Moon Spell (The Tale of Lunarmorte #1) (17 page)

The phone thankfully rang then, making Lars jump high and yelp. With a withering look he flicked his wrist and encased his assistant in a glass cage so he couldn
’
t hear him and couldn
’
t be heard by him during this very important telephone call.

“Boy, are you in trouble,” he growled down the phone.

He heard the sharp intake of breath before she hurriedly went on, “My lord, please. I
’
m doing the best I can. Things are progressing well, I think.”

“No,” he snapped. “The information you have sent me tells me nothing. We have no
‘
in
’
yet, and we need an
‘
in
’
!”

“I
’
ll get you an
‘
in
’
,” she whispered.

“Oh, you will,” he demanded menacingly. “In fact, if you don
’
t get me the information I need to wage war with this despicable race of … of
dogs
within the next few months, I am going to have to go in all spells blazing. And if that happens, my dear little spy, you
will
be the first casualty.”

The intimate run with Lucien had given him a permanent starring role in her dreams. Sometimes the dreams were so real she felt absolutely consumed by them, lost in them, finding it difficult to fight her way through the sleepy fog into reality. The fact that the dreams inevitably ended with Lucien kissing her, however, was the wakeup call that she needed. Kiss. Bam! She was awake, and Lucien-less. Caia was trying to control her fantasies, she really was. She lived with the guy. He was Pack Leader for goddess-sake. But it wasn
’
t like she could avoid him. When he wasn
’
t at work, he was usually hanging around the house with Ryder, so that people always knew where to find him. And Ryder and he were always so friendly, welcoming her into their company. They were her friends. It was during these little gatherings that her eyes would drift over Lucien
’
s face, with its fierce silver eyes and sultry mouth. And then lower, to his strong sinewy forearms and large capable hands. The tug in her lower belly would just get more insistent. She had no clue what was happening to her. She was even day-dreaming in class, and she was not the day-dreaming kind. Caia doubted he was day-dreaming back. She was just a kid to him, right? Ugh, she didn
’
t even want to think like that. Of course she was just his friend. Didn
’
t she get that feeling when they playing during their run together - he suddenly pulled back like he didn
’
t want to cross some line with her. She had been disappointed, but amused at his tentativeness at the time. But in truth it was kind of hard to get over her crush when he acted like such a gentleman.

A week after the infamous run with Lucien, a run that she hadn
’
t even told Jaeden about, he called to her from the hallway as she was finishing her breakfast. Caia frowned and glanced at the clock. Jaeden was late to pick her up. After Lucien called her again, she took her last bite of toast and curiously strolled out of the kitchen to find him standing at the front door with a big grin on his face. “I want to show you something?”

Caia shook her head, stepping back. “Uh no. I
’
m not falling for that again. Last time you and Ryder said that to me I had heart failure.”

He had the decency to look sheepish. “How were we to know you were afraid of spiders?”

“Spiders?” Caia spluttered. “It wasn
’
t just a
spider
. It was the
mother
of all spiders.”

Lucien laughed. “This isn
’
t a spider. Will you please just come?”

Huffing somewhat as she remembered the huge, brown, spindly creature they had thrust in her face about two weeks ago - thinking she
’
d find the alien monster from Hades as amazing as they did - she walked cautiously after Lucien. She followed him outside and stopped short on the porch as he approached a brand new car.

“I know it
’
s no sports car.” He slapped the roof of it, like it was an old friend. “But it
’
s brand new.”

“What is it?”

“The new Ford. You like the color?” He watched her carefully for a reaction.

Caia smiled in confusion. It was gold pistachio; metallic; very pretty. “Yeah? Why?”

He grinned. “Because it
’
s yours.”

Her jaw must have hit the floor. Was he kidding? Nope, not by the cheesy grin on his face. “Lucien, I can
’
t accept this.” But she was already gravitating towards the vehicle. She ducked her head inside the passenger window, checking out the color co-ordinated interior, and inhaling that wonderful new car smell. “I really can
’
t accept this.”

She heard him grunt from the other side of the car. “No can
’
t about it. It
’
s yours.”

“Does she like it?”

Caia straightened to see Ella rushing excitedly out of the house. “Huh, what d
’
ya think, Cy?”

“I think it
’
s too much,” she said regrettably. It was such a nice car.

Ella
’
s face fell. “But... Lucien went to a lot of trouble-”

“Mom.” He stopped her, shaking his head in what Caia had come to recognize as irritation. His gaze swept back to her. “You
’
re taking the car.” It was a demand.

“Bu-”

“No buts. Jaeden
’
s not picking you up this morning so unless you
’
re going to change into the wolf suit and run there you
’
re going to be late.”

They were waiting
for her, standing around Mal
’
s SUV, as she pulled into the parking lot in the Ford. It was a dream to drive. She
’
d actually forgotten how much she
’
d missed having a car, although back in her life with Irini it had been a beat up Mustang she
’
d driven. Caia felt a little self-conscious as she got out of the vehicle and headed towards the pack. Jaeden was smiling devilishly at her.

“You knew about this,” Caia stated grimly, coming to a stop in front of them.

Jaeden nodded impishly.

“Nice ride.” Mal laughed. “Looks like you
’
re all set to be a Soccer Mom.”

“Shut up.” Jaeden slapped him across the head, incurring a low growl from the back of his throat.

Caia looked thoughtfully back at the shiny machine. “I was actually thinking that if he was going to get me a car he could have gotten me a nice, cheap, old thing.”

“Yeah.” Jaeden laughed, and eyed her meaningfully. “He could have.”

She rolled her eyes. Jaeden had begun making little innuendos about her and Lucien for the past few weeks now. Just because he was being nice to her and trying to make sure she integrated back into the pack without any problems, Jaeden thought his preferential treatment meant something. The only feelings between Caia and him were the private ones emanating from her fantasies, and she was telling no one about those, not even Jaeden. Not that it mattered as she had a feeling Jaeden was aware of her crush. Her perceptiveness could be a little disconcerting sometimes. Besides, Caia thoughts depressed as her eyes fell on Alexa, why would Lucien be interested in the little orphan Annie when he could have the gorgeous Alexa?

“Lucien is being generous,” Dana
’
s annoying voice cut into her thoughts. “You should be a little more grateful.”

Alexa smirked. “Yeah, Caia. If he could hear you now... tut-tut.”

Caia felt like hissing. The terrible twosome still didn
’
t like her. “I didn
’
t say I wasn
’
t grateful.”

“Back off.” Sebastian sighed, clearly as fed up with their sniping as Caia was. He drew her towards him protectively, a gesture Caia accepted, and she and Jaeden followed him towards the entrance of the school. “You know, I wish they
’
d get over it already,” he voiced her thoughts. “You haven
’
t even looked at Mal twice since you got here, so what
’
s Dana
’
s problem?”

“She
’
s a sheep,” Jaeden chimed in. “She does whatever she thinks will make Alexa happy.”

“You know.” Alexa made them tense as she appeared suddenly, striding up to them. “That was kind of rude, Sebastian.” She moved past them gracefully, an ugly twist to her mouth. “But I forgive you. I
’
ll have to get used to being magnanimous. It
’
s what a Pack Leader does.”

Jaeden guffawed, “What?!”

“Are you completely psycho?” Sebastian asked incredulously. “You are aware that you
’
re not Pack Leader?”

Alexa smiled evilly, her eyebrow quirking up as she drew them to a halt. She turned that wicked smile on Caia. “But I will be mate to Pack Leader. The party at Lucien
’
s will be a perfect opportunity for me to show Lucien what a mistake it
’
ll be if he chooses differently.” Her eyes narrowed in calculation. “He wouldn
’
t want to choose someone, say, who would jeopardize the pack by foolish displays of strength in front of
‘
them
’
.”

Caia heaved a sigh. She had hoped Alexa had forgotten that by now. No other weird occurrences had happened since the calculus solution, so Caia was left without explanation for it. She was afraid there would be questions, and trouble, if Alexa did mention it to Lucien.

“You know I didn
’
t do that, Alexa.”

She snorted. “Oh goddess, are we still on that track?”

The bell rang. Caia shook her head in disbelief. “I actually thought you were off my back. No one here cares about your designs on Lucien.” OK, that was a lie. “Do what you want. Stay out of my way, and I
’
ll out of yours. OK.”

“You don
’
t fool me, Caia.”

Sebastian groaned. “Oh come on.” He tugged Caia and Jaeden past the she-devil. “You
’
re delusional, you know that.”

They had gone only a few steps when Jaeden threw over her shoulder, “In more ways than one. Lucien will never choose you. Don
’
t you think he would have already?”

“She
’
s exhausting,” Caia growled, as they walked towards class. “Every time I get into it with her I feel like I
’
ve stepped into an episode of
Gossip Girl
.”

“What
girl
?” The two of them asked in unison.

Caia shook her head.  She forgot that because of her long period of isolation from the pack she
’
d watched a lot more television than they had.

“TV show.”

“Oh, yeah.” Jaeden nodded. “I never watched that one. Is that the one with the annoying girls with so much money they have to resort to cruelty and manipulation out of sheer boredom?”

“Yeah.” Caia snorted, eyeing her suspiciously. “Sure you haven
’
t watched at least a couple of episodes?”

“We-”

“Don
’
t let her get to you,” Sebastian said softly, interrupting them, and returning the conversation back to Alexa. His eyes were concerned as he rubbed her shoulder comfortingly. “Ignore her.”

Caia nodded. She
’
d try.

But that day in English, with the she-devil sitting right beside her, she couldn
’
t help but have a different kind of day-dream. One in which Alexa was Lucien
’
s mate, and she kept Caia in a cage as an amusing pet. Lucien would come over to the cage to poke and prod at her with a stick, to the delight of his new bride.

“Miss Ribeiro?”

“Hmm,” she mumbled, wincing as if she really felt the prod of that stick.

“Caia?”

“Huh?” She blinked, and realized her English teacher was asking her a question. She straightened knocking her book to the floor. The class snickered and she tried to hide her blush.

“Thank you for joining us, Miss Ribeiro,” the teacher said sarcastically.