“Sage,” the corners of her mouth tipped up. “It’s nice. A good name. Grounded to the earth.”
Grounded. Now that’s a word he’d never have applied to himself. A shifter, grounded. He almost laughed until he realized she’d slid to the side, eyes closed and breathing steady. He pulled to the side, released her belt and adjusted her to lie along the wide seat. He guessed she was about five-eight, maybe nine and damned delicate looking. Tints of pink colored the pale hair at the side of her head, his fingers brushing through it and noticing the skin already closed and healing.
He started back on the road. He had business in Morning Star Lake anyway. Maybe there was something there to connect her. He hadn’t gotten answers from any of the feelers he’d very carefully sent out after leaving the hospital. A whole hour ago, he realized.
He tapped his phone, dialing up Jess Daniels’ direct cell.
“Hey, Doc, you’ve lost a patient,” Sage said quietly after Jess answered.
“A…shit,” Jess moved through the clinic to the room where he’d left the woman. A low snarl radiated through the phone. “I’m guessing you have her?”
“She’s asleep on my front seat. She wants to go to Morning Star for something, so I’ll be back probably late tonight or tomorrow. Is she okay?”
“Sage…I honestly don’t know. She has a head injury and what undeniably look like marks from beatings. You tell me. I’ve sent the blood off, but it’ll be a few hours before I hear anything. Call me if you need anything, I’ve got patients and three pacing women to explain to.”
“I don’t envy you, doc,” he chuckled and hung up.
He glanced down at her as he drove. There was the slightest French inflection in some of her words. Being close to the border, maybe that was another avenue to explore. It was her injuries that bothered him most. A lot.
Pale lashes opened to soft music, a male voice lightly singing along with the country song playing. It wasn’t familiar. Nothing was familiar, a fearful voice inside her repeated.
“Welcome back,” Sage checked his gauge and the signs around him as she stretched, her stare never leaving him. His lips curled into a smile at the feline style she had to her human movements.
“I am so sorry,” she straightened, unable to stop the low groan from the movement. She shivered, pulling the blanket to her and using the door to brace her upright against the seat.
“No apology needed. You look a little tired.” He watched the small hands with long, slender fingers rub her face. “Why do you want to go to Morning Star?”
Sage watched her closely. It looked like she was trying to find an answer and somehow he knew it wasn’t faked.
“My home,” she answered after a long minute, blinking at him in surprise. “I have a home there. Left to me by my grandmother.”
“What’s the name? And what’s your name?”
“I…” two hands gripped the edges of the blanket and tightened. “I don’t know. I should…shouldn’t I?”
Sage reached for the dash, tapping the button that sent him directly to Jess Daniels. “Doc…effects from being hit in the head…I’m guessing no memory could be one of them.”
“Of course. Trauma…headache and loss of memory…the headache should be temporary. The memory…I can’t answer that one. Is she alright otherwise?”
Sage looked over at her. She was beautiful. Vulnerable.
“I am fine, thank you, doctor,” she answered softly. “The headache is present, but…” Shoulders moved up and down. “Thank you for your ministrations.”
“You should have remained in the clinic.”
“I could not remain. I am sorry.” Sadness regret filled her features and words, her head shaking numbly. “It is best for you if I were not there.”
“Doc, get word to Lucas for me, will you? Tell security to be on the lookout for anything…anyone…unusual. I’ll keep an eye on her, doc, thanks,” Sage looked from the road to find her watching him, staring.
“Sage, I checked out that sliver I pulled from her hair. It’s auto paint,” Jess supplied the words with evident annoyance framing them. “Like…she hit the edge of a door. Hell, she couldn’t hit it on her own. But…”
“I get the idea, thanks, doc.” He pressed the disconnect button.
“You should not be involved. I shouldn’t have allowed it.” She stared out the window. “But I was so tired.”
Simple enough statement but if she couldn’t remember her name, why did it sound so important to her?
“Do you know where you want to go in Morning Star?”
“St. Germaine,” she said softly, pale lashes blinking and her head tilting slightly. “Luna.”
“I know the Germaine house,” he said carefully. “Is that your name?”
“Luna St. Germaine,” she repeated quietly, as if feeling her way. “My grandmother left me the home. They thought to keep me from it. From everything.” Her hand rose, touching the back of her head, feeling the texture of her hair coated with blood and antiseptic. “I struck a car…no…” her head shook slowly. “It was a door. A sliding door,” she could see it clearly in her mind. “I shoved someone and struck the door as I pulled it open. Then I ran,” she was breathing rapidly, images matching her words replaying themselves in her mind.
“Luna…” Sage put his attention on the light traffic around the small tourist town. It was mostly shut down for the coming winter, but the residents were having their own fall festivities, pumpkins decorating the porches of businesses and homes.
“I flew to Seattle from Montreal,” she said quietly. “There is snow here.”
“We’re up a little higher in the mountains,” he answered, working to keep up with her bouncing subjects.
“Do you know the house?”
“We’ll go there after we get some food. It’s lunch and that little place there has a good menu,” he told her, guiding the SUV into a parking slot. He took his phone out of the slot and sent a text to his deputy, letting him know where he was. “When was the last time you ate?”
The blanket fell to her thighs, her palm on her stomach. “I think a very long time.”
“I heard that growling. Food first and then we’ll go to your grandmother’s house,” Sage locked up and waited for her to walk around to his side. “Maybe you’ll remember some of how you got to Devil Hills.”
“I walked.”
“Do you know from where?” He held the door open for her, watching as her head went up, the scents of all the foods assaulting them both. “Two, Jessica. Are we in time for breakfast?”
“You know you just have to ask, Sage. Boyle likes cooking so he’ll make what people ask for, if he can,” she offered the man a bright smile, her gaze shifting to the woman looking around. “New friend?”
“Luna St. Germaine,” she answered, her palm up and smile warm.
“Jessica Harris. You’re related to Minerva?”
“My grandmother,” she answered softly, letting Sage guide her to the waiting booth.
“She was a character. A fun person, lively,” she said genuinely. “I’m sorry you weren’t here to spend time with her.”
“They wouldn’t allow me to come. I remember her from when I was a child,” She slid onto the padded seat, her gaze on the window at her side. “I was here then. So long ago.”
“I’ll bring you coffee, Sage. Would you like something to drink?”
“Water, please. Tea,” she said abruptly, meeting the girls gaze. “With honey and lemons.”
“Right away,” she answered with a nod.
“Are you remembering anything?”
“Small things…things that don’t seem to fit together,” she turned back to stare out the window. “Impressions. Fear. Warnings,” she whispered, her hands shaking when she reached for the hot cup that had been placed on the table. She held it between both hands for a long minute before lifting the small bear shaped plastic bottle and drizzling the golden honey over the top. She did the same with a wedge of lemon b
efore lifting the cup and inhaling its scent.
“Warnings,” Sage repeated the word, admitting he didn’t like the impressions she was giving him.
Chapter Three
“I worry for the people behind me. I don’t want to cause them harm for being kind to a stranger,” she sipped the hot liquid and sighed.
“What kind of harm, Luna?”
“I don’t know. There is this feeling…this sensation of dread…” She didn’t tell him about the voice. About the large cat that spoke to her in her dreams. She’d been hurt because of those words. A shiver took her. She’d been caged. Some bars physical, some invisible. But the cage had been there, emotionally, physically and mentally.
“You can tell me, Luna. I told you in the clinic, I won’t let anyone hurt you,” Sage didn’t know where the sensation came from, but it was strong and vehement. It seemed to grip him in a fist that looked remarkably like hers.
They placed their order and he waited until they were alone before speaking again.
“You’re from Canada?”
“Montreal. I can see the house. Some of the people. A nurse. Guards. Always watching. Always,” she repeated softly. “They find you. No matter where you run, they find you. Grandmother used to hide me from them. She knew. But they were stronger, they had more wealth, more people. More power.”
“Did you live here before, Luna?” He was getting glimpses of her trying to make sense of the stray thoughts she was being given.
“I was born here. My mother lived here. She was killed when I was very young. I’ve only seen her photo. I found it in my file in his office,” her eyes lifted to his from the cup in her hands. “I was here until I was ten. Then they found me. My father’s people. I was taken to Montreal then.”
“Do you think they’re following you? To harm you?” Sage leaned back in the booth. There were dirt smudges all over her clothing. Bruises on the side of her throat and jaw. He could only imagine the bruises on the parts of her covered with clothing. “Is that who you’re worried about might hurt the people in Devil Hills?”
“I…” she closed her eyes, one palm leaving the cup to rub the side of her head. “I don’t know. But I know they will come for me. I know people who try and stop them, are harmed.”
“Okay, no more thinking,” he ordered abruptly, watching the steaming plates of breakfast food as it was laid out on the table. “Thanks, Jessica. More tea for Luna, please.”
He watched her dig into the home style potatoes and eggs as he smeared the butter over his pancakes before drowning them in syrup.
“I can’t remember when I last ate, but this is delicious,” she murmured around a bite, her hands wielding the knife and fork as Europeans do.
“Hunger makes most things good,” he chuckled. “What do you remember about living here?”
“Being happy. Being…at peace…” She nodded at the word she chose. “Grandmother has photos of my mother. I remember running the woods and swimming. Very cold water. And…” She hesitated, the image in her mind not making sense.
“And?”
“Nothing,” she whispered, her head shaking. They lock you up for those thoughts, warned the voice. “It isn’t important.”
Sage knew she was lying and whatever it was, had been very important to her. But now the thought of putting it into words scared her into silence.
“But you don’t remember why you hadn’t been back to see her,” he studied the way her movements slowed, her head tipping as if she were searching around inside her brain for an answer to give him.
“I wasn’t allowed. I was put into school. A boarding school. They said she was a bad influence,” she barely tasted the next bite. “Mother left me with her to protect me. I ran away from them. Many times. I…I was punished,” she frowned, her shoulders flexing as if testing. “My father is powerful and has people who…I am a test.”
Sage felt his jaw dropping with each new, short sentence she offered. He closed his mouth and ate quietly. He now had a name and he could do some searches once he got back to town. But he also knew a friendly geek girl who would do it much faster.
He opened his phone and scrolled to find her name.
“Lexi…are you busy at work? I need some help.”
“Sage…is she alright? Where are you? We were worried sick!” Lexi stood up and walked toward the door of the shop she was working in, waving at the friends in the coffee shop.
“Breathe, woman,” he ordered with a little growl. Lexi was the most excitable of the three. “She’s fine. She said she didn’t want to cause trouble for you because you helped her. I have a name. I want information and I’m not around a computer,” Sage continued to eat, waiting.
“Sure. Let me pull out a notepad and make Scarlet write while I repeat,” there was a pause before she spoke again. “Alright. Give me what you have. Write. Go, Sage…Luna St. Germaine…Montreal. That’s all?”
“She doesn’t remember, Lexi. It’s floating back to her in unfitting strands,” he did his best to explain the way information was returning to her.
“Amnesia?” She pushed a long breath between her lips. “Okay. I’ll call you if and when I get something. Will you be back tonight?”
“Probably in the morning. Her grandmother left her a house here. It’ll be listed as belonging to Minerva St. Germaine. I think it’s her mother’s last name, Lexi. Not sure of her father’s name…”
“Therrin Gaudarville,” Luna pronounced it with the French inflection that struck in her words the more she spoke. She took a pen from Sage’s fingers and printed the name on the paper he’d pulled from inside his coat. She met his surprised look and shrugged.
Sage spelled the name for Lexi. “Like I said…things are trickling back to her.”
“Alright, I’ll be in touch.”
“Lexi…tell Lucas to give me a call, would you? And…be careful,” he knew what the silence meant but the three woman he knew he was talking to could handle themselves. And more.
“They are good friends,” she said quietly, dragging a slice of toast through her eggs and biting down.
“They’re good people,” he added, glancing at the phone and moving to leave the booth. “I’m going outside to talk to Lucas. I’ll be right back, alright?” She nodded and watched him go, the sound of his phone making him shake his head. “Lucas…Lexi moves fast.”
“She said you sounded tense. What’s up?” Lucas Daniels stepped into his office at the veterinary clinic and closed the door.
“I’m guessing Scarlet told you about the woman we found this morning in the park?”
“She did. And that Jess lost her,” he said with a chuckle.
“Escaped out the window. Dazed and confused doesn’t even begin to describe things for her right now. First, she’s got amnesia. So bear with me,” Sage dragged one hand through the hair that barely touched his ears. “Her comments are…disjointed. Almost fragments or brief bursts of memory. She said she had to leave the clinic because she didn’t want them to be hurt. You can talk to Jess, but the injuries she has were caused. I don’t know by who or what. I gave Lexi information about a few names and she’s digging for me since I’m in Morning Star without access.”
Lucas forced a slow breath between his lips. “Someone beat her. Scarlet was livid and because of that alone, I’ve already upped the patrols and Lexi, Zach and Cody are getting some cameras online in the next few days to help. Alright, we’ll be alert. Any other clues?”
“She’s scared. She evidently used to live here with her grandmother and was, in her words, taken from her and relocated to Montreal with her father’s people,” he repeated what he’d been told. “When I get more, I’ll let you know. I’ll be back sometime in the morning.”
“Thanks, Sage.”
He returned to the booth to a refilled cup of coffee and the rest of his lunch. Her plate was empty and she sat quietly holding a fresh cup of tea.
“Alright?”
“No longer hungry,” she answered with
a little smile. “Thank you.”
Somehow he knew with those full lips, pink and lush against that slightly tanned skin, a full smile from her would dazzle and confuse any male watching.
“I’m a good listener, Luna.”
“When I speak, I…it’s best for now that I don’t. Some things should remain inside one’s head and not shared,” she tried explaining, her voice soft and sad.
“Is that your father talking?”
“I think…” She frowned against the pain throbbing in her head. “I am twenty-nine years old. I have been in school…I feel I have been…caged…controlled…all of my life. And I don’t know why. I don’t know…who…I try and think and feel as if I am swimming against fog. As if there is something inside me warning me to be silent, but yearning to burst free, all at the same time.”
“Let’s go find your house,” he drained the coffee and glanced at the check, tossing some bills to the table and nodding at Jessica. “Tell Boyle thanks.”
“Anytime, Sheriff.” Jessica stopped him. “I put a call in to Addy Pepper. She was good friends with Minerva Germaine. So I gave her your number and told her you’d be at the house.”
“Thanks. That might get some answers.”
“Thank you, Jessica,” Luna smiled at her, wondering what it would have been like if one of her escapes had succeeded. How different would her life, her memories be now? Would she have friends?
“Your grandmother had friends here,” Sage took her palm when they left the small restaurant, many eyes upon them as they walked to the car labeled ‘Sheriff’. “It looks like word’s spread that her grand-daughter is here.”
He stopped at the passenger door, opening it and lifting her to the seat. “What’s wrong?” Her eyes had closed, her head shaking. “Still convinced that it’s best everything stay locked inside you?”
“I’ve been locked in rooms because of things inside my head, Sage. I’ve been beaten…we’ll beat the evil from you, girl…” She could hear the words, her palms up and pressing against her ears. “I can hear his voice in my head telling me that. And I can feel the heat…the stinging on my back…I can see white coats and…it’s time for your shot…”
Devil Hills: #2 Luna & Lydia Page 2