Blue Moon Magic 4: Night of the Blue Moon

by Lynn Crain

  He knew the Betas had been harder on him than anyone else. He had assumed it was because he was the third son and in reality a liability as far as they could see. Thinking back to the luncheon conversation, he knew his family all thought he was funny when he had made the comment about not being a bumpkin. Deep inside he realized there were many, many things that he did not know about himself or this new family he found himself a part of now. The more he thought about it, the more he wondered if he would be a liability to his new family.

  While everyone was going out of their way to make him feel like he belonged, he knew that the only one who could make that happen was himself. He was actually surprised he hadn’t done something offensive to them all yet. He usually had a terminal case of foot and mouth disease. He was torn between hope and dread, wanting so badly to believe he fit in with his family just like he was, but he knew better. Opportunities weren’t going to come to him on a silver platter even though his father was the head of the company, and that presented still another problem.

  Leaning up against the wall, he stopped his almost frantic pacing. What was he going to do? Maybe do wasn’t the right word. Maybe it was more like what did his father expect of him. Then again, there was always what he expected of himself. Maybe that was the real key to everything.

  Then there was Cordelia. How on earth could he feel such a bond with her so quickly? He had met many women through the Beta raids but none had affected him the way she had. And the one thing he had always been able to control, his body, now seemed uncontrollable, as the mere thought of her made his penis harden in anticipation.

  Trying to push down those feelings as well as control his errant body, he was relieved he didn’t have to ponder this any more as Cordelia walked out the office door. He pushed himself away from the wall and moved over to her.

  “I trust that was productive.” He tried to gauge what had happened and then understood why she was his father’s secretary. He was sure no one could tell anything from her poker face.

  “You could say that.”

  “So what’s on the agenda this afternoon?” He decided to concentrate on the future as opposed to what his father and Cordelia had said about him.

  She pursed her lips at him as if she were thinking. “I think we need to have Tom do a little more than the normal testing on you.”

  “Why?” Connor looked at her, confused. Tom was in charge of all things psychic which included telekinetics. That much he knew from Clarity and what Cordelia had said after the luncheon, but hearing that he could do more than just psychic testing concerned him a little bit.

  “Because we need to know what your powers are and what they can become, Connor. I’m sure that neither of us want to be caught unaware of something we should have known. Do you?”

  He thought about it for a moment and then sighed deeply. “No. You’re right, of course, I know it.”

  “I can hear a but in there somewhere.” She looked intently at his face. “What’s that mind of yours thinking?”

  “I didn’t know I could toss anyone.” Connor stood there with his hands on his hips, frustrated. “It was like I put my hand out and you were tossed away.”

  She smiled. “It came as a surprise to me, too. I had experienced something like that before, but not as strong as you were when I felt your power tingle around me. The other time it had been more like an annoyance, a fly buzzing around my head or something.”

  “That’s how it felt? Tingling?”

  She nodded her head. “Yeah. It was as if you were changing the electrical field around me or something. That’s one of the main reasons I want Tom to check you out today. I want to know what we’re dealing with here. You know, get a baseline so we can know what to expect in the future.”

  “Okay,” he said cautiously.

  “Just okay?” She cocked her head and looked at him, her face full of question.

  “It’s as if you’re afraid of me suddenly.”

  She patted his arm and led him toward the elevator. “Not you, really. Just whatever the Betas might have put into your head -- and your power, of course. I don’t think your power came from the Betas though. That I think is genetic.”

  “You know…I’ve been trying to think of things that might have happened…but I couldn’t remember one thing that I would call out of the ordinary.”

  “You wouldn’t, silly. That’s why they call it brainwashing. Don’t strain yourself and even try to figure it out. Usually, it just isn’t possible. It’ll come to the surface when it comes to the surface.”

  Silence hung heavy in the elevator as they started their descent to the eighteenth floor. Connor swallowed hard and knew he had to say something.

  “About earlier this morning…” he began but was quickly cut off by Cordelia raising her hand.

  “Look…I don’t know what this ‘thing’ is…” she began.

  Connor was there in an instant. “I do.” He reached down and pulled her up to him. “And I plan to explore it to the fullest.” His mouth swooped down on hers and tugged at her bottom lip.

  “Connor, please,” she whispered, pushing at him feebly. “We can’t.”

  “Why?” he questioned, pulling on her lip.

  “We’re here.” The elevator doors opened and she looked up at him, eyes wide with desire. “Maybe next time.” She slipped from his arms, straightened her clothes, and walked out.

  Connor leaned on his hands against the side of the elevator and willed his body back to normal. This was going to be much harder than he thought. He would definitely have to keep from being alone with her at all if he couldn’t get any satisfaction for his own needs.

  Slowly, he walked out and followed Cordelia down the hall to what he assumed would be Tom’s office.

  “How long do you think this is going to take?” Connor asked.

  “I don’t know how long Tom’s going to take or even what he’s going to do. Why don’t we check with him and see if another time will be more convenient.”

  Connor didn’t know what he expected when he went into the office but it wasn’t the tranquil place that he now stood in. The walls were covered with an almost linen-like wallpaper in a muted tone. The paintings on the wall were zen-like in nature in more muted colors. The chairs were overstuffed leather and looked very comfortable. It presented itself more like a very nice office than a research facility. Overall, the room had a relaxed, easy feel.

  “This is it?”

  Cordelia looked at him and chuckled. “What did you expect? A dungeon or something like it? Despite popular belief, we do run a civilized place here. You’ll never be in another ten by twenty cage in your life.”

  As if on cue, Tom came out of the back offices. “Hi, Cordelia, Connor. Are you ready to do this today?”

  “I guess the question is how long is this going to take? And what does it involve? If you can answer that, I’m sure it would ease Connor’s mind.”

  “Of course. There are actually a series of very easy tests we do. I know that you can talk to your sisters. We’ll test to see if you can talk to anyone else that is outside your immediate family.”

  “Like who?”

  Tom chuckled. “Me for one. And we’ll use Cordelia as a test subject, too.”

  “Okay. What else would we be doing?”

  “Then I’ll test you to see how you can push things with your mind. Since Cordelia said you pushed her under a stressful situation, I’d like to see if you can move things in a normal situation.”

  “That can make a difference?” Connor questioned.

  “It certainly can. For instance, say that you could pass something across the table to someone else when you were calm. That would indicate you were in control of your powers, not the other way around.”

  “Ah.” He stood for a moment and then frowned. “You know, until I pushed Cordy I didn’t know I could even move anything. I just knew I could talk to Clarity at first. And then on the way here, I realized that I could talk to all my sisters.”
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  Cordelia stepped back and looked at him. “Did you just call me Cordy?”

  Connor suddenly looked sheepish. “I guess I did. That’s okay, right?”

  “I’ll have to think on it. My late husband was the only one who ever called me that.”

  “Oh. I’m sorry. I should have…”

  “Don’t worry. I didn’t say I didn’t like it. I’m just not sure I’m comfortable with anyone else calling me that just yet.” She smiled and playfully pushed his shoulder. “Let’s get some of these tests done. We need to see about new china for the company apartment.”

  “I guess we do.” He set about the tasks with a new vigor. He would be spending the night in the same house as Cordelia.

  Chapter Seven

  Laughter was good medicine, Connor decided, as his family and Cordelia’s gathered in the large living room of the company apartment. He hadn’t really expected anything but when he opened the door of the place and walked past the kitchen into the living room, the gathering had surprised him. They had made it a welcome to the family party. He could feel the love and concern surrounding him. For the last hour his father and step-mother were telling him the antics of his sisters.

  “I hope we haven’t bored you with all our talk of the girls.”

  Conner, who had been somewhat distracted by the sight of Cordy playing with her son, looked at his father. “No, you haven’t. It’s good to know one’s siblings. It does make me wish I had been here, though, and that makes me a little sad.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be. It wasn’t your fault nor does it make me think any less of this family.”

  “I just wish…” The old man stood and clenched his fists.

  Connor gently touched his arm. “Don’t. I’m the person I am today because of everything that’s happened to me. I could have turned into something horrible but I didn’t. I’d like to think it’s because I have my parents’ genes.”

  He could see the man visibly relax.

  “If you’re sure…” The all powerful leader of the Elite Clan seemed unsure of himself.

  “I’m positive. I really do appreciate all that you’ve done for me so far. I just need to find my place here.”

  “I could set you up in the executive office.”

  “Dad…” He looked over to Justin and his sister, Chastity. While they hadn’t said anything to him, he could feel the underlying current of mistrust and envy. He had usurped their place in the scheme of things. Although he knew they would never say anything, there would always be a tension there if he went on the path his father proposed. “I really think that Justin had his heart set on it. I really don’t need to be the number one guy to know I’m important to you.”

  “I know this is hard, son.”

  “Not as hard as it is on them.” He looked at his sisters, all who were talking quietly amongst themselves and their mother, leaving Connor and his father some privacy. “Dad, they all love the fact that I’m here, I can tell, but it has really turned their world upside down.”

  Charles looked at the women and sighed. “I suppose you’re right.”

  “I don’t want to do anything that would upset them even further. Let’s all get used to me being here instead of with the Betas.”

  “I agree.” He fell silent for a moment and then continued. “Your mother was a wealthy woman when she died. Joanna and she were all that were left of her family. They came from old money. While Joanna claimed everything once we thought you and your mother dead, now that you’re here a portion of it needs to revert back to you.”

  Connor nodded his head. This would allow him time to sort out what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. “That’s good. Just how much money are we talking about here?”

  “Suffice it to say that you are a millionaire many times over, young man.”

  Connor almost spewed his drink all over the living room. “That much, huh?” he finally managed to croak.

  “Sorry, didn’t mean to make you choke on your drink.”

  “That’s okay. Cordy had already informed me that I was part of a very wealthy family. I just didn’t expect to have that much personal wealth.”

  “Your aunt is very good at investing. She took the original amount, put half of it in secure investments and with the rest she’s been playing the market for years.”

  Connor smiled. “I guess I’ll have to have her give me some lessons.”

  “Lessons on what? And just who will be giving the lessons?” Joanna came and slipped her arm through Charles’.

  “We were talking about your prowess with investments and Connor was saying he would need to take lessons from you.” Charles looked down at his wife fondly.

  “I would love to help you. I suppose your father has told you that you’re a very wealthy young man.”

  “He has and it’s a lot to take in at once.”

  “I agree it probably is.” Justin came and stood next to Charles. “If you need any help in that area, just let me know.”

  “I just told Dad that I don’t expect to be in the executive office. I just don’t feel that’s where I’ll end up. Heck…I don’t even know what you guys do here yet.” Connor could see the relief wash across the man’s face.

  “I’m sure that we can find a place for you.”

  “You know, one of the things I definitely want to do is to study and travel. This is the furthest from Brey Forest that I’ve ever ventured. I know there’s a whole big world out there that I want to explore.”

  “I know what it’s like being cooped up by the Betas for long periods,” Lucas interjected and walked over to join them. “Since I’m sure you really weren’t out that much, I can totally understand your need for learning and traveling.”

  “I was pretty much allowed to roam until Clarity showed up. I questioned things then and the next thing I knew I was locked up.”

  “I’m sorry that happened to you because of me.”

  “I’m not.” He gently touched his sister’s arm. “Clarity, you and I couldn’t have known what was going on. I’m just glad that you still remembered when you returned and realized immediately we were related.”

  “How did you do that, sis?” Charity asked and peered at her sister intently.

  “I don’t know. I could just sense there was something about him. It felt the same way as when I talk to one of you. It came naturally and easily, so I could only surmise we were related.”

  “I’m glad you did.” Charles beamed at his youngest daughter.

  “There’s just one thing that confuses me, though,” Lucas began, “why did they let you go so easily?”

  Connor looked at the man and swallowed hard. “You too, huh?”

  “You sense it? You sense that something else is at play here?” Lucas frowned.

  “Yes, the Betas are up to something. I immediately thought that. Cordelia told me what they had done mentally to people -- wolfen people -- they’d captured, and I immediately became even more suspicious. I mentioned it before to Dad that I thought they let me go much too easily.”

  Cordelia came up with a very sleepy young man on her shoulder. “I’ve got to put him down, but I’d like to hear more on this.”

  “Tom, what did you find out today?”

  “Since Cordelia was in on the testing today, I’ll brief you while she puts Iain down.” Tom smiled. “Go do what you need to do.”

  Cordelia nodded and went down the hall.

  “So what type of testing did you do?” Joanna questioned.

  “I think we should all sit down for this conversation. It might take a while.”

  Everyone slowly meandered to the couches and chairs surrounding the large fireplace. Those who didn’t have drinks poured their own and made themselves comfortable.

  “The tests that we did ranged from simple to complex.”

  “And?” Joanna asked and looked intently at Tom.

  “Well…the simple ones were where I would ask Connor to tell me what card or emblem w
ould be there when I held one up. He passed that one with flying colors. The next was a little bit more challenging.”

  Connor could see the concern flicker on his aunt’s face. “Tom thought that maybe my psychic pushing of Cordelia was more stress related than actual.”

  “Meaning?” Clarity asked.

  “Meaning, that I can only toss things when I’m under duress, be it anger or fear. It didn’t seem to matter.”

  “So what I did was use Cordelia as the duress giver.” Tom beamed.

  All chuckled as Cordelia came back into the room.

  “You told them, didn’t you?” She scowled at Tom.

  “It would hardly be fair if I didn’t.” Tom smiled broadly at her. “I think you did a great job, don’t you, Connor?”

  Connor shifted a little uncomfortably in his seat. The type of job Cordelia did or didn’t do hadn’t even come into the picture as far as he was concerned. All he knew was that his body reacted to this woman every time she came near him. “Umm…yeah…you could say that.”

  “It took a lot of effort on my part to get you to even want to hit me.”

  Connor eyed her cautiously. “You don’t play fair is what it is. Right, Tom?”

  “Hey…we’re not on the research floor any more. Besides, I know better than to take sides in this family.” He smiled down at his wife snuggled right up next to him.

  “Yeah, he knows he’s not allowed to take sides at all. Except if it’s my side.” Clarity smiled smugly.

  Again, the laughter was contagious.

  “No, really, Connor is right. I couldn’t get a rise out of him at all. The only thing I could do was fight unfair.” Cordelia looked at them all. “I couldn’t even get him mad at me until I started pulling some dirty stuff.”

  “That’s pretty unusual in itself. While my experience hasn’t been as extensive as Lucas’s, I would have thought that anything associated with the Betas would have been a hothead.” Justin looked around at the group.