Moon Child Read online

  Tristan couldn’t hide his fear. “Is she, are you—no, never mind, I—”

  “If I may?” Mamoru said, slipping between Tristan and the car to be closer to Vasco. When the timid vampire realized Mamoru was looking at him he tensed. “May I bite you?”

  “B—bite me? My god, why—oh. You, you’re one of those?”

  “I won’t hurt you.” Not right at that moment anyway. Mamoru unconsciously licked his lips. He hated the very idea of keeping this monster alive after hunting her for so long, but the thought of the bite thrilled him. Every new vampire he met, every bite was a new story to be told. He reveled in the tale of each unique life, their trials and tribulations, in the knowledge they gained and the interesting places they’d been. It was an addiction, tasting someone’s memories, their very life, one that Mamoru was finding himself succumbing to.

  Vasco frowned for a moment and then nodded. “I understand.”

  Tristan took a big step back when he realized what was about to happen. He didn’t want anything to do with it.

  “Bigot,” Desmond muttered.

  “Think what you want. One show a day’s enough for me.”

  “Say whut yew want, but we can read yur mind.”

  Tristan scoffed at Desmond and went to lean on the other side of the car with his back to the others. He didn’t give a shit what Desmond thought he knew about him. He could care less if two men wanted at each other—for food or sex, he just didn’t want to watch. But, even unable to see, he could still feel what was happening behind him. He hadn’t realized it before, but he was feeling a little bit, just a tiny taste, of what the others felt. That tug in his middle, the tingle up his back, down his arms. The warmth in lower places. He echoed a groan from Vasco and hated that he made the noise at all. And then, at the height of it all the pleasure cut off like switching off a TV and Tristan gasped, feeling empty.

  “Thank you,” Mamoru said in a breathy yet clipped tone and Tristan chanced a glance back. Then jerked back away when he saw Desmond grinning at him.

  “Come on, mate, yur lot is up front with us.”

  “O—okay,” Vasco said through a deep frown, clutching his wrist despite the fact that it was no longer bleeding and joined Desmond in Tristan’s rental.

  “Are you okay?”

  Tristan turned and blinked at Mamoru over the car hood. “I know it’s not my fault, but I feel…”

  “I know,” Mamoru said softly, eyes full of sympathy. “But you shouldn’t worry. From what I saw, she’s okay. She’s trapped by the earth but can’t free herself… probably out of seikonō to do so. If it were Genoveva herself, I would know all I could, but Vasco, he just doesn’t know anything. The poor fool doesn’t even know what he is. But Ash is fine. She’s weak, but not hurt.”

  “Not. Hurt? Was that, or was that not Ash’s hand Vasco showed us?”

  Mamoru sighed, looking away. “I promise, she’s okay. Despite the disfigurement, which isn’t even an issue. Trust in me, ne?”

  “This is fucking insane,” Tristan muttered as he got into the car in the back, behind Vasco. God, he just wanted to take that pretty little knife from Mamoru and slide it across the front of Vasco’ throat, all nice and slow, make him feel every inch of it. Desmond shot Tristan a look over his shoulder before starting the car and Mamoru put a warning hand on Tristan’s arm before he jerked away. Vasco, he wasn’t mentally receptive, not actively, but he still felt the malice from the others and shivered, hunkering down in his seat.

  “Drive,” Tristan barked at Desmond. “Fast.”

  “Roger that,” the vampire answered and off they went in the little rental that could barely make it up to seventy. Six minutes, twenty-five seconds. That’s how long it took to get there and Tristan thought he was about to lose his mind if it took a second longer. He was the first out of the car, before Desmond even got a chance to put it into park. He tugged his clothes into place, gun in hand and completely visible. He didn’t care anymore who saw it. Then again, in the middle of the night at a closed site there was no one to see.

  “It’s this way,” Vasco announced, rushing off into the dark.

  “Hey!” Tristan yelled from deep in his throat, the anger seeping into everyone, and the twitchy vampire jarred to a stop. “Don’t go fucking running off.” He didn’t even notice he had his finger on the trigger.

  Vasco nodded quickly. “Of course, sorry.”

  Behind Tristan’s back the other two exchanged a look. They were both worried about Tristan. Not that he couldn’t take care of himself or anything like that, but because he wasn’t thinking. He was being careless and they didn’t want that carelessness to cause Ash her life. If he were more than just a transmitter when it came to his mental abilities than Mamoru would have chided him, warned him to be more careful. As it was Tristan could only send, not receive. Mamoru would just have to keep a close eye on Tristan and Vasco both.

  Vasco lead them down towards the beach. The night was cool, the breeze coming in off the water refreshing and clean. It was almost enough to entice Tristan into the water for a late night swim. But there were more important things to do than laze about.

  There was a long concrete pathway with iron railing that cut into the cliffs lining the beach. The entrance to the cave was blocked by a flimsy looking gate that wouldn’t be hard for a normal human to break through. The chain was broken and one of the gates was ripped off its hinges. Guess Vasco still had his vampire strength even if he didn’t know how to use it.

  “In here,” Vasco said in a timid voice and pushed in past the broken gate.

  The others joined Vasco where he started to climb into one of the dozen boats floating on the water just inside.

  “Uh, what are you doing?” Tristan asked, waving the gun.

  “I had to swim out. The boat’s faster. It’s about 600 meters back.” It was the first time the vampire sounded less than meek. Annoyed almost, snippy.

  “Desmond, you ride with him. Mamoru and I will follow.” Better safe with two boats, in case, well, in case of Genoveva.

  The big vampire grunted and pushed Vasco into the boat garnering a dirty look. “Right then, in yew go.”

  The water near the entrance was fairly deep but the small channels leading back were shallow enough that the boat almost rubbed the bottom. There was only one path that took them deep into the water filled chamber. When the cave opened up again there was an obvious path to the right. To the left looped back to the entrance, but there was a little offshoot towards the back where there were no more electric lights. Tristan was the only one of the group who couldn’t see in the dark and that put him on edge.

  “I’m on your side, Tristan,” Mamoru’s soft voice said behind him. “Please don’t doubt that.”

  “I know, thank you. Hey, I can’t see shit, you mind?”

  “Sure,” the other man answered and the two switched places for Mamoru to row.

  A few minutes later there was a splash in front of him and his attention jerked up as he realized they were there, at land. Except for the noise they were making and the occasional drop of water from the ceiling, there was nothing. And worse off, Tristan couldn’t see a thing. He couldn’t sense Ash.

  “A—Ash?” His voice echoed all around and he cringed, hating the fear in it.

  A small light flashed into existence as Mamoru pulled a compact flashlight from his little man bag. The light wasn’t much, but it was something.

  There was a low noise that might have been a growl and a splash of water in front of them. The group stopped and Mamoru lifted the flashlight to show the shadowy outline of a warrior facing off with them.

  Tristan’s eyes widened and he had to fight with his instincts to not step back. “Ash?”

  “You should not be here!” She was bent forward slightly, body positioned to move at a single misstep, wielding something large and malformed in her hands. All of her features were lost to the dark, but the anger, that was palatable.

  “Um, we came to save you,�
�� Tristan said, unsure of her reaction.

  “I don’t need saving,” she hissed so that the sound slithered all around them, confined by the damp cave.

  Desmond snorted. “Bloody right.”

  “Uh…” Tristan glanced at Mamoru. “I’m a little confused here.”

  “Vasco?” she questioned, apprehension in her tone.

  The nearly forgotten vampire straightened to attention. “Si?”

  “You led them here?”

  “Si, si, you said—I thought—”

  Ash’s scoff ended his stammering. “Vasco, you stay put. The rest of you need to go. Now.”

  “Ash,” Tristan chided. “I’m not fucking leaving without you.”

  She huffed, lowering her weapon, a crude jut of broken stone, and took a few steps closer. “You are always so strong willed…”

  All three men reacted to the sight of her in Mamoru’s dim flashlight with a surprised gasp.

  “Holy shit,” Tristan whispered in the wake of Desmond’s muttered oath.

  Ash’s attention was everywhere but the group as she seemed to be searching for something while trying to keep an eye on Vasco. “What is it?”

  “Ash, you...” Tristan took a step closer, unbelieving. “You look human.”

  Her attention snapped around to him. “I what?”

  A low rumbling growl nearly stopped Tristan’s heart. “The fuck is that?” he whispered, frantically looking around.

  “Oh,” Vasco said in a shaky voice, standing near the boats as if to flee. “That animal must be awake.”

  “Animal? How the hell is there an animal—”

  “Miw-sher,” Ash snarled. Another growl echoed her words, closer this time and Ash spun to put her back to the men, wielding that misshapen bit of stone again. Even with just one hand, she managed rather well. “Genoveva’s jikininki, a Bengal tiger. Be careful.”

  “Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Tristan’s luck was just getting worse and worse.

  “Aye right, we got the wee beastie. Boy, yew an’ the lass make good an’ get.”

  Tristan swallowed nervously and looked to Mamoru, his source of light. His friend. Maybe his only true friend since he lost his parents and the one person who could actually understand him.

  “Fine,” he said trying to act cool despite his worry, “let’s go then.”

  The group’d just turned to leave when a loud, angry wet tearing sound behind them brought them to a jarring stop. Desmond cursed, followed by a big splash.

  “Hey, are you—” Tristan was knocked back before he could finish his question. He barely kept himself upright and nearly took out Ash when he stumbled into her, accidently elbowing her in the face.

  The light was out and Mamoru grunted as he was lost to the dark. Tristan spun, reaching for Ash but she was gone and he was left standing alone in the inky blackness. All he could hear was his own breathing as the panic rose. Not even in that onsen back in Japan on the night he went to kill Malik did he feel so utterly lost to the dark.

  “Guys?”

  Something solid smacked into the back of his knees and Tristan went down, rolling of the island and into the water. It was just deep enough to fully submerge him laid out flat. A weight bore down on his chest, someone’s knee right in his solar plexus. Despite knowing he was being drowned, he could focus enough to know who it was. Guess Vasco’s time was up.

  Fuck.

  Involuntarily, Tristan opened his mouth and screamed, losing most of his air and in turn filling his mouth with cool water. The weight on him wouldn’t shift no matter how much he struggled and just when he thought he couldn’t hold out anymore without taking a deadly breath, the weight was gone and he was jerked to his feet by his collar.

  The vampire presence in him was different now but he was already mid-punch. The hit missed anyway and he nearly fell again if it weren’t for the fist balled in his shirt holding him firmly upright.

  Desmond jerked on him, demanding his attention. “Yuright, mate.”

  “What happened?” he asked, blinking the water from his eyes and shoving the vampire away from him.

  The cave was lit up by huge can lights that had been hidden under the earth. They were now all focused on the middle of the island where Genoveva stood in her semi-hairless, crazy vampire glory, looking like she was just loving the idea of being the center of attention. It was a god dammed Goth opera with Genoveva in the lead role of diva.

  “Oh, you could tell it was me again?” Genoveva asked with a big grin.

  “Yeah,” Tristan spit the water from his face away. “I can, ‘cause I’m an Uruwashi, asshole.” Not even a good one at that, he was realizing.

  “Oh yes. I know what you are and I will be killing you, but you’re the least of my problems right now.” Genoveva’s ghostly eyes shifted slightly to the side and settled on Desmond.

  “Yew ken,” Desmond said as he stomped forward around Tristan. “I always wanted a chance at yew, fur whut yew done tae the wee lass.”

  Ash scoffed. So much for trusting her to take care of herself. Selfish man.

  “Looking out for our own kind? How disgustingly naïve of you. We are not to be trusted, not a one of us. We all look out for ourselves and only ourselves. You know that.”

  “We dinnae ken yur Master personally, but we ken those weren’t his values yur blathering on ‘boot.”

  Genoveva spit out a curt laugh. “You talk as if we’re actually raised by our undead makers. As if we’re children to the very same type of monster we’ll grow to be.”

  “Exactly right.”

  Tristan frowned, wondering just what was going on. Desmond, he sounded so serious and he was making sense. Did Tristan really drown back there? That had to be it, he drowned and died, because this wasn’t the same Desmond he knew.

  “You’re not leaving this place,” Mamoru announced sounding so confident.

  Tristan’d nearly forgotten about the man and glanced back. Did a double take when he saw the brown haired, honey skinned woman with the brightest blue eyes standing next to him.

  “My god,” he whispered, seeing her in the full light for the first time.

  Ash really did look human.

  “Is that so?” Genoveva bit out. “You’re the one to stop me?”

  A surge of energies welled in Tristan’s middle as the others called upon their deeper seikonō powers all at once. He could feel the distinct flavor of each, the dustiness of earth as the ground started to shiver, the char of fire as Mamoru’s hands engulfed in flame, the crispness of water as small droplets floated upward like tiny bubbles in soda bottle, all fighting for dominance inside him. Fighting and winning as his knees buckled.

  “Oh god,” he breathed out as the heat of lust surged up from his groin and caught his breath.

  Ash rushed to help him, but too weak to hold them both up in her damaged state, tumbled to the ground with him. “Tristan?”

  “I’m—” He had to stop and swallow, suppress a moan. “I’m okay. It’s just, I’ve never felt anything like this before.”

  “This is how real vampires fight,” she said softly, almost reverently before she was drowned out by the most awesome war cry Tristan’d ever heard. His head snapped around to the others. It was Desmond, the one who yelled. It was the yell of a man who’d battled before, a battle of true life and death. The big vampire meant to kill Genoveva with all he had.

  “This is why you should not have come.”

  “Ash, did you really think I’d leave you behind?”

  She smiled sadly. “No.” She looked away again, watching the others fight. “None the less, this is no place for any of you.”

  “Ash—” Tristan ended in a yelp when Mamoru let out a cry as the fireball he threw missed and passed by Tristan’s head less than a foot away.

  Desmond advanced on Genoveva to slap her with a ball of frozen water the size of a softball. At the last moment a thick layer of earth enclosed Desmond’s hand and he lost his balance, pulled forward.
Mamoru was forming another ball of fire but having difficulty making it all stick together as soupy globs slipped between his fingers and sizzled out.

  Tristan was just stumbling to his feet, panting as if he’d just ran a marathon and raised his arm to point the gun at Genoveva’s head. She sensed every twitch of every person in that cave and spun around with a nasty noise spilling from her mouth. Her arms shot out in an aggressive gesture and then Tristan’s feet were taken out from under him as the earth rippled and knocked all three men down and rolled Ash into the water.

  When he was aware of his surrounding again, Tristan was blinking up into the angry jaws of a Bengal tiger jikininki. He cursed and rolled away as the animal snapped at him. The earth rippled again and he was rolled right into Miw-sher. Ash yelled at the beast in Arabic and Tristan fired off a shot that had no chance of hitting anything but stalagmite. He wished he’d worn a few of his knives. He could risk the close quarter fight with a summons and not be exposed to the vampire malady or whatever you wanted to call it. As it was, the gun wasn’t in his favor right then. To kill a jikininki was the same as killing its maker, take its fucking head.

  Miw-sher’s mouth opened and she dove for Tristan. Ash cried out and then there was a jerk on his ankle. He grumbled as his shirt rolled up and the dirt and rock etched into his back, but the pain of a little bit of earth burn was nothing as Miw-Sher’s jaws snapped shut around Tristan’s left forearm. If Ash hadn’t pulled him across the ground he’d be good as gone with his shoulder and neck firmly in the jaws of the living dead. And if he wasn’t screaming, having his arm thrashed back and forth by the angry animal, he might have thanked her.

  Ash gasped a noise that sounded strangely like Tristan’s name but with a decidedly Greek accent. She landed on the beast’s back as if she meant to ride it and wrapped her arms around its head. If she were of full strength, the effort would have been nothing. As it was, that potion Genoveva forced on her was still doing its work. She was practically human in all facets.

  Tristan was screaming and thrashing on the ground under the big tiger, desperate for the pain to stop. He could feel the pressure of the tiger’s jaws bearing down on his bones. They were going to snap at any moment. A cry filled Tristan’s ears that wasn’t his own and then the force clamped around his arm relented. It took a moment for the white spots of confusion and pain to clear and then he was blinking up into angry, almond shaped eyes laced in thick lashes. Mamoru’s smile was full of dark satisfaction and Tristan shuddered at the vampire in it. It didn’t help that the man’s teeth were still wet with someone’s blood.