Moon Over Atlanta

by Kymber Morgan

  Sara’s frayed nerves unraveled more. “That was completely unnecessary.” Her voice was shrill, but she couldn’t seem to curb it. “Ryan is my business, and I say it’s over—”

  Hailey’s voice, on the other hand, was quiet and all the clearer for it. “Stuff a sock in it, Sara.” Her eyes flashed between anger and something else. Disappointment? “I don’t give a rat’s ass if you’ve decided to be an idiot, kicking the best thing, next to me, that’s ever happened to you to the curb like yesterday’s garbage, because you’re right that is your business.”

  “Good. Now I—”

  “But that man saved me from god knows what tonight, and I’ll be damned if I’ll let you be a coward about it. If you’re going to break it off, the least you can do is grow a pair and do it to his face.”

  Sara blinked and wrestled to keep the whirlpool of conflicting feelings from sending her over the edge. Her head insisted she run as far away from Ryan as possible, but her heart was mounting a valiant battle to run straight back into his arms, regardless of what she thought she’d seen.

  “Sara, you owe him that at least.”

  Hailey’s true statement shoved that argument aside, leaving Sara wrung out and exhausted. “I’m too tired to think right now.” She leaned forward and kissed Hailey’s forehead. “But I promise I’ll sleep on it before I decide anything. That make you happy?”

  “No, it’d make me happy if you grabbed the wolf man’s prime tail and never let go.”

  Sara’s grin was weak as she waved goodnight from the door and headed toward the elevator.

  A few hours ago, she’d have been happy to do just that. Since then, wolf man had taken on a whole new meaning, one that had Sara questioning her sanity.

  *****

  Zander’s paws were going to wear a hole in the floor of the hauler’s back section at this rate. Before his trip to the police station, Ryan had been desperate to get back to Sara at all costs. Now with what he’d found out, he had more than one urgent priority, and he hated it.

  She doesn’t want to see you right now anyway.

  “So, if I have this straight, Sara’s sister is Wulverkynn.” Zander swung his head back over his shoulder but didn’t stop his caged behavior. “You’re sure it was a Sigil you saw?”

  Ryan sat on the floor with his back against the wall, getting a sore neck from following his friend’s movements. “Yes, I’m sure. Which means Sara probably is too, unless they have different mothers.” The gene passed maternally, and Ryan wasn’t sure which he should hope for. If yes, her sister would be hauled into their world without her. If no, they both would, with no choice but to give up the lives they knew.

  “You know how unlikely it is for a Wulverkynn, let alone two, to turn up like this?”

  Ryan banged the back of his head against the wall, having answered this same question several times. “I know, but I saw what I saw.”

  “Okay, okay, I believe you.” Zander stopped in front of Ryan. “Let me see your back.”

  Ryan leaned forward and tugged up his shirt.

  “Damn, it’s still not healed.”

  “Yup, I know that too. Trust me, it still feels like there’s acid burning back there. I wish I’d been able to find the knife. I know where it should’ve landed, and I looked all around for it, but it wasn’t there. The only thing I can think of is that the guy who got away grabbed it while I was fighting with the other one.”

  Zander sat back on his haunches with his eyes focused somewhere in the past and paused before continuing. “After the Overseer stronghold fell, it was me who took the last one of those fucking things from…from Sofia’s body with my own hand and I was there at the end when it was destroyed, Ryan. I watched the Seelie Court’s emissary vanquish it.”

  Bloody hell. “I’m sorry, Zander. I never knew that. It must’ve been—”

  Zander cut Ryan off. “Doesn’t matter now.” His eyes focused back on the present, making it clear the subject was closed. “By the description and stalled healing of your wound, there’s no other explanation. You’re lucky he just scratched you. Baneblades were designed to force a change so violent it tore you apart. Still might’ve if you hadn’t been Alpha-line.”

  Ryan nodded. “I’ve heard the stories.” Scrubbing his face, he lobbed the next astonishing bit of news Zander’s way. “That’s not all. When I was at the police station, I found my way back to the holding cells and had a chat with the one that got caught.”

  Zander tilted his head. “Found your way?”

  Ryan puffed up. “I persuaded my way in and out again by diverting attention elsewhere. Satisfied?”

  Zander pawed his muzzle. “Great.”

  “Do you want to hear this or not?”

  “No need to get your tail in a knot. Go on.”

  Ryan blew a breath out slowly before continuing. “I think the guy was a Mongrel.”

  Zander shot to all fours at full attention, and his eyes flashed to full glow. “What?”

  During the war, humans from the fringes of society, considered blights in their own way, were injected with Wulver blood and controlled by the generals from the enemy’s elitist ranks. It didn’t turn them Lycan—half human, half Wulver hybrids—as a direct bite would. Instead, it destroyed any control they had over their own minds making them “programmable”. Disposable weapons to be used against Wulvers and others like them in a war aimed at supremacy.

  “A Mongrel? Shit.” Zander shook his body and huffed through his nose then started pacing again. “If he is, we’re not going to get much out of him, at least not voluntarily.” He paused mid stride and glared over his shoulder at Ryan. “Unless…”

  Ryan’s Alpha blood took it as a challenge, and he glared back in warning. “Yes, I did, and I won’t apologize for taking that path, not with so much at stake. Nor will I justify my decision again.” Yes, he’d resorted to an outlawed Alpha ability. Digging around in the gray matter of a submissive Wulver who could withstand it was bad enough, but using it on a human mind meant tearing those thoughts free, leaving little else behind, and was considered barbaric. Under the circumstances, he’d do it again in an instant.

  Zander lowered his head and dropped his gaze. “Nor should you. Desperate times… What did you learn?”

  Relieved his former mentor didn’t condemn him for his drastic measures, Ryan continued. “His mind was a mess already, but I did determine he and the one that got away were one of several teams sent out in advance to track our Alpha-lines and assess for current weaknesses.”

  “By whom? And, after what they did to wipe out the Wulverkynn, what other weakness do they think we have? Because of them we lose more to the moon every year, so to what end?”

  “I don’t know. All I kept getting was…cut off the head of the beast, the rest will fall.” Ryan shrugged. “That was it. He just kept repeating it.”

  “Well, nothing cult-o-maniacal about that chunk of rhetoric, is there? Anything on the one holding his leash?”

  Ryan frowned and shook his head. “I was almost down that deep when something happened. I can’t explain it, but without my severing it, the link was suddenly broken. I don’t know, maybe I did something wrong. It’s not like we get to practice this kind of thing beyond learning to contain it. Anyway, next thing I knew, the Mongrel grabbed his ears, squealed like a pig, and ran headfirst into the cell wall.”

  “Holy shit.”

  Ryan shuddered and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I heard his skull crack, Zander. I have no idea if he was still breathing or not after that, but figured it was time to cover my tracks and get the hell out of there.”

  Zander huffed again, but slowed his pacing. “We used to call those Imploders—a higher-grade Mongrel, if you will. Pre-programmed to self-destruct under interrogation. Fuckers were rare, Ryan. Not many had the strength, let alone ability, to make them—and it took Alpha-line blood to do it.”

  Wulvers captured during the war had been starved and tortured to the brink of death, kept weak but
alive for the sole purpose of using their blood to make more cannon fodder. He still wondered if that was what happened to Ethan. Gods, he hoped not.

  “Ryan, are you listening?”

  “Sorry, what?”

  “Were you able to find out if he had prior knowledge of the Sigil on Sara’s sister, or possibly saw it when he attacked her?”

  “If he didn’t know beforehand, he would’ve seen it when her wig came off in the struggle.”

  “Goddesses be damned, then so did his maker.”

  “Sure you should invoke any more legends at this point.” The Wulver origin story claimed it had been a couple of pissed off Celtic goddesses who’d cursed them in the first place, and a third goddess, taking pity on them, had provided the Wulverkynn to soften the blow. Or some such crap like that. Ryan never bought it, but after today, he didn’t think it was a good idea to push their luck.

  “Good point. Though it’s feeling more like there’s a twisted hand of fate involved here somewhere.”

  “Let’s just focus on what we know, like the fact the second guy from the hotel is still out there, and if they know about Hailey, she, and probably Sara too, are still in danger.” Every nerve in Ryan’s body screamed for him to get back to them.

  “True, though chances are good he ran straight back to whoever’s holding his leash to report. Still I agree we shouldn’t take any chances. Since they targeted Hailey, and you know what he looks like, you should stay close to her at the hospital till morning. I can keep an eye on the hotel from outside, just in case. We also can’t waste any more time here. You need to contact your father so he can get word to the Council and other Clan leaders. They’ll need to confirm the whereabouts of all their people as soon as possible. If we’re right about the Mongrel, at least one of our kind will be missing, probably more.”

  “Shit.” Ryan dug his cell out and tried to dislodge the boulder of despair pressing down on his chest as he dialed home. Just when he’d begun to believe he could carry his responsibilities, not like Ethan maybe, but well enough, things were going to hell. When the time came, would he have what it took to protect his people in another war? He’d have to. And what about Hailey? She now had a target on her back. Because of him? And if Sara turned out to be Wulverkynn too?

  Ryan ground his teeth to settle the itch of his growing canines. Damn it. If she carried the Sigil too, the life he’d craved had been possible for a split-second, but with only weeks till his birthday, it had just as quickly burned to ash at his feet. If he could’ve introduced Sara to his world slowly, maybe she’d have come to accept the restrictions it would place on her life and they would’ve stood a chance. Now she’d probably end up hating him for destroying hers.

  After he told her what he really was, he’d be lucky if she’d still let him near enough to protect her.

  Chapter Eight

  Sun streamed in through the windows of Sway, the same restaurant where Sara had made her fatal decision to seduce Ryan after getting drunk that first night. It was giving her a headache. Despite her thoughts running in circles, Sara did manage to get a couple of hours sleep once she got back to the hotel, but it hadn’t done much good.

  Now, in the light of day, some of those things were clearly nothing but products of her imagination. After all, who would be thinking straight when their only living relative had been attacked like that? Werewolves indeed.

  Deluded much? Sara took a sip of her water and swallowed the disturbing thought down with it.

  Hailey was right; she did owe it to Ryan to talk face-to-face. She’d still had no idea what she wanted to do about him, but before she lost her nerve, Sara had called to invite him to lunch.

  Coming down in the elevator, she’d decided it was best to make a clean break of things. Then she’d seen him standing outside the restaurant and nearly melted. How could she have even considered cutting this man loose from her life?

  Sitting across from Ryan now, she was even more confused. First, he’d inquired after Hailey and hung on every word as she updated him. She’d then apologized for being rude the night before…and he’d blushed. He’d been glued to her every word since and had been a complete gentleman the whole time. Other than a chaste peck on the cheek and a guiding hand at her lower back as they’d made their way to the table, he hadn’t touched her. It was killing her. She physically ached for the ease they’d shared only yesterday.

  Sara Eileen, you are so not ready to end this.

  You have to. You’re not ready to deal with what you’re feeling either.

  Ryan tossed her one of his lopsided smiles, and Sara shoved the doubt back into the dark corner it had crawled out of.

  Ryan finally reached for her hand for the first time since they’d sat down and the section of her brain taking her heart’s side cheered.

  “Sara, everything okay? You seem distracted?”

  Ryan’s deep voice was as comforting as a warm shower in winter, damn it. “Sorry, I didn’t sleep well, but no, otherwise I’m fine.” Liar, and it doesn’t look like he got any more sleep than you.

  A meal Sara barely touched and three cups of coffee later, Ryan finally reached for her hand for the first time since they’d sat down and the section of her brain taking her heart’s side cheered.

  “Good, because there are some things we need to talk about.” With those words, Ryan’s whole demeanor changed from day to night in a flash. Sara had never imagined he could look so grim, and suddenly, the last thing she wanted to do was talk.

  “No, it’s okay. We’re fine.” She glanced around and spotted the waitress. “Check please?”

  Ryan’s fingers tightened around hers. “No, we really do, and somewhere a hell of a lot more private. It can’t wait.”

  The waitress gave Sara’s building panic a reprieve. “Here you go. Hope you enjoyed your meal.”

  Frustration flashed across Ryan’s face then vanished as he glanced up at the girl and relinquished his hold on Sara to dig out his credit card. “It was fine. Thank you.”

  The waitress took it from him with smile. “Terrific. I’ll be back with the machine in just a minute.” Ryan caught Sara’s hands again as the waitress retreated.

  Sara gulped. She had no idea why she felt they were on the edge of a knife somehow, only that she did, and she had to back away from it before it cut her heart out. “This was nice, but—”

  “Sara, please. There are some things about me you need to know. Things that, after yesterday, now directly affect you and your sister—”

  “Speaking of Hailey, oh dear, look at the time. I have to check on her.”

  Ryan hesitated before letting her hands go, and he didn’t look happy about it. The clock on her phone showed twenty till one, so she and Nicki should be well back from the hospital by now, though it was weird neither had texted her.

  Someone stepped on Sara’s proverbial grave and a chilly fingernail ran up her spine. She probably should’ve checked in earlier herself.

  The waitress returned and Ryan took care of paying the bill as Sara called her sister’s phone and waited for an answer. It only rang once then went straight to Hailey’s inbox. “I’m probably ignoring this, and may or may not get back to you, but go ahead and leave a message if you want anyway.” Sara frowned.

  Ryan’s face went into full on scowl mode. “No answer?”

  “No, it went straight to voice-mail. Maybe she’s sleeping.” Sara scrolled to Nicki’s number and pressed the button.

  Her cheery voice came through after three rings. “Hey, girl, what’s up?”

  “Oh good, glad I caught you. I just tried Hailey but she didn’t answer. What time did you guys get back?”

  “Back? What do you mean?”

  “What do you mean, what do I mean? What time did you guys get back from the hospital?” The pregnant pause on the other end dragged Sara’s brow down to a point her expression matched Ryan’s and the icy fingers from a second ago clutched the back of her neck.

  “Honey, she hasn’t called
me to say she’s ready to go yet.”

  Ryan spoke before Sara could answer Nicki. “Sara, what’s going on?”

  “Nicki hasn’t heard from her yet.”

  Something flashed across his face so fast Sara wasn’t sure she’d seen it as he stood up and gestured for her to do the same. “Come on. My truck’s here. We’ll go get her right now.”

  Sara wasn’t about to argue; her sister would be spitting nails if she’d been sprung and no one had been there to get her. “Nicki, Ryan’s here. We’re going to head over there now. I’ll call you when we get back.”

  As they waited for the elevator, the frosty grip migrated to Sara’s guts and the black cloud hanging over Ryan wasn’t helping.

  *****

  At the hospital, Ryan barely got the truck in park, before Sara jumped out the passenger door. She’d gained three parking stall lengths by the time he got the keys out of the ignition, hopped out, and pressed the lock on his fob.

  “Sara, hold up!” His longer stride ate up the distance, and he caught up as she hit the building’s main entrance. Damn it. Why had he left? He should’ve suggested they meet here for lunch. After his discussion with Zander, Ryan spent what was left of the night sitting in a deserted waiting area on Hailey’s floor where he could keep an eye on her room. By mid-morning, nothing had happened. So, when it came time to meet Sara for lunch, with the day shift in full swing, Hailey, at least for the time being, had seemed safe. Now he wasn’t so sure.

  “She’s probably tearing her hair out by now. Hailey hates hospitals.” Sara yanked the door open and he caught it as she let go. Her voice was full of forced cheer. “I’ll hear about how I left her here rotting for the next six months.”

  Whether she was picking up on his sinking feeling, or she was working on one of her own, he had no idea. What Ryan had no doubt of, however, was that Sara wasn’t buying her nattering excuse for barreling toward the elevator any more than he was.