Bound by the Moon (The Ancients Series Book 4)

by Christine M. Butler

  Before long, Asriel was knocking on our door, ready to take my mate away for a hunting excursion of their own. They would hopefully track down all the escapees from the Locks so that the packs could rest easily knowing the worst of the worst of our own kind were locked away again, or dead and not coming back to harm another soul.

  Ashley had come with Asi, because we had already agreed she would stay with me while the guys were gone. It was a small comfort for the both of us. As Mikael went upstairs to get ready I explained what was going on in the office to Asi and Ashley.

  “Jesus, when things go down around you, they really go down.” Ashley gave me a hug and tossed her coat on the couch.

  “I’m beginning to think that’s an understatement.” Asi insisted.

  “Yeah, well, you just stay safe and bring Mikael back, along with your fine ass, after you guys take care of business. For now, we’ll be just fine. There’s plenty of security outside, as you just saw for yourself.”

  “Wait, you got stopped by security outside?”

  “Yeah, they hammered us about why we were here until your dad spoke to them and okayed it.”

  “Give me just a second…” I ran off to the office then, and peaked my head in the door. “Hey, when you guys showed up at my door with that thing,” I pointed at the dark one they were still trying to torture for information. “Was anyone out there questioning you about being here or bringing him, for that matter?”

  “No one stopped us, Jess.” Avery was wise enough to appear a bit concerned by that now that I had mentioned it. “Where the hell was your security detail?”

  “I don’ know, but they’re here now, and I will let my dad know to deal with it in a minute. Not a word to Mikael, okay? He has to go take care of the Locks situation. The last thing we need is for him to stay behind, because he’s too worried to go take care of things.”

  “Understood,” was Avery’s response before I went back in to Ashely and Asi.

  Ashley and I said our goodbyes to our mates, and I had to work through a moment of panic when saying them. I wasn’t sure I could handle being away from Mikael right now with everything that was going on, but I knew I had to kick my own ass into high gear now. I was supposed to be a leader. I couldn’t appear weak in front of my people. I had to show them all that I was still functioning, that Mikael was still doing his duties, and that no matter what we’d been through in the past we were rising above and carrying on with life. That was the way of our people. But damn if there wasn’t a part of me that wanted to just cling to him, beg him to stay, and say to hell with the Locks escapees… let someone else catch them.

  Before I knew it they were gone, and I was making a phone call to let my dad know about the guards who were missing from my door just before sunup. Once I finished giving him details so he could go ream the proper asses for failure to do their duty, I escorted Ashley up to the baby’s room so she could hang out with Willow while I finished up with the problem that was currently being tortured in my meeting room downstairs.

  “Sorry, Ash. My dad said he was going to head over here in a bit to take over for me.”

  “Hey, I know what your responsibilities are like. That’s why Willow and I are going to hang out while you kick some dark one ass downstairs and try to figure out why those bastards are hunting girls that look like you.” She smiled down at Willow then, and cooed to her. “Tell mommy, we will be fine. Auntie Ashley is going to tell you all about the first time I took mommy to the bar, and how trashed she got.”

  I side-eyed Ashley then, and swore I’d do bad things to her if I caught her telling any stories to my daughter. “She already has Mikael and I as parents, let’s spare her all the sordid details that lead up to that for as long as we possibly can.” I smiled though, which was her plan all along.

  “Oh shoosh, your stories are saintly compared to mine.” She looked down at Willow, “but we’re going to save those for when you get older and need to know about the birds and the bees.”

  “Okay, I’m going back to work. Suddenly, I feel the need to torture something.” Ashley laughed at that and I took off to go back down to my office.

  “Has it bothered to say a single helpful word?” I asked as I opened the door, letting the morning light fall fully into the room as I did. I watched as the dark one finally appeared unnerved. Everyone else in the room looked exhausted and beyond frustrated, but that one slip from the dark one when he thought no one noticed was all I needed. An idea formed in my head, and a plan took root. Hopefully, it would lead to some answers that we desperately needed in order to stop the abduction of all the innocent girls in our two packs. Not to mention, stopping whatever nefarious plan was being hatched about the gateway to the dead.

  “Avery, may I speak with you.” I gestured with my head nodding out into the kitchen. He followed immediately. Only turning to give one quick warning to Nicholi that if he let anything happen to Tessa, even a broken nail, while he was gone, he would feed the dark one a snack before sending him off to meet turn to ash.

  “That was harsh. Nicholi can’t take his eyes off your daughter, you know.”

  “I know,” Avery huffed. “That’s part of my bad mood. So, tell me, what’s up?”

  “I have a plan. That damned dark one isn’t going to talk, but the only discomfort I’ve seen him really show was when I opened the door and the sunlight streamed in. I think we haven’t properly motivated him to talk yet.”

  “You want to use the sun? It will kill him before he can say a word.”

  “I don’t think so. I’m thinking that in small doses, it’s just going to hurt like hell, and leave the threat of burning to death front and center in his mind. Maybe, in little doses, it will convince him that we can keep the pain going indefinitely until he decides to tell us everything.”

  Avery smiled at me then. “You are definitely your father’s child. Let’s try it. If worse comes to worse, he’ll simply go up in smoke, and we have one less dark one to concern ourselves with. If your plan works, we might know more about what we’re dealing with.”

  “Alright, let’s get on with it then.”

  I realized I suggested this specific type of questioning, but I thought about changing my mind when the first wave of burning skin hit my nostrils. It was unlike anything I’d ever smelled before. Putrid decay mixed with charcoal and a dash of burned hair rounded the disgusting mix of olfactory horror that assaulted my nose. Tessa shut the light out once more as Avery asked the question again. “Why are you going after specific looking girls? You can answer or we can let the light back in.”

  “He’s looking for her.” The raspy voice spat out at Avery. We didn’t have to ask who. The creature aimed his look of disgust in my general direction. “It’s not like we had a picture of her to go by or anything. We were given a description, and we’ve tried all the ones that fit.”

  “Tried them?” I questioned. The creature simply sneered at me. Tessa popped the door back open as Nicholi held out the dark one’s arm. We watched as the sunbeams I often enjoyed on my own skin ate away at this creature’s arm like acid. The stench in the room increased ten-fold before Tessa closed the door again.

  “My friend asked what you meant by tried them?”

  “We held them,” the raspy quality of the creature’s voice increased as he spoke breathily, “over the spot and bled them.” He peered at me through the thin veil of his dark hair then. “When nothing happened we would discard the body and start our search again.”

  “Who are you working for?” I questioned.

  “You’ll find out soon enough. He will find you.” Tessa didn’t wait for a signal this time, she just popped the door open, and Nicholi obliged her action by exposing more of the dark one’s skin to the sun.

  His scream pierced through the room then. “Louis.” The name was a whisper amidst the screaming, but I heard it clear as day. Tessa closed the door again, and the creature relaxed back some, his left arm burned down to the bone in spots. “Fiul Sange.�
�

  “What the bloody hell does that mean?” Nicholi asked.

  “I know what it means.” I turned to see Avery’s panicked look. “Go.” He was out the door before anyone had a chance to ask what was going on. “This one can meet the sun now.”

  “No, I was helpful. I cooperated. You can’t do that.”

  “I can. You will get no mercy from the wolves of this pack or the next. You’ve been killing our females with heartless abandon. For your crimes, you will meet the sun, and we will watch as it greets you with sweet flaming kisses.” Before I walked out the door of the office I turned back and met Nicholi’s eyes. “Strip him first. I want this to happen as quickly as possible. I’m not granting him the mercy of a quick death, I’m doing it for our pack members who may be looking on. At least they’ll know we’re conjuring up some justice.”

  Nicholi nodded before I turned and went upstairs to check on Ashley and Willow. I held my daughter in my arms, wishing I could have delivered her into a far better world, and promising to try to make it better before she was old enough to understand the dangers we all lived with on a daily basis. Ashley just patted me on the back and made calming rubbing gestures for a minute before she spoke.

  “I admire you, you know.”

  “Why is that?”

  “You make it all look so easy and effortless. After all you’ve been through and you go from that nasty business downstairs to walking through that door and becoming a mom. It’s crazy that you can just flip a switch and do that.”

  “You know, people might argue that it’s crazy that I have to do that, not that I am capable of doing so.”

  Ashley shrugged her shoulders at me. “You work with what you’ve got. Even though you have been given a huge pile of shit to work with, you come out smelling like roses every damn time.” She sniffed me, “well, maybe not this time.” Her nose wrinkled up when she got a whiff of burned dark one. “Did you guys get anything out of him?”

  “We got enough.” I mentioned wearily. “Can you watch her for a few more minutes while I shower?”

  “Like you have to ask.” Ashley rolled her eyes at me as I left the room. I walked straight into a stricken looking Avery Daniels.

  “I thought you went to warn Serena?”

  “Actually, I tried to call her. She’s back with my pack to do some remote viewing of the caves. I’m not sure what that entails, but if they find her…”

  “I know! There are too many dark ones running amuck around here lately, and if they really are led by a Fiul Sange she needs to know. He could have spilled the secret to turning another dark one. Go, find her and warn her. Besides, her sister is supposed to be heading this way too. She needs a head’s up.”

  “Okay, let Tessa know to stay here with Nicholi for now.”

  “Will do, and Avery?”

  “Yeah?”

  “You be good to her, she’s family to me.”

  Avery simply smiled, turned, and took off to go warn my very-great grandmother. I was speculating, of course, but I could have sworn there was more than just a work relationship between those two.

  ~*~

  I got out of the shower a few minutes later to see Ashley standing over Willow’s crib, talking quietly to someone on the phone. “I’ll let her know. I promise, she’s doing fine. She just didn’t answer because she’s in the shower right now.”

  “Ashley,” I called out to her.

  “Oh, she’s out, you can tell her yourself real quick.” Ashley brought me her phone and I immediately felt a weight release from my shoulders as I heard Mikael’s voice on the other end.

  “Hey baby, how are my girls doing?”

  “We’re both fine.”

  “You sound tired. Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “I am, it’s just been a busy day. How are things going there? Have you guys learned anything new?”

  “We found Annabelle. She’s dead. No sign of Clarissa or the hunter, and there’s evidence that they weren’t alone when they left here.”

  “Damn,” I whispered into the phone.

  “I can’t talk long baby. We’re about to head off, and try to track them down now.” We both sighed into the phone at the same time. “We’ll find them. We’ll figure everything else out too, and then we will breathe easier for a while.” There was a promise in his statement, and hoped like hell we could manage it, because I was growing tired of the constant cat and mouse game where we were the mouse fighting for our survival. “I love you, Jess.”

  “I love you too! You guys stay safe, and come home soon. I’m serious, if you don’t find anything in the next twenty four hours that definitively leads to Clarissa or the hunter, just come back. We have a lot going on here too, and I’d feel better with you closer.”

  “Me too, believe me. I promise, we’ll head back if we don’t find a decent trail soon. You stay safe, and keep your head down until I get back. Give Willow a kiss for me, baby. I have to go.”

  The phone went dead and I handed it back to Ashley. “I hate when he’s away.”

  “I know, hon. My man is out there too. Hell, I was half afraid Asi was going to need to go with Natalia and Evan on whatever quest they ran off to chase.”

  “I’m pretty sure Asi came to an agreement with Evan about stuff like that before he took off with Natalia the last time. He can’t just pick up and run off on a whim anymore because he has you to think about, and now you both have a baby of your own on the way.”

  “I know.” Ashley put her hand on her belly, and rubbed it. “It’s still unbelievable, except that I think it’s been moving around in there, and I can feel it a little bit now. At first it was like bubbles moving. I think that’s the baby right? Either that or I’m going to blow up with some crazy gas soon.” I laughed as Ashley described the same feeling I remembered questioning only a few months ago.

  “What do you think it’s going to be a boy or a girl?”

  “I don’t know. I kind of hope it’s a boy. I really liked having big brothers to look out for me, even if they were annoying.”

  “Is that your way of saying you want more than one then?”

  “Of course I want more than one. I want a whole brood with that man. Hell, just hearing him talk right now sends tingles to all the right places for me. A girl could get used to that.” I tossed a stuffed bear at Ashley as I laughed.

  “Not in front of my daughter!”

  “Hey, I thought Sierra was supposed to be coming over with little Jack?”

  “She is. Let me text and see what’s going on. My dad’s security has been a little overzealous with everyone else who tried to come in here today. I guess I better make sure she hasn’t been standing outside this whole time.”

  GATEWAY TO THE DEAD

  “Jessica?” My dad’s voice boomed through the house from downstairs. I snatched my robe and ran down there before he managed to wake the babies.

  “What the hell is all the yelling about, dad? There are sleeping babies upstairs and the sun’s not even up.” I took one look at his face, and started to worry. “What’s going on? Is Mikael okay? Asi? What’s happened?”

  He waved off my concern, and moved out of the way so that I could see he wasn’t alone. “They’re fine. They checked in a little earlier. They won’t be coming back just yet, because they picked up a healthy trail. Serena showed up a little while ago and filled me in on what she’s been doing over at Avery’s. I thought it was something you’d need to know right away.”

  “Well, let’s go to the kitchen then. I need some coffee before I can work in any capacity, let alone an official one.”

  My father chuckled and Serena shook her head at me, but both of them followed me to the kitchen and waited patiently while I put a pot of coffee on. “Does this have anything to do with you remote viewing the caves?”

  “How did you know?”

  “Avery mentioned something about it yesterday when he left to warn you about Louis.”

  “Louis, yes, we’ll get to him later. I wa
nt to talk to you about the gateway to the dead right now though.”

  “Coffee?” I offered each of them. My dad nodded and Serena just waved it off.

  “If you have tea, I would prefer that.” I didn’t even need to respond, I just set about making some tea.

  “Cream, sugar, anything?”

  “Honey if you have it,” Serena smiled at me as I sat the cup, a spoon, and some honey in front of her. She raised her eyebrow about the same time as she raised the honey bear container.

  “Hey, it’s not honey if it doesn’t come in the little bear thing.” I sat down with my coffee and watched the smirk appear on Serena’s face as she poured the honey straight from the bear into her tea and stirred. “So, what’s going on with this gateway? Did you manage to find it?”

  “I think I am confident about its general location.” Serena was studying my face then. “It is a protected portal, Jess, and as far as I can tell it’s not just in the caves, it is underground. I spoke to Layla. She’s on her way here, by the way.”

  “Wait, what about the Fiul Sange? Louis?”

  “What about him?”

  “Won’t he be a danger to you and Layla?”

  “He’s already Fiul Sange, he has no need to drain a witch.” She peered at me over her tea cup as she took another sip.

  “I get that, but he has a horde of dark ones with him. If any of them realize how a Fiul Sange is created, that puts you in danger.”

  “Well, if we were young and naïve still, maybe. Do not worry yourself about my sister and I, Jessica. We will be fine. Besides, Layla has a special gift and dominion over the dead. What are the dark ones, but mostly-dead creatures walking?”

  “I suppose.” I was kind of thrown by how dismissive Serena was being about the dark ones. She had to know, with a Fiul Sange around, she was quite possibly in a lot of danger, especially since he appeared to pretty desperate to get his hands on me and my blood. “We’re also blood though. What if he has learned that somehow?”