Blood Moon (Skye Morrison Vampire Series, #5.5) (14 page)

Dean

The shrill sound of my cell phone pulled me up out of a deep slumber.  I carefully unwrapped my arms from around Nikki and grabbed it off my nightstand.

“This had better be good,” I growled lowly into the phone as I eased out of bed, being mindful not to wake my new bedmate.

“I can’t find the girls,” Primo’s panicked voice yelled.

“What do you mean you can’t find the girls?” I demanded, my eyes now wide as my body tensed.

“Jojo was supposed to meet me for breakfast an hour ago,” he explained in a hurry.  “She never showed.  I went by their apartment and the door was locked.  I don’t think they even made it home last night.”

“What?” I yelled, forgetting my slumbering guest.  Nikki jerked awake, her eyes wide and frightened.  I covered the phone and put a hand out in her direction, trying to calm her.  “It’s okay, babe.  Everything’s okay.  Go back to sleep.”

“What’s wrong?” she asked, already getting out of bed.

“You’re supposed to be resting,” I tsked, chastising her.

“What’s wrong?” she demanded, more forcefully.  There was no hiding this from her, not now.

Holding out a finger to her, I put the phone back to my ear.  “Call Zee, Trigger, and Cage.  I want everyone scouring the city for their car.  I’ll retrace the route from my house and meet up with you at Tricky Dic’s.”

Primo was silent, and I was just about to ask if he was still there, when he finally spoke.  “Boss, what if—”

“Don’t fucking say it, Mo,” I growled, cutting him off.  “Don’t say it.  We’ll find the girls. I promise.”

With that, I ended the call and lifted my eyes to Nikki’s.  She looked confused and worried.  “What girls are you talking about?  Jojo, Holly, and DeeDee?”  I stared at her, unable to confirm our worst fears.  “Are they missing?”

Jumping into action, I threw on a pair of jeans and a shirt.  When I was done, I turned to find Nikki struggling into her jeans.

“You can’t go with me,” I told her as calmly as I could manage.

“The hell I can’t!” she bit back, wincing with pain as she pulled the coarse material over her bottom.

“You need to be in bed,” I argued, walking over to her.  “All this moving around is only going to cause you more pain.”

“I don’t care, Dean,” she frowned, her worried, determined eyes spearing mine.  “I’m going with you.”

I growled in frustration as I stared her down.  She wasn’t going to back down from this. That was easy to see, so I gave up and helped her dress.  “Fine, but if the pain becomes too much, we call Micah and he’s bringing the narcos, got it?”

“Yes, sir,” she sassed, arching a brow at me.  She may have not like it, but I knew she’d do what I asked.

After helping her into her boots, I grabbed my phone, 9mm, car keys, and locked the house.  I was pulling Duke onto the highway a blessed three minutes later.

As we slowly drove the route back to the girls’ central Austin apartment, Nikki scanned the area, searching for their early eighties, blue Monte Carlo.

“Where could they be?” she asked worriedly, her hand cradling her sore side.

“I haven’t the slightest,” I answered, scanning the access road for broken down cars.

“What’s that over there?” Nikki asked a few minutes later, and my eyes followed her arm to where she was pointing. I noticed a car’s back end sticking out of a ditch next to an abandoned commercial complex.

My heart pounded faster as I realized it was their car.  “Hold on,” I warned quickly before veering across two lanes, catching the exit before I missed it.

Nikki winced in pain, swearing under her breath.  I made a mental note to call Micah as soon as we got to Tricky Dic’s.  She was in a world of pain and I felt horrible for allowing her to venture out so soon.

Skidding to a stop next to the Monte Carlo, I threw my door open and jumped out of my Charger.  The hair on the back of my neck rose as I approached their car.  Something had definitely happened here.  There were several new dents in the driver’s side back panel and bumper. 
What the fuck happened?

It was obvious it had been run off the road.  Peering into driver’s side window, I frowned when I saw the keys still in the ignition.

“Fuck,” I growled out between clenched teeth.  The girls would never have left their keys in the ignition, wreck or no wreck.  They were very particular about their vehicle and didn’t even do that when they came out to my house for the full moon runs.  Something was very, very wrong here.

My phone sounded again, and I reached into my back pocket, answering it.  “Yeah?”

“It’s me, boss,” Zee said.  “I’m leaving my house now.  Any luck?”

“Yeah,” I frowned.  “I just found their car off IH-35 and Alamo Avenue.  It’s in a ditch.”

“Did they have an accident?” he asked, worriedly.

“I don’t know what to make of this right now.”  As I scanned the inside, I found a piece of paper sitting in the passenger’s seat.  “Hold on, Zee.”

Setting the phone down on the top of the car, I tried the handle and the door easily opened.  I noted the car hadn’t been locked either.  Something was definitely wrong.  The girls would have never left it unlocked, no matter what.  Leaning over, I quickly retrieved the piece of paper.  As I unfolded it, messy handwriting came into view.

I’ve taken back what belongs to me.  They sure as shit don’t belong to you, boy.  If you come looking for them, I’ll kill them just as soon as let them go again.  You’ve been warned.  Keep your muzzle out of my pack’s business, or I’ll remove it.

“Goddammit!” I yelled, fisting the piece of paper as I slammed the car door shut.  “Fuck!”  The next thing I knew, I’d sent my fist straight through the driver’s side window.

“Boss?  Boss!  Talk to me!” Zee’s disembodied voice mumbled softly through the phone.

“Dean?”  Nikki called out as she got out of the car.  “Are you all right?  What is it?  What’s wrong?”

Taking deep breaths, I tried to calm my intense rage.  The note was obviously from the girls’ old alpha.  Jojo, DeeDee, and Holly had run away from their pack almost a year ago.  I couldn’t understand why their old pack master had the balls to take them back now.  I figured he’d known better than to fuck with me.

How am I going to explain this to Primo?  To Nikki?

Nikki came up beside me and gripped my bicep for dear life.  She’d figured out something bad had happened.  I didn’t want to scare her more, but I needed to talk to Zephyr.  Throwing my arm around her shoulders, I pulled her closer to me as I reached for the phone.

“Exit 219,” I said as clear as I possibly could.  “Get your ass out here.  Call Cage and have him meet up with Primo.  No matter what, Primo stays in the dark.  Let me be the one to tell him about Jojo.  It’s best for all of us.  He’s going to completely lose his shit when he finds out.”

With that, I ended the call and wrapped my other arm around Nikki, holding her tighter to me than I probably should have.

“It’s their old alpha, isn’t it?”  Nikki asked; her eyes filled with tears.

Silently, I nodded.

I needed to come up with a plan and fast.  I wasn’t going to let that backwoods hillbilly bastard and his pack rape
our
girls again.  I was going to do whatever it took to get them back.  But, no matter what, I couldn’t involve my pack in this.  If I showed up in their territory with my wolves, it would mean war.  I didn’t know much about the girls’ old pack, but I knew there were a lot of them.  I didn’t want to jeopardize my member’s lives if I didn’t absolutely have to. 

Sighing, I knew there was only one thing I could do; it was time to call in a favor.  I pulled out my phone again and dialed.  After the fourth ring, she answered.

“This had better be important, Dean,” Skye Morrison grunted, sounding a little out of breath.  “I’m kind of busy at the moment.”

“What the hell are you doing over there?” I asked; my face scrunched up in confusion.

The screeching sound of metal on metal was deafening.  “Kicking a little ass,” she huffed.  “Get to the point, handsome. I’ve got my hands full.”

“I need to call in that favor,” I said, raising my voice to be heard over the chaos.

“Who is that?” Nikki questioned, gazing up at me.

Screams sounded on Skye’s end and I heard her laugh in response. 
Just what the fuck was she doing?
 

“What’cha need, big boy?” she asked before a clash of metal sounded again.

“Remember the girls I told you about?  The ones who were helping Nikki?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Well, the pack master they ran away from a year ago has taken them again.”

Nikki’s eyes welled with tears.  Hearing me say it out loud was the nail in the coffin for her; it made it absolutely real.

“Good grief!  Can’t anyone behave for, like, five fucking minutes?  I swear to God,” Skye growled out in frustration.

“Can I count on you or not?” I asked, grumpy myself.  “I really need you, or I wouldn’t have called.”

“Of course you can count on me, Dic.  I promised you, didn’t I?” she answered before a loud smack sounded.  “Hang on a minute.”  The phone jostled around for a few seconds before I heard a male scream out in excruciating pain, followed by Skye’s distant voice again.  “Slap me again, asshole!  Go ahead!  Let’s see you do it again without any hands.”

My eyes widened in surprise as I looked down at Nikki.  “Holy shit,” I mouthed to her.

“What?  What’s happening?” she asked worriedly.  “Who’s on the phone?”

“Sorry about that,” Skye chuckled into the phone.  “Someone has very bad manners.”

“Jesus, Skye!  What are you doing over there?”

“I told you.  Kicking ass,” she answered matter-of-factly.

“That’s Skye?” Nikki asked.  Her hand shot out and snatched the phone from my ear before I could stop her.  “Skye, is that you?”

Nikki

“Nikki?” Skye gasped.  “Is it really you?”

A loud clash sounded, followed by gunshots.  There was some kind of fight going on and it sounded like she was smack in the middle of it.

“Skye?  Skye!”  I gazed up at Dean worriedly.  “What’s happening?  What’s she doing?”

Dean seemed afraid to tell me too much, but I implored him with panicked eyes.  “She said she was kicking some ass,” he grimaced, afraid of my reaction.

“What does that mean?” I asked, panicked.  Was Skye hurt?  Was she in trouble?

“Nik?” Skye finally said.  “Are you there?”

“Are you okay?” I demanded to know.  “What’s happening?  Where are you?”

“Nikki, honey, I’m fine,” she said.  The crashing sounds around her said otherwise, though.  “I’m in Finland at the moment, and kind of in the middle of something right now.  As soon as I’m able, though, I’ll call you back and we can talk.  You have no idea how much I’ve missed you, Nik.  Do me a favor and tell Dean where I am.  I should be back in Austin in a few days tops.”

Crashing and scuffling sounds filled the air again as more gunshots rang out.  It sounded like she was in the middle of a war zone and I was beyond afraid for her. 

“Skye?  Skye!”

“Gotta go, Nik. Love you!” she called out rapidly before there was a loud bang and the phone went silent.

“Skye?  Hello?  Are you still there?”

I glanced up at Dean and swallowed hard.  “The phone went dead.  She’s gone.  Dean, there were gunshots.”

“I heard,” he frowned, taking the phone from me and pulling me against him, trying to comfort me.  “She said she’d be back in a few days, darlin’.  Unfortunately, there’s not much we can do right now for the girls until then.  We have to wait for Skye to get home.”

“Yeah, if she’s not dead already!” I breathed hard behind tear filled eyes.  “Oh, my God, Dean.  What if she’s dead?”

“I forgot,” Dean smirked down at me.  “You don’t know yet.”

“Know what?” I sniffed, wiping the tear that had fallen.

“Skye’s a crazy-ass vampire now.”

“I know that,” I shook my head, not understanding how he could be so calm in a time like this. 

He gently brushed the hair back from my eyes as me gazed down at me.  “True. But, you don’t know what she can do.  She’s like nothing anyone’s ever seen.”

I blinked up at him, dumbfounded.  What the hell did that even mean?  How different could one vampire possibly be?

To Be Continued…

This story, as well as Skye’s, continues in Retribution of Sins (Skye Morrison Vampire Series, #6) due out in late 2014.

These were my musical muses while writing Blood Moon.  I hope you enjoy the songs as much as I did!

Tourniquet by Evanescence

Everybody’s Fool by Evanescence

Haunted by Evanescence

Safe and Sound by Taylor Swift feat. The Civil Wars

The Killing Moon by Echo and the Bunnymen

Silence by Delerium feat. Sarah McLachlan

Color Me Once by Violent Femmes

Skyscraper by Demi Lovato

Alone by Heart

Titanium by David Guetta feat. Sia

Seek and Destroy by Metallica

Black Widow by Iggy Azalea feat. Rita Ora

Nothing Else Matters by Metallica

When I Look At You by Miley Cyrus

Beautiful With You by Halestorm

This soundtrack is available on my website at:

www.jlmccoy.com/book-soundtracks.html