Even with his intimidating physical presence, there was no sense of threat or danger. He exuded amiability and his smiles were infectious.
Litha just had to ask one more time. "I just have to ask one more time. Are. You. Sure? As in really, really, really, really sure? If it doesn't work out, you won't be able to reach me by cell phone."
"Look, Litha. I owe you debts I'm never going to be able to repay. I want you to know that I'm grateful. I appreciate every single thing that you've done for me. You and your friend." He nodded at Kellareal and Kellareal returned his nod in kind. "More than I can express.
"So please don't take this the wrong way, but, if you're that worried about what will become of me and about me being stranded, then maybe you could check in on me. Stop by and say hello once a month or so."
Litha looked stunned. "Wow. How stupid do I feel?"
She looked at the angel who shrugged and smiled as if to say, "I don't know. How stupid are you?"
"Of course I can do that. Why not? I can make it every few days in the beginning. If all is well, taper off to once a week, then once a month, and so on. What do you think?"
Grey grinned and his eyes twinkled. "Takes all the risk right out of the gamble."
"Yeah." She frowned. "Of course it also takes all the romance out of giving up everything for love."
Kellareal spoke up. "What's important is that he was willing to give up everything for love."
"I still say it's not as tragically romantic, but it does take a load off my mind."
Grey had put on a Greenland outfit that Litha had supplied. It was a sleeveless, belted tunic over pants that looked like linen or hemp.
"That looks good on you, werewolf." Litha noticed that he seemed self-conscious.
Stalkson Grey rolled his eyes. "It feels silly."
"Why? Because you look like an extra from a Robin Hood movie?" asked the angel.
Litha gave the angel a warning look, which made him shrug and chuckle, "Truth telling. Just can't help it. Not always popular, but it's always real."
Litha ignored that and turned back to Grey. "That's just because you aren't used to it. When you're surrounded by people wearing similar clothes you'll be glad."
"If you say so."
"Is this the gold?"
Kellareal was pointing to the three containers that were designed to be used as tool kits, but Grey thought they'd work for his purpose because they were sturdy enough to carry heavy tools and they had handles.
"Yes. The one on the end is lighter."
Litha went to the one on the end and started to lift it, but it didn't move. "Come on! Is this a joke? You know I'm pregnant. You could cause me to deliver early with a prank like that."
Grey blinked. "Is that too heavy for you?"
Kellareal laughed and handed the lightest container to Grey. "You take this one and your bag. I'll take these two and Litha can take you."
Three minutes later they were standing inside an impressive vault, steel walls lined with safety deposit boxes.
"I got you one of these big ones down here." He pointed to one of the large boxes near the end and handed Grey the key. "Your ID is inside, along with the lease to your apartment, and some currency to get you started. You can sell gold in the lobby during their business hours."
"Thank you." Grey opened the box, took out the currency and ID, and loaded the gold inside. Then he turned, "Now what?"
They gathered the empty containers and transported Grey to the elevator in the holdings building where his vault was located. The three exited onto the sidewalk at street level looking like they were emerging from a bank transaction rather than an interdimensional event.
Grey's two guides spent the next half hour helping him get his bearings. They showed him where he was in relationship to his apartment building and where that was in relationship to Temple Park. They had also staked out the closest grocery complete with butcher shop and pointed that out on the way.
His apartment was the sort of place that would make sophisticated urbanites feel like they'd won the lucky-in-life lottery. It was located on the thirty-second floor, but that wasn't a concern. He estimated that he could descend the stairs in less than six minutes in case of fire. Since it was a corner unit, it featured views of the cityscape with water beyond on two sides. He had to admit that the sunlight sparkling on the pale blue expanse of liquid motion was hypnotic.
The best part, by far, was that he was high enough above the trees to see Temple Park below. He smiled at Litha and her angelic friend.
She laughed. "Based on what you told me, I thought you'd like it. Best of a bad situation and all that."
It seemed there was nothing left to do. Between the three of them, they'd thought of everything. "Is there anything else we can do before we go?"
Grey shook his head. "Thank you. Again."
Kellareal stuck out his hand. "Good luck, wolf."
Litha surprised him by stretching up to give him a kiss on the cheek. "See you in three days."
And they were gone.
Grey didn't waste any more time. He hid his key to the security vault inside the small wall safe and pocketed his apartment key. He walked to the elevator thinking that he had committed to living in a spiraling tower, high above the earth, in the most anti-organic nightmare possible, amid throngs of smelly loud humans and pastel-colored vehicles with nasty exhaust. And, in spite of all that, he was excited about the possibility of getting a glimpse of Luna. All he could think about was getting to that park where he could begin a vigil of hope.
He found a vantage point in the forest apron, a good place from which to watch. And wait.
The first two days he saw women in red silk come and go, but Luna was not among them. He didn't need to see her face to recognize her. The graceful movement and subtle nuances of her unique curves were burned into his memory. As the hours wore on, his excitement over the possibility of catching sight of her began to wane and at the end of the second day he went back to the metal and glass building feeling sad and wilted.
On the morning of the third day, however, he saw her as she traversed the breezeway between the temple and the residences, walking with several others. She said something, but even with wolf ears, he was too far away to hear what it was. She broke away from the others and stepped out into the park gardens carrying a basket. It looked as though she was interested in harvesting limited quantities of herbs grown by the cult for use in salves and potions. Since the plants in Temple Park were sacred, it was against the law for anyone but the Vergins to touch them.
Luna's eyes were on the ground as she meandered toward a healthy patch of blithemoss, but movement caught in the corner of her eye jerked her attention toward the forest. Her heart leapt when she thought she saw a familiar shape in the trees. Her mind knew it couldn't possibly be the cause of her despondency, a werewolf who occupied her waking thoughts and her nighttime fantasies. But her feet didn't ask permission when she veered off the path that led back to the temple and started into the forest.
She wondered if her separation from Stalkson Grey might have been distressing enough to cause hallucinations. There was no point denying that the werewolf had captured her heart when he took her body. As she mused, she asked herself if a person suffering a psychotic episode would be likely to consider that as a possible explanation for the unfolding of unlikely events. She concluded that, either her subconscious mind found sport in torturing her with images of the werewolf she longed to claim as lover or it was a trickster spirit intent on taking advantage of her vulnerable state of mind.
Regardless, she determined to scorn timidity and investigate. If her experience with Grey had taught her anything, it was that willingness to face the unknown without fear can render the sweetest rewards imaginable.
Stalkson hoped to use quick glimpses of himself to pique her curiosity and draw her deeper into the forest than usual. When he was ready to reveal himself fully, he stepped out from behind a tree close enough to startle her.
Still not ready to believe it could be Grey in the flesh, she reasoned that she would force the doppelganger to speak.
"What is it that you want here, likeness of a werewolf?"
"I want to see you and touch you." He cocked his head and his eyes darkened. "Perhaps taste you."
"I will rephrase. What are you doing in this dimension?"
"I live here. In an apartment in one of those tall buildings."
"Really. What was it you called them?"
He tried to remember the exact word he had used to describe then. "Monstrosities."
"Say your name," she challenged.
"Stalkson Grey."
"You cannot be Stalkson Grey. He told me that he would rather be cast into an eternal pit of fire than live in one of those buildings in the middle of a city."
"At the time I didn't understand that there are worse things."
"You seemed quite sure about it."
"Living away from my tribe, high above the earth, those things cause me distress, but not nearly as much as the prospect of not seeing you."
She didn't look convinced.
"Why are you wearing Greenlander clothes?"
"I live here now."
"How did you get here?"
"I asked people who can move between worlds to bring me."
"Who?"
"Deliverance's daughter, Litha, and her friend, the angel."
"An angel," she smirked.
"Yes."
"I don't believe in angels."
"But you do believe in werewolves."
She ignored that. "And I don't think Deliverance has a daughter. He's never said so."
"Well, how odd that he doesn't talk about his daughter while fucking girls her same age."
She narrowed her eyes and studied him. "You are very skilled at deceit, Spirit. Clever enough to add sarcasm to your impatience which is exactly what Stalkson Grey would do.
"You are a poor imitation, here to torment me, for what reason I don't know, but I do know that such things happen. When I was a child, my older sisters in the temple told us stories about spirits who pretend to be someone you know."
"Luna. I'm not a spirit and not an imitation. Actually it's a little disturbing to be called a 'poor' imitation of myself. And the last thing I'm here to do is torment you."
"Again, what is it that you want?"
"You."
"For the sake of argument, let's assume I believe that you are Stalkson Grey who has traveled from another world to lurk in my forest and stalk me. The last time I saw you, I was told that you prefer a mate who doesn't argue."
She noticed that his shoulders slumped a little.
"That was a stupid thing for me to say. Stupid and untrue. I want you. If that means arguing, then I want that, too."
The look on his face was so sincere that, whatever tenuous restraint she had on her impulse to throw herself at him dissolved. He was in the middle of making a case for belief in his existence when he found himself suddenly holding armfuls of lush woman. Her body molded to his as she melted into the kiss that she craved far more than air and water.
She was breathless when she finally pulled back. "It's really you, wolf."
He smiled a wolfish smile.
"It is."
"Did you come to take me home?"
He held her tight with one arm and pushed her hood back from her hair with the other hand.
"Home?"
"Elk Mountain."
"I can't. I'm stranded here. At least until tomorrow."
"What happens tomorrow?"
"Litha, the demon's daughter, is going to check on me."
"And she can take us away then."
"No."
"What?"
"She could, but then your overseer would just send Deliverance to bring you back again. It seems that you're a slave."
"I'm a slave," she repeated it like it had never occurred to her. Her eyes went slightly out of focus for a few heartbeats while she tried to organize that thought within her reality. "If that means that I can't choose what I do and can't choose to leave if I want, then, yes, I guess I am a slave. And, if I am, then all my sisters are slaves as well."
"We have to find a way to get them to release you."
"Why should I let you go?" Pandora stood behind her massive, ornate desk with her hands on her hips and looked Stalkson Grey up and down before returning her attention to Luna.
"Because, if you don't, I'm going to give the others an education on what's wrong with taking baby girls from their families and making slaves of them."
Pandora looked shocked, and spluttered, "That is not what we do here!"
"No? I have two questions for you. Did anybody ever ask any of us what we wanted? And, am I free to go? If the answer to either one of those questions is no, then we are innocents who have been enslaved and had our lives stolen from us."
Pandora narrowed her eyes and pressed her lips together so tightly her mouth turned white.
"Go." She waved her hand. "If you speak to any of the others on the way out or in the future, the deal is off."
Grey was so relieved he thought his knees might give out from under him.
Luna grabbed his hand and led him through an alcove and a side door where they were unlikely to encounter anyone.
"Wait." He pulled her to a stop. "Is there nothing you want to bring with you?"
She shook her head and pulled him along. "Everything I want and need is right here."
Without letting go of each other's hands, they ran through the park, through the forest, through the city streets and didn't stop until they were inside Grey's apartment with the door closed and locked.
Luna looked at him, her chest heaving, and started to laugh. "We did it! I'm free."
He laughed with her. "No. You did it. And we're free."
They decided to stay in the apartment until Litha returned because they didn't want to miss her. Grey had been told to call the building concierge if he needed anything. He placed an order for fruit and vegetables and nuts and cheese and had it delivered.
Luna had never seen her island from a vantage of height and was fascinated to see how things looked from the other side of the forest. She really couldn't have imagined the sparkling lakes that surrounded the city or what that much water looked like.
Grey could think of at least five different things he'd like to do to her body, but didn't want to be in a compromising position when Litha came. So he pacified himself with assurance that soon he'd be free to love his human with abandon and indulge her every fantasy.
"Before Litha comes, we need to decide what we want to do."
"What we want to do about what?"
"Where we're going to live."
"Don't we want to go to your home at Elk Mountain?"
"I want you to hear the options and then we'll decide. Together."
"You know I don't have any experience making choices, wolf. I'm not sure I'd be very good at it."
"When you were with me at Elk Mountain and I asked you to stay, that was a choice and you knew what you wanted."
"That's exactly my point. I didn't know what I wanted. I knew what I was supposed to want, but now I don't think that's the same thing."
"It's not complicated. It's easy. I'll tell you something about this and something about that and then you say how you feel about it. Like a game."
She looked uncertain, but said, "Okay. Let's try it."
"Choice number one. We could go back to Elk Mountain and there are some good things to be said about that. But I passed leadership on to my son and they are not expecting me back. They may have already moved into my lodge."
Luna looked disappointed.
"That's not all about choice number one. That world is getting more and more populated. One day the humans are going to become envious of our land and break their agreements. It's already started. In the future there won't be anywhere safe for werewolves to go and hide our nature."
Her mouth formed an "oh" and she loo
ked pensive.
"Choice number two. You remember me telling you that half my people migrated to a new world to start over? Well, there's more to it than that. Many of the young males from my tribe have taken human mates. If we went there and joined with them, you'd have lots of human company. You could be instrumental in forming new traditions. And it's beautiful, Luna. Clean air. Clean water. There's so much land and the resources are untouched.
"We'd be surrounded by other tribes of werewolves so it would be safe. It would be a wonderful place to raise little ones. A wonderful, safe place."
Luna had never personally experienced a sales pitch before, but she would have had to be very dim not to recognize which option made Grey animated and excited.
"Little ones?" she smiled.
"Yes. If you want. But we don't have to. For me, the only constant in this equation is you. You're the beginning and the end, the requirement and the deal breaker. So what do you say?"
"Am I making a choice about babies or about where we're going to live?"
"Where to live. The other might have been too much information."
"Alright. I pick choice number two."
It was evident that he was suppressing a grin. "Are you sure? I don't want to influence you one way or the other."
She laughed at that. "Yes. I'm sure."
He grabbed her up and twirled her around.
***
CHAPTER_21
It was Storm's night to get dinner. Litha was due back from an errand any minute. She didn't say what exactly. Something about relocating that werewolf again.
He drove the Aston Martin to town for take-away Chinese and spent the time mapping out his life as far as he could conceivably plan, which was the next hour. He returned with Litha's favorite, which was shrimp with Chinese greens and his, which was General Tso's chicken. He tossed the keys on the kitchen counter, set the bag down, and started to set the table with plates, napkins, and real utensils. Litha didn't mind that he got take-out on his nights, but she did mind cartons and plastic forks.
Moonlight: The Big Bad Wolf (Black Swan 4) Page 27
