Moon Cursed (Sky Brooks Series Book 5) Read online

  I looked around, because clearly Sebastian was suffering from stress-induced hallucinations. As soon as he spoke, Gavin came into sight from the hallway adjacent to us.

  The were-animals’ keen sense of hearing wasn’t something I had forgotten about, but it still seemed weird to have a conversation with a person who wasn’t in the room.

  Stilled, Gavin held Sebastian’s gaze for as long as he could and then dropped his head, backing out of the room and refusing to consent. Sebastian’s nostrils flared as he battled the impulse to handle the situation with Gavin with force. After a few minutes, he’d resolved the anger, but amber pulsed in his eyes with a steady beat. When he finally relaxed his clenched hands, he looked at me and then the door Gavin had left out of. Sebastian looked at the door again and then me. And back at the door.

  After a few moments, I said, “I got this,” heading in the direction that Gavin had gone. I guess that’s my new job, kitty wrangler.

  I looked around the vast area and didn’t see him. I inhaled, but the smell of the forest commanded the air. I knew he was near being broody and sulky; that was what he did.

  No matter how many times I was presented with pack property, I was always overwhelmed by the crowd of oversized trees that nearly obscured any path. The thickets of grass were so green that they didn’t seem real. At any given time of day, you would find a were-animal in his animal form, enjoying the freedom of running without being seen. It was the closest thing we had to being in the wilderness—providing miles and miles of woodland.

  “Here, kitty, kitty,” I said in a low voice, knowing he could hear me.

  “I said not to call me that!”

  I followed the voice and looked a couple of feet away. He was perched languidly on the top branch of a massive tree, legs dangling off it.

  That’s it, Gavin, be weirder. You definitely have a patent on it.

  “Can we talk?”

  “Yeah.” Since he didn’t move, I figured he meant up there. Of course—because talking standing in front of the tree was just too easy. I jumped up on the closest branch and pulled myself up, climbing from branch to branch. Every once in a while Gavin laughed when I lost my footing and had to catch myself and pull myself up.

  When I was close enough, I found a branch close to him and cradled my butt into the groove between it and the trunk. “Nice day for a climb,” I joked.

  Nothing.

  “I’m not going to do it,” he said firmly as soon as I was settled.

  “So you’re going to let her die.”

  “If I’m the one to do it, she’s going to die anyway. I’ve tried before—I can’t do it.”

  I nodded slowly. “Does Sebastian know this?”

  He shrugged.

  “Don’t you think it’s something you should tell him? He won't push you to do it if you don’t think you can. Talk to him. And talk to Kelly, too. If it has to be done, I think she will want it to be you. And if you choose not to do it, she deserves the courtesy of your telling her why. She’ll understand. But if you don’t tell her anything, she’s going to feel like you abandoned her. That’s the last thing she needs right now. Okay?”

  He didn’t say anything; he slid off the branch, leaping from one branch to another with light, graceful movements that made the task of climbing down that massive tree look a lot easier than it was. You’re welcome. Anytime. Always a pleasure having these weird conversations with you.

  I hugged the tree closer, inhaling the relaxing scent of oak that came from it. I still thought Gavin was odd as hell, and whatever brooding contest he was in, he was winning the hell out of it, but I totally understood why he had chosen the tree as his place of solace. I closed my eyes and rested my head against the trunk.

  “Why are you up there?” Ethan asked.

  “Gavin.”

  As though that was answer enough, he nodded. He stepped back, leapt up to the first branch, and moved from branch to branch a lot quicker than I had. Clearly this wasn’t his first time.

  “He does this a lot?”

  He chuckled. “They all do. Cat,” he said with derision. “But he does it more often than most.” He smiled at me as I relaxed back into the large trunk, reluctant to let my legs dangle the way that Gavin had for fear of falling.

  “He doesn’t want to change Kelly. He’s afraid that he won’t be able to do it successfully. How hard is it?” I didn’t think it was as easy as changing someone to a vampire, which was probably one of the reasons it was usually a last resort. The subsequent change that the body had to go through was brutal. Steven was the only person I knew in the pack who was a changed were-animal.

  “I figured he wouldn’t. He had an incident last year and took it hard. He lives in Clayton Park.”

  “He enjoys the thrill of living in a questionable area.”

  Ethan laughed. “Probably, but crime in his neighborhood has definitely decreased since he moved there. He could have moved anywhere in the city for what he paid for renovations, but it’s where he wanted to live. There was an incident, and two people he considered friends were injured, badly. He tried to change them both and it didn’t work.”

  Gavin had wanted me dead from the moment he’d met me and voiced it often. Over the past few months, if he still felt that way, at least he’d been courteous enough not to say it. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.

  Ethan sighed. “One of us can change her, it’s fine. The next best choice will be Dr. Jeremy. But it would be best for this pack, for Gavin, if he does.”

  Answering the confused look on my face, he continued. “When you change someone, a bond, a special connection is formed. Similar to that of a recently changed vampire and his sire.” He frowned at the idea of comparing anything to do with were-animals to vampires.

  My brows rose. “Are you sure about that? Because I distinctly remember Chris trying to cut Demetrius’s head off with a kitchen knife. Or am I missing the special bond thing?”

  “But she didn’t.”

  “Because I stopped her!”

  “She let you stop her. It’s the sire bond that allowed her to show restraint.”

  “Oh, my fault, I didn’t realize not cutting someone’s head off with a kitchen knife is a show of endearment. I’m going to go drop that from the dysfunctional category.”

  “It’s Chris,” he said gently. I tried not to make it an issue. I hated that when he spoke of her it made me jealous. I wondered how long it would take for it not to.

  “Can you imagine Gavin if Kelly is changed? I don’t want to force him to do it, but they both need it. He needs to have a successful change, and I think she needs it to be him.” Then he gave me the same expectant look Sebastian had given me earlier.

  Am I the Gavin whisperer? How did I get that job and where do I submit my resignation? I frowned at the thought. “You want me to talk to him, again?”

  He nodded. “He responds well to you. He likes you.”

  “You’re using both of those words wrong.”

  He leaned in with a grace of movement that for a few minutes made me forget that we were in a tree, balancing on its limbs, and kissed me on the cheek.

  “I have to go; are you staying up here?”

  I shook my head. Although I wanted to, I figured Dr. Jeremy would need my help. Like Gavin, Ethan made springing from branches look a lot easier than it actually was, or perhaps he didn’t care as much about the chances of stumbling and crashing to the ground. It wasn’t an acceptable option for me.

  “I can’t. I have to go talk to a weird panther who’s probably skulking in the shadows somewhere, being . . . well . . . Gavin-y.”

  Ethan laughed. “See, you have a way with him. I just call him a pain in my ass.”

  But I didn’t have to talk to him. Sebastian seemed to have beat me to it. His face was relaxed, which I knew took some effort. Sebastian gave orders—that was his way. Either you did it or he made you wish you had. I suspected his change in handling things had more to do with Kelly than it di
d with Gavin. Sebastian had also developed a fondness for her. It could have been because of how much Dr. Jeremy seemed to care for her; Sebastian went to great lengths to keep Dr. Jeremy happy. He was instrumental in the success of the pack and its low mortality rate.

  Gavin wouldn’t look at Sebastian; as he spoke to him, his face was cemented into a scowl that grew deeper with every passing moment. He had finished listening before he decided he was finished pretending to do it as well. He started to walk away, and I could sense the annoyance rising in Sebastian. Once again, Gavin had tested Sebastian’s limited patience and the depths of his mercy, and it was only a matter of time before it escalated to something that wasn’t going to help anyone. Sebastian looked in my direction, and I let him know I would handle it.

  But could anyone ever really handle Gavin? The very person who was the best at it was the one who needed him.

  Here we go again. One of the few times that Gavin was easy to find was when he was in panther form, moving throughout the wood, easily recognized among the hues of brown and green of the grass and trees. When I called his name, he walked away faster.

  “Stop. Now.”

  I couldn’t believe that worked.

  He turned and trotted toward me. It was hard to stay still when you saw a panther charging in your direction, but I did and steeled my eyes on him. When he was just a foot or so away, I knelt down and spoke slowly.

  I started to touch his fur, I couldn’t help it. Next to Dr. Jeremy, he was one of the more mesmeric animals. His midnight coat that shimmered under the moonlight provided a beautiful backdrop for his emotive yellow eyes. He batted my hand back. Another attempt was met with the same response.

  “I know you are afraid that you will hurt Kelly, but she’s going to die if you don’t try to change her. You and I both know if someone else does it, they will make that connection with her. The very one that you deserve”—after all, she’s already been subjected to your crazy love, and no one else will have you—“so it will be hard for you. It’s not like doing it before; you have us here and we will help you through this.”

  He dropped his head in contemplation. “I’ll be in there if you want, and so will Dr. Jeremy. You can do this, Gavin. I know you can, for her. Weeks you looked for her because you needed to help her. You can’t stop now. Okay?”

  His head was still lowered, so I didn’t know whether or not I was getting through to him. He leaned forward against my hand, brushing his head against it, and when I reached to rub his fur, he let me. Standing there for several moments, I enjoyed something that wasn’t likely to ever happen again. He padded away, switching back to human form just a few feet from his clothes.

  Once again I was looking at a man’s naked butt. “You couldn’t wait until you were closer to your clothes?”

  “It’s an ass, you haven’t seen one before?” He yanked on his pants, keeping his back to me. At least I wasn’t going to get a full-frontal view. I had seen enough of that, too.

  “This pack really is lucky to have you.” Cole’s voice came from the right.

  “I’ve been lucky to have them as well,” I said.

  “I’m sure, but I feel like the scales might be tipped in their favor.” He fell in step with me as I walked toward the house.

  “You’re too kind. Ask Sebastian, the scales aren’t in their favor. This pack has helped me a lot.”

  “You are very modest, aren’t you?” He sped ahead to get the door, where he stood in the entrance.

  I shook my head. “Not at all.” I was faintly aware that he kept decreasing the distance between us.

  “I hope that you recognize what an asset you are to them.”

  “I’m sure they do.” I slipped past him and went into the house.

  By the time I had made my way to the infirmary, Gavin was next to Kelly’s bed. Her eyes were closed. Sebastian stood next to Gavin, looking concerned as he spoke. Gavin nodded absently, keeping his focus on Kelly. Sebastian regained Gavin’s attention briefly, but it slipped back in her direction. Giving him a reassuring pat on his shoulder, Sebastian left the room. Gavin leaned over and kissed Kelly on the forehead and then he shifted again.

  “What happens during a change?” I asked once Sebastian had taken a place next to me. His forehead was pressed up against the observation window next to mine.

  “It’s just a bite, but you have to release the enzyme to cause the change. That’s the tricky part.”

  Sebastian was watching so intently I didn’t want to keep peppering him with questions, but I had a ton. How was were-animal saliva different from regular saliva? Did it taste bad? How did you know it was in your system?

  Sebastian tensed, pressing his head into the window as he held his breath. I did, too, but I had no idea what I was looking for. Was there something that indicated that it had occurred? But when he relaxed and stepped back, I assumed he had seen all he needed to. All I saw was a huge gash in Kelly’s arm, then blood, quite a bit. But it coagulated and stopped.

  “It’s going to be a while before you see anything. But I’m certain it worked.”

  “What’s a while?”

  “Anywhere from four to six hours,” he said.

  Gavin had taken a spot next to her bed and plopped down, ready to wait it out. And I had every intention of doing it, too. Not just out of curiosity—I needed to make sure she was going to be alright. We all seemed to bear the guilt of her injuries although they weren’t in our control. Anger and frustration simmered in me again even though all involved had been taken care of, except that pesky little Dexter, who would be hiding if he had any sense. Part of me hoped he was arrogant enough not to.

  I hoped it was a good sign that it didn’t take four hours but closer to three and a half. Perspiration ran down her face and glistened on her forehead. Her body twitched for a moment and then it convulsed. She lurched up screaming—the loud, shrill sound rang throughout the room, and I understood why Sebastian had left. It was torturous to watch, but the frown on Dr. Jeremy’s face had relaxed, so I assumed things were going as expected. She collapsed back on the bed. She wasn’t moving, but since Jeremy didn’t look alarmed, I stayed calm.

  Now what?

  Seeing someone change for the first time was something I’d rather not see again. I distinctly remembered my mother’s look of helpless horror the first time I’d changed, and the pain of it was so raw that thinking about it made my skin throb. The same look that my mother had had was now on Gavin’s face as Kelly went through her first change. The crunching sound of bones breaking was the hardest, but the whining noise that the ligaments made as they stretched to accommodate the new form was a close second. And fur didn’t just ease out like a blossoming flower: it punctured through the skin. No one could stop it all from happening no matter how much they willed it, but it looked as if Gavin was willing it with all that he had. The violent convulsing just before those changes started had thrown her off the bed onto the floor. Gavin sat next to her, helpless to do anything but watch. When it was over, a panther, with a slightly smaller frame than his own animal, was lying next to him, asleep.

  It was the first time Dr. Jeremy had had color in his face since we’d rescued her, and he relaxed back in his chair. It was more than obvious an immeasurable weight had been lifted off of him. It was difficult to bask in the moment of success as screams and whimpers took over the home. Eleven more changes were occurring in succession. The torturous screams that resounded made it seem more like a house of horrors than a retreat.

  Three hours later, the silence was the most pleasant thing imaginable. No more wails of pain, sounds of the first change. Just somnolent quiet and the realization that we had twelve new were-animals we would have to deal with. Well, that Sebastian, Ethan, and Dr. Jeremy had to deal with.

  CHAPTER 15

  The next day we had moved back to the library. Moving things back and forth to Josh’s house was becoming an unnecessary hassle. The days were dwindling, and we were back up to four potential spells.


  I looked up at Josh, who was at the dry-erase board again, the one next to the desktop computer that had several open windows on it. He’d been in there for a while. I couldn’t sit down, not yet. I was reduced to the same person I’d been years ago, fearful of magic. It didn’t help things that Josh seemed distracted while working on the spells. Several times he stared off, and it took me calling his name for him to refocus.

  “Chris left?”

  “Mm-hmm,” he said, keeping his eyes on the board. His demeanor remained the same. That didn’t seem to be the issue bothering him, and what probably was couldn’t be broached tactfully. I couldn’t ask him if he was having second thoughts about annihilating the remaining members of the Creed, including Marcia, and coincidentally preventing a civil war among the witches and giving way to new leadership. That act surpassed any of the orchestrated moves that Sebastian had initiated.

  “What do you think of Ariel?” I asked, easing my way into the conversation.

  He slowly turned, crossing his arms over his chest as he gave the question a long consideration. A question that I suspected he’d been pondering since meeting her. “I don’t know,” he concluded. “London came over last night.” There was a slight relief in his voice. “It will be good to have someone new in the position, but I’m not convinced it will be easy to resist corruption once in that position. I’m hopeful for London’s sake—and for mine. But if London trusts her, then I do. It will be a nice change not to have to worry about the witches all the time.”

  Truth rang in his words, but Josh had to split his allegiance between sects that were at odds with each other. It had to be a relief to have the potential of a veritable relationship with the witches and not deal with the strain and complication of dual alliances. I knew there had to have been a sense of loss, as if he’d been exiled, when his bond with the witches had been severed.

  He turned back to the board. “I wish London would have clued me in on some of it. I’m getting a little tired of being the last person to find out things that I should know.”