Closing my eyes, I allow my senses to guide me.The attic.
Pulling at the knotted cord gives me access to the attic above the second floor.I climb the ladder that folds down and crouch on the rafters.
He was here.Maybe he has always been here.Like a spider weaving his web of deceit and lies, my skin crawls when I think about Wulf watching Luna and me interact.
And yet it is sad, too.No crib or mattress.No cherished items or signs of companionship.Wulf lurked up here all alone, only venturing out to feast on female blood.
Maybe he is more of a vampire than any of the Seven.
There is no time to waste.Opening the window, I crawl over the wet slate roof tiles like a black-leather-clad reptile.Pausing, I wait for Luna’s vibrations to reach me.
Nothing.Jumping, landing in a crouch, I slither to the marina.
The downpour of rain increases, but I pay it no mind.No amount of water could ever wash away the traces of Luna I see all around me on Landslide.
The boats creak and bob as they bump against the rudimentary harbor promenade.There is Tempest’s boat:Prodigal.
Typical Tempest.She always preferred the prodigal son to the well-behaved one.Live fast, play hard, die young.
Stepping onto the boat, I walk down to the cabin in the hull.
It’s a snug room.Bunk bed with storage underneath it on one side.Table with two chairs on the other.Stove and fridge against the prow.
Wulf sits in the chair by the table, facing the door.His white hands lie resting on the table surface like two pale spiders.
I rush him like a bull, headbutting his face as I haul him over the table by the front of his shirt.My fists rain down blows on his laughing face but leave no trace.Dragging him with me, I reach for a knife hanging by the stove.
Drooling blood when he speaks, Wulf grins.“If you kill me, you will never find out where she is.Think about that before you go all ballistic, Shadow.Your lovely little Luna left to starve—or suffocate.Choice is yours.”
Dropping him like a stone, I kick his sorry carcass and spit on him.
“Not much of a choice, Wulf Ifan’s son.”
He’s laughing, really enjoying this.
“It’s the only one you’re going to get.Now, turn around and fuck off back to your crappy den—to your pathetic motorcycle club with its anachronistic bunch of losers.”
If Luna’s life is on the line, I have no trouble backing off.I would rather hack out my heart than have anything bad happen to her.
This situation—this is all my fault.If I were an unselfish lover, I would have told her to leave a week ago.Sacrifice my growing dependence on her cheeky smiles and breathy laughter for her own good.
But I was greedy.I wanted to have my Luna and eat her, too.
“For how long must I wait?I don’t have an unlimited supply of patience, Wulf.”
Waving his hand to dismiss me, he sneers.“Three days.Look inside your heart, Shadow.You know she’s still alive.But if you kill me, you kill Luna, too.”
I catch sight of myself in the mirror as I leave.All traces of humanity have left me.I am a ghoul with bleeding mouth and hands from where I have bitten and clenched the fluid out of my flesh.That is how hard it is for me to hold back my anger.
ChapterTwenty-Eight
Luna
Tallie runs the last few yards and throws her arms around me.
“Oh, my Gaaad, girl!You have lost so much weight!”
Her bear hug almost takes my breath away.Laughing as I hug my friend back, the need to explain everything bubbles to the surface.
