Moon of Shadows

by H. D. Gordon

  My eyes went back to Demarco, who was looking appropriately sheepish propped up in the bed. “Go on,” I said.

  Demarco looked down at his hands. “We went, and I went to take a piss, and three fucking bloodsuckers jumped me and robbed me.”

  From the doorway of the bedroom, someone cleared their throat, and I shot a look at my younger brother as I saw Cecelia standing in the doorway. She was holding a tray of what smelled like steaming deer stew, as still as only a Vampire could manage to be.

  “Don’t use that word in this house,” I told Demarco. “Apologize to Cecelia right now.”

  To his credit, Demarco looked appropriately guilty. “Sorry, Cici,” he said. “I didn’t mean it.”

  Normally not one to speak her mind, Cecelia placed the tray of food down on the nightstand and turned toward my brother. “Then why say it?” she replied, and then swiftly exited the room.

  I pinched the bridge of my nose and squeezed shut my eyes, thinking that if he weren’t already injured, I would injure him myself for his ignorance.

  “So you went to evacuate,” I repeated, keeping my tone even with some effort. “Then what?”

  “The Vamps followed me. Took my shit. I put up a good fight, though,” Demarco continued, and looked at me with pleading eyes. “I’ve been trying hard to stay out of trouble, D. I’ve been spending most of my time at the art studio in Faerport. I swear I didn’t go looking for trouble.”

  “Tarren and these other ‘boys’ sound like people you don’t need to be around at all,” Devon said. “Where were they when you were getting the bloody hell beaten out of you?”

  Demarco looked down at his hands, as if he had considered this. “I don’t know,” he said. “Just… not there. The Vamps caught me alone. Three of them at once. I barely got away. I shifted and came here. That’s when you found me on the doorstep. I had to shift back to open the door, and it took the last of my energy. That’s all I remember.”

  “You were drinking,” I said. It wasn’t a question.

  And I knew from the look that came over his face that I was right, but it was hard to get too angry about this when I’d just spent the last few hours being overly intoxicated myself. Demarco had turned twenty-one last fall, and by law, he hadn’t done anything more wrong than I had.

  Still, I had expectations of him, and he knew that.

  “You’re sure that’s what happened?” I said. “That it was just a random incident?”

  I could feel Devon’s and Kyra’s eyes go to me, but I ignored them.

  Demarco looked confused. “What else would it be?”

  Apparently, nothing to do with Carson Cartier. This honestly surprised me. I usually was not wrong in my gut feelings, but from Marco’s account, it seemed I’d indeed been wrong.

  “I just wanted to blow off a little steam,” Demarco said. “I’ve been working really hard lately. I swear it.”

  I shook my head, still ignoring what I knew were the justified expressions of my older brother and my best friend. “Never mind,” I told Demarco. “You just rest. You had us very worried.”

  Demarco looked down at his hands. It was not often that he appeared so openly ashamed, not often that he would admit to any mistake on his part. It was a characteristic he’d gotten from our father, a trait the three of us shared. But he looked so now. His remorse was clearly genuine.

  “I’m sorry,” Demarco said. “To all of you. The last thing I want is for you all to worry about me.”

  My throat went tight as I realized in the space of a single moment that my youngest brother was no longer a pup.

  “These Vampires,” I said. “What did they look like?”

  There was hesitation on Demarco’s face as he read my intentions. Then, he passed me a mental image in the telepathic manner we shared.

  I nodded and stood.

  Devon’s eyes flicked over to me, but I continued paying him no attention, pretended not to hear him call my name as I left the room with revenge on my mind.

  The thing about being a Wolf was that our entire hierarchy was built off the idea that the strongest among us were the best. This was why male Wolves called the shots, and were the only ones traditionally accepted as Alpha of a Pack; males were typically physically stronger than female counterparts, and this afforded them the highest respect.

  While I was not an Alpha in the eyes of anyone outside of the family, I’d purposely created the charade that Devon was the leader of our group. This meant that any weakness on his part would be seen as a weakness of the Pack as a whole.

  And despite the fact that Cartier clearly didn’t have a hand in Demarco’s current condition, I had no doubt that the assault would be brought to his attention.

  Long story short, we had no choice but to retaliate.

  Back when we were all just pups living in The Mound, this responsibility had been managed by my father. In fact, one of my earliest memories was him beating the Wolf who lived nearby our house to a bloody pulp for making some comment I couldn’t remember.

  But I would never forget the rage that had come into our father’s eyes as he’d turned on the other male, never forget the way it had caused a shiver to run down my spine.

  Now, a half a world away from the place that had spawned those memories, the responsibility of maintaining our strong reputation fell upon me, and I had every intention of owning up to it.

  Devon, of course, had disagreements about what should be done, and he caught me on the way out the door.

  “Dita, wait,” my older brother said, hurrying down the curved staircase to catch me.

  I sighed and turned to see that Kyra was also on his heels.

  “You know I have to go,” I said, my voice flat.

  “I disagree,” Devon replied. “This isn’t The Mound, D. We don’t have to handle all of our problems with violence.”

  My hands clenched into fists. “Everyone keeps saying that. Of course this isn’t The Mound. Who do you all think pulled you out of that place? And this may not be Borden or the Midlands or The Mound, but the last time I checked, this was still the way things work. If we don’t answer what was done to Demarco, we’ll answer for it later. In more blood.”

  “You can’t be sure of that,” Devon said. “We need to think this through. You were wrong about it being Cartier. I’m just asking you to consider that you could be wrong now.”

  I looked at Kyra. “I suppose you agree with him.”

  The Sorceress shook her head. “Actually, I agree with you, but I don’t want you to go alone.”

  “And I can’t let you come with me,” I replied. “So you’re both out of luck.”

  With this, I opened the front door of the house and stepped out, shutting it behind me.

  Then I shifted into my Wolf form and headed off in the direction of The Ave.

  I felt like crap after not having slept the night before and having my own ass kicked, but the thought of hurting the people who’d hurt Demarco fueled me.

  I knew where The Ave was, and that it was a place that never failed to be full of the worst kind of people our strange society had to offer, but as I’d spent a good portion of my life dealing with just such folks, I wasn’t afraid.

  Perhaps this was foolish on my part, but the ice others claimed ran through my veins had served me well on many occasions, and this was one of them.

  The moon rose above me as I made my way closer to The Ave, the night breeze a welcome feeling brushing through my fur. When I reached the edge of the old farmland that now housed the fights and working ladies, I shifted back into my mortal form so they would know who I was, and what I’d come for.

  It was a Sunday night, and the place was not as packed as it had likely been just the night before, but it was still plenty busy. Underlying the scent of salt in the air was that of blood and sex, and my sensitive nose wrinkled as I took it in.

  Along the western side of The Ave was marshy bay, with sandy banks and rich greenery ringing the edges. To the east were a row of
old brick buildings that had once been warehouses of some sort, but now contained the depravity that turned such a handsome profit.

  The heads of the males I passed turned in my direction as I slipped my hands into my jacket pockets and ignored their attention. Sand caught on the toes of my boots as I moved deeper into the fray, weaving around the various people gathered, people of all types and races.

  When I came upon a group of Vampires, I stood close enough for them to turn toward me, and noted the matching tattoo’s Demarco’s vision had provided so that I would recognize them.

  Three pale faces turned toward me, their lean bodies as poised as serpents. I met each of their gazes in turn.

  “Can I help you, bitch?” the closest to me asked, the name a racial slur considering my race.

  One side of my mouth pulled up as my fingers flexed in my pockets. Apparently, they were going to make this easy.

  “I have a brother,” I said. “His name is Demarco Silvers. I believe you know him.”

  Recognition flashed behind their eyes, confirming what I already knew.

  These were indeed the people who’d whipped my brother.

  A grin pulled up one side of my mouth as I gripped the one who’d called me an unpleasant name for a female dog and slammed him to the ground with enough force to rattle his fanged teeth.

  Chapter 11

  “I didn’t kill anyone,” I said, letting out a puff of air and slowly removing my jacket so as not to provoke my injuries.

  Devon’s nose twitched as he stared at me. “Well, that’s good to hear, since most of the blood covering you right now is not yours.”

  I took the warm mug of tea Kyra offered me and sank down into a chair near the hearth. They’d been waiting up for me in the library, as I’d known they would.

  “Everything is taken care of, so you both can go on to bed now,” I said.

  Devon snorted. “Who can sleep?”

  My anger flared at the accusatory tone he’d been using a lot lately to address me. “Why are you acting like all of this is my fault?” I snapped. “If there is something you want to say, big brother, then say it and be done with it.”

  “Fine,” Devon replied through clenched teeth. “I think you’re being reckless.”

  I leaned back in my chair and did my best not to shatter the ceramic mug under the pressure of my strong fingers. “Illuminate me, Devon. Go on.”

  “First with Cartier’s spokesman, that Mr. Bain,” he said. “You were so flippant in our response to him, insisted that I be flippant.” He waved a hand at me. “And now this.”

  “And you would have preferred what?” I asked, head cocking in a Wolf-like manner. “Rolling over and letting him have your belly?”

  “Those are both extremes,” Devon countered. “I would have stood my ground, but been more respectful.”

  Now it was my turn to snort. I sipped at my tea, which was steaming, but nowhere near as hot as the blood coursing through my veins.

  “Which is exactly why you could never be Alpha,” I replied.

  I didn’t speak the words very loudly, and I regretted them as soon as they left my lips, but Devon was a Wolf, and I didn’t need to shout for him to hear me.

  The tone of his response was just as pointed. His lips twisted into a sneer that was very rare on his face. “Sometimes you can be such a bitch,” he mumbled.

  This was the exact wrong thing for him to say in that moment, and I was out of my chair before my brain even fully realized what my body was doing.

  I shoved my brother with my full strength, sending him sprawling backward into the wall. He struck it hard enough that a couple of books fell off a nearby shelf and tumbled to the floor. When he looked up, his mouth hung open a bit in surprise, but then his lips pressed together in a tight line, and his eyes lit up Wolf-gold.

  A low growl rumbled up his throat, and even though I felt like the biggest asshole in all the realms, I stood my ground.

  Kyra was between us in the next heartbeat. I’d been so enraged that I’d nearly forgotten the Sorceress was even in the room.

  She boldly stepped into the path between Devon and I—something that most creatures would not have the nerve to do. Getting between two Wolves about to go at it had gotten more than a few killed.

  “The both of you need to cut this shit out,” Kyra said. She raised her hand, and violet magic flared at her fingertips. “This fighting amongst ourselves will only lead to more trouble. We need to stand united. Always. There are plenty of others who will try to see us fall, in case that’s not already evident to you knuckleheads.”

  Devon and I continued to stare each other down, but after a few loaded seconds, as he always did, Devon looked away. I felt equally triumphant and guilty in this battle of dominance, but could never seem to help myself.

  Once I’d taken a couple of deep breaths, I said, “We needn’t be under any illusions about our situation where Cartier is concerned. Males like him only see the world in black and white; there are those who are weaker than, and those who are stronger than. That’s it. I shouldn’t have to explain to you what side we should be on.”

  “We just disagree, Dita,” Devon said, his expression hard.

  “So you think we should indulge his extortion? We’d be out of business in a couple moon cycles. I did the math. The amount he demanded would drain us dry. We’d be lucky to afford a hut in The Mound once all was said and done.”

  “So then we could have made a counter offer to pay less,” Devon replied, “rather than spitting in his face with outright refusal.”

  I shook my head. “Sometimes you’re as dull as you are pretty. Why would we buy moonshine from him when we make it ourselves?”

  “Enough with the insults,” Kyra snapped. “They don’t get us anywhere.”

  “Maybe not,” I admitted. “But he is going to get us killed.”

  “Gods damn it, Dita,” Devon all but shouted. “That is exactly the point. You are the one who’s going to get us killed. You are the danger.”

  “I should cut your tongue from your mouth for that,” I said, my voice flat and cold.

  Devon tossed his hands up. “Your every word only illustrates my point.”

  “You’re wrong.”

  Devon held my stare.

  My mouth fell open, and I was sure that something I would later regret would spill out, but Kyra stepped into my line of vision and placed her hands on my shoulders.

  “Let’s be done with it for now,” she said gently. “We all need some rest. It’s been a rough couple of days. Once we’ve cooled down, we’ll discuss everything again.”

  When I only stared over her shoulder at Devon, her grip on me tightened a fraction. “Dita, we should think about things before we act,” she said.

  I shrugged away from her hold, my eyes snapping to her. “You agree with him, then.”

  It was not a question. I’d heard the truth in her words.

  “I’m just saying we should discuss things when we’ve all got cooler heads, and have had a little sleep.”

  I scoffed. “You’re a terrible liar, Ky,” I replied, and narrowed my gaze on both of them. “So that’s it, then. You both agree that we should pay Cartier’s extortion fees on our clubs and buy moonshine we can make ourselves from him.”

  “I think we need to consider all options,” Kyra said.

  “Everyone else in Cerys pays it, D,” Devon added. “It’s how business works.”

  My lips twisted into a sneer that I usually reserved for people who didn’t share blood with me, but there was nothing I could do to stop it. “You haven’t got a Gods damned clue how it works, so I’ll tell you. If we give males like Carson Cartier and Arsen Bain an inch, they’ll take a mile. And then they’ll keep taking miles until we have nothing left to give. I don’t see why that’s so hard to understand.”

  “Your first instinct is always violence,” Devon shot back. “But it’s not everyone’s. Not everyone is you.”

  At that point, as I saw it
, I had exactly two options. Fight or flight.

  For all our sakes, I chose the latter.

  “Fine,” I said, heading toward the exit. “You both think you could do a better job than me? Go ahead, then. Be the Alpha, Devon. Head the family.” I met their stares with every bit of ice most believed encased my heart.

  “I never wanted the fucking job anyway,” I said, and left.

  I slept on the roof again that night, watching over my ungrateful family and switching back and forth between being furious with Devon and disappointed in my own behavior.

  I knew that we had a better chance of navigating whatever struggles lay ahead if we weren’t battling amongst ourselves, but I wasn’t ready to apologize or make amends just yet. So the next day, I hopped the early train into Cerys, and went about the menial tasks of holding our various businesses together.

  I’d meant what I’d said about letting Devon run things, if only to let him see that he was wrong, for his failure in handling Cartier to prove my point, but there were plenty of other tasks that needed attending.

  I would let him see how it felt to have the weight of the important decisions on his shoulders for once. And because I was a loyal sibling, I would also rush in and save his dumb ass if it came down to that.

  By the mercy of the Gods, I didn’t encounter any familiar faces on the train, and managed to make it all the way to our establishment on Seventh Street without any incident. This particular bar was the very first property I’d bought after we’d moved into the Warner Plantation, and though it was smaller than the other four that we now owned, it still brought in the greatest amount of revenue.

  Tucked between two brick buildings was the Silver Tavern, a two-story stone structure that looked older than the rest around it. The first floor was the barroom, and the second had a couple washrooms and a deck that would earn its keep once the weather got warmer.

  Being that it was so early, the only one there was Gerald, the bartender and manager. There were two extra rooms on the second floor, and Gerald slept in the larger of the two, an agreement we’d made when I’d hired him.