Lunar Rebirth (Lunar Rampage Trilogy Book 3)

by Samantha Cross

  “We’re gonna have to search for her on foot,” I announced.

  “On foot?” Priscilla asked. “Like walking?”

  “No, like figure skating.”

  “Have you seen this city? It looks like a broken-down, eighteen-murders-a-day ghetto. Would you go walking around in a ghetto at night?”

  “It’s mostly damaged and neglected, is all. You’re not gonna run into any crackheads, I promise you.”

  “Why are we walking, though? We’ll make better time in the car.”

  “This is the only proper way to track someone. But in order to cover more area, we’re gonna have to break up into groups.”

  Priscilla gasped. “You’re kidding me.”

  “No, I’m not.”

  “Breaking up into groups sounds an awful lot like a fancy way of saying split up,” Daggett commented, his glasses slipping down the bridge of his nose.

  “Split up, group up, whatever. Does it really make a difference?”

  “That’s usually how people start getting picked off one by one.”

  “That’s not gonna happen, all right? We’re in no immediate danger.”

  “Says you, but you’re forgetting we still don’t know where Cora is or if someone has her. They could be watching us right now as we speak, just waiting for us to pull a stupid stunt like this.”

  “It’s not a stupid stunt. We break off into groups of two, one group searches to the east and the other to the west. We move out just a few miles, clear the area, and then we meet back here. I’ve already talked to the cashier inside and he said we can park the car here until we get back. This way, we can completely rule out one portion of the city. All right?”

  No one said anything. Good.

  “How’s your tracking, Daggett?”

  “Better than yours,” he answered casually, and then caught himself and his eyes went still as he swallowed. “I mean, it’s pretty good.”

  “Yeah, uh-huh.” I should have slapped him around for a bit. “You and Priscilla will take the west, Dana and I will take the east.”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Priscilla exclaimed. “You want me to go with him?”

  “Yeah. You got a problem with that?”

  “We’ll probably get lost and freeze to death.”

  Daggett moved in close to her side and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll keep you warm.”

  “Christ, maybe hypothermia is the better option.” She pulled his hand off of her shoulder and stepped two feet away from him. “Why can’t I just come with you?”

  “I don’t want anyone going alone,” I answered.

  “Then swap Dana for me.”

  “I want Dana with me.” I popped open the trunk to my car and threw a gray hoodie into Daggett’s arms. “That’s Cora’s. Get familiar with the scent and then try to track it.”

  “Got it,” he replied.

  Priscilla scoffed. “Something tells me you have a Bachelor’s in sniffing women’s clothes.” She aggressively rubbed her hands against the sleeves of her coat and shivered. “What exactly am I even going to do?” Priscilla asked. “I can’t track shit. I don’t have canine senses or whatever.”

  “You do know how to look for someone, right? You possess eyes?” She used those very same eyes to dramatically roll them at me. I really didn’t give a damn. “Don’t go too far, and just sweep the area. If you find a shoe, a scent, or even a damn piece of gum you think she spit out, meet us back here and report. Once we can clear this part of town, we can move forward.” I turned to Dana and said, “You ready?”

  She nodded.

  “Perfect.”

  As we walked away, I could hear Priscilla and Daggett already bitching at each other. Their search area was more city-based, but ours was toward the rim where the forest was. It’s possible that if someone was chasing Cora, she’d escape to the woods for safety. It’s what I’d do.

  My pace as we headed to the forest must have been too fast, because Dana was trailing behind me by a few steps. Very quietly, I heard her say, “Again, I’m sorry. I really thought I could help you back there. Back at the church, I mean.”

  I let her catch up to me. “You’re helping me now. That’s what matters.”

  “You came all this way, and I just—”

  “Hey,” I said and stopped walking. She immediately stopped as well. “I couldn’t track her either. If you’re gonna beat yourself up over this, then I have to beat myself up as well. You want me to beat myself up?”

  Dana shook her head. “No.”

  “So how about you don’t blame yourself and then I won’t feel obligated to blame myself either?”

  I think she found some bit of relief over what I said, because she smiled. We resumed walking. I was trying to get even the faintest scent of Cora, but so far there was nothing.

  “It’s kind of fitting how you’re back here looking for her,” Dana said softly. “A little over a year ago, Cora was doing the same thing—looking for you, I mean. She was just as determined and shaky around the edges as you are now.” Very fondly, she added, “I should have known you guys were in love right then.”

  I wasn’t exactly ready to have a heart-to-heart about my feelings with her out here in the forest, but she meant well, and I guess it was kind of sweet. I don’t know when I got so soft. “I’d do anything for her,” I admitted.

  “It’s nice having people in your corner. What we are can be so lonely.”

  “Only if you isolate yourself.”

  “Making friends has never been easy for me. Even when I think I have them, I still feel like the only person on the planet.” I don’t know if it was the cold or her emotions, but there was a tremble in her voice.

  I cocked my head to the side and said, “You came all this way to help me find someone who means everything to me. You can consider me forever in your corner.”

  Sweetly, she smiled.

  “Why did you agree to come?” I asked, curiously. “If you don’t mind me asking.” I had been so eager to get on the road that the thought never really crossed my mind.

  “I owe Cora. She’s been nothing but nice to me, and good-hearted, genuine people are a rarity these days. People are usually so out for themselves or spiteful, but not her. She really cares about the people in her life and you can feel it when she’s talking to you. I guess the idea that there are so many cruel-hearted people in the world thriving while she’s in danger didn’t sit right with me.”

  My stomach was overcome with a sudden case of nausea. Something about Dana running down the reasons Cora was this amazing person made it all click in my brain, and for one horrible moment, it was beginning to set in that she really was missing. The idea that we might not find her was a thought I never even entertained, but now, it was festering in my brain like a cancer.

  I wanted to smash my fist into every tree in sight so the bleeding of my hand was the most painful thing I was feeling, and not the tight, dreadful sensation in my chest.

  “We’re gonna find her,” I said out loud. Not as a response to Dana, but as a declaration to the universe.

  “I know we are,” she replied. “If someone like Cora doesn’t get her happy ending, what hope do the rest of us have?”

  I quietly chuckled. “You know, I don’t know why you’re so quiet. You’re about the only person here that makes any sense.”

  “It’s not like I don’t talk, it’s just that I do it all in my head. I’d rather not waste my words and feelings on people who don’t care about them.”

  I chuckled again. “We have that in common. Until I met Cora, I just wanted everyone to leave me alone. Well, shit, I still want people to leave me alone.”

  Dana giggled.

  I continued. “I guess you could say I was more of a recluse. I was fine with living in my cabin all by myself, hunting, eating, sleeping, doing the same thing day in and day out. If it weren’t for Cora barging into my house in the middle of the night screaming about werewolves, I’d probably be—”

  “Nowhere?�
��

  “It’s crazy how the smallest turn in life can alter your entire path.”

  “I get the feeling we both have similar thoughts about our condition. It’s like a double-edged sword in a lot of ways. Without it, we wouldn’t have certain people in our lives, but with it…with it comes pain. A lot of pain.” The unsteadiness in her voice returned.

  “It’s still bad for you?” Transformations were never easy, nor were they ever painless, but it was a pain you grew accustomed to. You dealt with it. But Dana’s condition somehow seemed more fragile. She went far too long without help.

  Dana took a deep, shaky breath inward and said, “It’s like my body forgets every time, and when it happens, it goes into shock. I can feel every inch of me being pulled apart.”

  “It doesn’t always have to be that way. There are things you can do to help.”

  “Maybe I don’t want help.”

  “Why would you say a crazy thing like that?”

  “I’ve killed people in that form, Max. I don’t even remember their faces, but they were someone to somebody, and I’m responsible for the suffering their families are going through. Maybe this pain is what I deserve.”

  I shook my head. “That’s bullshit. You wanna know how I know it’s bullshit? Because you would never ever apply that logic on someone else. I can tell just from talking to you.”

  “It’s easy to say that when you’ve never killed anyone.”

  “And neither have you. The real Dana,” I began, pointing at her heart. “The real Dana sits in the backseat of a car full of assholes just so she can save the life of one human being.” She closed her eyes and held in an appreciative smile. “Remember that.”

  “I’m trying,” she admitted.

  “Good. Now come on, let’s find Cora before I freeze my balls off.”

  To my surprise, I actually got a laugh out of her.

  Chapter Seven

  DAGGETT

  Her hair was so shiny and black that I could see the reflection of the moonlight in her strands as we walked down the edge of the empty road. The glow of the moon gave her locks a blue hue, which somehow made her skin look paler than the snow that was beneath our feet. All I thought about was how she looked like some kind of magnificent anime drawing, and I wanted to sketch her. I wasn’t all that great of an artist, though, and Priscilla’s looks deserved one.

  “Do I have something on my face?” Priscilla dryly asked as she peeked out of the corner of her eye and looked at me suspiciously.

  I was puzzled. “Something on your face?” I repeated.

  “You’re staring at me like I have food drooling out of my mouth.”

  “Oh,” I said with realization and then laughed. “I was noticing how nice you looked.”

  “Nice?” She still had that suspicious look in her eyes.

  “Yeah.”

  “Oh, God, you’re not trying to, like, hit on me, are you?”

  “No!” I exclaimed, and then thought for a moment. “Would it be so bad if I were?”

  “You don’t want to date me, Daggett, I promise you.” I liked the way my name sounded coming out of her mouth. It was so sultry.

  “How could you possibly know who I want to date? Or what kind of girl I’m even interested in?”

  “It’s not me. Trust that.”

  “Are you scared of letting people in? Me, specifically?”

  Priscilla threw her head back and cackled like a witch. “You’re funny,” she added. There was even a shine to her eyes like she laughed so hard she was almost crying.

  “I’m being serious!” I insisted.

  “Not every woman is a puzzle piece waiting to be solved by some strong, dashing, mysterious man, all right? We’re not living in a cheap, smutty romance novel. Believe me, if we were, I’d be much happier.”

  “Did you just call me dashing?”

  She stared at me, her eyes now unreadable. “I was making a joke.”

  Disappointment slapped me in the face. “Yeah, me too,” I lied.

  “Look, I love men. I love every inch of men. But I don’t like relationships. People start acting stupid and codependent when they’re in one. It’s no longer I, but we, and that shit is just tragic. Conjoined twins have more independence than most couples I know.”

  I struggled to keep my mind off the question of which inches of me she would love.

  I tried to stay on topic. “Yeah, but aren’t you in your thirties?”

  “What’s your point?” she asked with an edge to her voice.

  “Nothing,” I answered quickly and then shut my mouth tight. I have a habit of saying dumb things to pretty girls, and there was a real chance I had already blown it with this one. Either way, I figured I’d just play it cool from now on. We walked a few more steps on the road, and in the distance, I spotted a small building all lit up. It looked like Joe’s Diner. In the meantime, I made the mistake of opening my mouth again. “It’s just…now that we’re getting older, I’d figure you’d be thinking about maybe settling down.” I just couldn’t help myself.

  “Why would I want to do a thing like that? I thank God every fucking morning that I made it to my thirties without getting pregnant, and my ass is an atheist.”

  “I don’t just mean popping kids out but maybe buying a house, contemplating finding someone to share that life with, you know, growing old happily.”

  “Marriage and a big house ain’t my idea of growing old happily. That’s some stuck-in-the-1950s bullshit.”

  I knew she’d take it that way when it wasn’t my intention. I just shrugged. “I’m not trying to be offensive. I guess it’s what I want.”

  Her head comically tilted at me. “I think you need your brain checked. What kind of guy today daydreams about buying houses and getting hitched?”

  “One struggling with a condition that doesn’t allow me to live like a normal person.”

  She surprisingly went quiet. After a moment of silence, she said, “Fair enough, I guess.”

  “I miss having my own apartment and a regular day job. Heck, I miss getting turned down by women every night at the bar.”

  “If you’re trying to find someone to settle down with, I really don’t think you should be checking out the types at a bar. Trust me, I am one of those girls.”

  “Don’t stereotype. Not every girl going out for a drink is some mess that no one should want to be with.”

  “I’m not. I’m just saying if she’s drunk at a bar, she probably isn’t looking for a boyfriend beyond one night.”

  “Well, I disagree.”

  “That doesn’t surprise me.”

  I laughed while shaking my head. “Only you would vilify me for not stereotyping an entire group of theoretical women.”

  “When did I do that?”

  She’d be infuriating if I didn’t like her so much. If Kerry were still alive, he’d have slugged me in the shoulder ten times to try to knock some sense into me. My liking of Priscilla, I’ll admit, was a little nonsensical, but I couldn’t help myself. There was something about her. She was like a dark elf mixed with a Valkyrie. I just had to remind myself not to tell her that.

  “So, where are we even going?” Priscilla asked. The road we stood on was at the rim of the city, sandwiched between apartment buildings that were pretty abandoned and a field that trailed in from outside of the city. The field had dried out and died for the winter and was now covered in snow and ice. Not even the lights for this street were working. Even so, I knew we were on Green street. You had to drive down it every time you entered the city.

  “Max said to clear this area, so that’s what we’re going to do,” I answered.

  “I’d be doing more, but I’m pretty much useless without having one of your sniffers.”

  I felt bad for her. She came along for a reason, yet she didn’t have any skills to help out. With us getting closer to Joe’s Diner, I realized it’d be beneficial, both to our search and to Priscilla’s ego, if we went inside and asked about Cora. “Let�
��s go in the restaurant,” I said.

  “Oh, great, I’m starving,” she replied.

  “No. I mean, let’s go in there and find out if they’ve seen Cora.”

  “Right, right,” she said as her eyes dashed away from me.

  Joe’s Diner had a really neat throwback vibe to it, where on the left of the interior was a long, white service counter and red floor-mounted stools for the customers to be seated, while the right of the narrow building had booths against large windows. There were paintings of Marilyn Monroe and James Dean on all the walls and it even had a jukebox at the back of the room. It always reminded me of the classic movies with a boy in a varsity jacket taking his date out for ice-cream. That’s at least what Kerry used to say when we’d come here, and we came here a lot. A lot.

  Boy, did it look different when we walked in though. It wasn’t that they redesigned it or that it had even suffered any damage, it’s that it was painfully quiet. A man in a white apron was still at the service counter, cleaning the surface and occasionally doing something to the cash register, but there were only a couple other people there eating. And they were quiet. Really quiet.

  “Jesus, who died?” Priscilla noted as we entered the silent room. She must have realized that this was, in fact, the result of many people dying and added, “Oh, right. My bad.”

  Nice to know there was a sensitive side to her. Even if it was well hidden. Gosh, Dagget, keep it together.

  “I feel like when we talk to the guy behind the counter, he’s going to tell us we’ve inadvertently stepped off into another dimension,” I joked.

  “Is that supposed to be some kind of Twilight Zone reference?”

  I smiled, and proudly said, “You know your pop culture.”

  “What human being doesn’t know what the Twilight Zone is? Oooh, Priscilla caught that reference, she must be a geek goddess,” she mocked.

  “You’re so feisty,” I commented. I must have had hearts in my eyes by now.

  She rolled her eyes and groaned. “Are we gonna ask the dude about Cora or what?”

  “After you,” I said and gestured toward the service counter. Since Priscilla didn’t have any notable skills to help us in our search, I let her lead our mini-investigation. I think it gave her a confidence boost. That, and it was hard for me to talk to strangers without the inevitable Pokemon reference popping up.