Blue Moon Rising (The Patroness) (27 page)

“Yeah, their change of camps might appear a little drastic, but I’ll explain later. First tell me what happened to the white coats and the victims?”

“We left the scientists at the hospital with a note for the Police, that their illegal laboratory blew up and that for farther information they could contact you. Tell them it was a P.I. case.”

“That’s what I had in mind. Of course I planned on thoroughly punching and kicking them beforehand.” I smiled and he smiled back at me.

“Of course. Well, the others called their families or friends and were out of there as fast as they could.”

Totally understandable. “Did the raven tell you what’s happened down there?”

He shook his head. “No, they didn’t.” Puh. “Though a bunch of scientists, an abandoned hospital, a look at you and Pauline…don’t have to be a genius to figure that one out. The picture is quite telling. But I’d hoped you’d tell me what has happened since you were drugged, anyway?”

And I told him. About a Celtic half-god named Mordred trying to escape his prison. One existing between realms and therefore not affected by the Turn. One his own mother had banished him into. That the ravens where his children, the result of an affair with - in my opinion - the Gaulish goddess Catubodua, also known as the Battle Crow. I’d given it quite some thought and was pretty sure of it, since Catu had always liked to piss of Morgan and Morgan had always been jealous of her nickname. I also told him that after being neglected and forced to do evil against their will by their own father, the ravens had decided to change camps.

I just left out the degree of relationship between me and Mordred. Why bother? Kylian would soon be gone anyway. And okay, I admit, I was a little vague on the how I managed to kick a half-god’s ass back into oblivion, mumbling something about witch magic running on instincts. And given the fact that Kylian kept staring at me with those observing blue eyes of his the whole time, I for one was kind of proud of myself. My story was almost coherent.

“Oh, and the ravens have no names, I promised we take care of it,” I said and finished my shaky report.

Kylian looked at me, no blinking, no twitching, nothing. Shit, he knew I lied. I was toast. Before I turned into a pile of coal, he finally stood and said, “You know, you’re a strange woman. And you make strange friends in strange situations. But sure, we’ll give them names.” And my lungs got back to work as relief flooded me.

I had one more question but was afraid of the answer. Struggling for words and a voice, I croaked, “Pauline?”

“Let’s find out.” Before I could say anything Kylian came over to my bed, scooped me up into his hard arms and carried me out of my room and into Pauline’s across the hall.

“Visitor”, he announced before putting me gently down onto the side of the bed. Then he turned around and left the room.

I turned my head to look at Pauline, who was lying on her side to avoid farther damage to her wings. It would probably take months for them to grow back. “Hey.”

Pauline was pale, and there were big blue circles under her eyes. She smiled in spite of it all. “Hey.”

I cleared my throat. “How are you?”

“No pain for a change, thanks to your ointments and some painkillers Viviane forced me to take.” She sounded normal, not angry as I’d expected.

“Listen Pauline, I’m really sorry about what happened. God, those words seem so lame. But I am sorry, and I’d understand if you’d want to move out. Don’t-”

She held her hand up. “Stop. Do you want me to move out?”

“No…Yes…Dammit. What I mean is, it’d be better for you. Safer.”

“Maybe you’re right, maybe I’d be safer,” I knew she’d understand, “maybe not.”

My head snapped up. “What?”

“One can never know what might happen. The point is I don’t need safer. Wanna know why?”

I nodded. Maybe those painkillers were clouding her judgment?

“If something happens, I know you’ll come for me. I knew it in that damn laboratory. The whole time I told myself ‘Maiwenn will get you out of here’. And you did. What do I need more? You and Viviane, you grew on me. I don’t want to move.”

We looked at each other through watery eyes.

“You’re stupid.” With that I pulled her into a one-armed hug.

“Besides I don’t want to miss out on that thing going on between you and Kylian,” Pauline said into my hair.

I pulled back and looked at her. “What thing?” When she opened her mouth to counter, I held up a hand in surrender. “No, scratch that. I’ll rephrase. You won’t miss out on anything since he’ll soon be gone.” Ha.

Pauline just smiled up at me, her eyes growing heavy.

“You’re exhausted. Do you want me to put you into a healing sleep?” I asked.

“No, I’ll make do with the normal one.”

We hugged each other one last time, and then I got up, slowly and carefully. At the door I turned. “Sweet dreams, Pauline. I’m really glad we have you back!”

Her eyes were closed, but her lips curved. “Me, too.”

I closed the door silently behind me. And bumped into Chastel. The impact made him wince and knocked me nearly off my feet, if he hadn’t grabbed my elbow to steady me.

“Shit, I’m sorry. Are you alright?”

“Nothing’s broken that hasn’t been already,” I assured him with a smile, and looked at him, taking in the deep gashes across the left side of his face. They would leave scars, and he could be lucky he hadn’t lost his eye. From his stance and controlled breathing I knew he had a couple of cracked ribs, too. “And you?”

He gave me a quick grin. “Same here.”

“Thanks for getting us out, by the way.”

“You did most of it. I just helped to howl the stones off you.”

“No, that’s not true. You did more than that. And I’m grateful and glad we had you as back-up.” Since the praise made him a little uncomfortable, I changed the subject. “So, you wanted to visit Pauline? She wants to sleep a little.”

“Damn. Viviane wanted me to give Pauline her medicine. I hate to wake her up.” He looked at the door as if he could see right through it, at Pauline lying hurt but safe in her bed. Worry shone brightly in his eyes, but there was more. Something unexpected, something sweet and soft and warm.

“You’ve fallen in love with her.” When the hell had that happened?

“No.”

I grinned. “Yeah, keep telling yourself that when you try to x-ray that door to get a look at her.”

The tease was back in his eyes. “Don’t be jealous, M. You’re a sweet, strong and beautiful woman but let’s be honest Kylian had his mark on you right from the beginning.”

“He certainly didn’t.”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

We both laughed.

But serious now, I had no idea how Pauline felt about him. Should I encourage him or not? I opted for logic. “It’s better to wake her now, than for her to wake up to a whole lot of pain later,” I said softly.

“I know, but…” he didn’t finish. And his eyes returned to fix on the door behind me.

It nearly broke my heart to see him like this, so with a pat on his arm and a kiss on his cheek I told him, “Get her some hot chocolate, and she’ll forgive you.”

My deed done, I started towards the kitchen as Kylian caught sight of me. Shooting a glance at Viviane, who was busy at the stove, he quickly crossed the distance between us and picked me off my feet in one smooth motion to take me back into my room.

“Are you crazy? She could have seen you.”

I just had to laugh. “Finally I know your weakness. Kylian the Killer is afraid of Viviane.”

“A man would have to be stupid to not be a little afraid of her.”

He was in a rather good mood and we were laughing, and still, his eyes were a piercing blue. Without thinking I brought my hand to his face, cupping his cheek. “What’s wrong? Your eyes are blue.” Kylian’s eyes, though ice blue they might be, had heat spreading through my every cell. And I dropped my hand as if burned.

Gently he let me down. “It’s the moon.”

I frowned. “Today’s Friday? Damn, I’ve lost any track of time. How much longer do you think you’ll be able to fight it?”

“One, two hours tops.”

“Okay, give me twenty minutes.”

As I was about to turn, he grabbed my wrist. “No, you need to rest.”

“I promised you to take you somewhere safe, and that’s what I’ll do. Besides I’d like to get out of here, take some fresh air.”

His flesh bulged under his shirt and he growled. “No.”

“See, your animal is so close to the surface, you can’t even have a small fight with me.”

“I could, it might just be our last, which come to think of it is a very tempting thought.”

Ha-ha. “Shut up. We’ll do this today and tomorrow when we both feel better we’ll go talk to the Chef de la Meute. So, see you in twenty.” With that I shoved him out the door.

I started towards my closet as it knocked at my door, and then Viviane stuck her head in. “Can I talk to you for a moment?”

Swiftly changing directions to walk inconspicuously towards the bed I replied, “Sure. Come on in”

Viviane sat down on the side of my bed and came right to the point, “Kylian told me what happened. I nearly choked on a cookie as he mentioned Mordred.”

Pooh, for a moment there I thought she knew I planned to leave her care. “Yeah, surprised the hell out of me, too. You know what worries me, at first he only wanted to escape his exile, now that he stumbled over me though he kinda hopes that ratting me out to Morgan will get him not only out of there but also back in her graces.”

“That bloody rat! They really deserve each other.”

I frowned. “You know what that means right? We’re back on her radar. Aren’t you afraid? Of the consequences for us, and for everyone around and with us?”

Viviane waved a hand at the air. “We’ve managed before.”

My frown deepened and I looked at her incredulous. “Yeah, well, look how well that turned out. Mum and Dad are dead, and I’m cursed to fight forever. I’m not really getting the positive vibe here.”

She patted my arm. “We’ll deal with it, when the time comes. Morgan is driven by jealousy, she has always been, that’s her only real motivation, and it will make her careless. It’s inevitable, and our advantage. But for now, I’m glad you’re back here and safe.” She leaned down to kiss my forehead and stood up. “And that’s my cue, I’ll let you sleep again.”

“Yeah, about that.”

It was neither easy to get dressed nor to get past Viviane, but I managed eventually. Since Kylian showed more and more signs of having trouble controlling his beast and I wasn’t yet up to marching across half the city we decided to borrow Viviane’s old beige Citroen DS. Then we started another fight on who should drive.

“Do you know how to drive stick? I know Americans love to drive automatic.”

Given the fact that that small question had his claws and fangs snapping into the open, was kind of answer enough.

Thanks to having one arm in a sling, a former dislocated knee and rush-hour traffic it took us a while to get to the Bois de Vincennes. By the time we reached the zoo darkness had settled. I parked, grabbed the shoulder bag I’d packed earlier from the backseat, and we got out of the car.

“This way,” I said, nodding towards the woods to the left of the zoo.

Silently and side by side we went deeper and deeper into the forest. In the distance the lonely cry of an owl announced the intrusion, and smaller night living creatures scurried quickly away from us; out of reach, to hide out under the cover of obscurity and to follow our every move with their tiny, watchful and glowing yellow eyes. I breathed in the fresh, oak-scented air and despite the pain in my arm and knee I felt good, at peace.

All of a sudden leaves rustled and two women stood in front of us, apparently coming out of nowhere and blocking our way. Ready for battle. They were practically naked with only the most important parts covered by patches of cloth and leaves and their long and tousled braided hair. They looked like humans, except for the pointed ears and green skin.

I held up my arm in surrender, but they’d already recognized their opponent since their stance relaxed. “Maiwenn, to what do we owe the pleasure?” They were polite as always, but kept eyeing Kylian with a mix of suspicion and interest. Like they would every male.

“Kylian, may I introduce to you the reigning spirits of these woods Moth and Nightingale. Ladies, this is Kylian the Killer. We’ve come here in hope of finding a safe and calm place on this night of full moon.”

The spirits approached Kylian with obvious interest now, circling him, like bees seeing a colorful flower. They might not like males, but these ladies, too, had needs. “He’s strong, well-toned,” Moth said, as if commenting on a prized bull put up at auction.

Nightingale nodded and turned to me. “We’ll let you pass, if we get a night with him. That’s the fee.” Looking back at Kylian, she added, “Maybe in the morning? After the Hunt he’d like it.”

She wasn’t that far off with her assumption since it was well known that shapeshifters tended to be a little more interested in everything carnal after their night under the full moon.