September Moon

by Trina M. Lee

  “I didn’t expect you ladies back so early,” he said, sliding in beside Jez across from me. His pupils were huge, and his energy hummed with a high frequency. He had definitely just been feeding.

  “Where the fuck were you?” Jez snapped. “You were supposed to watch our back while that flesh-eating demon tossed us around like dolls. Oh wait, no, you were supposed to keep that from happening. Way to drop the fucking ball, Kale.”

  With a shrug, Kale leaned back in the booth, feigning casual. Only the tension in his energy betrayed him. “You both look just fine to me. I assume you killed that thing.”

  “What the hell was it?” I asked. “Tell me what you know. And God help you if you’re keeping secrets for Shya.”

  “Are you kidding me?” he scoffed. He pinned me with brown and blue eyes, managing to appear both hurt and irritated. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that. Shit, Alexa, I thought you knew me better than that.” When I stared stonily at him, he continued. “Some kind of hybrid demon. A slave race or something.”

  “What was it doing here?” Jez jumped back in. Together we fixed Kale with our best no-nonsense glares.

  Kale held his hands up. “Whoa, settle down. You’re asking the wrong person. I don’t ask Shya more than I need to.”

  I studied him, wondering how much he was keeping from me. Instinct told me it was more than what happened to the club when I was away. There was something else.

  “Why did you bail on us, Kale? We used to hunt as a team all the time.” My phone vibrated in my shoulder bag, but I ignored it.

  “Yes we did,” he agreed, glancing between Jez and me. “Things have changed. Neither one of you should trust me at your back now.”

  “But we do,” Jez insisted, looking to me for support. When I dropped my gaze into my lap and remained silent, she snarled, “Ah, I see. This is more weird shit with you two. Well you know what? Get the fuck over it. You guys are ruining the group, and I really need you both right now.”

  Both Kale and I stared at Jez in surprise.

  Her lower lip quivered ever so slightly. “I need a drink,” she muttered, all but climbing over Kale to get out of the booth.

  I waited until she was out of earshot to say, “She tries to hide it, but Zoey’s death hit her hard. She’s having a tough time getting over it.”

  Kale was visibly relieved to have a change of subject. “Makes sense. Zoey was the only woman Jez has been with who knew what she was and who understood it. Jez fell hard for her. Harder than she let on.”

  “I’m worried about her. She was a little fast and loose in Vegas. I don’t think she’s slowed down much since we got home.”

  It hadn’t been all that long since Jez’s girlfriend was killed by a demon queen targeting my wolves. I felt guilty about her death even though I knew Jez didn’t blame me. She was drowning her sorrows these days, and I was starting to suspect it went further than booze. It was worrisome.

  “Jez will be ok. We’ll take care of her.”

  “Will we, though? Or will I?” I asked pointedly, fidgeting with a stray lock of long, blonde hair.

  We stared at one another, awkward and tense. I couldn’t resist the temptation to stroke him with a gentle push of power. He stiffened, sitting up straighter. Just like I wanted him to, he pushed back against me. The effect was a metaphysical connection that buzzed with an electrifying sensual heat.

  “That is exactly why I’ve been avoiding you,” he said with a groan. “You make me fucking crazy. And for the record, I would never abandon Jez in a time of need.”

  I dropped my hold on the power dancing between us, feeling burned by his words. He didn’t pull back like I’d expected. Instead he brazenly shoved power into me, not with the intent to harm but to tempt my hunger for him. It worked, tickling me in unseen places.

  Everything in me recognized him as mine. He resented me for that and understandably so. However, that was a two way street. We had both wronged the other in unforgiveable ways.

  “Nothing is going to change what we’ve both done, Kale. It is what it is, and we have to move forward.”

  “It’s not that simple.”

  “Why isn’t it?”

  His energy dropped away, and he shielded so tight against me that I could feel the effort he exuded. “You can’t just pretend everything is ok. It’s not.”

  “I know that.” I stared at the bar where Jez sat with a cocktail in hand. “Maybe she’s right; maybe we need to get the fuck over it.”

  Kale pressed his lips tightly together and shook his head. “One day you’re going to realize why that will never happen. Until then, maybe we should keep our distance. I think it’s for the best.”

  I gaped at him, dumbstruck and speechless. Was he for real? “What the fuck, Kale?” I managed to squeak out. “I thought we were friends.”

  He leaned across the table and captured my hand in his. It was warm, almost hot. His shields were useless at this proximity. I could feel the strength of his power and how it so easily aligned itself with mine, ready to bend to my will.

  “We were friends,” he said. “And then we were more. And now we need to be as close to nothing as possible. It’s best for both of us. Think about it.”

  “No.” I shook my head vigorously and jerked my hand away. It was too tempting to use the influence I held over him to manipulate the situation. “I don’t want to think about it. Nothing you say can convince me that we should act like strangers.”

  “What about Arys? Or Shaz? Can they convince you? Because I’m willing to bet they would agree with me.” He raised a dark brow in a silent challenge.

  Fury slammed into me like a Mack truck. My face grew hot, and I had to think carefully so I didn’t spit out the first obscenity to hit my tongue. “Did you seriously just try to use Arys against me? That is so shady. I get that you’re having some issues of your own right now, but don’t ever use Arys against me. That’s bullshit.”

  Kale shrugged and stood. “We need a break, Alexa. I’m sorry you don’t agree. If you can’t accept that you need it, then accept that I do. I will love you until I cease to exist. But this—” He waved his hand between us. “This is wrong. And we both know it.”

  I slumped in my seat. Like a stubborn child, I crossed my arms and glared, refusing to agree when I knew damn well he was right.

  We stared at each other, each of us seeing the path that we could have taken, the one he was willing to walk if only I would join him. The one I couldn’t walk without turning my back on everything I shared with Arys. I had left Kale no choice.

  “Whatever, Kale,” I said flippantly, refusing to let the sharp pain show on my face. One thing I had learned in Vegas was a good poker face. It was handy now. “Do what you need to do.”

  The sudden onslaught of rage that burst from him was overwhelming. He pounded a fist on my new table before leaning in so close our noses almost touched. “You are the one who turned your back on me,” he shouted. “You, Alexa, are the one who made me yours and then left me hanging, aching for you while you spend your days in another man’s bed. You put me under your spell and walked away. Don’t act so surprised that it’s come to this.”

  His anger fueled my own, and I came up out of the booth with a blazing fury. “Don’t you fucking dare say I walked away. I want you in ways I can’t even begin to describe. The effort it takes for me to resist everything I want to do to you is fucking unbearable sometimes. Don’t for a second think you’re the only one who suffers. Even after what you did to me, I still fucking love you.”

  Kale froze. He was clearly at a loss for words. He backed away a few steps, and it took all of my strength not to reach for him. He ran a hand through his dark hair and hung his head. When he looked at me again there was sorrow shining in his beautiful, mismatched eyes.

  “I’m sorry,” he said so softly I barely heard him in the noisy din of the nightclub. “As long as this desire burns between us, there will always be pain. Maybe we can’t put out the fire, but we
can stop feeding the flames.”

  He turned his back on me and walked away before I could argue. It was just as well. I had nothing to say to that. I sat back down in the booth, shaky and emotional. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to cry, scream, or throw things.

  Kale went to the bar and joined Jez. She glanced over at me before turning back to him. She sat in Willow’s usual spot, and I wondered where he was tonight.

  My phone vibrated again, and I quickly dug it out of my bag. It was my sister. Our relationship was still on rocky ground, and though we were slowly reconnecting, it wasn’t like her to call me repeatedly without a damn good reason.

  “What’s up, Juliet?”

  I grabbed my bag and headed for the door in search of quiet. I swept through the lobby, squeezing through the small crowd waiting to get in. With a nod to Justin, my most trusted security guy, I escaped into the parking lot.

  “I’ve got a bit of a situation I’d like you to take a look at. Would you mind coming by?”

  She gave me the address of a familiar park on the north side of town. I glanced back at The Wicked Kiss, wondering if I should grab Jez. I opted to leave her with Kale. They needed some time together.

  Borden Park was empty other than the small crew of FPA agents gathered around a body. The dead grass crunched under my feet as I crossed over to them. Apprehension gripped me as I anticipated what I was about to see.

  Juliet stepped away from the others, greeting me with a quick hug. She smelled of wolf and perfume, but most importantly, she smelled like family. I savored those few precious seconds.

  “Thanks for coming,” she said with a smile that hardly covered her frown. “It’s pretty rare that we see a public kill like this. It looks like a typical vampire kill. I wanted to see what you think. Maybe you’ll have an idea why they would do this.”

  Tossing her dark curls, Juliet turned back to the crime scene. She didn’t fit in with the other agents. They were all clad in dark suits while she stood out like a bad ass in jeans and a cropped leather jacket.

  A light shone onto the body, illuminating it in a ghastly fluorescent glow. The first thing my brain processed was the colors: blonde, red, black. The dead woman was wearing security guard attire. She’d likely been jumped while on the job. Her wide eyes stared beyond us to something horrific that no longer existed in the here and now. Flecks of blood painted her short blonde hair in grisly shades of crimson.

  A smear stained her lips. It was hard to tell if they’d been trying to turn her. If so, she might still rise. There was no specific time limit on that kind of thing. It could take hours or days. It was different for everyone.

  The throat of the corpse was shredded; the clothing, torn from the struggle. Several puncture wounds marred her neck. It was a vampire kill all right. They’d made a real mess of it. Either a newbie or someone who just didn’t give a damn. It wasn’t unusual for a vampire to take joy in the kill. Getting carried away tended to happen. I knew. It had happened to me.

  Every agent present watched me, waiting for my opinion. Closing my eyes, I tuned them all out and reached to feel the residual vampire energy humming around the body. Though I couldn’t identify who had been here, I could tell who hadn’t. I was relieved to find the scene absent of any trace of Kale.

  “Yeah,” I said, opening my eyes and turning away from the dead woman’s stare. “It’s a vampire kill. It could have been random. This doesn’t happen often. Not like this.”

  Juliet grew quiet and thoughtful. I could see her wondering if my vampires were responsible.

  “Don’t ask me why they would pull a stunt like this,” I added with a shrug. “The vampires in this city know they’ll be hunted for public kills. It doesn’t make any sense.”

  I began to get the sinking feeling that the FPA was pinning this on me, figuratively if not literally. Did my sister think I knew about this?

  “Shit,” Juliet muttered. Hands on her hips, wearing a scowl, she reminded me so much of our mother. “Go figure, this has to happen when Briggs is out of town. Several of our people were called to Toronto, so we’re operating with fewer agents than usual.”

  “When does he get back?” I didn’t want it to seem like I didn’t trust her to handle her shit until then, but Thomas Briggs was an experienced Fed. Juliet was twenty-three and totally out of her league being left in charge.

  “I don’t know. Could be any day now, or it could be as long as a week or two. Business at the nation’s head office can be unpredictable.” She noticed for the first time that I was alone and raised a curious brow. “Where is your other half tonight?”

  I considered withholding that information but decided it wasn’t all that risky. If she thought Arys could have done this then it would be best for me to set her straight. “Arys is in Las Vegas. Just a two-day trip. He should be home tomorrow.” Arys had been in constant touch with his Vegas family since we’d left Sin City. There would likely be many trips back there in the near future.

  I would have gone with him if Shya hadn’t grounded me to my own city. The remembrance of the binding sparked my anger, and I swallowed it back down with great difficulty. I couldn’t leave town if I wanted to. Shya’s insistence on keeping me close spoke volumes as to how close or how desperate he was.

  “I can’t determine if there was a specific reason they chose this woman, or if it was random.” Juliet glanced back at the body her fellow agents were now bagging up. “Should we be afraid for public safety?” She peered at me with dark brown eyes, much like my own. Suspicion flickered in their depths. Beneath that I saw the keen wariness of her wolf.

  “What exactly does that mean?” I returned her wary gaze with one of my own. “Is there something you’re getting at, Juliet?”

  Juliet bit her bottom lip and crossed her arms. She was trying to repress her emotions. It was an action she’d never grown out of. “I wish Thomas was here. He’s better at handling this crime scene stuff than I am.” She gave a self-deprecating laugh. “I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to it.”

  “You and me both.” I watched the agents go about their business, going through the motions as if it was just another day for them. It was so robotic and emotionless. Again I questioned who the real monsters were. “So what’s up with you and Briggs anyway? When did you start sleeping with him?”

  Her jaw dropped, and I grinned. “Alexa!” Her gaze darted fearfully to the nearby Feds. “Nobody knows about that. How did you know?”

  “I picked up on it at the sports bar when we had that little meeting. So…is it serious?”

  A part of me wanted her to say no. It was totally unfair, but I thought my baby sister could do better. Briggs seemed like a stand-up guy who believed he was doing the right thing. The problem was that he wasn’t.

  Capturing my arm, Juliet dragged me away to a nearby picnic table. Perching on the edge, she smiled so wide I thought her head might split in half.

  “I think so. I mean, I hope so. It’s still pretty new. We’re just seeing where it goes.”

  Somehow I stifled a groan. “Are those his words or yours?” Her smile faltered, and I felt like a supreme asshole. Couldn’t I just keep my mouth shut and let her be happy?

  “It’s mutual. Why? Do you think I’m making a mistake?”

  My love life was so far from conventional that it put me in no position to give advice to anyone else. The wolf in me wanted one man while the vampire in me wanted another. And the fragile mortal heart in me wanted the one who knew my weakness because he’d lived it. I had no place to judge the choices of another, even Juliet.

  “No, that’s not what I said. I just don’t want you to get hurt. You work together; he’s your boss. And what about the age difference?”

  Juliet laughed, a short snap of sound that echoed in the quiet park. “You’re joking, right? You sleep with vampires who have lived hundreds of years. Not to mention the wolf that destroyed our family. You weren’t even legal when you screwed that asshole.”

  “Whoa.” I he
ld up both hands in surrender. “We are so not going there again. I get it. I’m not exactly well equipped to judge your situation. If he makes you happy, then I’m happy.” I punched her lightly on the shoulder and smiled. “But if he hurts you, I’ll castrate him myself.”

  “I suppose that’s fair.” She tried to fight the smile that pulled at her lips and failed. Then it vanished as she prepared to interrogate me. “Speaking of those vampires you know so well, is there any chance any of them could have killed our victim?”

  “Them? Or me? I’m assuming that you’re including me in your suspect list.” The defensive edge in my voice was sharp and impossible to hide. I didn’t like what she was getting at.

  “Come on, Lexi. Of course I know you didn’t do it.” She rolled her eyes, trying to be playful and lighten the mood. It failed. “But you’re tapped into the vampire activity in this town. You can’t blame me for asking.”

  “I don’t. I blame you for what you’re thinking but not saying. I know you, Juliet.”

  Juliet stared at me as if trying to choose her next words carefully. It’s hard to be professional when accusing your sibling of shady activity. We knew. We’d been down this road before. “You’re one of them, Alexa,” she said, forgoing her nickname for me in her seriousness. “In fact, some might even say you’re the most powerful one among them. I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t ask.”

  Arguing with my sister was high on my list of least favorite things. So I swallowed my impatience and irritation. No reason we couldn’t discuss this rationally. “You’re right. I am. And I’ll deal with it. Ok?”

  “We’ll be investigating as well. If there’s a rogue vampire on the loose then we have to stop him.”

  “Does that mean you’ll be sniffing around my club?” I allowed my displeasure to show. “There’s no way in hell I’ll let you raid the place again. Not without a damn good reason.”

  A muscle twitched in her jaw. Her eyes sparkled with annoyance, but she did a good job biting back the urge to snap at me. “I may end up stopping by. I’ll try to keep the raiding to a minimum.”