As Midnight Loves the Moon (9 page)

“Hold him still!” Alex ordered
again.

Wayde threw him a disgruntled look
and then tackled
Seb
to the ground, wrapping one leg
around his neck and arching while he kneed the rogue in the back.
Seb
roared out his pain and fury, his one free hand
slashing around.

“I’m sorry,
Seb
,”
Alex said and sunk his sword into
Seb’s
hand, pinning
him to the earth.
Seb
screamed as Alex grabbed the
weapon at his belt.

The Blessed Blade was a dagger that
glowed with angel fire. He held it up and both vampires became transfixed
looking at it.
Seb
, the rogue, shook his head and
tried to scamper backward, away from it, but his hand wouldn’t let him leave.

“You won’t use that on me,”
Seb
managed to say around his bloody incisors.

“I don’t want to use this on you,”
Alex said. “But you’ve killed three humans,
Seb
. And
you won’t stop.”

Seb
bared
his fangs in an ugly snarl. “And the first person I’ll eat is you.”

He lunged forward, breaking free
from
Wayde’s
hold at the same time he ripped his hand
wide open from the sword pinning him down. He fell on top of Alex and both let
out a grunt.

Then everything went still.

Chapter Eleven

“Alex!” Wayde yelled, panicked. “Alex!”

“I’m all right,” Alex managed to
gasp out.

Wayde frowned and grabbed the dead
vampire, pulling. A moment later, Wayde looked down into Alex’s wide eyes and
dragged the man into his arms. He hugged him tight and didn’t want to let go.

Instead of trying to wiggle free Alex
simply rested against him. They stayed like that for a long time. Finally, they
pulled back and looked at
Seb
. He was lying face down
and blood was everywhere.

“He was your friend?”

“Yeah,” Alex said sadly. “I’ll have
to call the Council. They’ll take care of his…body. How was he able to touch
the Blessed Blade?”

“He was wearing gloves. I know
there’s a spell sorcerers can use to protect us from light-blessed items, but
the bigger issue here is that he was turned and then starved,” Wayde said. “He
went feral because of it. This was a vendetta against Sebastian.”

“Shade cops have a lot of vendettas
against them,” Alex replied. “Again, something I’m going to let the Council
handle. In fact, I’m going to ask for a leave of absence. They’ll probably
reassign us all and I don’t want to leave Shade Rock. There’s too much here for
me.”

“Like what?”

“Like you. Like Daphne,” Alex
whispered. He groaned and faced Wayde. “I was so focused on you because of what
you made me feel that I convinced myself you had to be the rogue, instead of
looking at the clues around me. That doesn’t make me a very effective cop.”

“Alex,” Wayde said softly. “You are
an effective cop. You protected me and you saved countless humans.”

He was close enough now to see the
details of Alex’s beautiful face. They stared at each other, eye-to-eye, since
they were almost the same height. Alex might have half an inch on him. He saw the
cop’s gaze drop to his lips and linger. His mouth suddenly felt dry so Wayde swiped
his tongue over his lips and heard Alex groan deep in his chest.

“Stop it,” he ordered and then
pushed Wayde back. “Don’t stand so close to me when things need to get done. We
almost died a second ago!”

“I know. You’re right. I’m sorry.”

Alex took a deep breath. “I need to
call the Council. Wait for me?”

“Of course.”

The Council meant Simon. Wayde
grimaced.
Great.
Things hadn’t gone too well at their
breakup, so the reunion should be quite interesting. He watched as Alex walked
a little ways away to place his call, which reminded Wayde to check in with
Daphne. He dug out his own cell phone and called his condo. She answered before
the first ring was finished.

“Wayde?” she
asked,
a bit breathless.

“Yes, sweetheart.
It’s over.”

“You…took care of the murderer? And
you’re okay?”

“Yes. Actually, Alex found me and
we fought him together.”

“Thank goodness! I’ve been so
worried.”

“We’re worried about you.”

“Alex is with you now?”

“He’s taking care of the paperwork,
I suppose you could say,” he told her. “I’ll be home before dawn.”

“I know,” she said softly. “I’ll
see you soon.”

“Okay.”

Wayde hung up and pocketed his
phone. He turned to look at Alex and drew his breath in sharply. The man really
was extraordinary to gaze upon. He was rugged and raw, and Wayde wondered how
he’d gotten so lucky to have found him. Once this little matter was cleared up,
he and Alex would take Daphne to
Los
Angeles
to see what their options were about helping
her get better. Last resort, he’d change her, but he would have to be very
explicit about what it meant to be a vampire.

“They’re on their way,” Alex
announced. “They should be here any minute.”

“Then I only have a moment to say
this,” Wayde said. “Do you remember the other night at the bar?”

Alex nodded, his whiskey eyes
glowing in the moonlight.

“I was in that bar, Alex, to seduce
you. It’d been a while since I’d quenched my sexual thirst and I was attracted
to you.” He saw Alex’s eyes darken with desire and all Wayde wanted to do was
pull him in closer, to lose himself in Alex’s body.
To fuck
him over and over, until they were too spent to even walk straight.

“I kissed you,” he continued. “I
tasted you, and before I knew it, my mating pheromones began to leak out of me.
Ever since you and Daphne came into my life I’ve been…consumed. I wanted to
catch the rogue because I needed you to believe in me.”

Alex put a finger across his lip. “I
do, Wayde. I’m sorry I didn’t listen. Forgive me?”

“Of course,” he mumbled around the
finger.

“When this is over we’ll…talk.
Right?
You, me, and Daphne.”

Wayde didn’t have time to answer
because a round, shining, swirling mass appeared and through the portal five
men stepped. The Council had arrived. Wayde stepped back as Alex went to talk
to them.

The Council was made up of five
sorcerers, two men from the light and two men from the dark. The fifth, Simon,
was a direct member of the Shade, an impartial vote that broke the ties and
controlled the portals. They were only brought in when a cleanup was needed or
when
members of their own was
in trouble, like now.

Wayde tried to blend into the
background, but no sooner had the Council shown up than Simon was making a
beeline for him. Wayde sighed. It had taken him twenty-four years to get the
man to stop calling him.

“Wayde Wallace,” Simon said as he
came to stand in front of him. “A new name I see.”

Wayde didn’t mention that he’d
changed it in an effort to escape him. “A new name is prudent every so often.”

“I haven’t seen you since
Berlin
.”

Wayde smiled. “Good times, eh? I
still have part of the wall that came down.”

“Oh, fabulous,” Simon said dryly. “So
why would you risk your own neck over a rogue vampire? From what I remember,
you liked to run away.”

“Real mature, Simon,” Wayde said
with a touch of exasperation. “Let’s not rehash the past. Rogue vampires give
us all a bad name, don’t they? And humans aren’t as easy to manipulate, like in
olden times. I still have a business to run.”

“Right.
Books.
I remember.”

Alex began walking to them,
obviously done with his interview. Wayde couldn’t take his eyes off the
handsome man.

“Oh,” Simon said. “I see how the
wind blows.”

“Shut up, Simon.”

Wayde walked away from him and met
Alex half way. “Are you through?”

“No, but I’m going to be here
awhile,” Alex informed him, running a hand through his hair. “Why don’t you go
on home and I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

“You sure?”

Alex nodded
.“
We
have to take care of the household, inform the others, and let the human police
take credit for
Seb’s
capture. I still can’t believe
I didn’t know. I lived in the same house with him and the only indication that
something wasn’t right was when I couldn’t find that Blessed Blade.”

“Thank God you didn’t let me touch
it,” Wayde said with a shudder.

“Yeah.”

Alex watched him for a long moment,
and all Wayde could do was let the other man sort through his thoughts.

“Wayde,
you’re a part of me now but…what about Daphne?”

“I’ve
come to love her,” Wayde told him. “I hope you come to love her, too.”

“I might
already,” Alex whispered.

“You will come over tomorrow night.
Right?”
Wayde couldn’t keep the note of uncertainty from
creeping into his voice.

He didn’t know what he’d do if Alex
turned his back and walked away. Everything was happening so fast, so sudden
and he wouldn’t blame the other man in the least if he turned tail and ran
away.

But Alex gave him a smile. “Yes.”

And Wayde breathed a little easier.

****

When he got home, Daphne ran into
his arms and hugged him tight. He buried his face in her neck and breathed in
her delicious scent. After the ugliness he’d just gone through, she was a
breath of fresh air. He never realized how much he had craved sunshine until
Daphne lit up his world.

She pulled back and looked him up
and down. “You have blood on you.”

“Not mine,” he assured her. “I’m
fine.”

“And Alex is fine?”

“Not a hair on his head harmed.”

“It’s time for bed,” she told him,
tugging his hand and guiding him toward his bedroom. “I can rest now that
you’re home and safe.”

He bent and kissed her lightly on
her lips. “Alex will be here when I wake up.”

“All right.”

Wayde went to close his door but
she grabbed his arm, halting him. When he looked at her she was biting her lip.

“Is everything okay, Daphne?”

“I…I love you,” she whispered.

“What?”

She raised her head and met his
gaze. “I love you. I just wanted you to know that, Wayde, no matter what.”

He cupped her face. “Be very sure
of those words, Daphne. Once uttered, love is like the moon, forever there. Now
sleep. Tonight, we shall talk.”

Chapter Twelve

Wayde opened the door to his condo
and stood back, letting Alex into his home. The cop had a rolling suitcase with
him. Daphne was behind him, holding a cup of coffee and he saw her glance at
him first, as if seeking permission, before smiling at Alex. Truth be told, he was
a little nervous to see how they would react together. He saw Alex smile back
and little lines around his honey-colored eyes crinkled as he looked down at
her. A soft, loving expression flittered through them and it made Wayde relax. If
Alex loved her, then everything would be fine.

“I brought my stuff,” Alex
explained. “The Council already closed up the house.”

“That’s fine,” Wayde said. “I’ve
got plenty of spare rooms.”

“I made coffee, Alex,” Daphne said.
“Would you like a cup?”

“I’d love one,” he replied. “Black
is fine.”

She nodded and turned, heading into
the kitchen. Alex parked his suitcase and then looked at him, one eyebrow
raised, and Wayde simply nodded. Yes, he knew what needed to be said. They
followed her into the kitchen and sat at the bar while she poured the steaming
brew into a cup before handing it to Alex.

“Thanks,” he murmured.

“Daphne,” Wayde said. “Why don’t
you sit?”

She grabbed her own mug before
taking a seat across from both of them. He thought maybe she did that as a
strategic tactic, because as far as she was concerned this about accepting two
men into her life.

If only it were that easy.

“Daphne,” Alex said, starting the
conversation. “Do you believe in angels?”

She raised her eyebrows, the
question clearly surprising her.

“Yes,” she answered. “I’m dying. Of
course I believe in angels.”

“You won’t die,” Alex told her fiercely.
“I’ll figure something out.”

“
We’ll
figure something out,” Wayde reminded him.

Alex looked at him grimly. “Never
had a
we
before. At
least, not like that.”

Wayde took hold of Alex’s hand and
laced their fingers. “Now you do.”

“That’s been running through my
mind,” she said, nodding to their hands. “Where could I possibly fit into your
lives when you have each other? I’m just a burden.”

“Daphne, I can’t imagine you not
being in my life,” Wayde told her as he held out his other hand, the one that
wasn’t holding onto Alex. “That’s why you will get better, because from that
very first night…you were mine.”

She bit her lip and tears welled up
in her eyes. “I was born with my heart valves messed up,” she said softly. “My
parents were told I wouldn’t live. They gave up on me.”

“I won’t give up on you,” he vowed.

“Me, neither,” Alex said. “And I
think you fit perfectly with us.”

“But Daphne,” Wayde said, taking a
deep breath. “There’s something about me that I need to explain—”

“That you’re a vampire?” she asked,
interrupting him.

“Yes, that I’m a vampire,” he
finished and then blinked. “Wait. How did you know that?”

A faint blush rose in her cheeks as
she bowed her head. “I’m sorry. I went snooping in your bedroom.”