Elemental Moon: The Eldritch Files, Book Three (3 page)

I
was expecting
Jack Roberts to show up at my door later. Preferably without a fur coat and fully clothed. Unfortunately, no one told me the NOPD would be waiting on us when we arrived.

Blue and red lights illuminated the street in front of
Bell, Book and Candle
as we approached Bourbon Street. I pulled the Jeep around back and parked in the alley. We piled out of the car and hurried inside before the cops caught on that we'd slipped in without them noticing, which I didn't think was the truth because they knew all these shops had back doors.

"What do you think's going on?" Kyle asked as we made our way to the front where the main retail shop was.

"I have no freak'n idea. I just hope they don't come in here. Ivan?"

He stopped by the computer, which flipped out of sleep mode without anyone touching it. The web browser opened as page after page was displayed and then replaced by another. The cascade finally stopped on a small article in the Picayune Times Online. We piled around the computer just as the police banged on the front door. "This is the New Orleans Police Department. Open up!"

"Do I let them in?" Kyle asked.

I was scanning the article. "It's about the mutilated body in the morgue."

"Miss Hawthorne!" came Captain Prescott's voice through the door. "I can see you in there. Open this door immediately."

Ivan touched my arm. "Go. I'll keep looking."

Grey moved out of my way and kept just behind the counter as I walked fast to the door. The wards the three of us set up were in place and nothing vibrated inside of them to warn me there was any Other World threat outside the door. No crazy-ass Changelings or ninja Ghouls. I unlocked the door and opened it. Three uniformed officers flanked Captain Mildred Prescott, who stood in the center. She wore a black calf-length coat and a gray infinity scarf. Her dark eyes narrowed from the illumination coming out of the shop as Kyle turned on the interior lighting at just the right moment. "Captain Prescott, to what do I owe the pleasure of the NOPD at one o'clock in the morning?"

Unconsciously, I was looking for Crwys or Levi, some familiar face in the crowd I could latch onto and demand an explanation with my eyes. But they weren't there. I didn't know any of these uniformed officers.

Prescott held up a folded piece of paper. "We're here to collect your wolf."

Someone pulled a needle across a vinyl record. I hadn't been expecting to hear that. I didn't reach for the paper but instead leaned toward her. "What?"

"You heard me. We're here to collect your wolf." She pushed the paper into my chest, exerting enough force to move me out of her way as she preceded the uniformed men into the shop. "There it is. Just behind that counter."

I turned as another man in a dark jumpsuit stepped through. He had a rifle in his hand.

Everything happened in slow motion for the next few minutes. Ivan, Kyle and myself all moved as one to stand between the officers, the gunman, and the police captain. Luckily they all stopped, 'cause I could feel that mark in my chest burning very,
very
hot.

Mom!

Relax, baby.

"What the hell are you doing, stomping inside someone's home in the middle of the night and threatening to kill their dog?" Kyle's tone and volume was enough to put a stop to any more movement. He had a command to him when he wanted it—I'd just never seen him use it before. Seeing Jack was a good influence, maybe?

"We're not here to kill it," Prescott said with her hands on her hips.

"Well, you're not taking her without cause," Ivan said. His eyes were green and I could see him multitasking by standing in front of Grey beside me as images of documents flashed by in front of him. Now with my powers warlocked, I shouldn't be able to see that. But I could. And that was because of the Arcane. "According to this county's laws for domestic pets."

"That is not a pet," Prescott pointed at us, to where Grey stood. "That is a wolf."

I stepped forward. "That is my dog. I told you that before. She's a Husky Labrador mix. Now I suggest you tell me what the fuck is going on here before I start calling the TV stations and animal rights activists. I'm sure having them picket your precinct would boost your vote in the unpopularity department."
And if you don't get out of here, I'm not responsible for what my anger does to you or your men.

Or us.

The officers looked at Prescott as she held up her hand. "If you'd bother to read the paper I handed you, you'd see that we're taking your wolf in for DNA testing."

I shook my head. "For what? You think she's a danger because she's big? Or you just want to be proven wrong that she's a wolf?"

"I'm surprised Holliard hasn't shared this with you. In fact, I'm surprised he's not here."

So was I. "He's not on my leash, Captain. But I am still waiting for an explanation."

"Three days ago a mutilated body was found just inside of Crescent Park. The only thing identifiable about it was the sex. Female. Two hours ago the coroner ruled the woman died from exsanguination caused by severe trauma. He identified the wounds as being caused by a wolf."

"Wolf, large dog or coyote," Ivan said.

I glanced at him and saw the ghostly image of a report in front of him.

Prescott turned her attention on him. "What?"

"The full report doesn't give specifics, does it? Dr. Taylor wrote in his report the wounds were caused by either a wolf, large dog or coyote, but it was definitely in the canine family."

Prescott took a step toward Ivan while I stared at him over her head. "And how exactly would you know the details about the coroner's report, Mr. Westerfield? Have you been hacking again?"

Luckily, Ivan caught my look and realized this wasn't the time for an
I-know-more-than-you
display. He smoothly shook his head and smiled. "No, ma'am. It was a guess on my part. The bites from any of those animals mentioned would be so similar they could be easily mistaken for one another. And Dr. Andrew Taylor is one of the best pathologists in the southeast. I can't think he'd use exacts on such an important report and have his science called into question."

I gave him an approving look as Prescott turned back to me. "Doesn't matter. I have the warrant. You're required to turn the wolf over to us."

"Not in my house I don't," I held up the paper. "It says here
Bell, Book and Candle
. This is my place of business, not my residence."
Mom, get upstairs!

Sam…I don't think that's a good idea.

Just go. I'm not letting them take you. No one's taking you from me again.

Love and affection flooded the link between us and I had to blink a few times to stop myself from tearing up.

Another presence moved in and I could smell Bastien.
<
Ma petite
, are you all right? Do you need help?>
His voice was like my mom's, inside my head, but there was an echo to it, like mom's had back in the woods.

Dammit. He hung up.

Captain Prescott wasn't happy. "Fine. Then I'll arrest you."

I leaned my head back. "For what?"

"For impeding a police investigation."

"My dog did not mutilate anyone. She hasn't left my side since New Year's. Even before that. And I'll swear to it in front of a judge."

Prescott sighed. "Miss Hawthorne, either you move and let this man take the wolf, or I will do my damnedest to put that man back in jail again." She pointed at Ivan. He looked stricken.

"You getting all this, Kyle?"

Everyone looked to their right where Kyle was recording the entire event on his phone. He smiled as he moved back to get a wider shot. "Yeah I am. Especially the threats of trumped up charges."

If the threat of being filmed upset Prescott, she didn't show it. But her expression did shift from anger to something like angry concern as she approached me. I stood my ground because if she was going to attack me, I wanted it on YouTube.

"Sam…" Prescott's voice rose in something akin to panic. "What the hell happened to you?" She reached out and pulled at my jacket.

Oh no…the bite! I realized at that moment she was seeing in good lighting something I'd only glimpsed at in bad lighting. I tried to pull back from her but she grabbed my jacket at the same time, which exposed Bastien's handy work. I could only imagine what she was seeing and did an inner cringe when I realized this wasn't going to help my case and strengthen hers.

"Did that wolf do this?"

"No." I jerked away from her. I had to think of something fast. Something that would stop them from looking at my mom.

Prescott glared at me. "I order you to tell me what bit you and where you were."

"No."

The captain turned to one of the uniformed officers. "Jameson, take Miss Hawthorne into custody."

I could have hugged him when the young man in the uniform hesitated. "Ma'am?"

"You heard me. Arrest Miss Hawthorne."

"He needs to know why, Captain," I said as I tried to suppress the knot in my stomach. The night's anger, frustration, rage, irritation, surprise, fear—it was all coalescing into this mass of interconnecting bands that were being stretched to their breaking point. This insufferable woman thought she could just walk up to someone in their place of business and arrest them?

With no cause?

When Prescott didn't press the stupid order, I figured I had her on that. Her people knew their job. They were there to kidnap a wolf, not arrest the owner.

"Lloyd, get the wolf."

"No." I stepped in front of Grey. My stomach churned. I felt the heat of the mark on my chest and the bite on my shoulder. "You're
not
taking my dog."

"Samuel," Prescott pointed to the man with the rifle. "Tranquilize the damn wolf.
Now
."

My chest was on fire and the burn spread down my spine, into my arms and hands, through my legs to my feet and ignited that ball of emotion in my stomach. I thought bad things as the periphery of my vision started to burn and curl like the edges of parchment paper tossed into a flame. I zeroed in on the guy with the rifle. I wanted him to burn. I wanted him to explode into a million pieces over and over again until he was utterly destroyed.

No! Samantha, please! Don't give in!

Every fountain in the shop exploded at once. The place turned into a war zone for a few seconds as water, ceramic shrapnel and plants shot through the air. Everyone ducked down as something popped and I felt someone knock me backwards. I lay on my back as every muscle in my body locked. I couldn't move my arms, kick my legs or even turn my head. I could see Arcane glittering red all around me. It filled my lungs, cut into my flesh and burrowed into my eyes. I fought to get air into my lungs as my back arched and I realized—
I'm having a seizure!

"Someone call an ambulance!"

"Shoot it now!"

I heard the
thufp
of the tranquilizer gun. I heard Kyle yelling something and I felt Grey on top of me. Mom was talking to me. Telling me it was going to be okay, that this was what happened when I kept building power and didn't release it. I didn't know what she was talking about as I looked into her beautiful face. She rested her head on my chest and I could move my arms and I put them around her. She was warm and I wanted to be held by her. In her arms.

Like I remembered when I was eight.

Then they were taking her from me, pulling her from me and I was screaming at them and crying, calling out for my mom. There were lights as everything moved in slow motion and a beautiful man with amber red eyes cradled my face as everything went dark.

I
hated waking
up in cold rooms. Under cold sheets. Especially with the sun in my eyes. When I raised my hand to block the blinding rays, I saw a needle buried deep in the top of my wrist and a clear tube taped to my skin. Crap. This usually happened at the end of a bad day, not the beginning.

I turned my head to look at the machines and then at the shadow standing in front of the window. I recognized the profile. Crwys Holliard. He had his arms crossed over his chest and his hip resting against the window's ledge. My gaze followed the lines of his body as his hips slipped into his worn out jeans. The short sleeves of the t-shirt exposed his well-toned arms.

Then there was his hair. I compared Crwys's hair to Bastien's. I don't know what it was about an edgy cut that always attracted me. Most women I knew my age liked either the short business cut or the long-haired ponytail. Not me. I liked things different. And Crwys was different. He kept his hair shaved close to his head around the back and sides, but the crown was long and hung over to one side. The cut accented his long face with its high cheekbones and squared jaw.

"You know how to strike a pose, don't you?" I sounded weird. Kinda off. Like my vocal cords had sludge on them. I coughed to clear it all out.

Crwys moved fast at the sound of my voice. He cleared the distance between us in the blink of an eye and sat on the edge of the bed as he placed a warm hand on my cheek. "Hey. You look better."

"I feel like I just ran a marathon." And then I remembered
why
I was in the hospital. I put my hands down and pushed myself into a sitting position. "They took Grey. They can't do that, Crwys. They can't take my mom like that—"

He put a finger on my lips and pursed his own as he made "sshh" noises. "Grey's okay. She's in a kennel in a local lab under quarantine. They didn't find any forensic evidence on her that connects her to the body or the bite on your shoulder."

"Of course they didn't because she didn't rip anybody apart. Stupid-ass Prescott."

Crwys pursed those sexy lips of his. "And the bite on your shoulder?"

Uhm…

"Don't stall, Sam. I can smell him all over you. Bastien LeBlanc. That bastard's marked his territory all above the ninth ward and any park he and his pack of mutts can get into. When the hell did he mark you?"

"Mark me?"

Crwys moved the hospital gown away from my shoulder. "He marked you, Sam, as his. You know he's perigee, right? He can turn you into a Lycan."

Why was it everyone else knew about this perigee and apogee and I didn't? Then again, everyone knew Werewolves were real and I had no clue. Just never ran into one before. Until now.

The look in his eyes was a bit daunting. He was close, physically close, at that moment and watching me. Waiting for an answer. So I told him. I let him know everything that happened once the wolves showed up at our ritual. Was it last night? How long had I been in the hospital?

“The bite is his way of making sure I work to find his people, and I can hear the pack."

I thought me telling Crwys would make him relax. It did just the opposite. His eyes glowed red now, the amber was gone. Everywhere he touched burned and I flinched away from him. He pulled back and then stood. His stillness unnerved me and he wasn't actually looking at me, but at something I couldn't see.

A shadow of something moved around the room and I knew I was sort of seeing him. But not quite. He was angry and this wasn't going to end well for anyone if he didn't calm down. "Crwys…please stop. Please. Don't think about what he did. Think about what I need to do. What we need to do. There's a mother and an unborn child out there depending on me. On us."

The words eventually broke through and he looked at me. Amber crept back into his eyes but he was still pissed off. I could see that in his taut muscles and thin lips. I pushed myself up and motioned for him to come back to the bed by patting the mattress. He did and he took my hand. When I flinched again from the heat he cooled down.

“Just relax. Tell me when I can pick Grey up.”

He nodded. “Prescott still thinks Grey’s responsible, but with no evidence to back up her suspicions, she's got to let your mom go after forty-eight hours."

“Therefore, she’ll hold Grey for the full time allowed. Great.” I wasn't going to feel relieved until I had Grey beside me. "So…what happened to me? How did you know I was here?"

"Levi and I arrived after a co-worker told me Prescott had taken a black and white to your shop. We got there just as you exploded. What happened is you got angry. Prescott just set you off emotionally and that triggered the Arcane. But," he held up a finger. "You reigned it in, this time. No destruction. Well, except the fountains. And yourself."

"I had a seizure."

"Yeah. You did. Prescott thought you were shot given the explosions. She's still not sure what happened with that and I'm not about to get involved in it. She's also afraid Kyle's going to release whatever it was he filmed on YouTube."

I gave him a half smile. "He should," I dropped the smile. "Are you and Levi working on the mutilated body?"

"Yeah. He and I caught it because no one else wanted it. And…"

"You sensed the body was a Werewolf?"

"Uh…" Crwys winced. "No. I didn't sense that at all. The bastard thinks she's one of his?"

"His name is Bastien."

"His name," Crwys leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to my nose. "Is bastard. And as soon as we find his people and get his pack out of our business, I'm going to kick his furry ass."

That was a fight I didn't want to see. Because honestly, I didn't know who would win. I suspected Crwys would because he'd just make Bastien go up in flames. Poof. So…I thought it was best we get off this subject and move forward. "Any idea what mutilated her? Or what it was they heard that night? You think it's Arcane in nature?"

"Dunno. There are a lot of creatures out there like the wolf. Like coyotes and dogs. But the way this kid was torn apart—" he shook his head as he thinned his lips. "I don't think it was either of those."

"Do Lycans have basic enemies?"

"Basic enemies?"

"You know, like Batman has the Penguin and the Joker, and Spiderman has Green Goblin."

Crwys laughed as he put a hand against my cheek. "Your analogies are so weird."

"That's not answering my question."

"Yes, they do. But their enemies are mostly human, and wolfsbane."

I smirked. Yeah, I already knew about wolfsbane. I just didn't know what it did…exactly. Kyle said he put it in the fire for protection. Well, it sure didn't stop Bastien from biting me.

"A Revenant or Leviathan could have done that to her because they have the strength, and when and if they want, they could have the claws."

I watched his expression. "But you don't think that's it either. In other words, you don't know what killed her."

"No," Crwys raised his shoulders. "I don't. And that's one of the reasons I stayed at the morgue. I was trying to…find out."

"By staying near her body? Crwys, you're not making sense."

"Let's just say I have a very rare talent and when I want to use it, I can speak to the dead."

Blink.

"Now don't get all freaked out. I'm not a necromancer or anything like that—"

"I hope to hell not!"

"
Sshh
, baby. Sometimes souls or spirits, whatever you want to call them, hang around. Not long. Just a few hours after the body dies at most. They get confused, not sure what just happened, but they always remember the events."

I stared at him. "And?"

"Nothing. She was gone. I need to talk to LeBlanc, and any other wolves that were there that night. I need leads other than just inferences."

I made a face. It wasn't a bad face, but it was still a face. "Are you thinking of mundane leads or magical leads?"

"
Any
leads." Crwys's phone rang and he checked the face. "Holliard," he barked into it as he put it to his cheek. He looked at me but I knew he wasn't seeing me. Then he nodded, even though the person on the other end couldn't see. "We'll be right there." He shoved his phone back into his pocket and leaned in to kiss my forehead. "They found another body."

"Mutilated?"

"Yeah. This will prove Grey's not responsible and I'll push to get her released back into your care." He grabbed a leather jacket off the back of a chair. I recognized it as a different one than the jacket he let me use. Come to think of it…where were my clothes? "I'll be back to check you out."

"Check me out? I want to go with you."

"No. You have to stay here," he kissed me again and left the room.

Screw that. I wasn't planning on staying in the hospital, bored out of my mind. The only things in hospitals were sick people, people sticking you with needles for blood and—

Morgues.

There were hospital morgues—'cause you had to have a place to cool the bodies that didn't survive—and there were stand-alone morgues like the county morgue. It would make sense if the body was in the county morgue, but it would be safer and less talked about in a hospital morgue, wouldn't it? Or was that the other way around?

Either way, it was worth a check to see if the body was here. I opened up a few of the drawers in the cabinet by the door, in the bathroom, and then opened a small closet I found behind the door. My clothes were in a bag in the bottom of the closet, along with my boots.

I undressed in the bathroom and saw the bandage wrapped around my shoulder. It went around my neck and under my arm. Chewing on my lower lip, I pulled and yanked at it, loosening the bandage enough to pull it to the side to see—

Bastien's mark.

It was there. A half sphere of dashes and then four round holes where his fangs sank in. The bite itself was clean. I leaned into the mirror get a closer look. It was scabbed over and healing, but I knew just below the surface was the Lycan venom that would start working on me pretty soon. I had maybe thirty-eight hours left.

As I changed, I noticed the mark on my chest looked less like a tattoo and more like some weird iridescent image. Almost like a club stamp that was only visible under a black light.

I didn't know if that was good, bad or indifferent.

Slipping out of the room was easy enough, the nurses were at their station busy with patients and visitors and weren't looking for fully clothed me to walk away. I raked my fingers through my long dark hair and stepped out with a purpose to the elevator. Two other people dressed in scrubs joined me inside.

"Excuse me," I began and gave them my worried face. "But do either of you know which way to the morgue?"

The smaller of the two, a middle-aged woman in teddy bear scrubs and golden skin, put her hand on my arm. "Oh no, hon. Are you here to ID a body?"

"Yes." That's it. Sound confident. Ignore that little voice in your head screaming
you're gonna get caught!

"Morgue's always on the lower floor of the hospital," the other one said. He was tall and looked bored to death. His badge said Gerald. "Just go to the basement and the guard will take you to where you can view."

"Thank you both," I smiled at each of them and pressed the button for the basement floor. They each stepped off at earlier floors and I descended to the lowest floor alone. I was trying to come up with what story to tell this alleged guard when the elevator stopped and the doors opened.

The smell hit me first. It was a combination of disinfectant, soap and something else I couldn't identify. The elevator dumped me into a side wall facing a long hall in front of me and a right turn down another hall. I looked down both directions but didn't see a guard.

Before I could take a step down the hall to my right, a text window popped up in front of me with text bubbles.

That's the wrong way.