Black Moon Rising
DarkLife Saga Book Two
Ronnie Massey
BLACK MOON RISING
By Ronnie Massey
Published by
Imagine That Books
302 Cedar St
Lancaster, SC 29720
USA
1st Edition
Copyright © 2013 by Ronnie Massey.
Cover Design by Imagine That Books
Image: The Moon and the Sea
Copyright: Ilco from http://www.sxc.hu/
Disclaimer: All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblances to real persons, living or dead, are purely coincidental.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the Publisher.
Printed in the United States of America
Also From The Author
Available Now
DarkWorld Titles
Crimson Dawn: DarkLife Saga Book One
Faeries, Fangs, and Fur: Tales From The DarkWorld
Faerie Wishes and Jaguar Kisses
Never Again: An Irulan Short
UnSpoken: A Val and Irulan Short
The Nephillim Chronicles
UnBound: Nephillim Chronicles Book One
Coming in November
Freak Among Freaks
Coming in 2014
Ascension: Wolves of Goose Creek
and
The Road To Was
Table Of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Ascension: Wolves of Goose Creek Preview
A few words…
This book is about a year overdue, but after an extended wait, it’s finally ready for the masses. Thanks, everyone who emailed me and kept up with the progress of this book. This one is for you guys!
As always, many thanks to my family and friends for supporting my writing. Love you!
Ronnie
Chapter 1
“Valeria, quit whining,” my older brother, Tamerlane huffed. His ice blue, silver-pupiled eyes, so like my own, were blazing.
He leaned by me to adjust the vertical hold on one of the small grey monitors that I was staring at, and sighed.
“I still can't believe the Vampire Council placed an impressionable youth in your care.” He shifted to another panel and began clicking away at a keyboard, adjusting camera angles.
I flicked a strand of burgundy hair out of my face and poked my tongue out at him. “I’ll stop, when you actually give me something challenging to do. And complaining doesn’t make me a bad parent.” So far, in the two months that I’ve been an official employee for my family’s company, watching a humongous wall of monitors has been the highlight of my day.
That wasn’t saying much. It wouldn’t have been so much of a bore if the monitor came complete with sound. There were cameras covering every inch of the grounds except for the bathroom stalls. In a building with over six hundred employees, there’s bound to be talk. I like gossip as much as the next girl. At least I would have been privy to said gossip, but alas, no audio.
The small black and white pictures took up an entire wall of the glorified closet that housed the video surveillance equipment, and I was stuck here for four hours until I rotated out.
“If I had known joining the security detail here was so much fun and excitement, I would have done it years ago…NOT!”
My brother growled and pointed an angry finger. “Don’t knock my team, Valeria. Trumaine Enterprise's, Security and Risk Management is the best in the industry. You'd know that if you give the job half a chance.”
Blah, blah, blah, seriously, that’s all I heard.
“Oh, please,” I snorted as I leaned back in my chair, and threw a handful of popcorn at his head. “I’m the best thing that happened to your merry bunch of flashlight bandits since rechargeable batteries, and you know it.”
Funny how one moment I’m eating popcorn and the next, my brother’s ham-sized fist was flying at my head doing Mach speed. I ducked and spun around to face him. “You know?--one wouldn’t think that steroids would be compatible with our physiology, but you seem to have no problem using them. ‘Roid rage much,” I teased as I threw another handful of popcorn at him.
For a moment, I thought he was going to dump my ass out of my chair, but no, he stood there with an exasperated ‘why me’ look on his mocha face. Tamerlane sucked his teeth and ran his fingers through his tightly corn-rolled hair. After a moment of quiet deliberation, his face erupted in a smile before running through the side door leading to his office.
When I followed him, he was standing at his desk, holding a clipboard and mumbling to himself. He rifled through the papers until he found what he was looking for. “Oh, yes, how could I forget,” he murmured under his breath. Tamerlane pulled a pen from the holder on his desk and scrawled something across whatever he was looking at, before tearing it free and holding it out in my direction.
“Here,” he said, with a satisfied smirk plastered to his face. “You want out of here? You’ve got it. Valerian is interviewing a client today and has requested an escort. You're Vedo’s baby now.”
“What?” Although I was elated to be getting out of the building, I was pissed at being handed off like an annoying little sister. I felt like I was twelve years old all over again instead of ninety-eight.
As I tried to decipher my brother’s chicken scratch, he grabbed me by the shoulders, turning me toward the door. “Go to Requisitions on the third floor and give the form to Mike. You'll need to sign out a car.”
I crammed the thin yellow paper into my back pocket and folded my arms across my chest. “This isn’t fair, Tamerlane.”
My brother looked at me, chuckling. “Are you serious? One minute you're whining about how bored you are, and then when I give you something to do you complain about that.” He threw his hands into the air, his skin flush with anger. “I knew this was a bad idea when father came to me. But no, I ignored my gut, and this is what I get.”
“Oh don't be so dramatic Tam. All I’m saying is, Valerian’s going to do a client interview. How much danger is he going to be in? Odds are the interrogation room is going to be full of guards anyway. Unless--oh wait...”
I leaned back and threw my hands in the air. “I can see tomorrow’s headline now. Lawyer attacked by briefcase: details after the break.”
This time when Tamerlane growled there was strength behind it. “Valerian’s job is full of danger, Val. He represents our kind, remember?” He walked to the hall door and pulled it open, “Third-Floor Requisitions.”
I stomped my foot in defeat and headed for the door. “What room?”
“Three twelve and hurry; his meeting is scheduled for nine. It's already eight.”
I huffed and headed toward the hallway. Tamerlane’s booming laugh followed me out the door.
I kne
w the need for an escort was a legitimate one for the lawyers on staff. Who knew what kind of situation might arise when you were dealing with a locked up Extra. Not many of us take kindly to being confined.
I must have been wearing a ‘fuck off’ look on my face, because every person that I passed in the hall, either dropped their heads and refused to make eye contact, or just turn around and head in the opposite direction all together. By the time I made it to the third floor, my slight aggravation had morphed into blown out pissed. I stalked into room three-twelve, walked up the shielded counter and slapped the form down.
“Hello, is anyone here? I’m looking for Mike.”
“That’s me,” a voice called. A mousy looking lifeborn made his way through a maze of boxes and crates to come stand at the counter.
His face lit up in a smile when he saw me on the other side of the glass. “Oh! Ms. Trumaine. I was wondering when I was going to meet you.”
I scowled. "Yeah, yeah, it's me." I leaned forward onto my elbows so I could look him in the eye. "Would you like my autograph?" My tone was sarcastic as hell, but I didn’t care.
Mike's expression did a one-eighty. His smile fell as he shook his red, greasy-hair and cast a nervous look at me. "Um, no, I was just surprised to see you, that's all. And you kind of have the same eyes as Tamerlane, it’s cool."
I leaned on the counter and slid the form through the small opening. “Yeah, sure whatever, can you handle this? I‘m escorting today and need a vehicle.”
His hand shook as he reached out and took the paper. Damn it. My pissed off mood was spilling over onto Mike. I took a small step backward and tried my best to focus on happy thoughts.
His tense-face relaxed after he smoothed the paper to read it. By the time he was done, he was outright perky. “Sure thing, Ms. Trumaine,” he said. “But I’m afraid your choices are going to be slim. We've only got two vehicles to suit your needs.”
I walked over to a window and looked across the grounds to look at the eleven story parking garage. “What are you taking about? We have at three stories full of vehicles. How can there only be two available?”
Mike came out and stood beside me. “Yeah, we have an awesome fleet of vehicles,” he said with his face full of pride. He shook his lopsided smile and turned to face me, “But we’re running exercises today, and only have two on hand that fit Tamerlane’s instructions.”
“What are you talking about?”
He held out the paper for me, but I waved it away. “I can't decipher Tamerlane’s scribble. Read it to me.”
“Well it pretty much says what you did, except for here.” He pointed to the last line and smiled. “You must be guarding someone pretty important because this says to make sure you're loaded for elephant.”
“And what does that mean?”
“Loaded for elephant is code for armored vehicle.” He held up two sets of keys. “Take your pick; the Expedition or the Navigator.”
Tamerlane was sending me on a routine escort in an armored truck. “This is my brother’s idea of a joke, Mike. I don't need an armored car.”
He shrugged his shoulders and held out the keys. “Sorry. Joke or no joke, Tamerlane is head of security and I have to follow his orders.”
“Fine then,” I hissed. I grabbed a set of keys and flashed out of the door. I moved so fast through the building that when I breezed through the entrance to the parking deck, the sentries posted there were never the wiser. The only thing that marked my passing was the ruffle of a few papers tapped to a pillar. The guards were going to hear from me once I got back.
I slowed my pace once I reached the first level of company cars. I walked past rows and rows of sedans and came to a dead stop. This had to be another one of Tam’s jokes. I looked out at the expanse of SUVs and felt my sour attitude returning. There were at least eight rows of Expeditions and Navigators. Hell it would be easier to find a car that wasn’t a Ford or Lincoln. “Ha-ha, Tam,” I hissed.
Just when I was ready to begin tossing cars over the edge of the parking deck, Valerian came up behind me and placed a hand on my shoulder.
“Jeez, Val, calm down. You're giving me a headache.”
“What in the hell are you talking about, Vedo?”
He flinched as he rubbed his temple. “Your shielding has been for shit since that first time you got back from the FaeLands.”
“Sorry. I wonder how many people…”
“Don’t worry. I’m pretty sure it’s just me. The whole twin thing you know.”
I knew alright. Aside from the bond I’d formed with Irulan due to our mating, the only other mind I’ve ever had trouble blocking and keeping stuff from, was Valerian’s. The same went for him. I can't count the times we popped inside each other’s heads at completely the wrong moments. I‘m surprised I made it through my teen years without serious sexual hang-ups.
“What’s got you so pissed off anyway?” Valerian asked me.
“Tamerlane and his idea of a joke,” I directed my thoughts toward my twin so he could witness my injustice at the hands of our older brother, for himself. Instead of the stalwart confidant my twin should have been; the traitorous leech burst out laughing.
“Alright, Tam,” he exclaimed as he dodged my fist. “I would have never thought to send you out in one of those tanks.”
“Benedict Arnold,” I hissed. “Whose side are you on anyway?”
“Oh come on, Val. Look at it from Tam’s side. All you’ve done is moan and complain since you’ve been here, comparing his security team to Sentinels. Think about it, to him it’s like you're putting him and his work down.”
I paled. “No, I never did. It just gets boring looking at monitors and walking the halls all night.”
“Maybe if you lighten up and give the job a chance, Tam will let you into more of the heavy stuff.”
I held up my hand, the key right swinging in circles around my finger. “You mean like babysitting company lawyers.”
“Escorting is serious, Val.” He took the keys from me. “Let’s go.”
I planted my hands on my hips and frowned, “Easier said than done. I have no idea which car it is. They're all the same.”
Valerian laughed and pressed the alarm button. A blaring horn began echoing through the garage from a few rows over. “Seriously, Val, you need to lighten up.
I snatched the keys from him and made my way to the SUV. Once we were safely inside, I started the engine and eased the hulking vehicle out of the garage.
Valerian pulled a red folder from his briefcase and began going over its contents. He was so deep in thought; he never noticed we were on the way to the CMS until we got within three blocks of the building.
“Val, where are you taking me?”
“To the CMS, Tamerlane said you were going to interview a client.”
Valerian shook his head. “Sorry, I thought you already knew. My client isn’t at the CMS. We need to go the Billy Graham Memorial Hospital over off Sugarcreek road. My client is being held in the psychiatric unit there.”
“Thanks for telling me,” I muttered as I swung the SUV in a wide U-turn.
Our destination was odd. Valerian handles corporate law. Not many white collar criminals ended up in the psych ward. “Um, Vedo, what kind of case is this?”
“Without going into too many details, I can tell you that my client is being charged with murder.”
What?! They had my brother interviewing some psycho Extra outside of the safety of the secured units of the CMS. No wonder he needed an escort.
“He’s not an Extra, Val,” Valerian said softly.
Say what, say huh? This had to be another joke on Tamerlane’s part. Valerian may be a lawyer, but as kids he was right there with me training with Yosh. My brother was more than capable of protecting himself from a few humans. “Why in the hell do you need protection from a human client?”
“It’s for the humans’ piece of mind. They implied that they'll feel better knowing the vampire lawyer was going to hav
e a watchdog while on the premises.”
“Did they not realize they were going to end up with two vampires instead of one?”
Valerian shrugged his shoulders and smiled. “They didn’t, but I did.”
I laughed and began slowing the car. As we waited for a red light to change, my curiosity got the better of me and I tried to take a peek at Valerian’s folder.
He sighed and quietly closed it. “Oh come on, Vedo,” I protested, “Just a little peek. This is the most excitement I’ve had in weeks. Let me live vicariously through my twin, please.”
Valerian’s right thumb began to twitch, and I knew I had him. “Alright, but you can't utter a word of this to anyone.”
“I can't hide things from Irulan anymore than I can hide them from you. It might not slip now, but…”
“Fine, Irulan is the exception.”
“Agreed.”
Valerian reopened his file and flipped through the pages. “What do you want to know?”
“Why are you taking on a human murder case, to start?”
“The client is a friend of Constantine’s. He asked me to do this as a favor to him.”
“So who's the guy accused of murdering?”
“His wife of twenty years.”
Well, I didn’t expect that. “So this guy goes crazy and offs his wife. What is he claiming, temporary insanity? Is that why he's in the loony bin?”
“No. He's in the psychiatric unit under a suicide watch. The human police reports say he's so distraught over her death that he wants to join her.”
That didn’t make sense. “What, did he off her then suddenly grow a conscious or something?”
Valerian punched me in the leg. “That was in poor taste, Val, even for you.
“I was just asking a legitimate question.” I took another glance at the papers in his lap. “So what do our reports say?”
“They don't say anything because there aren't any.”
Black Moon Rising (DarkLife Saga) Page 1
