MoonlightTemptation (16 page)

“No, Grace—”

“I knew if I screwed up or made waves that I’d be made to
disappear. But at least they were upfront about it. Here, you’re so nice to my
face but I know you just want to drain me of info about the
Mal
. And
when I’ve told you all I know, I’ll be useless. And you’ll get rid of me.”

“Grace—”

“But Alex
needs
me.” She’d wound herself up and
couldn’t stop. Her hands had clenched into fists at her sides and tears
threatened to spill down her red cheeks. Dane had never seen her react so
violently. “He’s still just a baby and I will fight you to the end before you
take him away from me.”

“Grace, we don’t want to take Alex—”

“Don’t lie to me.” She shook her head so hard, he feared
she’d hurt herself. “I know you think I’m dangerous and I— You’re just waiting
for an excuse to get rid of me. But I won’t leave Alex unprotected. We’ve done
fine on our own all these years. We’ve managed, even when Alex’s father discarded
us when Alex wasn’t born
Mal
. And when my grandmother wanted to take him
away from me, I made it impossible for her to do it.”

She stopped to catch her breath and Dane saw the opening and
took it. “Your grandmother’s
Mal
, isn’t she?”

Grace nodded as she took in a deep breath. He could see she
was trying to rein in her emotions but he wanted those emotions.

Though he hadn’t discussed it with anyone, Dane had made it
his personal mission to get Grace to open up.

What had started as his determination to find out why Grace
had taken Evie had become more than that as he’d slowly gotten to know Grace.
They were alike in ways he’d never expected.

Most
lucani
reacted first, relying on their emotions
and their senses. Dane always thought everything through before he acted. And
tried not to let emotion bog him down.

He thought Grace was much the same way. She’d had to be to
survive living with the
Mal
for so long, especially when he knew she
wasn’t
Mal
.

“Yes. My grandmother’s
Mal
. And so was my father,
before he was killed.”

“How’d he die?”

Her eyes closed for a brief second before she stared at the
wall. “He disobeyed an order.”

“And that warranted a death sentence?”

Now she met his gaze. “Why do you care?”

“Because I care about Alex. You’ve got a great kid and I would
hate to see him lose his mother because she did something stupid and
unnecessary. Are you really that loyal to the
Mal
that you would
sacrifice yourself to protect them? I don’t think you are. I think you want to
trust us. You just need to give us sign of your trust. Tell me who Alex’s
father is and—”

“No! God, no.” She began to pace the room, looking like a
cat who’d been kept in a cage too long. “I don’t even want to speak his name.
He’s never had any interest in Alex and I never want to give him a reason to.
He can’t have Alex—”

“And we can help you keep Alex away from him. Haven’t you
thought about that, Grace? Haven’t you considered that we can help you?”

She took a deep breath then bit her bottom lip as she stared
at him. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why would you do that? Especially for me.”

She looked so genuinely confused, Dane took a few seconds to
think about his reply.

“Because I have to believe there’s some part of you that
wants more than to be a puppet for the
Mal
.”

Grace opened her mouth to speak but shut it just as fast.
She stared at him, as if trying to find the hidden meaning in his words. Or the
catch.

Dane rose from the chair and headed for the door. “Think
about what I said, Grace. Then let me know what you want to do.”

“Dane.”

He stopped as he opened the door and turned to look at her.

She looked so torn, he almost felt sorry for her.

Then he watched as she reined herself in. She straightened
and her expression cleared as if she’d wiped it with an eraser.

“Thank you for taking care of Alex.”

“Just think about it, Grace. I’ll bring Alex back myself.”

Chapter Seven

“Oh my god, I think I ate my entire weight in pasta.” Evie
leaned back in her chair even as she pulled her coffee cup closer. “Jeez, I’ve
never had better food in my life.”

Cat laughed, the lighthearted sound drifting over the
thinning crowd at The Cellar in downtown Reading. “I know, but I think I could
still eat another serving of that tiramisu. I swear it made me see stars.”

“And the chefs,” Evie lowered her voice, though no one sat
close enough to overhear, “are really four-foot tall imps who have a gift for
cooking?”

“
Monachetti
,” Cat finished for her, nodding. “Yep. If
you want, we can meet the chefs before we leave. They don’t let just anyone in
the kitchen, for obvious reasons, but since you’ve got Etruscan blood, you can.
They love to hear how much you enjoyed their food.”

Evie just shook her head and took a sip of her coffee.
Four-foot imps. Next Cat would tell her there were flying monkeys.

Of course, she’d just eaten dinner with a werewolf and she’d
had mind-blowing sex with another earlier today so…

She just kept shaking her head.

For the past two hours, she and Cat had been sitting at
their table on the side of the dining room. They’d talked, eaten, talked some
more and enjoyed every minute.

She’d corralled three little-boy bundles of energy for three
hours this afternoon and loved every minute of that too, but she thought she’d
been ready for a little peace and quiet.

When she’d gone home to change, though, Cat had met her at
the house and hadn’t stopped talking since.

And Evie had to admit it’d been the best thing for her.

Otherwise, she knew she would’ve brooded over the situation
with Ryan and Dane.

As it turned out, she hadn’t had time.

Cat made it impossible to brood. The girl’s blue eyes glowed
with excitement and that excitement had rubbed off on Evie as she’d showered
and changed before leaving.

Taking her cue from Cat’s above-the-knee plaid wool skirt,
form-fitting blue sweater and kitten-heeled black-patent boots—which made the
girl look freaking amazing—Evie dressed in tight black pants, red silk blouse
and stiletto heels.

Evie knew they’d turned more than a few male heads when they
walked through the door of the restaurant. She didn’t think Cat noticed at all,
though.

She was just too damn happy to be free.

Which wasn’t the word she was looking for. Well, not
exactly.

Evie couldn’t remember the last time she’d been out to
dinner with a friend. Not on a date, not with family. Just a meal with a
friend. A meal where they’d managed to avoid talking about men, family and
magic the entire time. Cat had been content to talk about anything but.

Evie had learned that Cat loved to read historical romance
and Douglas Adams. And murder mysteries, the bloodier, the better.

She also loved music.

“So Avenged Sevenfold is coming to town,” Cat said, “and I
was hoping maybe we could get tickets? I’ve never been to a concert and I
really want to see this band. I don’t think Mom and the dads will have a
problem with us going. I think they’re finally starting to understand that I’m
not going to go wild and turn into a wolf in front of a crowd. Or zap someone
into a frog accidentally.”

Evie nodded. “Sure, I’d love to see the band. I love
Synyster Gates. The guy is gorgeous. And he kind of reminds me—”

She stopped before she brought up Tivr’s name, not wanting
to upset Cat’s mood.

If the guy wasn’t an Etruscan god, she’d read him the riot
act for playing with her friend’s emotions. She’d—

She blinked, her mouth snapping shut as it occurred to her
that her life had taken an irrevocable turn into the Twilight Zone. One she’d
managed to handle without freaking out. Or feeling the need to self-medicate.

“Evie?”

She blinked and refocused her gaze on Cat’s face. The other
girl’s quizzical expression made Evie smile and she reached across the table to
take Cat’s hand.

She’d never been a touchy person, never one to give hugs and
kisses freely, but Cat had broken through that wall too.

“Have I ever thanked you for being unafraid to be my
friend?”

Cat laughed, the sound attracting the notice of several men
sitting on the far side of the room. “Why would anyone be afraid to be your
friend? You’re not exactly dangerous.”

“Yeah, I am. But you’re helping me learn to control it and,
for that, I’m so grateful. I don’t know what I’d do without your friendship,
Cat. There were times when I really thought I was going to lose my mind but you
never gave up on me.”

Cat shook her head, her cheeks turning red. “You would have
done the same for me.”

“No, I don’t know that I would have. You didn’t know me
before. My life… I’d like to think I would have but… I don’t have your heart,
Cat.”

“Yes, you do.” Cat’s expression went deadly serious, her
hand tightening on Evie’s. “You have a huge heart. You’re teaching the son of the
woman who kidnapped you and made your life a living hell. Heck, you’re halfway
to forgiving Grace Bell because you know she was only doing what she thought
would save her son. And,” she drew the word out to three whole syllables,
“you’re falling in love with two guys who you have eating out of the palm of
your hand.”

She didn’t know what to say to that, except, “I do not.”

“Oh, please. Dane would let you put a leash on him and Ryan
would walk across burning coals for you. You’ve got two alpha males panting for
you. It’s every woman’s dream.”

Okay, Cat had her there. Two men who cared for her was two
more than she ever thought she’d have. Because, really, who wanted to tie
themselves to a recovering addict with magic-management issues?

Still… “They’re not panting for me, Cat. And what do you
know about alpha males anyway?”

Cat shrugged and a little bit of the light leached from her
eyes. “I have two for my dads.”

“Your dads love you to death. But they never make you frown
like that.”

Cat’s mouth pulled into a flat line. “I’m not frowning.”

Evie sighed. “No, that’s why your mouth is like that. Crap,
I’m sorry, Cat. That was stupid. I’m not trying to pick on you. That was a
stupid thing to say.” Shaking her head, she began to pull away.

Cat clutched at her hand and those blue eyes went wet. “He
hasn’t come to see me in weeks. And I don’t know what I did.”

Evie could barely hear Cat but she knew who the girl was
talking about.

“Maybe he’s busy.”

“Or maybe he just got bored with me.” Her mouth quirked into
a bitter twist. “After all, I’m just a stupid teenage girl.”

“No one who knows you would ever call you stupid, Cat.
You’re one of the smartest people I know and if he doesn’t see that, then even
gods can be idiots.”

A little flash of color flushed Cat’s cheeks and she bit
into her bottom lip. “And that’s the real problem, isn’t it? If you’ve read any
mythology, you know it never ends well when humans and gods mix.”

Unfortunately, Evie knew that. “So aren’t there any nice
mortal boys for you to date? Maybe one who has more than his share of hair
growth?”

Cat’s smile widened. “Hair growth? Really?” She shrugged.
“Yeah, there’re a couple. I just… They just aren’t…”

“Who you want to be with.”

Her smile failing, Cat nodded. “Yeah. And that sucks.”

“Yeah, it does. But that doesn’t mean you should let him
win. You’re young, you’re beautiful and every last one of the guys in this
place gave you more than a passing glance when we walked in. And kept looking.
We’ll just ignore the older, skeevy ones.”

The flush on Cat’s cheeks deepened even as she laughed.
“Yes, let’s. But none of that changes the fact that, tomorrow night, I’ll still
be the only seventeen-year-old girl in Berks County who’s never been kissed.”

“So the next time you see him, you kiss him.”

“Tinia’s teat,” she huffed. “Could you just imagine his face
if I did that? He’d probably read me the riot act. And then he’d tell my dads.”

“Cat, he’s a guy. He would
so
kiss you back. And
there’s no way he’d tell Kyle and Dan. Ty may be a god, but he’s still a man.
And that man would give his left arm to kiss you.”

Evie had met Tivr, Lord of the Silver Light, only a few
times since she’d moved in with the Etruscans. Each time, Cat had been there.
And the guy had been way too careful about not paying her too much attention.
So much so that it was obvious he wanted to pay her a hell of a lot more
attention.

Evie couldn’t believe Kyle or Dan didn’t see it but then
maybe they didn’t want to see it. Kyle and Dan treated Cat like any beloved
daughter was treated by her father. Like spun glass. They deliberately
overlooked the fact she was seventeen and in love with a god.

And who could blame them? All those myths about gods
typically involved sex. She figured neither Dan nor Kyle wanted to even think
about their daughter having sex, much less with a deity.

Sighing, Cat released Evie’s hand to lift her espresso for a
sip. When she placed the cup in the saucer, the rattle revealed how shaken she
was. “Doesn’t matter anyway. Nothing’s ever going to happen between us. I just
need to give it up.”

“Why?” Evie just shook her head. “If you want him, I say go
for it.”

Cat just shook her head. “So are you going to take your own
advice? I saw the bag you packed. Are you planning to stay with Dane and Ryan
tonight?”

“I haven’t made up my mind yet.”

“Why? That seems like a no-brainer to me. Two hot guys, one
girl. The odds are in your favor. Besides, I’ve never seen Dane interested in
anyone before.”

“Yeah, he’s so interested, he had to bring his best friend
in so he wouldn’t have to feel obligated to me. I don’t know, Cat. I just feel
like even though he wants me, he doesn’t want me enough.”