Black Moon (12 page)

This time there’s no mistaking her fury. She’s ready to kill one of us, and my bet is it’s not Ben she’s after. For whatever reason, girls like to blame other girls for their boyfriend’s inability to keep his hands and mouth to himself. Although, I can’t say I blame her; this is permanent. What she doesn’t know is that it was completely accidental. Well, except for the kissing part; Ben forced me to comply on that one.

“She’s here, isn’t she?”
Ali looks around the living room, as if I’m hiding behind the fichus tree or under the coffee table.
“That’s why you won’t let me past the foyer.”

“Do you honestly think my parents would allow Candra inside the house?”

Ben tries throwing her off, but she’s adamant that I’m here, concealed. Which, I am, but she doesn’t need to know that.

“Didn’t she have a birthday recently?”
she asks.
“I thought Jana mentioned something about her turning soon. If that’s the case, then your parents will snatch her before she attains her power. So, I’ll ask you again, sweetie, where is she?”
For emphasis, she folds her arms across her chest.

I can feel Ben’s heartbeat as if it’s my own, and Ali’s games do nothing to slow its rhythm.

“She’s. Not.
Here.
”
He backs her away from the living room, toward the front door.
“It’s time you leave. I’m not going to be interrogated in my own house.”

“Okay, then, I’m sorry,”
says Ali, but she seems more agitated than apologetic.

“I just . . . don’t feel like dealing with you today.”

He continues pushing her, but she braces herself against the front door before Ben can reach for the knob.

“Ben,”
she states, sneering,
“I’m not sorry for interrogating you; I’m sorry that I have to take care of her without your help.”

She presses two fingers to his neck, wiping him out cold. Everything on my end is black. I can’t see his thoughts, the living room, or her. I have no idea where she’s headed. If she used her power on him, then she has an idea of where I might be.

And she’s coming after me with the ability to knock a person into Dreamland.

I’ve got to do something—anything! One touch and I won’t know that I’m asleep. She can easily injure me . . . or worse.

Ben, wake up! Please, wake up!
My whining is useless. Now’s the time for me to act; I have to break out of this place.

“C’mon, Candra,” I urge myself. “Find the hidden passage.”

The window above me is looking great right about now, if only I can figure out how to reach it. There’s nothing in here to help me—no tables, chairs, boxes. Nothing! With the iron bars reaching ceiling level, and away from the window, I can’t shimmy up and climb across the top.

“Oh, there you are,” says Ali, causing me to swivel and root myself in place. Every hair on my body stands on its tippy-toes. “I knew you’d be here,” Ali proceeds to say, “but Ben thought it’d be wise to lie. Of course, I’m sure you could see all that.” She takes slow, deliberate steps down into the basement, eyes never leaving mine, like a lion stalking its prey.

“I’d be lying if I said I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I divulge.

She halts on the bottom step, her face a blank slate. “Just so you know, before our little war is over, Candra Lowell, I’m going to kill you myself.”

Man, she gets to the point rather fast, doesn’t she?

“Oh, really?” I question, not believing her for one second. All of this is a sham, a crumbling foundation she builds her lies on. Once she erects her dishonesty to a high enough level, I’m going to bring a damn crane in and bulldoze the bastard.

“It is. It definitely won’t be another fight in a parking lot, but I will win like I did last time. I always win.”

“Not always,” I say, repressing a smile. “Sometimes you need to lose in order to see things differently, and I’d bet you’re just used to having things your way. That’s not winning; that’s a pampered monster.”

One corner of her mouth curls into a calculating grin. “A monster? Funny you should think that since you’re exactly the same as the rest of us.”

“I’m nothing like—”

“Me? Ben, Cameron and Ethan? Everybody you’ve been taught to hate?” she interjects. “Honey, look around you. Are you that blind? We’re the same in every way. In case this is still hard for you to digest, let me break it down for you: you’re a werewolf, I’m a werewolf, your family and friends are werewolves, and the Conway’s are werewolves. So, yes, you are
exactly
the same as us.”

I shake my head. “You’re wrong. I actually have a heart. You and the Conway’s—except Ben—don’t have one. You lost yours long ago. The only thing you all care about is yourselves, forgetting about those closest to you in the process. You want Ben and will do whatever it takes to win him over. Guess what? He took care of that when he kissed me, and now we’re stuck together forever. But that’s still not good enough, because you’d rather force him to be with you than let him be with me.

As for the Conway’s, they only care about obtaining my power so they can bring back a couple of Ancients. Big fucking deal. All of this harm you guys are causing isn’t worth the risk.”

“Risk?” She chokes a bit on the word. “There’s no risk for those involved. We hate you and anyone who’s on your side. It’s not rocket science. The point is: you really need to get over yourself. Ben’s mine, and he always will be. His family will control your power before this is finished. So, guess what? You lose.”

“So . . . selfish.”

Ali steps off the stairs and strides toward me. She stops when we’re face to face. “From now on, what sliver of a heart you have left doesn’t belong to him; it belongs to me. I’ll have it as a trophy soon enough.”

The animal inside is begging to be unleashed. I struggle to contain it, to refrain from freeing myself and the beast within. A shadow passes over Ali’s face, like she knows my inner turmoil. She’s waiting for me to let go. For a moment, I want to surrender, but that moment subsides, leaving as promptly as it came.

“Even if you rip it from my chest—and I know that’s what you’re planning—it will always and forever be linked to Ben’s,” I tell her. “So, go ahead, take it. End this now. But just remember one thing: every time you look at your trophy, I want you to be reminded of the fact that it will never truly be yours, even when it’s separated from my body.”

Eyes wide, a bottomless growl rumbles from her throat. “I’ll make sure it’s locked away so no one has to waste precious moments of their life looking at it. But at least I’ll know where it came from, and I won’t have to worry about you anymore. None of us will.” She pauses, thoughtful almost. “Let’s work out an arrangement.”

“I don’t make deals with you.” I’m two seconds away from liberating the creature inside.

“Oh, but you haven’t heard my proposition yet. It’s a good one.” She doesn’t give me a chance to argue. Instead, she blurts, “You stay away from Ben, or I’ll kill him myself. How does that sound?”

At first, I’m taken aback. She’ll actually kill the person she loves because of raging jealously issues? What an idiot! Turns out she’s one of those psycho girlfriends the majority of men evade altogether.
 

My response: “Sounds stupid, actually. You know we’re marked, so there’s no way we can stop seeing each other. Even our minds are linked.”

“Fine, then.” She shrugs. “Have it your way. I guess I’ll just have to kill him.”

“You won’t touch him,” I
say
impassively.

“I already have, remember?” she reminds me, humored by my lame attempt to stop her—which isn’t really an attempt at all, just a lazy warning. “He’s out cold on the foyer so we won’t be bothered. You can’t help him unless you agree to my proposal. So, what’ll it be?”

Just when I thought things couldn’t possibly become worse, an ember of hope leads my eyes to wander . . . straight to the hidden passageway in the wall. I see it; from where I stand, light squeezes through the cracks and outlines the secret door.

I have a way out.

Great. Fantastic. But how can I save Ben from Ali? If I don’t do what she tells me, he’ll die. Or will he . . .?

“What about the Conway’s?” I ask, glad to have some leverage in this situation. “Aren’t you worried about what they’d do to you if you killed their son?”

Her perplexity to my question becomes obvious as she wipes her clammy hands on her jeans, and squirms.

“I’ll be long gone before they know, and I’ll set the whole thing up to look like you did it,” she answers.

I almost laugh. Almost. “They already know Ben and I are marked, so, unless Hell freezes over, there’s no way I’d kill him.” I walk circles around her, unhurried and intentional. “Please tell me you had a better plan, that this wasn’t the only idea you pulled out of your ass last minute.”

She’s like a frightened child, backed into a corner with nowhere to run. But just as I think that, her look rapidly changes, loosening, ready to strike and defend. She’s going to pounce.
 

Bitter and shrewd as ever, Ali says, “You better run, because if I get a hold of you . . .”

“You won’t do shit. Didn’t you hear what I said?”

“I heard everything!” she shouts. “And I don’t believe a word. You’re just doing this so I’ll spare you, but we both know that’s not going to happen.”

“You’d actually defy everything this family has worked for—has
waited
for—just to see me dead? Don’t you know they’ll slaughter me anyway?” I
tsk
her. “Someone needs to learn the art of patience.”
 

Her entire body vibrates, shuddering dramatically. Bones and muscles limber in preparation of turning, and her eyes alter to a shade of murky yellow. She recovers, though, without transforming. I steel myself for what might happen next; it’s apparent that she’s pissed and wants my head severed from my corpse.

As swift as lightning, she moves to strike two fingers against my neck, but I dodge them, jerking my torso out of their path. Though she was able to stop herself from changing, I can’t. A long-lasting tremor spreads up and down my body, commanding my darker presence to take form. This version of me can see the heat surrounding Ali’s figure, hear her heart thumping wildly inside her chest, the smell of irritation and trouble roaring from within. She wants my blood on her hands as much as I want hers on my tongue.

Since there’s no third option, one that would bring a truce between her and me, this leaves the stakes wide open. Everything the Conway’s have worked for might fall apart within the next ten minutes, and, once again, they’ll blame me.

However, I can’t let Ali harm Ben. Explaining this force contained by my physical structure is impossible; it’s like a barrier that can’t be razed. All I know is that I have to keep Ben safe, even if that means taking her down.

“C’mon, Candra,” she jeers, “just let me tap you, and this will all be over. You won’t have to worry about your silly feud anymore.”

Not today,
I think.

Bounding toward her, I sideswipe as a last-ditch effort, which flawlessly works to my advantage. She pivots, her feet intertwine, and she trips. The one and only chance I may have, I take. While she’s dazed for milliseconds on the floor, I propel myself forward in two massive leaps. My teeth sink into one arm, as my right paw restrains her other from reaching up and touching me. With a swift flick of my jaw, I rip her right limb clean off. Screaming from pain, she makes a sorry attempt at moving from underneath me, to no gain.

The other arm tears without difficulty. Ali’s tears are a fuel to my urge, for all those things she said about Ben and me, and my family and friends, and how, in the end, it’d either be her or me. Eventually, I would’ve had to pick whether I wanted to live or die. But this way, I’m choosing my fate in advance.