First Moon (The Ternion Order Book 1)

by Daniel R. Marvello

  Amanda gave him a puzzled expression. “What makes you say that? The protection ward drained me too much to attempt another exorcism tonight, but we still have tomorrow.”

  Kyle was genuinely confused. “But tomorrow is First Moon, and you need moonlight to do your thing. When the moon rises, it will be too late.”

  “I don’t need moonlight to perform magic, but I’m at my strongest in the moonlight. Moonrise is ten minutes after sunset tomorrow. I can get started just before sunset and have the exorcism in progress as the moon rises. As the demon grows stronger, so will I.”

  Kyle shook his head. “But what about the totem? We never made it to Coeur d’Alene to pick it up.”

  Amanda gave him a secret smile and winked. “You didn’t make it to Coeur d’Alene, but I did.”

  Kyle leaned forward, his eyes wide. “You got it?”

  “Yep.”

  A tiny glimmer of hope sparked in his chest. What she was proposing sounded terribly risky, but he had nothing to lose. If she was willing to fight the demon as it emerged on First Moon, he would do everything he could to protect her while she did so.

  Chapter 17

  Standoff

  Kyle lay in the dark, unable to sleep. In truth, he was afraid to sleep. He could feel the demon pushing insistently against his consciousness. When his mind started to wander, the slow chuckle of the demon echoing in the recesses of his mind made him sit up in bed and return to full alertness.

  Staying awake wasn’t that difficult. He had a lot on his mind, and much of it was frightening. Earlier in the evening, he had partially raised the window of the room he was using at Hayworth Farm, but he jumped at every noise that came in from the outside. Would the werewolves violate sanctuary and kidnap him again? What was that scrabbling sound? Finally, he closed the window and locked it, hoping to calm his nerves.

  His room was equipped with two twin beds. Sherry was sleeping in the second one, although her sleep was far from restful. She tossed and turned and made little noises of distress occasionally.

  At about three o’clock in the morning, she gasped and sat up. “Kyle?”

  “I’m here,” he answered. He went over to her bed and sat next to her. The moment she felt his weight settle on the mattress, she reached out and hugged him close.

  She looked around at the dimly moonlit room. “Where are we?” she asked in a groggy voice.

  “We’re at a friend’s house. We’ll be safe here for now. Go on back to sleep.”

  Sherry released him from her embrace and scrunched up her forehead. “What friend?”

  Kyle didn’t think it would be a good idea to tell her they were staying with Amanda. “We’re at Hayworth Farm. It belongs to Lucille, the nice lady who runs Butterflies and Rainbows in town.”

  Sherry was quiet for a moment. She wobbled a little while she tried to process his answer. “That New Age store? How do you know her?”

  “It’s a long story. Go back to sleep, and I’ll tell you about it in the morning.”

  Sherry grabbed his hand with hers and lay back down. “Okay, but don’t leave me here alone.”

  Kyle patted her arm with his free hand and tilted his head toward his own bed. “I’ll be right over there if you need me.” He stood up and disengaged her hand from his.

  She reluctantly let go. As he walked back to his bed, she turned onto her side so she was facing him. She watched him get back into his own bed and then she finally closed her eyes. Within a minute, her breathing had returned to a slow and steady rhythm.

  Kyle spent the remainder of the night leaning against propped-up pillows and imagining all the things that might go wrong with Amanda’s exorcism. If it worked, he would be able to walk away from all this insanity. If it didn’t, he’d become a permanent prisoner of the sensory abyss.

  With nothing to do except think and be terrified by the possibilities, Kyle began to put together a contingency plan.

  Kyle poured himself a second cup of coffee, draining the last of it from the carafe. He held the pot up and waggled it toward Lucille. “That was it. Should I make more?”

  Lucille was chopping onion for the scrambled eggs she was making for breakfast. She glanced over and shook her head. “I’m good. But feel free to make more if you want it.”

  “How about you, Amanda?” Kyle asked.

  “I’m fine,” she answered.

  Kyle carried his cup over to where Amanda was sitting at the kitchen table. Sitting down with a sigh, he said, “I’ll make a fresh pot when Sherry gets up.”

  Amanda gave him an appraising look. “I think it’s going to take more than caffeine to erase those dark circles under your eyes. Did you sleep at all last night?”

  “No. I was afraid the demon would take advantage. It’s getting stronger.”

  Amanda swallowed the last of her coffee. “I doubt it will make you feel any better, but I didn’t sleep well last night either.”

  Kyle adopted a thoughtful expression, then shook his head. “Nope. That doesn’t make me feel better. You’ll need to be at full capacity tonight.”

  A thump upstairs interrupted Amanda’s response and drew both of their eyes toward the ceiling. Kyle said, “Sounds like she’s finally awake.”

  “Hey, give her a break. She was drugged.”

  Kyle scoffed. “Even without drugs, that woman has an infinite capacity for sleep, believe me.”

  Amanda grew serious. “We’re going to have to watch what we say around her. Have you thought about how you’re going to explain what we’ll be doing tonight?”

  Kyle had indeed thought about that. It was one of the many plans he’d made during his sleepless night. “There’s no way to explain it. I have to get her out of here, but is it safe for her to leave?”

  “I’m sure she’s in no danger from the Pack. Using her to get to you didn’t work before, and now there’s no time left.”

  “Don’t remind me,” Kyle said under his breath. He took a sip of his coffee, but the flavor no longer appealed. “You want some of this?” he asked, poising his cup over Amanda’s.

  “Sure, I’ll take a little more.”

  Kyle poured some of the steaming brown liquid from his cup into hers.

  “Thanks,” she said, taking a sip.

  “Aw, that’s so sweet,” came a mocking voice from the doorway. Sherry stepped into the room with her arms folded across her chest and a glare on her face. “You told me this house belonged to someone else.”

  Kyle got up and motioned for Sherry to take his seat. Amanda leaned away from the table, looking displeased as Sherry hesitantly sat down.

  “This is Lucille’s house,” Kyle said, stepping aside so Sherry could see the woman standing at the stove. Lucille waved a spatula in greeting and went back to her cooking.

  Kyle backed away from the table and said, “I’ll put on some fresh coffee.” He gave Amanda an apologetic look for leaving her with Sherry. The narrow-eyed look Amanda returned told him she thought he was being a coward.

  When Kyle went into the kitchen, Lucille raised an eyebrow at him. He tried to ignore her and went about starting a new pot of coffee while keeping an eye on the uncomfortable pair at the kitchen table.

  Sherry crossed her legs and arms, and she started bouncing the suspended foot. Kyle held his breath, recognizing her shift into belligerent mode. “What brings you here?” she asked Amanda.

  “I live here,” Amanda answered in a flat voice.

  The foot paused and Sherry cut her eyes to Kyle. “Bastard,” she said, just loud enough for him to hear.

  She returned her poisonous gaze to Amanda. “So this is where he’s been hiding? With you? I knew it.”

  Kyle pushed the button to start the coffee and stood watching the glowing red light, postponing the inevitable for as long as possible. Lucille nudged him and tilted her head toward the table. Kyle sighed and walked back to face the two women.

  Sherry looked up at him. She was mad, but she also looked hurt. “I understand now why you didn
’t want to stay with those weirdos at the Foundation, but why did you dump me at the hotel with no explanation? Is this fling with Miranda your way of getting back at me?”

  Amanda blinked in shock and her face turned red. Kyle didn’t know if she was capable of turning Sherry into a toad, but he was willing to bet that Sherry was one croak away from finding out.

  “No, it’s nothing like that,” Kyle said quickly. “And her name is Amanda. We aren’t … involved.”

  “You two seem pretty cozy to me,” Sherry said with a pout in her voice.

  Amanda interrupted. “We’re just friends. That’s all.”

  Even though her statements were true, they hurt him a little. Kyle knew for certain right then that he would like to become more than friends with her.

  Sherry pressed her lips together and looked from Amanda to Kyle. “Fine. Let’s say I believe you. When do we leave? We should see if the house is ready yet. We may not have to go back to the hotel.”

  Kyle wet his lips. This was the part of the conversation he’d been avoiding. “There’s no we. You need to go, but I’m staying here for now.”

  Sherry stared up at him. Her lower lip trembled and her eyes filled with tears. “After all we’ve been through, you’re giving up now?”

  Kyle reminded himself that she didn’t understand what was truly at stake. To Sherry, it was all about rebuilding their relationship and helping him get over some mysterious illness. But he had no time left to be gentle with her. So far, being supportive had done nothing but encourage her to think they would get together again.

  He hardened his voice. “I gave up when you handed me your engagement ring and walked out the door. I was stupid enough to try to help when you came back broke and lonely. We aren’t getting back together, Sherry. Ever.”

  Tears spilling down her cheeks, Sherry looked at him like he was some kind of monster. “But … but we had sex.”

  Kyle threw up his hands and rolled his eyes. “You got naked,” was all he said by way of explanation.

  Sherry’s horror turned instantly to anger. She stood up and slapped him so hard that his ears rang. She ran from the room sobbing. Her feet pounded up the stairs and the door to their room slammed closed.

  Lucille set two plates on the table. While she removed her apron, she said, “I’ll go talk to her and take her into town with me when I go to the shop. Amanda, please get a couple of tortillas out of the refrigerator and make two breakfast burritos out of the eggs that are still in the pan. We’ll eat them on the road.”

  Amanda seemed stunned by the turn of events. She stammered her response to Lucille. “Sure … okay … no problem.”

  Kyle sat down and started eating, attacking his eggs with his fork and popping them into his mouth forcefully. He was embarrassed and angry, but he was also starving. When he realized Amanda wasn’t eating, he glanced up at her and did a double-take. She was staring at him, and although she was keeping a straight face, her eyes crinkled with mirth.

  “What?” he demanded.

  “You got naked?”

  He blushed and swallowed. “Well, she did. What was I supposed to do? Tell her, ‘No thanks’ ?”

  Amanda picked up her fork and sighed. “Men,” she said before taking a bite of her breakfast.

  Kyle helped Amanda clean up the kitchen and was careful to stay out of sight when Sherry left with Lucille a half-hour later. Sherry made no attempt to find him or to say goodbye.

  When they were gone, Amanda brought Kyle up to the moon shrine to show him the totem she had borrowed from the collector in Coeur d’Alene. She had a proud smile as she lifted it from the altar with both hands.

  Kyle shuddered when Amanda held up the wolf skull. With its long fearsome canine teeth and hollow eye sockets, he found it to be repellent in a primal way. Upon closer inspection, he found a small symbol above each of the long upper canine teeth and each eye socket. Those symbols were not the only evidence that the wolf skull was special. It had a faint glow to it, as if a tiny LED had been placed inside. From the shadows of his mind, the demon urged him to slap the artifact from Amanda’s hands. Kyle pushed the demon back and reconsidered the skull, liking it better because of the demon’s reaction.

  “It’s smaller than I expected,” Kyle observed.

  Amanda nodded enthusiastically. “I noticed that too. I asked Mr. Bell about it, but he didn’t know the reason. He speculated that it might have come from a young wolf, or perhaps a female. It’s also possible that the skull came from one of the smaller wolf species.”

  Amanda seemed exceptionally excited about the wolf skull, and Kyle started to wonder why. She kept giving him sidelong glances, as if she were expecting him to notice something.

  “What’s up with you?” he asked her.

  She turned the skull in her hands, giving him a view from all angles. “Did you notice anything else about it, other than the fact that it’s small?”

  Kyle looked carefully to see what she was getting at, but didn’t see anything else unusual. “Just the symbols and the weird glow. Is that what you’re hinting about?”

  Amanda seemed taken aback. She held the skull away from her and tilted her head. “What glow?”

  Kyle thought he might have been mistaken, but as Amanda angled the skull to face him, a faint white light flickered around the empty eye sockets and the symbols. “It has a white glow to it, especially here and here,” he said, pointing to the areas that glimmered.

  Amanda stared at him with a nonplussed expression. She inspected the skull again and then glanced over at her altar. “Does anything on the altar glow?”

  Kyle looked carefully at the items sitting on the altar, but the crucible, knife, and other items looked pretty much the same as always. “Nope. Only the skull.”

  “Interesting,” she said, barely above a whisper. Putting the skull down on the altar, she seemed lost in thought. “Have you seen anything else glow with light that didn’t seem natural?”

  Kyle thought back over some of the crazy things he’d witnessed in the past several days. “Well, your crucible glowed briefly when you consecrated it. And the light from your spell-casting seemed pretty unnatural. The first time I saw the green shimmer while you were refreshing the wards was kind of weird, but the force pushing me against the fence freaked me out a lot more.”

  Amanda’s mouth dropped open and she blinked a couple of times before recovering her composure. “You see a green shimmer when I cast spells?”

  “Don’t you?”

  “No!” Amanda put her hand to her head and furrowed her brow in concentration. “That sounds like the effects of a magic aura spell. I’ve used it to check objects for enchantments. If someone happens to use magic while the spell is operating, I can see auras related to their casting, similar to what you just described.” She looked up at him. “But it’s a short-term spell. It lasts maybe five minutes at the most.”

  Kyle shook his head. “I don’t know what to tell you. Could it be another thing I’m getting through the demon?”

  Amanda’s eyes went wide. “It has to be. I’m glad you mentioned it. That ability has … ramifications. I need to tell Noreen about this.”

  Kyle grimaced. The last thing he needed was for Noreen to associate more ramifications with him. “Should we get back to the skull? Was there something special about the symbols?”

  Amanda nodded absently. “Yeah … I wanted to make sure you saw them.” With a quick shake of her head, she started for the door, waving for him to follow her. “Come on. I’ve got something else to show you.”

  She descended the stairs quickly and entered her office. Kyle followed, his curiosity aroused.

  She went to the table with the notes about the exorcism ritual. She had spread them out again, and sitting on top were photocopies of the original diary that contained the trader’s account of the ritual. Kyle had never bothered to look at the handwritten text. He had worked from the typed version that was much easier to read.

  At the bottom of t
he last page, the trader had drawn four symbols. They drew Kyle’s eye before Amanda’s index finger pointed them out.

  “Look familiar?” she asked with a triumphant smile.

  Kyle’s mind refused to put it together immediately. The odds were too impossible.

  “Are you saying that you think the skull upstairs is the same one the medicine man used in his ritual a hundred and fifty years ago? How can that be?”

  “I don’t know, but those symbols match the ones on the skull exactly. I’ve looked through every word of this part of the diary, but the trader never says why he drew those symbols or where they came from. He might have copied them from the skull, or maybe from some other artifact the medicine man was using. Either way, the symbols are somehow related to the exorcism ritual, and that skull has those symbols. I believe we’ve stumbled upon a powerful totem that was specifically designed to be used in an exorcism. It’s possible it’s the same one this medicine man used.”

  Kyle stared at the symbols in speechless shock. “Holy crap,” he finally managed to say.

  She laughed and gave him a hug. “Vulgar, but possibly accurate.”

  Amanda took a moment to check her e-mail while Kyle looked through the diary. She asked him to verify that she hadn’t missed something that might explain the reason for the symbols, but he had no luck finding anything either. He was about to ask her what they were going to do next when the phone rang.

  Amanda answered the phone. As she listened, her expression grew intent. She got up and pulled back the lace curtain from the window next to her desk, peering outside. “I see them,” she said. “What should we do? Okay … thanks.”

  She hung up, and when she turned around, she had a wild look in her eyes. “The Pack has surrounded the farm. Lucille saw them on her way out and called to warn us. She is contacting the Order to see if we can get additional protection.”