In the Light of the Moon (Dark War Chronicles) (6 page)

The new, deep male voice made her pause, turning slightly from Lucius
until he grabbed her wrist to pull her along.

Kass smirked as she knelt on the opposite side of Lucius throne. “You
have no idea.”

“Impressive cat you’ve got there.” The male’s blond hair was cut close
to his head, his blue eyes wandering over her body as he grinned.

“You’re here to talk business, Derrik.” Lucius reminded him with a
growl, sitting back in his throne. “Something about your wolves being killed?”

Derrik nodded. “Your last raid really took a toll on my pack. We had
three of our security people killed and two of our bartenders.”

“They were careless, what do you expect?” Lucius shrugged. “It’s part
of war, the weak get killed.”

He took a step forward, his fists clenched. “Part of the war? I loaned
you my members as part of the treaty and now I’m short handed a club that you
fund.” He snapped. “I need more employees if you’re going to keep sending my
men on wild, dangerous goose chases.”

“That last one was a success, we located the corpse that we think the
stone belongs to.” Lucius and Kass both looked over as Tegan stiffened at the
mention of this stone. “You want more employees, go hire some. All I did was
give your pack the money to start the club. I really want nothing to do with it
because it is a place for you and your kind to hide.”

Derrik shook his head. “You want me to hire humans? You’ve got to be
kidding me. Humans don’t belong in our world, it’s dangerous.”

“What do you suggest then?” Lucius pressed his fingertips together and
leaned forward. “That I give you employees? I have a bar to run too.”

He shrugged. “Just give us some people on loan, at least until I can
find other sups to fill in.” His eyes fell on Kass. “Like her.”

The panther in her stirred, she didn’t want to be part of the wolf’s
club, she didn’t want to work under anyone but Lucius.
Stupid cat.
Kass tried to keep her growl under control while she
tried to squish her cat down.

“Kass is one of my best in bartending and in security, you get her you
don’t get anyone else.” Lucius voice was calm.

She let her eyes slide to him, “You’re giving me to the wolves?”

“You have a problem with dogs little one?” Derrik asked with a laugh.
“Promise we won’t bite.”

“Kassity, after last night it’s safer that you’re somewhere else
anyways. We don’t know how they found your or why they want you back. So you
will work for the wolves and fill in for me when I need you. Until the debt is
paid and things are better. You understand?” A trundle of power brushed her,
threatening her with just a little pain that promised more.

She swallowed her snarl as a thrill went through her. “Understood.” She
looked up at the wolf. “I have nothing against you, my panther just doesn’t
like wolves. So speak to her.” The beast stirred in her, pushing against her
skin and her bones seemed to creak a little. With a groan she shrank back
against Lucius.

The vampire put a hand on her head and her beast calmed.

“Some control you have over your kitten. I’ll take her as long as she’s
not a ticking time bomb.” Derrik waved his hand. “I don’t need any trouble on
my hands.”

Kass glared at him. “She won’t come out unless provoked or Lucius tells
her to come out. Stupid cat won’t listen to me.”

“Fair enough, you start tomorrow.” Derrik’s gaze shifted to Lucius.
“You sure the stone belongs to him?”

“Sent it away.” Tegan’s voice was so soft that Kass wasn’t even sure
the female spoke. “Sent it away.”

Lucius looked down at the human. “You did what?”

“Sent it away.”

Kass noted the fine tremor that shook Tegan’s body and frowned.
“Tegan?”

“Sent it away!” The woman clutched her head and doubled over. “Sent it
away!”

Lucius growled at Derrik. “You are dismissed, I need to handle my
human.”

“Of course. See you tomorrow, Kass.” His eyes were all for Tegan who
was rocking back in forth.

Kass nodded and moved to Tegan’s side. “Tegan, can you hear me?”

“Sent it away!”

“Fuck.” Lucius pushed Kass out of the way and put his hands on either
side of Tegan’s head and forced the woman to hold still. “Tegan, listen.”

Kass shivered as his power filled the room and demanded attention from
Tegan. Tegan’s head came up a little as her hands rose to remove the fabric.

“No, not yet.” Lucius voice softened. “Kass is still in the room. What
happened, Tegan? Why did you send the stone away?”

Tegan shook her head. “Pain, pain, oh gods Lucius it hurts.” She laid
her hands over his. “Sent it away.”

“What’s happened?” Kass sat back on her heels. “She shouldn’t be able
to deny you an answer.”

Lucius pulled Tegan into his arms. “A vampire has messed with her
mind.”

Tegan clawed at him. “Sent the stone away.”

“Do you know where?” He asked, wrapping his arms around her.

“No.” She pulled back, shaking her head.

Lucius nodded and looked at Kass. “Come here and I will take the collar
off. I’ll deal with this, you get some rest. You have a big day tomorrow at the
club.” He stood and held Tegan’s hand to help her up.

Kass nodded and rose from the floor. Going to him she raised her hair
so he could unlatch the collar. “I still can’t believe you’re loaning me out.”

“Get over it, it’ll be good for you.” He snapped as he pulled the
collar off. “Now go.”

Before she left she glanced back at Lucius and Tegan. He pulled the
woman close to him, holding her as if she would break and kissing the top of
her head.

Quinn walked into the meeting room with the
vampires. The Circle, head of all vampires, demanded an update on the search
for his daughter. They had come to him when they heard the rumors about her and
now wanted her for themselves. He should have killed the bitch when he had the
chance. Now that he had an update from his sons he had something to give The
Circle. The cold room felt more like a clinic than an meeting room, with a
screen wall at the other end. There he could see seven human like shapes
sitting. The silhouette routine showed how much The Circle didn’t trust him.

“You call for my aid, yet you hide.” Quinn growled.

“We hide for your safety.” A male voice sounded. “You have news on your
daughter?”

Quinn watched as the figures remained motionless. “I do. We are in the
process of getting her back, but she is under the protection of Lucius. The
advantage of this is that she has already been trained to kill.”

“And the mark? Has it appeared?”

He shook his head. “If it has, it’s not visible.” He waited as the
silence fell over him, making the beast inside him nervous. The war was growing
out of hand, but he knew that if there was anyone to ally with, it was The
Circle.

“We need to know if the mark has appeared. Once you get her, check her
for it.”

“Her mother promised me that it would appear. She just escaped our
grasp before it could.”

“Get her back. If the mark has appeared bring her to us and we can
promise to keep you safe.”

Quinn shivered, knowing what the alternative was. “I have another
daughter-“

“But she does not carry the mark.” The vampire hissed back. “We are
interested in only Kassity.”

“Understood.” He swallowed and then bowed. “Is that all?”

Something shifted behind the screen; just a subtle movement, but Quinn
heard it. “Do not harm any of Lucius’ other people unless they attack you. Get
your daughter and get out. We cannot have any attention drawn to us at this
time.”

“Understood.” Quinn turned to leave. He would do anything to protect
his sons in this supernatural war. Anything.

Jax looked up at the man who walked up to his
table. The crowd of the cafe bustled around them, paying no attention to the
two non-humans who joined each other for a cup of coffee. The demon’s eyes
glinted in the morning sun as he pulled the chair out and sat, grinning at Jax.

“You bring me the money?”

Jax slid an envelope over. “There you go, plus tickets to the concert
you requested. You have some strange demands for a demon.”

“I like to have my fun.” He snorted. “What did you want in return?”

“I need to know what’s been going on, rumor has it that the wolves lost
a few top notch fighters in the last battle against the demons.”

Kaden nodded and sighed. “Yeah, the alpha lost his brother in it,
bloody battle. They were trying to protect something that Lucius wanted. What
it was is unknown. But Lucius lost a few of his vampires as well. Heard you’ve
been hanging around his territory a lot. Find anything interesting?”

“No comment. Any news on the fae and others? I heard they were starting
to heat things up as well, that the demons were working on getting them to choose
their sides.”

“I don’t know, the prince of the fae is missing, heard he’s been
missing for a long time. So things are a mess there.” He took a huge gulp of
his coffee. “Can I ask you something?”

“Depends.” Jax’s mind drifted back to Kass, the way she had looked at
him. He knew that she wanted him, knew her panther craved his touch.

Kaden raised a brow. “Whatever you’re thinking about must be pretty damn
important, your scent just went all weird. Anyways, Lucius is rumored to have a
stone and a very interesting human. Know anything about it?”

“I know he lost the stone and I haven’t met his human, so I can’t say.
I know he has a female panther in his clutches though.” He leaned back and
cradled his coffee between his hands.

Silence surrounded Kaden before he spoke. “There’s only one panther
clan in the northern U.S., and they don’t willingly let anyone leave.”

“They are a very close knit family.” He nodded. “It’s a complicated
situation, really. Lucius is strong, probably one of the strongest territory
leaders in the U.S.”

“That’s what I hear, and that the Circle is keeping an eye on him. They
are worried, they think he is hiding something from them.”

Jaxon laughed, “Like what? From what I hear vampires can’t hide
anything from their hierarchy.”

“I think it has to do with what the wolves were protecting in that last
battle.”

“If you find out what it is, I’ll trade you goods again.” Jax laughed.
“Just as long as it’s not something insane.”

Kaden nodded. “Yeah, I’ll let you know if I find out. Hope your
mercenary stuff is going well. Seems to be since you can afford to keep helping
me out.” He downed his coffee. “Thanks man. I’ll see you later. Careful around
Lucius. I think the Circle is right and that he’s hiding something.”

“Do you know what the stone was?” Jax asked.

Kaden chuckled and stood. “I hear rumors.”

“Oh?”

“It’s apparently a soul. A bad ass mother fucking soul, but no one
knows who it belongs to.” He shrugged and walked out the door, blending in with
the crowd of humans outside. Jax thought about Kaden’s words as he finished his
coffee. He threw a tip on the table before leaving to create a new list of
places to search for this stone.

Techno music thudded against Kass when she
approached the doorman, who waved her in. The crowd bumped and grinded against
each other and she swallowed as her eyes wandered over the mix of people. Some
human and most of them supernatural. A hand touched her shoulder and she
jumped, spinning around, ready to fight.

“Whoa there kitty, calm down.” Derrik held his hands up. “Just me.
Didn’t mean to startle you.”

Kass took a deep breath. “Sorry, sore from a fight, don’t want people
touching me.”

“I see the limp you had is gone.”

“The blessing of being a shifter. So, here I am, you want me bartending
tonight?” She crossed her arms.

He laughed. “Let me show you around the club first and then we’ll get
you set up at the bar for tonight. I’m assuming you know how to mix and serve
drinks.”

“Yeah, one of the many things I’m trained in.” She rolled her eyes.
“What’s with the thump thump music?”

He shrugged. “Not a fan?”

“It screws with my senses. I can’t really tell if anyone is around me,
not something I can afford right now.” She sighed.

He motioned for her to follow him. “It’s quieter in the bar area.” He
shrugged and then pointed to a little blocked off area, a chain link fence
creating the barrier. “That’s the DJ booth.” He waved to the guy in the booth.

“The dance floor covers most of the lower area, and the bar is back
here. Keep up if you can, Kitty.” Derrik started weaving through the massive
swaying crowd.

Kass cursed as she tried to follow him. She bent and strained to avoid
touching people, but still some brushed against her or tried to dance with her.
She shoved at them and growled at the wolf when she got to the other side. “I’m
not a crowd kind of girl.”