MoonlightTemptation (19 page)

“Shh.” Cat’s whisper barely reached Evie’s ears but she
recognized the watchful stillness in the girl’s expression. “Everybody, get
away from the—”

The wood door splintered outward just as Evie sprinted for
the boys. Jason and Mikey had immediately dropped to the floor and Jason was in
the process of helping Alex off the chair and under the table by the time Evie
reached them.

A growl echoed from the other side of the room and Evie knew
Cat had shifted into her pelt.

“Evie!”

From across the hall, she heard Ryan yelling and she opened
her mouth to call to him but she couldn’t force the words to leave her mouth
when a man walked through the blown-out door.

She had no idea who he was. She’d never seen him before.

But her skin crawled and she automatically moved to shield
the boys. Mikey whimpered and clung to her leg while Jason and Alex froze, as
if he wouldn’t notice them if they were quiet and still.

The man was average height, average looks with average brown
hair. Just another guy you might see on the street and never look at twice,
dressed in a dark suit and black shoes.

He let his gaze travel around the room with a dismissive
gaze.

As if nothing impressed him.

When his gaze lit on her, she shivered.

“What do you want?” she asked, her voice as shaky as her
hands.

The man ignored her. “Alex. Come out here.”

Another set of hands clutched her other leg.

“I don’t know who you are or how you got in here but you
need to leave.”

The man finally gave her an assessing look before dismissing
her and focusing again on the boys beneath the table at her feet.

“Alex, come out where I can see you. I’m your father and you
will obey.”

Cat’s growl from behind Evie warned her that the girl was
about to attack but Evie waved her hand behind her back, signaling the girl to
stay back.

Cat had to be able to sense the man’s magic. He reeked of
it. It oozed against her own like slimy mud, thick and black. The guy had
power. Freakishly awesome power.

Mal
.

She knew Alex’s father was
Mal
but Dane had told her
he’d had nothing to do with Alex since he’d been born.

But it was pretty damn obvious to Evie that he’d come to
take Alex. By force, if necessary because he’d brought muscle.

She noticed another man behind Alex’s father, this one
dressed in military tactical. He stood in the doorway with his gun pointed
across the hall.

Directly into the lounge area where Ryan had been sitting.

Fear raised her heart rate, wanted to make her crawl under
the table with the boys and cower. Instead, she forced herself to stand her
ground. “Alex is not going anywhere with you. You need to leave immediately.”

The man looked at her as if she were a talking bug, a
curiosity not worthy of his time.

Turning his head, he spoke to the other man over his
shoulder. “Take the girl. She’s the one Grace has been using. I can sense her
magic tangled with Alex’s. Take the wolf too. Leverage is never a bad thing.”

Another man in black slipped through the doorway, gun
pointed directly at Evie.

Which he fired point blank.

* * * * *

Ryan heard the kids scream as the distinctive sound of a
tranquilizer gun went off.

Once, twice. And another two times just after he heard a
wolf growl, low and mean.

Fury made him want to lunge for the door but the guy with
the Ruger pointed at his head would have no problem shooting him if he moved
the slightest inch.

The guy had dead eyes.

Ryan was surprised he was still alive.

But whoever was taking Alex, Evie and Cat was in for a
vicious surprise.

The
lucani
wouldn’t stop until they’d gotten them
back.

And Ryan was pretty damn handy with a gun.

If the guy made one wrong move…

Through the doorway, he saw movement from the other room.
Evie, thrown over the shoulder of another man in black. A second guy followed
with Cat’s wolf in his arms. Then a man in an expensive black suit walked out
with Alex in his arms before he stopped in the doorway, behind the man with the
gun.

He looked Ryan in the eyes as Ryan memorized his face. The
guy had to know what he was doing and didn’t care.

“Tell them I’ll kill the wolf if they attempt to follow. If
the dogs obey, we’ll return it relatively unharmed.”

“You have to know you’re a dead man,” Ryan said. “They’ll
kill you.”

“They’ll never find me. Let’s go.”

Gun Man walked straight at Ryan, the weapon never wavering.
Ryan braced for the blow he knew was coming.

When it did, there was blinding pain.

Then pitch darkness.

* * * * *

Dane ran flat out.

He’d been in the middle of formulating more of the serum for
Alex when the alarm at the community building began to sound.

Since his lab was only yards from that building, he was one
of the first to arrive.

He saw a man put his hand over Ryan’s forehead just before
he disappeared. And Ryan slumped to the floor.

“Ryan! Evie!”

He ran for Ryan but had to turn into the classroom when he
heard crying.

“Dr. Dane, they took Miss Evie and Cat and Alex.” Jason had
his arms wrapped around Mikey protectively, but both boys had tears running
down their faces. Dane bent to give them a superficial exam before ascertaining
that they were okay.

“I know.” He stood, pulling the boys to their feet as well.
“Come with me. I have to check on Ryan and I want you two to stick close.”

“Dane, what the hell’s going on?” John Simmons nearly broke
the front door as he shoved it out of his way. “We heard the alarms—”

“Someone took Evie, Alex and Cat. Call Margie and get her
and Ronia here right now.”

John froze, fear plain on his face as he relived his worst
nightmare. He didn’t even move when the door burst open again as Kaine caught
up with her mate.

“Kaine, you have a better nose than I do. Use it.”

Kaine didn’t hesitate to follow his order, though she took a
second to squeeze John’s arm before her clothes disintegrated around her as she
became a sleek gray wolf.

And John finally pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.

Dane was already kneeling next to Ryan, the two little boys
standing very close to his side.

Raised voices came from the hall as more people arrived. The
low rumble of John’s voice didn’t compute as he tried to figure out what had
been done to Ryan.

His heart, his lungs, his pulse, all fine. He scented only
the faintest whiff of magic on the guy but it was
Mal
magic, dark and
bitter smelling.

Fear rose in his gut but he forced it back. It would only
hinder his examination, make him sloppy—

Ryan’s eyes opened as if he’d been sleeping, yet with none
of the grogginess. Relief crashed through Dane with the force of a hurricane.

“
Vaffanculo
, Ryan—”

“They took the girls and Alex.” Ryan propelled himself to
his feet, shaking his head as if to clear it. “We’ve got to—”

“Whoa, don’t move too fast. I don’t know what they did to
you.”

“I’m fine. We need to get Kaine here to track—”

“She’s already here. Ryan, gods damn it, calm down and let
me examine you.”

Ryan shook off Dane’s hands. “I’m fine. We need to talk to
Grace right now.”

Dane felt his skin tighten. “
Shit
.”

He turned to herd the boys out into the hall but realized
they were no longer behind him. Their parents had arrived and were comforting
them in the hallway. Several other
lucani
were also gathered there but
Dane only needed one.

“John, we need to get over to the holding facility.”

John’s eyes widened for a brief second before he turned and
ran for the door. Dane and Ryan couldn’t keep up with him but the building
wasn’t too far away and, by the time they got there, John had confronted a
terrified Grace.

“Where is she? What the fuck did you do with my sister?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Please…” Grace
shook her head, her face pale and her eyes wide in fright. “I don’t— Dane.
Dane, what’s going on?”

“Alex’s father took Alex, Evie and another child. Do you
know where he took them, Grace?”

Her eyes fluttered shut and her face blanched so pale, Dane
stepped closer to catch her when she passed out. But after only a few seconds,
she opened her eyes again.

“If you have a
strega
strong enough, you can do a
blood tracking spell.” Her voice had become flat, lifeless. “If not, have your
lucani
tracker bite me. They’ll be able to track Alex that way.”

“You know we can’t do that—”

“There’s one local connection you should check into now.”
She continued on, her voice eerily calm. “Before he disappeared two years ago,
Daniel Bonnini was affiliated with Ettore Marrucini’s holdings. I understand
Bonnini’s holdings have been taken over by his niece who, I believe, has a
strong connection to the Etruscans here in Berks County.”

Dane’s jaw dropped before he could catch it. Tinia’s teat,
the amount of information this woman had been able to acquire scared the shit
out him.

“Ettore wouldn’t have contacted her but he may have taken
Alex and your females there to prepare them for transport elsewhere,” she
continued. “And he probably used the Reading Airport to fly into. It’s smaller
and easier to avoid questions and pay off employees for favors.”

“Who the fuck is this Marrucini and why the hell didn’t he
just use magic to take them wherever they were going?” John asked. “He
disappeared them right the hell out of here fast enough.”

“He’s Alex’s father and he’s only powerful enough to
teleport seven people inside of a certain geographical area.”

John left at a run as Dane knelt down to check Grace’s
vitals. The pallor of her skin scared the shit out him.

“If you don’t find them there, check in Florida. The
Mal
have strongholds in Tampa and Miami, though most of the businesses are run out
of New York. I’ll give you the addresses of buildings I know are affiliated
with the
Mal
but you won’t find Alex there.”

A flush of color began to stain her cheeks as she reached
for Dane’s hand. “My grandmother gave me to Marrucini when I turned nineteen.
She thought I’d be useful breeding
Mal
since I’d failed to be born one.
After I conceived the first time, he—”

“The first time?” Dane shook his head as if that would make
the sentence make a little more sense. “You have another child?”

Grace’s chin lifted and he saw the sheen of tears in her
eyes that she quickly blinked away. “A daughter. I haven’t seen her since the
night she was born with the caul that marked her
Malandante
.”

As Ryan paced like a caged cat, Dane forced back a horrified
curse. “I’m sorry, Grace.”

She just shook her head. “After my daughter was born, I was
allowed more freedom. I went to work for my parents in New York City. My
apartment was paid for by Marrucini and he visited when he was in town. When he
wasn’t…” She shook her head and Dane had the feeling he knew exactly what
happened to her when Marrucini wasn’t around. “When I got pregnant with Alex
and blood tests confirmed the baby was his, Marrucini moved me to Florida. I
have no idea where except that it was on the Gulf Coast.

“After Alex’s birth, Marrucini told me he’d found another
breeder who was more ‘proficient’.” Her mouth bent in a bitter sneer. “He said
he would never acknowledge Alex so I was free to keep the child if I wanted. He
put me on a plane back to my parents and they gave me a generous trust fund.
After all, I’d provided at least one
Mal
child.”

“Grace—”

“You’ve got to find Alex.” Now the tears started to fall.
“Please. He’s all I have left and I don’t trust anyone else with his life.
Dane, that man will dissect Alex if he thinks he can make a profit from it. And
there’s so much about Alex you don’t know. He’s special, Dane. You’ve got to
get him back.”

* * * * *

“Cat.
Cat.
Damn it, Catene, wake up.”

Evie had opened her eyes about five minutes ago. She knew
that because there was a clock on the wall. Whether the time was correct was
debatable but if it was, then she, Alex and Cat had only been taken a half hour
ago.

It’d taken her several minutes to tamp down the fear that
wanted to choke her. But finally, using the techniques her brother had taught
her to calm herself in stressful situations, she’d managed to sit up and look
around the room without screaming in fear.

No windows. One sturdy wood door with a tiny window at the
top. No furniture. Cinderblock walls. She and Cat lay on a clean blanket on a
dirty floor.

She reached for her pocket. No cell phone. Damn.

Cat still wore her pelt. She was breathing a little heavy
but Evie thought that might be due to the tranquilizer.

Her own head still felt fuzzy but it was clearing more every
second.

And anger was taking its place.

She was fucking sick and tired of being a goddamn pawn. That
anger sat in her stomach and boiled her blood.

Whoever those men were, they better fucking hope nothing
happened to Alex or Cat. Because Evie had enough juice to fry them right now.
The only problem was, she was afraid she’d burn the entire building down.

Cat snuffled but still didn’t wake and maybe that was for
the best. She might go for the jugular of the first person to step through the
door and get herself tranq’d again.

Where was Alex?

For that matter, what the hell was this place? And where
were the men who’d taken them?

Closing her eyes, she used all her training to focus. To
listen.

At first, she heard nothing but Cat’s wheezy breathing and
the hum of electricity running through the walls.