Guards, badges and people in all manner of clothing walked around the large open foyer. She was aware of some staring, her body close to Sage’s as they walked, his palm on her hip. They stopped by the gleaming stainless steel desk, the young woman greeting them with a bright smile.
“Miss St. Germaine to see Seth Anderson,” Sage said quietly.
“He’s expecting you both, Sheriff,” she handed them each a badge. “Temporary admittance. Take the elevator to level five. His admin will meet you there.”
“Thank you,” Luna said, clipping the badge to the collar of her shirt. “It’s a very diverse work force. Some suits, some jeans and tee shirts,” she commented as they crossed the tiled foyer to the bank of elevators waiting for them. “Do you know what they do here, Sage?” She stepped into the elevator, frowning at his silence. “What’s wrong?”
“They deal with people like Elle Morgan and your father, Luna,” Sage chose his words carefully, watching the thick pale lashes blinking at him. “If shifters have any equality in the world, it’s because of Seth’s group,” he continued, a little grudgingly. He’d been offered a high level security position with the Institute. But after the military, he wanted away from the constant crush of lunacy. This time, though, he wasn’t being given a choice but to join the fray.
“There’s so much I don’t know, Sage,” her head shook, her hands in the pockets of the warm jacket she’d bought an hour before. The chrome and steel doors slid silently open, her feet barely moving when the collection of people waiting for them registered.
“You gotta move, babe,” Sage chuckled, his lips near her ear. “Seth, you’re making her uncomfortable.”
“Miss St. Germaine,” Seth Anderson stepped to the side, his palm gesturing her forward. “That wasn’t my intent and I’m sorry. I wondered if you’d be coming along, Sage.”
“I asked him to,” Luna said quickly, the sensation of his hand on her waist the one reassuring link she had to feeling safe.
“Why is she here?” Sage looked at the tall, slender blonde watching the couple. Dressed in a fitted pin-stripe suit, the jacket barely touching her waist and the skirt slit on the side, she offered a smile, pale blue eyes peering at him over the gold rim of her glasses.
“I’m here to make certain that the questions don’t become more than your mate needs to put herself through,” she said with a brilliant smile, her palm extended to Luna. “Liz Chance, Miss St. Germaine.”
“Please…call me Luna. Jess gave me your card,” she shook hands looking from one to the other. “You work here?”
“I do when requested and Jess requested I be here for you,” the glance she slanted at Seth was less than friendly. “Some people like to push until you crash and I won’t allow that to happen.”
Luna looked at Seth Anderson, her palm held out. “Luna St. Germaine.”
“Contrary to Ms. Chance’s perceptions, I don’t tend to browbeat people willing to help me, Luna,” his palm slid around hers. “Thank you for coming over this morning. If you’ll come this way to my office, we can talk. Can I get you anything to drink?”
“I’m fine, thank you,” Luna took in the comfortable furniture in the large office, the admin sitting and smiling outside and the huge picture window staring down into the expanse of the town. “But Sage could use some coffee. We sometimes seem to run late in the mornings,” she confided with a little smile, striding ahead of them and going to the window. “It’s beautiful here. So many colors in the hills. In Montreal, the window in the apartment we had faced more downtown buildings. I kept the blinds closed most of the time.” She sighed. “I used to wonder what all those people were like. What were their jobs? Did they enjoy their lives? How did they fill up their days…”
She turned from the view, leaning on the wide chrome bar in front of the large picture window. Watching.
Liz Chance took a seat in one of the padded chairs in front of the desk.
Sage sat back on the sofa, coffee in his hand and his eyes on her.
She met Seth’s gaze.
“I don’t know what I can help with, but I know I must try.”
“You probably know a great deal more than you imagine, Luna,” Seth moved and took the seat behind his desk, swiveling the chair to look at her.
“The nurses and Dr. Morgan…even my father…unless they spoke directly to me, behaved as if I were invisible most of the time. I listened,” she stared toward the window filling the far wall. “At the time, very little made sense to me.”
“When did they begin giving you the injections, Luna?” Liz Chance asked softly.
“They gave me sedatives when they took me from grandmother. Then they tried counseling. Reason,” she said with a soft sneer. “Their idea of reason, not mine. I learned to sit and stare and listen. If you didn’t, you were punished. I guess at ten they didn’t see me as a problem because the…the foggy sedatives…I was almost thirteen when Dr. Morgan came to the apartment the first time. He called me to his office. He introduced her, said she was my new doctor and would give me a shot because I had allergies. I wasn’t stupid. I knew what allergies were and that I didn’t have them. That was the first time they gave me the sedative and the other shot. I screamed and…and kicked and he had one of the guards hold me from behind. The sedative was first…”
Her head tilted slightly to the side.
“Then it was as if I was no longer there. Not really. Just watching. She told him she had to stay with me for the first hour. That they had three different formulas because no female’s hormones are in the same level or types. I just sat there…watching them…then all of a sudden I couldn’t stop shaking. I felt my teeth chattering and kept trying to…I pulled my knees up and wrapped my arms around them, trying to get warm. They brought blankets and she said this was the most difficult side effect they were trying to fix. I don’t think I was warm for a month until the next shot. I missed school. I was angry. I could feel it but couldn’t let it free. She told him they had formulated another feline depressant. That’s what she called it…I didn’t understand, but I never forgot things they said.”
“Luna…” Liz was up from her chair, crossing the room to her. “Are you alright? I know this can’t be easy for you.”
Luna shrugged. “I remember it. All of it.” She reached into the back pocket of her jeans and brought out an envelope folded into three places. “You might find this helpful,” she gave it to Seth. “My grandmother left it to me.”
Sage sat upright on the sofa, his gaze sweeping from one to the other and back to Luna. She hadn’t said a thing about the envelope. About the letter that seemed to hold a great deal of her history in printed pages.
“Luna…” Seth held the envelope, unopened by him. He looked at Sage.
“Read it out loud. He deserves to know,” she said quietly, turning her back to them and staring out the window. “He should have known before he…before he chose me to be his mate.”
“Luna, do you honestly believe it would have stopped me?”
“Please, read.”
“To my dearest grand-daughter:
“If you have this, it means Addy found you, or maybe you managed to find your way back to me. I’m sorry I couldn’t wait. You’ve been so missed. I promised your mother I would give you the truth we knew when you were old enough. I’m not sure if what I have to say is something anyone is ever old enough for, but everyone deserves the truth.
Your mother met the man known as Therrin Gaudarville in a small college outside of Montreal. I blame myself for not realizing how vulnerable she was to the attention and words of a man like him. She blames herself for not trusting her instincts. She saw his cruelty to shifters but he hid it from her until he discovered who she was. The middle of the second semester, she phoned me, hysterical and frightened. She wouldn’t talk to me over the phone but let me know she was returning immediately.
I spent several days worrying until she appeared at the house. Thin, worn and so tired. So very frightened. I b
rought the doctor out immediately, even though she cried. She had been taken by Gaudarville to a hospital outside of town. He claimed they were visiting a friend there. He gave her something to drink and she lost three days. When she woke, she was shivering uncontrollably, hurt in places she’d never hurt before and back in her little flat. She found needle marks on her. She remembered hearing the same type of story from a few other girls, all of them shifters. She was terrified and called home. That was when she returned.
The physician, old Doc Humphrey, said she hadn’t been raped, not in the normal sense. But she had been impregnated. She was carrying you. He couldn’t explain how, other than the technical procedure and he surely had no idea as to why. He was positive she had been truthful in that she had never had sex. None of us knew why he had done it, until much, much later. Ariane knew it had to have been Gaudarville who was responsible, but wanted nothing to do with him and we never heard from him again. Until the summer you turned 8; the week your mother was killed.
We didn’t have security cameras then, but descriptions told us who it was asking about her. You had just passed your eighth birthday, so very pretty and sweet. He didn’t come to the house. He never called. He was with a group of hunters using the state property. Your mother never went there for that reason. There’s no proof, but I know he killed her that day and left her there. He sent me a letter telling me he’d come for you when you were the right age.
My darling Luna, I only hope that you are well and continue to be the most loving child I’ve known. Never forget how much your mother loved you and believe you were a gift to us both.
Grannie”
Seth’s voice fell to nothing, the sound of folding papers like a loud rumble in the room.
Luna had read it a dozen times before carefully folding it and putting it into the envelope.
“I don’t know if that information is helpful or not. But if he…if he did that to my mother, then he must also have done it to others,” Luna said in the silence of the room. She’d closed her eyes half way through the letter, unable to see anything because of the hot tears burning against her eyelids.
“We’ve been watching the hospital and the people going in and out, monitoring it for anomalies,” Seth offered in answer to her comment. “Luna…”
Sage had moved behind her, his hands on her shoulders and turning her gently, cradling her against him. Her hands rose, shaking fingers curled around the edges of his coat.
“We’ll be alright, Luna,” he whispered against her head, vaguely aware of Seth and Liz leaving them alone.
“He made me, Sage,” she breathed raggedly. “I was…I was constructed! I…”
“You were made for me, baby, don’t ever doubt that,” he told her gruffly, his arms tightened around her, the unfamiliar heat of fear running through him. “God, Luna, you should have come to me. Told me…” His palm stroked over her head, the other circling her and leaving little room between them. “Mine. My sweet Luna. You were created for me…” He repeated, the husky sound making her offer up a watery grin, her head shaking. “Accept it, mate.”
“I was going to burn it,” she said, swiping at the moisture on her cheeks. “I wanted to so badly. I don’t know what it will provide for Seth or his people. There’s no proof of…my mother is gone.”
“He’ll be back and you can talk more if you want. Or quit for the day and go home,” he stroked lightly over her head when she let her cheek rest against his chest.
“I have to help them. I want to know what they know,” she finally said, the sound of the opening door registering in her mind.
“I think perhaps you’ve had enough for one day, Luna,” Liz came forward, offering a frosted bottle of water to her.
Luna pushed against Sage, her shoulders back and head up. Sage winced. He was just about the only one familiar with that look.
“I think I want to know more and I want to know now. I want this,” she glared at the woman and man defiantly. “I make my decisions and my choices. If you don’t want to tell me anything or answer my questions, fine. But don’t expect to hear from me again.”
“Would you like to have a seat and we can talk?” Seth looked amused, his voice working on casual. He waited until Sage moved toward the chairs, letting her have the one closest to the desk.
“I know you mean well, Dr. Chance, and I’m sorry for my tone,” Luna dragged in a deep breath.
“I can only offer my professional opinion, Luna. You’re processing a great deal of emotional information rather quickly,” Liz took a seat, watching the couple with a tiny hint of envy. “You will know your limits,” she warned softly. “Trust your instincts.”
“I’m just learning I have instincts,” Luna admitted, her eyes closing and face leaned into the palm that stroked along her cheek from behind her. “I have to know.”
“Then ask your questions, Luna. I’ll tell you what I can,” Seth said simply, his hands open on the surface of his desk.
“Why? Why are they doing this?”
Everyone in the room felt the almost frantic cry carefully hidden in the words that broke from her lips.
Seth blew a slow puff of breath between his lips, a sadness and anger in his eyes when she stared at him.
“It’s nothing more complex than humans with a belief they’re right. In the sixteenth century, they tried curing witches. There are still groups coming up with cures for homosexuality,” his voice hardened. “Now another group with delusions believe it’s their right to ‘fix’ us.”
“I suppose I thought there was…I don’t know,” she whispered. “Have you found others…like me…”
“We have people feeding us information hourly, Luna. From around the country, around the world,” he told her honestly. “When we get a report, we make certain we trust the source, first. Then we watch and investigate,” he took a slow breath. “A friend of one of our investigators had attended a luncheon where you were a little less than six months ago. We assigned a couple to watch and ask questions. To get invited to a few events where you were. We followed Elle Morgan, repeatedly. She’s led us to several and a location where about twenty-five people are being kept. With you, we worked to place a man inside. It took a while to get an identity established that wouldn’t break under your father’s own background checks.”
“The new guard,” Luna said with a little nod. “He was different. He…watched differently. Talked to me differently than the others. And he smelled different.” She blinked when Seth straightened, a frown on his face. “He’s not a wolf.”
“How do you know?” Seth looked at Sage. “Could you tell?”
“There was so much testosterone and anger but I thought they were both wolves,” Sage glanced down at Luna. “What do you think he was?”
“He’s a cat…I’m not sure what kind…”
“We gave him the scent mask,” Liz said quietly, concern on her face.
“Perhaps only another cat can tell,” Luna suggested.
“He’s a black jaguar, from the Louisiana area,” Seth told them. “And yeah, he’s one of ours. He was working on studying the security to get you cleanly away when…”
“I hit him,” Luna groaned. “And I stole his money.”
“I’ll make it up to him,” Seth chuckled. “One of the hazards of the job. Though he’ll have a hard time living it down that you took him out. He’s spent years training,” his head shook. “He said you looked so harmless when he reported in and he alerted the patrols watching the borders. They didn’t see you, either, but now we know you didn’t head for the border, but found your way to Devil Hills.”
“I’m kind of sneaky when I want to be,” she offered with a little wince at the chuckle behind her. “He’s still with my father?”
“Yes. Keeping us as up to date as possible on his plans. I don’t know if you’re aware, but he doesn’t confide everything in the two guards he has with him,” Seth watched her.
“If I was in the room, they rarely spoke to me, always a
round me. Now that I can think clearly, I think they believed I was….that their pills made me semi-conscious. As if I couldn’t hear or speak, unless prodded. I was taught to engage in conversation if spoken to only, it was one of father’s mandates,” she said without emotion. “Children should be seen and not heard. Their manners must be impeccable at all times, as is their appearance.”
“I think your father and Morgan had the over-confidence that brings down dictators,” Seth told her thoughtfully. “They never saw you as a problem, no matter how many times you tried to leave.”
“They would just give me another pill and tell the guards to watch me more closely. I think they blamed the sedative more than the other shot,” she said, chewing on the corner of her lip. “Dr. Morgan would come and father would tell her that I’d slipped free, or tried to slip away, and she swore that it wasn’t her medication. It had to be the sedative. That perhaps my body was adjusting to it. I know they changed them now and then because…there were different feelings…different side-effects. With one of them, I couldn’t sleep, and ended up losing weight and baking! God, I was baking so much and exercising and just…searching…for something to do because I felt…itchy…” She blinked. “But she said it might be the combination of the two.”
“Jess says your body is clear now, Luna,” Liz seemed to guess what Luna was thinking.
“I brought you something,” Luna reached into the small purse hooked over her shoulder, setting three clear vials of liquid on Seth’s desk. “I stole them. I used to steal things from Dr. Morgan’s bag when she wasn’t watching.”
Silence and an almost static tension filled the room. Liz reached forward and read the labels, her gaze sweeping to Seth.
“Will they help?” Luna fidgeted in the chair.
“You stole those,” Seth stated very slowly, and brought his tongue out, around his lips seconds before the smile lifted his lips.
Devil Hills: #2 Luna & Lydia Page 17