In the Light of the Moon (Dark War Chronicles) (2 page)

An inhuman growl trickled out of her throat. “You left me in a cage
last night, wasn’t that enough?”

“I will stop forcing your change if you learn to accept what you are.”

“And what is that?”

He traced a finger down her neck. “A weapon, my killer.” His finger
continued down her back and her body arched to meet his touch. “The moment you
accept that is the moment your life becomes easier.” He wrapped his hand in her
hair, using it to yank her head back. “Now let that beautiful cat of yours
out.”

Just like that the block disappeared. Her bones snapped and moved under
her skin, breaking and mending themselves into a new shape. Her skin melted and
molded against the new frame and fur poured over her. She glared at her master
with a hatred that both forms and minds could understand. The only difference
being her panther had come to terms with his ownership. She crouched down and
belly crawled towards him.

“Good kitty. Tonight, you hunt.”

Jaxon walked into the foyer, the black and
white motif reminding him of a Noir film. His client, the vampire sat in a
throne in front of the fireplace. The pale slender hand of the vampire curved
over the arm of the chair while his black eyes met Jaxon’s gaze. To the right
of the vampire a human knelt in silence, her long white hair cascading over her
shoulders and her eyes covered by a strip of black fabric. Jaxon chuckled at
the fact that she matched the decor.

“You are the mercenary that I sent for?” The vampire raised a brow and
then shook his head. “I was promised a tracker, I don’t even sense an animal in
you.”

Jaxon smirked and crossed his arms. “Because I’m strong enough to hide
my beast and with the type of lycanthrope I am, it’s best to hide.” He had been
lucky that his contact in Lucius’ territory pulled through and knew about a
job. It made it easy to get in.

“What are you?”

“Panther.”

Lucius let out a booming laugh. “Panther? Where are you from?”

Jaxon thought for a moment, debating on what story to give him. The
vampire would be able to tell if he lied, best to go with as much truth as
possible. “I’m a rogue, my clan was killed off over seas and I came here as a mercenary.”

“And who contacted you about the job I have for you?” Lucius leaned
forward.

“A demon name Kaden. Says you lost something.” Jaxon raised a brow as
the human at Lucius’ side flinched at the words.

Lucius’ placed a hand on the woman’s head and she stilled. “It’s a
stone. My human was forced to send it away by another vampire and I need it
back. She cannot speak of it without…issues, so I have nothing to go off. But I
can tell you this, there will be problems if it shows up in the supernatural world.”

“And if it shows up in the human world?” Jax asked, raising a brow.
Must be a hell of a stone.

“Then may the gods have mercy on that human’s soul because every
creature will be out to get it. If it’s an innocent human we’ll worry about it
when we cross that bridge, if not, just take the stone.”

Jaxon’s eyes slide to the human next to Lucius. “Alright.” He couldn’t
have asked for things to work out better. “I thought I smelt a female panther
when I entered the room. I didn’t think the local clan played nice.”

“There are no female cats here, and even if there was it would be none
of your concern.” He stood and his human followed him instantly. “You are
dismissed.”

Jaxon turned on his heels and walked out. Something bothered him about
this territory and the feeling continued to eat at him as he made his way out
of the mansion. He would start both jobs tomorrow. With tonight being the full
moon he had other plans.

Kass crouched as she stalked towards her
victim, her massive paws silent as she moved across the pavement. Her black fur
blended with the darkness, keeping her hidden in the alley. She sniffed the air
as she snuck closer to the human and studied him. He texted with one hand and loosened
his tie with the other. In a swift motion he removed his jacket and draped it
over his arm and then went back to his phone, pausing only to take his keys out
and unlock the last vehicle on the dark street.

Lights reflecting of the damp asphalt cast shadows, allowing Kass to
remain hidden. When man turned his back towards her, she took advantage of the
weakness. With a powerful lunge she propelled her massive body forward, her
feet left the ground and she landed on the man. Taking her victim down she
clamped her jaw around his throat before he could scream.
 
She tore at his skin, letting the blood
rush down her throat and over her teeth as she jerked her head to the side. The
neck snapped with a sickening sound that pleased her beast. With the weight of
her paws holding the body to the ground, she tore into the human and enjoyed
her kill. The bits of meat soothed the hunger in her body and calmed her beast
and she lost herself in the taste of blood and flesh as it satisfied the
instinct to hunt.
 

A wave of nausea forced Kass’ eyes open and the light above her made the
pounding in her head worse, seeming to echo inside her body.
 
She put a hand to her head and breathed
deep to try and stop the rolling waves in her stomach. When it didn’t work she
rushed to her feet and stumbled over the cold gray floor into the white bathroom.
The cool tile felt good against her skin as she fell in front of the toilet.
She bowed her head just in time for her stomach to empty its contents. Kass
closed her eyes and leaned her head against the freezing porcelain, taking deep
breaths. She tried to recall the night before, but her memory would only pull
up flashes of bloody flesh.

She opened her eyes and saw the mass of red and stringy peach colored
globs in the bowl and her stomach lurched again. Another kill. She had lost
count of how many times she had murdered for Lucius, but the guilt in her never
seemed to go away like he promised. Kass groaned as she felt the beast push
inside her. The feelings stronger than the night before, making her double over
in an effort to keep it from taking over. After fighting for control her
vomiting turned to painful dry heaves and she wrapped her arms around her
stomach while the pain spiked through her.

The pounding of her heart still echoed in her head as she pulled
herself together and rose from the floor. Shakes racked her body as the world
turned blurry when she made her way back out of the room. Food and rest would
shake the after effects of the rough night off, but she felt that if her body
rejected the unnatural food it would reject real food right now. A new scent
filled her nose and a figure moved out of the corner of her eyes, causing Kass
to pause. She took a deep breath catching the smell of fast food burgers. Her
stomach rumbled a little.
 
“Vision
is dodgy, had a rough shift last night.”

“Sit.”

Kass looked up and saw just a vague outline that belonged to the
familiar voice. “Mae? Josh’s Mae?” Anger tried to push through her exhaustion
as she leaned against the wall and used it to slide down to the floor. She laid
her head on her knees and waited for her vision to clear.

“Not anymore.” The regret rang clear in Mae’s voice as she squatted in
front of Kass.

Kass paused as she realized the faint smell of blood and death now
surrounding the once human woman. “Lucius changed you.” She clenched her fists,
not wanting to deal with another blood sucker.

“Right before he killed Josh.”

Grief swept through Kass, her blood ran cold and her breath caught at
the confirmation of the news. A snarl escaped her lips. “You got him killed.”
Her heart dropped as different scenarios passed through her mind on how Josh
died at Lucius’ hand, how Mae led him to his death.

Mae sighed, “I didn’t plan on getting him killed.”

She heard the bag crinkle and let out an audible groan.

“I know you need to eat after you shift, so I brought you food. ” Mae
put the bag next to Kass’ hand so that it brushed against her arm.

Kass glanced at the bag, her vision able to make out the brown bag and
the shapes of blurry letters now. “I killed again.”

“You remember?”

Kass snorted and dug in the bag for a burger. “No, but my stomach
does.” She unwrapped the paper from the sandwich and bit in. Hoping that the
food stayed where it was supposed to, she let the first bite settle for a
moment. “It’s only a matter of time.”

“Until?”

“Someone else comes after me.” Kass leaned her head back against the
wall. “Maybe they’ll shoot me on sight this time.”

Mae leaned back on her hands. “I don’t think Lucius would allow that.
He’s too smart to let someone kill his prized cat.” Bitterness filled Mae’s
voice.

Kass took another bite. “I’m tired of killing. How long until I lose my
usefulness and he just kills me like he did Josh?” She rolled her shoulders,
trying to ease the tension out of them.

“How long has it been like this?”

As her vision started to clear up, Kass studied the woman in front her,
the light reflecting off the brown hair and the black eyes that marked her as a
vampire. Her complexion still held the slight tan from the summer’s sun and her
movements were still human slow; all signs of being a new vampire. “You mean
how long have I been killing for him?”

When Mae nodded, Kass shrugged. “Josh and I joined up with Lucius five
years ago. Back then I had supreme control over my cat, but there is some
ability that Lucius has that calls to her. Eventually he broke down my control
and she recognized him as her master. That lovely moment was two years ago. My
first kill was a political candidate.”

“Two years ago?” Mae frowned. “I remember that kill, the man’s neck was
snapped, teeth marks were found, but he wasn’t eaten.”

Kass shrugged again. “She gets more vicious. She likes the tastes of
human blood now.”

“Can you gain control again?” She asked, sitting up straight and
crossing her arms.

“Eventually, if I can convince the beast that I am truly her master, or
get Lucius to give me the control back.” Kass leaned against the wall.

“Eat up and get some rest.” Mae left in a rush, leaving Kass sitting
there staring at an empty spot in the room. She finished the burger, waiting
for her stomach to settle.

Jax looked up at the clear blue sky, the
crisp mountain air calling to his panther. When he ran through the forest the
night before he had scented another panther. The scent had grown faint since
then, but he knew it was female and probably the one he was looking for. Under
the idea that he was trying to collect information about the location of the
stone he decided to take a walk around the property
and attempt to locate the source of the
scent.

The trees crowding the ground broke up the trail of the scent. He
wandered around them, through a river, up to the mansion, down to the long
driveway back up to the house and back into the forest. Logic told him she was
in the house. Before he could open the door the wind brought a fresh wave of
the smell to him. She was certainly female and a panther. He raced to find the
source, finding the woman standing next to a tree.

He watched her for a moment while she hesitated at the tree line. Her
red hair tumbled halfway down her back and was obviously dyed, but he didn’t
care. From there her slender waist gave way to lusciously curved hips that led
to skinny, yet toned, legs. Athletic and sexy as hell. The picture he had been
given for the panther he sought, had blonde hair and blue eyes, but same body shape.
He wouldn’t know if it was her until she turned around. Holding his breath he
watched her. He studied how her entire body seemed tense and something inside
him stirred. His panther. After years of working on control the beast acted as
if it had a mind of its own. Rubbing his chest he sighed and took a step
towards the woman.

Giving into the want inside himself he ran towards the woman while his
beast growled with delight.

Kass ran her hand against one of the
evergreen trees that dominated Lucius’ mountain side property. Snow still
dusted the peaks above the tree line, forming a nice white cap. The sounds of
wild life running about around the land graced her ears and called to her
panther, but she was forbidden from shifting. Some type of metaphysical block
had been placed so she could feel her panther but not call it to the surface
herself, the beast even leaned against it, fought against it, but nothing
worked. She cursed Lucius and took a deep breath. Cold mountain air cleared her
lungs, easing her anger as the crisp smell of spring leaves and another panther
filled her senses. Her heart skipped a beat. Impossible. With another breath
she knew there was no mistaking the scent.

 
Footsteps echoed behind
her, she spun in time to see a blur fly towards her and knock her to the
ground. Air rushed from her lungs, but she managed to recover and rolled.
Pinning the stranger to the ground with a hand to his throat, she met his gaze,
sky blue eyes set in a soft face. The almost-too-delicate-for-a-male jaw line was
sun kissed, and that amazing tan continued to the chiseled line of his abs and
the delicious view disappeared into a pair of faded blue jeans. Kass licked her
lips as the idea of tracing her tongue up his chest crossed her mind.