Ice Moon (15 page)

The fear in her eyes stoked my anger. If Damian tried to lay a hand on her or Charlie, I’d make him sorry he was ever born.

“I’ve dealt with Nero before.”

But the stakes had never been so personal.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Taryn

H
alloween. One of Charlie’s favorite holidays.

I tried to keep the threat of danger hidden from my son, but behind my smile, my stomach was in knots. Damian hadn’t crossed my path since the Masquerade, but he wasn’t lying about his wire transfer. The escrow would close this week. That meant signing paperwork and delivering keys.

I’d cross that bridge when I got there.

Although the deck was finished, Jared brought up some clothes and a few of his things. Until we could get my name off of Damian’s radar, Jared planned to stay close to Charlie and me. And I loved him for it.

Every day his bond with Charlie grew. Finally, my boy had a father figure he deserved. They made me laugh in spite of the weight of my worry over Damian pressing on me. For now, my hands were warm, but no fires.

“Mom!” I put the glass away and turned to find Charlie covered in blue fur, his face painted to match. He flexed his foam muscles, doing his best Beast impersonation. “We’re not a threat to humanity. We’re part of it.”

Jared came around the corner in his Wolverine costume and my body temperature rocketed. After Charlie’s excitement over our X-Men uniforms for the Masquerade, I caved and found him a Beast costume and extended our rental on Wolverine and Dr. Jean Grey for a few more days.

Jared rubbed Charlie’s blue head. “We watched X-Men again so we could get some of the lines.” He winked at Charlie. “Right, Bub?”

Charlie giggled and looked up at me. “You better get dressed, Mom. Trick-or-treating starts soon.”

Sherri came in from the garage with a bucket of candy. “I’ll keep the home fires burning.”

“Thanks, Sherri.” I caught Jared’s hand as I passed by. “Be ready in a minute.”

The second I emerged as Jean Grey, Charlie was dragging us out. He’d selected a Spiderman pillowcase for his candy and we took off. Our cul-de-sac bustled with costumed ninja turtles, vampires, superheroes, and princesses. Some whined about being forced to wear jackets, others squealed about candies, and front porches glowed with jack-o-lanterns.

Some of the decorations were creepy, some funny, and a few were elaborate, with teens lurking to startle the trick-or-treaters.

I’d never taken Charlie out on Halloween. I’d missed so much. He raced up another walkway to the porch. We stayed behind on the sidewalk.

Jared nudged me. “You’re not over there dreaming about Cyclops, are you?”

Lost in my thoughts, it took me a second to remember we were X-Men. I smiled, shaking my head. “No. I’m trying not to regret all the Halloweens I’ve missed. Charlie’s never carved a pumpkin. I’ve never decorated our porch.” I glanced up at him. “Work was the only place I thought people were safe from me.”

He put his arm around me, drawing me in closer while we waited for Charlie to come back from his latest Halloween conquest. “You can’t change the past, but you’re making great memories now.” He pointed out to the street. “How many other moms do you see out here dressed up with their kids?”

I rose up to kiss his cheek. “Thanks.”

He grinned. “Anytime.”

“Wow!” My bright blue Charlie ran toward us holding up a Snickers bar. “She gave me a full size candy bar.” His eyes sparkled like he’d found the Hope diamond. “I wonder if my friends will come by before she runs out of candy.”

“Have you had enough?” Jared asked.

Charlie stashed the Snickers in his bag and shook his head. “No way. A kid dressed as the Joker told me the next street over has a haunted house. Can we go?”

I pulled out my phone and checked the time. “Okay, but then we need to get home. You have school tomorrow.”

“Yes!” Charlie struck out ahead of us, his pillowcase slung over his shoulder like he’d just robbed someone of more than chocolates and candies.

We followed him, Jared shining the flashlight on Charlie’s feet. When we rounded the corner, there was a line of kids waiting to go inside the haunted house. An impressive spread of Halloween ghouls, flickering lights, and jack-o-lanterns filled the front yard. The arbor archway was covered in spider webs, with random body parts hanging like a beaded curtain. On the other side was a tunnel made from giant cardboard refrigerator boxes. Big enough to walk through.

What waited inside was a mystery, but through the seams, strobe lights flashed, and the screams of kids and adults alike echoed down the street. Thriller pumped out from the speakers set up on the stairs leading up to the porch.

Something about the stairs seemed…familiar. I glanced at the mailbox. The address rang a bell. I toured so many properties both for vacation rentals and home purchases that it was tough to keep them all straight. This place had been on the market, or for rent. Either way, I was pretty sure I’d been up those steps recently.

I squeezed Charlie’s shoulder. “Sounds scary in there, are you sure you want to go?”

He turned and gave us both a big Beast growl. “We’re the X-Men. Nothing can scare us.”

I chuckled and straightened up. Jared stared at the dark tunnel. The color had drained from his face and a muscle along his jaw contracted. My smile faded.

“Can you hold Charlie’s candy?” I ran my hand up his back. “I’ll take him through.”

Jared blinked and met my eyes. “I’m fine.”

I raised a brow. “You look far from fine.”

He pulled in a breath through his teeth and tipped his head, cracking his neck. “You’re not going in there alone.”

A bead of sweat trickled down his cheek. I shook my head. “You don’t have to do this. We’ll be right out.”

He stepped up and took Charlie’s hand. “Ready?”

Beast roared in answer and I rolled my eyes. Boys.

It wasn’t quite wide enough for the three of us to go through side by side. “We’ll clear the path for you, Mom.”

They walked through the body part curtain first, with me right behind them. The second we entered the tunnel my eyes widened, struggling to see in the dark. Cobwebs hung down, making me crouch to keep them from brushing my face.

“How are you doing, Charlie?”

“I’m fine, Mom.”

“Jared?”

He didn’t answer, but he didn’t keel over hyperventilating either, so I figured he must have the claustrophobia under control, at least for now.

Ahead, two girls shrieked. We turned the corner and were instantly blinded by the bright flashing strobe light. A man rose up from a coffin.

Charlie screamed.

For a moment, time slowed. The vampire rising from the box met my eyes. Damian. He wore claws for nails and catlike contact lenses. The light flashed, making his movements jerky, inhuman. He jumped from the casket, blocking Charlie’s exit, and grabbed his wrist. Charlie jerked and tugged, trying to break free.

Damian yanked Charlie’s closer, but his gaze was locked squarely on me. “Show me what you can do.”

Fire exploded inside of my chest, but before the cardboard surrounding us ignited, Jared moved in. While Damian focused on me, Jared grabbed Charlie, shoving him back toward me, before punching Damian so hard his body flew right through the cardboard tunnel, ripping open a huge hole in the side.

Jared followed him out, landing punches until his knuckles were shiny with blood. Damian hit him in the jaw, knocking his head back and they rolled over and over, taking down more Halloween decorations in the process. Shrieks deafened my ears as I struggled to contain the flames aching to break free. My body burned, but if I didn’t do something soon, Jared was going to get arrested for murder.

“Charlie, wait here.”

I ran to Jared and touched his back, the plastic and polyester melting on contact. “We need to go.”

The heat from my hand stunned him back to reality. He straightened, raw, primal anger lining his features. “Touch them again, asshole, and
nothing
in the world is going to keep me from tearing you apart.” His final word was more of a growl. “Nothing.”

He turned toward me, wincing a little. “I’ll get Charlie, you’re too hot.”

I nodded, desperately trying to pull in air and cool the inferno.

Jared offered Charlie his left hand, wiping his bloodied right on his leg. “Time to go.”

My son looked shaky, but he still bent down to retrieve his pillowcase of candy before taking Jared’s hand. I walked behind them, hoping to block Charlie’s view of Damian’s battered and bloody face.

I’d never seen anyone come unglued like Jared had just then. Maybe it was a combination of his claustrophobia and adrenaline, but for a couple of minutes, he seemed more animal than man. He’d been protecting us.

But what if that rage ever turned in our direction?

Chapter Twenty-Four

Jared

B
y the time we got back to Taryn’s place, she had her gift under control. I couldn’t say the same for my rage. If she hadn’t stopped me, I would’ve kept attacking Damian until he was dead. If he planned to hurt them, he’d have to get through me first.

Charlie gave Sherri a hug and started regaling her with stories of a scary guy grabbing him. “But I bet he was sorry after Jared got a hold of him.”

While Charlie reenacted my battle with Damian, I wandered down the hallway to Taryn’s room to get the burned costume off before either of them saw it and asked questions.

“Are you all right?”

I glanced back at Taryn and nodded. “Yeah.”

She came closer, her breath sucking in when she saw my burn. I couldn’t see it, but I didn’t need to. It was bad, and it hurt like a son of a bitch.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have touched you, but I didn’t know what else to do.”

“You did the right thing.” I shook my head tossing the costume aside. “When he grabbed Charlie I lost it.”

“I did, too.” She stared at her hands, a tear sliding down her cheek. “I thought I had a handle on this, but I almost…”

“But you didn’t.”

“If you hadn’t hit him and got us back out in the cold air, that entire cardboard tunnel would’ve ignited. I could’ve killed us all.”

“Again, you didn’t.” I pulled my hair back from my forehead. “Charlie is safe. That’s all that matters right now.”

“We should get a doctor to look at that burn.”

“I’ll have Jason check it out.” I met her eyes. “Damian didn’t rent that place from you, did he?”

She shook her head. “No, but it was familiar. It was probably on the vacation rental market list.”

“He didn’t pick that rental on accident.”

“You think he knows where I live.”

I nodded. “I’d bet money on it, and tonight’s show was a test to see if you could ignite a fire.”

Guilt clung to me like a second skin. I never should have gone in that tunnel. I shouldn’t have let them go inside either. As soon as we approached the property I’d caught Damian’s scent. But how could I explain that I smelled him without telling her I’m a werewolf?

We walked into a trap tonight because of me.

She washed her hands. Her fingers trembled as she wiped her tears. Shit. All her confidence about controlling her power was gone. I’d had to walk Charlie home. The burn on my back was proof enough she would’ve hurt her son.

I wanted to sit her down and tell her about Charlie and I being wolves right now, but while my conscience might feel better, Taryn would be far from it. Plus, if she didn’t believe me and sent me away like Charlie feared, they’d be easy pickings for Damian.

I could bear the guilt a while longer.

Leaning my shoulder on the bathroom door, I ran my hand up her back. “We can’t stay here, not with Damian so close.”

She rested her hands on the edge of the sink, closing her eyes and taking in a shaky breath. When she opened them, her gaze met mine in the mirror. “We should call the police.”

“Not a good idea.” I shook my head. “They’d have plenty of witnesses saying I attacked Damian.”

“What if he already called them?”

“He won’t. Nero prides itself on flying under the radar of the government. He’d never get the police involved.”

She leaned back, settling against my chest. “Where would we go?”

“My place. It’s small, but he doesn’t know where it is. I can drive Charlie to school and pick him up.” I braced myself. “And you need to take a vacation from work until we figure a way to get Damian to back off.”

“You don’t think beating the crap out of him did it?”

I chuckled. “Sadly, sick bastards like him take that as a challenge. There’s a good chance he’s going to get worse before we can get him out of town. We’re meeting with his brother tomorrow night, then we should know more.”

“I forgot about that.” She tipped her head up, staring up at me. “You think he’ll help?”

“Help? No. But he wants information from you about his mother, and we’ll get the same from him in trade. That’s probably the best we can hope for from Sebastian.”

“Okay. I’ll email Ray and let him know I’ll be out for a week…”

“At least two.”

She sighed. “Two weeks? I’ve never been gone…”

“We can’t risk him getting you alone.”

“Okay.”

She changed into sweats and a t-shirt while I turned a little toward the mirror, inspecting her handprint on my back. Werewolves healed a little faster than humans, but sleeping tonight was going to be tricky. Driving to my place wasn’t going to be a cakewalk either.

I pulled on a loose shirt, covering the burn and went out to break up the Halloween stories. Sherri stood up. “Sounds like you had an exciting night.”

“Yeah. Since the psycho lives on the next street over, Taryn and Charlie are going to come stay with me for a few days.”

“Yay!” Charlie danced around the room. At least seeing me attack someone didn’t make him afraid of me.

Sherri knelt down. “Give me a hug, and then you better get changed and pack.”

He squeezed her and took off for his room. She straightened up and looked me right in the eyes. “You seem like a great guy and Charlie is crazy about you.” She lowered her voice. “Be good to them.”

“I will.” I tipped my head toward the hallway. “They deserve nothing less.”

“Exactly.” Sherri glanced at Taryn as she came out of her office. “I’m heading home Ms. Goldstone. I guess I’ll wait to hear from you?”

Taryn nodded. “Yes. Maybe you can just check on the place for me? Get the mail?”

Sherri smiled. “I’d be glad to.”

She and Taryn stared at each other and finally Taryn moved in for a quick awkward hug. Sherri stepped back, confusion plain on her face.

“Thanks. For everything, Sherri.”

She nodded and closed the door behind her.

“I’ve never touched her before.”

I almost smiled. “I got that impression.”

“I emailed Ray and told him he’s in charge for a few days. Family emergency.” She started down the hallway. “I guess I’d better pack.”

When her bedroom door closed, I pulled out my cell phone and hit Jason’s number. “Can you meet us at my place?”

“Us?”

“Yeah.” I stared out the window. “We had a run in with Damian tonight, and I’ve got a burn that hurts like hell.”

“He burned you?”

“Not exactly.” Charlie could probably hear my side of the conversation so I kept it short. “I’ll explain when you get there. I’m bringing Taryn and Charlie to stay with me until we figure out how to handle Damian.”

“Does she know?”

I sighed. “No. Just meet me there, and come alone.”

“Okay. See you soon, Bro.”

T
aryn and Charlie followed me and Tank down the Mt. Rose highway to my place. When I pulled in the driveway, Jason’s car was already there. There was a chance he might be eager to meet my mate. I probably would’ve laughed if my back wasn’t in knots from leaning forward to keep the burn from pressing on the seat of my truck. I got out and went around to help Tank down. Jason came over, and we clasped forearms. Traditional Pack greeting. I’d show Charlie later.

After I told his mom what we were.

Taryn and Charlie got out of her SUV and came over. “Taryn, Charlie, this is my baby brother, Jason.”

Charlie burst into giggles that instantly lifted my spirits.

Jason rolled his eyes, punching my shoulder. “By less than an hour.”

I raised a brow. “Still counts.”

Taryn smiled, but didn’t offer her hand. “Nice to meet you. Jared told me you’re a doctor.”

“Yeah, my practice is in Reno. Speaking of, I should grab my bag.” He walked over to his car. “My brother tells me you run Goldstone Properties in Tahoe.”

“I do.” She came to my side, and I took her hand, lacing my fingers with hers.

Charlie looked up at me as I squeezed his shoulder. I handed him the house key. “Can you unlock the door and take Tank inside?”

He nodded and called the dog. Once the door closed behind them, I turned to Jason. “Thanks for coming over. I don’t want Charlie to see the burn.”

“Okay.” Jason set his bag on the hood of my truck. “Let me take a look.”

Taryn helped lift my shirt, and I did my best not to wince as the fabric brushed the giant blister.

“Jesus.” His cool fingers explored the skin around the wound. “This doesn’t look good. I need better light. Maybe in your room?”

Taryn and Jason got my t-shirt down without touching the burn.

“I’ll keep Charlie busy.” Taryn walked ahead of us without looking back.

I stopped Jason before we went in the house. “Charlie hears everything. He doesn’t know about his Mom’s…gift.”

Jason waited for Taryn to go inside, then met my eyes. “That’s her handprint on your back.”

I nodded.

“Holy shit.” Jason blew out a pent up breath. “That’s definitely a second degree burn, maybe third degree in the middle. Did she set you on fire?”

I shook my head. “Damian grabbed Charlie, and it got so hot, I was afraid the whole place was about to go up in flames. There wasn’t time to think. I hit him and broke open the cardboard tunnel we were in. Seeing Charlie in danger had my wolf clawing to the surface and once I started beating the living shit out of him, I couldn’t stop.”

I stared at my house. “Taryn tried to break it up before the police got involved, but her hands hadn’t cooled off yet. It burned right through the costume.”

Jason rubbed his forehead. “So when she’s upset…”

“Heightened emotional states trigger it.”

“That explains the smaller finger shaped burns on the back of your shoulders.”

“Exactly.”

Jason grabbed his bag. “You’ve got your hands full.”

“Why do you think I haven’t told her what we are yet?”

“Does her son know?”

I nodded. “He’s doing all he can to keep me from telling her.”

He frowned. “Why?”

“He’s afraid she won’t believe me and then she won’t want me around.” I met my brother’s eyes. “New Moon is right around the corner. Damian is staying in Tahoe. We’re going to have a jaguar hunting on our territory.”

“Yes there’s danger, but the longer you wait the worse it’s going to be.”

“You think I don’t know that?” I shouted, before I could stop myself. I pulled my hair back from my forehead, wincing as the burned skin on my back pinched. I lowered my voice. “I love them, Jason.” I stared up at the stars like the answers might be written up there. “I’m scared shitless that they might get hurt. That if I tell her, she’ll run.”

“She might believe you.”

I raised a brow. “You don’t know her like I do. That night she burned my shirt, she cut me out of her life. She wasn’t planning on ever seeing me again.”

“Yet here you are with little finger-sized burns on your shoulders.”

I couldn’t help but smile just a little. “The difference is that Damian didn’t know who she was then. Now he wants her. If she shuts me out, she and Charlie will be in even more danger than they are now.”

He started for the house. “It’s your life. They’re not going to hear anything from me. Let’s see if I can clean up your back.”