Moonrise

by Ines Johnson

  They were stopped at a red light. She looked over at him. His eyes were on hers, open, gentle. There was a crinkle at the edges.

  "You still want to tell them?" she asked. "About us?" She tripped over the last word.

  Jackson frowned. "What else would we tell them? You're mine."

  When the light turned green, he turned his attention back to the road, but he did not release her hand.

  "We may not have to tell them," she said. "Pierce is awake. I'm sure they've already brought me up. He will have told them I'm not his mate. That I was just some crazy witch he met on the train. That I'm the reason he's in the hospital in the first place. He probably doesn't want to see me and, when your parents find out, they won't want to see me either."

  The thought hurt. She'd liked Pierce and still wanted his friendship. She wanted him to be her brother even more. What really hurt was the thought of the Alcedes rejecting her for lying to them and then sleeping with their other son. All the stereotypes of witches sleeping around would certainly be on their minds when she walked through the hospital door.

  "My parents adore you," Jackson said. "If they're... disappointed, they'll get over it... eventually. My mother will forgive you the moment you give her a grand baby."

  "A baby?"

  Jackson stiffened. "Do you want children?"

  Her ears didn't miss that he tried to keep the hope out of his voice. He failed miserably.

  "I do," she assured him. "Do you?"

  "I do." He cast her a smile full of promise. "We might be well on our way. We didn't use any protection last night."

  Lucia glanced her hand over her belly. Jackson caught the motion and his nostrils flared. A friend, a family, a mate, and now, possibly, a baby. It was all too much, and everything she wanted at the same time.

  They pulled up to the hospital and Lucia waited while Jackson came around to hand her out of the car. He picked up his coat, the one’s she’d been wearing last night, from the backseat and placed it around her shoulders. And then he slid his arm around her waist and pulled her into his side as they went into the automatic glass doors. The doors had amazed Lucia just the other night. So much had happened since that time that she barely gave them a second glance today.

  Inside the building, Clara sat behind the front desk. Her head cocked to the side when she saw the two of them.

  Lucia gulped, but there was no way she could hide her feelings for Jackson. She remembered her conversation with the nurse just two nights ago. She'd declared her love for one brother, but now she walked in step with the other brother.

  She knew that was judgment in Clara's eyes. She knew that uptilt of a smile on Clara's face was a sneer of disgust now that Lucia was showing her true silver colors. But then a curious thing happened. Clara winked at Lucia and flashed her eyes.

  Lucia allowed a sliver of Clara's silver to touch her own irises. Lucia whispered into the other witch's mind that she loved Jackson and would explain it later.

  Silver touched Clara's receptive irises and, in her mind, Lucia heard the other witch's response.

  I told you to wait, Clara singsonged without a falsetto of disdain.

  And then, You'd better give me all the details later, Clara demanded as she broke contact and eyed Jackson with an appreciate once over.

  And finally, Clara turned back to Lucia and expressed, I'm happy for you.

  Lucia grinned at the ease of communication. She'd only ever spoken telepathically to her mother. Most witches wouldn't allow such access unless the need for silence was paramount.

  Jackson and Lucia passed the front entryway and stopped outside Pierce's room. They saw him through the glass. His eyes were open. He looked tired, but there was a small smile on his face as his mother fussed over him. His sister sat on the other side of the bed, chatting without pausing for him to respond. His father stood apart, smiling down at his boy, his stance protective.

  Pierce glanced up at the door and looked straight at Lucia. He blinked, and then recognition dawned. Lucia held her breath, preparing herself for his grimace, for his scowl, for his anger.

  It didn't come. Pierce broke out into a beatific smile and gestured towards the door. Karyn paused and looked up at the door. She, however, didn't smile. She scowled at Lucia and Jackson as she marched over to the door.

  Lucia's heart caught in her throat. She knew it had all been too good to be true. After mourning the loss of her own mother for so long, and then finding a woman she wanted to mother her, it was all going to be taken away.

  Karyn wrenched the door open and put her hands on her hips. "What were the two of you thinking?" She looked between Lucia and Jackson.

  Jackson's hand clutched Lucia's lower back. "Ma, let us explain—"

  "Didn't I teach you common courtesy, Jackson?"

  Jackson's hand dug deeper into Lucia's back. "Yes, ma, but—"

  "I set a place for the both of you at the dinner table last night. If you decided to enjoy some of the Blue Moon Festivities elsewhere, you should've called."

  Jackson's mouth moved, but no words came out.

  His mother reached past him and put an arm around Lucia, breaking her off from Jackson. "He won't even let me come over to his place. I guess he's really taken to you if he let you crash in his spare bedroom." She smiled and then she gave Lucia a little shove towards Pierce. "Here she is, baby boy. Safe and sound, just as I promised."

  Lucia stumbled as she came to the edge of the hospital bed.

  "Hey," Pierce said with a bright smile.

  "Hi," Lucia stuttered out the two syllables.

  Pierce leaned forward. "Thank the Goddess, you're all right. I was worried sick about you."

  Lucia looked at everyone around the room. They were all smiling as though this conversation were the most natural thing in the world. She peered behind her at Jackson. He looked as confused as she.

  She turned back to Pierce. "You were?"

  "The last thing I remembered was those men coming at you," Pierce said. "Then everything went black. When I woke up, I was here and you were nowhere to be found. I thought they'd gotten away with you. The nurses had to restrain me when I first woke up. I was determined to find you."

  Pierce rubbed his wrists where she saw light red marks on his brown skin.

  "But then my parents came and told me you were fine," he continued. "That you were with Jackson." Pierce peered around her to smile at his brother. "Hey big, brother."

  "Hey," Jackson said, stepping up closer to the bed.

  "That's when I calmed down," Pierce said. "I knew if you were with my brother, nothing could go wrong."

  Lucia and Jackson stood side by side. She felt the tension coming off him and chanced a glance. Jackson gave her his eyes. Behind the confusion she saw the same guilt she felt reflected in his golden brown eyes.

  Jackson steeled his chin. He put his hand back at the small of Lucia's back. She felt a slight tremor in his pinky finger where it rested on the base of her spine. Lucia pressed herself into Jackson's caress, giving him her strength.

  Jackson took a deep breath, and then he began. "Everyone, listen. We need to talk—"

  "All right, all right." The doctor in the white coat came into the room. "I'm sorry, but that's enough visiting for today. We have to let our patient get some rest before we do another round of tests." The doctor held the door open wide, indicating that there was no room for argument.

  The Alcedes gathered their things. As they did, Pierce reached for Lucia's hand. She came around to the side of the bed and gave it to him. He squeezed her fingers and gave her that same smile that had captivated her on the train. Only tonight, it didn't make her heart flip. It did send a warming sensation to the organ. Pierce was a genuinely nice person and she couldn't wait to get to know him more.

  "I'm so glad you're all right, Lucia," he said. "Stick with my brother, he'll keep you safe."

  Jackson came up behind her and put his hand on her lower back. It wasn't a possessive touch, but her body knew wh
om it belonged to.

  "When I get out of here," Pierce continued, "I'll keep my promise to you."

  Lucia frowned, and then she realized what he meant. Pierce had promised to help her find her father. She didn't have the heart to tell him what she found out about her father; that he was a lone wolf who had abandoned her. She didn't want to burden him with that.

  Karyn kissed Pierce on the cheek. "You take your time in getting well, baby boy. You two will have the rest of your lives together for promises."

  Pierce smiled as his mother fluffed his pillow. Then he frowned as though he were rewinding her words in his head. His eyes cut to Lucia's face. She bit her lip. Pierce's intelligent eyes dipped to Jackson's hand on her waist. Lucia caught the look that passed between brothers. She also caught Kayla looking between the three of them. Both Kayla and Pierce gave them an arched eyebrow with a twist of the lip before Karyn ushered them all out the door.

  Once outside, Jackson pulled Lucia a step behind the others.

  "They still don't know," Lucia said.

  "We'll tell them when we get to the house,” Jackson said. "We won't drag this on. You're mine and everyone needs to be clear on that."

  She wanted to wrap herself around him, to crawl inside his chest and burrow herself there for the rest of her life. And she could do that, in just a matter of hours. She smiled up at him, trying to communicate the depth of her emotions, of her love, of her devotion to this man.

  Jackson brushed his thumb across her bottom lip. Even such a light touch marked her as his.

  "Jackson," his father called.

  Jackson stiffened at his father's voice and pulled his hand away. "As soon as we get to the house,” he promised her before turning to his father.

  Lucia sighed. It was all going to be all right. She and Jackson would explain it all, and everyone would come to understand without any anger or ill will. Pierce and Kayla already appeared to know the score and were amused. Mr. and Mrs. Alcede would likely get a laugh as well. She just had to wait another hour for it all to be straightened out and her future to begin.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Jackson caught Pierce watching him through the glass panel in the door. His brother had a knowing look on his face. It was clear Pierce had sensed what was between Jackson and Lucia. Jackson caught Kayla's sly glance as she followed her mother and Lucia out. Jackson sighed internally, some of the weight lifting off his shoulder. His siblings had recognized what was between him and Lucia after only a few minutes of seeing them together.

  "I'm glad you and your new sister are getting along," Harold Alcede crossed his arms over his broad chest and peered down at his son. "But I'm also disappointed in you, son. The next time you kids want to go hang out all night, make sure you give your mother a call so she doesn't worry."

  Jackson wanted to correct his father right there. Lucia was far from his sister. And what they did last night was even further from hanging out. Jackson opened his mouth to enlighten his oblivious father, but the other man's hand rose up in a stop motion.

  "That's not what I wanted to talk with you about. I know you were looking into the whereabouts of Lucia's father."

  Jackson hesitated to tell his father what he'd learned the other night about Luke Serrano. He knew his father's stance on lone wolves. He'd watched the man tighten the leash around his younger son's neck for years. He'd watched Pierce find any excuse to get away and stay away longer and longer with each trip.

  But Jackson was tired of secrets and denials of truths. "We found Serrano's kin," he said. "They say he's a lone wolf. He abandoned Lucia and her mother all those years ago. And now, he's in the wind."

  And that's what would've happen to Lucia again if she had mated Pierce. Pierce was immobile now, but for how long? As soon as his brother was well, Jackson knew the man would be back on the road. Already, he saw his brother looking out the window of his hospital room. It was time his parents faced that too.

  "Dad, about Pierce and Lucia—"

  "He hasn't been in the wind all this time."

  Jackson pinched the bridge of his nose at his father's continued denial. Jackson loved his father, looked up to the man, in all respects but this. His father saw crime so clearly, but he could never see the true desires of his own children.

  Pierce wanted to roam. Jackson wanted to practice law, not enforce it. Poor Kayla, she hadn't even given her desires a voice yet. All these years Jackson had followed blindly, not wanting to disappoint his father. But it ended now.

  "He will be in the wind in a few weeks time," Jackson said. "He never stays longer than a few months. Pierce is a loner, dad. I'm sorry but it's the truth and you and Ma have to accept it. He's not going to mate Lucia. He's going to leave and roam for the rest of his life."

  His father's jaw clenched. "I wasn't talking about Pierce," his father said stiffly. "I was talking about Lucia's father. He's not in the wind. He's in prison."

  Jackson's jaw clenched shut as though he'd been slapped on the top of the head.

  "I want you to check it out before we tell her," his father continued. "That poor girl doesn't need anymore drama in her life. If he checks out, and you see he proves no danger to her, then we'll introduce her to him. If he doesn't we'll let him rot, and she'll never need to know."

  Jackson warred inside himself. This was a decision for Lucia and her father, not him and his father. He opened his mouth to tell his father this, but his father glared down at him. Jackson felt the walls shrink around him until he was the size of his ten-year-old self. But his wolf shoved the child aside.

  "I'll check this out,” he said. “But dad, about Lucia—"

  "Save it son. You've said enough. We'll talk later." His father turned on his heel and headed out the doors.

  Jackson sighed. His first instinct was to tell Lucia that they'd found her father. But then he paused. What if the man denied her? What if Serrano was the terrible person his sister said he was? Why had he been arrested? The prison population was sparse in a city that believed in rehabilitation. It was the thought of hope filling Lucia's eyes and then having it dashed that stopped Jackson in his tracks.

  His father had a point. Jackson didn't want any more pain in Lucia's life. He'd check it out first. Just to be sure.

  Thirty minutes later, the metal doors clanged shut behind Jackson. He walked up to the table where a man sat hunched over. Jackson knew the man was a wolf. Not only because of the excessive body hair. Even in his hunched posture, the man exuded power and dominance. His gaze was trained out the window. His eyes watched the clouds shifting in the sky.

  Warlocks controlled moonkind prisons. They were the only breed powerful enough to manage the wolves, fae, and other warlocks held in captivity.

  Jackson slowly approached the man. He knew instantly that this was Lucia's father. They had the same eyes. The same hair. The same stubborn set to the jaw.

  As Jackson took another step, he saw the wolf's nose twitch. Serrano's eyes narrowed. He inhaled deeply, and then slowly turned his head towards Jackson.

  A low growl emanated from the man. Jackson's wolf's ears rose in defense. Instead of yanking at his leash, Jackson told his wolf to stand by and stay alert. Together, man and beast would decide if this Serrano was friend or foe. And if he were foe, Jackson would happily let his wolf attack the male instead of letting it get anywhere near the beautiful creature he'd abandoned.

  Lucia's father said nothing as Jackson took a seat across from him. There was a chain collar around his neck. The collar attached to a link on a post. Jackson's wolf cringed at the sight.

  "Luke Serrano?" Jackson asked, though he didn't need the confirmation. He just wasn't sure how else to break the tense silence.

  The other man let the silence reign. The only sound was his knuckles cracking and then a scratch on the wooden table as claws scrapped the surface.

  "It says you're in for terroristic threats."

  Jackson's query was rewarded with a huff from the wolf. The man's eyes looked crazed.
Jackson had seen lone wolves reach this state. He couldn't understand not having a pack, not having his family around him—even when they drove him crazy. Jackson cringed that this could be the life for his brother. Maybe his parents were right to try any and everything to steer Pierce away from such an existence.

  "The details of your file are...sketchy." The white documents were colored in large bands of thick, black lines stretching across all the pages. Most of the information on this man was redacted. It was becoming clearer and clearer that the wolf was a danger, and Jackson wouldn't have any threat near Lucia.

  Serrano remained quiet, eyes glaring at Jackson.

  "This is a waste of time," Jackson muttered, mostly to himself. "I'm not letting her anywhere near you."

  Jackson prepared to rise when the wolf shot up, straining at his chain.

  "Did she send you?" Serrano asked.

  The man's voice was the deepest growl Jackson had ever heard. It was all wolf, with barely a touch of human. His eyes were the darkest pool of silver without being black.

  "Did you touch her?" Serrano demanded.

  The man strained so hard at the chain that Jackson saw one of the metal links crack. With another good tug, it would break and the man would be free.

  But then Serrano slumped back into the chair. He closed his eyes and when he opened them again, the anger and the silver were gone. His eyes were back to their normal shade of hazel. They reminded Jackson of Lucia when she'd looked up at him in the car on the way to the hospital. When her voice had wobbled, wondering if he still wanted her now that Pierce was awake.

  "I don't care." The growl was gone, but the animal wasn't. Serrano's words were spoken as though a wolf in pain was given a voice. "I just want to see her. That's all I ever wanted, was to be near her. I was trying to get up the mountain to see her. The fae and that damned council witch had them put me here. Said I'd endangered the city's security by breaching a witch's mountain. Said the stunt could've caused a national emergency." Then his eyes shifted again as he looked up at Jackson. "I'd do it again, just for another moment with her, with both of them."