Kiss of Moonlight

by Stephanie Julian

  The laughter rioting through his head made him feel the slightest bit out of control. And when she frowned at him, he realized he was must be grinning at her because all he could think was, Honey, let me show you just what you’d be getting.

  Gods be damned, Fate was a real bitch. And if he was feeling particularly daring, he’d say that to Nortia’s face. She’d probably laugh and agree. Then she’d tell him to man up and get with the program.

  This girl with her scarred heart, her abused body and mind and her total ignorance of the world he lived in was his. He didn’t have a rational explanation for how he knew it. He just did. And it wasn’t just lust. Lust he could control.

  This…was something different.

  So what the hell was he supposed to do with her?

  Yeah, he had a few ideas but—

  “Kyle! Kyle, we’ve got trouble!”

  Chapter Three

  Startled, Tam nearly slid off the stool as the raised male voice echoed through Kyle’s house.

  And when the front door burst open, she jumped to her feet, ready to run. Only the sudden press of Kyle’s strong body at her back held her in place before he stepped in front of her, as if to shield her, as a man walked through the door carrying Cat.

  No, not a man. A teenager. Maybe sixteen or seventeen, as tall as Kyle and almost as broad. He held Cat against his chest, her arms around his shoulders clinging tight.

  Kyle’s entire body tightened. “Tivr, what the hell—”

  “Two guys in the forest. They almost saw Norty before she got away. Cat and I led them away from this house before we ditched them and doubled back. We never heard them coming, never scented them. They were headed toward the Guliano place. We need to check them out. Now.”

  Check them out? What the hell did this kid mean? Why the high drama for a couple of men walking in the woods?

  Her head spinning, unable to made heads or tails of what was happening, Tam turned to look up at Kyle. “What’s going on?”

  For the two seconds he looked at her, his gaze burned. Regret and a blazing anger simmered in his eyes and she had the briefest hint of fear. Which made his mouth pull into a tight flat line.

  “Cat, take Tamra into the safe room with you and don’t come up until we get back. If Nortia returns with backup, tell them where we went.”

  Tam blinked, everything moving too fast for her to comprehend. “Kyle, what—”

  “I’m sorry, baby.” He shook his head. “I’ll explain when I get back. Just stay with Cat, okay? Please, just do it.”

  Then he leaned down and pressed his lips against hers in a short, hard kiss and started running for the front door. Shedding his clothes as he went.

  She watched his shirt fall to the floor and he was working on the button of his jeans when he disappeared out the door.

  The kid holding Cat set her on her feet and brushed a hand over her bright hair before he took after Kyle.

  Leaving Tam staring after them with her mouth hanging open.

  Until Cat grabbed her hand and started pulling her toward the side wall in the kitchen.

  “Come on, Tam. We have to get in the safe room.”

  Safe room? Why would they need to get in a safe room because there were men in the forest? Why would they need a safe room at all?

  She looked at Cat, the girl’s expression showing a fear that didn’t sit right with Tam.

  “What’s going on?”

  Cat finally dragged her to the wall and kicked the baseboard. “I don’t know. I only know Ty nearly freaked when he caught the guy’s scent. Shit, that’s not what I meant. I meant caught sight of them.”

  No, Cat meant exactly what she’d said but Tam couldn’t focus on that right now because the wall slid open to reveal a set of steps doing down into darkness.

  And terror opened a huge black pit in her stomach. “No. I’m sorry. I’m not going in there, Cat.”

  Cat flipped a switch and a dim glow appeared near the bottom of the steps.

  Didn’t help. No way, no how. Not enough light. Not enough space, enough air. It reminded her—

  “Tam, please.” Cat tugged on her hand. “I won’t go without you. I know it’s dark and scary but I need you to come with me. I don’t like the dark either. Please, please come with me.”

  How did this girl know she didn’t like the dark? Had she said those words aloud? How could Cat know she’d been held hostage in a closet, tied up and gagged while the man who’d raped her slept in her dead mother’s bed?

  Tam forced herself to look at Cat and saw a reflection of her own fear on the girl’s face. That more than anything motivated her to move.

  “Okay.” She took a deep breath. “All right, Cat. We’ll go down there. But I want to know what’s going on when we do.”

  Cat nodded, her unbound hair bouncing around her shoulders. “I’ll give you all the answers I can. Just please hurry.”

  Taking a deep breath, as if she were about to submerge herself in water, Cat started down the stairs. She didn’t know who held the other’s hand tighter but by the time they reached the bottom of the stairs, they were both trembling.

  The stairs led to an open room almost as big as the upstairs, decorated like a basement play room. Only with more weapons.

  A lot more weapons.

  “Jesus, Cat,” she breathed as she drifted toward the center of the room. “What…”

  “It’s okay, they’re Dad’s.” Cat stopped at the bottom of the stairs and started to flip switches. “He told you he was in private security, right?”

  “Yeah, he just didn’t…mention weapons.”

  Which was stupid. Of course he’d have weapons. She had nothing against them. She’d just never seen so many in one place. Christ, he had an arsenal down there. Blades of every shape and size. But only two guns, unlike anything she’d ever seen before. Blocky and matte black, like wrought iron. Weird.

  A whoosh of air brought Tam around to look at Cat. The door at the top of the stairs had closed, shutting them in. Now that she was down here, and since it wasn’t as cramped as she’d imagined it would be, Tam wasn’t as freaked out. But Cat wasn’t doing as well.

  “Hey, sweetie, are you okay?” Tam walked over to the girl and put her arm around her. Her body shook and the smile she turned to Tam was more like a grimace.

  “I’m fine. I just don’t like to be confined.”

  “Yeah, me either.” Though hopefully not for the same reason. “Why don’t we go sit over here and you can tell me what’s going on.”

  Cat shook her head as they sank onto the couch in the farthest corner of the room away from the door. “I honestly don’t know. Ty got all bent out of shape on our run.”

  “That’s the boy you were with?”

  Cat screwed up her face in something resembling an apologetic smile. “Yeah, we, uh, met him when Nortia and I were out running.”

  Tam sensed that was a lie but why would Cat lie about something so innocuous? “What happened to Nortia? Wait, did…did that boy say something about her leaving? What did he mean? She just left you?”

  Cat dropped her gaze to stare at her knees. “No, not really. Nortia tried to draw the men away and Ty brought me home.”

  Now, Tam wasn’t the greatest at spotting a liar. Hell, she’d allowed the man who’d attacked her into her apartment just because she’d recognized his face. But Cat was lying. And Tam had no idea why.

  “Cat—”

  “No, please don’t ask me any more questions.” Cat hung her head even further. “Blessed Goddess, I’m so sorry but I can’t answer them.”

  The teen sounded heartbroken and Tam stared at her in disbelief. The situation had turned surreal.

  So far tonight, Tam had nearly jumped a man who had to be almost twice her age and he’d devoured her as if she were his last meal. Then he’d rushed out of his home to confront two strangers on his land, with a teenager at his side, as if they were armed marauders. And now she was trapped in a basement safe room with a freake
d-out girl who couldn’t stop shaking and looked ready to puke.

  No, not puke. Crawl out of her skin.

  “Cat, are you okay?”

  The girl shook her head. “No.” The tears in her voice tore at Tam’s heart. “I didn’t mean to yell. I’m sorry.”

  Tam reached for her shoulder, hoping to comfort. “Hey, it’s okay. Just talk to me. Tell me about the guy. Is he your boyfriend?”

  Cat’s laugh sounded more like a sob that she couldn’t hold back. “No, not my boyfriend. Although…”

  “You like him.” Tam tried for a teasing tone, hoping it would make Cat smile. No such luck. It actually made her look worse. Tam put her arm around the girl and drew back with a gasp before resting her hand on Cat’s forehead. “God, you’re burning up.”

  “I know. I can’t help it.” Now the girl looked at her with overflowing eyes. “I’m so sorry. I can’t hold it together. I hate being in here and the moon is full tonight. It’s too much. I don’t want to scare you. Please don’t be scared, Tam. Please don’t—”

  The girl tore herself off the couch and ran for the other side of the room, where she folded herself into the corner.

  Startled, Tam just sat there.

  “I’m sorry,” Cat cried. “I’m so sor—”

  Then the girl gasped and dropped to her knees on the floor. Tam shot to her feet, ready to run to her when her vision went fuzzy.

  Or Cat did.

  Tam froze, her mind unable to process what she was seeing as Cat disappeared right in front of her eyes.

  No, not disappeared. Changed.

  Between one blink and the next, the girl was gone. A shimmer of light, or sparks, remained in her place for a brief second, a shimmer that dissipated like summer fog.

  Then the little black dog she’d been feeding stood in the exact spot.

  The dog whined, looking up at her with Cat’s bright blue eyes.

  Tam opened her mouth to speak. Then closed it again.

  She blinked but the dog was still there. Still staring at her.

  No.

  Tam sat up slowly, wondering if she’d finally had that break with reality the doctors had warned her about. They’d told her if she continued to repress her feelings about her attack, she might experience some dissociation. Was that what this was? Had she gone crazy?

  The little dog cocked its head to the side and whimpered, as if she’d done something to be ashamed of. The sound made Tam’s heart hurt.

  Maybe the dog wasn’t real. Maybe if she tried to touch it, it would disappear.

  Forcing her feet to move, Tam walked to the dog, shivering by the wall where she’d seen Cat disappear.

  When she was close enough to touch, Tam forced her knees to bend and put her hand on the animal’s head.

  Silky fur, black as midnight, slid under her hand as she began to pet the dog. It felt real. So very real.

  Tam opened her mouth, but no sound emerged. After a deep breath, she tried again.

  “Cat?”

  The dog smiled and its fluffy tail began to wag.

  Tam felt like a hundred-pound weight dropped on her chest. She drew in a ragged breath, nearly choked on it but forced her hand to continue to pet the dog.

  Her head began to spin, questions repeating in ever-increasing circles.

  Had she really seen Cat disappear? Was this Cat now sitting in front of her? In the form of a dog?

  “No.”

  The dog whimpered, its little head and shoulders sagging as if she’d kicked it.

  “I’m crazy, right? It finally happened. None of this is real.”

  The dog huffed, as if exasperated. Could dogs be exasperated? Or was this just another manifestation of her madness?

  The dog rubbed her head against Tam’s hand, her cool wet nose brushing against her leg, shocking her back to reality.

  No, the dog was real. Lifting the hand that wasn’t petting the dog to her thigh, she pinched. Hard.

  And gasped in pain.

  Tensing, the dog stared up at her with wide eyes.

  “Holy shit.”

  She could barely hear her own voice, almost like an echo of sound. But she heard the dog’s whine clearly. As if asking a question.

  It took all her courage to look the dog in those light blue eyes and say, “Cat?”

  The doggy smile appeared again and the tail started to thump.

  “Holy shit.”

  Magic. The word flitted around in her head as she tried to grasp the concept.

  She didn’t believe in magic. Her mom had never read her fairy tales at bedtime. Her mom had barely been around at bedtime because she’d been working a second job so they wouldn’t starve.

  Tam hadn’t grown up with dreams of falling in love with a man and having him whisk her away from her drab life. That just never happened.

  At least not to people like her and her mom. Her mom had scrimped and saved and worked, sometimes seven days a week.

  She’d ingrained in Tam the necessity of taking care of herself. Of believing in herself. Of trusting what she saw with her own eyes.

  Her mom had raised her to be practical.

  And that training had gotten Tam through the worst weeks after her attack, with her sanity intact. Sure, she had issues. Who wouldn’t?

  But Tam knew she’d seen Cat disappear and this dog reappear in the exact same spot. So either she’d finally lost it…or her eyes hadn’t lied.

  Cat had become this little dog.

  No, not a dog. Wolf.

  “Werewolf.”

  She said the word aloud and when she didn’t hear maniacal laughter, she took a deep breath and said it again.

  The dog barked, startling Tam, but the dog’s happy grin and tail wagging didn’t seem at all menacing. In fact, she got up and licked Tam’s face.

  “Cat, it is you, isn’t it?”

  The dog barked again and did an entire body wiggle, those blue eyes gleaming.

  Tam started to grin, shaking her head and let her butt hit the floor before she just toppled over. “Holy shit.”

  * * * * *

  Kyle refused to think about the situation he’d left at home.

  He knew if he didn’t put it out of his mind, he’d never be able to leave Cat and Tam.

  The look in Tam’s eyes…

  No.

  A growl rose up but he swallowed it. They needed silence. Already shifted into his wolf, he ran low to the ground and fast, Tivr at his heels.

  Rage flowed like lava through his veins. Someone had invaded his space. Someone who didn’t belong here. He didn’t tolerate trespassers. He couldn’t. He had too much to hide.

  And too much to lose.

  It didn’t take them long to reach Tam’s house but it wasn’t soon enough. The two men Tivr had seen earlier were already inside.

  As he raced for the front, Tivr cut off behind him, heading for the rear.

  Even though he now wore his wolf’s pelt, he thought like a man. And the man knew he didn’t want to rush in there and start ripping out throats. This wasn’t a kill mission. They needed information.

  So he slowed, keeping to the shadows where his black pelt made him invisible as he made his way to the porch. He smelled Tam’s scent all over it, now mixed with two other men. He’d make them pay for that.

  As he got closer, he heard voices, though he couldn’t make out what they were saying. By the time he got to the window, though, he heard them clearly. And he didn’t like what he heard.

  “Fuck, where the hell is she?”

  “She’s supposed to be here. She never fucking goes out.”

  “I don’t think she’s gone for good. Her stuff’s still here.”

  “We’re gonna have to wait her out. Shit.”

  Kyle fought back a growl. They were here for Tamra.

  But why the hell would they want her? Something related to the rape? She’d testified against the man who’d hurt her. Were these men here for retribution?

  “She wants us to bring the girl
back tonight.”

  “Yeah, I don’t wanna go back empty-handed.”

  She? They were working for someone? Who?

  He needed to know.

  Slipping around the back, he found Tivr sitting at the back door, head cocked to the side as he listened.

  Since he needed to be able to talk, Kyle had to retake his human body, and that little hitch in his chest forced him to take a deep breath.

  He was a man and his body knew its true form. But there were tales, told to scare young children, of how some versipelli became trapped in their animal form, never to be human again. After so many years, they became feral, losing their humanity forever.

  As an assassin, Kyle sometimes thought he had to submerge his humanity to do his job. That each kill chipped away another piece of his soul. As a soldier, he had a duty to his king and people. He kept them safe from those who would maliciously expose their secrets or seek to use their powers for evil.

  Many of his kills had been Malandante, a sect of Etruscan descendents who chose to use their magic against their fellow Etruscans or for monetary gain and power. A year ago, there’d been an increase in Mal violence, an attack against a hidden enclave of Etruscan Fata, elemental beings of Etruscan descent. Though successfully thwarted, it had been a wakeup call.

  Then last month, someone had kidnapped one of the streghe in Margie and Cat’s boschetta.

  Not everyone was convinced that had been a Mal attack. The kidnapper had possessed power, but once the boschetta had examined the body, they’d discovered the man’s magic had a mishmash of origins. Not just Etruscan or Celtic, but some of both, with a little Norse and Egyptian thrown in, as well.

  He’d been killed before anyone could question him. But Kyle knew the man had said something about a “she” who wouldn’t stop.

  “All I can say is good luck,” were his last words.

  Against what?

  No one had been able to find out and there’d been no other attacks on the boschetta since then.

  Were these men working for the same woman who’d organized the kidnapping?

  And what would they want with Tam?

  They needed answers.