you sent me to sleep?”

  “We talked prophecy, and they asked what I thought you’d do.”

  “What did you say?”

  “The truth. I can say nothing else.”

  “You were crying.”

  I looked at him and mentally tugged at our bond. He was still blocking me. He wouldn’t meet my eyes. I didn’t know whether to continue being his rock or to reveal how much I was hurting. I went with the middle ground. “Florence sees me entering New Orleans without you, and if I’m reading between the lines of what she’s said, if I try to stop you—or go with you—the world will basically end. I know you’ll make the right decision, but I don’t think I’m going to like it.”

  “Do you love me?” he asked then.

&nb
sp; I hesitated. “I’ve never felt about anyone the way I feel about you.”

  Isaac reached out and touched my cheek. The sadness in his eyes felt like a stab to the heart.

  “I wish I could say what you need to hear. I swear to you though, no matter what happens, I will find you. Never forget. As soon as I can, I. Will. Find. You.” I emphasized the last four words with pointed jabs to his chest. When I finished speaking, Isaac pulled me into his arms. He was shaking, and I pulled his head into my shoulder as Florence had done for me earlier. When he stopped shaking, I let him pull away from me. He hadn’t reopened the door that connected us, and it felt like he was already gone.

  “May I approach?” Raj asked softly.

  Isaac looked up and nodded, an almost imperceptible gesture in the gathering dark.

  “I want to apologize. I know I opened old wounds, and it was not my intention to hurt you again. I did enough damage when I unwittingly kept you prisoner in my home. I will help you bring Michelle to justice. She has hurt you, you who are quickly becoming my friend. Through that hurt, she has hurt our Eleanor, who is dear to us both. Those hurts shall not go unanswered.”

  Isaac held out his hand and Raj did not hesitate before grasping it. There was a manly shake that got pulled into a bro-hug, and then a real hug. A moment later, I was pulled into the hug, too, and I had a brief moment’s thrill when I realized I was the meat in an Underworld sandwich.

  “You’re leaning Team Vamp right now, aren’t you?” Raj breathed into my ear, loud enough for Isaac to hear. It ruined the moment, which is probably exactly what he’d intended.

  “I prefer blond vampires,” I said, trying to sound serious.

  Raj clasped his hands in front of his chest. “You wound me to the quick, my sweet!”

  I rolled my eyes.

  “And what of you, wolf? Are you going to go Team Edward?”

  “Only in your dreams, vampire.”

  Raj laughed and even Isaac cracked a grin.

  “Why’d you come back, Raj?” I asked.

  “I wanted to make my apologies and see if I could spend the night with you.”