Moon Bound

by Leisl Leighton

  The girl turned around, pinning him with those familiar peridot eyes, and nodded. ‘See. He got the closest to me and he didn’t know. I’m telling you the truth, Mistress. The witch, Shelley, read it out of Bridgette Colliere’s diary. Morghanna bore a son before she left to go to that village to help. Bridgette Colliere hid him from you. She mated him to her own daughter. River and Skye are the direct descendants of that match.’ She pointed at River. ‘He’s your family. Your blood.’

  Morrigan stood, poised, looking like she might strike again. Then she swore and turned, pacing to the door, muttering to herself.

  Nausea roiled inside River as he stared up at the girl standing beside him. The eyes, the colour of her hair, the limp … all things she shared with Bronwyn’s cat. It couldn’t be true, even though he knew it was. ‘Bronwyn helped you. Looked after you. And you’re betraying her?’

  She shook her head, eyes wide, pleading. ‘No. I’m trying to help.’ She laid her hand on his chest. The sticky warmth of her blood felt almost soothing as it mixed with his. ‘I’m sorry you’ve been hurt.’ She bunched up the hem of the oversized T-shirt and dabbed at one of his cuts. ‘You were kind to me. I never meant for you to get hurt.’

  She hadn’t. He could see that in her eyes. But she’d seen so much and told Morrigan about all of it. Even the private things he wished nobody knew about. Morrigan had been torturing him with that information—the sting of her knowing such private things a greater pain than the slashes of the Athamé. This girl was the reason he was here. The reason Bronwyn and Skye and Jason and the pack were still in so much danger. She was the enemy. So why should he believe her?

  Because she had just taken a knife blow meant for him. And now she stood between her mistress and him, trying to save him. He moved his hand, managing to grasp hold of the edge of the T-shirt. She stopped dabbing. ‘Don’t. Don’t tell her our secrets. She’s not what you think she is,’ he whispered.

  Her eyes clouded over with doubt, but still she said, ‘She’s not what you think she is, either. If I tell her this, you’ll live.’ He shook his head. ‘I’m sorry. But I have to tell her. It’s the only way forward. The only way to make certain another, bigger mistake isn’t made. Trust me.’

  He let go of her sleeve. ‘You’re wrong. She’s not sane.’

  ‘Let me save you.’

  ‘What are you saying to that Were? Why are you talking to it at all?’

  The girl spun around at Morrigan’s question. ‘He … he grabbed my sleeve. I was asking him to let go.’

  Morrigan’s lip curled. ‘You don’t ask the Were. You just make him.’

  She waved her hand and River gasped as pain clenched around his throat, his chest, making it impossible to breathe.

  ‘No. Mistress. Please, stop. You don’t want to do that.’

  ‘Why not? Why don’t I want to do that?’

  ‘Because he is your blood. He’s a direct link to your sister. You would never forgive yourself if you hurt him.’

  Morrigan stood there for a long moment, staring at the cat-girl, her chest heaving, fingers clenching and unclenching at her sides. Then she flicked her fingers and River was able to gasp in a breath, and another.

  ‘Thank you, Mistress.’

  Morrigan’s lips curled into a smile as her gaze swept past the girl towards River. ‘I wasn’t going to kill him, yet, anyway. That’s something he’s going to do to himself.’

  ‘No.’ The girl shook her head. ‘No. He wouldn’t do that. He’s got the pack. He’s started mating with Bronwyn. He’s got too much to live for.’

  Morrigan’s eyes glinted with something that made River feel like Death had just stepped into the room, waving his scythe. ‘I know. I felt a connection when it happened. It will be useful, but it can’t be allowed to fully form—it will stop the Darkness from sinking in its claws.’

  ‘The Darkness? What are you talking about?’

  ‘I’m talking about the thing that’s going to help push him over the edge and destroy himself and everything he loves along with it.’

  The girl took a stumbling step forward. ‘Mistress, you can’t hurt him. He’s your blood.’

  ‘No! He’s a Were. He is one of the things that killed my sister and enslaved our kind. He and every single last one of them must pay for their crimes.’

  ‘But Mistress …’

  Morrigan waved her hand. The girl clutched her head. Crying out, she fell to the hard, stone floor, and curled into a writhing, whimpering ball.

  ‘Stop it!’ River yelled. ‘She’s one of yours. Stop.’

  Morrigan laughed. ‘The Were cares for you, is that what you think? You silly girl. Did he fool you into thinking he was kind? Human?’ She jerked her hands and the cat-girl’s whimpers turned into sobs as she stopped writhing. Morrigan walked towards her. The girl looked up at her with a tear-stained face. ‘You will learn to do as you are told, Eloise. You do not have a say here. Now, get up and clean the Were down. I have plans for him. What you have told me just means those plans will work even faster than I thought.’ She jabbed Eloise in the side with her booted foot. ‘Get up. I’m going to play with our other captives, prime them for the sacrifice. Once I’m done, I’ll be back to torture this one further. He must be tipped over the edge, and given what you’ve told me, I think I know exactly how to do that.’

  Eloise stared at her. ‘You lied to me.’ She tried to push to her feet, groaned and vomited at Morrigan’s feet.

  Morrigan leaped back. ‘Filthy whore. You better clean up that mess. I don’t want this place smelling of vomit when I get back.’

  ‘Leave her alone,’ River snarled.

  A nasty smile plastered across the face that had once belonged to his grandmother. ‘She’s mine to do with as I will.’ She pulled Eloise up by the hair, making her shriek and then slapped her, hard.

  ‘I’ll kill you for that,’ River shouted, a fury inside him that had nothing to do with the Beast.

  ‘I’d like to see you try.’ She dropped the girl to the floor and kicked her so hard River heard the snap of a rib.

  ‘Leave her alone, you bitch.’ He lurched against his bindings, the table shaking with his efforts to get free.

  Morrigan laughed, the sound a venomous strike. ‘You’ll never get free of those bindings, River, dear. You are nothing but a scarred, broken, miserable excuse for a Were. You can’t even change in full. You’re a monster, trapped inside a monster.’

  ‘A monster you don’t want to unleash,’ River grated out, trying not to let her words poison his soul.

  Morrigan’s chuckle rumbled in her chest. ‘Oh, you have no idea how much I want to unleash your Beast. Your Beast and I are going to have so much fun. Together, we are going to destroy the Were.’ She clapped her hands together.

  ‘I would die first.’

  ‘Yes. You will.’ She tipped her head to the side and breathed in deeply, eyes closed. ‘Yule is only a few days away, but with this news, I no longer have to wait until then. By the end of the full moon, you will die, the Were will be destroyed, the pact will be broken and all my lovely brothers and sisters will finally be free to join me and glory in the strength the Darkness has shown me. We have been subservient for too long. Glory days are coming. Glory days.’ She spun, and still chuckling, left the room.

  A shuffling noise caught his attention and he turned his head to see Eloise trying to stand. She was covered in blood and vomit and dirt, the pain on her tear-stained face showing something that went deeper than physical hurt. ‘You can’t let her do this. You can’t let her destroy an entire people in the name of revenge.’

  She shook her head, not looking at him. ‘I meant to help. I thought she’d listen. Thought she’d understand. She always said …’

  Yelling echoed into the room—Iain’s voice—cut off with a sharp grunt. River twisted against his bindings again, but it was futile. There was a shout and a loud slap, like a whip hitting flesh, a short, sharp, pained cry. Violent images of what Morrigan could be d
oing to his Shadow and the younger Were, Gareth, flashed in his mind’s eye. He pulled again, desperate, but it was useless. He needed help.

  He turned to Eloise. She was muttering to herself and trembling so hard now, River thought she might collapse again. He felt sorry for her, but he couldn’t let her fall apart. He needed her. ‘Eloise.’ She stopped muttering, but didn’t look at him. ‘That’s your name isn’t it? You’re a good person. I can see that. And I’m not saying this so you will free me, because it doesn’t matter what happens to me.’ A scream tore through the air, echoing through the caves from another room. River flinched and pulled against the restraints again, to no avail. He looked back at Eloise. She looked paler, like the scream had torn at something inside her. ‘Eloise.’ She jumped and turned to look at him.

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘She’s hurting my friends. They’ve done nothing to you. They’ve got their lives ahead of them. Please help them. Don’t let them suffer for the revenge of a mad woman.’

  She looked pitiful, her expression desolate. ‘How do you know I’m not like Morrigan?’

  ‘Because of what you just tried to do. Because I could sense the goodness in you when you were the cat. You thought you were doing right. Now you know that was wrong. Right that wrong, Eloise. Help my packmates. Don’t let them die.’

  ‘What about you?’

  He turned his head, staring up at the ceiling. ‘My time was up long ago. I’m dying already. It doesn’t matter what Morrigan does to me.’

  ‘No.’ Eloise gasped, took a stumbling step towards him.

  He stared at her, confused. ‘Why does that worry you? I’m nothing but a filthy, broken Were.’

  ‘No, you’re not. I’ve seen who you are over the last few weeks. You were kind to me when you didn’t have to be. There’s not many who would have done that.’

  ‘You don’t know the right people.’

  ‘Maybe.’ She reached out, touched him, her fingers still sticky with her own blood. And his. ‘You can’t die. You’re good. Important. Special. Whatever it is, whatever you think is killing you, you have to fight it.’

  Breath shuddered out of River’s lips as a tear spilled from his eye. ‘Don’t you think I’ve been doing that? I’m not that strong.’

  ‘I know you can be.’ She shifted, gripped his hand. ‘You have to try. If you don’t, they’ll all die.’

  ‘What are you talking about?’

  She looked behind her, shifted closer and whispered, her voice desperate. ‘Phillipe, Morghanna’s husband, he was part Were. Morghanna didn’t know, or Bridgette thinks she would never have canted the Curse.’

  ‘What difference does that make?’

  His eyes widened as she told him.

  ‘And because you have the DNA of her son in your veins, if you die, the Curse will be enacted, but not just on the Were. It will be enacted on anyone responsible for not keeping you safe, and that includes your pack’s coven.’

  ‘Bronwyn!’

  She nodded. ‘You have to live, River. You and Bronwyn have something special and you can’t allow that to be destroyed. Don’t give in. I’ll try to help your friends as long as you promise not to give in.’

  Another scream shattered the air. Gareth. She was torturing Gareth. River gripped Eloise’s hand, squeezed. ‘I promise. But please. Help them.’

  ‘I have to get you free first.’ She reached out to touch his bindings, but a spark of flame snapped at her, burning her fingers. She tried again, but flame sparked out. Tears glistened in her eyes as she tried a third time, but she couldn’t get anywhere close to touching the bindings without getting burned.

  ‘Stop it, Eloise. Don’t hurt yourself. The bitch has obviously done something to the bindings to stop those with magic from touching them. Just save my packmates.’

  ‘But Morrigan … she’ll be back, and I’m so afraid of what she plans to do.’

  ‘She can’t kill me until Yule.’

  ‘She can hurt you. She wants to unleash your Beast.’

  ‘It’ll kill her if she does.’ There was another harsh cry, another voice yelling, then silence. ‘You have to do something to help them.’

  She shuddered, but didn’t look away. ‘Remember your promise.’

  ‘I won’t forget,’ he growled. ‘Now, go. Help the others. Leave Morrigan to me.’

  Nodding, Eloise backed out of the room. ‘I’ll be right back to help you.’

  ‘I don’t think so, Little Bit.’

  Eloise swung around. ‘Cain!’ She backed away from the door and River could see a man standing there. He had to be Eloise’s brother—they had the same hair and eyes—but there the resemblance ended. Where there was innocence and goodness in her, there was none in Cain. His expression was harsh with hatred as he marched into the room and dumped the body he had slung over his shoulder on the floor near the far wall.

  Iain.

  His T-shirt was shredded on his back, the long slashes sticking to his skin, coated in blood. For a moment, River thought his Shadow was dead, but then the Lone Wolf groaned and rolled over. His face was bruised, swollen, and blood oozed from a cut above his eye, covering half his face with rivulets of deep, vivid crimson.

  ‘Cain! What have you done?’ Eloise asked, her eyes pinned on the injured Were.

  ‘I wouldn’t be worrying your head about him, Little Bit, after what I just heard.’

  ‘I don’t know what you mean.’ Fingers clenched and unclenched by her side, her gaze darting between him and the door.

  ‘Oh, I think you do. Traitor.’

  ‘Leave her alone,’ River spat, pulling once again against the restraints. But he couldn’t budge them. He had to watch, helpless, as the bigger man stalked towards his sister.

  Eloise held her hands out. ‘I’m not a traitor. You heard only part … you don’t understand. I found out something that changes everything.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter what you found out, Were-lover. They’ve pulled the wool over your eyes; done exactly what Morrigan said they do to our enslaved brethren.’ He shook his head slowly as he came to stand before her. He’d backed her up against a wall. ‘What I can’t believe is my little sister has fallen for it.’

  ‘No, Cain, you don’t know. You didn’t hear.’

  ‘Enough!’ He slapped her.

  ‘Leave her alone,’ River snarled as he pulled harder against the restraints, but only succeeded in cutting his wrists open on the harsh leather.

  Eloise stared at her brother, her eyes wide with shock, the red imprint of his hand blooming on her cheek. ‘Why are you doing this? You know I love our mistress, but she’s mistaken about—’

  Cain slapped her again, so hard she hit the wall and fell to the floor. ‘Our mistress is never wrong,’ he roared. ‘She is sacred. A Goddess. And you have fallen, Little Bit. You are tainted.’ He spat at her and then stalked back over to where he’d dumped Iain on the floor.

  River struggled harder, snarling, but Cain didn’t even look his way as he kicked Iain. Iain groaned and rolled away. ‘Not dead yet. Let’s see what my mistress can do about that.’

  ‘Cain. Stop. This isn’t like you.’

  He spun around and pointed at her, his eyes so full of hatred. ‘You have no idea who I am or what I can do. While you’ve been playing pet, I’ve been training with our mistress. She’s shown me things you could never imagine. And you never will.’ He shook his head. ‘You know, the pity of it is, we were both adopted into this family to stand at her right hand. But now …’ He shook his head again. ‘I wonder what she will say when she finds out you’re a traitor.’

  ‘I’ll want her put in chains with the others,’ Morrigan said, sweeping into the room. Another man, slightly older than Cain, followed her, Gareth slung across his shoulders. The young Were was even more battered than Iain.

  ‘You bitch! What have you done to him?’

  ‘Ben here has tenderised them both in preparation for the Beast.’ Morrigan gestured at the older man then turned a sickly s
mile on River. ‘And despite being Eloise’s adoptive cousin, I know he’ll enjoy doing the same to her to get her ready for the Beast. He’s always been jealous of her talents.’

  ‘You’d kill one of your own?’

  ‘Your kind killed the only person I ever called my own!’ She pointed at Eloise. ‘She is simply a tool. One that you and yours has ruined.’ She turned to Cain. ‘Tie them all up and then get him ready.’

  ‘No,’ Eloise said, pushing to her feet. ‘No. You can’t. I didn’t …’

  ‘You’ve gone soft, my lovely one.’ Morrigan was suddenly in front of her.

  Eloise flinched, but met Morrigan’s gaze. ‘I’m not weak. I’m seeing clearly for the first time. They’re not the monsters. You are.’

  ‘How dare you talk to the mistress like that,’ Cain roared, grabbing her arms and pulling them up behind her.

  ‘Leave her alone!’ River’s struggles to get free intensified.

  ‘River. Don’t. Don’t hurt yourself. It’s what she wants.’

  Cain shook her again. ‘Don’t talk to it.’ Spittle flew from his mouth as he ground out those words next to her ear.

  ‘River’s a person, not an “it”.’

  ‘He’s an animal,’ Morrigan snarled. ‘A misbehaving one at that. He needs to be taught how to behave.’ An arc of power surged from her fingers, hitting River square in the chest. His mouth opened on a silent scream as his body began to vibrate and arc up off the table. His head whacked against the wood, frothy saliva foaming on his lips, as his breath rattled in his chest.

  He heard Eloise shriek, ‘No.’ Then a loud slap, but still she didn’t stay silent. ‘Please. Please, don’t hurt him. He hasn’t done anything to you.’

  Morrigan whipped back around to face her. ‘Yes, he did. He and his kind took my sister from me. They took my family. They took half my power. I want it all back.’

  ‘But he’s your family,’ Eloise said. ‘He’s your blood.’

  ‘You lie,’ Cain hissed in her ear, pulling her arms up tighter.

  ‘It’s the truth,’ she managed to gasp. Morrigan slapped her. Eloise’s head snapped back, her temple smacking Cain’s chin. Cain’s grip on her arms slackened. Eloise lunged, twisting out of his grip. He made to grab her, but she ducked to the side and slammed right into Ben, who shoved her back into Cain. Cain’s arm bounded around her middle, holding her arms tight to her sides so she couldn’t reach back and scratch his face. She kicked at his shins. He swore and tightened his grip around her chest, his other hand coming up to grab her around the throat. ‘I’ll break your neck.’