Edge of Moonlight (3 page)

He wasn’t leaving until he was sure he could sleep through the night.

Or pass out and spend a few hours unconscious.

At least then he’d have no dreams.

“What can I get you?”

John took the measure of the bartender in seconds. Tall guy with dark, curly hair and sharp, dark eyes that met John’s squarely. “Don’t Fuck With Me” should have been tattooed across his forehead.

John liked him already.

“Shot of Jack and a draft.”

Since the taps were located right in front of John’s stool, the bartender didn’t have to move far. “Rough day?”

No, just… Just what?

The guy set the draft in front of him then turned for the Jack Daniel’s bottle.

Staring at the dark amber liquid as it poured into the shot glass, John had the completely alien desire to spill his guts.

He sighed. “Just a long one.”

“Yeah. Those suck too. You hungry?”

As a matter of fact… His stomach registered the mouthwatering scent of grilled meat and cheese coming from the kitchen in the back of the building. He typically didn’t eat bar food. Too much fat and grease. But tonight… Fuck it.

“Cheeseburger, fries and whatever vegetable you’ve got as long as that’s not fried.” The bartender nodded. “No problem. I’m Teo. You need anything else, just let me know.”

John nodded as Teo walked away to place his order.

Wouldn’t that be nice? If he could just tell someone what he needed and they’d give it to him?

Be easier if he knew what the hell he wanted to begin with.

* * * * *

“You sure you want me to leave?”

The indecision on Duke’s face nearly made Kaine laugh even though there wasn’t much to laugh about.

Sal’s bombshell still reverberated through her body. She almost felt like she’d been electrocuted. Her muscles snapped and pinged, her temples throbbed and her stomach rolled.

She didn’t know whether she was going to pass out or puke at any given second.

She thought she’d managed to hide it from Duke.

But she knew she wasn’t pulling anything over on Salvatorus.

The centuries-old
salbinelli
sat on the couch, smoking a fragrant cigar. Half-man, half-goat, Sal was one of the most handsome men Kaine had ever known. He had strong Etruscan features, curly black hair and a pair of small black horns on his forehead that never failed to fascinate her.

As a guardian of the
Fata
, the fairy races of the Etruscans, Sal ran a safe house for those who needed a place to stay, a bed to sleep in. Or just needed counsel.

“I’ll be fine, Duke. Sal and I have a lot to talk about.” Duke nodded though that was a severe understatement. “A lot” didn’t cover it.

“I know, it’s just…” Duke sighed, as if he didn’t want to continue. “Look, I know how much you hate being in the city.”

Which was something of an understatement. She
loathed
the city. All the concrete and brick and metal. Only tiny patches of grass and earth here and there.

She didn’t know how Sal put up with it, but he’d lived here for centuries.

“I’m sure. It’s just for the night. I’ll be home tomorrow.” Hell, she wanted to be home now so she could crawl into her own bed and hide. Or maybe just forget everything Sal had told her.

Maybe she should go with Duke. She really didn’t want to stay here. Not at all—

“She’ll be fine, kid.” Sal barely bothered to cover his amusement as he chomped on the end of his cigar and stood, practically shooing Duke to the front door. “Give your pretty Tira a kiss for me. Go on home.”

Home
.

Where Kaine wanted to be. Not sitting here in Sal’s living room in the row house he’d occupied in south Reading for more than a century.

Oh, the surroundings were nice enough. The bright blue walls and white carpet on the white-washed floor reminded her of a beach house. Not that she’d ever been to the beach. She did love to watch HGTV decorating shows, though. The artistic process fascinated her and decorating definitely qualified as an artistic pursuit. Designers played with color and form and texture like artists did with oils and watercolors.

The loveseat and sofa were covered in sand-colored microfiber and the end tables were painted a distressed white.

The effect should have been peaceful, relaxing.

Kaine wished it would work on her.

The clop, clop, clop of Sal’s hooves announced his return until they were muffled by the carpet.

She lifted her gaze and caught his dark eyes staring into hers.

She took a deep breath. “So my mom was
silvani
. And my dad never told me.” Just saying the word,
silvani
, made her shiver. Talking about her mom… That qualified for major shakes.

“I know you got issues with her, kid, but—”

“Issues?” Her eyes widened as she stared at Sal. “I have
issues
with her? My mom dropped me on my dad’s doorstep hours after I was born and disappeared. I never knew her, Sal. What I don’t understand is why my dad never told me she wasn’t
lucani
.”

All her life, Kaine had been
lucani
. She’d never questioned who or what she was.

She’d learned not to ask about her mom because whenever she did, she saw the pain in her dad’s eyes. And she loved her father too much to want to hurt him. She didn’t ask.

She’d always assumed her mom was
lucani
.

Big mistake there.

And now Kaine couldn’t shift and the knowledge that she wasn’t full-blood
lucani
threw her perception of who she was into turmoil.

Blessed Mother Goddess, why?

Sal hopped up on the couch next to her. Her gaze dropped to see his hooves hanging inches above the floor.

It should look funny.

To an
eteri
, Sal would be a freak. She would be a monster. In her community, among her own kind, she’d been accepted. Respected. Loved.

Would the insular
lucani
continue to accept her as one of them? Especially now that she couldn’t shift?

And what about her position as
sicari
? Would she be forced to resign?

Tears formed but she blinked them away. She wouldn’t cry.

She was fucking finished with crying. It gave her a headache and made her feel weak. She refused to be weak.

“Kaine.” Sal’s voice had softened and lowered, as if he knew she was near the breaking point, that it would only take the slightest touch to send her over the edge.

“This is not a death sentence. In fact, you may find this is a good thing. And in your dad’s defense, he thought he was doing what was right for you.” Her gaze shot back to his. “By hiding half of what I am?” Sal shrugged. “Why confuse you? Your mom left you with your dad as a baby.

From that moment, you showed every sign of being a regular
lucani
. You shifted on schedule. You never displayed any powers other than your wolf. Hell, you even inherited your dad’s ability to track.

“Now, I’m not excusing your mother’s actions. But maybe she thought she had a good reason for it. You’ve heard the stories, right? How the
Malandante
used to force the
lucani
to be their guard dogs, force them to do their dirty work. How they used
quercioli
to be their sex slaves. You’ve heard the story about
silvani
they tortured until they broke and then sapped them for their powers.”

She’d heard the stories. Stories told to frighten young Etruscans. But what
eteri
parents and children believed were only stories about monsters, Etruscans knew to be the truth.

Then she thought of something she hadn’t before. “Do you know who my mother is?”

Sal took a few seconds before answering. “I believe I do, yes.” Her mouth dropped open before she could stop it and she closed it with a snap.

“And you never told me?”

She’d known Sal all her life. Hell, he’d babysat her on occasion.

He shook his head. “Not my place to tell.”

Betrayal burned in her stomach like acid, wanting to bubble up through the rest of her body. “Then why now? Why even bother?”

“Because now you need to know. You’re going to need to learn how to control these new powers because, yes, they’re interfering with your ability to shift. And if you don’t learn how to control them, you may never regain your wolf.” Could the hits get any worse? She thought she might buckle over from them. She physically felt every word like a blow to her body.

“What… How…” So many questions jumbled together in her head, she didn’t know which one to ask first. And she wasn’t sure she’d be able to understand anything Sal said at the moment anyway.

She wanted to run. She wanted to hound Sal for answers she might not want to know.

But there was one thing she
needed
to know. “Who is my mother?” Sal settled back into the couch and she saw grief cross his expression. “Her name was Tekeias.”

Tekeais. An old name, like Kaine’s. Then she realized—

“Was? She’s dead.”

Sal nodded. “She was killed fighting off a
Mal
attempt to capture her, not long after your birth.”

* * * * *

An hour later, Kaine’s head felt like someone had pounded a stake between her eyes.

She didn’t think she could absorb any more information even though she still had so many questions rattling around in her overloaded brain.

Sal had finally fallen silent, his dark gaze steady on hers.

Taking a deep breath, she lifted one hand to her temples to rub at the throbbing pain there. She needed a drink, which was something of a shock because she wasn’t much into alcohol.

Wine gave her a headache which lasted well beyond the slight buzz. Beer tasted like shit. Give her something sweet that didn’t taste like alcohol and she’d be in business.

Though it pained her to say, she liked girly drinks, sweet and frothy and fruity. Just don’t put a little umbrella on the damn thing. She wasn’t a wuss.

“Kaine, you all right?” Sal asked.

No, she wasn’t. Not really. But neither was she completely overwhelmed. Maybe just slightly whelmed.

“I’m okay, Sal. I just…” Need some time. A little time to let everything settle into place so she could then break it down and examine all the little pieces.

Kind of like tracking.

First, you found the scent to get you started then you set out on the path and followed it to the end. She just needed to find that one piece of the puzzle to get her started so she could follow the rest of the pieces to a logical conclusion.

Right now, though, she couldn’t find a starting point.

“I need to take a walk, Sal. I don’t want to be rude but I could use a little…space.” His mouth quirked in a half-smile and he patted her knee. “No problem, kid. Why don’t you head up toward Eleventh Street? There’s a bar there, before you hit Penn Street. Lacey’s. Etruscan friendly. Tell Lace and Teo I sent you. Try the burgers.

Delicious.”

Sure. Right. Burgers.

Grabbing her black sweatshirt, Kaine walked out the front door then stood on the front step, pulling the hoodie over her head.

Dusk had faded into night and there were only a few other people on the street. In her faded jeans and scuffed black combat boots, she fit right in. Her tight t-shirt was black too, an Avenged Sevenfold concert tee Duke had bought for her when he’d taken her to her first concert three years ago.

She knew she’d have to call Duke soon. He’d be worried. Nic, Duke and Tira treated her as their sister, cared for her like family and she didn’t want them to worry.

At least, she didn’t want them to worry any more than they already were.

The whole John situation…

No, she definitely didn’t want to think about that now.

Heading northeast, she went deeper into the heart of the city. She didn’t pass many people at this time of night, close to nine o’clock, but those she did barely gave her a second look.

Most probably thought she was a teenage boy, and a skinny one, at that. Her breasts would barely show through the heavy sweatshirt and the hood covered her hair and face.

Walking along the concrete sidewalks, she felt the power of the ley line that ran through the city calling to her. That was what had drawn the Etruscans to relocate here in Berks County from Tuscany.

Many Etruscans still lived in the city, hiding in plain sight. The
lucani
had always lived on the outskirts, in the forests. They needed that connection to the earth, the ability to put their bare feet in the dirt, the space to run when they wore their pelts.

You couldn’t do that in the city without getting shot at.

But in your skin, you could still walk through the streets, at least in this part of the city, without being accosted. No one had spoken to her all the way here and that suited her just fine. She was still processing, trying to find that path through the information.

She walked right past the bar and only realized she’d done it when she reached Penn Street. Doubling back, she took note of the sign and the word
taberna
worked into the design. The Latin word for tavern. A code for Etruscans that they were welcome here. And that if you tried anything stupid, you’d pay for it.

Kaine felt the power of the wards surrounding the building. Impressive. And comforting. This place reminded her of home.

Pushing open the front door, she let her gaze sweep the room. A few guys at the bar to the left, their attention glued to the TV in the corner showing the Flyers game.

A few people at tables, eating, talking, laughing.

She caught the eye of one of the men, who took her measure in seconds and nodded. Etruscans at that table. She could smell it on the air, the glaze of their magic overlaying the magic woven into the building itself.

There were a few humans here too but her thoughts were too disjointed, her emotions too jumbled. She dismissed their scents. Hell, she practically put up an invisible wall around her so she couldn’t sense them.
Eteri
were nothing but trouble.

Scoping out the darkest corner of the room, she headed for the booth in the farthest corner from the bar. She didn’t want to mingle. She just wanted a few drinks.