Moon Crossed (Werewolf Hunter Series): Season 1 (Episodes 1-6) (Crescent Hunter) (59 page)

Their wounds are
healing slowly, only enough to keep them both from bleeding out, but
I know it won't hold. They aren't healed enough for their own power
to take over.

“Claire.”
Lenny calls my name calmly from the door.

My eyes remain closed,
trying to focus. I ignore him. There's nothing he has to say that
can't wait.

“You have to heal
him or Rain will die.” His voice is steady.

My eyes pop open. He's
holding Pike in his arms.

Rayel huffs out a
laugh. “You'd better get a move on. We're running out of room
in here.” He gets up from the table and moves it flat against
the counter to make room for Pike.

“What do you
mean, Rain will die?” My voice struggles.

“If you don't
heal him, Lex is going to kill Rain. She's already down; he'll cut
her throat.” There's hesitation in his voice.

Hold back the tears,
Claire, I tell myself. “Bring him in.”

Lenny brings Pike in. I
look to Rayel. “Really? You're going to let this go on?”

I straighten up and go
to Rayel. “If Pike dies, this ends.”

“You would let
one of my children die in my own house?” he questions me.

“Three of them
are dying because of
him
.” I point to Pike accusingly.
“I can end this now with your help.”

“I will not take
part in any battles,” he insists.

I throw my head back in
frustration and go to the door. Lex has Aunt Rain on the ground with
a dagger to her throat. She's breathing, but not conscious.

“I don't have the
power to save them.” I shake my head in defeat.

“You do. Access
your gifts,” he says with a confidence that I lack.

I look at Locke, Dugan,
and Hayden with love and caring. I focus and chant the gifts in my
head again. Courage, Chaos, Care, Curiosity, Clever. Over and over
again.

Cole's presence spirals
through me as I chant, Clever, “Cole.” It comes out on a
whisper. A bolt of strength runs through me from my head to my feet,
converging in my heart. Like a shock wave, power emits from my chest,
spreading outward at the speed of lightning followed by a swift
breeze. Papers flutter and dance in its wake. The wounded, including
Pike, all open their eyes and sit up. Immediately, I put a
suppression spell on Pike to keep him down.

Holding him in place, I
try to gather my thoughts. I look to Rayel for an answer.

He purses his lips in a
downward smile. “You figured it out...all your gifts.” He
sits back down in the chair and takes a sip of his bourbon, as though
there wasn’t chaos surrounding him.

I look up at Lenny.
“Tell him to release Aunt Rain.”

Lenny looks at Lex. “Do
it.”

“Not until Pike
is safe.” He pushes the dagger into her skin, letting a small
amount of blood run down her neck. Aunt Rain is conscious and
struggles against him.

“Lenny, I healed
him.” I pin him down with a cold stare. “Now let her go.”

“Lex.”
Lenny's tone is full of warning.

Aunt Rain gives me a
look, arching her eyebrows. She's trying to tell me that she's okay.
Lex's body falls away from Aunt Rain; once freed, she runs up the
stairs and looks at everyone on the floor.

“That's a lot of
power for one little girl.” Pike's voice moves through to my
bones, bringing bile to the back of my throat.

I want to kill him, but
I can't do it here, not in front of Rayel. I look to Rayel for some
sort of clue what to do. He offers none.

Locke puts his hand on
my arm. “Not here, not now.”

I look at him with a
pained expression. I miss him so much. I want to throw my arms around
him and beg him to come home. I don't even care that he's
fighting for Pike.

“But –”
Locke stops me.

“Please, just
trust me,” he says calmly, getting up.

I shake my head,
wanting nothing more than to pick up my sais and stab Pike in the
heart. Locke goes to Lenny, whispering something in his ear. He
places himself between me and Pike. Lenny helps Pike up and gets him
out the door. Locke follows behind them without looking back.

Dugan puts his hand on
my shoulder. “It's going to be okay.”

Cole's presence in me
fades, along with Locke's. “I'll never be all right.”

Thirty-seven days

The girl looking back
from the mirror is unrecognizable. She's hardened, sad, angry.
There's nothing she can't do now, except love. I'm getting to know
her, and I like her. I tighten my ponytail and put on my gear.

Bounding down the
stairs, I'm looking forward to training today. Zane's already made
coffee, thank God.

“Scrambled eggs,
light and fluffy.” Zane turns around from the stove, wearing my
apron. He looks ridiculous.

“Thanks so much.”
A ghost of a smile quickly comes and goes. There's not a lot of that
for me these days. I grab a plate and scarf down my food. “Did
you sleep well?”

“Yeah, it was
okay,” Zane answers, twisting his back as though my question
reminded him that he's sore.

“You know, since
you've taken up residence here, you should really consider moving
into one of the guest rooms. The bed is far more comfortable than the
couch,” I suggest, mostly because I don't want him to leave.
Having him here since the full moon has made things far more bearable
with the boys gone.

“I might just
take you up on that.” He joins me at the table.

The familiar sensation
of a wolf-borne being present comes over me. Zane and I exchange an
alarmed look. “I'll check.” I get up from the table,
drawing my pistol from the holster.

“I'll get my
sword.” Zane goes into the parlor.

Stepping out onto the
back porch, I scan the yard. Locke and Ki come through the trees with
their hands up.

“What are you
doing here?” I snarl.

Ki eyes my gun at the
ready. “Claire, he just wants to talk, and so do I.”

“Stop where you
are,” I challenge, chambering a bullet.

“Please, Claire,
I miss you,” Locke pleads.

Zane joins me on the
porch. Locke looks at him with disdain. “You just couldn't
leave it alone, could you?”

“I'm her friend,
Locke. Friends don't bail,” he goads.

“He's no better
than Cole.” Locke looks directly at me.

“Actually, he's a
hell of a lot better. Not once has he lied to me, abandoned me, or
tried to fuck me. So as far as I'm concerned, he's better than the
lot of you.” I purse my lips, awaiting his response.

“Claire,
language,” Ki scolds.

“Save it.”
My voice has a gravely quality to it. “You two have been lying
to me my whole life.” I grit my teeth and shake my head. Both
of their expressions fill with remorse. “You knew, didn't you,
Locke?”

The answer comes in how
he looks away from me.

“You knew that
Cole was Pike's son, that my father killed his mother. You never told
me. You probably also knew that my mother was wolf-borne.” I'm
trying to hide the hurt in my tone, but it's so prominent in
everything I'm feeling.

Locke looks up at me in
surprise, then says to Ki, “What?”

“Oh, that one you
didn't know, so I guess you also don't know that Trevor is my
brother.” There's attitude in the way I shake my head.

“Your brother?”
He looks at Ki again for confirmation.

Ki nods. “It's
true, Claire's a hybrid. Trevor is her brother.”

The shock on Locke's
face is enough to convince me that he didn't know. But Ki did, and he
never told me. He's also a wolf-borne, and therefore not to be
trusted.

“Claire, please
let me come in,” Locke begs. “I really want to talk to
you.”

I look to Zane for his
opinion. “It's your house, your decision.”

“Porch.” I
say it sharply and sit in my rocker, holstering my gun. Zane takes
Cole's seat.

Ki and Locke sit in the
loveseat together. Locke leans forward, searching for the words. He
eyes the tattoo on my arm, but doesn't mention it. “Claire, I'm
sorry we all left. But we had to.”

“Why?”

“Because the heat
was getting to be too much. There's been so much pressure from all
sides. Aunt Rain, other wolves, and you are starting to get scary.”
His tone is apologetic. “But we were wrong.”

I choke back the tears
caught in my throat. For a long while I stare, shaking my head. “I
only did what I had to do to protect everyone.”

“We know that.”
Tears threaten at the corners of his eyes. “Well, some of us.”

“So you want to
come back?” Hope swells at the thought of them coming home, but
I know they can never come back.

“No.” He
shakes his head, “We want to be in your life, but we can't be
here
anymore. It's the magic. You've become too powerful, and
you're a threat to all of us.”

I'm astounded at his
gall. “All I have ever tried to do is help you.” I lower
my eyes. “You've bought into Pike's party line?”

“No, Claire, we
know that moon-touched must be dealt with,” he concedes.

“But you are with
Pike, and you've been living with Cole.” Somehow, I've fallen
right into sixteen year old chick mode.

“I'm not getting
into the middle of you two. You have to work that out on your own.”
He tilts his head with a hint of remorse.

“Yeah, okay.”
I shake my head, focusing on what's important. “So why are you
here?”

“I wanted to warn
you,” he says.

Zane sits forward.
“About what?”

“That Pike is
going to be launching a full-blown attack against you and the
hunters.” He looks away and shakes his head. “You should
leave.”

“Leave my home?
Because of Pike's threat?” I look at him, and I want to slap
his face. “There's nothing that Pike can do to me that this
world hasn't already done.” I pin him down with a stare. “I'm
still standing.”

“He's purposely
infecting wolf-borne to build a moon-touched army.” There is
pain in his eyes as he speaks.

“That's sick,”
Zane comments, huffing a disgusted laugh.

“It
is
sick. That's why we've left,” Locke adds.

“So where are you
now?” I ask.

“Claire, that
doesn't matter –”

“Will you be
fighting with Pike and Cole?” This conversation tugs at the
contents of my stomach.

“No, Claire, we
won't. But we won't be fighting with you. We can't.”

“I'll be here
with you,” Ki says, reaching his hand across to me. “I
love you and have never been in a league with Pike. I'm just here to
make sure you don't kill Locke.”

I cut a hard glance at
Locke. “Smart.”

“That's why we
want you to leave,” Locke reiterates.

“I'm not leaving
my home. Let them come.” My ire is definitely rising.

“But Claire –”
Locke starts.

“I'm sorry,
Locke. I have things to do. I think you should go.” Those words
are so hard to say. Kicking him out. He's been a part of my life for
so many years, and now I realize I have to say goodbye. He was my
number one. And with his lies and abandonment, things will never be
the same.

“Claire,”
Locke pleads.

“Locke, let's go.
You've said what you needed to.” Ki tugs at his shirt.

Locke stands, holding
his hand out to me to help me out of the chair like he used to. I
take it and stand, fighting back tears. I don't want him to see me
weak. He looks at me with watery eyes. “I still want you to do
it if I become moon-touched.”

“I will.” I
return a hard stare.

He throws his arms
around me. “I love you, Claire.”

“I love you,
too.” The words are hard to say.

“I'll be back to
see you.” I feel the yearning and the lie in his tone.

“Yeah,” is
my only response, accompanied by a shadow of a smile.

“I'll be back
with Hayden and Rain later tonight to discuss strategy,” Ki
says, wrapping me in a tight hug. “It's going to be okay.”

With a deadly stare and
no waver in my voice, I say, “No it won't, but
I'll
be
okay.”

Locke shudders and Ki
gives me a look of warning. “Claire.”

“I'll be fine.”
I narrow my eyes.

As they disappear into
the woods, Zane's shoulders relax. “Wow, so what now?”

“We do what we
were going to do: train.” I twerk my brows and jump down the
steps. “You ready?”

He looks at me
questioningly, unsure if I'm just faking it or if I'm psychotic. At
this point, it's a little of both.

Zane and I take off
down the trail past the few hunters who are still on guard. Zane
isn't as fast, and I slow my pace so as not to get too far ahead of
him. I jump over a huge downed tree, skidding to a stop when it
catches my eye. Zane comes over the tree, slamming into me.

“Are you okay?
Why did you stop?” he pants, bending over with his hands on his
knees.

What I see renders me
speechless. Zane follows my gaze to a swarm of brilliant purple
butterflies. They spell out, “I miss you.”