The Moon Rises (21 page)

Loud arguing inside the club forced Gigi to move
away from the door. She stood far enough away to avoid getting hit if it opened
too quickly, but remained in the line of sight of the front doors. Still
feeling sharp pains in the palms of her hands, Gigi wondered if she was having
an allergic reaction like when Justine was exposed to something on the witch
floor? Did the witches play a trick on her when she worked there earlier?

Gigi was careful to avoid Nolan without seeming
like she was trying to avoid him. Not only did Justine hate when anyone moved near
her lust toy, as Ella called him, but Nolan’s fiancée Elise was on the floor
too.

Before Gigi could worry much about the pains in
her palms, she felt someone watching her. Her gaze returned to the front door
where Dave still hadn’t appeared. No one was around the entrance and the arguing
had subsided. Scanning the street, she saw no one, but her skin ached with the
sensation of being watched. Peering into the alley, Gigi knew someone was there,
even though it appeared empty.

Thinking maybe the person was hiding behind the
dumpster, Gigi took a slight step to her right and tilted her head to study the
well lit area. Silas kept the alleyways and streets brightly lit to avoid
troublemakers. Someone was watching Gigi though and she didn’t understand where
they were hiding. Then she looked up.

Not someone, but something.

Black as night, the monster nearly blended into
the sky behind it. Perched atop the roof of the adjacent building, it was the
size of a bear, yet it had no fur and looked more like a bird. With buggy black
eyes, the giant crow-like creature studied Gigi.

Fear so intense it stole her breath seized Gigi
and she wanted to run. What she knew about predators was how much they enjoyed
the chase. If she moved too quickly, the thing might be spooked and attack her.
Inching her feet to the left towards the club, Gigi tried to seem very still
even as she made her escape.

The monster hissed and Gigi stopped moving. It again
stared at her with its bulging black eyes. She waited for it to attack, to snatch
her away like it had Katia, Monica, and Sara. Gigi wasn’t afraid to die, but
she was afraid of pain. Instead of attacking, the creature on the roof turned
its head away, having lost interest.

Gigi wanted to flee now that it wasn’t looking,
but she was afraid to draw its attention. She took a tiny step towards the club
and waited to see what the beast would do. Glancing at her, its ugly face
turned away again. Another step, followed by another, she realized the monster
was letting her slip away. Gigi then ran into something.

“Watch yourself, little girl,” Dave growled.

Gigi didn’t respond because the monster’s gaze
was focused on her and Dave. The thing opened its mouth and hissed louder this
time. Dave had been staring at Gigi as he stood a bit too closely.

“What the…?” Dave said, glancing up at the
creature.

“Shhhh,” Gigi whispered. “Don’t spook it or we’ll
be taken like Sara.”

“Fuck that. If that’s the thing hunting you
girls…” Dave said too loudly and the monster’s hiss shifted into a roar. Dave froze
a moment then pulled a gun from the back of his pants. “Go back inside.”

“You’ll make it mad. Just come with me and we can
hide.”

Ignoring her, Dave stepped closer to get a better
shot as the monster watched him. Having sensed another predator in the mix, the
creature was growing agitated and preparing to attack. It was going to hurt
Dave, but maybe the Were could hurt it first.

The first shot hit the creature in the neck and
black liquid splashed against the side of the building. The monster roared as
it took flight. Dave fired into the monstrosity as it soared towards him. More
goop oozed from the holes in the creature, but it never slowed.

Landing atop Dave, the beast seized the shifter’s
arm which was holding the gun. Gigi heard Dave cry out as the thing’s long tail
whipped around, slicing through Dave’s soft flesh. The Were pulled a blade with
his free hand and stabbed at the monster. The creature just shook Dave’s body
violently and the short sword skidded out his grip.

Gigi wanted to run, but she was frozen in her
spot. Dave’s screams turned her fear into a hot emotion in her gut. Clenching
her teeth, Gigi felt the emotion spread, biting at her skin.

Rage.

This was the monster that took Katia and Monica.
The
monster that took Sara
.

Gigi didn’t think because the rage wouldn’t let
her. She took the sword which landed nearby and ran at the monster. The bird
thing tore into Dave’s shoulder, trying to sink its jaws into the shifter’s
throat.

Dodging the long sharp tail, Gigi jumped on the
monster’s back and stabbed. No precision to her attack - for the rage only
wanted vengeance - she stabbed once, then twice. Again and again, she tore at
its flesh. Black ooze poured from the wounds and the beast roared. Bucking, the
creature threw Gigi off its back.

The monster left Dave who twitched on the ground,
still alive as he fumbled with his jacket, maybe looking for another weapon.
Gigi regained her footing and held the sword in front of her like the man on TV
had. Except that man had been pretend and he had died anyway.

Gigi knew the monster was angry now, but it was
moving away from Dave who dragged himself towards the club. The beast stared at
her with one good eye, the other just an oozing hole now because of the sword.
The creature let out a hateful hiss then charged her.

Gigi tried to hold her ground, but the thing was
too big. Once her sword slid into its chest, the creature shoved her back
against the wall. Pinned, she tried to wiggle free. The monster only let her
loose long enough to whip its tail around and slice through her chest.

Gigi gasped as the pain shocked her into a
stupor. The creature’s tail yanked from her chest, tearing away flesh, before
it darted inside her again.

Mamma Celeste would be mad.

Gigi let go of the sword stuck in the creature
and put her hands over the hole in her chest, trying to keep the blood inside
her. The beast did not yank out its tail this time. Instead it studied her face
from an inch away. Even monsters wanted to study her, Gigi thought, as the rage
and fear faded.

Her blood poured from her body and she knew this
was bad.  Even if the monster didn’t eat her, she was going to die.  Dave would
live though and he had a family and would be missed more than she would.

“Why did you have to go and challenge it?” a very
reasonable sounding voice said from inside the monster’s slack mouth. “I didn’t
even want you.”

“I’m sorry,” Gigi mumbled, not understanding why
the monster was talking to her.

The blood was hot in her hands even as her body
felt cold. When the monster’s tail yanked from her chest, Gigi’s mind flashed
sharply, dissolving her thoughts, erasing her present. For that moment, Gigi
was gone, replaced by something ancient and full of wrath.

Gigi reached out for the monster’s face, cupping
its beaked jaw lovingly in her bloody hands. Staring into its good eye, she
growled.

The energy rushed from her dying body into the
thing which took her life. The beast tried to retreat, but Gigi’s hands held
the monster as it fried under her fingertips.

The monster and Gigi collapsed away from each
other. Her body, still grasping for life, tumbled back against the wall of the
club. Falling hard on her bottom, Gigi remembered the night the witches played
their trick on her. They had laughed that night, but she didn’t get the joke.

Gigi never got the joke, but soon it wouldn’t
matter. Soon her body would fight no more and she might finally hear what the
ghost was always trying to tell her.

Declan cornered Silas who was pulling his Switzerland crap again. Anton suddenly joined the two males in the conference room and he
looked more curious than anything else. Ignoring the other Alpha, Declan shut
the door and glared at Silas.

“You need to tell us where Roger is.”

By making it “us” instead of “me,” Declan hoped
to push Silas into getting chatty. Silas wasn’t buying it though.

“I don’t work for either of you.”

“Do you work for Roger because it looks like
you’re protecting him?”

“It’s not a fucking secret how you idiots will be
at war soon,” Silas said and Declan noticed Anton’s posture shift. “You have
the strongest pack and want to move on the other two packs. Anton made himself
an alliance with Mira’s clan as insurance to protect his pack. Roger’s wants
insurance too.”

“What kind of insurance?”

Silas ran a hand through his thick brown hair and
growled. “Declan, for the last damn time, I don’t work for you.”

“How do you know he actually left though? Your
waitresses started disappearing around the time he left town. How do we know
he’s not taking them?”

“Because Roger doesn’t kill humans. He kills
other shifters, just like you. He went to get himself ammo for the war. If you
want to know more, go hassle his guys and leave me the hell alone.”

Growling quietly, Declan backed away from Silas.
Anton watched him and his dark eyes seemed darker now. One day the two former
friends would have to find out who was the better Alpha, but this wasn’t the
time. Standing with his arms crossed over his chest, Anton was clearly thinking
about the fateful day though.

“Fine. We’ll wait for Roger to return with his
big surprise, but playing neutral doesn’t mean shit once the war begins.”

“You keep saying that. Yet for the last two wars,
I’ve remained neutral as have your brother and Michael.”

“Finn is not neutral,” Declan growled.

“Whatever you have to tell yourself.”

The blare of the club alarm startled the three
Weres and Silas was out of the door before Declan saw him move.

The alarm meant the place was locked down to keep
whatever was going on - whether inside or outside - from spreading. The levels
themselves wouldn’t lock down unless Silas hit another trigger. The Were hadn’t
made this move which told Declan the problem was outside.

Chasing after Silas who raced down the stairs,
Declan felt Anton behind them. Something big was happening and Declan wondered
if this was Roger’s surprise?

A group of Weres, some of them Anton’s guys, some
Declan’s, along with a few bouncers, stood armed to the teeth in the lobby.
Dave was on a couch, ripped apart and gushing blood.

Declan’s guy clearly knew what was happening, but
the Alpha didn’t stop to ask. He followed the armed Weres, Anton, and Silas
past the fortified front doors and onto the street. The group moved towards a
side alley where Declan smelled blood and death.

The armed men surrounded a black mass lying
motionless in the alley, not far from a dumpster. Declan heard someone say this
was the creature that attacked Dave. Then he heard something about Gigi, but
his focus was on Anton who darted farther down the alley and onto his knees.

The sound of the Alpha’s voice startled Declan
because he had only heard Anton sound this way once before. Over twenty years
earlier, when his mother was killed.

For that moment, Declan wasn’t Anton adversary,
just someone who knew him better than he knew himself. Declan heard pain in his
old friend’s voice. Once he reached the other side of the dumpster, Declan knew
why.

Finding Gigi bleeding to death against the wall, Anton
felt as if he was losing something that was his and he couldn’t live without.
At first glance, Anton thought she was already gone. Her face was so pale, her
eyes lifeless, and then she blinked. Anton felt himself speak, maybe just a
noise or maybe words before falling to his knees next to her.

Taking her hand in his, Anton brushed hair from
her face and her eyes found him.

“It’s going to be okay,” Anton lied, smelling
death on her already. “We’ll get you help.”

“Is Dave okay?”

“Yes.”

Gigi nodded weakly as her eyes watched him. “I’m
glad the monster didn’t eat him.”

Anton wiped blood from her colorless lips and
realized she was dying right in front of him. He wanted to do something, but
there was no help for the injuries she suffered.

Gigi’s gaze focused on the monster. “Is it dead?”

“Yes.”

“It took Sara,” she muttered, crying. “Sara was
my friend and it took her.”

Anton moved closer, feeling how cold she was and
wanting to warm her. He saw the damage to her chest and smelled the destruction
to her internal organs.

“I want Mamma,” Gigi whispered, teary-eyed, yet
calm again.

“We have to get her inside,” Silas said, kneeling
on the other side of Gigi.

“We can’t move her,” Anton told him quietly.