Stray Moon

by Kelly Meding

  But would Mom want grandkids?

  Not a freaking clue.

  “We should report our findings to Alpha Kennedy,” Gideon said.

  “Yes,” Chandra replied.

  Irena requested to stay behind and Novak volunteered to chill with her, so the rest of us headed up to the big house. Alpha Kennedy and Rosalind were in deep discussion with several other werewolves, and his mate, Claire, was the only one I recognized. But he saw us immediately. I had the cube-embedded branch in my hands, and I tag-teamed the story with Gideon, from Irena’s arrival to me vibrating the offending magical items into a tree.

  “It’s unbelievable that anyone would sabotage the Packs like this,” Kennedy said with a snarl. “Targeting innocent people, and to what end? Why plant these and then steal my Pack members?”

  “We don’t know,” I replied. “And that isn’t all, sir.” I told him about the sole unknown fingerprint, which only enraged the guy further.

  “A strange wolf made it onto our lands?” Kennedy turned the force of his rage onto Rosalind, who had that flattened-ears look going on. “How did that happen?”

  “Alpha,” Jaxon said in a firm tone, “when magic is involved, anything is possible. I’m certain that, under your guidance, your people patrol your lands with the utmost diligence. Sometimes events are impossible to control.”

  His words seemed to calm Kennedy, who said, “You’re right, Marshal. It’s frustrating to think our borders were violated, when we have autonomy over our lands and people. Those damned rogues and forced wolves. No Pack wolf would cross into another Pack’s land without permission.”

  I bristled on Will’s behalf, even though he wasn’t in the room.

  “Alpha,” Rosalind said. “Remember the words from Danu’s lips herself. Even the forced wolves and rogues are her children and part of her consciousness.”

  Kennedy growled once more, before relaxing again. “You’re right, Rosalind. Change will not occur overnight, but we must do better.”

  Well, knock me over with a fucking feather.

  “I need to call the other Pack Alphas and tell them exactly what to look for in their homes,” Kennedy continued. “Please extend my sincere thanks to the human witch who found those cubes. I am in her debt.”

  Something told me Irena wasn’t the type to collect, but I said I would share his thanks. “It was a forced wolf who brought Irena to your land, Alpha.”

  He squinted. “Then he has my thanks, as well.”

  “I’ll be sure to pass along your message.”

  Jaxon nudged me in the ribs; guess he heard the slight edge of sarcasm.

  “What is the next step in your investigation?” Rosalind asked.

  “Well, we know the missing wolves are somewhere in Kansas,” I replied, “but we can’t exactly go door to door. It’s a big flat state. Hopefully we can use these magic cubes as some kind of anti-homing beacon thingie and trace back to the wolves.”

  “Now that we are involved, I have a request.”

  You’re involved? That is news to me. “Um, okay.”

  “I would like Gideon to join your group as a liaison between your team and us here at home.”

  I glanced at Gideon, who looked like a happy puppy, so he was obviously on board. No one in my group threw up any objections. Gideon had been immensely helpful so far, and having a werewolf nose in the mix couldn’t hurt. “We agree to your request, Alpha’s Second.”

  She smiled at my use of her formal title.

  “I’ll need a few hours to prepare,” Gideon said.

  “Take your time,” I replied. “I doubt we’re leaving town today. You can meet us at the motel when you’re ready.”

  “Thank you, Marshal.”

  “Would you all like to stay for lunch?” Kennedy asked.

  “Thank you, Alpha, but no,” I replied. “Irena is exhausted, and I imagine she’s eager to return to her home. But we thank you for your generosity.”

  “You’re welcome. You’ve found more answers than I ever expected, and I’m grateful to you all.” His gaze flickered up and past my head, where Tennyson was probably standing. “Even you, vampire. I should have taken you more seriously during your first visit.”

  Well, dang, that was practically an apology. I looked over my shoulder in time to see Tennyson execute a half bow that was somehow both serious and snarky. He was good at that. Still, Kennedy accepted it as genuine, and I couldn’t help but wonder if he wasn’t quite as obnoxious as I’d first believed when we met.

  I’d have to think about that some more.

  Not now, though. Armed with a magic-cube-filled log, we needed time to regroup and come up with a plan for finding twenty-eight missing werewolves in the great corn state of Kansas.

  Chapter 8

  Irena was, indeed, ready to go home, which was fine. She’d come of her own volition and done the job we’d asked of her. I was sad to say good-bye to Will, though. Six years later, he still had the same drive and determination to help others that he’d had when we first met. “Save my number,” I said as we stood by his rental car. “I owe you guys for this, so if there’s anything I can do for you in the future, please call.”

  “I will, thank you.” Will smiled, but it never reached his haunted eyes. “Good luck with your hunt, Shiloh. I hope you find the missing wolves.”

  “Me too. Take care.”

  We shook hands again. Then I stood in the midday sun and watched them drive away to the nearest airport. They were replaced almost instantly by a sheriff’s car that trundled into the motel’s parking lot. It stopped next to me, and a man with a handlebar mustache rolled his window down.

  “Afternoon, Officer,” I said, in no mood to play nice with the locals.

  “You folks in town on business or pleasure?” he asked.

  Pretty loaded question, considering this was a small town situated very close to the Pack border. I pulled out my badge. “Guess.”

  “Don’t usually get any trouble from the folk in the Pack lands, unless something else in town is awry.”

  “I’m not at liberty to say, but I assure you, there is no immediate threat to the residents of this town.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the same pixie cloud from arrival day burst in and out of view, and I nearly laughed. It amused me how humans couldn’t see most fey unless the fey allowed it, but I saw them interacting with humans all the time. Following them around, reading books over their shoulders.

  The deputy nodded. “I expect if that changes, I’ll be notified.” He handed me his card, so I swapped it for one of mine.

  “Count on it,” I replied.

  “Surprised it took the locals so long to realize they’d been invaded by out-of-towners,” Jaxon said. He appeared on my right side, hazel eyes fixed on the departing car.

  “I guess it’s a good thing we’ll be heading for Kansas soon.”

  “First we need to figure out how to use the cubes as homing beacons to find the exact location we’re looking for.” He angled toward me and lowered his voice. “What about your mom?”

  I grimaced. “I don’t want to get her involved.”

  “I know, but she might be our best option. She used Julius’s severed head to lead you guys to where he was turned into a revenant.”

  The fact that I knew that but didn’t remember he knew that threatened to give me a blessed headache. “Just . . . let me be the one who brings my mom up as an option. Please?”

  “Of course.”

  Novak and Chandra returned with takeout for lunch, so we settled into one motel room to eat and discuss our options. Tennyson lurked in the corner of the room, a silent statue, and I refused to ask him if he knew someone who could track the werewolves. I still owed him for his first favor. Chandra put a call in to a fellow moon witch to ask for leads within the human magic users community.

  But tracing magic to its source was a tricky and rare gift that few people would ever admit to possessing, because it made that person a valuable commodity to other magic
users. Especially magic abusers who might use the tracer against his enemies. I didn’t want my mom to get on anyone’s radar by helping us again.

  I also wasn’t sure we had another choice.

  While you waffle over the inevitable decision to involve your mother, Tennyson said, we have unfinished business.

  I glared at him. “Does anyone have a pin or other sharp object?”

  “What for?” Novak asked. He had a smear of mustard on his cheek from the deluxe burger he was chowing down on.

  “I owe Tennyson a favor.”

  “You’re gonna poke him full of holes?”

  Jaxon choked on his soda.

  “A drop of blood, remember?” I said.

  “My fang will do just fine,” Tennyson replied.

  “No way, you are not biting me. That was not part of the deal.”

  “As you wish.”

  “I should have a safety pin in my makeup kit,” Chandra said.

  I followed her to the room next door and wasn’t surprised Tennyson trailed us. I had asked for this to be a private moment. After Chandra dug the pin out of her kit, she left and shut the door. The fact that I was now alone in a motel room with a Master vampire was not lost on me. Nor was the way his power crackled the air around us and made my pulse race. My mouth watered with the memory of how his blood tasted.

  “You still feel it, don’t you, young djinn?” he asked. “Our connection.”

  “Yes. I kind of hate you for it, but you saved my life, so that makes it impossible to try and stake you.”

  His lips quirked. “You lack the speed to successfully kill me, but I do admire your forthrightness and tenacity.” He lifted his right index finger to his mouth and punctured the tip with his fang.

  The sight of that crimson liquid had me taking two steps toward him, before I stopped myself. Resisting the lure of his blood was not fucking easy. I’d ingested too much not to be drawn to it, to the power that would surge in my veins directly after—but the bloodlust. The bloodlust made me attack my mom once. I wouldn’t risk my friends’ safety for a hit of my new favorite drug.

  “You’re an asshole,” I said.

  He threw his head back and laughed. “You are indeed strong. Few who have tasted vampire blood once can resist its call.”

  “Put the finger away, Tennyson.” My annoyance at his manipulation attempt tweaked at the Quarrel, and the last thing I needed to do was let it loose this close to a roomful of people I care about, especially knowing it wouldn’t affect the vampire at all. He wasn’t done, though.

  “Is that what you truly want?”

  Bless it. “Yes,” I said between gritted teeth.

  “As you wish.” He licked the drop of blood off and no more welled up. The tangy scent lingered in the air, though. “Your turn.”

  I grunted, then stabbed the pin into the pad of my left thumb. The sharp prick became a throb. I hadn’t poked it in very deep, just enough to squeeze a drop of blood to the surface. Tennyson’s sweet scent surrounded me, as did he and his power. He’d moved so fast his cloak still swirled around him to catch up. Solid blue eyes flashed, and I nearly recoiled. Nearly. This was our agreement. My dad would flip his ever-loving shit if he found out about this, but I held still while Tennyson raised my hand to his mouth. A cool tongue flicked across my thumb, and then he was on the other side of the room in a whoosh of air movement.

  He stared at me with those headlight eyes, both pale hands pressed to his mouth.

  “Was it that bad?” I asked.

  “Oh, Shiloh, I’m sorry,” he said from behind his hands. “I should not have done that.”

  This was not the reaction I’d expected. “Why? What happened?”

  Despite his height, he seemed to shrink, using his cloak to cover himself. Shield himself. “Your blood . . . it’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever tasted.” The words were muffled behind his hands and tinged with . . . fear? No. Tennyson didn’t get scared. “No honey, no plant, no other thing I’ve tasted on earth compares. Heaven and earth, what have I done?” His entire body quaked once.

  Sweet Iblis, what on earth is happening?

  “Okay, you’re scaring me,” I said. “If I tasted good, what’s the problem?”

  He lowered his hands to reveal low-hanging fangs the length of my thumb. Vampires always had short fangs that extended during feeding or distress, like a fight. His fangs now were horrifyingly impressive, and I understood.

  Tennyson wanted more of my blood.

  “You must leave the room, Shiloh, or else.”

  Didn’t have to tell me twice. I put the room door between me and him, then yelped at the sight of Jaxon waiting for me outside. “What happened?” he asked.

  “He liked it a little too much.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Meaning Tennyson asked me to leave the room, so I left the room.”

  “Shiloh—”

  “It’s fine. If he can’t control himself going forward, he stays behind.”

  Jaxon scowled. “Good luck making him stay behind.”

  “If I have to put a silver bullet in his foot to keep him down, I will.” I looked at the other room’s open door, where Novak was doing a terrible job pretending not to eavesdrop. “Did you guys come up with anything?”

  “No. We’ve all put out feelers to our contacts and informants, but so far, no one is powerful enough to do what we need, especially over such a big area.”

  “So we’re back to asking my mom?”

  “Pretty much. And on the plus side, we know we can trust your mom.”

  “True.” I palmed my phone. But can she trust us to keep her safe? “All I can do is call her and ask, right?”

  Jaxon’s answering smile was both supportive and sympathetic, and I stared at his lips a bit too long that time. Instead of doing it in front of everyone, I wandered to the other side of the parking lot near the main road, and leaned against an electric pole.

  “Hey, Shiloh,” Mom said in a bright tone. “How’s the hunt for the werewolves?”

  “Progressing, actually.” I filled her in on what we’d learned about the infertility, meeting Danu, and finding the cubes. “So this is where we’re stuck.”

  She was silent a beat. “You want to use the magic cubes as a way to find the person who created them. Track the magic to its source.”

  My mom always was sharp. “Yes. We’re asking around, but none of us know anyone else strong enough to do it. And Kansas is kind of huge.”

  “You’re right, it is. When I used Julius to find the source, we at least had a sense it had been done semilocally. Trying to do the same in Kansas is like literally looking for a needle in a haystack.”

  “Or a cornfield.”

  A car buzzed by and blew its horn at me. I flipped them off.

  “Where are you?” Mom asked.

  “Small town near California Pack lands. I wanted to call you in private. You don’t have to help us.”

  “I didn’t have to marry your father, either, but that happened.”

  “Mom.”

  “I’m sorry, I’m not dissing your father. I only meant no one makes me do anything I don’t want to do. If you ask for my help, daughter, I’ll help you. And since this isn’t an official investigation, you don’t have to worry about misspeaking in front of me.”

  “True. Okay. Will you help us?”

  “Of course. When and where?”

  “Probably not until tomorrow, and most likely in Kansas somewhere, so I’ll text you once I’ve talked to the team.”

  “All right. Be safe.”

  “Always am, Mom.”

  Despite her assurances, my stomach was a little uneasy over involving my mother in one of my cases. Last time, she’d been attacked by a magical snare and nearly choked to death on a spider. What if this magic user put up snares, too? She could be hurt again. Or killed. Any of us could, but it was our job to take the risk.

  I returned to the room and informed my companions of the news.

  Ja
xon brought up a map of Kansas on his phone. “Wichita is a fairly central location with a big airport. Might be a good place to meet up with your mom.”

  “Our other decision,” Novak said, “is of our own transportation. I require a lot more sex before I could possibly teleport the Jeep and multiple passengers such a distance.”

  “Guess there aren’t any brothels nearby, huh?” I asked.

  “No, there aren’t. The best I managed last night was a blow job behind the convenience store.”

  Chandra was eyeballing Novak with interest, so I made a slashing motion with my hand. “No, don’t even think about it,” I said. “If you two want to fuck when we aren’t on a case, that’s one thing.”

  “It’s an unofficial case,” she replied.

  “It’s also a twenty-five-hour drive from here to there,” Jaxon added. “Some of us can fly into Wichita, while two stay behind and take turns driving the Jeep.”

  I will drive. I flinched at Tennyson’s voice, but it lacked the booming volume I’d gotten used to. I do not require that kind of sleep, and I can drive straight through. And I need a bit of distance from you, Shiloh.

  “Shi?” Jaxon said, staring at me. “The vampire?”

  “Yeah, he volunteered to drive. Says he can do it without sleeping.”

  “Are the windshields tinted enough?”

  I’m touched. I didn’t know the skin-walker cared.

  I rolled my eyes. “Apparently so. With our badges, we’ll be able to carry our service weapons onto a regular plane, but we’ll be sans our special guns and toys until Tennyson arrives with the Jeep.”

  “Then maybe he should get a head start,” Chandra said. “We can use Gideon’s vehicle to get to the airport from here.”

  As you wish.

  “He’s gonna get on that,” I reported.

  “I’ll go outside and make sure we don’t need anything else from the Jeep,” Jaxon said. “Lord knows if we’ll ever see it again.” His tone was more teasing than serious, and in my head, Tennyson laughed.