The Moon Rises (5 page)

“I don’t know.”

“Would you like to be rid of her?”

“No. Does she want to be rid of me?”

When the witches laughed, Gigi smiled even though
she didn’t know why they were laughing.

“Ghosts enjoy being with the living,” Mira
explained, her steely blue eyes on the spot over Gigi’s shoulder. “Most bind
themselves to places, not people. Maybe she is someone special to you? A
relative, maybe?”

“Maybe. I don’t remember many of my relatives.”

Only Mamma Celeste.

“Death following you could mean you will die
soon,” Verica said and Mira shushed her daughter.

“Say no such dreadful things about such a sweet
girl. You are very sweet, aren’t you, Gigi?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. How would I know?”

The witches said nothing and Gigi knew she had made
a mistake. Sometimes talking was good, but sometimes it made people act weird.
Not people, but witches.

“You have power, child,” Mira said softly. “Yet
no magic flares in you.”

“I don’t know what that means,” Gigi said, feeling
a tad frustrated.

“It means you’re special,” Spencer said while he
continued to look at her like she was food and he was hungry.

“Okay,” Gigi said, pushing her loose blonde hair
behind her ears the way she saw Dahlia do the night before.

The witches studied her silently again, until
Nolan spoke up. “Maybe we should let Gigi get back to work before the floor
manager complains.”

“Oh, shush, Nolan. The floor manager will do no
such thing,” Mira said. “Gigi child, where is your family from?”

“I don’t know.”

Mira cocked an eyebrow like Justine did the day
before when Ella was teasing her. Maybe the witch thought Gigi was teasing her.

“Nolan is right,” Verica said, still looking
bored. “We should let Gigi go away.”

Gigi stood up and waited to see if anyone tried
to stop her. She smiled because she knew she was supposed to smile a lot and
then she stepped away. Before she reached the bar, the floor moved under her
and she felt herself falling.

Gigi’s butt hit the ground with a jolt. Sliding
further on the slippery floor and scraping her spine, Gigi never remembered
feeling pain before. She rested on her back startled for a minute, just staring
at the ceiling and wondering when the pain would go away. Suddenly a face came
into view – a handsome face with soft blue eyes.

Nolan took her hand and helped her stand, but her
leg hurt and she wobbled. Holding her under the arm, he helped her find her
footing and Gigi smiled awkwardly. Nolan returned the smile, but his eyes
looked angry.

Don’t get mad. Don’t cry. The witches hate
that.

“Thank you,” Gigi said with a big, possibly crazy
looking, smile.

“My brother is a prick.”

Gigi thought this to be a strange declaration,
but she nodded and kept her smile.

“Everyone falls down sometimes,” she said because
it sounded true, but her butt really hurt and her left leg didn’t want to hold
her up.

“Are you alright?” he asked in a gentle voice
which made her want to listen to him talk more.

Nodding, Gigi took a tentative step and smiled
brighter, now definitely using the crazy smile. “Thank you, Nolan.”

Walking to the bar, she wondered if the ice would
return or if the trick was over. Either way she faked like she was happy the
rest of the evening, but her back and leg throbbed. Her boots made the pain
worse, but she just kept smiling and never complained because witches really
hate that.

Gigi watched as Ella - the redheaded girl who
turned into a dog - walked around her apartment. The Were had dots all over her
face called freckles and Gigi had an incredible urge to touch them. Ella put
her hands on her hips and sighed.

“Who decorated your apartment, an eight year old
girl?”

“I don’t know.”

“It was like this when you moved in?”

“Yes,” Gigi said, still wondering about those
freckles.

“You could change it.”

“It’s pretty and it relaxes me.”

Gigi wasn’t sure she actually could change the
apartment since she didn’t know why it looked the way it did.

Ella watched her with a grin. “Yes, because you
need to be more relaxed.”

Not understanding, Gigi just smiled because
people seemed to like when she smiled.

“Michael won’t help us,” Ella said. “You should
be ready for that.”

“Why won’t he help us?”

“He’s weird and grouchy. He’s also more of an
enforcer than a detective. If he thinks a Were killed Katia, he’ll be inclined
to cover it up, even if he kills the Were who did it.”

“We shouldn’t try then?”

“Oh, we’ll try. I just didn’t want you getting
emotional when he blew us off. I had to hear enough crying last night on the pack
floor. Monica got her feelings hurt because the guys bitched about you not
being there. She must have been PMSing because she started bawling and didn’t
stop for a fucking hour.”

“Do Weres get mad like the witches do when girls
cry?”

“No, they’re dudes. They just get awkward and
look for some other chick to get the first chick to stop crying. She probably
got really good tips from them. They were bummed you weren’t there though.”

Gigi said nothing and Ella gave her a weird
frown.

“That’s good, Gigi. When guys request a chick,
she gets more work and she gets better tips. I make a lot more money working
for the ghouls because they request me and I act like I like them.”

“Okay.”

“Yeah, more relaxed would not be good,” Ella
said.

Gigi smiled again, just because she was completely
lost in the conversation. Ella might have realized this fact because she headed
for the door.

“Sara said you don’t know how to work an ATM. I’ll
show you how, but we won’t take money to Michael. If he wants to help you,
he’ll only get paid when he actually does some work. We’re not letting him take
advantage of you, just because you’re…” Ella paused then shrugged. “New to
town.”

Gigi followed Ella out of the apartment and into
the warm morning. Ella wore skimpy shorts which looked like something had torn
them apart. Gigi wondered if she should look more naked too?

After they used the ATM card and PIN number from
inside the checkbook, the females drove to Michael’s office. Riding on Ella’s motorcycle,
Gigi clung tightly, praying not to fall off and die. By the time they arrived
at the offices, Gigi was a nervous mess. She grew more nervous when she noticed
the name on the office door said Robert Hannigan. Ella was sure Michael was inside
though.

The office was empty when the females entered,
but a television played quietly on the wall while a stereo played in the
corner. Ella stood in the office and wiped sweat from her freckled forehead.
Gigi noticed there were freckles all over Ella and she was curious why, but she
wasn’t going to ask.

“Man, oh, man, it’s hot in here,” Ella said, opening
a window.

“Did I say you could do that?” a male voice asked
from a room in the back.

“Well obviously not, Michael. Don’t be a dick.
You have guests.”

Michael stepped out from the backroom wearing
only a pair of jeans. Gigi wasn’t sure why she kept being surprised by how half
dressed everyone was in the Circle. Apparently monsters weren’t fond of
clothes. Or maybe they just got hot easily.

“Michael, this is Gigi. She wants your help.”

The Were was tall and lean, but not scrawny. His
lack of shirt made it clear he was muscular, but not how Anton and Declan were
muscular. Michael’s blue eyes studied her and he did look grumpy. Finally he
turned up the television and asked what they wanted.

“I swear you have the worst people skills, Mikey.
It’s like you were raised by wolves.”

Grinning, Michael ran a hand through his dark
blond hair.

“If I say please and thank you, will you tell me
what the hell you want and get out?”

Ella smirked. “Depends on if you say it while on
your knees?”

Gigi wasn’t sure why Ella was being grouchy with
Michael, but his grouchy face grew grouchier. This chat wasn’t what Gigi hoped
for when she agreed to help Sara.

“My friend might be dead,” Gigi said and
Michael’s eyes shifted to her. “I need your help to find her.”

“Have her Alpha find her or have him ask me.”

“She’s not a Were,” Ella said, sitting on a table
while she flipped through his mail.

Michael frowned, but Gigi wasn’t sure if it was
because Ella was messing with his things or because she said Katia wasn’t a
Were.

“What was she?”

“She might still be alive,” Ella said then grunted
when Michael yanked the mail from her hands.

Gigi walked over to Michael who was checking the
mail he took from Ella. She snapped her fingers in front of his face the way
she saw Justine do to Silas when he wasn’t paying attention to her.

“Someone took her and no one cares. Someone
should care.”

Michael glanced at her then reached back and
grabbed a beer bottle.  He took a swig and sighed.

“I don’t help humans.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m not human.”

“If you needed help, I would help you and I’m not
a Were.”

“Yes, but I’m not you.”

“No, you’re not,” Gigi said. Again she felt a
hint of frustration at how people didn’t behave the way she thought they should.
“I can pay you.”

“Not enough.”

“How much do you want?”

Michael cocked an eyebrow. “How much do you
have?”

Ella jumped up and walked over. “No way are you
taking advantage of her just because she’s…”

“She’s what?”

Ella frowned at Michael. “She just moved to
town.”

“To look for her dead friend?”

“No. She didn’t know Katia. In fact she took
Katia’s spot at The Moon Rises.”

Michael turned his frown to Gigi who stared back
at him, not caring if it was rude to stare. She was pretty sure he was being rude
too.

“One, Silas definitely knows how to find new
talent. Two, as a waitress you can’t afford my services. Three, why do you care
about some chick you’ve never met?”

Gigi stared at him and Michael stared back. If it
was a contest, Gigi was pretty sure she won because he finally looked away and
watched the television.

“Why won’t you help me?” Gigi asked. “Do humans
not matter?”

“No, not particularly.”

“How come?”

Michael frowned darkly and another staring
contest took place. Again Gigi won.

“I don’t like humans.”

“Is it because I snapped in your face? I don’t
think Silas liked that either.”

Michael smiled like he thought she was weird. It
was a look she got a lot.

“This girl is probably dead and finding a dead
person in the Circle is pretty impossible. If someone ate her, there won’t be
anything left to find.”

Gigi hadn’t considered Katia being eaten. The Circle
was full of monsters and monsters ate people. It made sense, but Gigi wanted to
know the truth like the lady on the TV.

“Can you try?”

“I’m very expensive.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m very good.”

“At what?”

“At finding things out.”

Ella snorted. “You’re an enforcer, not a
detective, so you better not take her money when we both know you can’t find
Katia.”

“What’s an enforcer?” Gigi asked.

“It means I hurt people.”

“Because you don’t like humans?”

“No, sweetheart, I’ll hurt anyone. Weres, Vamps,
ghouls, witches, humans, doesn’t matter. If someone hires me, I make their
enemies pay. Now if you were asking me to punish whoever killed Katia, maybe
I’d help you. You have no clues. Like the ginger pointed out, I’m not a detective.”

Gigi stared at him, unsure what to do because for
some reason, she just assumed he would help. It made no sense for him not to.

“You’re a dog, right?” Gigi asked.

Ella laughed, but Michael only squinted at her.

“I think I’ve figured out what you were talking
about, Ella.”

“Say it out loud and I’ll enforce your head into
the toilet, Michael.”

Smiling, he took another swig of beer. “Yes,
sweetheart, I’m a dog.”

“On TV, the police used dogs to find a dead body.
Can’t you smell around Katia’s apartment and see what you find?”

“Well hell, Gigi, I could do all sorts of things,
but that doesn’t mean I will.”