The Lunar Curse (The Ayla St. John Chronicles, #2)

by C. J. Pinard

  “No,” Evan said. “Churches are locked up tight at this hour. Furthermore, no, holy water alone won’t do it. Doesn’t even work on vampires.”

  “Good to know,” I replied.

  “Because we aren’t evil,” Karina added.

  “I got it,” I said, biting back a smile.

  My phone rang. Speaking of vampires.

  “Hi, Beck, long time no talk.”

  “Hey, girl. I miss your face. We need to get together soon,” he replied.

  “I agree. What are you up to?”

  “Nothing, just chillin’ at home, working. I was just thinking about you.”

  The three in the car were staring at me as if the call was life-changing or something. I turned away from their prying gazes. “Aw that’s sweet. I miss you, too. We could hang out tomorrow.”

  “What are you doing right now?” he asked.

  “On a stakeout. Gonna try to kill my attacker.”

  He made a scoffing noise. “You still haven’t taken care of that? What’s wrong with you? Just meet him outside his house and put an end to him!”

  “It’s not that easy, I’m afraid. He leaves out through the garage, then drives straight to a building full of vamps. Although tonight I suspect he’s bumping uglies with an ‘essential demon’—whatever the hell that is.”

  “Ew! Are you serious? Those things are nasty and scary. He must be under a serious allusion.”

  Annoyed that he had never told me about allusion, I decided to address it later. “Remember the scary frightening woman he was having an orgy with? Yeah, that’s her.”

  “Holy crap,” he breathed. “That makes sense now. You’re sure she’s a demon, though?”

  “What other explanation is there? Of how terrified we all felt?”

  He was quiet for a minute, and replied, “You’re right. Scary-ass bitch. Make sure you get your fancy new dagger blessed by a priest or else you won’t be able to kill her.”

  I laughed. “I just love how everyone has all this information about the supernatural world, but nobody ever bothers to fill me in on it. It’s like Ayla gets to learn the hard way!”

  “Hey,” he said, and I heard some keys clacking from where he was typing, “you don’t ask, we don’t know what to tell you. I can’t read minds, you know.”

  I rolled my eyes, and then put my sights back on the building, where I saw my two targets emerge and begin walking freely on the street.

  “Gotta go, Beck. See you tomorrow. Text me with the when and where.”

  I hung up and watched curiously as they actually held hands and began strolling down the street as if it were a nice spring day and they were on their way to the lake to have a picnic.

  “What the hell?” Aden whispered as we all watched the couple continue to walk.

  “Fuck it, let’s follow them,” I said, pointing at them.

  Evan nodded and started up the SUV, leaving his headlights off.

  He waited until the couple went around the corner of the next block and then drove slowly in that direction.

  “So, what can this so-called demon do to us?” I asked to no one in particular as we quietly parked on the corner and watched them continue to walk.

  “Possession, mind control. Like that woman. She’s not actually the demon, there’s just one inside the poor lady,” Karina answered quietly.

  I shuddered. “No shit. Well, how do we get it out?”

  Karina glanced at her husband, then looked back at me. “We have to kill the host.”

  “What!” My eyes went wide. “We can’t save her?”

  Evan shook his head. “I don’t think so. The only other option is if the demon chooses to leave the host, then she might live.”

  “I’m gonna call Sanja,” I said under my breath, pulling my phone out.

  “A witch might help,” Karina said thoughtfully.

  Aden put his hand on my arm. “Ayla, it’s three in the morning. She’s a student. Don’t wake her up.”

  I nodded and put my phone away. “You’re right. Man, I am losing all sense of reality anymore.”

  The couple stopped walking and we watched as Alexander put the demon woman up against the wall of a closed deli window and began kissing her.

  “Gross,” Aden groaned.

  “What is this mind-control said you said about demons earlier?” I pointed at the couple, but then looked at Karina. “Is that what she’s doing to him?”

  “Most likely,” she replied, putting a pale finger to her mouth. “But maybe not. She is very beautiful.”

  “But she’s scary as fuck,” Aden said. “How is he not scared of her, when even you guys know to keep your distance?”

  “He’s very young,” Evan replied. “It probably didn’t take much allusion.”

  Through the darkly tinted windows of the SUV, we watched as Alexander reared his head back and bared his fangs. The demon twisted her neck to the side to allow him access, and as he bit down into her jugular, a strange gray cloud seemed to float out of her smiling mouth and hover over the both of them, before it shot lightning-fast into Alexander’s mouth, at which time they both dropped unconscious to the ground below.

  “Holy shit!” I gasped, grabbing the door handle and rushing out of the vehicle along with the rest of the group. We ran over and Evan picked up the woman’s body and blitzed back to the car with it. I stood over Alexander’s body while Karina yelled at me to get in the car.

  With my dagger twirling in my fingers, I spun it one last time in my fingers.

  “Ayla, no! Leave it alone! Get away from that thing!” I faintly heard my brother yell.

  I grinned. “Fuck that, I’m finishing this.”

  I heard Karina behind me. “We don’t know what happens to the demon when you kill the host. It could jump into you, me, or any one of us. Please, let’s do this the right way and get the dagger blessed so we can send it back to Hell. You’ll most likely just end up pissing it off.”

  “I don’t care about the demon. I just want to kill Alexander,” I snarled.

  I felt arms grab me around the waist and drag me away. Aden. “Let’s go, we do this another day.”

  Just then, Alexander opened both eyes, which were jet-black with no whites at all, and smiled up at us, fangs proudly on display. “You want to play, wolf?”

  It jumped up and lunged at us. Aden let go of me and snatched the dagger from my fist. He lifted his arm up high and then sliced downward. He took off Alexander’s hand, to which he began to shriek as the blood squirted out of it in gory red arcs.

  I screamed like a banshee as the blood hit me in the face, and Aden dragged me to the G-Wagon. I pushed the woman’s body to the middle of the seat and got in. Aden hopped in, practically on top of me, and slammed the doors closed as Evan drove off, tires screeching.

  “Head to the hospital. We’ll drop this woman off, and then figure out what to do after that,” Karina ordered.

  Evan nodded.

  I looked at the unconscious woman, still a little scared of her, but I knew the demon was gone. I could hear her heart beating faintly and was glad we were going to get her to the hospital.

  I turned around and watched as Alexander-demon ran toward the SUV holding his bleeding stump and looking murderous.

  I put up both middle fingers and said, “Explain that to your fake family, asshole!”

  Chapter 12

  Just when I thought I had gotten all the blood out of my hair, I peered closer to the bathroom mirror and saw more blackish sludge in my blonde bangs. I groaned and wetted another paper towel and began to scrub. When I was sure that was out, I inspected my face and neck carefully to see if I had any more blood. Satisfied it was clean, I left the bathroom to head back into the bar.

  It was close to four a.m. and I loved that Moon Chasers stayed open until six. I needed a breather.

  As I walked down the hall, I smacked right into a tall, solid wall of delicious-smelling goodness. I looked up slowly to see Kellan smiling down at me.


  “Hello little wolf,” he said silkily.

  I swallowed hard. “Hi.”

  He slithered an arm around my waist and pulled me to him. I involuntarily wrapped my arms around him, resting my head on his chest, and almost melted. I hadn’t realized until that very moment how much comforting I’d needed.

  Kellan pulled back slightly and looked at me with alarm in his eyes. “Why do you smell like demon blood?”

  My eyes widened, and as I was about to tell him the story about what had happened, I remembered my vision from earlier. I wanted to be mad at him for spying on me, but knew I couldn’t. I had to remain on his side in order to get to Linden. Plus, his scent and damn sexy voice just seemed to disarm me every time.

  I’m so weak.

  I pulled back slightly and cleared my voice. “Uh, Aden cut the hand off a demon, and I kinda got in the way.”

  His jaw tightened with what I could only assume was annoyance, and he gripped me gently by both arms. “Why is your brother slaying demons? That is very dangerous! You both stay away from them, do you hear me?”

  I yanked an arm out of his grip. “Geez, Kellan, I haven’t even told you the full story. He didn’t start out his night intent on slaying a demon. It wasn’t like that...”

  Before I could finish my sentence, Kellan blitzed into the men’s room so fast my ponytail blew in his wind. I shook my head. I would never understand that silly, infuriating vampire.

  Until I saw Aden come down the hall toward me. “Are you okay? You’d been in the bathroom a while, just came to check on you.”

  I looped my arm through his. “Yep, just great. I need a drink, then my bed.”

  He laughed. “Me, too. Except I gotta be at the jobsite at nine, so I will have one drink with you, then I need to get a couple hours’ sleep.”

  We sat at the table where Evan and Karina were nursing beers, and I ordered a round of tequila shots from the server. When she returned and asked if we needed anything else, I realized we all hadn’t eaten anything all night, so I ordered burgers for the wolves and let the vampire girl sip her beer.

  I looked around the bar, and was a little astounded to see it somewhat busy. Although it really shouldn’t have surprised me, since they were all vampires and the sun wasn’t close to being up yet.

  Kellan caught my eye as he came out from the hallway leading to the restrooms. His eyes met mine, and with the slightest incline of his head, indicated for me to follow him.

  I nodded slightly back at him.

  “To be-handing Alexander the Asshole,” I said, lifting my tequila shot. The others lifted theirs, and after clinking them together, we slammed them back.

  A hot shudder ran down my insides, and I set the glass down. I stood up and said, “I’ll be right back.”

  “Where are you going?” Karina asked.

  “I’ll be right back, I promise.” I smiled at her. “Just need some air.”

  She lifted an eyebrow, but I ignored her.

  I pushed the front door to the bar open and stepped out into the cool mountain air. Kellan stood on the corner of the street, and I turned right and walked toward him.

  Once I reached him, I shoved my hands into my pockets like some nervous teenager. “What’s up?” I asked.

  He reached down and pulled both hands out and placed them around his neck. Then he looped his arms around my waist and pulled me flush against his body. “What have you been up to, Ayla? I need you to be truthful with me.”

  I wasn’t sure I was crazy about his demanding attitude, but I had to remind myself of how old he truly was, and that he probably came from a completely different era.

  Flicking my gaze between his two burning blue orbs, I slowly nodded and said, “Can we go somewhere else and do this?”

  “Absolutely, love,” he replied, smiling. He grabbed my hand and led me around the corner to where his Porsche was parked. He opened the door, helped me inside, then went around and got into the driver’s seat, starting it up.

  Kellan put the car in drive and squealed out of the parking lot, driving at blinding speeds down the downtown streets.

  “Do you always drive this fast?” I asked, barely able to see the passing landscape as it blurred past.

  A half-smirk ticked up on his cheek, but he kept his eyes on the road. “Yes.”

  “Where are we going?” I asked, curious.

  “Somewhere else to ‘do this’,” he replied, quoting me.

  After deciding fastening my seatbelt was a good idea, I looked up and shifted my entire body toward him. “Okay, and where is that?”

  He didn’t answer me, but instead punched the accelerator and went even faster.

  I decided I’d better shoot off a text to my brother, and I did, telling him I was going home. I shoved the phone into my pocket, and after a few short, silent minutes, we arrived at my apartment complex. Confusion on my features, I looked at him. “You know where I live?”

  He parked the sports car and killed the engine. He turned his head slightly at me with faux confusion on his face. “Oh. You live here?”

  I bit back a smile. “Stop screwing around.”

  He chuckled and pulled put the key in his pocket, got out of the car, and opened my door. Helping me out with one hand on mine, I stood, and he closed the door behind me. Before I could walk, he chuckled and said, “Of course I know where you live, little wolf.”

  As I was about to protest some more, he pressed me against the side of the car. Reaching up with one hand, he gently slid the ponytail holder from my hair and dropped it to the ground without breaking eye contact with me. Kellan then reached up and tangled his fingers in my hair, gently gripping it at the scalp. He used my head to push me closer toward him, and when he captured my mouth with his, I groaned and gave up no resistance.

  What was it about this vampire that made me all gooey and compliant?

  I couldn’t put a finger on it, but I wasn’t sure I liked the vulnerability he brought out in me.

  While his warm tongue mingled with mine, I reached up and raked my fingernails through his hair, scraping them around to the back of his head where I drew circles against his skin as he continued to devour my mouth in a hungry, possessive move.

  When he finally broke the kiss, his chest was heaving. “Let’s go inside.”

  I nodded absently and let him lead me toward the building, where I used my key to get us inside. We kissed all the way up inside the elevator—which I never, ever used for safety reasons. But Kellan made me feel safe. Which was the exact opposite of how I should feel with a vampire who I knew had been spying on me.

  Why? I didn’t know, but I would find out.

  I unlocked my door and after we were inside, Kellan locked it quickly. He then turned around and grabbed my hand and led me to the couch, which sat near the bank of windows.

  A quick glance at the oven clock told me it was almost five in the morning. I wasn’t tired; I was actually feeling invigorated. I just wasn’t sure why I had a very sexy, mysterious vampire in my apartment.

  What am I doing?

  Did I want Kellan? Hell yes, I did. I hadn’t been this attracted to anyone for as long as I could remember.

  But, then I did remember.

  Ryder.

  What was going on with us? It seemed as though we were just going through the motions, wearing labels: Boyfriend/girlfriend.

  Truth was, I hadn’t seen him in almost two weeks. A text here, a call here. Our relationship was beginning to fizzle out, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. All he talked about was his career, how the job at the prison was just a stepping-stone for what he really wanted to do: Big time federal law enforcement. And I was happy for him. I knew he would be good at it. I just worried about how the whole werewolf thing would affect him.

  We’d been together since we were teens. Were we even the same people anymore? I still loved him, I knew that. But how much could I actually love him if I so willingly let Kellan into my apartment, and from the way things were looking.
.. into my bed soon?

  Kellan’s slow-running tongue up my neck distracted me from all thoughts of Ryder as we sat on my sofa, the twinkling lights of downtown Denver the only light inside my apartment.

  I groaned out loud and reached up, unbuttoning his shirt as quickly as my nimble fingers would allow. Once I had reached the bottom button, I broke the kiss, and, without breaking eye contact, shoved the black silk obtrusion off his shoulders. The pale, sculpted chest and stomach underneath caused another groan to float out of my mouth, which in turn made a small smile twist up on his beautiful mouth.

  “My turn, gorgeous,” he said in that delicious accent of his. My black leather jacket came off easily enough, but the skintight black tee was a bit of challenge. Growing inpatient, Kellan grabbed it at the V-neck and used both hands to tear it down the center.

  I gasped.

  Smiling in triumph, he tossed the shreds over his shoulder. That left me in nothing but a black-and-white polka dotted bra and my black leather pants.

  “Fuck,” he groaned, looking down at me.

  Biting my lip, I stared at him, completely aroused by his response to my body. I finally whispered, “Like what you see?”

  He nodded, then looked at me and breathed, “Oh, yes I do.”

  Leaning down, he kissed me again. I arched my head back, and as I slowly closed my eyes, a headache ripped through my skull, and then my world went dark.

  “I’ve got two grand here, take it or leave it. You don’t get to raise the price as soon as you see that I’m serious about doing business with you,” said the strange vampire, his jaw bunching in anger.

  Alexander smiled wickedly at the man. “Actually, I do. It’s twenty-five hundred. It’s an entire fuckin’ trunkful. I’m not gonna let it go cheap. Come on, dude. It’s B-positive and O-neg only. The good stuff.”

  The vampire, whose jet-black hair and once-olive skin looked sickly under the orange streetlamp of the parking lot, narrowed his eyes at Alexander, who I just now noticed had his left arm tucked into the pocket of his jacket.

  The other vampire stared him down for a bit, then relented, reaching into his pants pocket. “Fine.” He counted out the bills and slapped them into Alexander’s open right hand, where Alexander quickly folded them and tucked them into his pants pocket.