The Moon Rises (10 page)

“Soon you trust him to the point of wanting to do
things for him. Well actually with him. The trick is that you’re actually
making your own decisions. He’s not forcing you in an obvious way. It’s like
his lies. They’re subtle so you don’t pick up on them. If any guy makes a move
on you soon, it’ll be Simon. He won’t care about Finn or any other male.  He
will enthrall you just enough to get your guard down and soon you’ll not only
want to sleep with him, but to be changed. Trust me, though, being a Vamp
sucks. It’s why they all look so cranky. Simon doesn’t because he’s been around
long enough to hide his feelings, but the newer Vamps are all moody. Yeah,
don’t let him change you.”

“I won’t. Did he try to change you?”

Sara glanced around and frowned. “Yeah and I
almost let him. It’s hard to tell Simon no because he sounds so very reasonable
and you feel safe with him, but it’s the enthrallment, not some actual safety
you have with him. While he wants you, yes, he would keep you safe, but his
interest is fleeting. We’re just ants to him and ants are only entertaining for
so long.”

“How did you know not to let him change you?”

Poking at her food, Sara shrugged. “Growing up, I
had a teacher who I thought was so cool and smart and I wanted to grow up and
be like her. I’d wanted that dream for so long that it was just a part of who I
was. So when I was thinking about giving up my life and essentially becoming
Simon’s plaything, that need to be a teacher was stronger than my need to
please him. It seems silly how I would be willing to be changed into a Vamp,
give up my humanity, the ability to stand in the sun, the ability to have
children, just give it all up because some hot Vamp asks me to, but then being
a teacher stopped me. Still that’s what did it. I pulled back from the fantasy
he was selling and said no. If he had enthralled me completely, I couldn’t have
said no, but he wants his victims to agree to the hell he’s offering. It’s more
satisfying for him, I guess.”

Sara sighed and Gigi thought her friend looked
sad.

“Anyway I was really into Simon and I miss him
sometimes. Maybe not him personally, but the way he made me feel. When those
males, with their magic and power, focus on us humans, it can be overwhelming
and addictive, but it’s a lie. They always lose interest.

“Justine has been chasing Nolan for over a year
and he flirts with her, but he won’t do anything because she’s just a human.
The witches seem the most like us, but they’re not human and they think they’re
better. Weres are the same way. They will have sex with humans, but they won’t
mate with them because their offspring would be weakened by our humanity. So
they use us for entertainment, but they can’t love us. It’s why I don’t waste
my time dating Weres. They can be charming and I like big strong guys, but I’m
just a conquest and I want to be a wife and mother one day, not the whore of
some Were.

Gigi thought about Finn and again considered
backing out of her date.

“Why should I date Finn then?”

“Because you said he was nice and you might as
well get some practice when it comes to dating. I avoid dating Weres, but I
avoid dating crappy human males too. I’m at an age where I want to find someone
good who I can marry, but I’ve been dating since I was a teenager. I’ve had my
practice. You haven’t and while Finn is a Were, I think he’s probably a safe
Were. He knows Silas is a mean son of a bitch and Silas will protect you. Maybe
as time goes on and the novelty of you wears off, Silas might not care like he
doesn’t care about Katia.

“Right now though, he does care and Finn might be
Declan’s brother, but he’s not stupid. Silas will fuck him up, if he hurts one
of his girls. Declan wouldn’t stop Silas either. Declan needs Silas to stay
neutral when the war comes. Anyway I think you should go on your date and have
fun and learn how to handle yourself with a safe guy so you’ll be ready for
when a real date comes along.”

“Why are they going to war anyway?”

“Because Declan is power hungry. If it was up to
Anton and Roger, their pack borders would remain the same. Declan’s pack is
bigger and stronger and he wants more territory. I hear the Weres whisper about
wanting to steal land from Roger, but Anton’s territory is more valuable. I
sense when Declan’s war starts, he’ll hit both Anton and Roger and take
everything he can get.”

“Do you think they’ll die?”

“Anton and Roger? It makes sense to kill them, if
Declan really wants to keep the territory. A few blocks here or there won’t
matter and I think Declan wants it all now. For that, yeah, he’d need to kill
the other Alphas. He probably can, but now Anton has the witches and Roger’s
off getting some kind of help. It’ll get messy and the only thing that will
keep humans like you and me safe will be our links to Silas. He’s Switzerland, Mr. Neutral, and no one wants to piss him off.  He’s not quite the straight
businessman he pretends to be. He has resources to hurt anyone who hurts him
including an old relationship with Michael. Silas was an Alpha in some other
place years ago and no one wants him to try to be one here. We should be fine,
but Anton and Roger and their inner circles are living on borrowed time.”

Gigi thought about Anton who she once saw walking
to his car while she was out wandering the city. She had stopped to watch him
because she liked watching him. Gigi saw him pull off the shirt he was wearing,
throw it inside his car, and pull out another shirt. He was only shirtless for
like a minute, but Gigi felt a rush of heat which made her want to touch him.
The idea of Anton being dead like Katia and maybe Mamma Celeste were dead caused
the heaviness in her chest to grow more burdensome. If Declan was Ella’s
favorite jackass, maybe Anton was Gigi’s?

“So where are you working tonight?” Sara asked,
finishing her sandwich.

“Ghoul floor.”

“Do a bad job,” Sara said immediately.

“How?”

“Act weirded out by them. Act snooty. Cry. Vomit.
Whatever it takes.”

Gigi smiled because she thought Sara was teasing
her. Even though Sara was smiling too, her blue eyes were serious.

“I’m not kidding. The Weres, witches, and Vamps
like you. You’ll be requested constantly without the ghouls liking you too.
Some girls like Ella can tolerate the ghouls and she gets bored of the pack
floor. She knows all the guys and also knows they’ll tease her, but never date
her. Anyway she puts up with the ghouls because she needs variety and can’t
work on the other floors. Dahlia gets on Simon’s nerves so he asks for her to
work elsewhere sometimes and Silas sticks her on the ghoul floor because she
can’t work on the pack or witch floors. No one wants to be with the ghouls so
if you freak out and get banned from the floor, no one will blame you.”

“What are they like?”

“Since I started at the club two years ago, I’ve
been on the floor a bunch of times and it’s not horrible if a necromancer is
around especially Tobin. He isn’t a ghoul, but a sorcerer or something. He
looks human and is good about making his monsters behave. Well unless he
doesn’t like a girl then the ghouls get really curious and start playing with
the offending girl’s hair and they lick her and whatever else it takes until
she freaks out. Tobin can be really mean and he’s messed with girls until
they’ve cried. Even then his ghouls blocked the exits so the girls couldn’t run
away. Silas complained, but he wants Tobin’s business so he only complains,
never penalizes. So, yeah, Tobin can be mean, but he usually isn’t. I know he
is very nice to Ella, though his tolerance for Dahlia is waning since she got
snooty with some little monster when it sneezed on her.”

Gigi didn’t feel her face change, but suddenly Sara
laughed and patted her hand.

“It’s not that bad. Just gross, but not
dangerous. The Vamps are more dangerous. Hell, I’d rather be around the ghouls
than the witches. Back when I first started at the club, I know those fucking
witches killed a girl. She died of some mysterious disease no one else in the Circle
caught. No, the witches killed her and they’ve probably killed other people in
more subtle ways. Yet they wanted people to know about that particular girl. I
don’t know what she did wrong, but others probably did know and her death was a
warning. Silas doesn’t even want to mess with the witches. So, yeah, the ghouls
are gross, but they’re dumb and are controlled by necromancers who for the most
part behave civilly. I’ve never heard of a girl getting hurt on the ghoul
floor. Messed with maybe, but never injured. A girl has gotten hurt on every
other floor over the eleven years since Silas opened the club, but never the
ghoul floor.”

“So I should or shouldn’t want to work on the
ghoul floor?”

“Well if it was up to me, you would stick to the
Were floor only because I think you’re safest there. Anton and Declan complained
about you not working the floor which means they both like you. While they
won’t date you, they want you safe so they can check out your ass. The Vamps
and witches are dangerous, but you already won them over so it’s too late to
fix that. No need to make the ghouls fans too.”

Gigi was thoroughly confused now. She wished
someone had told her how not to do well on the witch and Vamp floors if it was
so dangerous. Instead they just told her the right ways to behave. Seeing Simon
or the witches again scared her, but tonight was all about ugly monsters. At
least this time around Sara gave her the heads up so she knew not to do a good
job.

Declan watched Anton speak with Silas and
wondered what the two Weres were conspiring over with all the whispering.
Birthday or not, the Alphas were always working angles. Anton’s eyes found
Declan’s and the dark haired Alpha smiled. Okay, so maybe his former friend was
in fact taking the night off from preparing for the war they all knew was coming.

Anton strolled over to Declan, looking relaxed
even though he wasn’t. Roger’s absence weighed on them both, but tonight wasn’t
about work.

“Happy birthday, Declan.”

Declan nodded with a smile. “You look like crap. 
Not sleeping well?”

Sighing heavily, Anton shrugged. “The ladies do
keep me up well past my bedtime, but what can I do?”

“You should just kick them out of bed like I do.
Oh no, I guess you can’t because you’re too much of a softie.”

Anton grinned. “Silas is pissed at you. You know
that, right?”

“Oh, I know.”

“Unfortunately we’ll all have to suffer now.”

“How do you figure?”

“Gigi’s working tonight, but she won’t be serving
you cake and ice cream.”

Declan growled as his eyes found Silas who was
grinning.

“Where did he stick her?”

“Ghouls.”

Declan’s growl deepened when Silas chuckled.
“Jackass.”

Laughing, Anton smacked Declan in the arm. “You
shouldn’t have pitched such a fit and made Monica cry. She used Silas’s shirt
as a tissue half the night. He’s not likely to forgive you for a while.”

“It was my guys.”

“Uh-huh.”

Declan grinned. “Well Gigi’s too hot for the
ghouls and I’d hate for her to stink of the Vamps. The witches are weird and
screw with the girls. No, it’s better if she’s here and I say that purely as a
concerned patron.”

Still smiling, Anton sighed. “Ah, Finn brought
Michael with him.”

“Lovely.”

Finn didn’t visit the club much, not wanting to
be sucked into pack politics. Michael visited even less, not caring enough
about anyone’s feelings to even fake like he gave a shit about their pack
politics. Yet they both graced the establishment to celebrate Declan’s thirtieth
birthday.

“Hello again,” Finn said with a grin. “Michael
says hi.”

Michael nodded at the two Alphas then glanced
around. “Where’s the Gigi chick?”

Declan frowned and his frown matched those of
Anton and Finn. Michael glanced back at them and decided to frown too.

“She works here, right?”

“Yes,” Declan said cautiously, although he wasn’t
sure why.

“She hired me to look for the dead waitress. Is
she here?”

“She hired you?” Declan asked.

“Did I stutter?”

Declan didn’t hate Michael, but he didn’t like
him either. Next to him, Anton was standing very still as if worried violence
might break out and he would need to know who to hit first. Finn patted Michael
on the back.

“Chill, man. We can ask Silas.”

“She’s on the ghoul floor,” Anton said then added
with his dark eyes on Michael, “And you can’t go to the ghoul floor.”

“I thought only the weird girls got assigned to
the ghoul floor?” Michael muttered.

“Hey,” Ella cried, having appeared from nowhere
just so she could shove Michael. “I work on the ghoul floor and I’m not weird.”

“It’s true. She’s more bitchy than weird,” Declan
said with a grin.

Ella smiled at him while batting her eyes. “Happy
birthday, jackass.”

Few Weres could mouth off like Ella did without
getting an ass kicking for their effort, but Declan had a soft spot for the ginger.