By the Red Moonlight

by Amanda Meuwissen

  The last two lines were easy to decipher now.

  All will suffer if two cannot triumph

  Together against him can you be defiant

  Bash had undoubtedly made the right call keeping Ethan alive. Only together could they defeat Ethan’s sire.

  “Why would signs of my father being a Focus show now?” Bash asked.

  “If I had to guess, I’d say it’s you two being around each other.” Nell nodded back at Ethan. “Two rare creatures, both sons of a Seer and a Focus—who knows what might come of that.”

  Ethan’s sire knew, he must, and that made the situation far more dangerous.

  Bash told himself not to get excited or concerned until they knew for sure, but as soon as Nell went back to Ethan and told him to sit up, the glow of red from the center of his chest was unmistakable, as the rune shone like a beacon.

  “What does it mean?” Ethan asked, looking down in awe.

  Bash caught Nell’s eye and shook his head. He knew she didn’t like to lie, but the situation was dire enough without telling Ethan everything just yet.

  “It further proves how unique you are,” Nell said simply, “which I suspected. You are exceptional among vampires, Ethan, with a rare set of DNA, which is likely the cause of your enhanced abilities.”

  “Did my sire know that? Is that why he chose me?”

  “Perhaps. I’ll need to continue my tests, but in the meantime, I’ve learned everything I can. Most of what comes next is waiting.” Nell eased a hand down the small of his back, nudging him to hop down from the table. He did so and drew down his sleeves, hiding his tattoos again.

  “That’s it, just wait for my sire to make a move?” Ethan looked at Bash.

  “There is one other thing,” Nell said, retrieving a small vial of another concoction. “I’d like you to take a little of this each day. Just a sip should be enough for about five days until it’s gone. By then, once you’re nearing your next feeding time, it’ll make a difference.”

  “So I don’t get hungry?” Ethan asked eagerly.

  “Nothing can curb your hunger,” Bash said, knowing what the potion was, since he was the one who’d asked her to make it. “But most young vampires lack the enzymes necessary to close their victims’ wounds. Your bite naturally prevents clotting, meaning you could cause those you feed from to hemorrhage and die. Eventually, you’ll build up enough of the enzymes that allow you to reverse the process and coagulate the blood. You’ll leave those you feed from as though you’d never been there, even closing the wound entirely, but for now, this should speed up the process.”

  A familiar look of nausea crossed Ethan’s features. “When I fed from you….”

  “As a shifter, I heal faster than humans. I’m fine.”

  Ethan nodded, but Bash could tell he was experiencing a new wave of guilt.

  “Whoever you bite next,” Nell said, “even a human, will also be fine. As long as you don’t drain them dry.” She smiled again, likely meaning to lighten the mood.

  Ethan did not look lightened. “Thanks,” he said, clutching the vial tightly. “Is this stuff for sure, or will I need to test it?”

  “No need to test anything so soon. It’ll be a few days before you start to feel hungry again. Once you do, let us know. We’ll conduct some experiments to make sure everything is safe. A vampire only needs a pint or two when they feed, but you might find it easy to get gluttonous.”

  “Okay. How—”

  Bash’s cellphone went off, disrupting Ethan’s question.

  It was Deanna.

  “What?” Bash answered.

  “On my way to you.”

  “What for?”

  “Alert came through from the Shelter. Luke says his agents reported two assholes from different races getting riled up, but he’s across town. I know how you like to handle infighting personally.”

  Bash did, because keeping the peace was the cornerstone of his reign, especially between races. He couldn’t let something like this go unchecked. “Meet us out back. We’ll be there momentarily.” He hung up and turned to Ethan. “Problem at the Shelter.”

  “Do you want me to go back to the shop? Or to the wine cellar?” Ethan added with a grimace.

  That would be the smart call, but Ethan might be the new norm, and Bash still had a mystery to solve.

  “You’re coming with me. Better to rip the bandage off now. Nell.” Bash nodded his thanks, then seized Ethan by the arm and headed for the stairs. “You already know I launder money through that tattoo parlor, among other locales. Now you’ll get to see why.”

  Chapter 10

  ETHAN DIDN’T know what he expected. The Shelter wasn’t like a refugee camp. Maybe more like a homeless shelter, but a good one, a clean one, with plenty of food and beds for all. It was still cramped, still busy, with various rooms and a common room or two, but it wasn’t a slum. Bash clearly cared deeply for his people and wanted to give them everything he could.

  Even illegally acquired funding.

  The difference here compared to other places Ethan had been so far was that he could smell that he wasn’t anywhere near humans. Each whiff was of a different sort too.

  The additional difference was that everyone they passed could also smell him and stared in wonder or horror that he was trailing behind their king.

  “Oomph,” Bash grunted after a blur of a young teen plowed into him, only for her to look up angrily and then startle once she realized who she’d barreled into. “Why, if it isn’t the lovely Miss Kane. And where are you off to in such a hurry?”

  The girl had several streaks of blue in her brunette hair and dark eyeliner to offset her cherubic face. “Alpha… I didn’t see you.”

  “Remarkable though it may seem, the old adages still apply.” Bash crouched down closer to her height. “Look before you leap. Or before you leave a room. But no harm done. Now, are you running toward or away from something, because—”

  “It’s fine. I’m fine.” She looked flustered and frustrated at being stopped by an adult, let alone the authority figure around here. Ethan got the impression that if she’d run into anyone other than Bash, she would have torn them a new one. “Luke’s not with you?” She glanced distrustfully at Ethan.

  “I’m afraid not. But rest assured, you are one of his top priorities.”

  “Right.” She said with a barely concealed huff. “May I go now?”

  “By all means.” Bash gestured the way she had been headed. “But if you need anything, contact Luke or any of the circle at any time.”

  She nodded, and for a split second when she moved past Ethan and glanced at him again, he’d swear he saw a flash of stripes along her cheeks.

  “Jesse Kane,” Bash said after she’d gone. “An orphan. A tiger, actually. Too young to be on her own, so we’d prefer a couple or family take her in, but we don’t force adoption here. Not all the races get along, and not all non-tiger shifters are willing to consider such an arrangement. She’s growing frustrated at not having a home.”

  Ethan knew what that felt like. Even with Leo, he’d often felt like he didn’t belong. “She can stay here, though, right? Like Luke did?”

  Bash tilted his head at him. “She can. Luke thrived here, made friends, didn’t mourn long about not having a family of his own. The circle became his family eventually. But Jesse is different. She feels alienated, unwanted.”

  “You know a lot about a single shifter in your city,” Ethan said, also having noticed how kindly Bash had treated her when he could have snapped or been more imposing.

  “It’s my business to know a lot about everyone,” Bash said. “Jesse needs a home, not the Shelter.”

  Any response Ethan might have given was cut off by the sounds of angry shouting coming from the room Jesse had exited.

  Bash rushed in, and right on his heels, Ethan recognized immediately what the problem was. Two men, both almost fully to Stage Three, which was familiar to Ethan for the wolf on the right, but the lizard on the left
was startling, like some half-dragon out of a fantasy novel sporting a tail and beak and scales.

  “Cold-blooded bastard!” the wolf growled.

  “Mongrel!” the lizard hissed back.

  Now Ethan understood why Jesse had run.

  “Enough!” Bash shouted, calling the attention of everyone present.

  A few others were in the room, still human-looking, so Ethan wasn’t sure what they were.

  “I assume both of you are new to Centrus City?” Bash ignored everyone but the brawlers, who’d had claws dug into each other’s shoulders, ready to tear each other apart, but now they faltered and backed away from each other, features reforming into something more human as they recognized who had caught them. “Do you know who I am? Would you like to call me a mongrel?” Bash focused on the lizard, who looked somewhat short and average in human form. “We don’t appreciate slurs in this city. Not for anyone or any race.”

  “My apologies, Mr. Bain.” The lizard bowed his head. “That was my temper talking.”

  “I can be forgiving of that,” Bash said, “but not if it happens again. If you want asylum in this city, you follow my rules and way of life, and that means everyone is part of the same pack, while you’re here and once you’ve been found housing. You can stay with your own kind if you prefer, go about your normal business and cultural practices, but we are a community first. Understood?”

  “Yes, Alpha.” The lizard nodded.

  “Mr. Bain….”

  “You have something to add?” Bash glared at the wolf.

  “Sir, these snakes—”

  “I’m sorry,” Bash spoke over him, “perhaps I am hard of hearing, or maybe that’s you. Because if you cannot coexist with the lizard tribe, then you can seek asylum elsewhere.”

  Both men seemed cowed now, but Bash didn’t look ready to leave. He backed up to address Ethan, ignoring the way a few vigilant bystanders had picked up on Ethan’s scent and were staring.

  “Don’t wander off. I need to be sure a few safeguards are in place in case these two erupt again,” Bash said, and then he was moving away, taking the two men with him and leaving Ethan alone with a bunch of shifters who clearly didn’t want to be anywhere near him.

  They could smell him as well as anyone else. It was almost the way Ethan remembered feeling when growing up, how people avoided him, only this was so much more potent.

  The room wasn’t large but held half a dozen adults, another common room, filled with chairs and sofas and a TV, even a small play area with a few children upset from trying to enjoy themselves while the two men had been arguing.

  Ethan tried to smile and waved in their direction, but a woman came forward to usher them away. Clearly, none of them understood how their leader, their Alpha, could come in here with a vampire. No one was attacking Ethan, but being shunned was almost worse.

  Maybe they had good reason to be afraid of him. Sure, he hadn’t bitten Rio, but one act of restraint didn’t mean he wasn’t dangerous.

  There was a bench along the wall, padded, like something in a waiting room. Ethan moved to it, away from everyone else, and sat to wait for Bash. All eyes of those still in the room were on him. He couldn’t blame them. All he had to defend that he wasn’t a threat was a potion to help keep the next person he bit from bleeding out.

  “You’re a vampire,” a young boy said, surprising Ethan with his sudden appearance as he sat beside Ethan without the same wariness as the others.

  “Um… yeah. I am.”

  “And you’re marked by this city’s Alpha.” He looked about the same age as Jesse, maybe a year or two younger, with short black hair, dark skin, and wisdom in his eyes like he was older than he seemed.

  “Marked?” Ethan questioned. “Sorry, I’m still learning, but I hope that doesn’t mean what it usually does with dogs.”

  The boy laughed. He was definitely a wolf himself; Ethan could tell by the scent. “It means you smell like you’ve been around him without any fear or aggression. He trusts you. Which is really weird. My dad doesn’t think much of your Alpha.”

  “Your dad? Wait, isn’t Bash your Alpha too?”

  “I’m from Brookdale. We’re just helping out. My stepmom wanted to. Dad would probably be pissed if he knew we were here.”

  A chill started to creep into Ethan as he looked at the boy and thought he recognized a feature or two. “Who’s your dad?”

  “I’m William Thornton.” He hesitated, but then reached out to shake Ethan’s hand like a proper gentleman. “Maximus’s son.”

  AT HIS core, Bash was an introvert who acted like an extrovert. He liked the attention of being in authority, being someone everyone looked to and admired. He wasn’t shy. But he didn’t like to be crowded, swarmed, touched, and at the end of it all, he needed time to decompress.

  The Shelter was always exhausting because of that, but especially when he had to make his presence known to prevent further unrest.

  Of all the tribes, lizard and wolf were most at odds just about anywhere. Not dogs and cats, like people might joke, but the two races who held the most cities. Each worried the other would try to take over completely if given the chance, rather than taking the time to listen, see where they had similarities, and seek peace and cohabitation instead of letting the law of the tribe dictate everything.

  Not here, not in Bash’s city. Baraka had been traditional that way. Wolves on top, always, and the other races should be fodder beneath their feet. It got under Bash’s skin whenever anyone acted that way, because it reminded him of how easily hatred could fester without reason.

  Just like the instinct of every shifter to hate Ethan before they knew him.

  Ethan hadn’t gone far, still in the same common room, sitting on a bench with a young boy, maybe ten years old, which would have pleasantly surprised Bash if it wasn’t—

  Shit. William Thornton.

  Leave it to Ethan to make friends with the one boy he should have stayed farthest away from. What was William even doing at the Shelter?

  It was just as Bash got within earshot that a beautiful blond woman appeared to join them. Theresa—Maximus’s wife. Perfect. Bash had met her on several occasions. Strong-willed, not one to bow to any authority, let alone to her husband’s, but all in all a good sort, if a little foolhardy.

  And human. Bash saw the truth of that strike Ethan immediately, as Theresa sat on his other side, bookending him with William.

  “Stepmom, right?” Ethan said as he shook Theresa’s hand, and Bash hugged the wall to eavesdrop out of sight. “We were just talking about you checking the conditions here. I’m Ethan.”

  “Nice to meet you. Something on my face?” Theresa teased.

  “Sorry. It’s just… you’re human.”

  “I will never get over that being an oddity.” She snickered.

  “And you’re married to Maximus?”

  “Yeah….” She sounded as though she expected a bigoted barrage next.

  “Then why is he so against Bash and Centrus City?” Ethan erupted instead. “The whole point is to be inclusive! I thought other cities were against intermingling.”

  “They usually are,” Theresa said as she relaxed, “but Jay wants to change that in Brookdale. He’s the one who encouraged Max to pursue me, even though he knew it would cause a stir. Centrus City is the perfect example of what Jay wants to cultivate back home. The only example. Problem is Max doesn’t trust Bain’s motivations.”

  Bash couldn’t buy this sort of intel. Ethan was proving useful already.

  “He assumes takeover instead of merger?” Ethan asked.

  “’Fraid so. That’s why I figured helping here would shed some light on things so Max can stop expecting the worst. Nobody has the rawest opinion of their Alpha like the people at the Shelter.”

  “And?”

  “Verdict’s still out, but nobody hates Bain. He seems fair and involved and generally liked by everyone we’ve talked to. But people also agree he can be pretty conniving when he wa
nts to be.”

  Ethan chuckled rather than turning defensive, sounding even fond when he said, “He’d always put his own pack first, I think, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want what’s best for both cities.”

  “My thought exactly,” Theresa said. “Max is the one who needs to be convinced, though, not me.”

  “What do you think, William?” Ethan asked. “I’m new here, so you probably know more than me. How’s this Shelter compared to the one in Brookdale?” He didn’t patronize but spoke just as he would to an adult.

  “It’s about the same size, I guess.” William looked around to freshly judge the place. “We have more people, though.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “More tribal wars happen in Brookdale.” William shrugged.

  “Like gang wars?”

  “Basically.”

  “That happens all the time around you, and you don’t even seem fazed.”

  “William’s a tough one,” Theresa said proudly.

  “I can see that. So tell me—” Ethan scrunched lower to get more on his level. “—what do you do when you’re not checking up on things for your dad? I wanna say… fourth grade?”

  “Yep. We’re studying the scientific method. I’ve been trying to come up with a good science fair project for next month.”

  “Really?” Ethan rubbed his hands together as if honestly excited. “You so ran into the right man. I used to be a CSI. Do you know what that is?”

  “Sure, you collected evidence and did tests for police, right?”

  “Right. So I had to study a lot of science and math in school, and I was already really into investigation when I was your age. For my fourth-grade science fair, I did an eyewitness study.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You get about twenty people for a good sample size, set up a controlled scenario where you and only you know all the facts—like have someone run into a room and steal something in front of the group—then right after, you question all of them about what they saw and what they remember. Then again a few hours later. Then again a few days later, or even weeks, to see how much they get right the longer it’s been.