Moonlight Temptation

by Stephanie Julian

  “Are you sure you’re okay with me being here?” Cat asked as they got to the cabinet. “I don’t want to disrupt—”

  “I’m actually glad you’re here.” Evie gave her a squeeze as she pulled the game she wanted from the shelves. The teacher who’d stocked this room before her had done it with an unlimited pocketbook and every educational game Evie could have wanted was in this closet. “I was having a little trouble trying to get Mikey involved but with you here, that problem’s solved.”

  Cat gave her a hug too then blew out a sigh of relief. “Thank you. Mikey’s such a sweetheart. I used to babysit for him when Miki still worked in the city last year.”

  “No lessons of your own today?”

  “Nah, the dads and I were supposed train but Dad caught a meeting with Cole and Daddy Dan got called away to New Jersey to fix some problem at one of the clubs.”

  Evie knew part of the lucani-held businesses included a string of nightclubs along the east coast. She hadn’t known Dan had a hand in running them.

  The lucani and the streghe were tightly knit groups, intertwined in each other’s lives to a degree Evie had never encountered in her life. Her little family of four had been tight growing up as a child but both of her parents had been only children. No cousins, no aunts, no uncles, only aging grandmothers on each side who’d died when she was young.

  She and John had always been close, especially after their mom died a couple of years ago, but his career in the navy had kept them apart for months at a time. And then she’d been kidnapped…

  Her gaze strayed to Alex who was smiling and looking even better than he had yesterday.

  Yes, life was weird and strange and, sometimes completely fucked up.

  But she belonged here. She wanted to belong here. With Ryan and Dane and Cat and John and Kaine and a werewolf king. And goddesses and gods and little pointy-eared dwarves who made amazing food.

  She took the game to the table and began to set it up. “Mikey, Cat will be your partner and Jason and Alex can be partners.” She looked over her shoulder to see where Cat had gotten to and felt her heart stutter at the girl’s expression. “What—”

  “Shh.” Cat’s whisper barely reached Evie’s ears but she recognized the watchful stillness in the girl’s expression. “Everybody, get away from the—”

  The wood door splintered outward just as Evie sprinted for the boys. Jason and Mikey had immediately dropped to the floor and Jason was in the process of helping Alex off the chair and under the table by the time Evie reached them.

  A growl echoed from the other side of the room and Evie knew Cat had shifted into her pelt.

  “Evie!”

  From across the hall, she heard Ryan yelling and she opened her mouth to call to him but she couldn’t force the words to leave her mouth when a man walked through the blown-out door.

  She had no idea who he was. She’d never seen him before.

  But her skin crawled and she automatically moved to shield the boys. Mikey whimpered and clung to her leg while Jason and Alex froze, as if he wouldn’t notice them if they were quiet and still.

  The man was average height, average looks with average brown hair. Just another guy you might see on the street and never look at twice, dressed in a dark suit and black shoes.

  He let his gaze travel around the room with a dismissive gaze.

  As if nothing impressed him.

  When his gaze lit on her, she shivered.

  “What do you want?” she asked, her voice as shaky as her hands.

  The man ignored her. “Alex. Come out here.”

  Another set of hands clutched her other leg.

  “I don’t know who you are or how you got in here but you need to leave.”

  The man finally gave her an assessing look before dismissing her and focusing again on the boys beneath the table at her feet.

  “Alex, come out where I can see you. I’m your father and you will obey.”

  Cat’s growl from behind Evie warned her that the girl was about to attack but Evie waved her hand behind her back, signaling the girl to stay back.

  Cat had to be able to sense the man’s magic. He reeked of it. It oozed against her own like slimy mud, thick and black. The guy had power. Freakishly awesome power.

  Mal.

  She knew Alex’s father was Mal but Dane had told her he’d had nothing to do with Alex since he’d been born.

  But it was pretty damn obvious to Evie that he’d come to take Alex. By force, if necessary because he’d brought muscle.

  She noticed another man behind Alex’s father, this one dressed in military tactical. He stood in the doorway with his gun pointed across the hall.

  Directly into the lounge area where Ryan had been sitting.

  Fear raised her heart rate, wanted to make her crawl under the table with the boys and cower. Instead, she forced herself to stand her ground. “Alex is not going anywhere with you. You need to leave immediately.”

  The man looked at her as if she were a talking bug, a curiosity not worthy of his time.

  Turning his head, he spoke to the other man over his shoulder. “Take the girl. She’s the one Grace has been using. I can sense her magic tangled with Alex’s. Take the wolf too. Leverage is never a bad thing.”

  Another man in black slipped through the doorway, gun pointed directly at Evie.

  Which he fired point blank.

  * * * * *

  Ryan heard the kids scream as the distinctive sound of a tranquilizer gun went off.

  Once, twice. And another two times just after he heard a wolf growl, low and mean.

  Fury made him want to lunge for the door but the guy with the Ruger pointed at his head would have no problem shooting him if he moved the slightest inch.

  The guy had dead eyes.

  Ryan was surprised he was still alive.

  But whoever was taking Alex, Evie and Cat was in for a vicious surprise.

  The lucani wouldn’t stop until they’d gotten them back.

  And Ryan was pretty damn handy with a gun.

  If the guy made one wrong move…

  Through the doorway, he saw movement from the other room. Evie, thrown over the shoulder of another man in black. A second guy followed with Cat’s wolf in his arms. Then a man in an expensive black suit walked out with Alex in his arms before he stopped in the doorway, behind the man with the gun.

  He looked Ryan in the eyes as Ryan memorized his face. The guy had to know what he was doing and didn’t care.

  “Tell them I’ll kill the wolf if they attempt to follow. If the dogs obey, we’ll return it relatively unharmed.”

  “You have to know you’re a dead man,” Ryan said. “They’ll kill you.”

  “They’ll never find me. Let’s go.”

  Gun Man walked straight at Ryan, the weapon never wavering. Ryan braced for the blow he knew was coming.

  When it did, there was blinding pain.

  Then pitch darkness.

  * * * * *

  Dane ran flat out.

  He’d been in the middle of formulating more of the serum for Alex when the alarm at the community building began to sound.

  Since his lab was only yards from that building, he was one of the first to arrive.

  He saw a man put his hand over Ryan’s forehead just before he disappeared. And Ryan slumped to the floor.

  “Ryan! Evie!”

  He ran for Ryan but had to turn into the classroom when he heard crying.

  “Dr. Dane, they took Miss Evie and Cat and Alex.” Jason had his arms wrapped around Mikey protectively, but both boys had tears running down their faces. Dane bent to give them a superficial exam before ascertaining that they were okay.

  “I know.” He stood, pulling the boys to their feet as well. “Come with me. I have to check on Ryan and I want you two to stick close.”

  “Dane, what the hell’s going on?” John Simmons nearly broke the front door as he shoved it out of his way. “We heard the alarms—”

/>   “Someone took Evie, Alex and Cat. Call Margie and get her and Ronia here right now.”

  John froze, fear plain on his face as he relived his worst nightmare. He didn’t even move when the door burst open again as Kaine caught up with her mate.

  “Kaine, you have a better nose than I do. Use it.”

  Kaine didn’t hesitate to follow his order, though she took a second to squeeze John’s arm before her clothes disintegrated around her as she became a sleek gray wolf.

  And John finally pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.

  Dane was already kneeling next to Ryan, the two little boys standing very close to his side.

  Raised voices came from the hall as more people arrived. The low rumble of John’s voice didn’t compute as he tried to figure out what had been done to Ryan.

  His heart, his lungs, his pulse, all fine. He scented only the faintest whiff of magic on the guy but it was Mal magic, dark and bitter smelling.

  Fear rose in his gut but he forced it back. It would only hinder his examination, make him sloppy—

  Ryan’s eyes opened as if he’d been sleeping, yet with none of the grogginess. Relief crashed through Dane with the force of a hurricane.

  “Vaffanculo, Ryan—”

  “They took the girls and Alex.” Ryan propelled himself to his feet, shaking his head as if to clear it. “We’ve got to—”

  “Whoa, don’t move too fast. I don’t know what they did to you.”

  “I’m fine. We need to get Kaine here to track—”

  “She’s already here. Ryan, gods damn it, calm down and let me examine you.”

  Ryan shook off Dane’s hands. “I’m fine. We need to talk to Grace right now.”

  Dane felt his skin tighten. “Shit.”

  He turned to herd the boys out into the hall but realized they were no longer behind him. Their parents had arrived and were comforting them in the hallway. Several other lucani were also gathered there but Dane only needed one.

  “John, we need to get over to the holding facility.”

  John’s eyes widened for a brief second before he turned and ran for the door. Dane and Ryan couldn’t keep up with him but the building wasn’t too far away and, by the time they got there, John had confronted a terrified Grace.

  “Where is she? What the fuck did you do with my sister?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Please…” Grace shook her head, her face pale and her eyes wide in fright. “I don’t— Dane. Dane, what’s going on?”

  “Alex’s father took Alex, Evie and another child. Do you know where he took them, Grace?”

  Her eyes fluttered shut and her face blanched so pale, Dane stepped closer to catch her when she passed out. But after only a few seconds, she opened her eyes again.

  “If you have a strega strong enough, you can do a blood tracking spell.” Her voice had become flat, lifeless. “If not, have your lucani tracker bite me. They’ll be able to track Alex that way.”

  “You know we can’t do that—”

  “There’s one local connection you should check into now.” She continued on, her voice eerily calm. “Before he disappeared two years ago, Daniel Bonnini was affiliated with Ettore Marrucini’s holdings. I understand Bonnini’s holdings have been taken over by his niece who, I believe, has a strong connection to the Etruscans here in Berks County.”

  Dane’s jaw dropped before he could catch it. Tinia’s teat, the amount of information this woman had been able to acquire scared the shit out him.

  “Ettore wouldn’t have contacted her but he may have taken Alex and your females there to prepare them for transport elsewhere,” she continued. “And he probably used the Reading Airport to fly into. It’s smaller and easier to avoid questions and pay off employees for favors.”

  “Who the fuck is this Marrucini and why the hell didn’t he just use magic to take them wherever they were going?” John asked. “He disappeared them right the hell out of here fast enough.”

  “He’s Alex’s father and he’s only powerful enough to teleport seven people inside of a certain geographical area.”

  John left at a run as Dane knelt down to check Grace’s vitals. The pallor of her skin scared the shit out him.

  “If you don’t find them there, check in Florida. The Mal have strongholds in Tampa and Miami, though most of the businesses are run out of New York. I’ll give you the addresses of buildings I know are affiliated with the Mal but you won’t find Alex there.”

  A flush of color began to stain her cheeks as she reached for Dane’s hand. “My grandmother gave me to Marrucini when I turned nineteen. She thought I’d be useful breeding Mal since I’d failed to be born one. After I conceived the first time, he—”

  “The first time?” Dane shook his head as if that would make the sentence make a little more sense. “You have another child?”

  Grace’s chin lifted and he saw the sheen of tears in her eyes that she quickly blinked away. “A daughter. I haven’t seen her since the night she was born with the caul that marked her Malandante.”

  As Ryan paced like a caged cat, Dane forced back a horrified curse. “I’m sorry, Grace.”

  She just shook her head. “After my daughter was born, I was allowed more freedom. I went to work for my parents in New York City. My apartment was paid for by Marrucini and he visited when he was in town. When he wasn’t…” She shook her head and Dane had the feeling he knew exactly what happened to her when Marrucini wasn’t around. “When I got pregnant with Alex and blood tests confirmed the baby was his, Marrucini moved me to Florida. I have no idea where except that it was on the Gulf Coast.

  “After Alex’s birth, Marrucini told me he’d found another breeder who was more ‘proficient’.” Her mouth bent in a bitter sneer. “He said he would never acknowledge Alex so I was free to keep the child if I wanted. He put me on a plane back to my parents and they gave me a generous trust fund. After all, I’d provided at least one Mal child.”

  “Grace—”

  “You’ve got to find Alex.” Now the tears started to fall. “Please. He’s all I have left and I don’t trust anyone else with his life. Dane, that man will dissect Alex if he thinks he can make a profit from it. And there’s so much about Alex you don’t know. He’s special, Dane. You’ve got to get him back.”

  * * * * *

  “Cat. Cat. Damn it, Catene, wake up.”

  Evie had opened her eyes about five minutes ago. She knew that because there was a clock on the wall. Whether the time was correct was debatable but if it was, then she, Alex and Cat had only been taken a half hour ago.

  It’d taken her several minutes to tamp down the fear that wanted to choke her. But finally, using the techniques her brother had taught her to calm herself in stressful situations, she’d managed to sit up and look around the room without screaming in fear.

  No windows. One sturdy wood door with a tiny window at the top. No furniture. Cinderblock walls. She and Cat lay on a clean blanket on a dirty floor.

  She reached for her pocket. No cell phone. Damn.

  Cat still wore her pelt. She was breathing a little heavy but Evie thought that might be due to the tranquilizer.

  Her own head still felt fuzzy but it was clearing more every second.

  And anger was taking its place.

  She was fucking sick and tired of being a goddamn pawn. That anger sat in her stomach and boiled her blood.

  Whoever those men were, they better fucking hope nothing happened to Alex or Cat. Because Evie had enough juice to fry them right now. The only problem was, she was afraid she’d burn the entire building down.

  Cat snuffled but still didn’t wake and maybe that was for the best. She might go for the jugular of the first person to step through the door and get herself tranq’d again.

  Where was Alex?

  For that matter, what the hell was this place? And where were the men who’d taken them?

  Closing her eyes, she used all her training to focus. To listen. />
  At first, she heard nothing but Cat’s wheezy breathing and the hum of electricity running through the walls.

  Frustration began to rise but she dismantled it before it could shatter her concentration.

  She knew they weren’t alone, could sense the presence of other people. Felt someone else’s magic. That dark, slimy, cold magic she’d felt before.

  She latched on to that, swallowed her fear and followed that back to the source.

  There! Voices, indistinct but getting louder. Two older males and one younger. Alex. It had to be Alex.

  “Damn it.” She couldn’t hear what they were saying. They were just too damn far away.

  With a huff, she opened her eyes and stared at the door.

  Whoever had taken them knew they needed her to keep Alex healthy. But did they know she could wield her own magic?

  She hoped not. An element of surprise would be nice.

  But she had to be smart. She had to have a plan.

  Moving Cat so the wolf’s body was shielded behind her, Evie sat directly facing the door.

  If anyone tried to separate them, she’d burn their ass. Literally.

  Her fury fueled her magic. And it felt fucking great. Now she just needed some control. She’d found enough last night with Ryan and Dane. She could do it now.

  She knew the lucani would come after them. Dan and Kyle would tear down cities to get their daughter back. Her brother would be right behind them.

  And Dane and Ryan would be by their side. She knew it in her gut.

  Her men wouldn’t sit on their butts and let others save her. They’d come.

  And Evie had to be ready.

  * * * * *

  “Do exactly as I tell you,” John practically growled, “and stay the hell out of the way.”

  Ryan nodded as he retrieved Dane’s go-bag from the back of John’s Jeep. Although traffic raced by on Route 183, John had managed to find a parking lot not far from Reading Regional Airport off a side street in a deserted industrial mall.

  It’d only taken John and Kaine fifteen minutes to put this operation together and Ryan was impressed as shit.

  And spitting mad about not being able to go after Evie with them. Still, he understood why John didn’t want him along.