Lunar Rebirth (Lunar Rampage Trilogy Book 3)

by Samantha Cross

  I scoffed, because she acted like asking again would somehow change my tune. I shrugged again and said, “No clue.”

  “You’re such a liar.”

  “Oh no, you’re hurting my feelings.”

  “Where is she, dammit?!”

  “You think if I knew where Cora was that I’d tell you? I’d rather fucking die.”

  She hopped off the car effortlessly and walked toward me. “You’re in luck, Maxwell, because that’s something we can easily arrange.”

  I dropped the duffle bag and said, “Go for it, Molly. Kill me for protecting someone the same way Owen tried to protect her.”

  Molly bit down on her bottom lip and clenched her jaw. “Tell me the truth, Max. Who did it? Who was the one who that killed my brother?”

  The truth wasn’t an option. The hate she had for Cora was irrational, but telling her that Cora pulled the trigger that ended Owen’s life would add fuel and actual reasoning to her hatred. Molly would kill her. There was no doubt in my mind.

  I crossed my arms, and as genuinely as I could, said, “I did.”

  A gust of breath escaped her lips.

  “The hall, where you held the dating auction, was attacked by a pack of werewolves. Owen was a part of that pack. He killed dozens of people, and until I shot him with my rifle, he would have killed Cora too.”

  She shook with rage. “When are you going to stop lying to me…I can smell your lies from here. You’re drenched in them.”

  “You wanted the truth.”

  “And I didn’t get it. You’re so deceptive about everything except for this, and that’s how I know she’s the one who did it. I could already feel it in my bones, but you just confirmed it.”

  “Who cares who fired the shot?”

  “I do! He was my brother!” she screamed.

  “And look what he did to you!” I yelled back just as loudly. “We found your mangled body hidden in the trunk of a car. He did that! Not Cora, not Melanie, not me. You wanna be pissed at someone, be pissed at the person who made you into what you are now! That’s all on Owen.”

  “You leave my brother’s name out of your mouth!”

  “Your brother turned me into a fucking beast. I think I have every right to namedrop his ass any time I feel the urge.”

  “Someone with the same plight as him might show a little compassion.”

  “I have all the empathy in the world about his condition, I really do, but my sympathy kind of drained after the second or third slaughter. You’d think after killing your entire family, he would have learned to tighten the chains.”

  “Shut up!” she screamed. Her face went white, her eyes blood red, and she lunged at me with a ferocity and speed unlike anything I had encountered before. Her nails dug deep into my chest and she pinned me to the ground so quickly, I didn’t even have a moment to fight back.

  Her red eyes were electric, wild, huge, and her mouth opened so wide that the corners of her lips were cracking. She looked fucking insane. Molly threw her head back with her fangs protruded from her mouth, and I instantly knew she was going for my neck. I tried to shove her off, but her nails clinged into me so tightly, it was like trying to pry a suction cup off a window.

  I knew what I had to do.

  As hard as it was to focus during a struggle, it was exactly what I did. I imagined my arms and my legs bending into the shape of a wolf’s, my ears lengthening, my torso shortening, my hair becoming a long coat. Within seconds, my body began to shift beneath Molly, and her grasp was forcibly shaken.

  I became a werewolf once again, but it didn’t deter Molly. She jumped at me, ready for a fight, and I tossed her every time. She sprung onto my back, and I threw myself down to the concrete floor and rolled around with her, using the scattered tools on the floor and the imperfections in the pavement to scratch up her body and force her loose. But she held on and chomped down hard on my back. I howled in agony. A vampire’s bite isn’t like a human’s or even a werewolf’s. It felt like a dozen thick needles repeatedly stabbing me in my muscles. There was so much stinging and spreading pain that I was desperate to get her off, so I threw us both against the windshield of the parked vehicle. The broken glass in my flesh didn’t feel as bad as that bite.

  The crash into the windshield sandwiched Molly between my body and the car, and the impact stilled her. I rolled off the hood and looked back to see she was jammed into a busted, circular hole in the glass, with her ass on the dashboard and her upper body slumped forward, her arms extended outward and limp, and blood seeping out of her and staining the exterior of the vehicle. Vampires must bleed more than any other creature because the amount of blood dripping off of that car was astronomical. It was oozing from her like jelly, and it dripped and spread like water.

  Even with all that blood, I knew she wasn’t dead. Just knocked the fuck out.

  At that exact instant, Daggett came running in. He was out of breath and looked petrified. With panic in his voice, he said, “Oh, dude, we are so screwed.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  PRISCILLA

  Cora got her wish. We were actually seated around a bundle of candles and roasting marshmallows that were stuck to the end of butter knives and pens. I didn’t join because I thought marshmallows were nasty.

  “How can someone dislike marshmallows?” Cora judged. “It’s like disliking water.”

  “They’re gross. They’re the food equivalent of glitter. No matter how hard you try, you can never get it off your hands.”

  She chortled. “Can’t argue with that, to be honest.”

  “It’s amazing how someone so preoccupied with what animal products go into her body has no issue with what fake food does.”

  “We all have to have our vices. Mine are sweets.” She moaned and said, “Man, I haven’t had these since I was a kid.” Cora bit down on her marshmallow and pulled it out of her mouth slowly so a long string of goo hung between her teeth. Dana was next to her, eating hers like it was corn on the cob. Melanie just twisted her marshmallow in the flame until it turned black. I don’t think she ever took a bite.

  Dana cleared her throat. “You know, I’m pretty sure marshmallows aren’t vegetarian-friendly.”

  Realization struck Cora, and she dropped the food from her hand. “Wait…what?”

  “There’s gelatin in it.”

  “What does that mean?” I asked.

  “It means I’m gonna be sick,” Cora said, reaching for a napkin and wiping her mouth clean.

  I looked at Dana, still confused. She said, “It’s collagen taken from animal body parts.”

  I broke out into a fit of laughter. “Some vegetarian you are!”

  “It’s been a long day, I wasn’t thinking!” Cora shouted at me, running to the garbage to toss out her dirty napkin and then returning to the table. “I used to eat these before I changed my diet, I…stop judging me!”

  Tap, tap, tap.

  I looked behind me at the window. The blinds were down, but from the edge I could see the cord from a satellite dish banging against the glass outside. It about gave me a stroke.

  Melanie noticed me checking the window, and looked at me strangely. “You think someone’s out there?” she asked, dryly.

  “You say that like no one would be,” I replied. “Speaking of, what exactly are we dealing with here? How crazy are these chicks we’re hiding from?”

  Melanie smacked her lips. “You don’t want to mess with them, I’ll say that.”

  “I can imagine how nuts they are now. They weren’t exactly the brightest bulbs when I knew them.”

  “They were never stupid,” Dana said. “Tiffany was silly, but Veronica and Molly aren’t morons like you pretend they are.”

  “They weren’t when I was with them either,” Melanie added.

  I shrugged. “Molly threw a benefit on the night of a full moon when she knew her brother was a loose cannon. I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t strike me as a triple-digit IQ kind of lady.”


  “In fairness to her,” Cora began, “Molly wasn’t expecting the blue moon. Plus, the date of the party was moved.”

  “Blue moons are the worst,” Dana grumbled.

  I scoffed. “Typical Molly. Instead of just canceling the party, she let us all be shoved into a tiny tin can to be werewolf food.”

  Melanie continued twisting the marshmallow in the flames as she shook her head. “It blows me away that they were ever normal people living normal lives. They’re completely off the deep end.”

  “Are they amplified versions of themselves now?” Cora asked.

  “I don’t know. What were they like when they were alive?”

  What better person to fill her in than me? “They were big into parties, dresses, braindead stuff.” I glanced over at Dana and said, “No offense.”

  Dana shied away and poked at her marshmallow. “I’m not that into that stuff anymore.”

  “Don’t let her bully you over that shit,” Melanie snapped.

  I’ll be the first to admit I can be a miserable bitch sometimes, but this wasn’t one of those times. “I was being genuine. I know she’s into that kind of stuff and I was trying to be a good person about it, dammit.”

  “You mock girly shit like you’re not sitting over there with ten pounds of makeup on your face. God forbid a girl like something girly.”

  “Okay okay, chill, sister. You don’t need to vamp out at me.”

  “Was that supposed to be a vampire pun?”

  “If it was, it sucked,” Cora said and then proceeded to laugh and snort. “Did you get my pun?”

  “Yeah, we got it,” Melanie barked.

  “So clever,” I added.

  Cora scrunched up her face, and she looked like one of those ugly-ass pug dogs. “Well, excuse me for trying to lighten the mood. Let me go launch myself out of a second-floor window.”

  “Just don’t make a mess,” I told her.

  “I thought it was funny,” Dana said with a shrug.

  It validated Cora’s lame humor, and she smiled. “See, someone appreciates my greatness. Thank you, Dana. You were always my favorite.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  I groaned. “This circle jerk is really adorable. When’s the wedding?”

  “March,” Cora replied without missing a beat. She could be such a dumbass, but her stupid jokes and timing did make me laugh from time to time. I’d rip my own arm off before I let her know that, though.

  With annoying people fresh on my mind, I peeked over at the window again to see if there was any human activity coming from outside. I didn’t want to think about it, but I hoped Daggett was okay. Max wasn’t the type of guy you had to worry about, but Daggett was. He’s the kind of guy who, if something happened to Max, would probably stay by his side trying to protect him and get killed in the process. I suppose some people would find that selfless and heroic, but it was mostly idiotic. He needed to take better care of himself.

  I still couldn’t believe he fought off his own friend to protect me. His friend, who I wasn’t exactly at ease around anymore. I bet Dana wasn’t comfortable around me, either. After that wonderful moment where she nearly killed me, she couldn’t maintain eye contact with me for more than a few seconds at a time. I think I intimidated her.

  It was obvious she felt bad and wanted to apologize, which, if I’m being honest, made me cringe. Saying sorry and forgiving people was awkward, and I preferred to just pretend it never happened. Save the mushy stuff for people like Cora who ate that shit up.

  Tap, tap, tap.

  Fucking hell. I was ready to get on the roof and rip that stupid satellite off its stand and throw it in the dumpster. I hated being fidgety. It made me feel like Cora.

  We were all quiet for a minute as they roasted their marshmallows, when Dana suddenly spoke up and mumbled, “I hate the dark.” It was a random comment, but I got the impression she was going for a story. “Even with the candlelight, I still hate it.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  Dana looked me dead in the eyes like she was surprised I cared enough to ask. “Nothing good happens in the dark,” she answered.

  I chuckled to myself. “I can think of a few good things that have.”

  “Don’t give us the visual,” Melanie said with an eye roll. Any time I even uttered a word to Dana, she was ready to claw my eyes out. I’d swear they were fucking.

  “The darkness tends to hide the ugliest, scariest parts of life,” Dana said reflectively. “It’s when the werewolves change and the vampires are allowed to roam freely. Who knows what else is out there right now?”

  Melanie softly giggled. “Remember our conversation, Cora? The night I…well, that night in Lunar City. We talked about what else might exist. Even UFOs.”

  Cora was trying to stay quiet, so she gently laughed. “I do. We were so clueless then.”

  “I still feel clueless.”

  “Remember how you were the one that wondered if vampires were real?”

  Melanie’s smile slowly faded. “Yeah.” She lowered her head in thought. “God, that really does feel like a whole different person. It’s like I’m looking back at myself from a different perspective, and I don’t even recognize the person I was anymore.”

  “That’s how I feel when I see myself in the mirror from a bad angle,” I said.

  The three of them turned and looked at me with an expression of disdain for ruining their bonding moment. But suddenly, all at once, they cracked a smile and erupted into fits of laughter.

  “Relatable,” Melanie replied through tears, and then leaned against Dana as they laughed together.

  I didn’t think it was that funny, but I welcome any ego-stroking.

  CRASH.

  An explosive noise set off behind me, and before I could even turn to look, I felt chunks and clusters of glass and snow thrown against my backside. A dark figure lunged into the apartment through the window and leaped onto Melanie’s shoulders. The curtains flapped in the howling, winter breeze so chaotically that I didn’t even see what had happened until I rose to my feet.

  Melanie was in the center of the living room with a woman on her shoulders, and they were fighting. Shit, it was that cousin fucker, Tiffany!

  Tiffany screamed and clawed at Melanie as they spun in circles. Every time Cora or Dana stepped forward to intervene, Tiffany swatted her hands at them like a rabies-infected cat. I don’t think either of them knew what could happen to them if they got clawed, so they kept retreating every time Tiffany threatened them. I know I didn’t want any part of that.

  “I found you, I found you!” Tiffany excitedly shouted as her hands wrapped around Melanie’s head and squeezed. Even though she was technically dead, Melanie’s face bloated and turned red from the pressure. Shit, how strong was Tiffany? “Master’s gonna be so happy. I knew I’d find you first! I knew it!”

  “Get her off of me!” Melanie yelled.

  “What do we do? What do we do?” Cora yelled back as she hopped around the room. She looked like a distraught old lady looking for a fire extinguisher because her muffins were burning in the oven. Then, Cora stopped and said, “Hold on!” She went running into the kitchen for, what I guessed, was a weapon. But when the doofus came back, she was holding that stupid-ass rolling pin instead of a knife.

  “What are you gonna do, bake her?!” I shouted.

  Cora gave me that not now look, and then began beating against the side of Tiffany’s head with the pin. It seemed stupid at first, but it was kind of working. After a couple hits to the skull, Tiffany looked rocked, and Dana was able to pull her off of Melanie and launch her across the room. She fell against the coffee table we were sitting at and then sat down on the carpet where the glass from the broken window had accumulated.

  She sort of slouched there for a minute, not unconscious, not thinking, not even looking like she was going to attack us. The snow from outside was blowing in and pouring down on her like there was a sky in the apartment. The snow actually looked tanner tha
n this fruit cake.

  Tiffany wrapped her arms around her knees and began rocking back and forth. The glass crunched beneath her butt and feet as she swayed. “Shhh, Freddy. Shhh. They’ll hear you. They’ll hear you.”

  “Who is this crazy bitch talking to?” I asked.

  Tiffany picked up the shards of glass from the floor, laid them flat in her palms, and then began grinding them into her cheeks like she was exfoliating her skin with soap. Blood squirted out of her pores like a sprinkler, and instead of crying out in pain, she was laughing.

  What. The. Actual. Fuck.

  Then the crazy bitch examined the bloody pieces of glass in her hands and popped them into her mouth like they were pills. “Hmm. Yummy,” she said while rubbing her stomach like a satisfied toddler.

  Even if she weren’t trying to kill us, I’d want someone to put this bitch down. She had reached peak crazy bitch.

  For a moment, she was just chowing down on the glass like she forgot we were even there, and then slowly, creepily, she raised her lasagna-looking face up and smiled. The next thing I knew, my face was stinging and I was flying into a wall. She had backhanded me like I weighed nothing. My cheek was on fire, and I was pretty damn sure the bottom row of my teeth had been knocked loose. The stupid bitch…I looked back just in time to see Cora literally thrown into the air. She fell straight onto the coffee table, and the glass surface was smashed to smithereens with her body. Cora went limp.

  Oh, shit…

  Not Cora.

  Melanie growled like an animal and charged at Tiffany, grasping the base of her throat with her hand and then chokeslamming her to the ground. She lifted her back up using just one hand and then dashed across the room with her at lightning speed, slamming Tiffany into the wall and leaving an outline of her frame in the wood. Melanie exposed her fangs and went in for the kill.

  “No!” Dana shrieked.

  What? Why? Why? Why? Why was she stopping her?

  Melanie’s red eyes bounced toward Dana, who was standing off to the side panting and on the verge of tears. “Please don’t,” she begged. “Please don’t kill her.”