Blood Moon's Fury: A Young Adult Fantasy Thriller (Curse of the Blood Moon Book 1)

by Leah Kingsley

  Peter gaped. “You sure made this look convincing.”

  Ash hung his head. “The little one went crazy. She flipped out, and Amy took their stuff. I wanted to go with them, but they said they were going to shoot me!” He was close to tears. “Alex will shoot me anyway!” He stared at the floor like a dog about to be hit. “What are you gonna tell them?”

  “You did good, man. Sorry they beat you up, but can you blame them? I’ll help with the others, I promise.”

  Nathan crashed through the door and froze at the sight of the hostageless room. “What the hell did you do?” His dark eyes narrowed into slits. “You had one job, guard the prisoners, and you somehow messed it up? You stupid, useless piece of—” Nathan punctuated each insult with a blow to Ash’s face.

  Peter rushed to block Nathan’s warpath of rage. “It’s not his fault. We left them both alone with him and they weren’t even tied up.”

  Alex burst into the room with his hair dripping from the rain. “You let them escape?” His face grew splotchy with rage. Peter pictured steam pouring from his ears and suppressed a chuckle.

  “Well, I didn't exactly let them,” Ash said from where he lay sprawled on the floor. “I didn’t have any rope, and there were two of them. I tried to stop them, but Amy had a gun!” Peter silently cheered his friend as he babbled. Ash was too good for Assassin’s Honor but had peer pressure PTSD.

  Alex loomed over him, his blue eyes chips of ice. “You expect me to believe two little girls beat you senseless? You’re saying they retrieved their weapons from the other side of the house and wandered back to threaten you before they walked out?” His voice was deadly calm, anger boiling just below the surface. Peter tensed. Alex wasn’t buying it. He braced himself for a fight.

  “Their stuff was over there,” Ash said, feebly waving a hand toward a dusty corner of the room. “I’d never help them, I swear!”

  “Yeah.” Peter nodded, glimpsing an escape route. “And if he had helped them, he would have left with them instead of waiting around for you guys to beat him up.”

  “Whatever! You let two tiny girls overpower you! You’re a wimpy, little, lying retard.” Alex looked about to join Nathan in beating Ash senseless. He raised his fist but thought better of it at the last second. “Come on, let’s go.” He stormed from the room.

  “Go where?” Peter asked with a knot of unease in his gut.

  “To find them before the police find us,” Alex hissed through clenched teeth.

  Nathan released Ash and followed Alex outside. Ash scurried after them like a faithful puppy. Peter trailed in their wake with a weighted hopelessness in his chest. “Where do we even look?” he asked, dreading the answer.

  “Shut up and follow me.” Alex led the group in the opposite direction from which Amy had come that afternoon.

  “Wouldn’t she go home?” Ash opened an umbrella, and a gust of wind nearly ripped it from his hands.

  “No. She’s smarter than you.” Alex stalked down the street like a bloodhound following a scent.

  They wandered the deserted, flooded streets with aimless abandon. Peter wiped raindrops from his forehead and hoped Alex was lost. “How do you know they even went this way? They could be anywhere. Heck, they could have called the cops by now!”

  Alex’s nostrils flared. “You got a better idea?”

  “Yeah, I do. Split while we have the chance.”

  Alex halted at a street corner and scanned the wet pavement. “If we kill them, no one will be around to tattle to the police.”

  Peter suppressed an involuntary flinch. “Why is it so important that we kill them? Amy has learned her lesson.” Anxiety knotted in his chest. Amy’s little sister was only nine.

  “We kill because I say so!” Alex thundered. Jagged red lightning split the sky.

  Ash and Nathan gaped stupidly at each other. Nathan nodded first. “We can’t risk them ratting us out.”

  Thick black fog swirled in Peter’s head. His will eroded, crumbled, and dissolved. He followed Alex through the storm and clung to the hope that Amy and her sister were somewhere safe.

  “We’ve passed that house three times already,” Ash said.

  “Shut up!” Alex rounded on him. Ash scrambled backward and crashed into Peter.

  Peter’s phone rang as he opened his mouth to point out Ash was right. He checked the caller ID, grimaced, and shoved his phone into his pocket. He rarely accepted calls from his father. They usually resulted in a rant about what a giant disappointment he was. His dad tried calling once more and gave up.

  Alex’s phone buzzed. He accepted the call with an irritated groan. “What?” He listened for a moment and smirked. “Jenkins, your dad’s been trying to reach you. He says you’re a real screwup. I have to agree.” Peter scowled. What else was new? “What?” Alex said. “They are? How did you—” He broke off midsentence. “First, it was Ash’s incompetence, not mine. Second, I understand perfectly what will happen if they call the cops. That’s why I tried to get rid of them. But your idiot son kept interfering. He’s too soft. I doubt he’s cut out for this line of work.”

  “Give me that!” Peter snatched the phone from Alex. “Hello, Dad.” He braced himself for a lecture.

  “Hello, Peter,” his father answered coolly. “Guess I’ll have to finish your dirty work myself.” Peter cringed. Amy and Susan had escaped Alex only to wind up with the one person in the world who might actually be worse. “I warned you hostage situations were tricky business. You never listen. You think you know it all.”

  “It was Alex’s idea.” Peter cheerfully threw him under the bus.

  “I don’t care who came up with it. It was stupid.” His dad hung up on him.

  “He thinks you’re stupid.” Peter smirked at Alex.

  “So wait, they’re at your place?” As usual, Nathan was confused.

  Alex snatched his phone. “No, they’re at the Magnolia clubhouse. Let’s go.”

  “It’ll take over an hour to walk there.” Ash clung to his battered umbrella.

  “Fine, I’ll hail a freaking cab.” Alex flagged down a taxi.

  Peter joined Ash and Nathan in the taxi’s back seat, a heavy cloud of doom pressing hard upon his shoulders. How the hell was he going to get the girls out of this one? Ditching now would earn them all a place on his father’s blacklist. The leader of Assassin's Honor took betrayal seriously. Fleeing from the gang might get them all killed. Sickening dread knotted in Peter’s stomach. Facing the police would have been a million times easier than his dad.

  “Here’s good.” Alex indicated for the driver to let them off at the corner of Magnolia Crescent.

  “Nasty fire there.” The driver pointed down the street. Peter followed his gaze to a plume of thick gray smoke billowing toward the black night sky.

  “Come on,” Alex said. They sprinted down the street toward the fire’s orange glow.

  “What happened?” Nathan gasped.

  The fire was raging in the backyard of the Jenkins’s gang clubhouse. Peter sprinted for the main structure, dreading what he might find. His dad lay on the cheap vinyl couch with broken glass in an arc around his head and a large welt between his brows. Had Amy knocked him out with his own beer bottle? Peter suppressed an elated grin. He kind of loved that girl.

  “So much for disposing of them.” He poked his dad’s thick shoulder. “Guess they disposed of you instead.”

  “Where are the girls?” Nathan darted a panicked look around the living room.

  The backyard shed had burned to the ground, and the flames were devouring the overgrown lawn. The blaze was about to reach the house, the buckets of torrential rain doing nothing to slow the greedy tongues of fire.

  Alex paced the room like a dog who had lost a scent. He froze midstride and darted a nervous glance toward the door. “Grab him.” He jerked a thumb toward Mr. Jenkins. “We need to split.”

  Sirens wailed in the distance. Cursing energetically, Nathan tossed Mr. Jenkins over his shoulder like a li
mp sack of potatoes. Peter wished he had time to snap a photo. His macho, gangster father being carried off like a damsel in distress had him in silent stitches.

  They sprinted the two blocks to Peter’s house as dusk gave way to night. Peter ran along at the back of the group with his heart soaring high above the clouds. His luck had at last chosen to turn. Amy and her sister were going to be fine, and Alex and his dad were both headed to prison.

  Nathan unceremoniously dropped Mr. Jenkins on the kitchen floor. Peter happily doused him with a pitcher of ice water.

  “The hell!” Mr. Jenkins spluttered, swiping water off his dripping beard.

  Peter leaned against the counter. “You let them escape. And you say I’m incompetent? They would’ve burnt you to a crisp if we hadn’t come along and saved your ass.”

  “Nah, the fire was my idea. They went up in flames.” He sat up and put a beefy hand to the welt on his forehead.

  “Nope, but your clubhouse did.” Alex threw him a contemptuous scowl. “Where are they?”

  “How the hell would I know?” he slurred. He must have downed a few drinks before Amy knocked him unconscious.

  “He’s useless,” Alex said and knocked him out with a swift punch to the temple. Mr. Jenkins sagged to the floor, out cold. “Stop smirking, Peter, unless you’re proud of your inherited stupidity.”

  “Now what?” Ash worried his lower lip. “Do you think the cops are onto us?”

  Alex shook his head. “If Amy was going to call the police, she would have done it by now. She has nothing on us. We have her address, her class schedule, her work schedule, and her bus routes. We’ll track her down anywhere she goes. It’s only a matter of time.”

  Peter gaped at Alex in openmouthed horror. “How much research have you done on this chick?”

  “I like to understand my enemies.”

  “So, we’re waiting until they go home?” Ash asked.

  “No.” Alex slammed a fist into his palm. “I told you, she’ll avoid going home because she knows we will find her there. She’s found herself a cozy place to hide. We’ll wait until after the storm to track her down.”

  Peter flopped onto the sofa, praying Alex was wrong. “Wake me when you’re about to punch out my dad again.”

  He closed his eyes and pretended to doze. Ash and Nathan wandered back into the kitchen to raid the fridge. Alex paced the living room floor and muttered maniacally to himself. “You clever bitch. Where are you hiding them? I will find you, and the Blood Moon will have its sacrifice.” Peter sighed. It was just another day with his deranged associates.

  He woke to Ash shaking his shoulder. “We’re leaving.” He nodded to Alex and Nathan, who were heading out the door.

  Peter groggily followed them outside. Though the rain had stopped and the wind had calmed, thick gray clouds still obscured the night sky. It looked like someone had pressed an enormous pause button, temporarily halting the raging storm.

  Alex led them confidently through town, straight up to the plain white door of a ground-floor apartment. “Found you!” he bellowed. “Come out and play.”

  The door flew open. A tiny, dark-haired chick stepped out with a shotgun clutched in her petite, little hands.

  “Holy crap!” Peter hit the ground as a deafening blast echoed through the still night air.

  Alex stood his ground. “Cut the drama. We both know you won’t kill us.”

  “It’s not too late to walk away.” The girl fixed him with a steely glare.

  Peter backed up with his hands in the air. He refused to get shot over some stupid obsession of Alex’s.

  The dark-haired girl raised the shotgun and took aim. Peter dove behind a dumpster. Ash scrambled behind a parked car. Nathan crashed to the asphalt. Alex stayed put. He grinned cockily at the girl as if he had already won the showdown. She shrugged and pulled the trigger.

  The subsequent bang was more deafening than a thunderclap. A bolt of red lightning struck the girl in the chest, leaving nothing but a smoldering crater in its wake. The filmy clouds parted to reveal a large, bloodred moon.

  “Umbra mortis,” Alex whispered reverently.

  Twenty-seven

  AMY WRAPPED AN arm around a trembling, pale-faced Susan, and hoped with all her heart their rescuer was okay. The Dark had risked everything to help them. Gunshots echoed through the night, and an elated cheer confirmed the worst. The Dark had failed. This night had become one long, inescapable nightmare.

  Amy tightened her grip on her pistol and stared grimly at the door. Johnson burst through first. She shot him, and he collapsed to the floor with a howl of agony. She moved on to Alex, but he dove forward and she missed. Susan screamed a warning as bullets sprayed the wall behind them. Alex was returning fire. She shielded Susan with her body and pointed her gun at Jenkins. Her heart twisted with indecision. He had saved her from Alex. Alex took advantage of her hesitation and tackled her to the floor, knocking the pistol from her grasp.

  “Enough!” He smacked her across the face with his gun.

  She thrashed wildly and managed to elbow him in the throat. Alex recoiled, and she scrambled free. Hope unfurled within her as she lunged for the gun. Johnson blocked her path. She threw all her weight into tackling him out of the way. He barely even moved. She cringed. She had not thought that one through. He was built like a rock, and she was five two.

  Alex pressed his gun to her temple. “Give me one reason to shoot.” His breath was hot against her neck.

  Jenkins squinted out the rain-splattered window. “Ash is here with the car.”

  “Guess I’ll wait until later.” Alex lovingly tucked his gun into his jacket. He dragged the girls out the door while Jenkins helped a still-howling Johnson. Disappointment left a bitter taste in Amy’s mouth. Her bullet had only grazed his thigh.

  Ash sat in the driver’s seat of the same Tata Nano their abductor had driven. He looked decidedly worse for wear with a bleeding lip, a bloody nose, a bruise on his cheek, and two matching black eyes. She cocked a brow. She hadn’t pummeled him that badly. Someone else must have taken a turn after she and Susan had escaped.

  Alex hurled her into the back seat and took shotgun himself. Jenkins and Johnson piled in on either side of her, Johnson dragging Susan in after him. She flinched at his touch, slid to the floor, and cowered at his feet. Jenkins reached across Amy and pulled Susan to the opposite side of the car. He placed her on the seat between them. Susan peeked at him from under her lashes, her body trembling with fear.

  Alex glared at her over his shoulder. “We don’t have enough seat belts, and we’re not giving the cops an excuse to pull us over. Get down on the floor.”

  Susan slid off the seat and crouched in front of Jenkins. Amy buckled her seat belt and sat in stony silence as they drove straight back to the shack from earlier. Their nightmare had come full circle.

  Ash and Johnson stumbled inside in search of a first aid kit, while Alex again plundered Amy’s purse. He produced her phone and frowned. “Why did you let the battery die? Now how will your boyfriend call you?” He tossed the gun to Jenkins and strolled into the shack. “Get them inside.”

  Jenkins darted a quick look over his shoulder. Amy followed his gaze to the swamp and dense foliage surrounding it. He sighed. “Come on. Let’s not give him an excuse to come back.”

  Susan stared at the dilapidated shack, her dove gray eyes glazed with horror. “I can’t! I can’t go back in there. Amy, please don’t make me.” Her face paled. “I’m going to be sick.”

  Jenkins scooped her from the car and set her at the edge of the dirt driveway. The broad-shouldered gangster gently held her hair back as she was sick on the grass. Amy gawked at them, openmouthed. Jenkins had more sides to him than a Rubik’s Cube.

  She climbed from the car and cautiously approached the pair. Susan’s shoulders heaved. He pulled her into an awkward hug. “I won’t let it happen again,” he said with quiet intensity. “Ever.”

  Susan nodded, blinking back tears. He tucked
her close to his side and guided her toward the shack. Amy followed, unease and confusion knotting together in her stomach. Jenkins led them past the rest of Assassin’s Honor and tied them up in the smaller room with a deep look of pain in his sea green eyes. He sat next to the TV. Either he thought it too risky to leave them alone, or he imagined his presence helped Susan.

  Amy’s stomach clenched with guilt. She had to make them let Susan go. The problem was they knew hurting her little sister was the best way to hurt her.

  Alex burst through the door with Amy’s pistol in his fist. “Someone’s been trying to call you. Did you slip up on your way here?” His blue eyes simmered with rage.

  She lifted her chin and scowled. “No. I was on the phone with you guys the whole time.”

  He fixed her with a glacial stare. Her entire body tensed under his penetrating gaze.

  Jenkins stood, crossed the distance between them in two long strides, and leaned against the wall to her right. He was a solid burier of muscle protecting her from Alex. “She couldn’t have tipped anyone off. She’s telling the truth.”

  Grateful relief swept through her. She released the breath she had been holding. “It’s probably our mom,” she lied, knowing her mother would never check in on them in a million years. She squared her shoulders and switched to the offensive. “I’ve done everything you asked. It’s time you let my sister leave.”

  Alex sneered. “Not a chance. We’re just getting started.” She darted a swift glance to Susan, and her insides tangled with unease. The rest of Assassin’s Honor filed into the makeshift prison.

  “On your feet!” Johnson glowered at the girls. Amy struggled to stand, but it was difficult while bound. “Not you.” He shoved her to the floor. “You.” He pointed at Susan. Alex twirled Amy’s pistol in his hands.

  Panic fluttered in her gut. What if they used her own gun on Susan? “You can’t. You—” Amy struggled to speak, her words solidifying within her in a pit of frozen dread.

  “Oh yeah?” Johnson sneered, delighted with her reaction. “Wanna bet?”