GraceinMoonlight (15 page)

“No, I’m not. You’ll see. Everything will work out.”

“And when it doesn’t? When Ettore descends here with an army
and lays waste? What then? I won’t be able to live with the knowledge that it’s
my fault.”

“It won’t be your fault. It’ll be Marrucini’s fault. But he
won’t get the chance because I’ll take care of him before that happens.”

“Then what about Amy? What are we going to do about her?
She’s
Mal
, Kaisie. Eventually…”

They’d been over this already. Talking in circles. With a
huff, she pushed off his lap and onto her feet. Standing in front of him with
her arms on her hips, she wanted to pull her hair out by the handfuls.

But her breasts, still unbound, felt tender and heavy. And
her sex still pulsed with remembered sensation, distracting her as she stared
down at him.

Kaisie just shrugged. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come
to it. For now, I don’t think we have anything to worry about. She’s not going
to murder us in our sleep. She hates Ettore as much as you do. No way will she
go back to him willingly.”

“And if he’s still alive then he won’t stop until he has her
back. And he’ll make her pay for what we did.”

“Then I’ll just have to make sure he can’t.”

“The only way to make sure is to kill him.”

He shrugged again. “Then I’ll kill him.”

He said it with such calm purpose, she actually shivered,
even though it wasn’t the first time he’d said it.

She let herself take a few moments to wonder what it’d be
like to know Ettore was gone. Completely and forever. She’d planned his death
so many times in her mind. She wasn’t normally a bloodthirsty person. She was
the kind of person who opened a window and shooed out the flies that got
trapped in her apartment.

She’d been horrified to learn that the men she’d hired to
help her find the right test subjects for her first trials for Alex’s drugs had
harmed innocents.

Still, it hadn’t stopped her from continuing with her
experiments, had it?

She’d lived with the specter of Alex’s death for so long,
the thought of causing anyone’s death usually made her physically ill.

Not Ettore’s. She would dance on the bastard’s grave.

“You would do that for my children?”

“Yes.” No hesitation in his voice, his gaze steady. “I’ll do
it for the kids. Mostly, I’ll do it for you.”

* * * * *

Kaisie had just set the coffeepot back on its burner when he
heard someone knock at the back door. Just once and only loud enough for
another
lucani
to hear it.

Cole waited there, wearing a pair of jeans and faded black
sweatshirt. Dorian stood at his back in tactical pants and a tight, black top.
She reminded him of that actress from the second
Terminator
movie. The
one who kicked ass and took names.

“Morning, Kaisie.” Cole made no move toward the door when
Kaisie opened it.

“Cole, Dorian. You want coffee? Just made a pot.”

They both shook their heads but only Cole spoke. “We need to
talk. Let’s go for a walk.”

Well, shit. This wasn’t gonna be good. “I’m not leaving them
alone.”

Dorian rolled her eyes with a barely contained smirk but
Cole just nodded. “That’s why I came prepared.”

Two wolves stalked out of the trees, followed by Race on two
feet. Kaisie recognized the wolves as Giovanni and Giorgio Santangelo, two of
the most ruthless of the younger soldiers stationed here at the den.

Cole knew Kaisie wouldn’t have left Grace and the kids with
just anybody. The boy king was good.

And not much of a boy anymore. Kaisie would have to stop
thinking of him like that.

“Are we running on two feet or four?” he asked Cole.

“No running. Just a walk and a few words.”

Kaisie pushed his feet into the running shoes by the back
door, nodded to Race, who nodded back then headed into his kitchen, probably
headed straight for coffee. Kaisie thought about waking Grace but she needed
the sleep. If she woke before he got back… Well, she’d met Race. So had the
kids.

They’d be fine.

They followed the trail back into the woods, the birds making
a racket over their nearly silent progress.

No one spoke until they’d gone far enough away from the
house that the other soldiers wouldn’t hear them.

Finally, Cole paused and leaned against the trunk of a
thirty-foot pine.

“All right, spit it out,” Kaisie said. “Whatever’s—”

“Marrucini’s not dead. You need to track him so the
sicarii
can retrieve him.”

Fuck. Just…fuck. Even though that’s pretty much how he’d
thought this was going to go, it still sucked to hear it out loud.

Kaisie sighed and ran a hand through his hair, tugging on
the ends to bring his mind into focus. “You’re sure.”

Dorian sighed, as if disappointed in him, but Cole just
nodded. “Yeah. Confirmed by two sources before he disappeared from Florida. We
know he’s no longer at the same house. We don’t think he’s left the country but
we’re not sure. We need to find him and take him alive.”

Kaisie’s frown made Dorian stand a little straighter at
Cole’s back. “Alive’s going to be a problem.”

Cole’s brown eyes held steady. “I understand. Doesn’t change
the facts. We need him alive.”

“Why?”

“Because we believe he has information we need. The
Mal
are mobilizing. Have been for a while. You know that. We need him. He’s high
enough on the food chain. He’ll have information we need.”

Kaisie wanted to tell Cole to go to hell but he was
Rex
.
The
lucani
king. You didn’t tell your king to go fuck himself, even if
the king was practically still a kid twenty years your junior.

A kid whose parents had been killed by the
Mal
and
who’d gotten a crash course in coming into power at the age of seventeen. He’d
held on to the crown through sheer force of will and Kaisie admired him all the
more for it.

But it didn’t change the fact that Kaisie had made a
promise.

One he was going to have to break.

“Kaisie.” Cole’s voice held steady. “I understand why you’ve
got a problem with this. But there’re bigger issues here. You
know
that.
If I could, I’d give you my blessing to kill the guy. And when we’ve gotten
everything we need from him, I promise, the bastard’s yours. But right now, I
need you to tell me you can do this.”

Reaching for the rational part of his brain that didn’t want
to rip out Cole’s throat, Kaisie took a deep breath and let his head fall back
on his shoulders.

The sky above was just starting to lighten with the dawn and
he knew he’d have to head back down to Florida to start tracking Marrucini.
Leaving Grace and the kids alone.

“I promise you they’ll be safe,” Cole said as if he’d read
his mind. “I’ll have Kaine and John move into your place with them until you
get back. I’ll assign an entire
cohort
to guard them. We’ve already had
the
streghe
replace the wards to ensure he can’t get into the den the
way he did before.”

Fine. It sounded like a great plan.

Grace was gonna think he’d betrayed her. And she wouldn’t be
wrong. But she’d probably convince herself he’d had to go back on his word.
Which he did.

Christ, what a clusterfuck.

The
lucani
had been at war with the
Mal
for
centuries, since the
Mal
had briefly enslaved an entire village of
lucani
and forced them to become nothing more than vicious animals to do their
bidding.

Cole’s great-grandfather had fixed that situation and the
world had been lightened of more than a few
Mal
during the bloody
liberation.

Now Cole needed leverage. And Kaisie would give it to him.

“I have to tell her.”

Cole started to shake his head but Dorian finally spoke up.
“Yes, he does. Cole, she deserves to know.”

Cole’s jaw tightened but he finally nodded after a quick
glare at Dorian. “Fine. Tell her he’s not dead. Tell her you’re going after
him. Tell her she won’t have to worry about him anymore. Hell, I don’t care if
you lie and tell her you’re going to kill the bastard. Just make sure she knows
he’s ours.”

“We take him alive and the
Mal
are going to declare
war.”

“That’s why we’re going to make it look like he’s dead.”

Which was a hell of a lot tougher than it sounded because
the
Mal
would only believe it if they actually had a body in their
hands.

“Have we made any progress finding out who’s at the head of
the
Mal
yet?”

Cole shook his head. “We only know there’s been an increase
in activity in their businesses. They’re making enough money to buy freaking
Russia.” Frustration had crept into Cole’s tone and Kaisie saw weariness in his
eyes. “They’re up to something and it’s not good that we don’t have a clue what
it is. We need to know. We can’t be caught off guard again.”

Like Cole’s parents and his older brother had been.

Vaffanculo
, he needed a drink. “When do we leave?”

* * * * *

Grace opened her eyes and found herself staring at the wall
of Kaisie’s bedroom.

She didn’t remember him carrying her to his bed but he must
have at some point.

Catching sight of the clock on the bedside table, she yawned
reflexively. Seven a.m. was ungodly early. Especially after last night.

Though she wouldn’t give up that memory for anything in the
world.

Since Kaisie wasn’t in bed with her—and she couldn’t decide
if she was pissed off about that or not—she figured she’d have to go find him.

Dressed in a t-shirt that was at least two sizes too big,
she figured she was covered well enough if the kids happened to see her before
she could find her clothes.

Which didn’t appear to be in the room.

And she thought she smelled coffee. She would give her right
arm for coffee at the moment.

Opening the door to the room slowly, she checked out the
living area.

No one around. But the scent of that coffee made her mouth
water so she headed for the kitchen.

She found a mug and poured herself a healthy amount. Her
eyes closed as the caffeine jolted her system into wakefulness.

After a few minutes of simply enjoying the jolt, she set her
now-empty mug on the counter and headed for the other bedroom. The door was
already open. She only had to give it a little nudge to allow her to see
inside.

Her son and daughter lay back to back on the queen-size bed,
sound asleep. They looked more alike in sleep than they did when they were
awake.

“They look so peaceful, don’t they?”

Grace yelped, unable to help herself as a beautiful blonde
stepped toward the bed from the far corner of the room.

Amazingly, the kids didn’t stir.

“Oh, don’t worry. They can’t hear us.” The blonde smiled but
Grace could see she didn’t really mean it. “And don’t bother yelling for
anyone. No one will hear you. Besides, I’m not going to hurt you.”

The beautiful woman didn’t look very threatening but Grace
couldn’t get over the fear that made her heart pound against her ribs.

“Who are you?”

The blonde rolled her eyes and sighed theatrically. “I
wondered if you’d recognize me. Guess the
Mal
really are uneducated and
unworthy. And here I thought I’d give you the benefit of the doubt.”

Through the fog of her fear, Grace realized the woman’s face
looked familiar. As her brain finally clicked, Grace dropped into a low
curtsey. “Lady of the Hammer. My apologies. You startled me and I…I’m so sorry
I didn’t recognize you right away.”

“Well, damn. I guess Lucy’s going to have to pay up.”
Nortia, Etruscan Goddess of Fate, headed for the living room, leaving Grace to
follow in her wake. “She was sure you wouldn’t know who I was.”

“I…I… No, of course, I recognize you, Lady. I just—”

Nortia waved a hand in front of her face, cutting off her
apology as if it didn’t matter. And it probably didn’t. Few deities bothered
with the
Mal
anymore. Mostly because the
Mal
didn’t bother with them.

“Not here to talk about you, though I’m sure you’re an
interesting person. We have something else to discuss.”

“We do?” With a last glance back at the children, still
asleep and oblivious, Grace followed Nortia to the couch, where she’d draped
herself elegantly across the center of it.

What could the Goddess of Fate possibly have to discuss with
her? Unless she was here to warn her away from Kaisie?

“Wouldn’t be here otherwise,” Nortia said, and Grace wasn’t
sure if the goddess was answering her spoken question or her unspoken one.

Grace decided it was in her best interest to shut her mouth
and simply listen to what Nortia had to say as she settled onto the edge of the
chair across from the couch.

“So,” Nortia said, “you want to stay with Kaisie.”

“Uh…” Grace’s mind went blank.

Nortia raised one sleek, perfect eyebrow. “I need a yes or
no. Answer carefully and speak the truth.”

The answer was easy enough. She wanted to say yes, which was
the absolute truth. But the truth of the matter was so much more complicated.
“Lady, I don’t… I mean—”

“Grace.” The goddess huffed. “There are only two choices
here. Choose wisely.”

Nortia’s blue eyes burned into hers until Grace wanted to
run and hide in the bedroom.

Well, fuck that. She was done running.

She didn’t want that life for her children. She didn’t want
it for her.

Taking a deep breath, she sat up and looked straight at the
goddess who held the fate of the Etruscans in her hands.

“Yes.

Nortia’s smile transformed her face from coldly beautiful to
warm and stunning. And when she reached over and patted Grace’s hand, Grace
felt as if she’d pleased her favorite teacher.