Promise the Moon (Lorimar Pack Book 1)

by Hailey Edwards

  The most beautiful, terrible music echoed through the low valley as the prince’s clarion voice rang out in contest against Isaac’s strident notes.

  Tiberius’s extra cargo left him on equal footing with Isaac’s inexperience with flight. Tiberius had been flying children to safety during our standoff in the woods. His strength was flagging, and it showed in the slower beats of his wings and the grimace etching lines into his youthful face.

  The wolf stopped in Isaac’s shadow, as if she meant to catch him if his wings gave. There was nothing more we could do.

  The vocal battle raged overhead for so long I caught a second wind. I wasn’t tired anymore. I was wired. Bouncing on my paws. Heart a bass drum in my ears. Cranked up and twitchy. Point me in a direction, and let me go.

  Yeah, that was the burnout talking. I always burned brightest before a total collapse.

  A lyrical screech stunned me into stillness, and my head tipped back.

  Isaac hung low in the sky, getting lower. Too far, too fast. He was falling in slow motion.

  Tiberius was a wingbeat above him, Leandra’s weight dragging him down in increments.

  The pack gathered around me, and we attempted to gauge Isaac’s landing. Crash landing on us would break our bones, but we could mend faster than him. Broken was better than dead any day of the week.

  Absorbed in watching Isaac, I failed to notice the moment Tiberius circled nearer to him so the final note in the battle song they had sung blasted Isaac square in the face.

  A finishing move. Okay, I got that. But this was Isaac. My Isaac.

  That feathery bastard had taken this one step too far. When Isaac’s chin tipped back and his mouth opened on a pure note that pierced the clouds and sent Tiberius reeling, I was ready. I took a running start and leapt for all I was worth. Wargs are heavy, and momentum was on my side. My teeth closed over one scaly toe, but it was enough. I brought the prince and his girlfriend crashing down beside me.

  Pity had run dry in me, and I didn’t wait for them to recover before I nosed the girl—broken and bleeding—onto her back. I opened my jaw and rested the tips of my teeth against her tender skin, letting my saliva bathe her neck. If Isaac died… If I lost him…

  I crushed my eyes closed for a moment, the woman and the wolf warring in my middle over who ought to be in control, over what we ought to do.

  “I’ve got her.” Moore’s human voice rang out from behind me. “You need to go.” He gritted his jaw. “Isaac…”

  The urge to snap my jaws closed was so strong I might as well have been fighting open the tines of a bear trap using only my pinky fingers. Releasing the girl unharmed was a small miracle. Now I just had to hope two could happen in one day.

  Muscles quivering, I covered the ground between me and the fallen. The other wolves stepped aside to give me room. Zed lay in a sprawl, barely breathing. Blood coated his fur, and at least one bone protruded from his skin. Isaac was worse. So much worse. And there were no feathers to camouflage the damage now.

  “Zed?” I bumped my nose against his.

  “Save your asshole mate,” he growled. “I didn’t play bouncy castle for him just so you could pal around with me and let him die.”

  There was only one solution. I knew what I had to do, and human hands were required to make it happen.

  Adrenaline fueled my change. It wasn’t pretty. It never is. But this time, I got stuck in the middle, and panic was all that saved me. The sharp jab of terror that my bones would set this way, that Isaac would die next to that monstrosity, spurred me over the edge back into humanity.

  Quivering from the change, jittery from the horror of what had almost happened, I hauled myself flush against Isaac’s side. I took his hand in mine and stroked the spur under his fingernail until the stimulation activated the wicked black hook. I jabbed it into the fleshy part of my hand, waited until the spur was smothered in crimson, then bit down on my palm to open a fresh wound. I pried opened his mouth and squeezed more blood down his throat.

  Cord had healed Cam this way more than once. Geminis absorbed the strongest traits of their donors, and supernatural healing ran deep in ours.

  This would work. It had to work.

  This was all I had to give. It would be enough.

  The heady cocktail of despair and blood loss triggered a spasm in my limbs, the wolf attempting to seize control and failing as we both slid into the dark.

  Chapter 22

  Awareness returned to me with all the enthusiasm of a shambling zombie facing a fresh brain shortage. Sleep clung to the corners of my mind, the broom of my thoughts sweeping back and forth without making progress.

  “Dell.”

  Last night I had the strangest dream. Isaac sprouted these massive golden-brown wings and orange sticklike legs that ended in claws. And he flew. Like Superman or a comic book hero…or a damn big bird. Then…he fell.

  He.

  Fell.

  “Dell.”

  My eyes snapped open, and I breathed his name. “Isaac.”

  A firm hand pinned me to the ground. Abram. “Isaac is busted up but stable. Thanks to you.” His fingers dug into my flesh when I struggled. “No shifting, Dell. You’re done. Forty-eight hours at least. You need to replenish your magic. Try to keep the blood you have left inside your body, all right?”

  Shoving upright, I moaned as my stomach attempted to invert itself. “Zed?”

  Abram pointed over his shoulder then got out of the way.

  “Now she remembers me.” Bony fingers brushed my ankle. “I see how it is.”

  Hot tears rolled down my cheeks as I crawled to his side. “You risked your life for him. Impact from that height could have killed you.”

  “Yeah, well.” A muscle twitched in his shoulder as he tried to shrug. “My best friend likes him for reasons I…really don’t want to know. Ever. I figured she’d miss him if I let him pancake.”

  “You’re the best.” I rubbed my knuckle down his cheek, soothing his wolf. “You know that, right?”

  “That’s what I hear.” He cracked a grin and let his eyes close. “Go see him. You won’t trust he’s alive until you do.”

  I bent down and kissed his forehead before sucking in a deep breath and searching the area for Isaac. I found him several yards away. Abram had knelt beside him, making his patient rounds. Their soft conversation carried, but I couldn’t make out the words.

  I joined them in the grass and sat beside Isaac, vision too blurry to see his injuries clearly. Maybe that was for the best. “Hey.”

  Eyes the color of summer skies met mine. “Hi.”

  “You’re a bonehead.” I brushed the hairs off his forehead. “I just thought you should know.”

  “I fought the bad guy and got the girl.” He chuckled hoarsely. “I’m a hero.”

  “I got the girl.” I could still taste her skin on my tongue. Isaac raised one blood-crusted eyebrow. “Oh.” A flush spread over my cheeks. “You weren’t talking about Leandra.”

  “Sixteen-year-olds don’t much appeal to me.” His fingers uncurled. “What’s with that face?”

  “I’m debating if I should tell you now that you didn’t get the girl, or if I should let you down easy after you recover.”

  “Ouch.” He clutched his chest with his other hand. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you to give dying men hope?”

  “You’re not dying.” A tremor rocked my voice when I recalled how close he’d skirted that line.

  “Thanks to you.” He twitched his fingers until I relented and held his hand. “You saved my life.”

  “Cam would—” I started.

  “I know.” One half of his mouth kicked up at the corner. “‘She’d skin me alive if I let her favorite cousin die,’” he mocked in his best impersonation of me.

  “Yes.” I rubbed my thumb over his rough knuckles. “That.”

  “Can we pretend you did it for me?” His gaze dipped to where our hands met. “Just until I get back on my feet?”

 
“I don’t like make-believe.” I squeezed him one last time and then let go. “It allows for false expectations, and people get hurt. Honesty is the best policy in my book.”

  “Actions speak louder than words,” he recited to me. “That’s my policy.”

  A grimace twisted my mouth. “I don’t know if I buy that. I’ve got a healthy set of lungs on me.”

  Laughter shook his frame. “That you do.”

  A hard flush rocketed over my skin and pushed me to my feet. I wasn’t going to pretend I didn’t understand how he knew that about me—what was the point?—but I couldn’t make eye contact with him either. Not without remembering how his breaths sounded at my ear, my name on his lips…

  Eager for a distraction, I turned to Abram. “Abram, not that I’m not thrilled you’re here… But why are you here?” I squinted against the sun. “Is that a cell phone?”

  “Yes, it is. I got it for ninety-nine cents with a two-year contract.” He flashed the screen at me. “I downloaded the eBay app. I figured as much time as I’ve been spending in the exam room, it was a worthy investment.”

  Note to self: Chat with Job at earliest convenience.

  Our bargain hunting had created a monster.

  “I need to check in with the others.” I wobbled a bit but caught my balance. “Status update, Moore.”

  “We have the prince and his girlfriend on lockdown at the cabin. We had no choice but to bring them back here. Kids started pouring out of the woods bawling, and that stirred up the ones still inside. It was a hot mess, so we reunited them.” He hesitated. “You okay?”

  The edge of earnestness in his voice gave me a jolt of surprise. Helping out at the exam room, picking up extra patrols and now this—an honest show of concern for someone other than himself? Maybe I wasn’t the only one affected by the change in regime. Maybe getting out from under Bessemer was mellowing Moore out too. That…bore some consideration.

  We weren’t square. We might never be. But we could be better. Mending our fences would make the pack stronger.

  “You did the right thing. I’m heading your way.” I rubbed the tips of my fingers together to flake off the dried blood. “And, Moore? I’m good. Thanks for asking.”

  “Good.” His voice dipped into its usual register. “That’s good.”

  Shaking off his strange mood, I ended the connection and went to find Abram. “It sounds like the others have the fae locked down. I’m going to head over there and sort things out with Tiberius.” I glanced from Zed to Isaac, neither of whom was going anywhere any time soon. “Can you handle things here?”

  “Can you send Moore once you relieve him?” Abram scanned the area. “The woods here don’t seem as friendly as they should.”

  Considering he’d had ample time to watch the trees while we were unconscious, I trusted his judgment. “You think there are more fae out there?”

  “After today’s excitement, my wolf is on edge.” His nostrils flared. “It might be paranoia, but then again…”

  “It’s possible one of the kids followed us out here.” I inhaled, but blood was too thick on the ground for me to pick up any foreign scents. “Or it could be some fae living out here that we stumbled across. You haven’t seen them? They haven’t revealed themselves or been aggressive?”

  “No.” He ruffled his hair. “It’s more of a feeling than anything.” He lifted his phone. “I called Enzo for a pickup. He’s bringing a truck down so we can load up Zed and Isaac.”

  “Good thinking.” Maybe wargs with phones wasn’t such a bad idea after all. “Nathalie and Aisha are there. Job is too. The three of them can handle the house and the prisoners. I’ll tell Moore to head this way. He’ll beat me by a mile. It’s going to take forever to walk back.”

  “At least you can walk back,” Zed called. “Some of us have crushed legs.”

  “Whine, whine, whine,” I teased, waving a hand.

  The walk to the stone house gave me time to think about how I wanted to handle the prince’s surrender. Panic had blinded me to the low point of the sun. We had burned a lot of daylight hunting and capturing our prey and the subsequent recovery period. Soon the Seelie would come knocking at the wards, and we would have to be prepared to answer them with force.

  Ready or not, the Stoners might see action tonight. I had the lesser of two evils to choose from, and right now I was leaning toward the one that might end with Stoner fur flying but my Lorimar pack mates coming home in one piece.

  A bulky wolf trotted past me, dipping his chin in greeting as he carried on his way.

  Five or ten minutes later, Abram confirmed Moore’s arrival. Another fifteen or so minutes after that, the stone house came into view. Tiberius and Leandra sat in kitchen chairs in the front yard while a dozen or so kids clustered around them. Job and Nathalie each stood guard, as wolves, behind a different chair while Aisha paced, as a human, in front of the gathering with her lip curled at every baby coo and childish giggle.

  “About time.” Aisha crossed her arms over her chest. “I didn’t join this pack to become a babysitter. I could have done that at home.”

  “Except you’re not a member of this pack,” I replied as sweet as sugar, “and you’re exiled from ‘home’ for almost getting the alpha’s—your ex-mate’s—kid murdered by a serial killer.”

  Mutiny written all over her face, Aisha marched off to begin her change in private.

  “Stop poking that wolf, or one day you’ll get caught in her fangs,” Job cautioned me.

  “My job is to keep poking that wolf until we see if she snaps.” While sometimes amusing, it was more often exhausting. “She doesn’t have to like me, but she has to respect me. She has to earn her place here and prove she’s not a threat to us or to the alphas. Once she does that, I’ll keep my fingers to myself.”

  I claimed Aisha’s spot and examined the prince and his girlfriend. He was back in glamour and pristine. She didn’t bother covering her rumpled clothes or bloodshot eyes. The fight had seeped right out of her. I hated being the straw that broke her, but what had she expected? To live happily ever after with a fairy prince? How often did that happen? She was fae. Had her parents never read her the bedtime stories of their people? The ones that always ended in betrayal, heartbreak or the occasional beheading?

  Once I held their attention, I asked the most important question left. “Where are Mr. O’Malley and Ms. Zhuang?”

  “They’re inside.” Leandra rocked a toddler in her arms. “We didn’t harm them. Go see for yourself.”

  And take my eyes off them? No thanks. “Nathalie, scout out the building.” Aisha had already begun her shift, and after my earlier scare, I sure as heck wasn’t going to interrupt her. “Hey, kiddo. Yes. You. With the hand full of dirt and a worm in your mouth. Can you open the door for the nice wolf, please?”

  The child grinned at me, exposing a mouthful of wriggling bugs stuck between his teeth, and toddled over to shove the door open. Cute. Gross, but cute.

  “Why did you take them?” I shifted position to keep a line of sight on the open door. “They have families who are worried sick about them.”

  The girl ducked her head. “We needed help. I’m not sorry we took them. We always meant to give them back.”

  “Found them.” Relief sharpened Nathalie’s voice. “They’re staring off into space like they’re daydreaming, but they’re clean and look healthy. Smell healthy too.”

  “You took them to be—what? Surrogate parents to these kids?” Which brought me to my second most pressing question. “Where did they all come from? Who are their parents?”

  Tiberius barked out a hard laugh and pegged me with ice-cold eyes. “You don’t know?”

  “I wouldn’t have asked if I did.” Though my stomach clenched at his maliciously gleeful expression.

  “Do you think only the corrupt flee Faerie under cover of darkness?” His haughty disdain for me contrasted with the boy I had seen up to this point, making it easy to picture him as a prince. “Has it ne
ver occurred to you that good people are risking their lives—their children’s lives—to escape?” He laughed again, harder this time. “You had no idea, did you? These children are all orphans. They’re all that was left behind once you murdered their parents.”

  “Hush,” Leandra hissed. “Don’t frighten them.”

  The world dropped out from under me, and my knees threatened to buckle. We had done this? This was our fault? As much as I wanted to call him a liar, deep down I knew that would mean lying to myself.

  People talk about the costs of war. We had often. Mostly it entailed numbers referencing the funds needed to feed and outfit an army. We tried not to think about the lives lost, but that figure factored in too. Never had we considered that the fae coming here with hostile intentions were bringing children with them. We had never found a single one. That told me the lengths those parents had gone to in order to protect their kids.

  As to why we had been so shortsighted, I suspected the reason was because the job already chafed like collars around our necks. Stopping to think about consequences would yank us out of our bloodthirsty headspace. We needed that killing haze to end each night feeling justified in our slaughter. Lately even that red vision didn’t blind us to our chores.

  We had made all these orphans. The conclave had helped turn us into monsters, used us as attack dogs. Native supernaturals, ones Faerie would expect to fight for their world. But we hadn’t fooled anyone. The conclave held our leashes, and my back teeth ached to gnaw through mine.

  Voice hoarse, I asked, “Why did you take them in?”

  “I’m a bean-tighe,” Leandra confided. “A hearth spirit. I needed a home to care for or I would have withered away. Tiberius found us this place.” She kissed the forehead of the child in her arms. “We weren’t the first to seek shelter here. Caring for the children strengthened my bond to the house, to this place. It kept me well.”

  “That’s why you didn’t leave,” I realized.

  Bean-tighe weren’t mobile. They lived for as long as the house they bonded to stood. That she had moved at all was a testament to her strength and their resourcefulness.