by Honor James
Beyond the Veil 4
Luna’s Lovers
Luna Black has no past. Not since the accident that destroyed her memory and earned her a metal plate in her head. Well, that’s what she’s been told since that fateful day. Yet, from nearly the moment she meets her mates, something just doesn’t add up.
When the assignment comes up, Kristjan, an Ahnjel with a big heart, and Volker, a Vhampire with a mysterious past, volunteer there and then. She is their mate, after all. She is to be protected at all costs, even from her own family.
With her past finally revealed, memories regained, and the truth uncovered, Luna and her mates find that their lives are just truly becoming interesting. It won’t be easy and it won’t be quick, but one way or another they will unmask the fraud for who he truly is. Secrets will be unveiled, wrongs righted and, through it all, she will have her protectors, her mates, her lovers.
Genre: Futuristic, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Paranormal, Science Fiction, Vampires/Werewolves
Length: 86,006 words
LUNA’S LOVERS
Beyond the Veil 4
Honor James
MENAGE EVERLASTING
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting
LUNA’S LOVERS
Copyright © 2014 by Honor James
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62741-869-0
First E-book Publication: October 2014
Cover design by Harris Channing
All art and logo copyright © 2014 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
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www.SirenPublishing.com
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DEDICATION
Thank you to my editors and to my fellow Siren Authors for being amazing.
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Epilogue
About the Author
LUNA’S LOVERS
Beyond the Veil 4
HONOR JAMES
Copyright © 2014
Prologue
March 18, 2014
Jonathan and Casey, beloved reporters keeping the people informed of what hell they faced in the world, were on the dedicated and only station still on the air. The only one that they permitted to stay on the air.
And yes, it was because they, those from beyond the Veil, permitted their presence and the station that they both still had jobs. They both also had an inside track to what was going on, the biggest and best exclusive ever permitted. Or worst, depending on your point of view.
Both Jonathan and Casey had gotten very up close and personal with some of the men and women from beyond the Veil. They’d been given the laws they had to abide and live by to be permitted to continue as they had been. They’d also been given rare interviews with both those in charge from the other side as well as the world leaders that had been spirited away.
“Good evening, everyone of Earth,” Casey began. She was back in a suit, no more fatigues and no more bunker. They were in a studio of sorts, giving a comforting appearance to the humans that desperately needed it. “We’d like to thank you all for tuning in this evening for the latest in the war that continues to ravage our planet and people.”
Yes, Jonathan and Casey had an agreement with those from beyond the Veil. But they weren’t ever to be muzzled, they were to speak as they always had, truthfully and in full disclosure mode. But they had to be fair as well. If they so much as said anything untrue, without irrefutable proof, their jobs and lives would be forfeited.
“We have much to cover this evening so we’ll get right down to it,” Casey continued. Turning in her seat she smiled at Jonathan. “Jonathan, you had quite the day didn’t you?”
“Indeed, Casey,” he smiled at her before facing the cameras. “Good evening, everyone, and, as Casey said, we’re thankful you are watching us tonight. I was invited to do a very special interview today, one I think will assure many of you out there that this war is not all it appears to be.”
The camera angle changed and Jonathan turned slightly, a split-screen effect taking over the area to his left. “I was granted permission to speak with all the world leaders that are, quote unquote, prisoners of war. What we’d been told by our own, human, military leaders was not the whole story though. Not at all.”
A scene appeared and moved to take over the entire screen. It was Jonathan and the president of the United States, sitting in a living area chatting. An interview of sorts where Jonat
han asked the man’s health and other pertinent questions. The bottom line was that the president was healthy, happy and, while not free to return home, hadn’t come to any harm and was living without threat where he was.
The interview was about ten minutes in length, the president answering everything Jonathan asked easily and with his trademark smile, totally at ease. He even stood at the end to shake Jonathan’s hand and then left and, as the camera revealed, met up with his wife.
“As you can see,” Jonathan said as he became the sole focus of the screen again, the studio at his back. “The president and his wife are both safe and well cared for. While they aren’t free to leave they, and the other world leaders, are being looked after and treated with all respect they deserve. I did get a chance to speak, briefly, with one of the guards and here’s what he had to say.”
The screen showed the compound again, a different view than the room Jonathan had met the president in, this time out of doors. “Can you tell me why they were brought here?” said Jonathan’s voice from off-screen.
“We didn’t want these men and women being harmed during this time,” the man before him said, obviously the guard Jonathan had mentioned. “When this conflict ends the people of your planet will need their leaders. If we left them out there, during the conflict, they could be harmed or even killed. Which, even if it wasn’t us doing the harm, we would be blamed for and this could continue longer than is necessary.”
“Why is this conflict, as you call it, necessary at all?” Jonathan’s voice asked.
“When the Veil fell we were all shocked. Most shocking of all were the sudden and unprovoked attacks on our worlds by humans.”
“You’re telling me that humans breached what remains of the barrier you call the Veil to attack your people?” shock was in Jonathan’s voice now.
“Sadly, yes.” The guard nodded. “When we were alerted to the Veil’s trouble we set up a perimeter around the points of entry from our worlds to yours. We didn’t want anyone stumbling through and becoming disoriented. Our leaders believed we could just send them back on their way, safely, and everything would be all right. Then the first bombing occurred.”
“Bombing? What sort of bombing?”
“We have footage if you’d like it,” the guard offered. “I will have to get permission for you to see it but that shouldn’t be an issue.”
“Why would you have footage?”
“Because these are travel points, from our worlds to yours, each of the points in the Veil where we can come and go have a station. Some, even our people, can be disoriented coming through the Veil. It’s a place where they can rest and regain their senses until they are ready to travel. It is much like what you have at your borders between countries,” the guard explained. “And, because on occasion, a human has stumbled through unknowingly we’ve learned to keep records for when they claim such things as alien abductions and anal probing.”
“I, uh, see,” Jonathan was obviously thrown by that. “We would like to see the footage you have. I think everyone needs to see this footage.”
“I will speak to my superior and get you a copy. If you’d like to come with me…” The guard, and the scene, trailed off as the camera was lowered.
Back to Jonathan in the studio. “We went to see his superior right after we cut filming. The guard was most helpful in getting us the footage you are about to view. His superior was a little worried and, after seeing it myself the first time, I could understand that concern. So, at this point in the broadcast, I would like to pass this warning to you. If you have anyone watching with you who is under the age of eighteen, has any health conditions where something graphic or shocking could cause them harm, please have them leave the room immediately. What you are about to witness is extremely graphic and gory in nature, it is also one-hundred-percent raw footage of the attack with only some minor lighting adjustments made to allow everyone to see just what occurred the night the Veil fell.”
The screen went black and another warning flashed in big red letters. Then the footage began to play. A calm evening that soon seemed to shatter when what looked like lightning or some sort of electrical charge sizzled. It was obviously the Veil, confined as it was to only a certain area.
Men and women ran outside of a large building and stared up at it. Someone lifted what appeared to be a radio to their lips. Others were waving their arms, clearly giving directions, to those gathered. Everyone started to race around and became more and more organized as the minutes passed.
About three minutes into the footage a truck came barreling into view, from the human side of the Veil. As it revved onto the screen people dove out of the way. Then the screen went white, blindingly white. Time ticked along until everything came back into view, fires everywhere, people rolling around battling the flames and others trying to drag their bloody and, often, brutalized bodies away from the wreckage. There were bodies everywhere, dismembered by the blast, blood coating everything. The truck had brought death to the other side of the Veil.
Casey’s face was on-screen as the footage was stopped. “My god,” she whispered, fingers at her lips trembling. “Those poor people and their families. That is,” she shook her head.
Jonathan took over. “That is why they came into our world, to ensure that more attacks of that nature didn’t occur. They set up bases on our side near the portals to their worlds, preemptive you would say. But that was only the first of many attacks. More bombings occurred from the records and footage we could get. Sixteen similar attacks happened and then they, to put it simply, had enough. These are generous and kind beings, only wanting to live their lives as they choose. They were attacked but never struck back. They were attacked again and again. Everyone has a breaking point. Theirs was reached because of what we, the human race, did to them.”
“Understandable,” Casey said, looking a bit more composed. “Had we not tried to hurt them they would have continued to live peacefully with us. What are our military leaders saying to this, Jonathan?”
“They are denying any involvement in any of the attacks. Which, with the first few we know for a fact they were not involved in. These were committed by single individuals, groups of militia and people that clearly didn’t know what they were doing. But we know, for a fact, that the last four before those from the Veil attacked, were all military in nature. Tomorrow we will have the final attack that set off this devastating war on our world for you to see. And, like us, you will see what our military is still attempting to deny.”
“Until tomorrow then,” Casey said looking into the camera. “Be safe, everyone, and have a good night.”
Chapter One
June 2, 2035
She had always loved puzzles. From the first moment that she had woken up in the mental institute thirteen years earlier she had enjoyed puzzles. Sometimes they kept her up at night, sometimes she saw them where there were none but puzzles were her life. Puzzles, they were what kept her moving in a world where she otherwise would have just given up and allowed The Facility to keep her.
She was stronger than that, however, and had known it then just as she knew it now. She was more than the sum total of who she was in the past. She was more than those missing years. She was more than the Jane Doe they named her. She was the woman that she made for herself. She was Luna Black and she was a master at her craft, Cryptology.
After one of the men had brought down a file containing photos and lines of code Luna knew that she had found just the puzzle she had been looking for to keep her mind occupied while she was awake. When she was asleep, well that was another matter altogether. When she slept she dreamed. She dreamed of what and who she might have been before her accident which resulted in a coma for five years and no memories at all of the being she was before waking in the mental institution. One thing that Luna didn’t want to do was sleep.
Pulling her magnifying sheet closer and turning on the lamp she studied the image that was there carefully. She shifted it, turned it and
then paused. Without even a hint of a movement she traced a line in the photo and frowned. “Well that’s interesting,” she murmured softly.
Luna finally found what she had been looking for. There was a pattern, there was something that all of the images had in common. Interesting.
Shifting in her seat slightly she looked at the piece before her and turned it again. She then did the unthinkable, pulled out scissors and began to cut up the images. They were copies of course, but they were still part of an active investigation.
Satisfied, she put one image over the other and leaned back to smile. “Well I’ll be a monkey’s uncle, Barney,” she whispered. Standing, she began to pace. After twisting her long brown hair up in two pencils as a sloppy bun she chewed the end of a third pencil as she thought.
“So they know the really, really old ways of hypnotic suggestion.” Something she only knew because she didn’t sleep and read, a lot. Not from datapads but real books, a coveted collection she had gathered and treasured. She read voraciously and at all times. “But how? That art form went out like whoa crazy long ago. Like way before the Veil fell. Hell, before the States were found, so how?” She only knew about it from reading an ancient text from the 1500s that was written by monks. It was a spectacular piece she now kept in an airsafe but still. That was her. “But they would have had to have her first to program her.” Which meant she could deprogram Lilly. Well, if her mates let her within a hundred miles of her, that was.
