Wicked Rage of the Moon: Book Three of the Airendell Chronicles

by Audra Hart

  “Mama, do all pregnant ladies need a spell to protect them?” Nora asks.

  “No, Pumpkin. Daddy is what’s called a Stone Cold vampire… It’s a miracle that we were able to make a baby. But babies like this one grow very, very quickly and are incredibly strong. Daddy has a spell on my uterus, where the baby grows, to protect Mama.” Morna explains to her youngest daughter with a smile.

  Luca strides into the room and kneels before Morna. He places his hands over her growing belly and concentrates for a few moments. And then he leans in and kisses the growing belly and says, “Be kind to Mama. She has a big night ahead of her tonight.”

  Luca stands and scoops Nora up into his arms. “Pumpkin, Mom didn’t realize it at the time, but you are named after one of my favorite incarnations of herself. Her name was LiNora. She was smart, beautiful, strong, brave and had the best sense of humor of any soul I have ever met. We lived on a farm in Wales a very, very long time ago. We were only married for seven years that time, but it was a wonderful time in our lives.”

  Morna chuckles over Luca calling LiNora beautiful. She recalls her as being horribly thin and kind of horse faced. But when she looks into her mate’s face she realizes that he means it. Luca truly found every incarnation of her beautiful and her heart feels like it will burst because it is so full of love for her mate.

  Luca tilts the little girl’s face up to his own and says, “Mama wanted to name you Lucy. But Rolan fought her tooth and nail.”

  “Lucy, like Lucian?” Nora asks with a knowing grin. When Luca nods, Nora giggles and kisses her Daddy happily. “That would have been awesome!”

  Luca hugs her tightly and finally sets her down by her mother and she promptly snuggles into her mother‘s side under her loving embrace. He kisses Aideen and Breena on the foreheads. He kisses his mate deeply again and whispers so quietly that none but themselves can hear; “I like the name. Madigan is a grand name, and thank you for the Westin. It’s a joyous reminder for me.”

  “For me too.” Morna whispers back. Morna blushes at the reminder of the night at the Westin Hotel in Chicago where they conceived their child.

  “No fair you guys!” Aideen pouts. “Vampire hearing sucks!”

  Morna and Luca laugh heartily because Morna had the same complaint for centuries about her mate. Luca straightens up and says, “I better go to Airendell now. I want to check the security measures out, and I have a few things to prepare. Besides, our sitting room is full of beautiful women wanting to help you get ready Morna.”

  “I have been wondering who all is out there. They are being so silent I am getting worried about what is going on,” Morna admits playfully.

  “Mom, they are all friends. Members of your wedding party from my vision. Aideen and Ingrid helped me get everything ready,” Nora says proudly.

  Morna hugs her baby daughter and wonders if any other woman in history had her wedding planned by her seven year old daughter? All that Morna had planned on was meeting her beloved under their favorite oak tree and exchanging their vows with their friend, George Welborn, officiating. “Well, tell them to all come in here. Let‘s get this show on the road.” Morna says happily.

  One by one, Morna’s friends file in. Enya and Bronwyn are there. Maria and Brigid come in embracing and giggling like school girls. Morna raises an eyebrow and smiles when Frigg and Sif stroll in regally. She almost giggles in relief when Sammy and Ingrid come in last. Ingrid has several garment bags draped over her arm and a huge basket in her other hand. “Thank you for coming ladies.” Morna says with a giggle.

  Sif, the Norse goddess of fruitfulness and plenty, looks around the bedchamber and says, “Ingrid, you are a marvel! I expected this chamber to be in shambles.”

  Morna chokes and starts to blush a violent red. Frigg, the Norse queen of the gods, chuckles and says, “Daughter, do be good. You are making the bride blush.”

  Aideen blanches and looks at her little sister and realizes that the atmosphere in here might get a little ribald for the likes of her baby sister. “Nora, let’s you and me go to my chamber and get ready together. Would you like that?” Nora smiles and nods. The two sisters walk hand and hand out of the room, but not before Aideen throws a withering look at Sif. Morna quickly kisses her daughters before they leave and turns her attention to her guests.

  Morna laughs and says, “Sif, you are so bad, my sister! But I am not truly a bride. We married almost seven hundred years ago. This is just a vow renewal ceremony.”

  “True, true. But this is still a very, very special day,” concedes Frigg with a brilliant smile on her face. “Odin is quite proud of you, Baby Girl. He always has been. He was especially proud of how you conducted yourself today in Mars’ realm.

  “Really?” Morna says quietly. “I would have thought he would be a little disappointed the way I handled Kyera. She deserved to die, she even deserved the way I killed her… but I was wearing Odin’s pendant when I tore that murderous whore’s throat out with my teeth.”

  “True, but you did not feed on her. It was no more gruesome than if you had decapitated her with a sword. Besides, it was poetic justice. After all, it was her vile mate that made your Lucian a vampire. And through that, you became… well, a vampire of sorts. See what I mean? Poetic justice.”

  Morna looks back toward the doorway and says, “Where’s Rinda?”

  Ingrid looks at her hands and says, “She is at Heimdall’s.”

  “Is she coming soon?” Morna asks quietly, trying to keep her hands busy and to not appear anxious at the thought of Rinda not coming.

  “Morna, when I delivered her dress to her, she told me that she wasn’t sure if she should be a part of the wedding party or not. I told her what Nora’s vision showed but she just shrugged. So I left the dress with her and assumed she would sort it out on her own,” Ingrid says quietly.

  “When was that?” Morna asks quietly.

  “Yesterday,” Ingrid replies.

  “Of all the silly-headed, misguided… Oh hell! I will be right back.” Morna runs all the way to Heimdall’s hall in her bathrobe with bare feet. She quickly finds Rinda in the bedroom she stays in while staying with Heimdall. Morna takes a moment to wonder why she doesn’t share a chamber with Heimdall, since they are lovers but decides that’s not that important at the moment. She knocks on the door and can hear Rinda inside the room, crying. When Rinda doesn’t open the door she knocks again and calls out to her best friend. Still Rinda just continues to sob quietly. “Rinda, if you don’t open this door I will knock it down.”

  Rinda opens the door and stares at Morna, “Why did you come?”

  “To find out why you are not coming to my wedding.”

  “Because I am not sure I should. My feelings for you are very mixed up Morna. Why do you think I have not moved in with you and Luca to help you through this pregnancy? Not that you really need my help,” Rinda says, rolling her eyes. “You don’t really need anything from me.”

  “Bullshit! You are my best friend. You have been my best friend since we were six years old.”

  “Maybe that’s not enough for me right now!” Rinda yells. She reaches out and unties Morna’s robe and looks at her naked body. “I find myself wanting this! I miss being more than just your best friend. I am so damned attracted to your body… I remember how good it was when we were lovers. Don’t you miss it, miss me at all?”

  Morna reaches out and strokes Rinda’s face gently and then tenderly kisses her lips, “Sweet Rinda, that was a very precious time for me. You know that. But it was long ago and that season in our lives has passed.” She looks down at Rinda’s naked body where she stands before her and says, “Rindy, if I were attracted to women… I would definitely be attracted to you, you are beautiful and I love you, you know that. But Luca is my one true mate, nothing will ever change that.”

  “I know… and honestly, I think I am just reacting to the changes in you. You look so different this time. You are so beautiful.” Rinda chuckles, “I can’t believe h
ow much I lust after this statuesque, gorgeous, voluptuous body.” Rinda shivers with excitement and says; “I am sorry, Morna, I just don’t know if I should be in your wedding party when I am having these kinds of feelings for you.”

  Morna tilts Rinda’s face up to hers, “It will pass, but what we have, our friendship, that’s forever.” She leans down and kisses Rinda, tenderly at first and then more deeply. When she pulls back Rinda is breathless, “I love you Rinda, I always will. But I am not destined to ever be your lover again. You know that. I think you don’t even really want that with me again. I think you are just intrigued with me because of the way I have been changed when I became a vampire… or whatever I am.”

  Morna kisses Rinda’s lips gently again and presses her forehead to her former lover’s whispering, “I hope you come. I want you to be my bridesmaid, but if you cannot, I understand. Just know I will always love you, and I will always treasure what we were to each other as young women. But that was ancient history, Rinda. Luca is my present and my future. You know that.”

  Rinda has her eyes closed when Morna backs away. She keeps them closed when she nods and whispers, “I know. You better go, your future awaits you.”

  Morna has been gone about five minutes when there is another knock on the door. “Go away!” Rinda shouts between sobs. After Morna left, Rinda threw herself onto her bed and really let loose of all of her pain and frustration. Not that there was ever really any doubt, but after Morna’s visit, Rinda knows that she never had and nor will have a chance to persuade Morna to resume their relationship. She wonders why all of the sudden it is so important to her that Morna see her that way. She hasn’t had a relationship with another woman since Morna broke off their affair a week after she met Lucian Michaels.

  She feels someone sit on the bed and mumbles, “Go away, Morna. I don’t want to talk about it anymore. It’s hopeless and I am an idiot. Don’t worry, I will get over it. I got over losing you over seven hundred and fifty years ago. I will get over it again.”

  “I am glad to hear that.”

  Rinda raises her head quickly and looks at the woman sitting on her bed. It is not Morna as she had believed, rather it is Morna’s niece, Annveig Von Stiles. “Crap,” Rinda mutters. She sits up and reaches for a robe hanging from the headboard of her bed and slips into it. “I just really made a fool out of myself, didn’t I?”

  Annie shrugs, “I don’t think so. I can see how being around Morna has renewed your attraction to her. She’s a lovely creature and a very fine woman. But you know that already. You know it better than I do. May I ask a very personal question?” Rinda nods and Annie asks, “When the two of you were involved, did you want it to be for forever? I mean, did you consider spending eternity as her mate?”

  “I did. I had had other lovers, boys really. But Morna was determined to be a virgin when she met her mate so she consented to enter into a physical relationship with me to deal with her burgeoning urges. She and I were close, and I was very curious about loving with a woman, and I had a huge crush on Morna. Many of us in our circle did. Myself and one other female, and probably all of the boys in group.”

  “One day Morna and I were discussing how frustrated she felt sometimes, you know sexually. Battle, sparring, wrestling, any of that with a man really excites Morna. It still does,” Rinda giggles.

  “One day after a particularly grueling and rough session of warrior training, Morna confessed her frustration, she told me how hot that would make her blood run and how she had no idea how to alleviate her ‘need’ as she called it. We were at my home, we had just bathed and were hanging out in my bedroom. We hadn’t dressed yet, I removed her covering from her body and kissed her. I cupped her breast and told her, “I think we can help each other, Morna.” Rinda has a very faraway look on her face.

  She shakes her head and says, “Anyway, that’s how it started. Over time I fell deeply in love with Morna. She loved me, but she wasn’t in love with me. I accepted it when she met Luca. I realized before she did that she wanted him for her mate.” Rinda sighs with a small smile on her lips. “But I had seventy-eight years as Morna’s lover.”

  “Have you not had other women for lovers?”

  “No, none appealed to me, not even Morna until this incarnation. There’s something about her this time…”

  “It’s the vampire part of her. Vampires have great appeal sexually. It’s a biological thing, it’s how they attract their prey.”

  “Ewwww. It’s more than that,” Rinda says defensively.

  “I am sure it is. You have probably reached a place in your life where you would like to find a mate and settle down. Being around the new Morna makes you recall how you felt for her before. And the sexual appeal, well, it’s very powerful. I am even attracted to her and she is my aunt.” Annie laughs nervously and says; “Hell, I am attracted to Luca and Damian and I haven’t had sex with a man since I was twenty years old.”

  “It’s more than that,” Rinda insists. “I want what we had for almost eighty years. I want that closeness, that openness and honesty. I have tried to settle down, I have had several lovers since Morna, and I even thought I was in love with a couple of them. And while they were good men, they weren’t for me. I don’t know….”

  Annie leans forward and kisses Rinda gently on the lips. It’s a long, lingering kiss, full of so much promise. She pulls back and smiles into Rinda’s surprised face. “Rinda Fine, you are a beautiful, smart, talented and loving woman. You will find someone worthy of spending eternity with. You will find your one true mate, it just may surprise you who it turns out to be.” She grins and says, “Now why don’t you put on that pretty bridesmaid dress? You will feel bad later if you let your best friend down on her big day.”

  Rinda just stands there staring at Annie in shock. Annie reaches out and gently pushes Rinda’s bottom jaw up to close her mouth. “Breathe, Rindy.” Annie grins and swats her behind, “Get dressed, I will escort you to Morna’s house.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  After Morna had left Rinda she ran all the way back to her home. She went directly to the small practice field that Luca had built next to their home. She tears into one of the practice dummies and literally beats it to pieces with her bare hands. She’s been trying to get rid of some of the frustration seeing her best friend like that made her feel. She feels like an uncaring ass for leaving her, but there was nothing she could, or would do that would make Rinda feel better.

  She turns to go back inside when she spots Luca approaching with Mars, the Roman god of war. “Oh hell’s bells.” Morna mutters under her breath.

  Luca joins Morna seconds before Mars and says, “What’s wrong? “

  “Nothing of importance. Just bridesmaid difficulty.” Morna whispers. She feels very uncomfortable greeting Mars in her robe but what can she do, he has already seen her out here on the little practice field. Morna turns and greets Mars. “I am surprised to see you here in Asgard, Mars. Or are you just here to see Odin, perhaps?”

  “No, no… this is a junket for entertainment purposes only,” Mars laughs. “I came to meet my other grandchildren but I got much more entertainment than I bargained for.” Mars takes a step towards her… she takes a semi-defensive posture just before he hugs her. “Damn woman, you really, really don’t trust me, do you?”

  When Morna doesn‘t answer he continues; “Well girlie, after what I just witnessed. I wouldn’t tackle you that directly anyway. You would kill me. But come to think of it, my son didn’t have much luck sneaking up on you either. The insane witch failed in her attempt to subdue you with magic. Hell, she needed six vampires to rape and murder you when you were a twelve year old mortal child.”

  Luca snarls and gets between Morna and Mars, “You need to stop talking, NOW!”

  Luca turns to look at his mate. She is pale and shaking. She is looking at Luca incredulously. She recovers quickly and looks at Mars to say, “You are welcome to come inside. As you can see, we still need to clean up and dress for our w
edding. We can introduce you to our children before we depart for Airendell.”

  Morna smiles nonchalantly and turns to face Ingrid who just joined them. “Dear Ingrid, would you please make sure my mate’s grandfather is made comfortable.” When Ingrid nods, Morna smiles at Mars, “You are in good hands.” Morna turns and walks sedately into their home.

  Mars smiles and looks at his grandson. “She really is magnificent, isn’t she?”

  “You bastard!” Luca hisses. “This morning you taunted her by calling her a brood sow, and fat. This afternoon you are practically drooling over her.”

  “I wasn’t taunting her, I was provoking you. Fortunately, you are too smart to be provoked.” Mars chuckles. “And I am not drooling over her. She’s a fine looking woman, but this Morna is definitely not my type. The tiny Mary or petite Rosa, those incarnations would have been my type.”

  “Don’t fool yourself, Grandfather, I can be provoked. And you are dangerously close to doing it right now.” Luca hisses. “I will only say this once, and know that the only reason you are getting a warning is because we are related. If you do anything to hurt my Morna, I will make you suffer before I destroy you.”

  “I am not stupid grandson. Even if I wished her ill, I would not harm her. I don’t need her loved ones, her Guild, or all of Asgard out after my blood. I am not a fool like the Dark One or Valgullveig.” Mars says smugly. “More importantly, I simply do not wish her ill. I do not wish you or your children ill.” Luca stands silently with an unyielding look on his face.

  Mars chuckles and says, “Well I can see you don’t intend to blindly take me at my word. I seem to have upset your mate with my remarks about her defeat at the hands of Kyera when she was a child…” Luca looks frustrated and worried about his mate. “Oh let me guess, my daughter or your son have been tiptoeing around in her memories? Did she seek that?” When Luca doesn’t respond, Mars shakes his head no, “No, no…la Bella Morna would not seek that.”