Taken by Moonlight (22 page)

“Again, my
sweet?”

The girl’s
head bobbed up and down in excitement as she clutched a well-used cloth doll to
her body.

“All right.
The gods created everything: you and me, and the beautiful world around us.
They are powerful beings and we pray to them for health, strength and
happiness.”

“And the
witches, Maman?” It was clear that the child had a keen interest in them.

“Ah, my
love, the witches are the children of Luna, the Goddess of the Moon.”

“Just as I
am your child?”

A gale of
soft laughter came from the woman, and Vivienne tried to take a step forward so
she could see her face. Something held her back, and she turned to find her
mother standing next to her with a sad smile on her face.

No,
Vivienne. The past should only be observed, never interfered with.

“Yes, but
to a greater extent. Do you remember the stories I told you about Zeus, and how
he created humans?” When the child nodded, the woman continued, “Well, after he
did this, Luna, his favorite, begged him for the power of creation, and when he
gave it to her, she created her own people, the witches. Zeus was impressed
with them because unlike his humans, they had some of the powers of gods and
the stretch of immortality. Zeus was so pleased with Luna that he left the
power of creation with her.”

“What about
vampires and werewolves?”

“After Luna
created the witches, her sister, Aphrodite, who was jealous of Zeus’s affection
for Luna, begged Zeus for the power of creation as well, and when he gave it,
she created the vampires. They were as beautiful as gods and immortal. Zeus
showed her his favor by calling her the most beautiful of his daughters, but
still he favored Luna. Because she was jealous, Aphrodite sent an army of
vampires after the witches.” She paused when the girl’s eyes grew wide, and
placed a graceful hand against her cheek. “But fear not, my little darling.
Luna saw what was happening to her people and went to her twin brother, Apollo,
for help—”

“Apollo is
the God of the Sun?” The child sounded excited to remember that information,
and from the tone of voice the older woman used, Vivienne could tell the mother
was proud.

“Yes, my
love. When he saw what the vampires were doing to his sister’s creation, Apollo
turned his rays against them, driving them to the night. He cursed them, saying
that anything touched by his rays would be poison to their bodies.”

“And what of
the werewolves like my papa?”

“Despite
Apollo’s curses, the vampires continued to terrorize the witches at night, so
Luna created another race to protect them. They were immortal too, and as
flawless as vampires, but they could change at will into powerful animals.
Wolves, and tigers, and lions, even dragons. Because the
weres
protected
the witches, the vampires left them alone.”

“Are you a
witch, Maman?”

Another
light laugh and then Vivienne heard childish giggles as the woman leaned
forward and tickled the girl’s belly.

“Yes, my
sweet, but my mother was
druide
.”

The child’s
brows furrowed. “What’s
druide
?”

“You are
very inquisitive tonight, my Aveline,” the woman teased softly, leaning forward
to place a kiss on the girl’s forehead. Vivienne gasped. Aveline was the
distinctly French pronunciation of Evelyn. Was the girl on the bed her mother?

The woman
turned suddenly and stared at her. Vivienne found herself looking at a thinner,
paler version of her mother. Instead of Evelyn’s black hair, the woman had
bone-straight blond hair; instead of her mother’s golden eyes, she possessed
startling green eyes, but their bone structure was the same. Evelyn’s face was
a bit fuller, but Vivienne had no doubt this was the grandmother that her
mother always spoke of.

“What’s
druide
,
Maman?”

Dark blond
brows lifted in Vivienne’s direction, and her eyes narrowed slightly before
Annabel turned back to the child.

“Ah,
les
druide
were the children of gods.”

“So why
aren’t they gods?”

“Because
they are human, too.”

“Where is
your mother, Maman?”

The woman’s
voice was sad as she replied, “In my heart.”

The child
giggled and the mother laughed, though it lacked enthusiasm.

“Shall I
carry you in my heart too, Maman?”

“If you
want. I always carry you in mine.”

“I will
carry you in my heart, too, because then I’ll always have you with me.”

Vivienne
blinked as the image slipped away from her, leaving her back in her own bedroom
with Evelyn. Slowly, her mother lowered her hands to her lap, and Vivienne
caught sight of pitch-black eyes before the color shifted to liquid honey.

“You’re
Aveline?” Although stated as a question, Vivienne knew the answer. The woman
had been too familiar in features to be unrelated to her mother, the name too
similar to Evelyn.

“Yes,
mon
coeur
. That is the name my mother gave me.” When Vivienne only stared at
her, Evelyn added, “I changed my name when I left France.”

“And the
woman with the green eyes was your mother?”

Evelyn grew
sad for a moment, but she nodded. “Yes.”

“You
really
are a witch.” Even Vivienne was surprised by the calmness of her voice.

“My mother
was a witch and a druid, my father a werewolf. Inside of me are all three, but
I am strongest as a witch.”

Vivienne
nodded, and sighed, accepting that there was no other explanation for her being
able to see what she had seen without her mother being something that was
distinctly nonhuman.
Witch
.

“If you’re
all three, what am I?” The question had been in her mind since her mother began
speaking of witches and gods and druids, but now, only now did she feel strong
enough to voice it.

Her mother
seemed to contemplate answering before she sighed and replied, “You are a
druid, Vivienne, as is your sister. You two are the first druids born in almost
a century, and that is why the witches are tracking you.”

“What?” She
stared at her mother in confusion. “You’re telling me that
witches
are
after me because
I’m
a
druid
?”

“Yes. There
are some who believe you and Cassandre are the key to their salvation.”

“Key to
their salvation?” Vivienne snorted, and when Evelyn raised a brow and looked
concerned, rushed out, “It’s not every day a girl wakes up and finds out that
witches exist, her mother’s one of them, she’s a druid, and witches are after
her, so please excuse me while I have a breakdown.”

She was about
to push away from the bed when her mother’s hand landed on hers.

“Please,
Vivienne, stay calm. I know this is a lot to take in, but there isn’t much
time. I need to find your sister so I can teach you both how to control your
powers before they find you again.”

Vivienne
heard the plea in her mother’s voice and took a deep, calming breath. She had
many more questions, but her sister was most important now. “You found me.
Can’t you find Cassie the same way?”

Evelyn
released her and stood, shaking her head. “I’ve tried. Many times. I found you
because your powers were unlocked.” At Vivienne’s lifted brow, she explained,
“Because you’re a druid, your powers send out a beacon to any witch actively
searching for it. That’s how the trackers knew where you were. Cassandre’s
powers are still bound. I can’t even sense her. I’ve tried calling her but
she’s not answering her phone.” Her voice dropped an octave and she stared at a
spot on Vivienne’s wall. “We need to find your sister before they do.”

Cold
fingers of fear traced her spinal column. She thought of the last time she’d
spoken to her sister, the day of their twenty-third birthday, when she’d left
Cassie with her friends. That was almost a week ago. She usually heard from her
sister at least once a week, and would have called had she not been as
distracted with work, and…Conall. Maybe she was still camping? Cassie wouldn’t
spend more than a few days camping, and if she did, she’d find a way to call
Vivienne to let her know she was okay.

“Okay. Tell
me what I have to do.”

When
Cassandre Bordeaux awoke on the large canopy bed facing the calm blue-green
waters of the beach, she knew she was dreaming again. She wasn’t a big dreamer
per se, but in the past week, she’d been having one, recurrent dream. At times,
she would walk around the perimeter, noticing the place was completely
deserted. At others she would remain in the bed and wait for her alarm clock to
wake her up. “Life” on the beach consisted of two swaying palm trees. There
were no people, no birds, no little batch of fishes swimming close to the
surface. The silence was broken only by the constant movement of the waves
gently brushing against the shore.

Pushing up,
she propped the pillows behind her head and relaxed. She was not going to
complain. Who wouldn’t want to dream about relaxing on a beach?

“Not me,”
she murmured in response to her silent question. Closing her eyes, she tried to
remember the things that she was supposed to do when she awoke. Nothing came.

“Right.”
Chuckling, she closed her eyes, only to blink them open when she heard what
sounded like a bird call.

Shielding
her eyes from the sun’s glare, she scanned the sky. The sound came again and
Cassie looked down. Right beside her foot was a small black, red, and white bird.
She moved to kneel beside it but it flew onto the sheets of the bed.

From where
she stood, she surveyed it. As it inched closer, she admired the pretty
coloring, the pattern of the feathers, and the white line right above its eye.
Something clicked in her mind at the sight of that line, but before she had a
chance to explore it, another bird landed right beside the other. It was of the
same species but slightly bigger.

“Hi there,”
she murmured softly, moving forward slowly as they chirped to one another.
“Aren’t you two beautiful?” She’d taken an ornithology class in college, and to
this day, they were one of her favorite creatures.

She knelt,
and then pushed her face close to the sand to get a better look at them. Both
stopped chirping and turned to her. Cassie smiled and held still. As she stared
at the two, she recognized why they were familiar. Just to confirm, she did one
more thorough scan of the creatures, before staring in awe.
Tahitian Rails!
These are Tahitian Red-Billed Rails.

She had to
remind herself she was dreaming. She tried. She did, but she still felt
ecstatic. This was comparable to the holy grail for environmental biologists!
These birds were extinct, had been extinct for more than two hundred years, and
here they were, flying around—well, in her dream, but still she’d never had a
dream about any extinct creature in her life. This was amazing.

“If this
were real,” she gasped out, her gaze never leaving the two creatures she’d
somehow conjured into her dream. “Why couldn’t you two be real?” She sighed,
wondering if she would soon wake up and be disappointed by the fact she’d only
dreamed of this.

“They are
exquisite, aren’t they?”

The voice
was so close to her that Cassie scrambled away, forgetting she was still on her
knees, and ended up flat on her back, with her legs bent awkwardly under her
body. It was not a comfortable position.

Deep male
laughter touched her ears, moments before the same accented voice commented,
“If that isn’t the picture of elegance…?”

She rolled
onto her side and quickly pushed to her feet, spinning to confront this new
addition to her dream. Yes, she appreciated the addition of birds, but Cassie
wasn’t one to have dreams about guys. Most of the guys she knew were either
forever entered into the category of friend or seriously disliked for some
reason or another. Chauvinistic, whorish, condescending, and so on.

As she
drank him in, she decided to excuse herself, just this once.

Who
wouldn’t want to dream about a man that looks like him?

Standing
over six feet tall and wearing dark blue swim trunks, the man was perfectly
muscled with golden blond hair and light, alluring eyes. What color was that
anyway? Gray? Silver? Green? Pale blue? And his face…his face reminded her of
the ones she saw on billboards, airbrushed to take away the slightest flaws,
except this man was real, as real as he could be in her dream, and without
visible fault.

Cassie
swallowed the lump in her throat and blinked before focusing on him again. Even
the tan he sported seemed natural. Her eyes dipped down his body, pausing at
the slight vee under the ropes of muscles revealed by the swim trunks.
Recognizing that she was checking him out, even if it was a damn dream, Cassie
lifted her eyes hastily to his pale ones.

As if he
knew what she was thinking, a smile split that already perfect face, and he
tilted his head. Cassie said the first thing that came to mind. “What are you
doing in my dream?”