Four Moons: The Complete Collection: (Books 1 - 4)

by Amos, Richard

  “How are you feeling?” I had to ask the dumb question ‘cos that’s what you did. What you saw clearly on the face didn’t tell the whole story. Well, maybe it did. I just wanted to hear him speak. Selfish, yeah, but I’m greedy like that.

  “Like my head’s in a vise,” he answered weakly.

  “I’m sorry.”

  He closed his eyes. Selfish me wanted those emerald orbs back. “Feel like I’ve been hit by a truck.”

  More stroking of his face. “Sleep more if you need to.”

  “I’ve had enough sleep.”

  “You’re hu—”

  “Aki, can you do me a favor?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Just don’t.”

  “Sorry.”

  “I don’t want to think about it, how I’m—” He stopped, releasing a heavy sigh, saying nothing else.

  Human. Reality was hitting him. No matter what he said, it was gonna be a process. That wasn’t some obvious observation, it just was. G was all about keeping a stiff upper lip and shit, but he’d suffer like anyone else would. He’d been changed hardcore. This was some deep level stuff he had to deal with.

  “I’m here if you need me.”

  Didn’t expect that gentle smile to spread across his gorgeous lips. Wow. I really was smitten. The cork on my feelings had been popped.

  “Thank you, Aki.” He opened his eyes again as he reached for me.

  I took his hand. “Painkillers? There’s a button there you can push to make it flow.”

  “I’m fine for now.”

  “Cool.”

  “How are you?” he asked.

  “You want the full story yet?”

  “Yes. Take my mind off this, please.”

  “Might make your head worse.”

  “Talk to me, Aki.”

  I got to talking, laying it all out for him.

  He closed his eyes again. “The elves. I can’t say I’m surprised they’ve reacted at last, but why here? What do you have to do with anything? Shouldn’t it be your father they go after?”

  They’d tried to take a hostage to use me against my dad and negotiate their freedom. But not hurt me, just a political tool.

  Clearly, they’d leveled up.

  “Yep. How will doing this get them anything? If I die, they all die. Dad will obliterate them. He’ll… Oh, shit!” The penny dropped. Hard. “They want the silver moon. Xavier knows about the whole moon thing, that I’d gone to Mount Tate. Shit, G!”

  “They can take power if the silver moon stays,” G added. “We have to speak to your dad.” He went to get up, groaning without even moving an inch.

  “I’ll do it,” I said.

  “Aki…”

  “I won’t tell him. You call the shots.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I need a phone.”

  A knock at the door as I got off G’s bed. “Hello?”

  “Mr. Murakami?” It was one of our wolf guards—Fumito.

  “What’s up?” I walked over to the door. “You can come in, bruv.”

  The Japanese guy entered, dressed in black, pale as the moon when it wasn’t red, dark hair tied up in a man bun like mine. The red lights of his wolf collar blinked at me. I knew they were mandatory for all werewolves to wear to fight the red moon, making them crazy and suppressed the ability to shift, but it’d never not be weird.

  G wouldn’t need one anymore.

  Don’t do this now…

  “I have High Alpha for you,” Fumito said, handing me a phone. “Secure line, sir.”

  What? Me and Dad have a psychic connection now? “When isn’t it?” I took the phone. “Cheers, bruv.”

  Chapter Two

  “Hey, Dad.”

  “Hello, Akira.” Nothing jolly in his voice.

  That was the first time I’d heard his voice since I’d left England for Japan—when my baby brother, Riku, had been born.

  Weird he didn’t want G.

  “How are you?” he asked.

  “Feeling better. Ready to get out there again.”

  “Out there, Akira? You will be coming home as soon as we can get you a flight back to London.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I meant.”

  “There is a plane due to arrive in the city within the next hour, coming from the north, off the radar. You will be safe, hidden, but the flight time will be longer. When you arrive back in London, I will contact you with further details.”

  “Okay, thanks. Dad?”

  “There have been developments,” he carried on, ignoring my cue to ask him something. “Discoveries. One such discovery is of your time with the elves after the red moon came. I believe the elves were trying to use you against me.”

  Ah, crap. “Yes, Dad. I’m sorry.”

  “You kept it from me.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Valuable information.”

  “I know. I’m sorry. They changed their minds. Well—”

  “Were they aware of your task, Akira? Did you tell Xavier?”

  “Yeah. He was with me when I went to the dream witch.”

  He was silent for a good minute. I didn’t dare speak. He was super-pissed. I could almost feel the frost coming through the phone’s speakers.

  “I am assuming you have come to the same conclusion, then?”

  “About the elves wanting a silver moon?”

  “Yes.”

  “Yeah. But not my friends. They—”

  “The elves have their own agenda, Akira. Did your so-called friends tell you their homeland is dying?”

  “What?”

  “It has been a slow process, now, it seems, reaching the apex. They need to live on this side.”

  “Then, they’re refugees.”

  “You could say that, yes.”

  I felt myself frown. “Then what’s the problem? You’d think they’d want peace.”

  “The problem is their desire for power. It always has been this way. Why do you think they wanted to win the war all those years ago? For a new kingdom. Now the desperation has reached critical levels. Their tunnels aren’t enough for them. Nothing is enough. Living in a world where wolves rule is certainly not enough. I was always willing to live side by side with the elves, embrace the treaties we had with them. These past years have been relatively peaceful, have they not? Contentment is a deadly state of mind, clearly. At least for an elf.”

  Would Dad be content with having lost a war? If his realm was dying too? I mean, everything was hanging on by a thread for him with the threat of the silver moon. Wasn’t he the same kind of desperate?

  Why the hell was I making an argument for the elves? They’d attacked me, fucked me over when I’d always been on their side. They needed this realm and theirs, I knew that. Earth was a key player when it came to trade and living space. Elverie was less than half the size.

  Whatever. They could’ve killed G.

  The fingernails on free fingers dug into my palm.

  “They have made their final move against me. I took the best course of action at the time of the moon becoming stuck—at the revelations regarding Mama Rita’s actions. It was a forceful move to keep them underground while investigations began. Mama Rita was not the only elf who wanted to see harm come to me and mine. For different reasons, yes, but with one goal in mind. Usage of silver has gained prominence.”

  Silver was outlawed—mega illegal. Elves had it over in their realm. We all knew that. It hadn’t made an appearance for years. Lately, it had. Big time.

  Dad had stockpiles of iron. Was he gonna use it? Iron to elves was like silver to a wolf. Toxic and deadly. In huge quantities, it could do some mega damage. And the wolves had some serious iron weapons.

  “You have no elven friends, Akira.”

  “No.” For once, I agreed with him. But my voice didn’t sound like mine. My fingers twitched, needing to feel the hilts of my katanas.

  Destroy…

  “This is a declaration of war. A counterattack is being prepared as we
speak.”

  That actually made me gasp. He was gonna hit the tunnels. He wouldn’t tell me which city or when, but it’d be really soon knowing my dad. Hitoshi Murakami didn’t take this shit lightly. He’d crushed rebellions from elves, witches, and warlocks. They’d never stood a chance. Along with Mama Rita’s stunts, this was the worst attack since my dad had taken down the last Mazoku queen.

  Two threats now. Mama Rita. The elves. Fingers crossed they didn’t team up! The Chief hated Mama Rita, but now it was anyone’s game. Minds change, bullshit shifts.

  Ain’t life a barrel of laughs?

  “I know about Gabriel, Akira.”

  Sucker punch to the chest. I almost dropped the phone. “Wh-what?”

  “I know he has lost his wolf. Not the full details. Yet. Would you care to explain?”

  “H-how…”

  “This is a serious turn of events. Telling me was a requirement of Gabriel’s doctors. Now talk to me.”

  Great big piles of shit!

  “Dad, I—”

  “Tell me, Akira. Now.”

  Hanging up wasn’t an option. I wanted to, pretty much poised to do it. But no. I had to tell him the details. I just hoped G wouldn’t hate me for doing it.

  “He’s awake,” I said. Desperate move. Call it passing the buck, but I had to try and get out of this.

  I turned to see G’s eyes on me.

  “Tell me, Akira.”

  I mouthed ‘he knows’ to G.

  He closed his eyes and sighed.

  “Akira?”

  “Dad—”

  “Tell me.”

  Man, I was such a coward. “I—”

  “Tell him whatever he wants to know,” G said.

  “G—

  “Akira? I am growing impatient. Speak.”

  Dad would’ve heard G’s voice no problem.

  It had to be me. So I told him all about taking G’s wolf energy, how I’d been told G was a gift by my side, how I’d had that horrible epiphany…

  I wanted to scream.

  I’d done this to him.

  “I see,” Dad said after a painful wait listening to silence. The guy didn’t seem to breathe.

  “Dad—”

  “I will speak with Gabriel in time. Not now. I am preparing to deliver a global address within the hour, which lays out new curfews for all citizens. First, though, we are going to be treated to one by The Chief.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me.”

  “The Chief’s giving a televised address?”

  “In five minutes. From a mystery location I have people trying to find. I suggest you switch the television on.”

  “Oh, shit.”

  “I will be in contact again.”

  He never stood on ceremony.

  I hadn’t had the chance to ask him how the search for my uncle was going. Bob and Rose were still out there in the city, finding nothing.

  I clicked the TV on, then went back to G’s bedside.

  “Interesting turn of events,” he said.

  “G. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t worry, Aki. He was giving you an order to speak, right?”

  “Yeah. I should’ve argued.”

  “Why? All it does is cause more drama between you. Anyway, I know how it is to receive a demand from High Alpha you can’t refuse.”

  I sat on his bed, taking his hand again. I didn’t know what to say.

  “At least it’s out there now,” he added. “No more heavy secret. I should have known he already knew.”

  “Sneaky bastard.”

  “He’s the king of the world.”

  This changed everything for G now. His world wasn’t only turned upside down but run through a spin cycle and tossed to the wind.

  Why was I picturing a pair of worn-out boxers I once had that’d had so many holes in them, but I’d not wanted to let go? The places my mind went sometimes!

  “We’ll get through this,” he said.

  That made me go all warm and glowy inside. It was a nice change to the simmering rage, that weird part of me whispering about destruction.

  “You said we.”

  “I did, Aki.”

  “I like we.”

  “Do you want to be a we?”

  I smiled. “You’re asking me to go around with you from your hospital bed?”

  “Why not?”

  I snickered nervously. Was he really asking me to be his boyfriend?

  “Want to try it?” he asked. “I want to. And why wait? What’s the point of waiting for anything? We’ve danced around each other for two years already.”

  “We kind of went from idling to full-on rev.”

  Man, I missed Cindy—my motorbike.

  “Exactly, Aki. What do you say?”

  “Date you?”

  “Higher. We’ve kind of done the dating thing if you think about it.”

  “Boyfriends?”

  “What do you think?”

  There was a chance this wouldn’t ever happen again. Determination to get a job done is one thing, but reality is the constant ball ache. I wasn’t an idiot. I could completely fuck up and die, and that would be that. Okay, so being together in the afterlife was a possibility—and a much better one now it was fixed. But that wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted the here and now. I wanted life.

  You had to take the bull by the horns as much as you could.

  For once, I took my own advice. “Okay. Let’s do it.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. I wanna do it. Be it. Even if everything goes tits up, I’ll die knowing I said yes, that I wanted to go for something new.” I leaned in closer. “I mean, we’ve had the big declarations of love, eh? Why not see it through?”

  “Kiss me, Aki.”

  I did, softly. A tender seal of my bond to him.

  I was his boyfriend.

  Blimey!

  “I’m baking you the most amazing brownies when this is over.”

  Saying yes made the hope of winning shine brighter than the possibility of failure. It put a spring in my step.

  “I’ll hold you to it,” he replied.

  “This feels weird.”

  “Oh?”

  “Not bad weird. I didn’t think I’d ever be in this place again.” In a place with alive stars, not dead ones.

  “I’m glad we’re in this place.”

  “Boyfriends,” I said. “Who would’ve thought?”

  Pangs of sadness I couldn’t deny. How long would we get to explore it?

  Ugh. I hated a wobble of faith. So much for the springy step.

  Fuck off! Let me enjoy this!

  “Looks like it’s starting,” G said, eyes shifting away from me.

  I turned, settling in next to him to watch the TV. Shame this wasn’t a fun kind of TV time.

  There was a lectern and a mic, and a painted silver background with the symbol of the elven goddess painted onto it in a darker shade—the moon and star inside a sun, which was also the birthmark every elf had.

  The Chief appeared at the lectern, microphone perfectly positioned to pick up her dreamy voice.

  Wait a minute. That wasn’t The Chief! For starters, that was a man! The ruler of the elves was a woman. I’d been expecting a pink buzzcut, loud colors, big hoop earrings, and a general hippy vibe. This guy had spiky blue hair, a nose ring, and a silver tracksuit on. His elf mark was on his forehead, his skin a burnished copper.

  What the fuck was going on?

  “Hello, people of the world.” He didn’t have a dreamy voice. It was deep and ominous. Still, like The Chief before him, he didn’t look like the ruler of a whole race, or even particularly scary. It was the damn outfits that did it. Okay, well, maybe he was a little scary.

  Through the screen, his silver eyes flared with menace. He meant business, staring into the camera for a few moments before continuing. “I am talking to you to offer a confession. The recent attack on the Mūnfurawā Hotel in Tokyo was carried out on my orders. I take full resp
onsibility. But allow me to explain the reasons for my actions.”

  “Shit,” I muttered.

  “We have been living with the cursed moon for this short period, yet it has caused much chaos on our streets. None more than the devastation the werewolves inflicted upon us. Now, I understand the attacks were the effects of the curse of the red moon, but it just goes to show the brutality of a wolf, does it not? And we have all lived under their brutal rule for too long. A failure in government, unfair social divisions. Look at how gang rule has spread throughout cities, how the gap of poverty and wealth has spread to devastating levels. All you have to do is walk the streets to see for yourselves.” He paused, doing more camera-staring. “Do you want more of the same? Are you happy with your existence?” Pause. “There is a way to a new hope.”

  “This ain’t happening,” I said.

  “Let me tell you something that the werewolf powers would wish to hide from you,” The Chief went on. “The moon has been cursed by a wayward elf who is no longer an elf. Her name is Mama Rita, and she is a new creature, a twisted beast set to bring the mazoku to flood all things. She must be stopped. The wolves are failing to do so. Their strength is not enough. We are heading straight for the heart of doom.”

  “What the hell is he planning?” I squeezed into his next pause.

  “We, the elves, want to help, to lend a hand, to be honest with you, to show you we care. The High Alpha’s treatment of us has been cruel, yet we are not bitter. We want to welcome you to the trading tunnels, to take shelter as we take up arms against this threat.”

  “Has he lost it?”

  “You may ask why you would listen to the words of someone who would order an attack on a hotel in Japan. Well, you do not know the details. Hitoshi Murakami would rather you did not hear them for yourself.” Another stare. “The attack was against Akira Murakami, son of the High Alpha, as well as the beta wolf. You may find that abhorrent, but what is truly abhorrent is the danger Akira Murakami presents to us all. He has the power to break the curse on the moon. Yes, we all thought him to be dead, but he has been working in secret. He went to the mountains…”

  He told my story, leaving out the dead city parts and anything about what I was carrying in my katanas. Didn’t mean he didn’t know about that stuff, though.