The Hex Files: Wicked Moon Rising

by Gina LaManna

  Liesel flushed, then turned away, putzing with a glass. He wiped down the edges until they were spotless and then some.

  “Do you know who did it?”

  Liesel was startled by my question and nearly dropped the glass. “Of course not. I would never be a part of anything like that.”

  “I didn’t say you were a part of anything, but this is the pack bar. People talk. Rumors fly. People brag. You must have felt the loss of Allie Sparks like anyone else.”

  At the name, Liesel stiffened. “You will get the fight you’re looking for if you say her name in here again. We all know you’re with the vamp. We all know you’d do whatever it took to cover up for him.”

  “He didn’t kill her.”

  “What other vampire walks in Wicked?”

  I glowered across the bar. “Have a little faith. Matthew has restrained himself for centuries. He works at crime scenes. Sees blood, interacts daily with wolves. You think he just...snapped?”

  Liesel poured a glass of red wine and pushed it across the bar, forgetting his previous claim that he wouldn’t serve me. “Down it. Get out of here.”

  I took the glass, sipped it. A part of me realized that Liesel was likely innocent in this whole mess and was looking out for me. We weren’t friends, but I didn’t sense ill will between us. Yet it was obvious he hurt for the loss of Sparks and would prefer I left the pack alone to mourn.

  Unfortunately, I could do no such thing until I could be sure the ones I loved were safe.

  I took a few casual sips of wine. I’d lied to Liesel—it’d been a lot longer than one week since I’d had anything to drink. I didn’t particularly enjoy it, didn’t love the taste, and made a habit of keeping a clear mind for the job. Plus, the hours I wasn’t working were so few that I spent most of them sleeping. My social life was a joke.

  But tonight, the wine tasted good—bitter and dry with an aftertaste that wasn’t entirely unpleasant. The first few sips went to my head, leaving me warm and a bit fuzzy around the edges. A comfortable little blur, as if someone had wrapped a fluffy blanket around my shoulders.

  I swiveled on my seat and stared out at the bar. The initial ripple of surprise that had passed through the patrons when I’d entered gradually faded away as pack members and friends of the wolves turned back to conversations of their own. The horror of my presence turned into mild distrust, and the longer I sat there sipping my glass of wine, the more I slipped into the background.

  After an hour, I was well disguised as a boring old bar patron. I might as well have been an extra stool at the counter for all the attention people spared me. A curious glance here and there was the extent of it, which was just as I’d wanted. Gradually, the bar conversations grew louder, more relaxed. The wolves lapsed back to their usual banter as they realized I was here on my own time—not looking to stir up trouble.

  Little did they know.

  If trouble got stirred, I’d be there.

  And trouble got stirred just before I finished my second glass of wine almost two hours after arriving at the bar. The drunken laughter coming from the back of the bar perked my ears first. I swiveled sideways in my seat and watched out of the corner of my eye as the group became more animated.

  One man stood at the head of the table, the one who seemed to be leading the charge. He was laughing, red in the face, shaking his head as he regaled a captive audience with a story.

  When I caught the word vampire, I was on my feet in a split second. I pushed the wine glass across the bar and threw more than enough money to cover my two-hour stay and my beverages. Liesel glanced up at me, then at the rowdy group in the back corner of the bar.

  “Don’t, Detective,” he said. “They’re just goofing off. Causing trouble.”

  “Causing trouble by putting the captain in a coma?”

  Liesel flinched. “They didn’t do it.”

  “Do you know who did?”

  My question turned him mute. When he went back to angsty scrubbing across the bar counter, I took that to be my cue he was done with me.

  Thankfully, my long stay at the bar caused my movements to somewhat slip by under the radar. I dodged through the more shadowy corners of the bar and wedged myself between the floor-to-ceiling pillars.

  I made it to the rear of the bar, shrugging deeper into my jacket and turning up the collar. I grabbed an abandoned Wolfram Whiskey that had been left, half-drunk, on one of the tables and held it in front of my face as a mask.

  “I’m telling you, that vampire deserved it,” the large man, probably a wolf, boasted to the group. “Nobody takes a wolf from the pack and gets away with it!”

  He drunkenly raised his glass, stumbled closer to the table amidst a roaring cheer of approval.

  “Who did it?” I called. “I bet you don’t know.”

  At first, it didn’t register that the question hadn’t come from a wolf.

  The massive man merely stumbled about. “Whoever it is, I’m giving him a medal. I tell you, I was ready to do it myself. If he hadn’t done it, I would have. Except I wouldn’t have let the vampire live.”

  Without warning, the beverage in my hand shattered. I wasn’t strong enough to crush glass with my bare hands, so I could only assume that my anger had sent a flash of magic ricocheting from my fingers that had all but zapped it.

  The shattering sound worked as a sobering effect and almost all eyes in the bar swiveled to face me. I could practically feel Liesel shaking his head behind the bar, but he obviously didn’t care enough to run interference.

  “Whooere you?” The man slurred as he spun to face me. “You new around here?”

  “That’s the detective,” a voice said. “The vamp’s mate.”

  “His girlfriend,” I corrected. “But close enough.”

  I watched as the large man struggled to catch up with the string of events. It was all happening much too fast for him and his brain mushy with whiskey. Finally, it sank in and he focused just as well as he could.

  “You!” he bellowed. “You attacked Allie!”

  I ducked as a glass was hurtled at my head. It exploded against the pillar behind me. “Do I look like a vampire to you?” I pulled myself to my feet and sidestepped to avoid the pile of broken glass beneath me. “Talk before you throw things, jerk. Who hurt Matthew King?”

  “Doesn’t matter,” the oaf said. “The second that filthy vamp sank his teeth into one of our own, he had a death wish coming. Even you can’t deny it’s what he deserves. You steal one from the pack, you pay with your life. Everyone knows that’s how it goes.”

  “Matthew didn’t kill anyone,” I said, raising a hand to ward off any other attempts to impale me with miscellaneous flying drinks. “I swear it.”

  “I suppose you can alibi him?” Another voice sounded from the booth.

  “Where’s the proof?” Yet another asked.

  “If it wasn’t your vampire, then who was it?” A third asked. “He’s the only registered fanged one in Wicked.”

  “I don’t know the answers to all your questions, but I’m working on finding out,” I said. “It’s my job. I take it seriously. If I had any doubt that it was Matthew, I’d be investigating him, but I don’t.”

  “Hey! Isn’t she the one who got Lorraine killed, too?” A voice from the back of the bar called. “She’s picking us off one by one! Maybe that’s her plan—she’s working with the vamp!”

  “I’m the one who put Lorraine’s murderer away!” I said. “I wanted justice for her!”

  But a roar had begun to grow, deep in the bellies of the bar patrons, and rose louder, louder, drowning out my pleas. The first fingers of fear crept over me, down my spine, and I glanced back for Liesel. He was nowhere to be seen.

  Coward, I had time to think, before another glass—this one still full—was hurtled at my head. I barely dodged it before the chanting grew louder and the burly wolves began closing in on me.

  I knew I shouldn’t have come. I wasn’t sorry I had, but I was annoyed that thi
s was how things would have to end if I didn’t think quickly. The emotions and tensions were running high, combined with the late hour of the night and a few too many glasses of whiskey, and the situation was growing increasingly unpredictable. There was no saying when one of them would get angry enough to spontaneously transform, and that would be the end of it.

  “I only want to find Allie’s murderer,” I said. “It’s not fair she was taken from you and—” This time a plate with food still on it flew just beyond my right ear. “Stop throwing things and listen to me!”

  But the shouting continued, the fueled tinder now growing into a full-on flame. The original oaf, the one who’d stirred up the pot in the first place, was coming at me with a steak knife in his hand. It had flecks of ketchup on the handle, and all I could think in the split second before he reached me was that I really didn’t want to be killed with a dirty knife.

  “Gents,” a voice said, loud enough to catch everyone’s attention, soft enough to calm a hint of the ruckus. “Come on, now. Killing a cop is suicide.”

  “Grey, what are you doing?” I turned to face him. “I can handle this myself.”

  Grey ignored me, though he stepped closer to my hip, silently signaling to the bar patrons to back off. “She’s not worth it, Privet. Let it go. You hurt her in plain sight, and the cops will be the least of your concern.”

  “Gee whiz, thanks,” I muttered as he cinched even closer. “My confidence is overflowing.”

  “Look, I’m working to find out what really happened to Allie,” Grey said. “You have my word, Jamie. I don’t think it was the vamp.”

  “Of course it wasn’t,” I said, but I shut up save for a yelp, thanks to a pinch from Grey to the skin on the back of my bicep.

  “Let it go,” Grey said easily, raising his hands. “I think it’s best if the detective heads home for the night. What do you say, DeMarco?”

  Grey’s eyes leveled on me, and while I was still majorly annoyed at his interference, I owed it to him, to Matthew.

  “Fine,” I said. “I’m gone.”

  “Hold on a sec.” Jamie Privet, the oaf responsible for the uprising, frowned his thick lips at Grey. “For all we know, you’re in it with them. Maybe you’re friends with the vamp! You dated Lorraine, and look what happened to her. And you’ve been spending a lot of time with the detective lately.”

  “Believe me.” Grey gave a dry laugh. “I’m anything but friends with the vamp.”

  “Lookit him,” a mangy female voice called out to us. “He’s practically drooling over her. The wolf wants the cop.”

  “That’s not it, either,” Grey said. “I just want to get out of here without a fight. There’s no reason for one.”

  “I think there just might be!” Privet, a good foot taller than Grey, turned his massively muscled arms toward the Elderwolf. “I don’t trust you. I don’t like what happened to Lorraine, and now we’ve lost another. Where were you when Allie was killed, huh?”

  “Okay,” Grey muttered to me. “Now we run.”

  “We don’t run anywhere,” I said. “We hold our ground. Chicken.”

  “I’m not a chicken; I’m an Elderwolf, and we have someplace to be.” Grey spoke softly in my ear. There wasn’t a chance anyone else could hear him speak, especially not over the rousing chant gaining speed in the bar. “Hold onto me.”

  “What the hell?”

  “Get closer,” Grey barked. “Now—they’re calling!”

  “Who’s calling?” I glanced at Grey, confused as he snatched me against his chest and hugged me hard.

  Just as he did so, there was an uproar from the crowd, as if Grey’s action proved all of Jamie’s drunken theories correct. “He wants her!” Privet bellowed. “Don’t let him out of here. He knows who killed Sparks!”

  “Grey!” I said urgently. “Do something or let me go! Pick one or the other. Now.”

  However, Grey didn’t react with any sense of urgency. He merely closed his eyes and went still—eerily still. Almost as still as Matthew in his natural state. I felt his heart beating against me, the warmth of his limbs wrapped around mine, almost excruciatingly hot.

  I felt the tingle first in my chest, then in my extremities. By the time the sizzling sensation had encompassed my entire body, I was well and truly worried.

  “What are you doing?” I asked. Then, my eyes widening, I saw the steak knife in Jamie’s hand raising as he leveled it to toss in our direction like a dart. “Grey, duck!”

  Jamie let the knife fly, the point headed straight between my eyes. I tried to move, but Grey’s arms clasped tighter and tighter, and my breath slipped further and further away.

  Seconds before the knife plunged into my skull, there was a pop, and then suddenly, nothing.

  Chapter 21

  When the blackness faded and left us in an open field surrounded by arching black trees and stars twinkling above, I rolled out of Grey’s arms and stumbled away from him.

  “What the hell was that?” I tried to get to my feet, but I was wobbly and opted for sitting in the damp grass instead. “Where did you bring me?”

  “We’re at—”

  “And why did you wait until a knife was flying at my forehead?” I shuddered, the adrenaline coursing through my veins, dissipating and leaving me shaky and unsettled. “You almost killed me.”

  “I saved your life,” Grey said. “You’re welcome.”

  “Where are we?”

  “If you’d listen, I’d tell you.” Grey sat back, crouched back on his heels, toying with the grass between his fingers. He looked entirely comfortable with the whole disappearing and reappearing through thin air thing. “We’re in a safe place.”

  “Where?”

  “The Isle.” Grey hesitated. “I can explain.”

  “Good. Because I can listen.”

  He gave an amused smile. “I’m sure you’re confused, but there’s a perfectly good explanation—”

  “Chop, chop,” I said, clapping my hands and shifting into a crouch as well. The dew on the grass was seeping through my pants. “Get to the explanation. Do you always appear and disappear like that?”

  “I can only do that when the others call.”

  “Who else?” I stretched my shaky legs and brought myself to a standing position. I felt unstable and didn’t dare move any faster. “Why were they calling you?”

  “There’s a meeting of the Elderwolves tonight,” Grey said. “When we have a gathering time set by the Eldest, there’s a call that goes out.”

  “What, like a police dispatch?”

  “In a way.” Grey gave a thin smile. “Wherever the Elderwolves are, we can bring ourselves to the gathering. Hence the reason I wandered into a werewolf bar when they were ready to attack you.”

  “You knew you had a way out.”

  “And I knew you needed to come with me.”

  “Why?” I wiped my palms against my thighs. “Why would I even be allowed at a meeting of the Elderwolves? I have no relation to any pack.”

  “This isn’t about packs,” Grey said, then corrected himself. “Well, it is, but we’ve agreed to speak with you.”

  “We?” I shook my head. “This is weird.”

  “We have a collective power in addition to our own,” Grey said. “It’s rarely used. Except in emergencies.”

  I squinted at him, took a step closer. “How is the death of one new werewolf an emergency?”

  “It’s not just about Allie. Elderwolves don’t interfere when issues affect an individual—they interfere when the issues affect the group as a whole.”

  I gave a shake of my head, then it dawned on me. “The Hex Files.”

  Grey bowed his head. He extended a hand. “Will you stay?”

  “I don’t know how the hell I’d get off the island without your powers, so what am I supposed to say?”

  Grey gave a soft laugh. “That’s the positive attitude I know and love.”

  At the word love, I shifted, then dodged Grey’s hand. Fortun
ately, the situation didn’t have time to get awkward because a voice called out from the tree line and interrupted us.

  “Welcome,” the shadowy figure said. “I trust you made the journey safely?”

  Grey’s voice perked up as he turned toward the man on the edge of the clearing. “Ranger X, this is Detective DeMarco. Dani, this is Ranger X. He’s the—”

  “We’ve met,” I said, nodding deeply when he stepped from the shadows. “His...er, the Mixologist helped stem Matthew’s bleeding. Probably saved his life.”

  “That’s Lily and X for you,” Grey said. “The best people on the island.”

  Ranger X looked entirely unaffected by Grey’s praise. The Ranger kept his hands clasped firmly before his body, the picture of professionalism. His dark hair curled slightly over his forehead, and his deeply tanned, islander skin glowed under the moonlight.

  The silvery wisp of light gave him a godlike aura and, mixed with his strong golden Residuals, gave off the impression that power radiated from his very figure. The man was both handsome and impressive and, I suspected, well deserving of his title as Head Ranger. I considered myself a capable detective, but I wouldn’t want to come up against X in a dark alley.

  “If you’re ready, I’ll show you to the location I’ve prepared,” Ranger X said. “I imagine you’ll want to make sure it suits your needs before the others arrive.”

  Grey gave a perfunctory nod. “Thank you.”

  As we moved through the heavily wooded land, I fought off the same shudder that often hit me in The Depth. The creepy crawly sensation of eyes peering through the darkness, from above, and through the bushes. Of creatures both known an unknown, biding their time until attack.

  After a few minutes of silence, save for the crunching of twigs and leaves and the brushing against foliage, Ranger X launched unceremoniously into a description of the safety measures he’d taken in preparing the meeting location. It was impressive, and I couldn’t understand half of what he said.

  “Elle is on standby to handle any administrative requests you may have while on The Isle. She’s centuries old and has plenty of experience with unique situations,” Ranger X explained. “I have half the Rangers surrounding the clearing in plain sight; heavily guarded, both magically and not.”