Devil Hills: #2 Luna & Lydia

by Diroll-Nichols, Karen

  “I’ve been so worried. Frightened that something they did would…would take me away from Sage,” she whispered, her eyes closing as she worked to let go of the feelings. “Thank you.”

  “Anytime, Luna. I’ll let Seth Anderson know that you’re willing to speak with them,” he leaned back when she patted her pockets and pulled out a phone. “Even easier. What’s the number?” He wrote quickly on a pad that he’d had in the pocket of his smock.

  “Oh, lord, look at the time! I am so sorry, Jess. I have an appointment to interview for a waitress job at the Wild Raven!” Luna was up and stuffing her phone into her pocket with the card he’d given her. Impulsively, she hugged him tight. “Thank you. I’ll do whatever I can to help your friends, Jess, I promise! Bye!”

  ****

  He laughed as she vanished through the door, his head shaking. She was definitely going to fit in with the other new females to Devil Hills.

  He stood up for a long quiet minute before reaching for his desk phone and placing the call. “Seth, it’s Jess.”

  “Good morning.”

  “I’ve just had a chat with Luna St. Germaine.”

  “How is she?” He turned the desk chair, staring out into the strength of an October late morning.

  “Improving. Feeling. Emotions and memories she’s been denied are returning and I think she’s a little swamped at the moment. It’s got to be unnerving to suddenly be given emotions. I think one of the saving graces is the memories finally being hers from her childhood.” Jess thought about the woman he’d just seen. “I think at the moment, she’s battling with what’s right and what would feel good, revenge being the feel good part.”

  “Yeah…a drawback to humanity at times,” Seth drawled slowly. Broad shoulders shrugged inside an expensive suit coat. “I’d opt for revenge, but that’s me. I’m assuming she has a conscience.”

  Jess laughed dryly. “Probably. Did you know about her before she came here, Seth?”

  “Yes. We were informed several months ago. Gaudarville does his very best to avoid situations where shifters are part of the group. If they are, he delegates. He plays the political line well but keeps his distance. He used Luna as his delegate, which is interesting and more than a tad arrogant since a shifter would easily be able to figure out something was wrong,” Seth Anderson dragged one hand through the trimmed, deep brown hair. “We had our man in position to rescue her, Jess. Just a week too late. We’d only learned about her six months ago.” He didn’t try and contain the anger. “One of our members met her and Therrin Gaudarville at a fundraiser. The report she filed chilled every one of our physicians, but if we’d moved too quickly and didn’t get everything in place correctly, he might have hid her away and continued the drugs.”

  “I can’t imagine getting through Gaudarville’s security was easy.”

  “Not impossible, we had to find someone he didn’t know or his other bodyguards weren’t aware of,” Seth answered dryly. “Then we throw St. John into place and the girl manages to rescue herself and take out one of my best security men in the process.”

  “She’s been trying since she was ten, Seth, and she gave me her number to give to you. She’ll talk to you and help you with anything she can,” Jess read off the number for him. “Give her a couple days, will you? She’s dealing with a rush of new memories right now, the key of which, is wanting her father beneath her claws.”

  “Can you blame her?” Came the dry retort. “Jess, if we knew what he was doing to her, the abuse, we would have risked an international incident to free her.”

  “She’s an interesting woman. I gave her Liz Chance’s card,” Jess warned, looking up to see his nurse in the hall. He held up a finger for patience. “I’ve got a patient. Oh, a little FYI, Sage Terrence has marked her and is very protective.”

  “Sage? Damn, he moves fast.”

  “Luna struck more than a nerve with him, Seth.” Jess recalled the look on Sage’s face when he carried her, unconscious, into the clinic that morning. “I’m not sure he was prepared for what his wolf threw into his lap.”

  “When it comes to a mate, I’m not sure any of us are,” he agreed. “Christ, her father’s lucky he walked away with his throat. I’ll be the height of delicacy, Jess. Thanks.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Luna wasn’t sure who all had a hand in her being hired, but she didn’t care as she dressed in the cheerleader costume. She stood in front of the mirror and adjusted the tank top, her head up and eyes bright. Hands that shook just a little smoothed down the short, jaunty skirt.

  She was free. For several long minutes, she heard nothing but the thumping of her heart against her ribs. She was no longer a puppet.

  She was being trained and she had a job. She didn’t remember the last time she was this excited about something! She tied her sneakers in place, gave her hair a fluff and went to join Alison, her trainer.

  Being a conscientious town, word spread quickly. Especially after she left word for Sage at his office. Most of the town was wrestling with curiosity and amusement. And suddenly everyone had the urge to eat out.

  Callie looked over at Jimmy and winked, picking up the memo pad she’d written on.

  “Hey, boss, Luna called for you while you were out,” she waited for the grunt that let her know he was listening. “She said she’s working at the Wild Raven Sports room and could you pick her up at six.” She held up her hand, ticking down the fingers. She didn’t make it to four.

  “She said what?” The sharp, demanding growl echoed down the hall. Sage was in the doorway, staring at Callie, disbelief on his face and dark eyes narrowed.

  “She was real excited. Adrian gave her a job and is training her to be a waitress. She’s working the sports room today,” she offered the note to him, withdrawing it when the growl reached her ears as he crossed the room and pulled his jacket from the coat rack. “I understand those girls look real cute in those cheerleader outfits.”

  “Hey, I can testify to that,” Jimmy winked at her and chuckled at the snarl from the man by the door.

  “Tomorrow.”

  “Somehow I kind of figured the day would end with that,” she said with a chuckle.

  It was four-forty five when he pulled the SUV into the parking lot and found a spot. If people he knew were going to speak as he walked past, they took one look at the expression on his face and changed their minds.

  She hadn’t told him she was looking for a job. Why not?

  Why wouldn’t she? It’s not like she has to work.

  Hell, she’s done nothing but gather book knowledge all her life. While she’d always been around people, now she was a part of them. Speaking her mind; interacting and laughing. Experiencing the things that had been smothered inside her. He had no idea what kind of specialties she’d studied.

  What was she qualified to do? He knew she had to be over qualified to be a waitress. He was still talking to himself when he stood in the center, his attention immediately on the sports restaurant area.

  Maybe it wasn’t about the money. Or even being qualified. She just wanted to do.

  He felt himself slammed into that damned brick wall the instant his eyes landed on her. She wore a normal pair of sneakers and that was where his idea of normal ended.

  She wore a red and white skirt that showed there was a pair of athletic damned long legs; white, ass hugging shorts and a low cut tank top with the name of the local school. The silken platinum colored hair was pulled away from her face, wispy tendrils fluttering around her eyebrows. It was a family restaurant, so while everything was covered, that didn’t stop his reaction to the costume. He tried to remember if girls looked like that when he was in school playing football.

  “Table or booth, sheriff?” The woman looked at him and followed his gaze. She was human but she’d heard the rumors of the hunk of a sheriff setting his sights on the pretty blonde. “Ahh…Luna. She’s new.”

  “I know. Put me in her section, Hailey.”

  “W
ell, that’s not possible. There hasn’t been an empty seat in her section since she began at noon,” Hailey worked to keep the smile hidden. She’d heard rumors but suspected they leaned towards fact after seeing him and the mark Luna had on her shoulder. “I’ll put your name on the list, how’s that?”

  “Never mind. I’ll be at the bar,” he said without looking at her, striding across the room and into the lounge. He no longer looked at her, but the image in his mind was just as if it were plastered on a photo on the wall.

  ****

  Luna couldn’t remember ever having a better time with strangers. She’d attended many official events. Everything from concerts to opera to balls and even summer parties with huge canopies and chilled champagne.

  But this was real. It did seem odd that most of her customers were males that traveled in groups, but it was a sports bar and the end of baseball season was on the large television.

  Her customers were patient as she wrote their orders, her memory holding the order of how to serve and what to add to their tables, depending on their food choices. She watched them interact with children and each other. She smiled and laughed with the other waitresses as they offered advice and insight into a given customer.

  She had been intrigued by the themes of the four really large rooms. Most of the wait staff were young. She seemed to be, in years, the oldest, but not in appearance. The male wait staff tonight had chosen to dress in the baseball uniforms, and one was in a soccer outfit. She liked the short, flirty skirt and tiny pom-poms hanging from her waist.

  The scents had almost been too overwhelming for her. Not merely the delicious foods, but the totally random and wild scents the shifters and humans gave off around the rooms.

  Everything from anger to lust to fear. There was surprise and love from the young couple when the male had presented her with a ring. There was exhaustion from the child curled against one of the booths and dozing even in all the bustle of the room.

  She was pleased with herself. She’d just finished laying out the huge platter of wings and batter coated fries, added some ketchup, hot sauces and extra napkins when she turned and headed for the kitchen.

  His scent slammed into her, musky and wild and all hers, she reminded herself happily. She did a slow turn like Lexi had shown her, searching with her nose until she found it. And it led her straight to him.

  “Sage!” His name broke from her lips happily, her feet crossing the half empty bar to step between his knees and hug him. She had been about to speak when his mouth covered hers, that warm, seeking tongue caressing and teasing until she felt herself melting against his chest.

  Sage had every intention of staking his claim the first chance he was given. Not so much for the shifters in the area but for the humans watching. She felt his hands on her hips, moving to her back and lower.

  “No! Don’t you dare…Sage!” The low warning hiss went ignored.

  Luna felt the heat strike her cheeks when his hands slid, just for a moment, over her ass and squeezed. Two palms slapped at his chest as she backed up, straightened her skirt and glared at him.

  He could smell her excitement. For him as well as for her new venture.

  “So why am I tracking my mate here? And would you like to tell me how you got here?” Sage kept himself from laughing when she tried looking distracted. He leaned closer. “You forget I can smell you, mate. Why didn’t you tell me, Luna?”

  “I never thought they would hire me right away, Sage,” she told him excitedly. “I thought…they would check…I’m not sure what, but I thought it would take a couple days. And I would have told you tonight…” Pale eyes sparkled and teased. “When I showed you my new panties. I have to go,” she kissed him quickly. “An hour. I’ll be back in an hour,” she promised, giving him a smile that only he was privileged to.

  “I’ll be here.” Came the gruff answer, his male stuck on her statement. New panties?

  He stared into the dark beer between his hands.

  She needed people. She needed choices.

  Had he taken that right from her? He’d thought about it all day. He’d thought about it at odd times ever since Jess had jumped him about the decision to mark her.

  “That expression doesn’t inspire a man to find a mate, Sage,” Adrian Taylor stood beside him, hands on the edges of the gleaming wood of the bar.

  “Why’d you hire her, Taylor?” Sage turned to face him slowly, staring up into the face of a man he’d grown up with.

  One eyebrow raised slowly before his gaze shifted to take in the woman smiling and chatting with a table of customers.

  “You really didn’t just ask me that, Sage.” He turned, leaning his back against the bar, his elbows on the rounded edge. “She definitely fills out the costume,” his chuckle at the corresponding growl was low and unconcerned. “Why did I hire her…she’s effervescent. Watch her, Sage. She bubbles when she’s talking and she listens to her customers. I don’t know where she learned short hand, but she hasn’t made a mistake on an order all day. Alison is one of my best and she’s impressed,” Adrian looked over at Sage. “My customers are eighty percent shifters. They recognize a mated female and I have a hell of a lot less grief. The humans who don’t know, learn fast enough that manhandling the waitress will get them evicted. Or hit.”

  “She hasn’t learned to control her claws yet,” Sage commented, thinking of the marks on his shoulders and back. The corner of his mouth curled up. “She’s older than the others.”

  “Granted,” he shrugged. “Can’t tell by looking at her. She looks a little tired. When no one is looking, she has a sadness in her eyes now and then,” he glanced over at Sage. “Are you going to be able to handle her being here?”

  “You think I’m here because I’m insecure or jealous?” Amusement tinged his words.

  “I know mating takes that out of the equation. A nice peace of mind thing. But that doesn’t mean you like the idea,” Adrian watched his friend closely.

  “What’s your security like here, Adrian?” Sage met his gaze, all traces of humor gone from his face.

  “Then the rumors are true,” he said quietly. “Someone will be coming for her. I spoke with Seth this morning.”

  “I was wondering if the Institute would be interested in Luna,” his gaze swept the room, watching Luna carry a large tray of food with the ease of a veteran. “She’s enjoying herself.” He stared for a long minute before speaking again. “You work with the Institute, Adrian. Do we need to increase security because of the purists?”

  Adrian Taylor shoved against the bar, striding with the rights of ownership to the other side, pouring himself a shot of Patron Tequila from a gold bottle on the top shelf. He offered it to Sage, sliding the small glass to him when he nodded.

  “I think we had hopes the east coast group would…contain them,” he said finally, his tone flat and cold. “They have rich backers and no morals. How the hell do we battle that, Sage?”

  “A sad fact of history. Humans will always find something they want to denigrate lower than themselves,” Sage tossed the drink back, shook his head at the lifted bottle and met his friend’s gaze. “That isn’t what I asked.”

  “Lucas has already talked to Seth. For the last six months we’ve heard rumors. Now we’re starting to wonder if the whole mess with Morrison was nothing more than a smoke screen,” Adrian looked across the room. “We have a few people in places to collect information for us.”

  “Spies.”

  “Too dramatic a word, but it’s not exactly a stress free job,” Adrian said with a shrug. “There isn’t one place they’re collecting people from. They’re lifting street kids who haven’t learned what they are yet. Using them to test their idea of a cure. In some cases, we’ve even heard hints that they’ve used women to breed a shifter on purpose for their study. We’ve been watching an orphanage outside Montreal. Closed. Private school, high end teaching staff. And privately funded. I’ve people digging but they have some road blocks my…investigator…i
s working around.”

  “Christ. Just like Luna.”

  Adrian didn’t say anything right away. “Jude St. John was placed with her father about two weeks ago, Sage,” he watched the dark eyes harden. “She came to our attention about six months ago. Setting up a good background for Jude took a while. Getting inside Gaurdarville’s security and close enough to get her out had been the plan.” He watched the tension mounting in his friend. “We didn’t know what he’d been doing to her, Sage. Not all of it. Hell…” He ran one hand through the longish chocolate colored hair, dragging it back and holding for a long minute. “You don’t think of a father behaving…we didn’t know. Until we got Jude inside, all we knew was that she was being given the drug to subdue her cat.”

  “The Institute had targeted Luna?”

  “They’d been following Elle Morgan. Shifty, short…she’s one of their key researchers,” Adrian explained quietly.

  “I recognized Jude when they came to my office,” Sage shook his head. “I’m sure Lucas will be giving him hell once he gets free.”

  “He’d given us a heads up, so Lucas was warned,” he met his friend’s eyes. “We didn’t get a message to you in time. We aren’t pulling him until we’re sure Luna is safe. Jude is positive the old man is planning with his friends in Montreal to get his daughter back. He’s an extremist and believes he’s doing her a favor.”

  “I can’t promise not to kill him if he gets near her, Adrian. Let Seth know that,” Sage did nothing to contain the low growl.

  “We already knew that,” his head shook. “She agreed to talk to Seth. He wants to pick her brain for bits of information she might not realize is important.”

  Sage straightened on the barstool. “She agreed to talk to him. When?”

  “I heard this morning. She stopped in to talk to Jess and he told her what we suspect. That she’s not the only one being used as a test subject.” Adrian stopped talking, his head up and eyes motioning. “Adjust your frown, Sage.”