Vanilla Moon: Acrimony

by Airiel Hawkins

  Wolfgang stirred beside me. "What's wrong?" he asked. He sat up and sniffed the air. I could see his eyebrows bunch together in confusion. "The hell?" he whispered.

  I knew I should tell him, but I didn't want to make him worry. I needed more information first.

  I started walking to the bathroom. Wolfgang caught my hand. "Ceres?" he asked. I looked at him and saw the questions in his eyes.

  "I think the other shoe just dropped," I said in a soft voice.

  "What are you talking about?"

  I shook my head. "I don't want you to worry about it," I replied.

  He pulled me back to him and wrapped his arms around me, tucking my head under his chin. "I'm already worried," he told me. "Just tell me what I'm worried about."

  I sighed. "Let me go to the bathroom," I said. "The world won't collapse in the time it takes me to pee."

  He chuckled and let me go. I wandered into the bathroom and sat on the toilet, not using it, and held my head in my hands. I felt nauseous and I couldn't tell if it was from the dream or if I really was pregnant. I let out a shaking breath. If Abigail wasn't dead, I'd have a lot to answer for. If she wasn't dead, who did I kill? What if the person I killed was innocent? Why didn't I trust my nose the second her scent changed?

  I sighed before I did my business in the bathroom. When I walked out, I washed my hands and then joined Wolfgang on the edge of the bed. He wrapped his arm around me. "So, what woke you?" he asked.

  "Bad dream."

  "Oh?"

  I nodded and told him everything. He grew tense because my dreams were never quite normal and often not just dreams. He was quiet for a while after I finished speaking.

  "Any chance…."

  "That it's not real?" I asked. "I doubt it. Knowing our luck…."

  He swore. "This is the last thing we need," he whispered. He sighed. "I'll call Clive in the morning and speak to him about it. We'll put feelers out and look for Abigail before we tell anyone she's still kicking."

  I nodded. "Okay," I said.

  "I can see why you didn't want to tell me…."

  I nodded again. "Yeah." I rest my head against his shoulder. "On the other hand, I've read too many books about what happens when one person doesn't tell the other something so important because they think they can handle it themselves. Great for tension, but not how I want to live my life." I let out a sigh and closed my eyes. "I'd love to have a whole day where we don't have to worry about Witches, rouge Lycans, or anything else trying to kill us. Just a day where we're at peace and it's okay to relax."

  Wolfgang kissed my forehead. "Me too," he whispered.

  We woke in the morning to the sound of Wolfgang's phone ringing. He tried to answer it before it woke me as well, but even as he whispered his greeting, it was too late. I yawned and tried to listen to what Leon had to say.

  I didn't like what I heard.

  "Dr. Cyrus just called to inform me that Anica had her baby last night. This morning, she found Richard in the parking lot of the clinic. There is no trace of Anica. Find her."

  "Yes, Enkidu," Wolfgang replied before he hung up his phone. The two of us jumped out of bed and got dressed. As we walked down the hallway, Wolfgang knocked on Riley's door before opening it.

  "Jesus!" Selena cried from inside.

  "Riley, get dressed," Wolfgang ordered.

  "The fuck for?"

  "Anica escaped from the clinic," Wolfgang answered before he shut the door. I heard Riley swear from inside their room as I passed. Wolfgang started to brew a pot of coffee as I sat down on the counter.

  "So, where do we start?" I asked.

  "The clinic," Wolfgang replied. "We'll see if we can pick up her scent or any other trace of her from there, then fan out. She used to tell me that she wanted to go to Puerto Rico to learn more about her family, but I don't know if she's going to stick with that plan or do something else."

  "Since she was on her way to the bus station before?" I asked.

  Wolfgang nodded. "Anica is actually an intelligent person, so it would be counterintuitive to assume she would keep the same plan of escape. On the other hand, she may believe that we won't look for her in the same place twice, so we should probably head to the bus depot anyway."

  "We'll find her," I said as Riley appeared at the mouth of the kitchen. Wolfgang poured three cups of coffee and passed two of them to us before he took the third for himself.

  "We should also find Richard and see what he remembers," Wolfgang added. I nodded, agreeing with him.

  Twenty minutes later, we were on our way out the door. I volunteered to go straight to the bus station to look for Anica, just in case. As I drove, I passed Alan's house. I hadn't seen it since my last trip there, and even then, most of that was flashes of movements and not anything I was conscious for since that was the night they killed my baby.

  The windows were boarded up. There was caution tape on the door.

  As I drove past, movement flickered on the second floor. I wanted to dismiss it as nothing, but that nagging feeling in my gut demanded I check it out. After all, if I was a Lycan who sold my pack out to the Witches, wouldn't it make sense to hide in one of their locations?

  I turned off the truck and walked up to the door. Upon closer inspection, I saw that the caution tape had been removed and reattached in a different spot.

  I reached for the handle and expected it to be locked, but it turned without any resistance. The interior workings of the knob ground a bit as I turned it, meaning the lock was broken on the inside. If I knew Wolfgang, he probably broke it when they came here to hunt the Witches.

  I didn't know what I expected to find when I entered the house. It was quiet and dark, a drastic change from my previous visits. There was blood all over the living room, but the bodies were long gone. The stair rail was still splintered. Mirrors and picture frames were broken. Blood and glass were everywhere. As Alan's only living relative, that made the house mine. I'd have to do something about it. Probably demolish the entire thing. I could see a sledgehammer in my future. The rental property was probably worse.

  I heard something scrape on the floor above me. Deciding to take a moment to be smart, I sent a text to my mate telling him where I was and that I was certain someone was here. I headed upstairs, almost expecting to find a raccoon or something in the house when I reached the top of the stairs. Everything was quiet again, so I closed my eyes and sniffed the air. Since there was no breeze here, scents lingered longer.

  I could smell Alan and Addie. I could smell Abigail. Brenda's scent was stronger. She was here more recently than the others. I could also smell magic. Some of it was old, but there were sharper scents, indicating newer magic. That acrid stench hit me, and I knew someone was here.

  I also smelled the musky undertones of a Lycan. I smirked. Anica was an intelligent woman, for certain, but she wasn't going to outsmart me.

  I crouched down low, so that I was a smaller target, and crept along the hallway. Every time I came to a door, I stopped to listen and smell the air. The first two didn't have anything unusual, but the third doorway made me hesitate.

  I heard a low growl from inside. Anica knew I was here. Just as she opened the door, I stood and grabbed her neck with my hand. I slammed her into the wall and met her eyes. "You're a fucking idiot," I snarled.

  "I'm not the one who turned my back on a Witch," she wheezed.

  I ducked as the Witchfire zoomed at my head. Anica took that moment to dart out of the room. I looked for the source of the spell and found a Witch I'd never thought I'd see again.

  "You never learn, do you?" she asked.

  I stood. "What are you doing here?"

  "You guys didn't think Brenda wouldn't have a back-up plan, did you?" she asked. "She was supposed to contact the coven. When she didn't, they sent me to investigate."

  "Lovely," I muttered. "And you're honoring the deal with Anica?" I asked.

  She laughed. "Not a chance," she replied. "We'll kill her soon enough," she promise
d. "Anica was a tool, nothing more. We've used your kind for centuries."

  "And yet, we're still here," I said. "You aren't doing a very good job of killing us."

  "We're fans of torture."

  I shook my head. "You're assholes," I replied. "So, what did you do? Leave Todd with the baby?"

  Mandy laughed. "That's what the nanny's for."

  I rolled my eyes. Even I wasn't that bad when I was at my worst. "Where is he then?" I asked.

  "New York, pining over you," she replied. "We haven't told him what you are yet. I'm sure he'll be very emotional when he finds out."

  I knew what she meant. "How much does it kill you to know that you always came in second?" I asked. "Hell, the only reason he married you was that he knocked you up."

  "And now we know why he couldn't get you," Mandy replied. She laughed again. "He tried for so long. He swapped out your birth control, poked holes in the condoms, tracked your cycles… he even used magic to get you pregnant and was always so upset every time he failed. He should have figured out that you're just a bitch, but he never could put it together."

  "He never was very smart," I replied. "Now, were you just here to catch up, or are we actually going to fight?"

  She laughed again. "You think I'm going to fight you?" she asked. She shook her head. "Not today. But don't worry. I'll be back with the rest of the coven. We'll finish the job Brenda couldn't."

  "I look forward to it," I said before I charged at her. I ran her into the window and we both fell through it. We landed on the grass in front of the house, just in time for Anica to bolt through the front door. I left Mandy behind because I cared more about our pack getting retribution than I did about her going home for more Witches. I knew it should have been the other way around, considering we could always track down Anica. We wouldn't be able to fight off another horde of Witches. Mandy had never been high on my list of concerns though. If she even made it back to New York, I'd be amazed.

  I tackled Anica at the end of the driveway. We slammed down onto the concrete with enough force that we both had to take a minute before we could move. She stood up before I did. I expected her to try to run again, but this time she didn't. She faced me, her hands turning into claws. I pushed myself up and stared her down. This would be fun.

  We stood apart from each other, calculating. In my head, I saw our battle play out and the only thing I had to keep in mind was that it wasn't my place to kill her. She had a date with Moeris, and I wasn't going to get between them.

  We charged at each other in tandem. When we met, it was with a fury of growls, claws, and punches. She elbowed me in the side of my head, sending me sprawling off to the grass. When I corrected my momentum, I ran back at her and landed a series of punches to her gut that made her recoil. She howled in pain. She'd just given birth and I took advantage of that. She stumbled to the ground and retched. I pulled out the handcuffs Wolfgang had given me. When I reached her, she looked up at me with fire in her eyes and I realized too late that the fight wasn't over yet.

  She charged at me. Knowing that she was willing to kill me, if only because it would hurt Wolfgang, and that I couldn't kill her put me at a disadvantage. While I wanted to fall back on my instinct to rip her heart out, I had to hold back. I couldn't punch through her sternum this time. I couldn't rip her head off. I had to disable her—which would have been a million times easier if she were still pregnant.

  I used her momentum to flip her over my shoulder and onto the ground. She cried out as she hit, but her cry was cut short by the impact. I moved to punch her in the face, but she moved out of the way. My fist connected with the sidewalk and I felt something crack.

  She pushed me off her, stood up, and kicked me in the face. I flew back and hit the ground hard. I coughed as I struggled to get my breath back.

  She sat over me and punched at my head. It was everything I could do to stay conscious and block as much of the force behind her attacks as possible.

  I brought my leg up and kicked the back of her head. At that moment, I was grateful for my long legs and flexibility. She recoiled and I pushed her away from me. I kicked her a few more times, hoping she would stay down.

  I should have remembered the Witch at my back.

  For the second time, Mandy shot Witchfire at my back. This time, I didn't dodge it. The electric current going through my body dropped me to my knees and took my breath away. Pain coursed through me and every nerve ending was on fire. I couldn't scream.

  I saw the glint of the chain a frantic heartbeat before I felt the silver burn at my neck. I screamed and clawed at Mandy. She dodged out of my way and I lunged for her, ripping the chain off my neck as I moved.

  My fingers wrapped around her throat and I squeezed with every ounce of strength I could muster. Her face turned red and her eyes bulged as my hands tightened around her soft neck. I saw the blood vessels in her eyes burst as she flailed beneath me. I felt her frantic pulse and smelled her terror. I may not be allowed to kill Anica, but nothing said I couldn't kill Mandy.

  Just as her body convulsed beneath me, Anica tackled me and pulled me off Mandy. I let out a growl of frustration because I knew that Mandy wasn't dead yet. Almost, but Anica had saved her life just in time.

  We squared off again. We were both ready for this fight to end and I was almost at a point where I no longer cared if I killed her or not. Yes, I knew it was important for Moeris to execute her. It was the only way the pack would find closure. That was the most important thing I had to keep in mind.

  Anica rushed me again. This time, I planted my feet and braced myself for her impact. When she collided into me, I slammed my head against hers. She recoiled and stumbled to the ground. She looked up at me with blood trickling from her broken nose.

  My ears rang. My vision was hazy. I realized I was looking at two—no five—Anicas. I shook my head to clear it and the dizziness dropped me to my knees.

  I looked up at her and I knew what she was about to do. She pulled her hand back, clenched it in a tight fist, and all five of her hit me. I was out cold.

  Chapter 24 ~Wolfgang~

  I handed Richard a bottle of water as I sat down next to him. "So, what happened?" I asked.

  He shrugged. "Hell if I know," he replied. "She darted for the door and I chased her down. Some Witch came out and zapped me before dragging her off. The last thing I remember is the car driving away."

  "Is it too much to hope that you can tell me what direction they went?" I asked.

  He nodded. "Yeah. Too much."

  I sighed. "Okay," I said. "Get home. We'll find her."

  Richard nodded before he stood and walked away. I stayed on the bench for a moment, trying to think of who could still be alive and where they'd take Anica.

  My phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw I had a text from Ceres.

  Movement in Alan's house. Investigating. Think someone's here.

  I jumped up and rushed to my truck only to remember that Ceres took it. "Riley!" I shouted.

  He ran after me and we jumped into his truck. I drove because I knew exactly where to go. We raced through the streets and, for a moment, I was grateful that there was no traffic. Then it occurred to me that the reason there was no traffic was that a quarter of this town's population had died in the last four days.

  While I drove, I told Riley about Ceres's text. We made it to Alan's house in time to See Anica punch Ceres while she was on her knees. I swore as I threw the truck in park and ran to them. Riley ran behind the third woman in the yard. She must have been the Witch.

  I hated myself at that moment. I was so certain that Ceres was pregnant, yet I let her go out and fight. She faced off against a Witch and a Lycan and I had no idea how long they'd fought for.

  I tackled Anica to the ground. She was so stunned that she couldn't fight back before I slapped handcuffs on her, thankful for the silver in them.

  I stood up and looked around. Riley had the Witch's hands behind her back and cuffed her. These h
andcuffs also had iron.

  I knelt next to my mate and brushed her white blonde hair away from her face. She was bloody and I could smell the silver burn on her neck. She was out cold.

  "Hey," I said as I patted her cheek. "Ceres?"

  Her eyes fluttered open but didn't stay that way. I picked her up, careful of any injuries she might have, and carried her to my truck. "Riley!" I called out. He looked at me. "I'm taking Ceres to the clinic. Get them to the house."

  Riley nodded before he pulled up the Witch and dragged her to his truck. I didn't wait to see him get Anica loaded in as well. I climbed into my truck, turned the engine, and sped off.

  When I arrived with Ceres at the clinic, I carried her into the lobby. Bree looked up at us, sighed, and then paged Dr. Cyrus.

  We didn't wait long. Dr. Cyrus escorted us back to an examination room where I laid Ceres down on the table. I sat in the chair and waited while she treated my mate for silver and patched up her injuries.

  After a few minutes, Dr. Cyrus looked at me. "Is she pregnant?" she asked.

  I sighed. "I think so, but we don't know for certain," I confessed. "Why?"

  She looked like she wanted to hit me. "She's not healing like a Lycan," she said. My heart fluttered with hope. "Most of these cuts should be gone by now, but they're not. She's fractured a bone in her hand as well. I'm going to have to put a cast on her. I'll take some blood to test so that we know for sure."

  I cleared my throat. "We mated again, the other night," I said. "Brenda cast some spell on her that took away her memories and that was our idea to get them back. I've never heard of anyone mating twice, so we didn't know if she was or not."

  Dr. Cyrus sighed and shook her head. "What the hell was she doing this time?" she asked.

  I cleared my throat. "Fighting Anica."

  She snapped around and glared at me. "You sent a woman who might be pregnant after another one who sold our pack out for slaughter?" she demanded. "What the hell is wrong with you, Volsunga?"

  I glared back at her. "We had just woken up and neither of us was alert enough to remember that we needed to be cautious," I said in our defense. "We've only just started to suspect that she might be pregnant. It wasn't her first thought after hearing that Anica had disappeared again. She's strong enough that she can handle herself."