Moonlight Virgin

by Kat Cotton

  Made sense.

  We got to the electrical goods section. That looked more like a regular department store. No crazy stuff. We found rice cookers, but as far as I could tell, there was no one else on the entire floor.

  “Psst, over here.”

  Where had that voice come from?

  “Over here.”

  I turned around and saw a head pop up over a display of face-steaming machines.

  “Mai!”

  “Shhh! Did anyone follow you here?”

  “Nope.”

  I totally hadn’t been expecting to see Mai. At least that meant it wasn’t a trap. I hoped. I mean, I didn’t know Mai that well, but I felt like I could trust her. For starters, she was one of the few people who wasn’t fooled by Hana’s façade.

  “Thanks for helping me get my ticket back,” she said. “I found out some information about Hana and wanted to share it with you. But be careful. She’s no regular kitsune. She’s a bitch. A bitchsune.”

  Wow, Mai knew so much more than I had thought.

  “How did you get the note to our room?” Kisho asked.

  “Oh, my auntie works as a cleaner there.”

  “Thanks for meeting us,” I said to her. “When’s the concert?”

  “Next week. Okay, I’ve got Hana’s details here. She lives in a fox hole in the park, but all her stolen stuff is in a coin locker at the station. You’ll need to force her to tell you where it is. Which locker, I mean.”

  I wasn’t sure how Mai knew we wanted to retrieve stolen stuff from Hana, but it wasn’t a huge jump. If you’re looking for a thieving kitsune, that would be the logical reason.

  “She’ll need to open it for us too.”

  “If you know the locker number, that’s enough.”

  An old lady shuffled through the electrical section. Mai and I both side-eyed her. She looked like a regular customer, but who knew?

  “I’ll get this,” Kisho said. He walked over and asked the woman for recommendations about electrical goods. Even though the woman was about sixty years old, she smoothed her hair and straightened her clothes.

  I picked up a box off the shelf and pretended to be interested in it. Then I did a double take. It was a vibrator. An actual vibrator. What was that doing here amongst all the normal household goods? I mean, it was great to see self-pleasure so normalized that sex toys weren’t hidden away, but no one likes a surprise vibrator.

  Mai stood beside me as though she was just casually looking at the shelves too, but she had the section with hair dryers. Damn it, I was stuck in the vibrator bit.

  I moved along a little.

  I needed to know why no one saw Hana as she really was. Nic could be as charming as hell, but in a completely different way from Hana. With him, it was charisma. It wasn’t even a vampire thing. I hated that vampire, but I totally got it. Hana wasn’t like that. She drew people to her, and they didn’t seem to look any further than her surface.

  “She controls people, right?”

  “No, but she has the ability to make people want to please her. Some kitsune can cause hallucinations or bend the truth. It’s not a good thing to do, but she’s not concerned about using her powers for good.”

  “True facts. She’s evil.”

  “Kitsune aren’t evil. They aren’t good. More like amoral. But she seems to love chaos more than most. She creates trouble for the pure enjoyment of causing it. Now she’s gathering a bunch of paranormal beings around her. I have no idea why. Your friend needs to be careful. He could be one of the ones she’s targeting. You should be careful too.”

  “No worries with me. Nothing paranormal about me.”

  Mai looked at me and raised an eyebrow. “You sure about that?”

  Before I could answer, she disappeared.

  Damn, why did people keep saying that? Maybe she could sense the Vampire King’s energy in me.

  Kisho and I left the department store, and I filled him in on the things Mai had told me.

  “See, being helpful to a kitsune works out well,” he said.

  I slapped him playfully on the arm. “She’s not the kitsune. Hana is.”

  He shook his head. “They both are. Didn’t you realize?”

  At least we had one solid bit of information. Well, two. I knew what triggered Hana into shifting, and I knew what to ask once I had that ball.

  Now, we just needed to put all this together, and case closed.

  Chapter 26 Nic: Fight

  “We just look like two guys having dinner,” the mayor said. “Nothing romantic about that.”

  “Two guys on a date.”

  “No way. If we were on a date, I’d have dressed much better,” the mayor said. “Even if you do cheat in Monopoly, which would probably stop me dating you in the first place.”

  I scowled. I hadn’t cheated, no matter what the mayor said. Maybe I’d done some creative accounting, but that was well within the rules. Kisho never complained about it. The mayor was no Kisho, that’s for sure.

  “Keep that hat pulled down over your face,” the mayor said. “Remember, the last attack was pinned on you. That Lucio really hates you.”

  I guessed killing off his pack had made him a bit pissy.

  “The dessert menu looks good,” I said.

  The mayor picked up the menu, quickly gave it a browse, then set it back down. “I guess it doesn’t matter what we order. We probably won’t get a chance to eat before the gang arrives.”

  “Hell, no. If those bastards turn up and cause trouble before I get my salted caramel mousse, I will kill them. No, not even kill them, but slowly torture them. That mousse sounds awesome.”

  The mayor ordered a martini. I ordered a Mai Tai.

  “Nice place, this,” I said.

  The restaurant was on the river, with a deck looking out over the water. I wasn’t sure about the peach pink they’d used on the walls, but I couldn’t fault anything else.

  “Yes, the chairs are great. Aren’t these awesome chairs?”

  “They sure are. I love these chairs.”

  Our drinks arrived. I sipped my Mai Tai. The color of the drink matched perfectly with my outfit.

  When the waiter came to take our order, the mayor ordered some kind of fusion thing.

  “I’ll have the salted caramel mousse, served for mains.”

  The waiter raised an eyebrow but didn’t argue. He could keep his judgments to himself. If I wanted a dessert as main course, I was an adult and was perfectly capable of deciding that for myself.

  “You’re lucky. You can eat like that and not put on weight. Vampires can’t put on weight, right?”

  “I sure can’t. It’s one of the advantages of being undead. Perfect complexion is another. And, of course, super-strength.”

  The waiter bought my dessert and the mayor’s food. Those stupid vampires had better not attack until I’d done this justice. I took a spoonful of the mousse.

  “Oh, my, this is so awesome. I want to marry this mousse. It’s one of the greatest things I’ve ever tasted.”

  Maybe I could order another one for dessert.

  “Shit!”

  A door slammed, and cutlery crashed to the floor. A woman screamed. Damn that gang. Did I have time to finish my mousse before the attack got too out of hand?

  The biggest vamp grabbed a woman by the hair and dragged her to her feet. Before he could sink his teeth in, a couple of customers jumped up to stop him. There were ten gang members, including Lucio, but the mayor only had five officers. You’d think what with his wanting a war on vampires and all that, he’d have a lot more cops trained in vampire fighting. The mayor was all shiny promises without much to back it up. No wonder he couldn’t win at Monopoly.

  “Stay here. Guard my mousse,” I said to the mayor.

  I walked across the floor, keeping my gaze on Lucio. He was the one I had to defeat.

  Lucio sneered at me. He actually sneered, as though he thought I couldn’t beat him.

  “I told you to get out
of town.”

  “I thought about it, then I decided nah. I like it here. The food’s good.”

  He eyed a girl sitting near him. She shuddered. She’d be better off running. If I thought my blood would end up in a badly dressed vampire, I’d break speed records.

  I swung at him, landing a punch on his cheekbone. He recoiled and tried to hit back.

  I dodged.

  Then he got out a knife. I planned to stake him. He’d not back down any other way. I got out my stake.

  You have to be careful carrying those things around. Trip over, and you take yourself out and end up a laughing stock.

  The knife almost grazed my arm, but I was too fast for him.

  Screams sounded around the room. The rest of the gang attacked. I had to trust that the mayor’s troops would get the customers out of harm’s way.

  Of course, this still played into the mayor’s scheme to out all the vampires. I didn’t want to look to deeply into the mayor’s motives.

  Lucio danced around. Where had he learned his fight skills? At some aerobics class? All that jumping and squatting—he’d tire himself out before he even got near me. It amazed me that he could move like that in those tight leather pants.

  Killing a leader took things to a whole other level. Leaders fought sometimes, but not to kill. We both knew it. That knowledge shone in his eyes: knowing the consequences and being prepared to face them. As much as I hated the guy, I’d be the same if another leader killed any of my pack. You could never forgive that.

  A glass flew across the room and almost hit my head. I reeled around to see what else would come at me. Baseball cap guy behind the bar, more intent on making a mess than feeding. A cop ran at him, guns blazing. Idiot. Like that would stop him. All it did was shatter the glasses. Fragments sprayed around the room.

  Once this was finished, I might talk to the mayor about letting me take over their training. Or maybe not.

  With my attention distracted, Lucio dove at me with that knife again. I twisted, and the blade plunged into a tabletop. No better time to stake him.

  Unfortunately, Lucio sidestepped before I could stake him. Then he spun around, trying to kick the weapon from my hand.

  Way too slow.

  There’s no way he’d beat me like that. The patheticness of his attack made me feel bad for him.

  Then pain seared through my back. While I’d ducked Lucio’s attack, one of his lousy thugs had knifed me. I almost fell to the floor but righted myself. A little pain wouldn’t stop me.

  This gang would be cleaned up, and they’d be cleaned up tonight. I had shit I needed to do, and fighting miscreant vampires cut into that time. I also had a salted caramel mousse waiting for me.

  “Come at me!” I yelled at him.

  The cops had cleared most of the customers out of the place.

  I tackled Lucio to the floor. As I moved, pain seared through my back from the knife wound. The knife must’ve been silver, or it’d have healed by now.

  More glasses whizzed past me.

  I planted my foot on Lucio’s chest. He’d stay down. I raised my stake, ready to annihilate this idiot once and for all.

  “Hey, pretty boy!” someone yelled across the room.

  One of the goons had the mayor. Even worse, he had my mousse.

  “Put that down!” I yelled.

  “Make me.”

  I tried telling myself there would be more mousse. I could sacrifice the mousse for the greater good.

  Meanwhile, Lucio squirmed away from me. Bastard.

  I really should save the mayor too, or Vlad’s food supply would dry up. A new mayor wouldn’t supply me with crims. But I needed to get Lucio too.

  I didn’t need to worry about the mayor. A cop rushed in and staked the vamp in the back. While he turned to dust, the mayor pointed behind me.

  Damn Lucio. He rushed at me again. But, no; as I turned, he retreated. I wasn’t sure how many of his gang were left. A few had been dusted by the cops. I could see at least four still fighting, though. Maybe more.

  I raced after Lucio. This would be the final showdown. I needed to get that wound on my back seen to. I jumped over a table, but Lucio turned the other way. Damn.

  He headed for the door. I didn’t want him to escape from the restaurant. I wanted to finish him now.

  I tried to yell at him, but the words wouldn’t come out.

  He had no weapon, his knife still in the table, but I had my stake.

  A knife came hurtling across the room. Lucio caught it in his hand. One of the gang had thrown it. He rounded on me.

  “You should’ve left us alone,” he said.

  “You should’ve left town.”

  He snarled, his face twisted in fury.

  I lunged at him. He dodged and lunged back. I ducked.

  He was running out of steam. But so was I, and I had the knife wound.

  He had vampires on his side; I only had humans. That gave him an advantage. I had to watch my back since they’d already shown that they played dirty.

  One of the goons came at me, joining Lucio in his fight. I swung between the two of them. The goon was actually wearing one of those lame “Northside Gang” t-shirts. I should stake him just for crimes against good taste.

  Lucio kicked out at me. He struck my shin.

  I heard a commotion on the other side of the room but didn’t look up. Lucio and his goon buddy inched toward me, both with knives at the ready. I only had the stake, which wouldn’t help unless I got close to them. This did not look good. Not good at all. I swung around so that I had the door behind me, but I didn’t want to run. Not now. I wanted this over with.

  “Nic, run!” the mayor shouted.

  Stupid mayor. The goon swung on him.

  Taking out the mayor would be a big mistake. There’d be an election, and the new mayor might not be such a swell guy.

  One of the troops rushed in. As the goon plunged at the mayor, teeth ready for feeding, I threw myself at him, getting him right in the heart. That goon became dust. Those troops weren’t totally useless.

  I tried to round on Lucio, but he’d gotten the advantage.

  He went for my heart with his knife but missed, still slashing my chest.

  “My shirt!”

  They didn’t even make this brand any more. Not for the past three decades. I’d kill him.

  Except blood dripped from my chest. He’d cut deeper than I’d realized.

  I was bleeding. I stared at those droplets on the floor. That came from me. A chill went through my body. The cut wouldn’t kill me, but it might slow me down enough that I became a sitting duck.

  I had no doubt he’d kill me just like I’d kill him. I couldn’t let him defeat me.

  He glared at me, rounding to attack again. He danced too much, though, getting himself backed against the wall. Fool. I’d have him cornered, then go for my final attack.

  I could taste victory, and it was almost as good as the caramel mousse.

  With him unable to escape, I inched closer to him. I’d not miss his heart. He’d not get me.

  Before I staked him, I ran my finger down his face.

  “I won’t miss your ugly mug,” I told him.

  He gulped but didn’t lose eye contact with me.

  “How’s your Demon Child?” he said.

  What did he mean by that? Was this a trap? I’d left Vlad unprotected. What better time for the gang to go for him than when I was preoccupied.

  My heart pounded, and my head went fuzzy. I needed to make sure the kid was okay.

  “Nic!”

  The mayor’s scream broke me out of my daze.

  Too late.

  Lucio kneed me in the stomach, then ran. I bolted after him but fell to the floor, weak from the knife injuries.

  I had to get up. If Lucio saw me like this, he’d finish me off.

  As I struggled to my feet, a couple of the cops surged on Lucio.

  He laughed and bolted out the door.

  The mayor pu
t his arm around me to hold me up. I could barely stay on my feet. A day or two of recovery, and I’d be fine. But I needed to get home.

  “Let him go. We’ll get him next time.”

  There would be no next time. I had a color-coded schedule, and there was no room in it for a next time. I had to kill Lucio now. But you can’t kill a gang leader when you can’t stand.

  “I think we’re done here,” I said to the mayor. “But you might have to carry me home.”

  If anything happened to Vlad, I’d never forgive myself. His safety meant everything.

  Chapter 27 Clem: Threat

  I woke up and sprang into action. What the hell had awoken me?

  The banging started up again. Where was I? Oh, yeah, in my hotel room in Tokyo—and there was someone at the door. If it was housekeeping, I’d leave this place a soul-scorching review on Trip Advisor.

  By the time I got alert enough to get to the door, Kisho had beaten me to it.

  Two massive-sized goons pushed their way into the living area. They filled the entire space.

  “Nice place Yamaguchi’s putting you up in,” the bigger one said. Bigger being relative, since both of them were massive.

  The other one walked around, prying into all our stuff.

  “Listen, buddy, I have no idea what you’re doing here, but you might want to consider leaving. I was having an awesome dream about—”

  Hell, what had I been dreaming about? Nic. And it’d been a sex dream. Ick. Maybe it had been a good thing these goons had woke me up. Maybe they were the dream police, come to stop me totally defiling myself.

  My entire body heated as though the images from the dream could be plainly seen on my face. I couldn’t even look at Kisho. I ran my fingers through my hair and tried to keep out of the goons’ way.

  “We have a bit of a problem, you see,” the big one said.

  “Yep, busting into people’s rooms in the middle of the night would cause that.”

  I went into the kitchen area and put the kettle on, since I was awake anyway.

  “That’s not the problem,” the smaller one said. “It’s Mr. Yamaguchi who has the problem. See, he’s put you up in this nice hotel, paying for everything. Given you a nice wad of cash, too.”