Her Noble Owl (Marked By The Moon Book 4)

by Kestra Pingree

  Cedric shoved his hands in his pockets too and said, “I don’t want the world to know I’m back yet. I have things I need to do.”

  Neither one of them closed the distance between each other. There would be no hug, no relief. It had nothing to do with the fact that Nathan likely agreed with the rest of the world and thought Cedric had run away. This was how the Snow family was, distant and cold in everything. It didn’t help that Cedric was the golden child and Nathan had always been jealous.

  Nathan was tense. “So? What does that mean?”

  “Don’t worry,” Cedric replied. “I’m not going to take your new fortune from you or your place as manager. Mom and Dad should have given it all to you in the first place anyway. You were always better suited to it. I was always irresponsible. I went out drinking until I passed out. Sometimes I went after beautiful women.”

  Nathan relaxed slightly. “And why am I keeping your return a secret?”

  “I want to fix things with Terry and Opal before anything else. I need a little time to do that. That’s why.”

  Nathan frowned. “Fix things.”

  Cedric nodded in confirmation.

  Nathan opened his mouth like he wanted to challenge what Cedric was saying, but he thought better of it. “Fine.”

  Nathan wasn’t going to ask him about the reason for his disappearance. Cedric probably should have expected as much. He didn’t give anyone any reason to believe he had been in real danger. It was probably better this way for now. He wasn’t interested in people feeling sorry for him. He had changed, and he was going to prove it. That was what mattered.

  “If you could get me the keys to our old cabin, I’ll leave you to it,” Cedric said. When he was a kid, he and his family spent some time at their vacation home also located in Kansas City. They hadn’t been in years though. The place was isolated on untouched land that was private property of the Snows. Unlike everything else Snow, it wasn’t advertised and actually had privacy. It was the perfect place to hide.

  “That’s it?” Nathan asked.

  “And some money? I can’t bust into my bank account without going public. I’ll pay you back.” Not that Nathan could possibly need him to pay up, but it’d likely make his brother feel better about this whole thing instead of him feeling like he was handing out charity money to a brother he thought was worthless.

  Nathan sighed. “What else?”

  “That’s it.”

  “And an SUV,” Nathan commented. “You’ll want one with all the snow.”

  “Thanks.”

  Nathan went for a pocket inside of his fashionable black winter coat and pulled out a single key. “I’ll need time. Take the penthouse for the night.”

  He tossed the key, and Cedric plucked it from the air. “Thanks. You’re living in the Kansas City mansion now with Terry and Opal, right?”

  “Right. Mother and Father thought it was the best course of action since your disappearance.” Nathan side-eyed him. “But don’t worry. I didn’t make a move on your wife or anything. Penthouse is all yours. Leave your clothes by the fountain. I’ll pick them up and deliver them to you later.” Nathan turned on the heels of his shiny black brogues and walked away.

  Cedric watched his little brother for a moment, the way he walked and held his shoulders high. Forget his fancy clothes and coiffed hair. His walk had a way of making anyone around him feel lesser, other. Then again, to a Snow, everyone else was lesser.

  Shaking his head, Cedric took in the area. The Crystal Cavern was quiet this afternoon. He backed up against the fountain, where he knew no hidden cameras or prying eyes would catch him, and he quickly stripped down to nothing. All the Crystal Caverns had very specific dead spots where a Snow could shift and not be seen. It was for times like this, Cedric supposed.

  He called to his snowy owl as the cold started feeling cold. Goosebumps broke out on his fair skin and white feathers burst from him in a flurry like snowflakes. His arms morphed into wings, his bones hollowed, and his feet were covered in fluffy white feathers with deadly black talons protruding from their base. He pecked the penthouse key off the icy ground and flapped his wings. He took to the sky, rising higher and higher as he circled around the building until he made it to the top, the sixtieth floor. The building didn’t use to be this tall, but it had grown and grown over the years just as the Snows’ fortune had grown.

  Cedric caught sight of a fire glowing in a pearly fireplace. It was hot on the top of the building, a beacon always lit. It was like a lighthouse guiding boats home—except this light guided the Snows’ home. The heat kept the ice away in the winter.

  Cedric touched down on a silver tree decorating the roof. He allowed the warmth of the fire to warm him some, and then he opened his beak and dropped the key to the silvery smooth, crystal encrusted floor. He glided down to the ground and shifted again. He shook off loose white feathers and let them float away. Then he scooped up the key and went to the door.

  The inside of the penthouse looked like an actual crystal cavern—aside from the crystals being slick and polished instead of earth raw. Everything was accented or silver based as well. Cedric went to the silver closet and pulled the doors open by the diamond-esque handles. He found underwear, a white dress shirt, and black slacks in his size like he knew he would. When he was dressed, he sat down on the silvery bed. He touched the comforter rimmed with a fluffy synthetic material that resembled a cloud. It looked like it should be soft and comforting. It was soft. But it wasn’t comforting.

  It was all so cold and impersonal. All the riches in the world meant nothing. Cedric’s heart had been frozen for so long. He used to revel in the riches. He used to expect the finest. But then he was enslaved by witches, rescued by a pack of wolves, and his heart began to thaw. He was no longer the cold bird he once was, and he was going to prove it. Because he didn’t want to live a life that was frozen solid.

  Chapter 3

  LYING ON THE COUCH with his eyes closed, Cedric conjured a picture of his wife and daughter. He let the image form in the darkness behind his eyelids as he recreated their faces. He tried to get every detail, but he had pushed them away from the very beginning, and the image was fuzzy. All he could see vividly was Opal’s silver hair, the feature that made his daughter undeniably Snow. What would it be like to thaw the ice around this relationship? What would it be like to build something that was never there? Would it be possible? Did any of them want that?

  He did.

  Cedric’s eyes blinked open when a knock came from the front door. No one would be here except for Nathan. He was probably returning Cedric’s clothes. There were no cameras on this floor, so everything related to the penthouse was kept completely private. Still, he felt some caution was in order.

  Creeping forward with steps so light even his sensitive hearing couldn’t pick them up, he reached the silvery door and pressed his ear to it. He closed his eyes and concentrated only on his hearing. He could make out the sound of a beating heart and the slow breathing of someone totally at ease. He sensed something too, something that felt like cat. Not his favorite thing. The person on the other side of this door wasn’t his brother, but they were familiar.

  He opened the door to see a man with slicked back brown hair and evenly tanned skin hunched over in a lazy posture. He was wearing all black, cargo pants and a jacket with holes. He probably would have disappeared easily into any shadows. Cedric recognized the guy as Rogue, a black panther shifter. He was one of Trinity’s agents. Cedric met him briefly back in Moonwatch, a few days before he left Blue Pack to return home to Kansas City. Rogue had been a victim of the same witches who had captured Cedric. They had an unspoken understanding because of that. They both knew the horrors and darkness Black Magic left behind.

  Rogue sighed when Cedric didn’t immediately let him in. He backed up into the silvery wall behind him, leaned against it, and raised one leg so he could place the sole of his ice salt covered boot flat against it as he folded his arms in a devil-may-care fash
ion. Cedric gave him a dirty look.

  Smirking, the panther asked, “May I come inside?”

  “You’re not supposed to be up here,” Cedric said. “How did you get past security?”

  “I am security.”

  Rogue flicked a card at Cedric—which he caught. This sticky-fingered cat somehow pilfered a key card from one of the butlers. That wasn’t an easy thing to do, but Cedric figured it was easier than getting Nathan to let him in here. And maybe stealing key cards from Crystal Cavern butlers was plenty easy when you were a Trinity Shifter. Cedric had been to Trinity HQ for the trial of the witch who saved Blue Pack. Ava. The Black Witch who turned White. He knew firsthand Trinity was nothing to mess around with, just like he had been told all his life. But, even knowing that, he didn’t mind them so much. Blue Pack trusted them, and that was good enough for him.

  Cedric opened the door wider, and Rogue pushed off the wall and bullied his way past Cedric and inside the penthouse. “This place certainly is something,” he said appreciatively.

  He started snooping around the room, inspecting everything. Cedric could practically see his tail twitching back and forth even though he was wearing his human skin.

  “Make yourself at home,” Cedric muttered as he closed the door.

  Rogue let out a low whistle as he spotted the bed. He crouched down and sprung forward, pouncing onto the bed. He let out an amused laugh as the mattress tried to form to his body. “I was hoping for a spring and a bounce, but I guess these memory foam things are nice,” he commented.

  As far as Cedric could tell, the guy had a few fucking screws loose. Damn cats. Just because Cedric and Rogue were both Moon Shifters, shifters who derived their shifting abilities from the Moon, didn’t mean their animals automatically got along. It didn’t help that Cedric was very much a Snow in many ways. He tried to let the prejudice go as he remembered the warmth in Moonwatch with wolves. It wasn’t anything like being a Snow, and they accepted shifters of all kinds. He liked that better. He let his irritation with Rogue die down some.

  “What are you doing here?” Cedric asked.

  “That’s what I was going to ask,” Rogue replied. He hopped off the bed and stalked to the liquor cabinet. “Got anything good to drink?” He opened it up without waiting for a response and pulled out a sparkling bottle of Unicorn Tears. There were golden leaf flakes and other edible glitters swirling inside. It was basically a rainbow whirlpool. “What is this shit?”

  “It’s a Snow product,” Cedric commented.

  “No kidding. Does everything have to sparkle though? I mean, not that I’m complaining, but damn. Are you trying to make everyone go blind?”

  He looked through drawers until he found a bottle opener and proceeded to pop the cork off the top of the bottle. Then he found a couple of shot glasses and filled them up. He held one out to Cedric. “You look like you could use a drink.”

  “I quit,” Cedric said. As tempting as the alcoholic beverage was, he knew himself well enough to know he didn’t know how to stop with one drink. It was better to put a stop to it completely. He needed to be sober. For the first time in his adult life, he wanted to be sober.

  “More for me,” Rogue said with a shrug as he downed both shots in under a second. He hissed. “Shiiiit. This stuff is strong.” He took another shot and downed it just as quickly. “So, you didn’t say. What are you doing here, Cedric Snow?”

  “I live here. Why are you here? Just because Blue Pack joined Trinity doesn’t mean I want anything to do with it.”

  “You’re a Snow through and through,” Rogue said as he took another shot. Jesus, the guy was going to pass out if he kept this up. Then again, he hadn’t even hit tipsy. “The Snows have been avoiding Trinity since they were first approached by it. Anyway, I’m just here to hang out for a minute. Thought you wouldn’t mind a friend visiting.” His brown eyes flashed gold. “I’m also gathering information. There’s some bad shit going down in Kansas City the last couple months. Kidnappings and stuff. While not unusual, it’s gotten way worse. It’s more than that though. People have reported seeing wolves. It’s been in the news. A few of these wolves have even been shot dead in the streets. They were big rabid monsters.”

  “Berserkers,” Cedric said with a frown. He had never dealt with a full-on Berserker, a shifter who had gone crazy and all animal, but he had experience with a wolf fighting the madness off. And it was bad. Berserkers were killing machines.

  “Right.” Rogue sighed. “I need to find out where they’re coming from, but their scents are weird, jumbled. It would have been better if Trinity could have sent Bruiser or some other Earth Shifter out here to use Terros Sight, but shorthanded and all that. Story of the alliance. I just got here last night and combed the streets all night, but you know how damn big Kansas City is, and I ended up going in circles.

  “I suspect there’s an alpha Berserker somewhere in town turning people with the venom in his fangs. These Berserkers that have been found were new wolves that went crazy and never had the opportunity to find their legs. They weren’t strong enough to tame the beast put inside of them.”

  “That’s messed up,” Cedric muttered, feeling sick to his stomach.

  “Yeah, well. That’s what I’m doing here. You haven’t heard anything about this, have you?”

  “No, this is my first day back in the city, but I’m sure you knew that. You knew you would find me here.”

  Rogue swallowed a couple more shots of Unicorn Tears in quick succession. “There’s only one reason I can think of for why I haven’t found this alpha Berserker yet. He’s smart, not all red fury—which is very unlike a Berserker and seems far-fetched but…” He went silent. Then he pulled out another card from one of his many pockets. “Call me if you find anything out, will you? I know it’s easy for you billionaire types to turn a blind eye, but seriously. This is bad shit.”

  Cedric accepted the card. “I’ll call you,” he assured. “Is there anything else I can do to help?”

  Rogue smirked. “Not unless you’re a skilled hunter, which I don’t think you are.”

  “You got me. I’m probably as soft as a shifter gets. But I want to help. This is my city, too.”

  “How noble. Maybe I pegged you wrong, Snow. You don’t seem half bad.” Rogue pulled another stiff paper out of a pocket. “But you’ve got something else you need to worry about. Besides, you’d just get in my way if you went on a Berserker hunt, soft owl.”

  Cedric held out his hand for the object. It wasn’t another calling card. It was a picture of Terry and Opal. His wife and daughter. He suddenly felt like he couldn’t breathe. Here were all the details he couldn’t remember, frozen on a picture taken by a lifeless object, a camera with no heart or soul. They were smiling, mother and daughter, a beautiful match. Opal looked just like her mother with brown skin and blue eyes—except for her silver hair. Her hair was silver. It wasn’t a trick of the light. It was a manifestation of that gene the Snows took pride in. It was whole.

  “How’d you get this?” Cedric whispered.

  “I stole it of course,” Rogue said and tipped his head back with another shot of Unicorn Tears. “And it’s not what you think. It’s so damn easy to steal pictures. Social media. Just the internet in general. What is privacy? I found a nice picture and got a nice print, and there you go. You’re welcome.”

  “Why?”

  Rogue’s eyes flashed gold again. “To test you. And you passed. You care about them after all. Did you go out drinking and hide away because you’re secretly gay or was it something else? I mean, the whole world claims you’ve been cheating on your wife, so I have to ask.”

  Cedric grimaced. “I’m not gay. I was selfish and dealing with my unhappiness like a spoiled brat. Our marriage was arranged by my parents. It wasn’t something I chose. I just did what they wanted, which makes it worse.”

  “You sure, Snow? Because you have a walk that talks, and those two top buttons on your shirt you didn’t bother doing up are showing
off some fine skin. Perfect hair, perfect skin, dreamy eyes, a bod anyone would die for. You care about appearances way more than your average guy and that usually means gay.”

  Cedric wasn’t sure if Rogue was trying to insult him or if he was being serious. “I’m not gay,” he repeated.

  Rogue sighed. “So, what now, Snow?”

  “Just call me Cedric.”

  “Cedric then.”

  Reverently, Cedric ran his fingers over the picture Rogue had given him, memorizing Terry and Opal’s faces like he never had before, seeing the similarities in them he never had before, seeing himself in his daughter. “I’m going to see if I can fix my family.”

  “By going back to a loveless marriage?”

  Cedric didn’t reply to that. He didn’t know yet. He only knew he needed to give it a chance.

  “Are you sure you aren’t gay?”

  “Why the fuck do you care so much, man?” Cedric asked, mildly irritated.

  Rogue picked up the bottle of Unicorn Tears and put the rest of it away in a few gulps. Cedric watched on in literal horror.

  “You’re going to kill yourself,” he informed.

  Rogue gestured to himself, specifically to an obvious boner Cedric hadn’t noticed. Cedric balked. “So, you’re gay?” he asked, not that it mattered to him. He was simply flustered that he hadn’t caught on to the fact that Rogue was hitting on him. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

  “Bi,” Rogue clarified.

  “It’s not happening.”

  “Fair enough.”

  “Are you drunk?”

  “Hardly.” Rogue tossed the empty glass bottle into a recycle bin.

  “Is Rogue your real name?”

  The black panther’s eyes grew cold. “It is now.”

  Strange cat.

  “Look, I’m tired,” Cedric said as he rubbed his eyes. It was late evening and turning into night now anyway. “I’m going to turn in. You can stay for the night or whatever, but I plan on leaving tomorrow. New living arrangements.”