Moon of Shadows

by H. D. Gordon

  “Fine,” I lied. “Just fine.”

  Chapter 15

  So the Mad Wolf was alive.

  In a coma, but alive. Somehow, this changed things.

  Because if he ever did wake up.

  I turned away from this thought. It was too much for the moment.

  As mad as I was at my brother, I needed to talk to Devon about what I’d learned.

  Nevertheless, I hesitated outside the office early the next day. Both Kyra and Devon were inside, and if I didn’t known that my brother didn’t prefer females, I might have thought something was going on between the two of them.

  Or maybe I was just jealous.

  But when I entered through the double doors, I paused in my tracks. It was not just Devon and Kyra in the office; every member of the house was present, save for the twins and Nyla.

  The looks on their faces made a rock settle low in my stomach, and I forgot what I’d come in here for.

  “What is it?” I asked, not sure I wanted to hear the answer.

  “Delia’s missing,” Devon said, sitting behind the big oak desk, his brow lowered and his jaw clenched.

  My stomach gave another twist. “What do you mean?”

  “We think she ran away,” Kyra said.

  I recalled my last conversation with Delia, and I knew she ran away. I told them as much.

  Kyra answered my next question before I asked it. “I can’t track her with my magic because of the barrier spell I cast on us all just after we left the Midlands.”

  I nodded. In order to ensure that no one from our past could pay a magic user to track us, Kyra had performed an illegal spell that blocked magic from registering us. In other words, she’d made us untraceable.

  “How long has she been gone?” I asked.

  Every person in the room appeared a bit guilty, looking down at their shoes rather than meeting my eyes. But it was me who should be ashamed. It was my failure of guardianship that had pushed her away, and then my temper that had finished the job.

  And, likely, a male Wolf that was much too old for her.

  “I’ll go find her,” I said, turning to exit the room.

  I was in my Wolf form and darting across the rear lawn of the estate before anyone else could speak a word.

  Standing in the center of the vast green yard, I raised my head into the air and closed my eyes. My sensitive nose took in the familiar scents of the land; the tinge of salt from the ocean thirty miles to the east, blueberry from the surrounding fields, fresh turned earth and cherry blossom.

  I caught a hint of my little sister’s scent, so faint that I almost missed it, and shot off in the direction it lead me.

  My paws moved over the land with the precision of a predator, my ears swiveling on my head as I monitored the world around me. I crossed through two blueberry fields and followed a familiar route that led me back to the barn where I’d nearly killed the older Wolf the other night.

  But they were not there. They had been, but they’d left a while ago. My panic tried to rise, and I shoved it back down again. Delia could be absolutely anywhere.

  Rather than let my worry overcome me, I searched around the old barn for thirty more minutes, trying to pick up her scent again to no avail. Once it was clear that the trail was lost, I set off in the direction of Faerport, not sure where else to go.

  It was a warm day, the weather moving from winter into spring with every passing hour, and Faerport was lively but not overcrowded. People milled about, going to the shops on the main street and browsing the parks near the canal. The arched roofs of the buildings and the paved streets looked so clean and quaint.

  The setting was quite the opposite of my current emotional state.

  The longer I looked and didn’t find her, the more anxious I became.

  It was my fault she was gone, and if something happened to her, that would be my fault, too.

  Though Faerport was considerably more progressive than where I’d come from, and the creatures lived among each other in relative peace and ambivalence, it was still not considered polite to stalk around a public place in Wolf form.

  Not polite, but not illegal.

  My nose was ten times stronger in my Wolf form than my mortal form, and I didn’t give a damn if the people of Faerport gawked as I stalked by. The scent of their fear upon seeing a massive beast such as myself was annoying, but I pushed past it to focus on the matter at hand.

  I roamed all the way down the canal, through the shopping and residential areas, and around the parks and fountains.

  Nothing. Delia was nowhere to be found.

  I shifted into my mortal form after stalking through Faerport like a mad person, baring my teeth at any stranger who stared too long. Females crossed to the other side of the street when I walked by in full fur and fangs, the prejudices attached to my race never more evident than when I was in my true form.

  I had one more idea in mind before I left Faerport and went in search for my sister elsewhere. There was only one bar in town, and from the looks of the older male I’d found Delia with, I would bet he’d visited it. Someone there might know where he lived or hung out, and if they did, I would get them to tell me.

  And if it did turn out that the son of a bitch was with my sister, Gods help us all.

  I was a dangerous Wolf on the best of days, and on the worst, I was downright deadly.

  When I stalked into the The Cranky Cat a few moments later, after having spent a better part of the day searching and failing to find Delia, I was certainly at my worst.

  The Cranky Cat was a small place with low ceilings, poor lighting, and barstools that wobbled when one sat atop them, but as it was the only pub Faerport had to boast, it kept a steady clientele. This evening was no exception.

  The sound of my boots on the wood floor drew the eyes of the other patrons, and whatever expression was on my face had them quickly staring at their shoes.

  I went to the bartender, as cool as the calm proceeding the storm. He was a tall, thin Vampire with a thin black mustache and a balding head. He looked apprehensive when he saw me, but glided over to assist me nonetheless.

  I described who I was looking for without greeting, asking whether or not the bartender knew him.

  The Vampire with the stupid mustache folded his arms over his chest. “It’s against our policy to give out such information,” he replied.

  I nodded once, ignoring the urge to grab him by the shirtfront and haul him over the bar. Instead, I reached into the inner pocket of my jacket and removed a good sum of money. I placed it atop the bar and slid it to him. Then I repeated my question.

  The bartender checked the amount, apparently deemed it unworthy despite it being more than he earned in three moon cycles, and repeated, “It’s against our policy to give out such information.”

  I knew good and well that he wanted more money, and really, it was not the money that made me blow my top; it was that my burner had already been set to boiling.

  I reached across the bar and gripped the bastard by the front of his shirt, hauling him over the bar top with ease. As a Wolf, my physical strength was superior to most supernatural creatures, and my aggressive nature only enhanced this.

  I lifted the male Vamp into the air, holding him up so that the top of his head nearly touched the ceiling. My eyes glowed Wolf-gold as the bar around us went silent. The sound of my voice was the deep rumble of my beast when I spoke.

  “I’ll ask you one more time,” I said. “Do you know where I can find him?”

  “Someone call the Guard!” the bartender said, his long legs kicking as I held him aloft with one hand.

  My eyes flared brighter at this, and I brought him down a little closer to my face, so that he would not miss the truth in my next words.

  “They won’t get to you before I kill you if you don’t tell me what I want to know,” I said.

  The Vamp hissed and snapped his fangs at me, but I didn’t release my hold. My ears told me someone in the bar was scoot
ing toward the door, and my gaze snapped in that direction. The female Vamp who’d been inching her way out stopped in her tracks under the weight of my glare.

  “Easy now,” said a voice I knew.

  I turned and saw Elian standing beside me, as if the Demon had just appeared out of nowhere. I bared my teeth at him in a silent warning for him to back the fuck off me.

  Eli held his hands up, palms facing out. His handsome face was carefully composed and his tone annoyingly reasonable.

  “Why don’t you let me help you?” Eli said. “There’s no reason to involve the Guard. Clearly, there’s just been some misunderstanding.”

  A growl rumbled in my chest, low and menacing, but slowly, I lowered the bartender to the ground and released him. He scrambled away from me as soon as his shoes touched the floor, fangs still bared and eyes filled with hatred.

  I was just getting ready to make some pointed, angry response when Elian looped his arm around my shoulders and began leading me out of the bar. I was so shocked by this, by his foolishness in getting so close to me when I was apt to maim whoever was nearest, that I went several steps toward the exit before remembering myself.

  When I paused to tell him where he could shove it, Elian only gripped me a little tighter and propelled me toward the door.

  “You don’t really want to be here when the Guard shows up, do you?” the Demon asked.

  I looked up into his hazel eyes, and some of the red haze that had been clouding my vision since Delia had gone missing cleared. Every time I looked at him up close, I picked up another feature I hadn’t noticed before, and each one only made him all the more lovely.

  His straight white teeth flashed in a grin that revealed both dimples, and I forgot to argue as he pulled me out the door.

  Chapter 16

  “What’s happened?” Eli asked as we stepped out of the pub and into the street.

  Overhead, the sky was beginning to darken to the deeper blue of early evening. I pulled out of the Demon’s hold and narrowed my eyes on him.

  “It’s none of your concern,” I snapped, stalking off.

  He kept stride alongside me. “I’ll take that as your thank you for me keeping you from getting arrested back there.”

  “Then you’re an idiot.”

  He stopped in his tracks. “Fine,” he said. “If you don’t want my help, so be it.”

  He started to walk away. I stood still for a moment before cursing and hurrying after him.

  “My little sister has run away,” I said. “I need to find her.”

  Elian paused, eyeing me for a moment before saying anything. “How old is she?” he asked.

  “Sixteen.”

  Sympathy I wasn’t sure I wanted, but nonetheless needed, came over Eli’s face. “Why do you think she’s still in Faerport? If she really ran away, wouldn’t she go further?”

  My rage rose again as I gave my answer, but not at Elian. “Because she thinks she’s in love with this shithead, this older Wolf named Kellan.”

  Eli went still. “Kellan Kant?”

  My heart skipped a beat, for more reasons than one. “Do you know him?” I asked.

  “He’s nearly forty years old,” Eli said, his lips twisting in disgust that mirrored my own. “We could call the authorities. What he’s doing is illegal. We could have him arrested.”

  I remembered how Eli had told me that he ‘solved problems for rich people,’ but shook my head. “I don’t call the Guard to handle my issues,” I said.

  The Guard was Calla Camari’s version of the Hounds, the police of this side of the world.

  Eli said, “I knew you would say that.”

  I didn’t indulge this with a follow up question. Instead, I bit down on the rude remark that hung on the tip of my lips and clenched my hands into fists in my pockets.

  “I know where he stays,” Eli said. “I can take you to him. If she’s with him, that’s where they’ll be.”

  I couldn’t hide the way my heart jumped at this. I took a step closer to the male, and was pleased when he didn’t retreat. Most people would be hesitant to get near a Wolf in my current state, and they’d be wise for it.

  Just thinking of Kellan Kant had my eyes flaring again. I squeezed them shut for a second, trying to get a hold of myself.

  “I don’t care what it will cost,” I said. “Please, take me.”

  Eli reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and pulled out a small brown book. It was about the size of my palm, and the leather binding was worn and cracked, the pages between having been flipped through on countless occasions.

  “What’s that?” I asked, though I thought I already knew. I’d had a book just like it back in Borden, but it was of little use here.

  I waited on the edge of my nerves as Eli thumbed through the pages and finally came to the one he was searching for.

  “Here it is,” he said. “Come on. Let’s go.”

  We rode in his carriage to wherever the hell he was taking me.

  I watched out the window, thinking that this whole thing was so ridiculous I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

  The horses took us down a road I hadn’t known existed, just a strip of dirt that passed between two blueberry farms. There were no lights out here, and once it got dark, the stars would be the only things visible to those without good night vision.

  My hands were stuffed in my jacket pockets, my fingers clenched tight enough to draw blood on my palms. I fought the urge to jump out of the carriage and shift into my Wolf form to race ahead, but the other part of me knew I needed to calm myself and calculate what I would do if we got to wherever we were going and Kellan Kant was stashing my little sister there.

  Apparently, the murder on my mind was visible to Elian. The Demon sat up straight in his seat, his manner relaxed but alert, as it was always.

  “What do you intend to do when we get there, Miss Silvers?” he asked.

  I only looked at him.

  His throat bobbed as he swallowed, and dimples appeared on both cheeks as he offered a sad smile. “I would hate for you to be… taken away, for doing something that while perhaps justified, is not legal.”

  I blinked once and held his stare.

  Eli sighed, scooting forward on the edge of his seat across from me, putting himself closer. My head tilted in a very Wolfish manner as I thought again how handsome he was, a single sweet thought in a crowd of angry ones.

  “You can’t just kill people, you know,” Eli said gently. “The Guard will catch you. They’ve got the Seer-sanctioned magic on their side.”

  “Not if I get away with it,” I said through tight teeth.

  Eli smirked, but there was little humor in it. “After assaulting that bartender in front of a dozen or more witnesses?” He snorted.

  My eyes narrowed, because he was right. For several moments, I could not for the life of me think what to say.

  “You don’t understand,” I said at last, my shoulders sinking as the words slipped out of me. “She’s my sister, but she’s mine to take care of.” I met his hazel eyes, sensing the desperation in my own. “She’s mine to protect.”

  A shadow seemed to cross Eli’s face then, like a cloud rolling over a perfect blue sky. “I do understand,” he said, and there was a note in his tone that made my chest ache. “And she’s lucky to have you. But getting yourself arrested for murder won’t help anyone.”

  I turned back to the window. “How far are we?” I asked.

  “Not far enough,” Eli replied.

  I glared at him, and to his credit, he didn’t wither under my gaze.

  He was too good looking for his own damn good. I couldn’t seem to think straight around him.

  “I won’t kill him,” I said, folding my arms over my chest. I looked out the window again. “But I can’t promise I won’t hurt him. What he’s doing is wrong, and the son of a bitch needs to know it. He needs to be taught a lesson he won’t forget.”

  My eyes went to Eli, the look behind them challe
nging him to try and deny me this, but instead, his dimples appeared as a devilishly handsome grinned pulled up his lips.

  Something spiraled low in my stomach at the sight of it.

  “On that, Miss Silvers,” the Demon said, “we completely agree.”

  The carriage came to a stop outside the border of a neighborhood I hadn’t been aware existed on this half of the world.

  The ramshackle structures stretched on for miles, enclosed as far as I could see by a long metal fence. The roofs of the places were mostly tarps or sheets of flattened metal, the light provided by the fires blazing in metal barrels set at various intervals. A dirt path wound around the structures, branching this way and that, creating a city of the unfortunate that struck far too close to home.

  Apparently, one could cross the world and find the same brand of suffering wherever one looked.

  This was a terribly sad thought, and I hadn’t the time to dwell on it.

  Eli offered me a hand to step out of the carriage, and I placed mine in his as I stared at the slums ahead. My nose tested the air, and I knew that all kinds of creatures lived here, poverty the common thread connecting them.

  Seeing the place gave me flashbacks of a faraway land and a past that I could never quite seem to escape from.

  “You don’t have to be afraid,” Eli said gently, staying close to me as he glanced around the forsaken place.

  My voice was flat when I responded. “I’m rarely the one who should be.”

  I strode ahead, well aware of how out of place we both looked in our fine clothing, climbing out of the fancy carriage. It was ironic that I supposed Lukas Borden had looked much the same way I did now when he’d walked into The Mound three years ago to threaten my family.

  But looks can be deceiving, and despite my fine clothing and groomed façade, I fit better in places like this than I ever would at expensive dinner parties and sprawling estates.

  Elian followed on my heels, adjusting his jacket as his eyes took in our surroundings. “This way,” he said.

  We went deeper into the gathering of shacks and tarps, of weathered faces and dark countenances, and I met the gaze of any creature who thought it best to stare. With the state of my emotions at the moment, most of them looked down at their hands the second our eyes met.