Harlequin Nocturne January 2014 Bundle: The Vampire HunterMoon Rising

by Michele Hauf

  Hoping that would be enough to remind the werewolf who and what she was, she spun. She had to find Marc, had to get Karl off him.

  With the pair in her sights, she charged forward, knocking against vampires and werewolves alike.

  Ten feet from her target, a body stepped in front of her.

  “Ms. Parks.”

  A vampire holding a gun blocked her path. His neck was torn. Skin hung in a loose flap over ragged flesh.

  He’d battled a werewolf, but he was still standing, still moving. So, he must have won.

  Lucky for him. Not so lucky for her.

  “Does silver kill a half-breed miracle?” he asked.

  “I...” CeCe tried to look past him to see Marc and Karl, but the world around them had disappeared into the smoke of newly lit flares.

  “No matter. I can assure you it would hurt. Not that I want to use it on you.” He wiggled his finger over the trigger. “Where is the stake?”

  “The stake? The vampires have it.” And she wanted it back. She turned her attention on him full force.

  “No. I’m afraid we don’t. Not any longer.” He cocked the gun. “But we will...as soon as you get your pack to give it to us.”

  “My pack?” He said that as if she had some control over what the wolves chose to do.

  “Yes, your pack. Don’t tell me you didn’t come here with them to get what your father stole.”

  “My father?” Her father was, last she’d heard, curled up safe in front of his TV watching sports and drinking beer, secure in the knowledge that he had traded her fair and square for a place back in Karl’s pack.

  “Yes, the stake. He stole it.”

  “Porter? Porter wasn’t my father.”

  The crazed vampire laughed. “The human? No, of course not. Oh, dear, you don’t know, do you?” He shook his head. “To be a miracle and not know. How does that happen?”

  A chill crept over CeCe. “What miracle? What are you talking about?”

  The vampire tilted his head, revealing more of his wound. “You get me the stake, and I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you more about your father and your mother than you ever wanted to know. Who knows, you may decide giving me the stake was the best thing you’ve ever done.”

  CeCe seriously doubted that, but she did want to hear whatever secrets the old vampire thought he held.

  “CeCe!”

  The voice came from behind the vampire. She lifted her flashlight and shone it into the darkness. At first only smoke was visible, but slowly it cleared.

  Karl, in his human form, stood at the far end of the cavern, naked and bleeding. “I need you, CeCe. The pack needs you. You can end this. You can end all of this.”

  Around her the fighting continued, but the pace seemed to slow as if the world were waiting on her response. But what response? How could she end this?

  “Where’s Marc?” she asked, no longer caring if Karl knew she used Marc’s name.

  “The vampire? He’s gone.” He jerked his head to the side.

  CeCe flashed her light in that direction. There were two columns, then nothing, nothing that she could see.

  “What do you mean? What happened?” Her voice rose, she knew her panic showed, but she couldn’t contain it. Marc was all she had now, all she could trust.

  She could feel the older vampire’s eyes on her, could feel him analyzing her reaction, but she couldn’t focus on him. She could only think of Marc and why she couldn’t see him any longer.

  “Vampires can’t fly. They only think they can.” Karl picked up a rock and threw it over his shoulder.

  It fell, but it didn’t hit...at least not that CeCe could hear.

  “It’s a pit,” the vampire hissed. “He threw Delacroix into the pit. It’s deep—too deep for even a vampire to survive. What do you think now, half-breed? You and Delacroix grew close, didn’t you? The stories are true. It’s the vampire half of you...recognizing your own kind. Don’t let the wolf win. Fight. Get revenge...bring me the stake. Together we can dominate the werewolves. You can be alpha, if you choose.”

  “Take the stake, CeCe. You’re the only one who can.” Karl now, talking and holding out the stake. It was wrapped in leather, but she knew what it was. She could feel its pull. It wanted her to touch it, to hold it, to feed it.

  Confused and still thinking of Marc, she stared at the leather-wrapped end of the weapon Karl held out to her.

  “Take it, girl. Take it and use it for the vampires,” the vampire whispered. She felt his energy, like a nudge in the back pushing her forward.

  She ignored it. “Where’s Marc? What did you do with him, Karl?” Her hands fisted. Her wolf’s ruff rose.

  “I told you—he’s gone. He was bad for you, confusing you. Remember who you are, CeCe, what you are, where your loyalty lies.” Karl waved the stake.

  Marc couldn’t be gone.

  She rushed forward, past the werewolves and away from the vampire. Her flashlight beam bounced over the ground, giving her no real guidance as to where she was going. Then suddenly an arm shot in front of her and she was jerked backward, against Karl’s bare chest.

  “The pack needs you,” he murmured against her ear.

  He pressed the leather-wrapped stake against her hand. She leaped away and walked backward.

  “CeCe,” Karl warned.

  She stopped. Behind her the air grew cold, colder even than the rest of the cavern. She felt empty and exposed...alone. A chill crawled up her spine and she turned. There was nothing behind her, no cave walls or floor, nothing but a vast open pit.

  “He’s in there. You dropped him in there.” She muttered the words, anger swelling up inside her so strong, so filled with despair, that she couldn’t contain it. The werewolves had thrown Marc into this pit, thrown him away like trash for what? A stake? For power?

  Her gaze shifted to the leather-wrapped bundle in Karl’s hand.

  “Why?” she asked.

  “He was clouding your judgment. Changing you.”

  Karl was right. Marc had changed her; he’d changed her for the better. She turned to face the cavern and ran the flashlight’s beam over the opening. It bounced from wall to wall. She could see nothing.

  Her body shaking, she closed her eyes.

  She couldn’t lose Marc.

  But she had.

  Chapter 24

  Marc clung to the cavern walls like a cat clinging to cloth. When he fell, he’d hit a ledge that jutted into the main opening like a bridge to nowhere. He’d crawled across it until it dead-ended into the wall. There he had found a two-inch lip protruding from the otherwise sheer rock. Barefoot, he’d continued on. Using his toes and fingernails to keep from plummeting into the pit.

  He was maybe twenty feet below solid ground now. He could hear the voices above his head, but he couldn’t get to them. Positioned as he was, clinging to the rock, he couldn’t even call to them, assuming that would have been a wise choice.

  He rested his forehead against the wall and did the only thing he could for now. He waited.

  * * *

  Marc couldn’t be gone. CeCe wouldn’t believe it.

  Pulling strength from some reserve she hadn’t known she had, she leaned over the side of the cliff.

  “CeCe.” Karl ordering her back. He moved toward her as if to grab her. She scurried to the side. As she did, her flashlight caught a shape, a human shape clinging to the rock below her.

  Marc.

  He was alive.

  She turned, ready to order Karl to help her, but her lips closed in silence.

  Karl and the werewolves had thrown Marc into this pit. If they knew he still lived, they wouldn’t help her save him. They would do the opposite.

  She had to get rid of them.

 
She glanced at the vampire holding the gun; he’d followed her along with Karl. The three of them―her, the vampire and Karl―were separate now from the others. Briefly she considered asking for the vampire’s aid, but what would that mean? Shooting Karl? She couldn’t do that. If Karl was wounded, the other werewolves would sense his trauma and react too. Her problems would only increase.

  “What do you want, Karl?” she asked.

  “I told you, to give you the stake.”

  The vampire’s eyes shifted in his face. “Remember what I told you, girl.”

  “Why? Why would you want to give it away?” It was obvious now everyone wanted the stake. So, why did both Karl and the vampire seem intent on her taking it?

  “I can’t control it.” The alpha’s response was low, almost a growl.

  She froze, realization dropping over her like an icy net. Russell.

  “You killed Russell.” She closed her eyes. She felt sick.

  Marc had been right. Not a vampire. Someone close. Someone Russell trusted and wanted to impress. “He just wanted to be accepted.” The anger swelled again. “You’re the alpha. You should have protected him.”

  “It wasn’t supposed to happen. It was supposed to be an easy assignment for him.”

  For Russell. “What about me?”

  “You too. Only you were supposed to find the stake. Russell was just to come along and gain some confidence.”

  “How’d it happen?” She wanted him to explain it, to tell her something that would make what had happened if not okay, understandable.

  “He called me. He found the stake in Porter’s basement. It was wrapped up and he could tell it was valuable. He wanted to give it to me himself.”

  “So you met him.”

  Karl nodded. “I’d planned on your finding it and bringing it to the pack. It would have sealed your place. No one would have questioned why I chose you once you had the stake in your hands.”

  Why her? That question had yet to be answered, but first CeCe needed to hear more about Russell’s death. She needed to hear all of Karl’s story. Needed to hear why he killed one of the werewolves that needed his protection the most.

  “I knew the stories, knew no wolf had been able to handle the thing without going berserk, but when Russell unwrapped it and held it out, I had to take it.”

  If he hadn’t, if he’d told Russell he was afraid of the thing, he would have lost face, risked not only his standing in Russell’s eyes but potentially his very position as alpha.

  “So you took it.”

  “Bare-handed.” Karl looked away.

  CeCe could see the pain on his face, knew he regretted what came next, but it didn’t matter. His regret couldn’t make up for the loss of Russell’s life.

  “I thought I could touch it for a minute and wrap it back up, but it didn’t give me that time. It was as if the thing got stuck to my hand. I could feel its energy wrapping around my wrist, snaking up my arm...into me. The next thing I knew Russell was dead.”

  “You killed him.” She wanted him to say the words, couldn’t let him evade the complete ugly truth of what he had done.

  He met her gaze. “I did. I didn’t mean to, but I did.”

  “And then you left him.” Alone in the woods, food for any animal that came that way.

  “I had to. Once I got my hand free from the stake, I couldn’t touch it again, couldn’t risk being near it, at least for a while.”

  He’d overcome that though, when he’d sneaked into her room and stolen it. How much longer before he weakened completely and wanted to keep it for himself?

  As if reading her thoughts, he shook the stake, urging her to take it. “You can handle it. No one else can.”

  Why did everyone say that? Why did everyone seem to want her to take the stake...and be on their side? The last part couldn’t be forgotten.

  “I touched it. It affected me too,” she said, keeping her hands at her sides.

  “Did you kill anyone you had a duty to protect?”

  “No.” But it didn’t mean she wouldn’t have. She didn’t believe Karl’s vague claims that she could control the stake better than anyone else. She didn’t believe anyone could control the stake. It was evil, plain and simple.

  She blew out a breath. “Why me?”

  “Your mother created it.” The vampire had crept closer. He stood to her side, away from Karl and out of her reach. “And your father hid it.”

  “A vampire hid it.” She’d seen his body.

  The vampire’s eyes gleamed. “Yes. You understand now.”

  Karl shook his head. “Don’t listen to him. You’re a wolf. You know that.”

  Confused, CeCe ran her fingers through her hair. She wanted Marc there, needed him. She glanced toward the pit.

  He was okay. He was a vampire—he could cling to that wall for hours, eternity even.

  She willed herself to believe the thoughts while fighting the need to rush back to the cliff and check to see if they were true.

  “He’s gone,” Karl said, noticing the direction of her gaze. His tone was flat, leaving no room for argument.

  Which if she was a wolf, she’d respect, but she was tired of respecting the alpha for no reason other than him being alpha, and suddenly she needed to show that fatigue. She walked to the edge of the pit and stared down. But she didn’t dare use her flashlight, didn’t dare risk illuminating Marc.

  She inhaled. Deep, dark and black. Nothing but black.

  “CeCe.” It was just a whisper, so soft it could have just been in her mind, but it wasn’t―she knew it wasn’t. Marc was there. Out of reach for the moment, but there.

  “Get the stake away from them.”

  She closed her eyes and took in Marc’s voice like lifesaving oxygen.

  Stronger, she turned. It was time for answers. Real answers.

  “Why won’t the pack accept me?” She didn’t look at the alpha when she asked. She didn’t need to. Besides, she asked the question as much for Marc as herself. He’d pushed her to ask it; he deserved to hear her finally question her lot.

  “You’re an outsider. It takes time.”

  “Twenty years?” She suppressed a snort. Russell hadn’t been accepted either, but he had only been in the pack two years.

  “You―” Karl’s voice grew tight “―smell different.”

  Surprised, she did look at him then. “How?”

  He shook his head. “It’s hard to say, but you don’t smell like a wolf, not completely.”

  “Vampire,” the old vamp murmured.

  “No.” Karl denied it, but she could see the uncertainty in his stance. He didn’t want her to consider that she might be something other than wolf, didn’t want to risk her loyalties being split.

  No worries for that. He’d lost any loyalty she had left to give him when he threw Marc into the pit.

  “And if that’s true? If I am half vampire?” she asked, curious to hear his response.

  “It won’t matter, not once you’re my mate.”

  He was fooling himself. As she had been fooling herself. If the story was true, if she was half vampire, the pack would never accept her. In fact, declaring herself as the alpha’s mate would just make things worse.

  “They don’t have to know.” Karl’s expression was earnest, as if living a lie so she’d be accepted would be in any way palatable.

  But she wouldn’t say that to him, not when she needed him to give her the stake.

  She held out her hand.

  “Remember,” the vampire whispered. “He killed your friend, and Delacroix. You can’t trust him, and his pack doesn’t want you, but the vampires do.”

  Wrapped in its leather casing, the stake felt like nothing more than a lump of metal. She felt no vibes from it at all.


  She motioned to Karl and the vampire. “Leave and I’ll decide. I need time alone.” Time to save Marc.

  The alpha shook his head. “There’s nothing to decide. We leave together.”

  “Or not at all?”

  His silence was answer enough.

  “My mother made this?” she asked, buying time. She should have lied to Karl, gone with him, but the vampire wouldn’t have stood for that either. She was trapped; Marc was trapped. All she could do was string the werewolf and vampire along until she saw some escape. “Why?” she asked.

  Karl crossed his arms over his chest. “Because of the vampires. They twisted her like they tried to twist you.”

  The older vampire laughed. “Don’t lie to the girl. She’s too smart for that.” He lifted the gun and pointed it at Karl. “Tell her the real truth, or I will. I’m not afraid of it.”

  Karl jutted out his jaw.

  “Tell me, or I toss it over.” CeCe glanced to the right, into the pit. How deep was it? If she threw the stake, how long would it stay hidden this time?

  “Tell her.” The vampire cocked his revolver.

  Karl glanced at the vampire with cool indifference. “Threats, vampire? With this cave filled with my wolves?”

  “Karl?” CeCe asked.

  He let out a breath, deflated. “Your mother was a werewolf. Your father...the father who raised you...turned her, but he did it by force. She didn’t know and she didn’t forgive him.”

  “There’s more,” the vampire prompted.

  “She was in love with a vampire.”

  “Your real father,” the vampire explained.

  “But after she was turned, after he learned she was a wolf, he walked away from her.”

  “It was during the war. A werewolf would have done the same.”

  Karl stared at the older vampire. “But we didn’t. CeCe’s father, the one who raised her, knew what she was. He didn’t abandon her.”

  No. He just tortured her and then traded her for what he really wanted, a place back in the pack.

  “The pack kicked him out because of what he did to my mother.”