Hunter's Moon

by Angela Colsin

  “Emily, I'm so—”

  He came to an abrupt stop when she threw herself against him, hugging him so tightly he thought she might break her own arms. A few sniffles sounded in the process, and Caleb wasted no time cradling her close.

  “Please don't cry, Emi,” he whispered gently.

  “I'm sorry, I'm just,” she paused, her volume increasing with each word when she continued, “I'm so damned mad!”

  “Mad?” he asked, having expected her to say upset, or worried.

  But she confirmed emphatically, “Yes. Things are a mess, mom's going to be worried sick about him, but he's so caught up in what he wants that he won't even try to help make it right!”

  With that said—or yelled anyway—she removed her glasses with one hand to swipe her knuckles beneath her eyes.

  Reaching up, Caleb did the job for her, gently cradling her cheeks in his hands to brush his thumbs across them. In the process, Emily stared up at him soulfully, her expression softening as if his presence were helping her calm down enough to add, “But I feel bad for Evan, too, and I keep wondering if I should. I've forgiven him for a lot of crap because he's my brother and I don't have the energy to hold a grudge. But this?”

  “He's crossed the line, Emily,” Caleb related pointedly, “and no one's gonna blame you for holding it against him this time.”

  Something in Emily's expression said she truly needed to believe that. “Do you think I gave him too many chances to begin with?”

  “I don't think that actually matters. Evan would've done this no matter how close the two of you were. He's out for revenge, Emily, and when that's all you want, nothing else matters, not even family. I mean I just attacked you because … ”

  Reminded of what he'd nearly done to her again, he pulled her into a tight hug and rasped against her ear, “I'm so fucking sorry, Emily, I didn't—”

  “No, Caleb,” she interrupted, lifting her head back to turn a serious gaze up at him. “You didn't do anything wrong.”

  “I could've killed you,” he insisted, his stomach churning just saying the words.

  “But you didn't, and I know you feel guilty for it, but honestly, haven't you blamed yourself enough?”

  He took a deep breath, knowing she was referring to Fiona, and admitted, “I still feel like I could've saved her life. If I'd just—”

  Emily's hand flew to his lips to silence him, and she shook her head. “Enough, Caleb, and don't give me that what if crap. You can't keep carrying the guilt around like you knew what was going on. So tell me the truth, how do humans usually react when they learn about lupines?”

  Knowing where she was going with this, he groaned, admitting, “Badly. It takes them time to adjust.”

  That was the exact reason he'd believed Fiona had stormed out on him. I don't believe this, she'd exclaimed, and he'd thought she meant the truth of what he was. But no, Fiona already suspected he was a lupine, and her parting words meant she couldn't believe she'd have to betray him when he confirmed her suspicions.

  Then she'd demanded he stay away from her. She was protecting me from this.

  His grief redoubled.

  But until Evan started describing his method of sending in spies to get close to people he suspected were lupines, Caleb couldn't tell the difference—and Emily wasted no time pointing it out.

  “Then you had no reason to believe Fiona's reaction was off, and after all the heartache you've already suffered from her passing, I know why you'd attack my brother. Besides, even when you knocked me over, I knew you wouldn't hurt me.”

  Confused, he asked, “How did you know that?”

  “Because of the way you protected me in Blue Moon when Carter tried to punch you and nearly hit me instead.” Taking his hand and squeezing it, she added, “I knew you'd realize what had happened before you bit down.”

  Caleb's heart twisted in his chest. Her understanding and forgiveness was too much to take without leaning in to kiss her, and he did passionately, so damned glad she wasn't actually upset with him he couldn't put it into words.

  It felt as if Emily had accepted him twice; once for being a lupine, and again for being an impulsive idiot.

  Breaking the kiss so he could hug her, he promised, “It's never gonna happen again, Emily. I swear it, and I'm gonna protect you from these assholes your brother's been hanging out with, too.”

  “I know you will,” she whispered, clutching her small fingers into his back like she couldn't get close enough.

  The motion caused a fierce wave of protectiveness and possessiveness to rush through him. He'd already lost someone significant to Evan's gang, and he sure as hell wasn't going to lose another.

  “Still,” she added as an afterthought, “I don't want to be reliant on anyone again.”

  “Reliant? What do you mean?”

  Emily parted her lips to respond, but a knock came to the door before she could get any words out. Directly afterward, Maddox returned with Stephan by her side, and in seeing how close the couple was standing together, she apologized.

  “Sorry to interrupt, but we thought you'd both like to go home as soon as possible.”

  She's not wrong, Caleb thought, and without releasing Emily from his grasp, he replied, “Yeah, we would. So what's The Bastion gonna do now?”

  Stephan answered, “We're gonna investigate the guys Emily mentioned, and also try hypnotizing Evan for more information since he's so unwilling to talk, even though we both know humans don't always respond well to those methods.”

  “Don't respond well how?” Emily inquired.

  Sighing, Stephan related what Caleb already knew. “A human witch could hypnotize him safely, but there's always a chance they wouldn't get the information we need, and if we used more powerful magic, we couldn't be sure Evan would recover from it. In other words, he could end up a vegetable.”

  Emily cringed in disapproval. “You won't try anything more than a human witch, will you?”

  “No, we have enough leads to followup on without resorting to extreme measures,” Stephan reassured her. “So we'll be keeping in touch to let you know how it all goes. But I wanted to ask if there are any other names you can give us, people who might be associated with your brother and his friends? Or even anyone you might know who was related to John Cooper and might want revenge.”

  Emily looked down in thought, but finally shook her head. “I didn't know many of my brother's friends, and I only met John once when he came to visit Evan.”

  Caleb recalled her telling him the same thing just last night, and reminded, “Didn't you say he had a girlfriend? Margaret?”

  “Oh yeah, he did,” Emily confirmed. “But I don't know her last name.”

  “That's okay,” Stephan related. “Can you give us a physical description?”

  “Yeah, but it's been years now, and I can't recall details like her eye color. But she was middle-aged, a few inches taller than me, with fair skin and long, wavy brown hair.”

  The vampires took those details in, and Maddox remarked, “We'll look into Cooper's history and see if we can't locate her for questioning.” With that said, her expression became more serious in adding, “Also, before you go, there's another matter we need to put on the table as Stephan says, something I know your boyfriend won't like.”

  “What?”

  Looking between Caleb and Emily, Maddox answered, “Stephan and I would like to draw your blood, Miss Sterling.”

  “Over my dead body,” Caleb growled aggressively, unable to help his protectiveness after everything he'd learned that night alone.

  But Maddox didn't seem to take offense. “I know how it sounds—”

  “It sounds like you want your own private blood bank, and I'll be damned if Emily supplies it.”

  “Caleb, let her explain at least,” Emily countered.

  “There's nothing to explain,” he shot back. “If they drink your blood, they'll be able to track you wherever you go, and sure, that'd be useful if one of Evan's friends t
ried something, but the effect wouldn't wear off after we've nailed all the assholes involved. Also, what if these two shared your blood with other vampires?”

  Shaking his head, he summarized, “It's just too risky.”

  “Okay, but Maddox and Stephan have been helpful so far,” Emily argued.

  “Doesn't mean they'll keep it up,” Caleb countered, and not because he disagreed with her point. Instead, he wanted to make certain no one took advantage of Emily, ever, and if that meant playing the part of disagreeable asshole, that's precisely what he'd do.

  But thankfully, Maddox had the dignity to admit the truth without complaint. “He's right, I wanted to take your blood so we'd know your location at all times. Yet I have a suggestion to make before you say no.”

  “What suggestion?”

  “You're not seriously considering this, are you?” Caleb interjected.

  At his question, Emily pursed her lips, giving him a stern look. “I'd just like to hear everything before I deny it if you don't mind.”

  Grumbling, he relented, and she returned her gaze to Maddox, who answered, “We think it would be best if you keep the blood, with the exception of one vial that Stephan and I will drink in your presence. That way, you'll know we haven't shared it with a third party, and when the ability to track wears off, we'll pay a visit for more.”

  Finally, Caleb relaxed, albeit marginally. He didn't like the idea of Emily's blood being consumed by vampires, but Maddox's plan was sound, and he did appreciate her consideration.

  Emily seemed to agree as well, stating, “That doesn't sound so bad. What do you think, Caleb?”

  “I don't like it, but I can handle it as long as you control the source.”

  “Okay,” she started, turning her gaze to Maddox and Stephan. “I guess I'll do it, then.”

  “Good,” Maddox remarked with a smile. “It won't take long. There's a medical lab downstairs we'll use to draw it.”

  At the mention of a lab, Emily's complexion grew wan. “Oh, I forgot about the lab part. You're going to do this with … needles, right?”

  Maddox exchanged a look with Stephan. “Is there a problem?”

  “Yeah, I'm uh … not very fond of doctors and hospitals. Even sitting in a waiting room makes me anxious. B-but I'll do it. I just … ”

  During her explanation, her grip around Caleb's back tightened, and he doubted she even realized it. So he asked Maddox and Stephan to give them a minute, and once the vampires departed to prepare the lab, he took Emily's shoulders in hand.

  “Are you sure you're okay doing this?”

  “Oh yeah, I'm fine, but uh … do you think we could sneak out while they're distracted?”

  Caleb smiled at her joke. “It's not necessary to give them your blood, you know.”

  “No, no,” she rushed out, taking a deep breath. “I want to do this. I mean who knows, if someone tried to abduct me, they might lead Stephan and Maddox right to that missing lupine, right?”

  “Yeah, but you gotta remember they can only come out at night, too.”

  “Oh, that actually applies to vampires?” At Caleb's nod, she cringed, but insisted, “Still, I don't think it's a good idea to take chances. So uh, would you do me a favor?”

  “What's that?”

  “Shove me hard, because my feet are stuck to the floor.”

  Grinning, Caleb wrapped an arm around her back and directed her to the door—and her feet were definitely dragging the entire way.

  So he promised, “I'll be right there with you, Emily. They couldn't pry me away with a crowbar.”

  She smiled, admitting, “That's what I'm counting on.”

  Chapter 27

  Emily hadn't thought her night could get any worse, but passing out from having her blood drawn was the cherry on the shit sundae.

  Visiting the lab was bad enough, and she couldn't stop shaking when they began prepping her arm, latching onto Caleb for dear life. Such fearful behavior was shameful enough in her estimate, yet he was nothing but understanding, soothing her with soft words and gentle strokes of her hair.

  As it turned out, she needed all the help she could get when, soon after they started drawing her blood, an altogether frightening sense of dizziness assailed her, so intense she'd temporarily blacked out.

  Several moments passed before consciousness returned, her eyes cracking open to the sight of Caleb next to her chair, demanding to know what the problem was. The doctor called it a vasovagal response, a slightly common reaction which came with a bunch of medical jargon that didn't make Emily feel any better.

  But Caleb's concern for her well being did, and she didn't know what she would've done without him there by her side.

  In fact, he was almost overprotective. The doctors made her wait fifteen minutes in the lobby before allowing her to leave, and the entire while, Caleb wouldn't even let her sit up on the bench seat. Then again, she couldn't entirely fault him for worrying considering she'd turned as white as a sheet, and didn't refuse his assistance in drinking the plastic container of orange juice the nurses provided.

  When she could finally leave, Caleb kept his arm around her to prevent a fall despite her insistence that she was only woozy. Emily wished she didn't need such care to begin with, but he seemed so happy providing it that she couldn't deny him.

  Their following trip to the Spire in Atlanta didn't take long, either. Apparently, if one wished to travel long distances in the supernatural world, one merely had to have a portal sphere—an object found in every Spire that looked like a simple garden decoration to Emily. Yet a touch of the shiny sphere could transport someone to a predetermined destination, allowing them to teleport from Charlotte to Atlanta in mere seconds.

  There, they acquired a room to wait in while Conner and Joslyn came to pick them up, and in the meantime, Maddox and Stephan parted ways with the promise to return when—and if—more of Emily's blood was needed.

  Considering the way she'd reacted to having it drawn this time, she truly hoped she didn't run out before all of Evan's friends were locked away.

  But after the night they'd had, Emily wanted to put all thoughts of her brother and what he'd done aside. Not only did it feel as if she were once again relying on everyone else to solve her problems, she was still confused by her proverbial crash course in the supernatural. Would teleporting to another timezone cause jet lag?

  Just listening to Caleb detail the events of the evening to Conner over the phone was draining. So she took a seat on the couch in their temporary quarters and distracted herself by fiddling with the cotton ball taped to the crease of her arm.

  Carefully, she peeled the bandage away, but no matter how slowly she went, the damned thing felt like it was ripping her skin off. In fact, Caleb had hung up and walked over by the time she finally finished.

  Sitting next to her, he asked, “You don't think it's too soon to take that off?”

  “Nah, I'm not bleeding, and besides, it was annoying me.”

  As she tossed the bandage into a nearby waste basket, Caleb slipped an arm around her back and dragged her against his side, mentioning, “Your color's back. Are you still woozy?”

  “No, if anything, I'm just drained because of what's happened,” she answered, resting her head against his shoulder.

  There, Emily looked up to see his own weary expression.

  “What's wrong? Thinking about everything?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, just trying to figure some stuff out.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like how Fiona was killed. We thought she overdosed, but if that's true, someone would've had to force the pills down her throat, and there weren't any signs of a struggle in the hotel room, unless … ”

  With a thoughtful expression, he looked down at her and suggested, “Maybe they force fed her pills somewhere else, then took her back to the room.”

  Emily pursed her lips in consideration over such a method. “If that's the case, you'd think she would've called for help on the way back, and
I really doubt they could've carried a corpse up to the room without anyone noticing.”

  “True,” he grumbled, seeming to grow more agitated as time passed until he added seriously, “I just wish I could figure it out.”

  Sensing his distress, Emily reached up and took his cheeks in her hands, determined to provide as much support as she'd received that night. So when their gazes met, she stated pointedly, “If you try to push yourself to figure this out, you'll just get more and more angry when you can't come up with any rational explanations. So let The Bastion and Hunter's Moon investigate. You'll probably get a call from Travis pretty soon with the answers you want anyway, or at least more information to piece it all together.”

  He released a soft sigh of breath, then pressed his forehead to hers, admitting, “I guess I just feel like I owe it to Fiona, you know? Makes it hard to let things go.”

  “I know,” Emily replied understandingly, and nearly asked what Fiona was like out of sheer curiosity. But at the last moment, she decided that question might make him even more anxious to solve the mystery of her murder, and opted to change the subject.

  “What a night this turned out to be, huh?”

  “Yeah,” he muttered. “I think we could use a couple drinks.”

  “You didn't tell me lupines are telepathic,” she joked, opening her eyes to see Caleb grinning.

  “We're not, I'm just really damned good at knowing what my woman needs.”

  Emily snickered. “Oh? And is that your lupine possessiveness showing?”

  “What? Calling you my woman?”

  “Yeah.”

  Caleb smirked, having no trouble admitting, “You're damned straight it is, just like I'm your wolf now.”

  Emily bit her lip. My wolf? Why did that sound so painfully right?

  She wasn't sure, but the thought of it made her smile as she nuzzled her cheek against his shoulder and whispered, “I do like the sound of that, even if … ”

  “If what?”

  Lifting her legs to settle over his lap, she admitted, “I won't lie, Caleb, I'm still not sure I understand how your instincts work, or if they're stronger than your actual feelings for me. But I'm really glad you came with me tonight.”