Taken by Moonlight (24 page)

The most
recent Council meeting had been because a fight had broken out between the
vampires and witches in Conall’s bar during the summer. Of course, his pack
members had tried to separate them, only to be goaded into the mess. It was
sheer luck that the humans gathered were either too drunk or too confused to
focus on the happenings. They dismissed it as another club fight. It had
warranted a meeting, as one of the members in the fight had been the son of a
vampire council member. A third meeting, so soon on the heels of the last,
screamed problems.

“Did you
call Hastings?” Arnold Hastings was one of his business partners, but he was
also one of the more prominent members of the vampire clans in New York City. Although he didn’t have a seat on the council, he was one of the first to
know about problems in the clans.

“No. I’m
calling him next.”

“Keep me
updated and have Raoul set up a patrol in Cedar Creek.”

“He’s
already working on that, and then he’s heading down to Fangs, just in case.”
Sloan paused. “Where are you?”

Conall
thought about the answer to that question. He had to discuss the attack on his
mates with his betas soon, but that wasn’t something he wanted to do over the
phone, especially as he believed there was more to what Max had told him.

“I’m
heading to Scarsdale.” Conall paused, giving his beta ample time to ask the
questions he knew were running through the wolf’s head. For whichever reason,
Sloan decided not to press the topic. “I’ll be back at Cedar Creek soon. If I’m
not back before dusk, set curfew. Only pack comes in; no one leaves.”

Vivienne
couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so frustrated. This was much worse
than the Logic Games section of the LSAT, worse than waiting on pins and
needles at Arnold Hastings’ beck and call, worse than anything she’d ever
experienced. This just took the proverbial cake.

It’s not
working.
Shit
.

She let out
a slight whine and opened her eyes. She couldn’t do it. Her mother had told her
to “channel her energy” and “feel for Cassandre.” Vivienne had absolutely no
idea what that meant, but Evelyn had insisted she close her eyes, and focus on
Cassandre. Although her body felt different, almost like she was defying the
pull of gravity, and her senses were clearer, that was about it. She couldn’t
“feel” anyone. All she felt was the weird temperature of the room, which ran
scalding hot and freezing cold.

“I can’t. I
don’t know—this is a lot to take in…”

Her mother
released her hand and opened her eyes. Vivienne immediately saw the concern
written on her face.

“It’s all
right, Vivienne. I shouldn’t have…. This is all new to you and there is much
for you to learn.” Her voice lowered and she added, “Much that I have to teach
you both.”

Vivienne
pushed away from the bed. She felt guilty about not being able to find
Cassandre, but she also felt slightly psychotic for even trying to do it.
Everything was so—confusing.

“I have to
use the bathroom.” It popped out of her mouth. She wasn’t completely lying but
what she really wanted was out of the room.

Evelyn’s
smile was warm as she asked with motherly reproach, “Do you remember where it
is?”

At any
other time, Vivienne would have laughed and given a retort to the jab but she
simply nodded.

She was at
the door when Evelyn said, “Vivienne, this house is safe. I’ve spent years
making it so. They will not be able to find you here, but if you leave….”

“I wasn’t
going to leave,” she responded immediately. Despite learning about the
not-so-human creatures, she’d never thought of leaving the house.
Instinctively, she knew that she was safe here.

“Good. If
you’re hungry, there’s food downstairs.”

Hungry?
Vivienne shook her head. Even if
she was hungry, she didn’t think she’d be able to hold anything down. The
initial shock was gone but that did not mean that she was all peachy and ready
to accept she was a druid, her mother was a witch, and the man she’d given
herself to was some sort of creature.

When she
didn’t move from the door for long seconds, her mother asked, “Did you want to
ask something else, Vivienne?”

She wanted
to say “no” and let ignorance be bliss but her lips moved and she found herself
asking the question that had been in the back of her mind since she’d witnessed
his transformation. “What is he?”

Evelyn was
silent for a few moments, and although Vivienne’s back was to her, she could
feel her mother’s tension.

“I don’t
know what Max is. I thought he was human,” Evelyn replied, and though she
struggled to keep her voice light, Vivienne heard the anger.

“Conall.
What is Conall?” She’d forgotten—well, she hadn’t forgotten, but she’d placed
that in the back of her memory behind Conall—that Max, too, had changed into
something that wasn’t human. The one image dominating her mind had been Conall,
with burning yellow eyes, lengthened canines, and black fur covering his body.

“Conall,”
Evelyn repeated the name slowly, as if testing it on her tongue. “He is a
werewolf. They can take three forms: human, hybrid, or their animal.”

Vivienne
nodded slowly, and then thought in dry humor that her comparison of him to the
wolfman hadn’t been so far from the truth. Except the wolfman wasn’t real, and
Conall definitely was. Yes, dry humor sometimes sucked. “And the form I saw?
That was a hybrid form?”

“Yes.”

She leaned
forward and rested her head against the door. She’d slept with a werewolf.

Mated
, a voice in her head corrected and
Vivienne’s eyes widened as her body snapped upright.

What the
hell
was that?

“Vivienne,
maybe you should sit down….”

That was
her mother. She turned to face Evelyn, dimly recognizing that her mother was
now standing, and looking as if at any moment she would approach her.

Vivienne
held out her hand. “No—I mean—I’m fine.” Her voice shook with hysteria.

I’m
fine. I’m just having a mental two-sided conversation with myself. In light of
everything I’ve just learned, that’s not strange, right?

“I’m
going—to—um—go.” She hastily left the room and made her way down the empty
corridor to the bathroom. Closing the door behind her, she leaned against it
and closed her eyes.

I am not
crazy. Doesn’t matter that there’s another voice in my head. Normal. Totally
normal. I am not crazy
….

If she told
herself that enough times, she was eventually going to believe it. She didn’t
know how long she spent in that position, but when she walked over to the sink
and splashed water across her face, she felt more like herself.

She grabbed
a few tissues from the box and wiped her face dry before staring at her
reflection in the mirror. She looked…bad. Really bad. Somewhere along the way,
her hair had come undone and was wild about her head. Her eyes were puffy, her
face pinched.

You’re
not crazy and you’re exaggerating. You don’t look bad.

Vivienne
spun, expecting to find someone standing in the bathroom with her. The voice
was male, and sounded like Conall, but that wasn’t poss— Eyes narrowing, she
concentrated on it.

Who are
you?

You
already know the answer to that question.

She scoffed
and turned back to the mirror. Her mother always kept a few combs in the
bathroom. Vivienne grabbed one, caught some water in her palm, and ran it
through her hair. Slowly, she began combing through the tightly wound curls.

A bit
smug, aren’t you?

His laugh
confirmed he was Conall. The question that remained was: how the hell was he
talking to her?

Why—no
how—are you in my head?

You’re
my mate, Vivienne.

He said
that as if it explained everything.

She pulled her
hair into a severe bun and then gripped the sides of the porcelain sink.

What
does that even mean?

I’m
bound to you as you are bound to me. I need you to survive as you need me. I am
mentally connected to you…always, as you are to me.

Vivienne
shook her head vehemently. He was obviously delusional. They’d had very, very
good sex. Brilliant sex. She wasn’t even experienced and she knew for a fact
that it was great sex.

A low,
erotic growl came from the other person occupying her mind. She ignored it.

I’m not
your mate, okay? I don’t know about werewolf law or non-human etiquette or
whatever, but I didn’t agree to that, so—

Was he
laughing? Her eyes narrowed to slits as low sounds of mirth invaded her mind.

Are you
laughing? I’m serious. I am not your mate. We are not joined or bound or
whatever, so it was nice knowing you
—Vivienne
felt a blush creeping up her neck at just how intimately she’d known him—
but
I’d really appreciate it if you got out of my head.

Silence. As
she stared at her reflection in the mirror, she waited for him to say
something, and a feeling of disappointment swarmed her when he didn’t. She
shrugged it off. He was listening to her, and leaving her alone. That was good.

She turned
from the mirror and was about to pull open the bathroom door when an image
flashed into her mind. It was a couple—a couple on a bed—amidst groans and
screams. Was that her? Heat spread through her body when she recognized that it
was. She was on all fours, demanding more of Conall as he thrust against her.
Vivienne reached up and lightly touched her throat. She recognized she was
seeing herself from his perspective and it was…affecting her.

“I will
be the only one to have you, Vivienne. Only me. Do you accept me as your mate?”
She remembered. Remembered him
saying those words. She saw her back arch as she pushed back against him and
nodded.

“Yes,
yes. Only you. Please. Harder.”
Vivienne
was certain her face was the closest it could get to scarlet. It certainly felt
like it was on fire. Everything was coming back to her in stark clarity. How
she’d begged and pleaded, how much she’d wanted him, how huge he’d felt inside
her….

There was a
knock on the door and she jumped. The image faded.

What’s
wrong?
Conall asked
instantly.

“Vivienne,
is everything all right?” It was her mother.

“Yes.
Fine.”

“Are you
sure? You’ve been in there for a long time.”

“I—I’m
fine,” she repeated. She wasn’t exactly going to tell her mother that Conall
was inside of her head, showing her very raunchy images of the night they’d spent
together.

Good.
Stay where you are. You’re safe there.

“Get out of
my head,” she hissed at Conall, sighing and gripping the edge of the sink.

Soon,
he promised.

She didn’t
have a lot of time to contemplate that. Mere seconds later, the ringing chime
of the doorbell sounded. Evelyn moved away from the bathroom door, and Vivienne
opened it to see her mother heading down the stairs. Vivienne’s eyes narrowed.

It
couldn’t be—he wouldn’t.

Her feet
moved forward, until she was at the top of the staircase and could see her
mother standing before the double doors. Evelyn looked through the peephole
before reaching for the door knob.

Yes, I
would.

“My
daughter would appreciate it if you got out of her head.” The voice was calm
and even, the face blank. “Come in.”

Conall
didn’t know exactly what to expect, but it hadn’t been that. He focused on the
woman standing before him, recognizing the similarities that marked her as
Vivienne’s mother. They had the same eyes, and facial features, but Vivienne’s height
had to have come from her father because her mother was tiny. As if sensing he
was thinking that, Evelyn drew herself up to her full height and stared him
down. He got the message loud and clear. Height wasn’t everything. He lifted
his gaze from her face and scanned the empty foyer behind her. Automatically,
he listened for rapid breathing or shuffles that would indicate an ambush.

Amusement
entered the woman’s eyes and she said coolly, “This is no trap, Conall
Athelwulf.” She let that challenge hang in the air before turning to Max.

Her lips
tightened ever so slightly and she stared at him just long enough for Conall to
notice her dislike. Her attention returned to him briefly before she called
over her shoulder. “Come inside, both of you. We have much to discuss.”

He followed
her at a careful pace, eyes and ears alert. He could sense the underlying power
of the house, and knew that whatever spells Evelyn had cast were powerful ones
meant to keep, by any means necessary, intruders out. His nose picked up
Vivienne’s scent the moment he entered, and searched her out as he continued
scanning for threats.