The Moon Rises (Gigi Monroe)

by Angela Horn

  Once Simon disappeared to his table in the corner, Dahlia hurried to Gigi’s side.

  “Be careful with Simon. He is very powerful and can make you do things you don’t want to do.”

  “What kind of things?”

  Dahlia said nothing as her dark eyes flickered around the room.

  “He is a Master Vamp and is used to getting what he wants. He can enthrall you. Do you know what that means?”

  Gigi shook her head.

  “It means he can look at you and control you and then you’ll do whatever he wants.”

  “What does he want though?”

  Dahlia didn’t frown, but her eyes hardened. “He wants what they all want from you.” When Gigi didn’t react, the Vamp sighed. “He wants to have sex with you. Worse, if he likes having sex with you, he’ll turn you into a Vamp so he can use you until he gets bored.”

  Gigi wasn’t sure what sex entailed, but it sounded bad so she wanted to avoid it. She also wanted to avoid being a Vamp, if it meant listening to loud music, dancing with her crotch, and hearing someone in her head.

  “What do I do?”

  “Try to bore him, I guess. Simon gets bored easily and most waitresses don’t last long. He likes Sara, but not enough to do anything about it. He really likes you though, so just be boring and act dumb.”

  Acting dumb wouldn’t be a problem, but being boring might be tough since she didn’t know how to be boring on purpose. Dahlia didn’t give her any more advice, just moved away in her weird Vamp way. Gigi took Simon’s drinks and walked to his table where two other Vamps were sitting. When she arrived, the other Vamps grabbed their drinks and walked away.

  Simon looked at her with his too green eyes and smiled with his bright teeth. His face was not at all pale like Dahlia’s. He took his drink then gestured for Gigi to join him. She thought to say no, but sensed Silas might be mad if she did.

  “Do you like the music?” Simon asked, sipping the clear liquid in his glass.

  “No.”

  Simon smiled. “What do you enjoy?”

  “Nina Simone, Crystal Gayle, and Fiona Apple,” she said, naming off the three CDs she remembered from her apartment. CDs she hadn’t picked out.

  Simon’s smile grew and he slid closer without moving. Gigi frowned at him, but his smile never wavered.

  “Do you have a suitor?”

  “A what?”

  “A male who wants to have sex with you?”

  “I have lots of males who want to have sex with me.”

  Simon continued to grin and his white teeth shined in the dark room. “I’m sure you do. Anyone serious?”

  Gigi frowned because she was trying to be dumb and boring which wasn’t difficult since she didn’t know what he was talking about. Yet no matter what came out of her mouth, he kept smiling.

  “I just moved here,” she finally said.

  “Did you leave a lot of broken hearts in your wake?”

  Gigi sighed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “I sense that much. Have the pack boys tried to date you yet?”

  “No.”

  “They will. What will you tell them?”

  Gigi shrugged because she loved the gesture and she didn’t have an answer to his question.

  “What will you tell me when I try to court you?”

  Gigi frowned. “Are you going to enthrall me and make me do what you want?”

  “Would you like me to?”

  “No.”

  “Then I don’t think I will.”

  “I have a choice?”

  “No, not really,” Simon said, still grinning as he leaned back in the booth, “but I’m enjoying you in your natural state. The problem with enthralling someone is I have to do the work for both parties. I prefer to have willing partners when possible.”

  “Okay.”

  “I can’t tell if you’re dumb or just lack knowledge. Did you grow up in some hick town with little outside experience?”

  “Maybe. I’m not sure.”

  “Amnesia?” Simon asked with an arch to his blond brow.

  “No. I think I had memories, but they were lies and my mind ate them. I think that’s true because I wrote it on a paper that it was and writing it on the paper is a real memory.”

  “Interesting.”

  Interesting was the opposite of boring which made Gigi think she was doing everything wrong. Though she sensed Simon was going to chase her no matter what she said or did.

  “Someone has tinkered with your mind then?”

  “Maybe. I can’t know for sure.”

  “You could ask a witch to read you.”

  “Read me what?”

  “Read your mind,” he said with a grin. “While I wouldn’t want a witch digging around in my head, I know who and what I am.”

  “You’re a Master Vamp. What does that mean?”

  “It means I am very old and powerful and I scare the crap out of other Vamps.”

  “Is it fun being a Vamp?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you ever miss the sun?”

  “No. I am happy it exists since the world couldn’t exist without it, but I don’t miss seeing it. Besides I can always watch sunrises and sunsets in movies, if I ever become nostalgic which I never do.”

  “I would miss the sun, but I like the moon better.”

  “The moon seduces.”

  Growing frustrated, Gigi sensed Simon picked his words carefully so she would understand, but she didn’t understand.

  “Why did you scare Dahlia?” she asked, hoping to frustrate him like Ella frustrated Michael.

  “Because she is young and often forgets her place.”

  “She just wants to be a good waitress, so Silas won’t get mad at her.”

  “No, I believe you’re speaking of yourself. Dahlia doesn’t care what Silas thinks. She is territorial though.”

  Gigi glanced at Dahlia whose back was to her.

  “Territorial means she doesn’t like me?”

  “Not on her floor. Only Sara is allowed to draw attention away from Dahlia and even this does not please her. You are too beautiful and interesting to be in her territory.”

  “What should I do?”

  “Ignore her. I do.”

  “But I want her to be my friend.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I want friends.”

  “Why?”

  Gigi frowned at Simon who smiled. “Don’t you have friends?”

  “No. I have minions.”

  “I don…”

  “Yes, I know you don’t,” Simon said, still grinning as he sipped his drink. “How long have you known your mind was tampered with?”

  “A few days. Maybe longer. I can’t be sure.”

  “I don’t understand why anyone would tamper with a human’s mind, but possibly you are an experiment. Witches like to experiment.”

  “A witch took my memories?”

  “I suspect. Only witches, sorcerers, and maybe a necromancer have the magic to tamper with a mind. Hiding memories is difficult because the mind wants to remember.”

  “What’s a necromancer?”

  “One who possesses great magic and can control the dead. Have you been on the ghoul floor yet?”

  Gigi shook her head and Simon tapped at his glass.

  “Some ghouls are necromancers while others are the result of a necromancer’s magic. Think of a necromancer as a more powerful witch, closer to a sorcerer. While witches gain their power from their bloodlines, sorcerers are often born into human families, yet possess great power. Most sorcerers are harvested before they are old enough to gain control of their power though.”

  “Harvested?”

  “Killed and drained of power.”

  Gigi frowned. “The world is ugly.”

  “Yet here you are brightening it.”

  Gigi smiled slightly. “I don’t think I should have a witch look in my mind. What if they find something I don’t like? Pretty lies are
better than ugly truths.”

  “Very true. Whatever has been hidden from you might have been hidden for a reason. On the other hand, if you are no more than an experiment, someone will one day return to tinker with your mind again.”

  Gigi took a deep breath and leaned back against the soft cushions in the booth. Simon was closer again, an inch or two from her, but she didn’t pay him any mind. If he wanted to hurt her, he would and it was doubtful she could stop him.

  “Can I protect myself from the witch who tinkered with my mind?”

  “Doubtful. You have no magic to protect you and the creature which did this to you must be powerful. I’m afraid you are helpless against their power.”

  Gigi studied Simon who smiled when her eyes lingered for too long.

  “Why are the other Vamps so pale, but you aren’t? Is it because you’re more powerful?”

  “No, it’s because I have a spray tan. The pale thing grew tedious a very long time ago.”

  “Not a frigging clue,” she said, imitating what Ella kept saying at lunch whenever Gigi stared for too long.

  “If you are dumb because your memories were stripped, one day you might have a clue. Wouldn’t that be lovely?”

  “Yes,” Gigi said, grinning. “Not understanding gives me a headache.”

  “No doubt.”

  “Should I go work now?”

  “No. Let Dahlia work while you keep me company.”

  “But I have nothing to say and I don’t know anything.”

  “Yes, but you are very beautiful and I haven’t grown bored of you yet.”

  “How long do you think it’ll take before you’re bored?”

  Smiling, Simon sipped his drink. “It could be awhile. I’ve been around long enough to stay focused for extended periods of time.”

  “You mean, until the end of my shift?”

  “Oh, at least until then.”

  Gigi stretched and watched him. “Why do you talk to the other Vamps with your mind and not with your mouth?”

  “Because I can and it saves time.”

  “I wouldn’t like someone talking to me in my mind.”

  “Are you hinting I shouldn’t change you?”

  “No. Hinting means teasing and not saying what I mean. I’m telling you I do not want to be a Vamp.”

  “It’s fun though.”

  “I like being me.”

  “You don’t even know you.”

  “I will eventually.”

  “But what if you come to dislike the you that you find? Knowledge can be depressing. Dahlia is often depressed because she understands herself better now. Those fairytales she told herself about her inner beauty have faded away and now the truth disturbs her. Ignorance is bliss after all.”

  “Are you hinting how if I don’t like me when I know me, you can bite me and make me into someone else?”

  Simon smiled and his white teeth shined. “Yes, this is what I’m hinting.”

  “Then I’d see what Dahlia sees and I’d be depressed. I don’t know what depressed means, but it sounds bad.”

  “Depressed means sad and Dahlia is sad because she doesn’t keep herself busy. I would keep you very busy, so you wouldn’t be sad.”

  “You mean with sex?”

  “Yes, with sex.”

  “Does it hurt?”

  “Sometimes. Good things usually do.”

  “It never hurts when I eat and food is a good thing.”

  “Well,” Simon said, leaning farther away and yet closer at the same time, “if you bite the inside of your mouth or choke, eating could be painful. Also some food isn’t very good. Sex with me would always be very good.”

  “Why with you and not others?”

  “I’ve been around long enough to know what I’m doing.”

  “But I wouldn’t know what to do.”

  “Only one of us needs to know. I’m also a very patient teacher.”

  Gigi smiled because she liked the warm feelings Simon gave her when he said those teasing words and smiled at her. She wondered if he was enthralling her, even though he said he wouldn’t.

  “Did you bite and change Dahlia?”

  “No. Lawrence did, but he didn’t raise her well and now she’s a spoiled brat. She’ll learn eventually,” Simon said as he finished his drink. “I would raise you well and I sense you’d learn very quickly.”

  “What if I realize I don’t like the real me and want to be changed, but you have already gotten bored of me?”

  “My tendency to grow bored is overblown. Most Vamps bore me because I can read their thoughts. By the time they start to speak, I’m already ready for them to stop.”

  “Then I would only bore you once I became a Vamp?”

  “Maybe not even then or for long time. I find you curious especially for a human. Humans are too emotional these days, too hearts on their sleeves, too Jerry Springer, every emotion must be expressed. I don’t enjoy having emotions vomited on me.”

  Gigi frowned, taking his words literally. Simon smiled and she realized his words were more like pictures.

  “Justine said there was a girl who cried so hard she vomited. You mean like that?” she asked with a grin.

  “Yes, something like that,” Simon replied. “I think you’re catching on.”

  “Maybe I’m not dumb? I told Ella I’m not, but that I just don’t know anything yet. I hope I’m right because being dumb is exhausting.”

  “Yes, but being dumb makes males want to take care of you. This is not such a bad trait to have.”

  “Ella said I could con males with my skills and take things from them. I don’t need anything though and it sounds like stealing.”

  “Huh, I would have thought a Vamp or witch would be the first to corrupt you. I underestimated the dogs apparently.”

  Gigi smiled slightly. “They are dogs, aren’t they?”

  “Big ugly ones,” Simon said with a happy grin.

  “I should get you another drink.”

  “No. I’m fine. You should stay put.”

  “I’m tired of talking though.”

  “To me or just tired of talking in general?”

  “I go long periods without talking, but today I’ve talked a lot. I’m tired.”

  “Sit with me then and say nothing. I suspect I go longer than you without speaking and silence does not bother me.”

  “Silas will be angry if I don’t work.”

  “You are working. You’re entertaining me and I am his most important Vamp client. These others are just ants.”

  Eyeing the other Vamps, Gigi realized he was using words as pictures again.

  “Okay,” Gigi said, sliding her hands under the table and onto her lap. When Simon tapped them and then the table, she apologized.

  “Just a precaution,” he said casually. “Not that I don’t trust you personally, just your species in general.”

  “No one seems to like humans.”

  “To be fair, they don’t like us either.”

  Gigi thought to Sara’s comment about how all the clients were monsters and she realized Simon was right. On the other hand, she knew the Vamps, just like the witches and the Weres, could hurt her and no one would care. Just like no one cared about Katia.

  “Would you like something to drink or eat?” Simon asked.

  “I’m working. I can’t eat on the floor.”

  “Says who?”

  “Everyone.”

  “I’m included in everyone and I said no such thing.”

  “Are you trying to get me in trouble?”

  “You worry too much. Are you hungry?”

  “No.”

  “Thirsty?”

  “What were you drinking?”

  “Oh, you wouldn’t like it. Though watching you grow intoxicated would be entertaining.”

  Gigi smiled. “I don’t want anything.”

  “Did Dahlia tell you to bore me?” Simon asked with a smirk.

  “Is it working?”

  “Not in the
least. You underestimate the boring creatures I surround myself with each day. You’ll have to do much better.”

  “I don’t think I can. I’m not smart enough.”

  “Not yet anyway.”

  Grinning, Gigi realized she liked the Vamp, even though he wanted to bite her. She also liked Anton and Ella who were a dogs and Nolan who was a witch even though witches probably stole her memories. Not of the monsters in the Circle were so scary after all.

  Chapter Seven

  Finn O’Connor stopped into the local grocery store, hoping to pick up a few things for his brother’s birthday lunch. While he wasn’t looking forward to hearing his mother nag, it would be good to see Declan.

  For two weeks Finn dodged his big brother, mainly because of the pressure to join the pack and move out of Anton’s territory. Finn planned to do neither, so he avoided the conversation. The same conversation he always had with either Declan or their mother, Ainsley.

  Pushing his shoulder length blond hair from his gray eyes, Finn thought about his dinner with Michael the night before. It had been odd only because normally Michael retained some ability to carry on a conversation. The enforcer could be funny or least sarcastic, but at dinner he only wanted to brood while obsessed with some case of a missing human. Finn enjoyed Michael’s company, but last night was like having dinner alone. The bastard didn’t say a single thing most of the night.

  Finn only needed a few things at the store. Flowers, a card for Declan, and wine his mother would complain wasn’t good enough, and then he could be on his way. A five minute trip, just in and out, until he saw her.

  Gorgeous women were always nice to stop and gaze upon, but Finn was in a hurry. Yet this one was singing charmingly to Carly Simon’s You’re So Vain which played from the store’s intercom. She was swaying to the music and looking very yummy, but there was a vacancy to her expression which told him she wasn’t trying to be sexy. Her blonde hair hung down the back of her dark blue tee which was the same shade as her jeans and sneakers.

  Happy to be wearing a clean shirt and jeans, Finn figured he would still make it to his mother’s house before lunch. With a bit of time to spare, he continued to spy on the pretty blonde who became severely perplexed at the cereal aisle. She stood for so long staring at all the options that Finn finally got up the nerve to approach her.