Edge of Moonlight (15 page)

The wolf she couldn’t call forth.

It also called to the magic of the
silvani
, the new power she still hadn’t figured out.

For the first time since she’d learned about her
silvani
heritage, she realized she sensed that magic now, just in a different way than she did the
lucani
magic. She
felt
the energy in the trees and shrubs and in the newly revitalized grass.

And if she let herself, she could probably draw that energy to her and boost her own power.

Maybe she could call her wolf.

The lure was almost too powerful to ignore but she knew she couldn’t attempt it now.

She had a mission to complete first.

* * * * *

“
Vaffanculo
, this is a fucking gods damn clusterfuck.” Kyle had been swearing for the past twenty minutes in a mix of English and what John assumed was Italian.

John wished he knew Italian so he could join in because English wasn’t enough to cover the fear as he threw clothes and weapons into a backpack Nica had given him.

Kaine had gone to New York. Alone. To follow the lead John had given her.

After checking one final time to make sure he had everything he needed, he zipped the backpack and slung it over his shoulder.

Kyle had wanted to go himself. He’d nearly been out the door before Tam had reminded him that the
lucani
king, Cole, had demanded he stay here. That was when Kyle had started to swear in Italian.

John didn’t give two shits about what Kyle wanted or needed. He was going after Kaine. No one was going to stop him.

He walked back into the front room, trying not to let Kyle’s anxiety infect him. At least, not anymore than it already had.

“Kyle, honey, calm down. Getting pissed isn’t helping.” Tam tried for a soothing tone but her constant pacing wasn’t helping either. “Call Sal again. Maybe he’s home now.”

“She can’t fucking
shift
.” Kyle ran a hand through his dark hair, yanking at it as if it would help him think. “Why the hell didn’t she tell me?” Kaine’s partner Duke had dropped that bomb when Kyle had contacted him after he’d talked to Rio de Feo.

“That doesn’t matter now.” Tam shook her head. “We need to concentrate on getting someone to the city to help her.”

“I’m going.”

Kyle didn’t even bother to sneer at him. “Fuck that. You’re not strong enough to be any help to her.”

John forced his immediate anger back and stood his ground. He wasn’t going to brag or list his accomplishments. Kyle didn’t give a shit that he was a Navy SEAL with more than a decade of military service. Didn’t matter. John was going.

“I’m leaving now and I don’t need your permission. I only need the address.

Besides, you don’t have anyone else to send.”

“I’ve got a gods damn legion full of men I trust more than you to back her up.”

“Then why aren’t you sending them?”

Kyle practically growled at him, raising the hair on John’s neck. “I’m going to—”

“Kyle, that’s enough.”

The female voice came from behind him and John turned to see a short, blonde beautiful woman standing in the room.

He’d never seen her before. She hadn’t come in through the front or back doors, both of which John could see from where he stood.

And everyone around him bowed or curtseyed to her.

“Lady of the Silver Hammer,” Kyle’s tone immediately leveled, as if he was speaking to a commanding officer. “What—”

She cut him off by raising one index finger. “He goes.” Kyle wanted to argue. John could see the struggle he waged against blurting out whatever was in his head.

“Lady, let me get another man to go with him. He’s not
lucani
. He won’t be able to protect her—”

“Kaine is perfectly capable of protecting herself. Or so I thought you believed when you chose her to be
sicari
.”

Sicari
? That was a new one. John had no idea what it meant but he didn’t think now was the time to ask. Whoever this woman was, she was on his side at the moment so he kept his mouth shut.

“John.”

She turned to him as if she’d heard his thoughts. Her vivid blue eyes speared through him and the word regal suited her to a T, even though she was dressed in a tight blue miniskirt and white top. He had the overwhelming urge to bow as well. Who

was
she?

He straightened his back even as his head bowed. “Yes, ma’am.” The force of the blonde’s smile hit him like a blast of heat directly in his solar plexus. Holy hell, the woman made every hair on his body stand at attention. She was a freaking force of nature. Too damn beautiful to be believed.

“I can see why Kaine fell for you. All that strength and manners too.” She turned to wink at Tam, who smiled back. “Anyway, you’re going to need a little help finding Kaine when you get to New York. Despite Kyle’s momentary lack of faith,” she lifted her eyebrows in Kyle’s direction and he had the grace—or the good sense—to look abashed, “she’s very good at disappearing when she wants to. And her new powers—”

“What?” Kyle interrupted. “What new powers?”

“Will give her an edge against detection.”

“Nortia, what—”

Again, the lady raised one finger and Kyle shut his mouth.

But John had the same question. “What powers?”

Nortia smiled. “When you find her, you can ask her about them. But you’ll need this to find her.” Reaching into the pocket of her skirt, Nortia pulled out a slim crystal attached to a long dark chain. “Wear it against your skin, under your shirt. She’ll be well hidden and you’ll need all the help you can get to track her down. The crystal will grow warm to the touch and begin to glow when she’s near so you’ll know you’re on the right track.”

“Thank you…”

She smiled again and held out her hand for him to shake. At least, he hoped that’s what she’d intended. Not for him to kiss her ring or anything.

“Nortia, Lady of the Silver Hammer. Don’t worry. You don’t need to know exactly who I am right now. You can take the crash course in Etruscan mythology when you get back. With Kaine. Kyle, give him your car keys.”

Kyle stared at him for several seconds but obviously wasn’t about to disobey a direct order from Nortia, Lady of the Silver Hammer. What the fuck kind of name was that anyway? And that line about Etruscan mythology refused to stop winding around his brain.

No, he really didn’t want to think about the implications of that. So he merely took the keys when Kyle held them out to him.

“If
anything
happens to her…” Kyle’s gaze bored into his. “If she so much as breaks a nail, I will hurt you. If she dies…I kill you.”

John nodded, his blood frozen in his veins at the thought. “If she dies, I let you.”
Chapter Eight

By the time night fell, Kaine swore she’d watched a million people enter and exit The Century building.

None of them the woman she was looking for.

From her perch high in a tree in Central Park, directly across from the building, she noted the presence of a doorman and some decent security. Nothing she couldn’t bypass but, damn, the building was freaking huge—two towers and more than thirty floors.

Luckily, Rio had given her an apartment number as well as the address. Still, it was going to take some doing to get into the building, make her way to the twenty-eighth floor and sneak into the woman’s apartment.

She needed time. And a team.

Which she didn’t have because she’d stupidly and naively thought she could drive to New York City, find a powerful woman who didn’t want to be found and drag her back to Reading where she’d be forced to cure a woman she’d already tried to kill.

Shit.

Okay, she was officially an idiot.

She hadn’t even thought about where she was going to spend the night. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d slept outdoors but, this time, she wouldn’t have her pelt to keep her warm.

She should get a hotel room. She had a credit card with no limit but the second she used it, Kyle would be on her. And she had no desire to face that situation yet.

When she returned home, she wanted to be dragging Grace Bell with her.

Which brought her back to the first problem—how to get the woman out of the building.

Below her, the city rushed by. Even at night, horns honked, people hustled in and out of taxis and raced off to wherever they were going. People passed below, walking along the park paths, completely unaware of her while she watched their every move.

She was used to being invisible. She needed to be invisible for her job.

But…she’d never felt so disconnected before.

And that struck a chord deep inside.

She missed John.

Which was ridiculous because he’d probably already regained his memories and wouldn’t want to see her again.

Her heart thudded almost painfully against her ribs and she took a deep breath to try to contain the pain.

Damn, the city completely fucked up her sense of smell. There were just too damn many and they jumbled together into a mass of puzzle pieces she couldn’t make fit into any semblance of order. Trying to ignore that puzzle required a level of concentration she couldn’t maintain for much longer.

She needed to find a hole for the night, catch a few hours of sleep somewhere she’d feel safe enough to close her eyes.

Checking below to make sure no one could see her, she began her descent. Beneath her hands, the bark of the old oak warmed to her touch. She swore she felt sap running through its limbs and a hum unlike anything she’d ever heard before. Almost like a melody.

She paused about twenty-five feet above the ground, her hands pressed against the thick trunk. And listened.

Blessed Goddess. She
did
hear something. Something amazing. Closing her eyes, she let the melody of the tree transport her.

Minutes passed and the sounds of the city faded to a drone that curiously only complemented the melody that never ended.

Absolutely amazing.

If she’d ever stopped to think about how the trees had felt before—and why the hell would she have ever done that?—she would have thought the trees here would be screaming at their imprisonment, surrounded on all sides by concrete and brick and all these people. The motor exhaust alone should have choked the life from them.

But no, they were singing.

And she could hear it.

Shaking her head, she finally made her way to the lower branches.

She waited as a couple jogged by then slid off the branch. The backpack barely jiggled as she landed on her feet and immediately started walking, as if that’s exactly what she’d been doing all along.

Head up, she walked like she knew exactly where she was going. Which is how she must have missed him.

She felt someone come up behind her and had a momentary flash of panic when she thought she recognized his scent.

But she couldn’t have. It couldn’t be—

“You shouldn’t have left without me.”

Her foot caught a crack in the walk and she nearly fell as she flashed cold then hot at the sound of his voice.

Before she embarrassed herself any further, she stopped and turned to face him, barely able to keep from throwing herself at him.

John looked… Well, he looked pissed. His gorgeous mouth was flat and straight, no hint of a smile. The look in his eyes matched. And the pulse at the base of his neck, which she could see just above the collar of the tight black t-shirt he wore, throbbed.

She didn’t care. Not one bit.

He was here. As if she’d only had to wish for him and he’d shown up.

Though how he’d found her…

So many questions. And only one answer she cared about.

“Why are you here?”

His lips flattened further and she thought he might actually be more than pissed.

Yes, she’d taken his information and run with it but she’d done it for him. She knew he’d want to stay with his sister.

“Do you really not know the answer to that?”

A frown creased her forehead as she shook her head as more questions started to jumble together in her head. “How did you find me? I didn’t tell anyone where I was.”

“And you thought that was a good idea?”

Confusion continued to build and she didn’t have a clue what he was getting at.

“John, what—”

“No. Not here.” His voice had dropped to a bare whisper, as if he knew she’d be able to hear him. “Let’s go.”

He slipped his hand around her arm and started to walk. She either had to follow along or resist. And possibly draw unwanted attention. They’d reached the sidewalk along Central Park West, directly across from the Century and she couldn’t help but stare at the building.

“Kaine, not now.” John tugged on her arm, not painfully, not hurtfully. Just enough to keep her moving.

And the caveman routine was getting old. Not bothering to be subtle about it, she pulled away from his grip on her arm but kept walking beside him. “Where are we going?”

“I got a room at the Mayflower. It’s right next door.”

She opened her mouth but he cut her off before she could say a word.

“Don’t. Just don’t say anything right now. Not until we get inside.” Okay, he’d just stepped on her last nerve.

Her back straightened and her jaw locked against the urge to bite his head off.

Eyes straight ahead, she followed him through the lobby of the hotel, too pissed to notice much of anything but the gold and black decor. The silent elevator ride grated on her nerves, as did John’s reflection in the mirrored doors. His gaze was glued to her reflection, watching her every move.

Her jaw tightened almost to the point of pain and she knew if she didn’t release some of this tension soon, she’d break.

And that would not be pretty. Or quiet.

She noted the floor they stopped on. Fourteen. Noted the number of the room.

They’d have a view of the park and the street below.

Tapping her foot as he opened the door, she walked through when he pushed the door open. A bed, a chair, a desk, all shoehorned into a room half the size of her bedroom at home.

Didn’t matter. She was going to tear him—