The Moon Rises (32 page)

Simon again showed not an ounce of interest in
the whole conversation, overwhelmingly bored by it. Yet someone backed away from
Lawrence and his grip on Gigi eased.

“If you had been loyal to your kind,” Lawrence told Simon, “her blood would be yours.”

Gigi’s gaze was on Simon when she felt Lawrence bite her neck. Reaching out for Simon who finally stopped looking like he didn’t
care, she saw his gaze shift to someone behind Lawrence. The vampire at her
throat tore open her thigh in retaliation against whoever was trying to grab
him. Gigi cried out, her hands still reaching for Simon.

“That was an artery,” Lawrence said, licking at
her throat. “She’ll bleed out now, so back off or I swear I’ll leave nothing
for you to screw.”

Simon’s strong jaw twitched then he looked at
Gigi and she felt him trying to enthrall her, but it didn’t work. Feeling pain
and fear, she struggled against Lawrence’s grip.

Lawrence again bit into her throat. This time she
screamed, fighting to break free of him. She heard Simon speaking to her in his
calm voice, trying to soothe her, but she felt suffocated by Lawrence’s
embrace.

Around Gigi, the other Vamps grew aroused by the
feeding. Yet Simon didn’t look aroused, only tense as he held his minions at
bay while Lawrence fed.

A loud cough in her ear startled Gigi and she
felt a splatter of blood against the side of her face. No longer feeding, Lawrence coughed again. Nearby, the Vamps moved closer while Gigi fought to break loose.

“You poisoned the bitch,” Lawrence growled then
vomited and collapsed, taking Gigi to the ground with him.

When his grip weakened, Gigi tried to squirm
away. Before she broke free, an intense pain ripped through her as Lawrence dug through her vest and tore open her chest. As she screamed again, Gigi thought
she heard Simon’s voice. Her mind shut down from the pain though and her vision
wavered. Then she felt herself jerk upward. Eyes focusing, Gigi realized she
was in Simon’s arms.

Turning her head, Gigi noticed Lawrence thrashing
on the ground. Other Vamps tried to destroy him, but Simon waved them away. The
offending Vamp was instead allowed to writhe in pain, gasping as he vomited and
vomited until he fell lifeless on the ground.

Gigi was glad Lawrence was dead, but she felt
strange and it hurt to breathe. The front of her uniform and all her bare skin
was covered with blood.

“I don’t understand what just happened,” she told
Simon who looked like he was thinking about something.

Simon opened his mouth to speak when the elevator
dinged and Silas along with other Weres entered the floor. The Vamps backed
away, some hissing, some making aggressive gestures towards the interlopers.
Simon pulled Gigi closer to him and she realized he was now covered in blood
too.

“Give her to us, Simon,” Silas demanded

“What can you do for her?” the Vamp asked,
pulling Gigi possessively against his body.

Gigi noticed the Alphas were present and she
remembered how Weres weren’t allowed on the Vamp floor. Everyone was breaking
the rules today.

“We can give her medical attention.”

“The witches?” Simon said with a nasty grin.
“Witches harvest, Silas.”

“Then we’ll take her to the hospital.”

“Most of her blood is on the outside now and I
suspect a transfusion of human blood will not be a suitable replacement. Taking
her to the hospital will do no good. Let me hold her until the ends comes.
Would you like to stay with me, Gigi?”

This time when Simon tried to enthrall her, Gigi
let him, wanting to relax into his too green eyes. She heard the others
talking, but she didn’t care what they were saying.

“We could take Gigi to her apartment,” Anton said,
stepping between Silas who was moving forward and Simon who was moving deeper
into the booth. “Whatever fixed her before might fix her again. She has a ghost
following her around. Maybe it’ll fix her?”

“Ghosts don’t fix shit,” Silas said, still moving
towards Simon.

“Something fixed her before. Let’s take Gigi to
her place and leave her.”

“Not much of a plan,” Simon muttered as he
stroked her cheek.

“You don’t want her to die,” Anton said, edging
Silas out of the way and inching closer to Simon. “My plan doesn’t offer much
hope, but your plan offers none.”

Gigi broke her gaze from Simon and watched Anton
who was now standing next to the booth. He was so beautiful and calm, but she
remembered how he always teased her. Anton’s calm tone did seem to penetrate
Simon’s possessive reaction though.

“I will take her,” Simon said.

“No,” Silas growled. “I will take her. The rest
of you can just back off.”

Gigi was still watching Anton, loving how warm his
skin looked in the oddly lit Vamp floor. He was so pretty, but he didn’t want
her. Simon wanted her so much he wouldn’t even let her go when she was bleeding
to death on his lap. Turning her gaze back to the Vamp, she sighed.

“I messed up your shirt.”

Simon smiled softly. “There are many blue shirts
in the world, but there is only one you.”

Simon lifted Gigi up and handed her to Silas who
moved so fast she thought he would drop her. By the time they reached a car and
even though the enthrallment had worn off, she was too tired and dizzy to pay
attention. She heard Silas talking to someone, but she didn’t think it was her.
Justine’s voice was no more than a whisper and Gigi felt her friend holding her
head in the back of a large vehicle.

When Gigi opened her eyes again, she was lying on
her bed. Gasping for air, she felt something break inside her, something important.
All she could think about was how she wanted to take one good breath.

Then her vision faded to black.

Soon the air returned and her vision cleared and
Gigi opened her eyes to find Daniel. At first she didn’t remember him, but soon
his dark blue eyes found her and the memories of his last visit returned. He
was sitting on the edge of the bed with his hand on her chest.

“You will be well soon,” Daniel said quietly.

“The Vamp tried to eat me,” she muttered, feeling
disoriented.

“I would assume this did not turn out well for
him.”

“He said I poisoned him.”

Turning away, Daniel whispered, “Well Boo isn’t
food.”

“What?”

Daniel stood up and smiled slightly. “You’re not
doing a very good job of hiding.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Maybe the Circle isn’t the right place for you,
but I don’t know where else to put you?”

“I like it here. I have friends here and my
cats.”

Daniel glanced at the eight kittens who stared at
him in awe. Turning back to Gigi, he smiled.

“Eight cats?”

“They’re a family.”

Nodding, Daniel sat back on the bed and took her
hand. “You should rest.”

“Don’t leave.”

“I have to go. Your friends are keeping an eye on
the apartment. They won’t be able to see me, but it’s still best if I leave. My
presence could draw more attention to you and the Circle.”

“I have questions.”

“I’m sure you do,” Daniel said, holding her hand
as he stood up. “But if I wanted you to have the answers, I wouldn’t have built
those walls in your mind.”

“Wait, please don’t go.”

Gigi began to cry because she sensed Daniel was
important to her and he wouldn’t stay with her. She wanted to know why.

“Gigi, you must hide. You must not get angry. And
it is very important for you not to remember. Those are my three most important
rules. If I stay, you could remember which could make it very difficult for you
to avoid getting angry which will make it hard for you to hide. If I stay,
you’ll break all the rules.”

Knowing he was about to leave, Gigi asked the one
question which mattered most. “Is Mamma Celeste real?”

Daniel released her hand then leaned over to kiss
her forehead.

“Yes, your mamma is real.”

“Is she alive?”

“Yes and she misses you very much.”

“Why can’t I see her?” Gigi whimpered. “I want my
mamma.”

Flinching, Daniel returned to her side. “What do
you remember?”

“The same as before. She would cook and sing to
me. I think I was little then. She doesn’t look like me, but I love her and I
think she loves me.”

“She loves you so very much. She took you into
her heart the day you were born and is suffering without you, but it’s not safe
for her to be with you.”

“Why?”

“Because you shouldn’t remember. Maybe you were
always going to remember a little about your mamma because almost all of your
memories are of her, but you mustn’t try to remember more. There are very bad
memories which will make you very angry and you should not get angry.”

“But I already remember her.”

“But you will remember more if you see her. Once
you begin to remember, the walls will crack.”

“I’m lonely.”

“You are always lonely. It’s part of who you are.
Enjoy your friends and your cats and know how your mamma misses you.”

“Is she my only family?”

“Yes.”

“The witches said my family is dead and someone
put up the walls to protect me. Is that true?”

“Yes, the walls are there to protect you.”

“Are you going to make me forget you again?”

“Yes.”

“Can you let me remember how Mamma Celeste is
real? I got sad when the witches said my mind made her up.”

“I’ll try.”

Gigi gazed up at Daniel and thought he looked
sad. She reached for his hand and squeezed it.

“Thank you for fixing me again.”

“You’re welcome. I know what happened with the vampire
was scary, but now maybe the others will realize how eating you isn’t a viable
option. You might be safer in the short run.”

“I wanted Simon to bite me and change me into a Vamp.
I wanted to stay with him for a long time, so I won’t be lonely.”

Standing up, Daniel sighed. “You always were
silly in the oddest ways. Fortunately, sunshine, you can’t be a vampire. You’ll
have to find another way to deal with your loneliness.”

“Okay.”

Daniel smiled and again leaned down to kiss her
forehead. “Be good.”

“If I can find the monster that took Sara, I’m
going to kill it. I’ll be careful and hide, but I want the monster dead.”

Daniel’s smile faded. “You can’t kill the monster.”

“Do you know where it is?”

“Let someone else kill the monster.”

“No one else cares.”

Daniel grumbled something to himself causing the
kittens to run from the room in fear.

“You scared my kitties.”

Daniel sighed, grumpy now. “You won’t be able to
find the monster.”

“Because you’re protecting it?”

“Why would I protect it?”

Gigi sat up and frowned at him  “Because maybe
you’re the monster?”

Daniel squinted at her. “The Circle hasn’t been a
good influence on you.”

“You stole my memories and you are very powerful.
You care for me and the monster in the alley didn’t want to hurt me. You could
be the one who took Sara.”

The thought of Sara brought tears to Gigi’s eyes,
but she stayed focused on Daniel who pulled at the collar of his faded green
shirt.

“I am not a monster and I didn’t hurt your
friend. I don’t know who the monster is either. While I am sad for your friend,
I don’t care about the monster.”

“Why?”

“Because I am trying to protect you.”

“Then kill the monster so I won’t have to.”

“But I don’t know who the monster is and I can’t
stay long enough in the Circle to look for it. Just promise me you won’t go
after the monster.”

“No, I’m killing it.”

“You can’t. You don’t know how to find it or what
it is or how to kill it?”

“I killed the thing in the alley and I’ll kill
the monster that took Sara. She’s my friend and I won’t forget her.”

Daniel sighed angrily. “Maybe I should move you
from the Circle.”

“No, it’s not safe.”

“How can you know that?”

“Well there is a lot of stuff in my apartment
which took time to buy and put in the right places. The witches told me it’s
very difficult to put so many walls in my mind. You put a lot of effort into
moving me here, so you can’t move me again. Sorry.”

Daniel laughed. “Mamma Celeste would be very
proud of you. She always took great pleasure in frustrating me.”

“So you’ll leave me here?”

“As you pointed out, moving you would be difficult.”