Moon Revealed

by Jennifer Snyder

The feel of it had my wolf begging to be set free. She knew I’d let her do her thing as soon as I was ready, but she still pressed.

  The seven of us watched as Tate and Octavia made their way toward an unsuspecting Penny and Mike. Octavia was smooth in her movements, and her fighting style was graceful. She took Penny down without much effort. Tate had a lot to learn from her, but he still managed to take out Mike without much issue.

  I held my breath afterward, waiting to see if any of the vampires inside had heard the commotion. No one seemed to. Still, my unease refused to leave. Instead, it intensified.

  Was this a trap?

  I prayed it wasn’t.

  “How many ways are there to enter the house?” I asked Benji as I stared at the front door.

  “Two. A front door and a back door,” Benji said.

  “Is there a basement or cellar?” I asked. There had to be another way in. Using either door seemed too risky.

  We could always use a window, though.

  “Oh, wait. There is a door on the other side of the house. It leads to the cellar, but I’m not guaranteein’ we’ll be able to get inside the house from down there.” Benji rubbed a hand along the back of his neck. “I can’t remember. It’s been too long since I was inside this place.”

  “Why are you looking for an alternate way in? You’re deviating from the plan,” Dorian said through clenched teeth. He’d always been a ‘stick to the plan’ kind of guy.

  “I don’t have a good feeling about entering through either of the doors. They’re going to expect it. Especially now that we’ve taken out their soldiers. What if we’re walking into a trap?” I blinked away the images of such a thing.

  “She’s right,” Eli agreed. “We should have thought of that beforehand. Benji, can you take us to the cellar door?”

  “Yeah, sure. It’s old, but last time I was here it was still usable. They stored canned vegetables and stuff from their garden down there.”

  “How long ago was that?” Dorian asked.

  “About eight or nine years ago.” Benji grinned. “I was like ten.”

  “Great. What if it’s filled with so much shit we can’t get through?” Tate asked.

  “That’s a good point,” Eli insisted. “We can’t risk it. The door leading into the house from the cellar might be padlocked shut, or even worse, there might not be one at all. We’re going to have to figure out something else.”

  “Do you remember the layout of the house?” Julian asked Benji.

  “Somewhat. Not like precise placement of things, but I can tell you what rooms are on what floor.”

  “What’s on the first floor?” Eli asked.

  “Typical stuff—living room, kitchen, bathroom, dining room. All the bedrooms were upstairs, and I think there was another bathroom up there. Oh, and there’s an attic. It’s the entire third floor,” Benji said.

  “How do you know so much about this place? I didn’t think Alec and Lilly were that good of friends,” I said.

  “They weren’t, but my dad and Lilly’s were. They bonded over farming stuff. Helped each other out from time to time. Her mom even babysat me a couple summers in a row.”

  “Oh.” I shifted my gaze from him back to the house.

  “Which rooms do those windows belong to?” Eli asked. He pointed to the windows facing us on the first floor.

  Benji scratched his neck. “I’m pretty sure that’s the dining room and kitchen.”

  “Were they connected or separate rooms?” Dorian asked.

  “Separate from what I remember.”

  “Okay, let’s head in through the dining room window, and pray they haven’t remodeled since Benji was last inside,” Eli insisted.

  Everyone either nodded in agreement or agreed verbally. I peeled off my clothes once Dorian and Eli had and noticed unease shift over Benji’s face.

  “What’s the matter?” I asked him, even though I knew.

  He cleared his throat, but kept his eyes on the house, refusing to look at me or the rest of my pack as we undressed.

  “Nothing, it’s just, for a second, I forgot what you were. Also, I didn’t think I’d be seeing my girl’s best friend naked today.” His cheeks reddened.

  “Oh. Well, I can’t shift with my clothes on,” I said.

  “No, I know.” He fished his dip from in his back pocket and pinched some out to cram inside his bottom lip.

  I loved he didn’t look at me. Benji was such a damn gentleman.

  Arturo, not so much.

  His eyes roamed my body, appraising every inch as he burned it to his memory.

  “If you weren’t already claimed by someone, I would keep you for my collection,” Arturo insisted when he realized I’d spotted him checking me out.

  “I would kill you before I let that ever happen,” I snapped while keeping my back straight and my eyes on him.

  “She would. And if by some stroke of chance she didn’t,” Eli said as he finished stripping out of his clothes, “I would.”

  “Enough,” Rowena chided. She stepped forward. “Let’s get inside that house and rescue my niece before it’s too late.”

  “I second that,” Benji insisted with a nod of his head.

  “Right,” Eli said. “Move forward when I do. We’ll go in through the dining room window. Once we’re inside, we’ll have to find the other vampire soldiers so they aren’t able to tip off Lilith or Roman, assuming neither know we’re here already.”

  “Can you make it through the window in your wolf forms, or will you guys be shifting to wolves once we’re inside?” Benji asked.

  “The windows look low enough to the ground for us to enter in wolf form,” Eli said seconds before I felt the first flickers of moon magic filter through the air from around him.

  I followed suit, as did Dorian and Tate, and gave into my wolf. She’d been waiting, so the transformation was swift. In seconds, the four of us were standing with a witch, four vampires, and a human ready to go to war with the enemy. We rushed forward as a solid unit, a pack, a group of unlikely friends coming together to take down a shared enemy.

  The question wasn’t whether we would win, but if we would survive.

  21

  Shrouded in darkness we crept to the house. Julian stepped to the dining room window first. He opened it without making noise, which was impressive considering how old the house was. I figured creaky windows would’ve been a given.

  Maybe luck was on our side.

  Maybe it was the goddess of the moon looking over us. After all, in times of crisis she always seemed to be.

  Lights were on inside the house, but the dining room was cast in shadows. Voices made their way to my ears as I paced near the window, waiting for the others to slip inside so I could. Unease twisted in my gut. I didn’t like this. Neither did my wolf. All I wanted was to get Ridley and get the hell out of here.

  “And we’re in,” I heard Julian say from behind me. I glanced back to see he and Rowena, as well as his sisters, were already inside the Pendergrass home.

  Apparently, a vampire didn’t have to be invited in like I’d always thought. Myth busted.

  Julian motioned to Benji. “Come on.”

  “What about them?” Benji nodded to me and my pack. “Should I—”

  “Lift them? No. They can make it inside on their own,” Julian said.

  “Oh. Okay.” Benji shrugged. He spit before hoisting himself into the house.

  Arturo was next to slip through the window. A smirk twisted his lips.

  Was he excited at being so close to capturing Lilith for his collection again?

  God, he was sick.

  Eli nudged me, signaling I should be the first inside. I backtracked a few feet, so I could gain momentum before jumping through the window. While the jump wasn’t that high, my insides still pooled with doubt I’d be able to make it. Thankfully, I landed on my feet inside the window. However, I made more noise than I’d anticipated. It caused my insides to vibrate with anxiety.

&nb
sp; There was no way everyone in the house hadn’t heard me.

  “Well, that was graceful,” Octavia deadpanned.

  My wolf nipped at her at the same instant footsteps sounded. Someone was heading our way.

  Eli was next through the window, followed by Dorian and Tate. Not long after, a female vampire entered the room with a muscular physique and a deadly grin plastered on her face.

  I knew all hell was about to break loose.

  “Glad you finally made it. I’ve been waiting for a good fight. Got a couple of new moves I’d like to try out before I use them in the ring,” she seethed. Her gaze shifted to us all as though she was selecting who she wanted to fight.

  “You’re the MMA fighter?” Benji’s voice trembled when he spoke. He was afraid of her, and he had every reason to be. She looked beastly. There was no doubt she could do some serious damage to him, to any of us, if given the chance.

  “Got a problem with that?” she asked him. Her dark eyes filled with bloodlust, and I knew she was craving for him to say yes.

  “Nope. No, ma’am. No problem here,” Benji insisted. His wad of dip made his words sound muffled, but I could still make them out.

  Two male vampires flanked the female vampire. Each looked as hungry for a fight as she did.

  Had Lilith and Roman told them not to worry about keeping us alive?

  While I wasn’t sure who made the first move, I did notice when Benji was shoved to the side as war broke out in the Pendergrass dining room. Eli and Dorian tag teamed the MMA fighter vampire while Julian and his sisters went after one of the males. Rowena surprised me by teaming up with Tate to take out the other male vampire. I watched her grab a dining room chair and toss it at the vampire. When he didn’t even flinch, she ripped off a leg from another chair and lunged at him. Tate went for his throat as Rowena nailed the vampire in the chest with her makeshift stake as he went down. I positioned myself in front of Benji, shocked to see how vicious of a team we were. We’d all come together in beautiful harmony to take out three vampires. Just as quickly as the fight had broken out, it ended.

  Relief rushed through me, but it didn’t last long because Lilly Pendergrass’s parents stepped into view.

  They looked dazed, reminding me of the way the doctors Regina had compelled in the city had looked.

  Lilly’s parents had been compelled.

  The question was: To do what, exactly?

  My gaze swept over them. I spotted a rune etched in black along their forearm.

  “I’ll deal with them,” Julian insisted. “Go find Ridley.”

  Julian rushed forward, pinning them against the far wall and allowing us a pathway through. We took it. A stairway came into view once we left the dining room while stepping over the vampires whose skin had already turned to ash.

  I lunged for the stairs. Getting to Ridley became the only thing on my mind. My wolf was ready to kick Lilith and Roman’s asses for having abducted my best friend.

  And, I was willing to let her.

  Eli was on my heels. I could feel his presence pulsating behind me. I’d lost track of Benji but knew he had to be close. He was as focused on saving Ridley as I was.

  As soon as I reached the top of the stairs, I came to a skittering stop. There were two vampires pacing the length of the hallway, both of them male. Apparently, there were more people missing from town than Officer Dan thought. Either that, or these two were from one of the other places the Lilith and Roman had terrorized.

  From the looks on their faces, it was clear they’d heard the commotion downstairs. Adrenaline had primed their bodies for a potential fight.

  Did that mean we were close to Ridley?

  “Every vampire we come across looks more ripped than the one before,” Benji said. “Who knew we had so many fit people in Mirror Lake.”

  I wanted to laugh, but it was hard in wolf form.

  One of the muscular vampires rushed forward without warning. Eli was on him before he got too far. He ripped and shredded the vampire’s throat. It was the most animalistic and primal I’d ever seen him. His hatred for vampires was all-consuming. I was positive it had everything to do with his father having been killed by one.

  When the other vampire rushed forward, I lunged at him with my teeth bared. I wasn’t about to let Eli and everyone else have all the fun.

  I barely grazed the vampire before his hand came up to slap me. I flew back, landing a few feet away.

  Howls ripped through the air as my pack descended on the vampire. In seconds, he was taken out.

  Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust.

  This was almost too easy.

  Rowena moved to the closest door and opened it. “The stairs to the attic have to be behind one of these doors. I can feel that’s where Ridley is.”

  Eli nudged me to my feet. His green eyes reflected his concern. I licked him to let him know I was okay. My neck hurt like hell, but I was fine. Benji crept to me. Worry darkened his features as well.

  I hated how everyone seemed to think I was fragile.

  “Are you okay?” Benji asked. “That was a hard hit.”

  “I have no doubt she’s endured worse,” Octavia said.

  Ivette winked at me and then reached for Benji’s arm, trying to deter him from me and down the hall toward Rowena.

  “Oh my God,” I heard Rowena say from the end of the hall. My gaze shifted to find her. She stood at an opened door, gazing inside at something I couldn’t see.

  When Benji and Ivette reached her, their faces fell too. My stomach knotted. Whatever they were looking at had to be horrific. I made my way to the door flanked by Eli and Dorian. Tate and Arturo were behind us, along with Octavia.

  The sound of someone jogging up the stairs behind us all had my wolf freezing me in place. She hunkered down, preparing for another pissed off vampire to come barreling at us.

  It was only Julian. As he crested the stairs, relief trickled through me.

  “Have you seen Ridley yet?” Julian asked.

  “No,” Arturo said. He’d maneuvered himself around to stand at the base of the attic steps behind Rowena. “But I’m positive we found where Lilith and Roman have been keeping her.”

  “Okay.” Julian walked to where the others stood.

  My heart thundered in my ears as I neared the door leading to the attic.

  At first, all I saw was a set of worn wooden steps, but as my gaze drifted up them I spotted something else.

  There was a whitish-blue light pulsating at the top as though it were linked to someone’s heartbeat.

  “She’s tapped into the other side,” Rowena whispered.

  Her words circled through my head while I stared at the odd light. Fear for Ridley flooded me.

  22

  Rowena was the first to ascend the stairs. She didn’t make it far.

  Her body bounced off an invisible wall, sending her stumbling backward.

  “What?” She reached out and pressed her palm flat against something unseen.

  “No!” Arturo shouted. He shoved his way in front of her. “Damn it! She spelled the doorway with an invisible force rune.”

  “Can it be taken down?” Rowena’s voice trembled when she spoke. Worry for Ridley was written all over her face.

  Arturo smoothed a hand against his jaw. His bushy brows furrowed as he contemplated our options. “Not unless Lilith removes the rune, dies, or I find the ingredients needed to dispel it.”

  “What do you need?” Benji asked. “What’ll get us inside that room?”

  “Salt, something I can write with that’s preferably black in color, and dirt from outside,” he insisted.

  “Those are basic,” Benji said, voicing my thoughts exactly.

  Arturo glared at him. “Not all magic requires an excessive list of rare ingredients.”

  Benji’s hands flew up in surrender. “All right. Noted, good grief.”

  Rowena grabbed hold of Benji’s arm and pulled him along with her down the hall.

  “I’l
l find something to write with,” Benji called over his shoulder.

  Julian and Ivette followed after them.

  “We’ll grab dirt,” Julian said.

  “I’ll get salt then,” I heard Rowena say.

  My pack and I remained where we were, along with Arturo and Octavia. I glanced up the attic staircase. The strange light seemed to pulse brighter. Soft whimpers trickled down the staircase to my ears, sending both my wolf and me into turmoil. Whatever was happening to Ridley was causing her immense pain, and there was nothing I could do.

  “Don’t you pass out on me!” a female voice shrieked.

  Lilith.

  The light slowed its pulsing and seemed to fade. Was it attached to Ridley somehow?

  “I said, don’t pass out on me!” Lilith screamed. “I’m this close to being able to see my sister again!”

  A loud slap echoed through the attic. My wolf growled and launched forward, slamming me against the invisible wall. Eli let out a low howl, and I knew he was as pissed as I was Ridley was being hurt.

  We were so close to her but yet so far away.

  “I found something black to write with!” Benji shouted from behind us.

  I refused to take my eyes off the top of the stairs. My mind willed the invisible wall to disappear so I could get to Ridley, but it didn’t happen.

  “Perfect,” Arturo insisted. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Benji pass the marker to him.

  “Here’s the salt,” Rowena insisted. She shoved it at Arturo.

  “Good.” Arturo grabbed hold of it and spun to face the attic stairs. “Now, I need the dirt.”

  “Right here,” Julian said. He sprinted down the hall, leaving a trail of dirt behind him.

  “There. That’s everything you asked for,” Rowena said. She wrapped her arms around her middle. “Now get that wall down so I can get to my niece.”

  “They’re here,” a tiny, childlike voice shouted from the top of the attic steps.

  Chills slipped through me.

  A little girl, who couldn’t be more than eleven years old, stood at the top of the stairs, staring down at us. Her features were strikingly similar to Lilly Pendergrass’s.