Five Moons Rising

by Lise MacTague

  Seeing relief chase tension from around her sister’s mouth was reward enough. “Thanks, Mary. I knew you’d come around.”

  “Yeah, well.” She carved one of her meatless balls in half with her fork and popped it into her mouth. She chewed and swallowed to give herself some time.

  “It won’t be so terrible a thing if someone in the family ends up making decent money,” Sophia said. “Your father, bless his soul, had no head for it.”

  “That’s for sure.” Cassidy laughed. “The man was a union electrician, but never had any money. How did he even manage that?”

  He played the ponies is how he managed that. Ponies, dogs, cars—if it raced, Jimmy Nolan had put money on it. Mary Alice and her mother had done what they could to shield Cassidy from the worst of Jimmy’s failings. It felt like she’d been helping take care of Cassidy since she was seven years old. Still, it wasn’t the time to bring that up. It probably never would be. In the face of her sister’s cheerfulness, Mary Alice had no choice but to shake her head and laugh.

  “All right, all right. If you think this’ll work out for you, then I’m happy. I mean it.”

  “Thanks, Mary.” Cassidy’s face went somber. “Do you think Dad would be happy for me too?”

  “Your father would be thrilled, sweet pea.” Sophia smiled at Cassidy. “He would be so proud of both of you.” She turned the smile on Mary Alice also. “Though I’m sure he’d be wondering when those grandchildren will be showing up.”

  “Mom…” Mary Alice did roll her eyes this time.

  “It’s not like we always wanted our oldest daughter to grow up to be a starving artist. The least you could do is give me a granddaughter to keep my mind off it, you know.”

  An inelegant snort issued from Cassidy before she could stop it. Instead of looking embarrassed by the noise, her sister smiled widely. “She’s far from starving, and you know it. We’ve seen her place. It’s pretty nice. Besides, that she’s making enough from sculpting to be comfortable is amazing.”

  “I’ve been lucky,” Mary Alice said. And I’m being bankrolled by the government.

  “Lucky, nothing. Your stuff is really good, even though…” Her sister trailed off, reluctant to give voice to her true feelings about her sister’s artwork.

  “It’s not your thing, I know.” It was true. Cassidy preferred art that didn’t look like the nightmares of a twisted psycho. Occasionally, she caught her sister looking over at her after seeing her latest piece. The look in her eyes seemed to ask if she was really that much of a nutcase. It wouldn’t have seemed so strange to her if Cassidy had seen what she’d seen. Getting all that ugliness into fixed physical form helped her deal with it. She’d started doing it as therapy, but when her handler had found out what she was doing, he’d decided it made a far better cover for her than the job at the local credit union.

  Mary Alice had been relieved. The huge difference between her cover and her real job had been difficult to take. It was next to impossible to act as if nothing was going on when she knew supranormal beings lurked beneath the underbelly of human civilization. They were always there, just waiting to take care of the unwary, to snatch them up and make their last living moments into hell on earth.

  Actually, not all of them were like that, she knew. Many supras coexisted just fine with humans, and the vast majority of humanity was none the wiser. Those she dealt with were predators, serial killers, the deranged and demented. Idly, she wondered what it would be like to talk to a supra who wouldn’t try to take her head off as soon as it saw her.

  Still, any of them who saw her would try to kill her before asking questions. She was Malice, exterminator of supras. It didn’t matter that the ones she was set upon were the ones who’d gone rogue, who threatened to expose their existence to a world who wouldn’t thank them for opening their eyes. She imagined werewolf mothers and vampire sires teaching their spawn about the big, bad human who would assassinate them if they stepped out of line.

  “Mary?” Cassidy’s soft voice pulled her out of the dark pool of her thoughts. She reached across the table and took Mary Alice’s hand. “I was only messing with you a bit.”

  Mary Alice gave her sister a tight smile and squeezed her hand. Her cell phone buzzed spitefully on the table, causing them to jump slightly. It vibrated again and Mary Alice reached for it.

  “You know what that means!” Sophia smiled in triumph.

  “I know, I know. I’m getting dinner.”

  “You sure are,” Cassidy chimed in.

  “I would have anyway.” She thought Cassidy was going to stick out her tongue and decided to beat her to the punch. The immature move pulled a delighted laugh from her sister, and she grinned as she turned the phone over. A toothy death’s head stared up at her and she kept the smile plastered on her face. Uncle Ralph. What does he want?

  Bringing the phone up to her ear, Mary Alice kept her voice light when she spoke. “Mary Alice Nolan, how can I help you?”

  “Mary Alice, it’s Uncle Ralph. How are you doing, kiddo?” As always, her handler’s voice was at odds with his words. Anyone listening in would wonder if he genuinely cared for her. Who knew, maybe he did, but Mary Alice could never buy the act at face value, not when he put so little effort into it.

  “I’m well, and you?” She injected extra enthusiasm into her voice. “The weather’s been great, I’ve got a bunch of new works started.” He would know from her words that she had company, but that it was friendly.

  “That’s great. I’d love to see what you’ve got going on. Let’s get coffee soon. You can tell me all about it.” There it was again, the summons. She forced herself to remain open and unconcerned, but she could already feel her shoulders tensing as she wondered what her newest assignment would be.

  “I’d love that. I’ll see what’s open on my calendar.” He wanted to see her sooner rather than later, but she’d let him know he would have to wait a couple hours before she could get away.

  “Good. See you soon.” Ralph hung up, but not before letting her know it couldn’t wait. That was as clear as if he’d hollered it at her.

  She thumbed off the phone, wondering at the tension in his voice at the end. Looking up, she smiled at her family.

  “Let me guess, you need to go,” Cassidy said.

  “I do. That was the gallery. They have a prospective buyer who wants to meet the artist and maybe commission something from me.” She stood up and pulled on her trench coat. Sophia mirrored her, and then enveloped her in a big hug. For such a small woman, there was a lot of power in the squeeze around her rib cage, which barely twinged. Last week’s injury was almost completely healed, the bruises faded to the barest yellow shadows.

  Their mother kissed her on the cheek. “You know I kid about the grandchildren.”

  “No, you don’t.”

  Sophia chuckled. “You’re right, I don’t. But don’t worry about it. It will happen when it’s meant to. God willing I’m still around.”

  “Thanks, Mom. When you heading back to New York?”

  “My flight leaves at an ungodly hour tomorrow.” Sophia quaked dramatically. “It simply isn’t to be believed, but I need to put in a half day at work, so there you have it.”

  Mary Alice took a deep breath and offered before she could chicken out. “Do you need a ride to O’Hare?”

  “I wouldn’t do that to you.” Sophia smiled broadly as if she really knew how little Mary Alice had wanted to make the offer. “I’ll take a cab. It’ll be fine.”

  Cassidy waited her turn before wrapping both arms around their mother. “I love you, Mom. Have a good trip. I’m glad you could come out for a visit.”

  “So am I.” Sophia returned the hug with interest. “I’m glad I could get out before your midterms.”

  “Me, too. I don’t know if I’d have been able to get away.” She disengaged and wrapped Mary Alice up in a quick squeeze.

  She was taller than Mary Alice, a fact that still irked her every single time they hugged.
Little sisters should be just that—little.

  “I miss you, Mary Alice.” Cassidy’s words were muffled but heartfelt. “When I graduate you’ll be proud of me.”

  Mary Alice hugged her back. “I’m already proud of you. Call me if you need to.” She slipped Cassidy’s phone out of the inside pocket of her jacket and into the front pocket of her coat. She stepped back and kept her face neutral.

  “I will.” Instinctively, Cassidy’s hand went to her jacket. She patted the front of it before putting her hand in. She quickly went through her other pockets, then started to rifle through her purse.

  “Lose something?” Mary Alice asked.

  “You little…” Cassidy held out her hand. “Give it back.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Cassidy stepped forward and jammed her hands into the pockets of the trench coat. She fished around until she located the phone, then pulled it out. She waggled it in front of Mary Alice’s nose.

  “Just making sure you know where it is.” Mary Alice bit her lip to keep from laughing, but she couldn’t contain herself when Cassidy shot her an irritated look. Her sister’s scrunched-together eyebrows never failed to amuse her.

  “Children, that’s enough,” Sophia said. “Honestly. I don’t know how you two manage without someone to referee. Maybe I should look into moving to town.”

  “That’s okay, Mom.” The words came out as an unintentional chorus, and the sisters shared a glance and grinned. As much as Mary Alice loved seeing her mother, there was no way she wanted to be in the same city. Chicago wasn’t big enough for the Nolan sisters and Sophia.

  Their mother sniffed and preceded them out of the restaurant. Cassidy mimed wiping sweat off her forehead and Mary Alice nodded emphatically in response. For once they were in complete agreement.

  Chapter Five

  The hotel looked empty. Ruri raised her head and tested the air. Traces of her former packmates still lingered, but they were old, probably about a week or so. None of the scents held the crispness of recent activity. There was no sign of Britt’s scent, for which Ruri was relieved. Even the smallest reminder of her lover’s betrayal still sent deep slices of agony through her chest. And yet, she prayed that somehow Britt hadn’t been herself, that it had been someone else. If the wolven had appeared in front of her, Ruri wasn’t certain if she’d have gone for her throat or tried to nuzzle her.

  Carefully, ready to turn tail and disappear back into the bushes at any sign of movement, Ruri slunk out from beneath the shrub. On silent paws, she ghosted up to the back window. It was still shattered. No one had bothered to replace it or even to board it over. The broken pane yawned black where the other windows reflected the starry night sky.

  She gathered her hindquarters and leaped, landing raggedly on the weight bench that still sat under the window. Her claws slipped on broken glass littering the seat and she skittered off it to land on the floor with a high yelp of pain.

  Immediately, she pressed herself to the ground, unmindful of the shards there. Scooting backward, she cowered under the bench and waited for long, tense minutes. No one came to investigate the noise and she slowly eased her way out from her impromptu shelter.

  Damn shoulder. It was still giving her problems, even a week later. Ruri had broken it on her way out the very same window. Healing was taking longer than it should have and she could only surmise that her sundered pack ties were responsible. She clamped her muzzle down on the mournful whine that threatened to escape her throat. The pack gave all wolven within it strength and community. She wasn’t sure which she missed more.

  Never letting down her guard, Ruri slowly roamed the hallways and rooms of the first floor. Traces of her former packmates still lingered in the corners. She inhaled deeply when she ran across them, trying vainly to reconnect with them. Mouse and Skippy. Her tongue lolled from the side of her mouth in a brief lupine grin. Those two were inseparable. A mated pair far down the pack’s pecking order, they’d defended each other stoutly in all things just as they had that night.

  The swinging door to the hotel’s huge kitchen hung by one hinge. She could almost hear Consuelo and Beth yelling to each other as they whipped up the pack’s latest meal. They’d been a unlikely pairing. Consuelo was almost as dominant as she was, and yet she allowed Beth to boss her around whenever they cooked. Ruri hadn’t seen them in the ballroom; they’d probably been putting the finishing touches on lunch. She hoped they’d escaped.

  In another corner, she caught a faint whiff of Wyatt. His shaggy black hair had always made her fingers itch to get a comb. He’d been a more recent addition to the pack. A street kid, he’d been turned by some lone wolf and then left to fend for himself. That he’d found them had seemed a miracle. Dean hadn’t trucked with turning the unwilling. As Alpha, he’d never believed his responsibilities demanded he grow the pack using artificial means. He wouldn’t turn anyone away who wasn’t a threat to his authority. Ruri agreed with the stance, but she couldn’t help feeling it had killed him and countless fur-sisters and brothers.

  Dean. This time the whine did escape. She was in front of the doors to the ballroom and she sat back on her haunches to stare at them. Death was the predominant scent that assaulted her nose. Ruri sneezed and whined again. She remained still and perked up her ears. Still nothing.

  She had to force herself on. Her wolf didn’t want to go into the room and resisted mightily. Ruri shook her head roughly. She had no desire to go in there either, but she needed to see things for herself.

  The ballroom was dark. A couple of chairs lay on their sides, and a table by the door was splintered down the middle. It looked as if someone had been thrown down on the top with brutal force. Aside from that, there was depressingly little sign of resistance or struggle.

  Ruri skirted the open dance floor, keeping to the nearby furniture. The worst of the decay lay ahead of her on the dais. She caught the occasional fetid whiff and knew there were other carcasses scattered throughout the room. Not all the wolves in her pack had been content to accept the brutal change in leadership. Favoring her shoulder and without much grace, she scrabbled onto the dais.

  Dean’s body, or what remained of it, still lay at the front of the stage. The body had been picked almost completely clean of flesh. Even through the decay that filled her muzzle, she could still smell him. All she wanted to do was throw her head back and howl. Brutally, she quashed the desire. There would be time enough to mourn later—when she was safe.

  At the back of the stage, the more complete bodies of Dean’s bodyguards lay in human form. As the wolven always did, they’d reverted back to their human forms at the moment of death. Three of the corpses bore signs of bite marks; one had been left alone. Ruri cocked her head at the relatively pristine body. Bloat and decay made it hard to recognize, but under the smell of death, she could just make out who it was. Wyatt. They’d left him alone. Had he been in league with MacTavish? Surely, if he had been MacTavish’s plant, they would have buried him. That they hadn’t boded ill for MacTavish’s treatment of the remaining members of the pack. Is Brittney safe? Does it matter?

  There was nothing more to do here. She glanced again at her Alpha’s corpse. Sorrow engulfed her and she struggled to breathe, wheezing around the knot in her chest. Her human half didn’t like leaving him there, but her wolf was unconcerned. Dean would decay and become part of the world around them, as was right and natural. As it was, she couldn’t do anything about it, not in fur-form and not without knowing where MacTavish was. She jumped down from the stage, trying not to land on her injured front leg. Leaving more quickly than she’d entered, she kept her eyes and nose out for the other corpses in the room, adding to the mental tally she was keeping against MacTavish. When his bill came due, she would make sure she was the one to collect and in full.

  The rest of the hotel was as empty as the first floor had been. The only remnants of her former packmates were occasional items lying abandoned in a hallway or one of the r
ooms. Some rooms hadn’t been touched, and they matched up with her fallen brothers and sisters in the ballroom.

  Her room still had all its belongings, but it was anything but untouched. As she neared it, her nose twitched and she sneezed violently. Urine and excrement mixed in a nauseating stench. She nosed open the partially open door and looked around. Even in the darkness of the room, she could see well. Her wolven eyes took in the damage. Nothing she’d owned was still intact. It was torn, broken or shattered.

  Just like me…

  Everywhere she looked, urine painted the wall and floors. Someone, or more likely a couple of someones, had decided to relieve themselves on her bed and in the drawers of the dresser piled haphazardly atop each other on the floor.

  She took a couple of steps into the room and something slid out from under her foot. A closer look revealed it to be pages from a book. In an act of particular malice, they’d taken the time to rip the pages from every single book she owned. The bookshelves had been toppled and were surrounded by a veritable mountain of paper.

  The message was clear. She didn’t belong there anymore. Not that she’d planned to go back to living in her old rooms, but there were some items she’d been hoping to salvage, most specifically the only photo she had of her human family. Ruri could bring it up in her mind’s eye: six people, all sitting stiffly in their Sunday best, their expressions solemn. Her family had been happy enough, not that you could tell from the picture. At the traveling photographer’s instructions, they’d held themselves very still for the minutes it took to get a decent exposure. The family had their problems, but back then everyone did, especially those who’d chosen to claw out their living on the frontier. The battered tintype photograph was all she had left of them. They had all died decades, if not a century ago, or so she could only surmise.

  Now the photo was gone. She’d lost both families that day. There was literally nothing left there for her.

  With one final look around, Ruri turned and left.