The Waning Moon Read online

  “So that’s why he wouldn’t know sunlight resistance was a benefit of living for a long time?” I said.

  “Exactly.”

  “But then who in your household was spreading rumors? Who knew you’d tasted my blood and there were, as you say, side effects?”

  “That is an easy question and one I have answered before coming here. If you don’t mind, I would like to partake of one of your beers now.”

  I nodded, and he fetched himself a drink and another beer for the rest of us.

  “After we finished talking, I called my household together to tell them the news—that you’d done what no one thought possible. You’d killed Rasputin. No one reacted to the news in an unexpected way, and I’d locked on to each of their minds looking for a hint of betrayal. Then, I shared with them the rumor Rasputin had imparted to you before you dispatched him. One of the youngest in my household betrayed himself in his thoughts. He had good intentions. He’d bragged I was immune to sunlight and I’d drunk from the world-breaker. He wanted all to fear me and had been taunted by a visitor to our territory about my impotence.”

  My eyes, almost of their own volition, traveled from his eyes downward.

  “Not that kind of impotence, my sweet,” Raj said. “It is well known I don’t kill if I don’t have to. I prefer to use my reputation and dashing good looks to get what I want. I want people to join me, to give over to my power. Killing others might achieve my short-term goals of taking their territory, but if they surrender willingly, then I have indeed won because they refused to stand against me. I do not sanction the killing of our meals. Yes, mistakes happen, but we take care of it. No one should linger forever in the missing person database. Not knowing if someone you love is dead or alive is worse than knowing they’re dead.

  “I regard these habits as strength. Some see my reluctance to kill as a sign I am incapable of killing when necessary. Those that have challenged me over that mistaken belief have found otherwise. I might not kill first, but I am nearly 1100 years old, a vampire, and definitely a killer.” His eyes glowed red for a moment before returning to their normal chocolatey brown color.

  I cleared my throat when Raj turned his heated gaze on me. “About the side effects of my blood? You are an expert at misdirection and avoiding the question.”

  “You already know I am old and powerful. I’m the second oldest vampire in North America.”

  “The oldest is the Queen in New Orleans?” Florence asked.

  Raj nodded. “I can fly, and I can read minds and project thoughts into anyone I choose. I am a vampire, and we all have some skill with compulsion. I can make people do things they wouldn’t want to do and then forget they’ve done it. One thing I cannot do is cross the threshold of a private residence if the owner regards the space as theirs.”

  “My blood gave you the ability to enter homes without invitation?” I guessed.

  “Yes. And that’s not all. One small taste of your blood has not only eliminated that restriction, but has given me immunity to silver.”

  Holy shit. I decided that needed to be said out loud. “Holy shit. I can’t believe you told anyone.”

  “None but you three know about the silver. I discovered my threshold restriction was gone by accident. When I returned to Portland after seeing you in South Dakota, I called my clan together to tell them how to prepare for the upcoming changes our world will see and let them know you were under my protection and no one should misinterpret my…private musings as an invitation to capture you or kill your companions. One of my clan—Joshua—did not appear, which is a grave insult. I found him holed up in a house with his human lover. Only when I was in the bedroom where he was hiding did I realize—through his thoughts—he was in his lover’s home because he didn’t think I’d be able to get him.

  “Joshua immediately assumed he’d been betrayed by his lover—that I’d seduced him, too—and killed the human before I could register what was going on. He staked me with silver, fled, and was immediately caught by one of my more loyal children. Joshua recounted the events before his sentencing, and although I backed up his suspicions that his mortal lover had invited me in, there were a couple who suspected the truth.

  “The silver didn’t burn me, and silver always burns. I was lucky no one saw that part. I staked myself near the heart with a wooden stake to create a slower-healing wound before returning to my people and told them he’d missed.”

  “Holy shit,” I said again. “Everyone’s going to want a taste of me if they find out the truth.”

  “They cannot have you. I’ve laid my claim. Only someone more powerful could challenge me for a transference of ownership.”

  I ignored the ownership thing. We’d discuss that later. “Or someone crazier than you, like Grigori.”

  “You will be a target, though, which is another reason I’m coming with you.”

  “Okay,” I said. “But you and Isaac need to go work things out. I will not have two alpha males poking at each other all the time.”

  “That would be even more fun,” Raj whispered in my mind.

  Raj stood. “Isaac, shall we take a walk? I promise to never poke at you without consent.” He held out his hand. Isaac ignored it and stood up, and they disappeared into the darkness.

  I grabbed my toiletries bag from the car and headed to the bathroom. I changed into some shared accommodation worthy pajamas, washed my face, and brushed my teeth. Isaac and Raj were not back yet when I returned to the camper. Florence was in her end of the trailer with the curtain drawn. I quietly crawled into my bed.

  “Tomorrow, we work on your shielding,” she said. The sudden break in the silence startled me, and I yelped. She laughed, and I formed a picture of a hand with the middle finger pointing up and thought it at her as hard as I could.

  “I’m trying, Florence. I’m sorry I’m not doing better. I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

  “You’re doing well for being new at it. It’s only the sexual thoughts that bombard me. Unfortunately, those are the ones I’d like to do without.”

  “I’ll keep trying. Good night, Florence.”

  “Good night.”

  I closed and my eyes and felt sleep pulling at me; it had been a long day. My eyes opened wide. Raj had arrived an entire day earlier than expected. I didn’t know if I was frightened or relieved by that knowledge, but before I decided, I fell asleep. I woke briefly when Isaac crawled into bed. I snuggled into his side, and he pulled me close.

  When I woke the next morning, it was still dark. I heard Florence and Isaac talking quietly outside and smelled coffee and bacon. There were a lot of things I did not enjoy about camping, but smelling fresh-percolated coffee, bacon, and crisp, clean morning air almost made up for it. I rubbed my eyes, pulled on a sweatshirt, and slipped my feet into my sneakers before heading outside. Isaac met me at the door of the camper with a cup of coffee, and I took a long drink before kissing him.

  We finished breakfast, packed everything up, and left as the sun was rising. As we got in the car, Isaac turned towards me and asked, “Do you feel the gate drawing you anywhere?”

  “Nope, which means we keep to the plan. Where are we headed next?”

  “Towards Louisville,” Florence said.

  “It’ll only take us a couple of hours to drive to Louisville without stopping,” Isaac said. “Even going slow, we’ll be there by lunchtime. Do we want to stay in that area tonight, or keep on traveling?” He pulled out of the campground and onto the highway.

  I grabbed the map tucked into the glove box and looked at Kentucky, homing in on the southern part of the state. “There,” I said, placing my finger over Mammoth Cave National Park. “Let’s look at the caves. That seems like a fantastic place for a gate.”

  “I thought we were looking for mounds?” Florence said.

  I thought about it. I still felt strongly about the mounds. “Maybe they’re a geographic marker?” I offered. “Something to identify this part of the country?”


  “Or maybe you like playing tourist,” Isaac said.

  I grinned. “Maybe. Can we go to the caves? Please?” I fluttered my eyelashes at them, and they both laughed.

  “Unless you get a better idea of where we’re going, I don’t see why not,” Florence said.

  Once again, we stopped at every historical marker. Although reading them all was fun, and exactly my idea of what a road trip should be, getting my bare feet on the ground was almost as important. At every stop, the vibrations of gate energy were a little bit stronger. We stopped in Louisville for lunch, and after we ate, I finally felt like it was time to ask the question that’d been hanging over us all morning.

  “How’d your chat with Raj go last night?”

  “I can’t believe it took you this long to ask,” Florence said. “The suspense has been killing me.”

  “Can’t you pull it out of his mind?”

  “His shields are excellent. I would’ve had to break them; I wouldn’t do that to a friend unless I needed to save a life.”

  “Hmmm...an ethical witch,” I said. “Who would’ve thunk?”

  She reached out and smacked the side of my head. “Like you’d ever even heard of mages until three months ago. Don’t get lippy with me, little girl.” We exchanged grins, then turned back towards Isaac.

  “I killed him and left his ashes in the forest,” Isaac said.

  “No, you didn’t.”

  “Fine. We talked. I asked him to tone it down a little. I told him we were performing the mate-bonding ceremony at the next full moon. He asked to be the best man. I told him to bugger off. He expressed delight at the proposition. We agreed to work together for the common good. He said, and I quote, ‘I vill try to do as you vish and stop attempting to seduce the sweet Eleanor.’”

  “Did he really pull out a Dracula accent?” I asked. “Because that is awesomely weird.”

  “He didn’t. That was for dramatic effect.”

  “How do you feel about this?”

  Isaac looked at Florence. “You’re our companion and privy to all of our secrets, but would it be okay if I talk to Eleanor alone?”

  “Of course. I’ll meet you back at the car in half an hour. Will that be long enough?”

  Isaac nodded, and she took her leave.

  “I am going to try to get through this without being totally obnoxious,” Isaac said. “Please bear with me.”

  I reached out and grabbed his hand. “There are bears now? It’s a zoo!”

  His smiled warmed me to my toes. “So funny, Princess.”

  Isaac squeezed my hand and said, “I was never jealous of Finn. You were mine from the minute my lips touched yours, even if you didn’t feel the same way. But Raj—something about him triggers all these ridiculous over-protective jealous feelings. You desire him, and he clearly desires you, too. His belief that you and he are inevitable bothers me. I told him all of that last night, threatened to kill him if he touched you, and generally acted like an all-around asshole.”

  Isaac stopped talking and looked at me from under his half-closed eyes. The silence stretched between us. He deserved a response. Relationships are hard.

  I squeezed his hand. “Raj is ridiculously pretty and incredibly powerful,” I said.

  “As an opener, that’s not as reassuring as you maybe meant it,” Isaac interrupted.

  “Shush. Let me go on. I cannot deny he stirs up feelings of desire. However, a lot of that is not springing unprompted from my own mind. He is sending me images meant to do that, and I don’t know how to shut him out.” I stopped, trying to figure out where I was going with this. Not being able to fudge the truth sure was an impediment at times. “I agreed to bond with you. I have not changed my mind. If the assurance of monogamy is what you need from me, I have no problem committing to that. I will not do this if you’re unable to contain your jealousy. The last thing I need is another Finn issue.”

  “I will do my best. I trust your loyalty and your honesty.”

  “It’s easy to trust my honesty. I can’t lie.”

  Isaac kissed me. “You know what I mean.”

  “One more question. Where exactly is Raj now?”

  “He was going to find the nearest town, grab a bite to eat, check to see if Rasputin had a nest he should take over or disband, and said he’d meet us tonight. Now that he’s tasted two-thirds of our little party, he’ll be able to find us quickly.”

  “Did you notice how fast he found us yesterday? He got from Portland to our campground in about fourteen hours—a full day before we expected him.”

  “He has a private jet on an airstrip near Salem and was able to fly directly to Columbus.”

  “I wonder if it would be possible to pick up a coffin as a joke,” I mused.

  “Do you have any idea how much those things cost?” Isaac asked.

  “Yes. I buried my parents, remember?”

  Isaac squeezed my hand. “Sorry, Eleanor. Do you think it’s worth the expense and hassle to play a joke on the vampire?”

  “Why not? My money will be worthless soon anyway.”

  “I’m not sure you can walk into a funeral parlor and purchase one,” Isaac said.

  “I can try.”

  I filled Florence in on my plan. She snorted but didn’t argue. I found the nearest funeral parlor on Isaac’s phone, donned a pair of oversized sunglasses, and headed over. After heating the air around me long enough to dry out my eyes, I headed inside with Isaac at my back. An average-looking, polite young man came over to help. He was nothing like the Gomez Addams character I was hoping for, and I almost lost sight of my script. I introduced myself as Nora Walker, ignored Isaac’s inappropriate grin of pleasure at my appropriation of his last name, and removed my sunglasses.

  “Thank you for helping, Mr…,” I said.

  “Doug. Doug Kaplan. But you can call me Doug.”

  “Thank you, Doug. I need to buy a casket. A friend of ours is the victim of a rare disorder and isn’t expected to live through the day. He doesn’t want to be brought to a hospital or, god forbid, a morgue.” I tried to sound like I was stifling a sob, but wasn’t sure how successful I was. “I will make sure everything is taken care of at our home, that all the necessary authorities are called, but was hoping I could bring home a casket today so we have a place for him to rest if he should pass on.”

  Doug looked flabbergasted. I guessed he didn’t get requests like this often.

  “I have cash,” I said, and that weakened any further objections he might have. He led me into the showroom, and I picked a mid-priced model. Isaac helped Doug load it into the car. I climbed into the driver’s seat and drove off. I waited until we were out of sight before howling with laughter.

  Florence was in the back seat. “I hope the delay was worth it.”

  “That’s the most cash I’ve ever dropped on anything. Ever.”

  “Nice to have the fairy princess trust fund to finance your practical jokes.”

  “It really is. I was hesitant about spending the money at first, and I don’t think I’ll need to go on shopping sprees like this often, but it’s nice to live the high life for a day.”

  “I find it interested that in your version of the high life, you go coffin shopping,” Florence said.

  I sniffed. “We wealthy royals are known for our eccentricities.”

  We’d set up our campsite and finished dinner before Raj appeared again. I stifled my grin, did my best to shield my thoughts, and said as casually as I could. “Raj, we got the inside of the camper modified in case you need a place sleep.”

  Raj gave me a suspicious look but opened the camper door. Right there—front and center—was the coffin open to show off its white satin lining.

  I started laughing hysterically, and even Isaac and Florence cracked grins.

  “This is a joke?” Raj asked.

  “Yes,” I was wiping tears from my eyes.

  “You bought a coffin as a joke?”

  “She did,” Isaac confirmed.

/>   “You are a strange woman,” Raj said. “What are you going to do with it now?”

  “It’ll be handy if you ever need it. We should keep it.”

  “I do not sleep in coffins,” Raj said.

  I rolled my eyes. “Relax, Drac.”

  “I can, however, think of other things to do in it. It does look…luxurious.”

  “Are you ever not thinking about sex?”

  He pondered the question. “There are times when my mind wanders away from the subject. When I’m hungry. Or when you insult me by calling me Dracula, like that upstart deserves the publicity.”

  My mouth gaped open. “He’s real?”

  “And such a sucker for attention,” Raj said.

  “Sucker. Heh.” I always appreciate a pun.

  Before I could make further inquiries about Dracula, Raj interrupted. “What did I miss today?”

  Chapter Seven

  AFTER DINNER, I talked the others into a cave tour. The gate wasn’t nearby, but I didn’t want to miss out on some actual touristing. I was surprised when Raj agreed to join us. “I didn’t realize they let people wander into the caves without a guide,” Florence said. “Isn’t that a liability?”

  “Probably,” I said. “Our tour isn’t officially sanctioned.”

  “We’re breaking into a cave?”

  “Yep.”

  “And this cave is in a National Park?”

  “Yep.”

  “Aren’t you afraid of getting caught?”

  “I’m breaking in with a vampire, a werewolf, and the most powerful mage I’ve ever met. Even if we did get caught, what are they going to do? Park rangers aren’t prepared for us. Plus, this is probably traditional American Indian land, so you wouldn’t really be trespassing, right?”

  “I see you’ve thought this through,” Florence said.

  I grinned at her, and she rewarded me with a slight up tilt to her lips. “C’mon, Florence. Be bad with me.” Before anyone else could say anything, I turned and glared at the men and held up a finger. “Nope.”

  We piled in the car and drove to one of the entrances and then snuck down the stairs and into the cave. Once in, I handed around flashlights, and as soon as we were out of sight of the entrance, we turned them on.