September Moon

by Trina M. Lee

  He gave a vigorous nod and tried to pull away. I held tight, willing to break his fingers if I had to. Finding his heady energy to be just what I needed, I drew it into me, sighing as it filled the depleted source inside me.

  A strangled groan escaped Jenner. He stopped resisting and actually leaned into me. A cool breeze picked up, cloaking us in a blanket of power.

  Jenner tugged on my hand in an attempt to bring my wrist to his mouth. With fangs bared, he went for the throbbing pulse. I hit him with a slap of power before he could pierce my flesh. It knocked him off the island stool, and both he and the stool hit the floor with a clatter.

  I wasn’t done with him yet though. Running on instinct, I stood over him, preventing him from getting up. “Now,” I said, crouching down to meet his pale-blue gaze. “Why are you really here?”

  Jenner blinked at me in confusion, then he spoke as if in a trance. “To help Arys. He’s my brother, and I do love him, despite our differences over the years.”

  “You do realize he’s the one who insisted I enthrall you, don’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then stop acting like you have some vendetta to settle with me. You got off easy compared to some people.”

  Staring into Jenner’s wide eyes, I felt empowered. Glamouring him hadn’t been my intent, but it was a nice side effect. As long as he was talking, I needed to make the most of it.

  “Has Sloane come back yet?” I continued, pushing for whatever I could get from Jenner. “Do you know where she is?”

  “No,” he said almost robotically. “She’s kept on the move because Arys has been around.”

  “If she comes back, I want you to kill her.”

  “Alexa, that’s enough.” Arys moved so fast his stool bounced from leg to leg but didn’t fall. He caught my arm and dragged me away from Jenner. “You can manipulate him because he’s yours. You have no right to abuse that.”

  With both hands I gave Arys a shove. Rage exploded forth without the warning of a slow boil. “Don’t you dare talk to me about abusing power,” I shouted, my voice echoing in the otherwise quiet house. “You’re the most manipulative vampire I’ve ever known. You don’t get to make the rules and break them. It’s one or the other.”

  Arys threw both hands up and backed away. “Calm down, Alexa. It’s late. You’re tired. We need to be united right now, not divided in conflict.”

  “Why not? It’s the story of our entire destiny, isn’t it? The light and the dark, unable to exist without the other and yet doomed to eternal conflict and destruction. It’s got to make it easier for you to finally kill me.”

  Arys clenched his jaw and swore. He continued to back away into the living room, as if afraid he would lose control.

  I was as stressed out as he was. It was going to devour us. The best thing for me to do was leave. We both needed to calm down before things escalated. I removed the belt holding the dagger around my waist and tossed the Dragon Claw onto the couch. Then I headed for the sliding glass patio door before Arys could stop me.

  “Don’t go,” he said, watching me with a pained expression. “Please.”

  The wolf surged forward, beating back the essence of vampire clouding my thoughts and emotions. The beast demanded to be freed, and I longed to answer.

  The sun had risen high enough to trap the vampires in the house. Only Shaz could come after me.

  “Don’t follow me,” I pleaded, begging Shaz to heed my request. “I need to run. Alone.”

  Abandoning the food on the counter, I stepped out onto the patio, drinking in the sunlight even though it burned my eyes. Blood tears welled up, but I blinked them away.

  “Fuck that,” I muttered to myself, feeling betrayed by my emotions. I was trying so hard to downplay the severity of what lay ahead for me. It wasn’t working. Standing there in the sun, terror shook me. I couldn’t bear the thought of never again feeling its warmth.

  As I walked through the backyard, I tugged off my clothing and let it fall to the ground. Then I unleashed the wolf, finding freedom when my four paws touched the yellowing grass.

  Leaving Arys trapped inside the house was just another way of testing his limits. It would make him crazy.

  This was what I needed right now. Vampires and demons couldn’t touch me in the forest while the sun reigned in the sky. Nature called my name, and I answered.

  My destination was the small but active pond, teeming with tiny creatures living in and around it. It was my happy place. The only place I could go to find solace that didn’t involve making someone bleed. I ran at full speed to the forest behind my house. Weaving through trees, bounding over fallen logs, and listening to the constant chatter of birds overhead, I was home.

  I kept expecting Arys to touch my mind, to beckon me back to the house. He didn’t. My heart pained at our constant fighting. We needed to maintain a united front. Somehow. It wasn’t going to be easy, but when was it ever? If we allowed ourselves to be torn apart before facing our greatest challenge, we would never be able to conquer it.

  Being wolf was necessary for my sanity. It wouldn’t be long before the vampire within me was fully manifested. As much as I’d like to pretend I was ready for that, I knew I never would be.

  I found a nice patch of shade beneath some trees and curled up beside the pond. For a long time I lay there, wishing the human thoughts away, watching the birds hop around beside the water.

  Shaz did a good job of staying downwind. He lurked far enough away that I couldn’t smell him. I could feel him though.

  I wasn’t mad. If anything, I was reassured. The sun was high in the sky when at last slumber tugged at my eyelids. I gave in to the pull, happy to be among nature. Without the wolf to keep me balanced, I would have gone off the deep end long ago.

  So much was yet to come. And despite the power I possessed and the reputation I had earned, I was afraid.

  * * * *

  It was mid-afternoon when I padded up to the house. I felt better. Calm and ready to go forward.

  Shaz was on the couch with a blanket, as if he’d been there all day when in fact I knew better. He couldn’t have been there more than fifteen minutes. Already he breathed deep, his chest rising and falling in the steady rhythm of sleep. Couldn’t say I blamed him. I was tired too.

  I clutched my clothing to my chest and with silent steps, made my way upstairs. My chances of running into Jenner were slim. The sunlight, which bathed the stairwell through an upper hall window, prevented that. I could sense him at the end of the hall, in the guest room. He’d be trapped there until sundown.

  Arys looked up expectantly when I entered the bedroom. Leaning against the headboard, he held a sketchpad in one hand and a pencil in the other. He was nude from the waist up. The blanket pooled in his lap, hiding what lay beneath.

  “Feel any better?” he asked. There was no sign of the tightly wound vampire he’d been earlier. He too seemed to be calmer though his was a solemn calm.

  “A little. I needed to clear my head after a long night. The run helped.” I tossed my clothes into the laundry basket in the corner and hit the shower.

  I rushed through shampooing and conditioning my long blonde locks. It was easier said than done. Sleeping in the forest had been nice, but it wasn’t the deep slumber I needed. First, Arys and I needed to talk. I emerged feeling both refreshed and exhausted. After towel drying my hair, I slid onto the bed facing Arys.

  With his sketchpad forgotten, his gaze traveled over my body. He lingered on my thighs, my breasts, and the pulse beating in my neck. Then he dragged his gaze to mine. Our eyes locked, and my breath caught. Every damn time. Arys had only to look at me with that fire smoldering in the depths of his dark blues, and I came undone.

  I took the sketchpad from him and set it aside. A detailed sketch of the fountain at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas graced the page. It made me do a double take. I was continuously impressed by Arys’s artistic side.

  I slipped beneath the blanket and straddled him. Gr
abbing both of his hands, I leaned in for a kiss. It was tender and warm despite the slight chill to his skin. I wondered when he’d last fed.

  A spark became a flame as our light and dark powers danced together. I wanted so badly to lose myself in him right then and there. With great difficulty, I broke off the kiss and leaned back so I could peer into his eyes.

  “I’m sorry about what went on downstairs earlier.” I stroked a hand down his face. “I was taking my frustrations out on you and Jenner. I shouldn’t have.”

  “Don’t apologize. We both deserve a good ass kicking anyway.” Arys chuckled, a low, sexy sound that sent a rush of heat to my groin. “I just wish I could keep you safe. But I know that’s not possible. None of us are ever safe.”

  He pulled me against him in a tight hug. I breathed in his scent of cologne and hair products, finding it comforting and more than a little enticing. Our bodies touched in all the right places. His skin was smooth beneath my fingers as I explored his body. My senses were ablaze.

  “Why can’t it be like this all the time?” I sighed. I could feel him inside me as well as beneath me. The supernatural force that flowed through us was intense but subtle, like a low burning flame. “It seems like the only time we’re not fighting each other is when we’re fighting someone else or making love.”

  “It’s always been like that. Besides, how boring would it be if we were one of those long walks on the beach, holding hands in the moonlight kind of couples?” Arys pressed his face to the side of my neck, breathing deeply of my scent. He bit me, a pinch of fangs that stung but didn’t break skin. “I love that look you get in your eyes when you’re fuming mad. It gives me a raging—”

  “Arys,” I admonished with a blush. “Cut it out. Be serious.”

  “I am serious.”

  It wasn’t the first time Arys had admitted to getting a hard on at the rush of my anger. To be fair, I’d responded with the same desire to his violent emotional outbursts. From sorrow to frenzied bloodlust and everything in between, we thrived on all of it.

  “You know we have to see this through.” The words almost stuck in my throat. I feared starting another fight, but we had to talk about this before it was too late. “You will have to kill me. There has to be a reason for it.”

  “Aww, Alexa, don’t go there. Please.”

  I clasped his face in my hands and forced him to see how serious I was. “Arys, I need to know I can trust you to do what has to be done.”

  “How can that be something that has to be done? I just can’t wrap my mind around it.” He shook his head and dropped his gaze to avoid meeting my eyes.

  “That’s because you want it, and you’re ashamed of that. It scares me too.” With a hand under his chin, I forced his head up. “But I can honestly say that I would rather die in your arms than however Shya plans to do it.”

  Arys groaned. “Fuck.”

  “It’s going to be ok. I’m sure of it.” Saying it didn’t convince me. My words were false, lacking conviction.

  “Liar.”

  He kissed me again, and I gave myself over to it. Fear was debilitating and useless. I would not be ruled by it.

  I adjusted myself atop him, excited by the way he felt between my legs. “Let’s not live in that moment. I want to enjoy this one.”

  The sensation of Arys’s hands on my body swept the worries from my mind. He touched me with a hunger that elicited a small quiver from me. The man oozed sensuality. I longed to get drunk on that potent elixir.

  I clung to him, simply reveling in the way he felt. It was hard to keep my thoughts from straying to what was to come. I did believe deep down that our purpose had yet to be realized. However, the old witch Arys had spoken with had told him that the day he killed me, we would destroy one another. I could only assume it meant that the yin yang balance between us would be ruined. The darkness would consume me, and the light would fade. Unless someone sacrificed themselves for me, willingly taking my darkness. It was something I could never ask another to do.

  I had only recently learned that was even a possibility. It was best kept quiet. Nobody needed to know. It was ultimately irrelevant.

  Misery threatened to overwhelm me, so I kissed Arys with an undying passion to beat it back. The bedside lamp flickered in response. I reached down between our bodies to find him ready for me.

  As I guided him to the inviting entrance between my thighs, I stared intently into him. I wanted to watch his face as I took him inside me. His expression changed from one of pensive anticipation to sheer pleasure. Having Arys deep within me was as tormenting as it was satisfying. How much longer would we have this? Would things change when I no longer belonged to the light?

  “Stop thinking,” Arys whispered, sliding a hand up into my hair. “Just be here with me.”

  I nodded, speechless, though words were not necessary. I set the pace, taking him into me again and again. His fingers tightened in my pale tresses, and his gaze dropped to where our bodies joined.

  Known for his impatience, Arys rolled us over so that I lay beneath him. He nudged my legs farther apart and thrust deep. We moved together, a smooth rhythm that we perfected a little more every time we did this dance.

  The sound of our moans and cries filled the room. The lamp flickered again and went out. The power expanded, filling the room with a warm breeze. It caressed my naked flesh even as it flowed through me. It seemed to be everywhere. I was empowered, feeling like I could take on the world with such a supernatural force thrumming through me. Riding the high like I was, victory felt possible. Hell, it felt inevitable. Tapped into Arys and all that we shared, I felt in my core that Shya didn’t know who he was dealing with. Perhaps neither did I.

  “I love you, Alexa.” Arys’s mouth was warm on my skin. “If I could trade places with you in all of this, I would.”

  He sought out that sensitive place beneath my ear, the one that made me purr like a kitten. A tickle raced down my spine at the touch of his tongue. There was a desperation to his touch that startled me. I knew what he wanted though he was reluctant to feed that hunger.

  “I know you would,” I murmured. I clasped a handful of his hair and turned my head to offer him my neck. “Don’t hold back with me, Arys. I trust you.”

  He shook his head and made a strangled sound that was both a moan and a curse. “You can’t. I don’t even trust myself.”

  His actions grew frenzied. The pace of his thrusts quickened. He exuded anguish, which mingled with his total adoration to create a dizzying blend of emotion. Arys was at war with himself.

  The vampires in my life were very intent in their insistence that they couldn’t be trusted. The shitty part was that they were right. Vampires in general were unpredictable and dangerous. It didn’t change the way I felt though.

  “I am yours. Claim me.”

  The fight went out of him, and he gave in to the unholy need to spill my blood. His fangs pierced my flesh with vicious aggression, forcing a small cry from me. Arys caught the crimson flow on his tongue. I fell headlong into the dizzying wave of power that crashed through us.

  Being there with him feasting upon my body, I couldn’t shake the tiny voice warning me that he could not be trusted. It felt both right and wrong. We were made to exist together in a state of perpetual give and take. But when would that all come crashing to a halt?

  Arys licked and sucked at my punctured vein. A low, sexy groan in my ear sent a tickle down my back, and I laughed softly. He raised his head to look at me with my blood smeared on his lips and fire in his eyes.

  He searched my eyes, seeking something, condemnation perhaps. “Will you promise me one thing? After it’s all said and done, when you’re vampire, promise you’ll forgive me.”

  “Arys,” I said, touching his face. “That’s not necessary.”

  “I’m serious. I need you to do this for me. Just say the words. Even if you don’t mean them.”

  There was a hardness in his gaze that struck a nerve within me. He was
projecting a tough shell, trying to keep me from seeing how vulnerable this was making him. He could hide his true emotion from anyone else but never from me. I felt his fear as if it were my own.

  I nodded and pressed my lips to his. “Ok. I promise. And I mean that.”

  Satisfied with my answer, Arys rolled over to lie beside me, burying his face in the nook of my neck so he could catch the last few drops to slip from the wounds. His arm was tight across my middle.

  I cuddled in close, stroking a hand through his disheveled hair. There was so much he wasn’t saying, but he didn’t have to. I recognized his worry, his trepidation at what was to come.

  His worry was mine too.

  Chapter Ten

  “Don’t let her out of your sight tonight, please,” I pleaded with Kale, glad we were on the phone so I didn’t have to look into those beautiful eyes. “I know she says she’s fine, but she isn’t.”

  Kale sighed, a heavy dramatic sound just for my benefit. “Fine. But she’s going to be pissed.”

  “I would take over for you, but I’m going with Willow to look for the scroll. Or maybe we’re just going on a wild goose chase. Hell if I know.” I clutched the phone tight so I could hear Kale over the noisy din of The Wicked Kiss.

  I sat at the bar alone waiting for Willow and sneaking glances toward the back hall where I waited for Arys and Jenner to emerge. Grudgingly I’d agreed to allow Jenner to feed from the willing victims at the club. I didn’t have much of a choice. I couldn’t very well have him killing in my city. The FPA didn’t need more shit to pin on me.

  Shaz had got an early start on searching for the scroll, insisting that he’d be able to cover more ground alone. His argument had been that he wouldn’t be as closely monitored by the demons as Arys and I. I had agreed though I suspected that avoiding vampires and The Wicked Kiss had been his true intent.