Dead After Dark_Shadow of the Moon

by Sherrilyn Kenyon

  Lucien hadn't said a word, which worried Trey. The guy could be a liability.

  When Sasha started to stack dishes, Rowan said, "Please sit down. I'll take care of all this." She lifted her hands, palms up, and whispered words. The table cleared instantly.

  Lucien's sharp gaze narrowed slightly, but still he said nothing. Rowan's eyes met his, hers sparkling with delight in the face of his dark mood. Trey caught her utterly feminine assessment of the agent. He'd have to warn both women later in private about being careful around Lucien.

  "I'm wondering why Vyan has not tried to breach the house," Trey said, wanting to move ahead.

  "Maybe because I placed a protective spell over the house when I moved in," Rowan offered.

  "If that's the case, the women should be safe here, but I don't want to take any chances in case he's only waiting for an opportune time," Trey said. "I'm going out scouting tonight. Lucien will watch the house and can reach me if anything comes up." If Lucien would communicate with him.

  "Where are you from, Lucien?" Rowan interjected.

  "Spain." Lucien's terse answer didn't invite further conversation.

  Trey kept his mind blocked from telepathy and leaned back to study Lucien while Rowan pressed her questions. He wondered if the rumors he'd heard were true, that Findley had been told to put Lucien in the field without a probationary time.

  "Where do you call home now?" Rowan asked, clearly unaffected by Lucien's curt attitude.

  "Wherever I sleep for the night." Lucien crossed his arms in a you're-wasting-your-time pose.

  Sasha spiked an angry glare at Lucien, and Trey almost chuckled out loud. Atta girl. Maybe he should get rid of this guy. Why hadn't the council, specifically Sen, blocked Lucien's fieldwork until the coalition had time to assess him?

  When this was over, Trey would ask Sen what was up. An immortal who appeared when he deemed an issue worthy of his time, Sen had insinuated himself into an unofficial liaison capacity with the VIPER coalition. He presided over a governing council created of different beings whose job it was to keep an eye on all the supernatural assets and their actions.

  Rowan stood, her pink ankle-length dress loose on her. She'd lost weight. "Sasha, you want to help me refill coffees?"

  "Sure." Sasha scooted her chair back. "What, you're not going to blink your eyes and refill the cups?" Lucien asked with a sarcastic edge.

  Trey checked Rowan to see if she was insulted. If so, he'd have to deal with Lucien's smart mouth before he kicked him out. Trey was beginning to think the guy had a thing against witches.

  Rowan gave Lucien an amused look as she circled the table to the doorway directly behind him. "Not this time."

  Having scooted from the other side, Sasha had just reached the same spot behind Lucien when Rowan's body went rigid.

  "Oh no. Rowan, don't. . ." Sasha pleaded. "Sasha, what's wrong?" Trey was rising from his chair when Rowan literally flew at her sister, grabbing her by the throat and pinning Sasha to the wall. Trey reached them in a lunge and gripped his hands around Rowan's slender wrists and hands, which had turned into two cast-iron clamps at the moment.

  "Don't. . . hurt. . . her," Sasha squeaked, face flushed deep red.

  "Let her go, Rowan, or I will hurt you!" Trey yelled. Rowan laughed and swung unholy eyes at him that burned bright as the setting sun. "You can't stop me."

  "Oh, but I can, witch," Lucien said from behind her. "That is, if you aren't afraid of me . . . witch."

  Rowan released Sasha and knocked Trey aside when she spun in midair. She rose another two feet higher, her dress fluttering as she locked in Lucien as her next target.

  Trey grabbed Sasha up and wrapped her trembling body within his arms.

  "Do you dare to taunt me?" she asked in a voice that sounded as dangerous as it did insane. Trey hoped Rowan would calm down and regain her sanity before he was forced to use his powers on her. Sasha might never forgive him for that.

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  EPILOGUE

  Trey leaned against a giant oak at the side of the wide clearing, arms crossed and impatient as he waited for the strike of midnight. The two months Brina had made him wait to marry wouldn't have been a big deal if he hadn't spent half that time away from Sasha on VIPER missions.

  Beladors, VIPER teammates, and the Wiccan side of his new family milled around. A full moon smiled down at its reflection in the lake surrounded by a fortress of Blue Ridge Mountains.

  "I'm sorry you couldn't invite your father, Trey, but we'll have a lovely ceremony with him, too." Rowan glided toward him so smoothly he had to check to see that her se-quined shoes actually touched the ground beneath the tail of her garnet gown.

  "I know." It hurt not to bring his father here, but Trey lived in two worlds sometimes and keeping his father in the normal one protected the only parent who had ever really loved him. And his dad was crazy about Sasha, always had been. He spent almost as much time now with Sasha as Trey did.

  "Who all came from VIPER?" Rowan asked casually, but Trey knew who she was looking for.

  "I invited Lucien, too, but I never heard a word from him."

  "That doesn't surprise you, does it?""No. Just thought I'd let you know." She smiled. "Thanks. I think I'll see him again. I like that Sasha wanted you in all black and everyone else in red."

  He smiled, willing to have worn any color Sasha wanted, so long as she spent the rest of her life with him.

  "Who sent the fairies?" Rowan asked. "Sasha loves them."

  "Lucien " The dog. Trey glanced at the tiny sprites fluttering around the tall wedding cake, lighting the layers with their blinking glows. "Wish I'd had a resource for them."

  "Lucien?" Rowan's eyes melted with adoration. Trey appreciated anything that made Sasha happy, just not from that guy.

  The fairies began to hum, their voices rising into a haunting ly beautiful melody.

  "Excuse me, that's my cue." Trey stepped into the center of the opening.

  From the shadows of the woods, Sasha appeared in a sprinkle of light where fairies fluttered around her. She wore short black boots with stiletto heels and a strapless dress of sheer material draped in alternating red and black layers. Trey had gifted her with the silver-and-black Belador pendant. The triangular icon crafted with their Celtic design hung from a silver choker.

  Her lips were painted a deep red, so dark they were almost black. The silky rush of black hair fanned her shoulders.

  Trey hadn't thought he could love her any more than he already did, but he'd never forget her walking toward him at this minute. The attendants circled them when Sasha reached him. She held a bouquet of black roses and red baby's breath that Rowan had conjured up for her.

  Trey leaned down to kiss his future mate and the love of his life. The roses in the bouquet sighed. When a hologram spun into vision, he turned his left wrist up where the shape of a star glowed beneath his skin; then he took Sasha's right wrist and pressed it to his. By the end of the ceremony, they would be linked for life.

  Shooting stars exploded in the cloudless sky, showering the clearing with a dazzling light.

  Trey whispered in Sasha's ear, "Those are from me." Her beaming smile outshined the light display that continued as Brina began the ceremony. No telepathy reached him tonight. His tribe had refrained from doing so as a consideration for his future wife, reaffirming for him the value of listening with his heart.

  He squeezed her fingers. When Sasha smiled up at him, he accepted his destiny knowing she would always be at his side.

 

 

 
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