Taken by Moonlight (56 page)

“I’d
forgotten that twins share a mental link until you reminded me.” He lifted his
head to indicate a small camera to the side, and Vivienne went cold. He’d heard
Cassie whisper her sister’s name.

Cassie
suddenly screamed and began to choke. Vivienne struggled herself, feeling the
tight clasp of fingers around her neck.

“If you can
hear me, Vivienne, you’ll meet me at the LaGuardia Airport in two hours. Come
alone.”

The fingers
eased from Cassie’s neck and her sister hauled in air.

“I’m aware
that getting out of Cedar Creek will prove difficult as that animal has you
under watch, but you’re a smart girl. I believe you can be resourceful.”

His fingers
gripped Cassie’s chin, and through their connection, Vivienne looked directly
into his hazel eyes.

“If you
don’t show, I will kill your family. Your mother is of no use to me. She will
die first.” He paused and Vivienne felt the repulsive tread of a finger down
her neck, and across her collarbone. “I don’t believe I will kill your sister,
as I am sure I can find other uses for her.”

Cassie
began to struggle, and Vivienne felt a burning at her wrists and ankles, where
the shackles held Cassie.

Don’t
listen to him, Vivienne. It’s a trap.

“The choice
is yours, Vivienne.” His voice lowered. “If you love your family, you’ll do the
right thing.”

Vivienne,
pull away from me, now. He’s lying. Please, Vivienne, don’t—

A
shattering pain erupted in her ear, and Vivienne jumped up and found herself
back in Conall’s bedroom. He’d hit her sister. Maximilian Cronin had hit her
sister hard enough for Cassie to lose consciousness.

There was a
knock on the door. Breathing harshly, Vivienne called out, “Yes?”

“Are you
okay, Vivienne?” It was Sloan.

She nodded
and then remembered he couldn’t see her. “Yes, I’m fine.” Guessing she must
have screamed or yelled, she rushed to add, “I was having a bad dream.”

The beta
said nothing for long moments, and Vivienne wondered if he was contemplating
entering the room. She held her breath, until finally, she heard his footsteps
moving away.

Vivienne
was up in an instant, pulling off Conall’s large T-shirt, and dressing to go
into the cold night. She threw on a dark sweater with a hood, so she could
cover her head if need be. Turning off the bedroom light, she inched her way to
the windows and peered outside. Conall had left instructions for an hourly
patrol, so most of the pack was awake.

Closing her
eyes, Vivienne projected herself behind the house. She looked around quickly.
Her ears picked up the sound of someone approaching, and she recited a spell
that would render her invisible to an untrained eye, before flashing herself to
the middle of the makeshift forest. She continued until she was at the end, and
then easily scaled the fence there, and launched herself into the woods. She
didn’t know how long she ran, but she ran, applying bursts of speed where
necessary, and stopping only briefly to catch large gulps of air.

Making it
to the highway, she stood close to the road, and waited. She couldn’t believe
she was hitchhiking, but then again, she couldn’t believe a lot of things. Like
the fact she was sneaking out of Cedar Creek, away from Conall, to meet Cronin.
It was not the best idea but it was the only one she currently had. Conall
would have to understand. She had to do whatever it took to save her mother and
sister.

Numerous
cars drove by without acknowledging her, and Vivienne began to second-guess the
whole hitchhiking thing. Maybe she should have just taken Conall’s car, but how
would she have explained that to Sloan? The beta might be quiet, but he
wasn’t
stupid.

She’d been
standing at the side of the road for almost twenty minutes when a bright yellow
light briefly blinded her, and a Harley-Davidson slowed and pulled up beside
her.

Vivienne tensed
immediately as she picked up his scent. He was a
were
, and probably of
Conall’s pack. Had they sent out search teams for her?

Removing
his helmet, Rafael passed her an easy grin. “Haven’t you had enough excitement
for the day?”

She didn’t
answer him. Just remained deathly still, watching, waiting. How had he known
where she was? And would he try to take her back?

“So, you’re
finally running away from the leader of the pack? Can’t blame you for coming to
your senses.” His grin grew larger, and she saw his eyes run down her body
before lifting once more to her face. “Where you headin’?”

Now
Vivienne had a dilemma. She was being offered a ride to her destination, but
the person offering it was Rafael, a probable murderer and Conall’s
arch-nemesis.

“I don’t
bite, Vivienne. Not unless you want me to.” After letting that sink in, he
continued, “And from that show you put on today, I should be the one afraid of
you, not the other way around.” Rafael paused and glanced down at the watch on
his wrist. Vivienne didn’t have to look to know that it was leather. Lots of
leather. The
were
seemed to be particular about it. He was an anti-ad
for PETA if she ever had seen one. “I’m also runnin’ late, so you’re gonna have
to make up your mind quick. Where’re you going?” He reached behind him and
grabbed a spare helmet, presenting it to her.

As soon as
her fingers closed around the smooth, round outer surface, Vivienne knew she’d
made a decision. Once she got there, she wouldn’t care who’d taken her to that
airport.

“LaGuardia,”
she told him as she quickly placed the helmet atop her head, and slid onto the
bike behind him.

“Wrap your
arms around me, darlin’,” he said over his shoulder as he re-seated his helmet
and revved the engine on the Harley.

Vivienne
did as she was told, holding tight as Rafael eased his way back onto the
highway, and sped down the lane.

Maximilian
Cronin’s covenant was made up of a series of houses that sat next to each
other, much like Conall’s Cedar Creek Estates, but in a way that allowed for
more contact with humans. It was a common thing done by immortals in this
century, to hide out in the open.

“Which one
is his?” Conall asked quietly of Santiago, who stood next to him. Dominic and
Drako were beside them as well. The pack alphas were hundreds of yards behind
the covenant but their animal senses enabled them to survey the estates as if
they were standing closer. The high and lush trees around them provided a sort
of protection from prying eyes.

“The
biggest one. In the middle, with the tall, black gates. The covenant starts
with the peach-colored house, and ends at the gray stone house. That’s what I
suspect. I haven’t scented any witches in the other houses. Just humans.”

Conall
nodded.

“We should
split up,” Drako chimed in, and the three
weres
turned to look at him.
“I’ll take my pack in from the right. Dominic, you take the left. Conall and Santiago infiltrate the middle. That way they have no escape.”

Santiago
nodded. “No escape. I like the
sound of that.” The alpha was moving off to address his pack when Conall’s hand
landed on his shoulder. Santiago lifted a brow.

“Cronin is
my kill.” Conall glared at Santiago, expecting the other
were
to
challenge him for it.

But the
werewolf simply scowled and nodded. “Make sure you rip that fucker’s throat
out. Let him bleed to death.”

Releasing
him, Conall nodded. While Santiago wanted to kill him for being an all-around
pain-in-the-ass, Conall wanted his blood for more personal reasons. He’d
attempted to take his mate, kidnapped Vivienne’s family….

Turning
around, Conall addressed his pack, relating the information on how they were to
enter Cronin’s covenant. He briefly shielded his eyes at the appearance of
rapid-fire explosions of light, and then Dominic and Drako, a fully gray wolf and
a silver-and-gray mix, emerged at the heads of their packs, and began running
in opposite directions.

The first
thing Conall noticed, once they were inside the covenant, was the silence. He
paused to listen, and could only hear the harsh breathing of the wolves as they
scanned the houses nearby, the footsteps of pack members as they searched for
trackers. Even the civilians were gone, which was strange. Furniture and
clothing were still there, but everybody had vanished.

He took the
steps two at time, following the faint but lingering scent of Maximilian
Cronin, until he found a large office room. Santiago entered behind him.

“That
son-of-a-bitch must have fled today because he was here last night. My pack was
tailing him, and he was here. They were all here.”

Conall
barely heard him as he walked over to the desk. An album lay there. He flipped
it open, and his teeth clenched so hard that his jaw hurt. In the album were
pictures of his mate, her sister, her mother, and her friends. He closed the album
and continued to rummage. He didn’t know what he was looking for, but something
told him that whatever it was, it would be there.

He found it
moments later. An envelope. A pristine white envelope with his last name
scrawled across it. Opening it, he pulled out the sheet of cream-colored,
engraved paper, and read the contents.

If
you’re reading this, then you’re in my house. Regrettably, I’m no longer there,
nor are Evelyn and Cassandre, and soon you will find that even Vivienne is not
where she should be. Really, Athelwulf, did you think it would be this easy?

Tossing the
letter, Conall reached into his jacket for his cell phone and immediately
dialed Sloan.

His beta
picked up immediately.

“Where’s
Vivienne?”

“In your
room,” was Sloan’s immediate response.

Conall
calmed, but only slightly. “I need to know that she’s in there.”

“I
understand.” Conall waited, looking around the study as Sloan went in search of
his mate. There were
weres
everywhere, pressing against levers to see if
hidden panels was concealed, moving through rooms with guns drawn….

He heard
the sound of a door opening, and then Sloan cursed. Conall’s entire body
tensed.

Even before
Sloan said it, he knew what his beta would say.

“She’s not
here.”

“Find her!”
Conall snapped. Closing the phone, he rushed for the door.

Santiago
, who’d read the letter after Conall
and had listened to some of his conversation with Sloan, followed, yelling for
his pack to do the same. From Conall’s expression and his determined strides,
something was off, possibly with his mate, and if that was case, and Maximilian
Cronin was involved, the issue had just grown much larger, and much more
serious.

As they
stepped from the empty house, Santiago briefly wondered if this was to be the
beginning of the end of the Council. Cronin had broken Council laws by taking
the druid and her mother, but he’d just crossed an irreparable line by taking
an alpha’s mate, if it was as Santiago suspected and that was what the foolish
grand wizard had done.

Curling his
lip, Santiago moped slightly. If Conall didn’t have the right to spill Cronin’s
blood, he would gladly kill the bastard. He might have still considered it if
he’d found Cronin before Conall, but now, that was impossible. Pack law
demanded that in any case where a female was taken, her mate receive
satisfaction. Cronin was as good as gift-wrapped for Conall.

As Conall
sprinted through trees, his pack easily keeping up with him, a naked Dominic
and similarly outfitted Drako came to stand beside Santiago.

“What’s
happening?” Dominic enquired, staring at Conall’s retreating frame. His pack
members were quick at his heels.

“Gentlemen,”
Santiago began, drawing himself up to his full height, and cracking his neck
loudly. He looked to Dominic and then Drako. Both brothers stared at him
curiously. Smiling coldly, he declared, “We’re going to war.”

Cassie
awoke to a vicious pain in the side of her head.

She opened
her eyes and immediately closed them. The pain only intensified. She blinked
once, twice, and finally, squinted against the soft yellow light. Her vision
was blurred, but she could make out objects, shapes. She lay prone in some type
of reclined leather covered chair, the golden chains that Cronin had used still
securing her, this time to the chair’s handle. Looking up, she saw three dark
circles. She squinted and noticed the circles seemed very familiar. Her
location seemed familiar, but her mind just couldn’t grasp why. Sighing, Cassie
closed her eyes once more.

Where am
I?
Even as she
asked that question, she remembered her mental conversation with Vivienne,
Maximilian Cronin was trying to manipulate her sister to come for them.