Demon's Moon: A Celia Winters Novel Book 2 (11 page)

They decided to spend two whole days at the crappy motel in
the middle of nowhere, which she paid for with cash.  It was pleasantly
assassin free, and although she didn’t completely let down her guard, she was
able to relax a little.  She’d told Berny and Fran they’d be incommunicado for
a couple of days, and even had their phones off so no one could trace them that
way.

They didn’t do much of anything except eat, sleep, and
talk.  By the second day, Ed was feeling much better and could even move
without pain, although he still had a way to go to recover, he could stand,
move, and use his magic.  He was even persuasive enough to get her more amorous
side engaged by day two, though she made him lie still to his amusement, and
was very careful as she took care of everything.

She’d considered sending the elemental out to search for
information a number of times, but what if it was unable to find any?  She was
worried about the consequences Cilla had laid out for her.

They arrived back into Rock Hill in the early afternoon,
three days after they’d left Albany.  She noticed right away, Berny and Fran
had gotten her window fixed, and Ed’s car was parked near to the store as well,
with a new windshield, hood, and a fresh coat of paint.  It would be good to
finally get rid of the assassin’s van.

She and Ed had speculated a lot over the last three days,
but there were just too many people in both covens that didn’t like Celia, and
that was depressing to her, but something had to break sooner or later.  She
knew Bria, Damon, and Sally were looking into it too.

She found herself bombarded with hugs as she went into the
store.

“Welcome back,” Berny said softly.

Fran was there as well, “You look good, hiding out seems to
agree with you.  I’m glad you’re both back safe.”

Elaine was there as well, along with Mia.  Elaine was in
tears when she pulled Celia into a hug, and Celia didn’t have to wonder why. 
It seemed that at least for her, the nightmare was over.

Ed was taken off guard when he was included in the welcome
back, it was obvious to Celia he wasn’t used to it all.  It was true that
although enforcers were appreciated for keeping the peace, most witches
preferred them to be doing so at a distance.

Fran asked, “Any ideas yet on who…”

Ed frowned, “Unfortunately there is no way to know, so we’ll
have to interview everyone, in both covens, until something shakes out.  We
can’t even guarantee it will be someone that has shown not to trust Celia, it
could be someone hiding how they feel.  That may even be more likely to be so.”

Something about what Ed just said tickled her mind, but she
couldn’t place it.  She shook her head, if she thought about it too much about
it she’d start suspecting everyone.

Ed continued, “The type of person to hire an assassin is not
usually one to make large noises elsewhere, so chances are we are looking for
someone who hides how they really feel behind a smile and a welcome word.”

She got the chills, as if someone had doused her in ice water. 
The way Ed had put that brought one person to the front of her mind.  But it
couldn’t be, could it?  If it was, it could tear the coven apart, she didn’t
want to be the cause of some witch civil war in Charlotte.

Her phone rang and she answered it a little distractedly.

Kelly said, “Hey, the wolves are throwing another barbeque,
can you stop by there tomorrow?”

She frowned, “Maybe, but I’d have to bring Ed, we’re still
dealing with attacks and we’re under orders not to split up.”

Kelly replied, “Hmm, let me talk to Tina, maybe she can talk
her brother into it.  I’ll text you later, or Tina will.  You’ll have to fill
us in on what happened, and there’s a rumor that a certain witch might be
sticking a little closer to you than required for safety.”

She laughed, “A lot closer actually.”

Kelly snickered, “Good, maybe you’ll loosen up a bit now.  I
love you like a sister, but you’re so tightly wound all the time.”

She huffed into the phone causing Kelly to laugh harder,
“I’ll see you later, if you can’t make the party, at least come by my house for
a run tomorrow afternoon, I don’t think Joe would mind.”

Celia replied, “Alright, see you later,” and they got off
the phone.

Was she really that uptight?  Probably, but then she’d been
through a lot over the last month, and she had been pretty frustrated, hadn’t
she? 

Everyone was still speculating when she got off the phone,
but she barely paid it any attention until it turned to other subjects and she
joined back in.  She was a little distracted by her thoughts, and hoped she was
wrong.  But when four in the afternoon rolled around, Berny, Fran, and Elaine
left, leaving just Mia, Ed, and her in the store.

She shook her head, almost afraid to know the truth, but
sent orders for her elemental to watch her suspected target for a day.  If it
was who she suspected, there would be a crap storm of monumental proportions.

She spent a little time going through the paperwork for the
handful of days she was gone, but everything looked good.  She’d expected no
less really with Berny and Fran taking a hand in it, but it was always good to
check.  The routine was kind of relaxing as she put together orders with Mia’s
help before UPS showed up.

Ed had been quiet, spending time doing his report on his
laptop in the back room.  But he spoke up when Mia went back upfront giving
them a little privacy.

“I think we need to start questioning people in the
morning.  It won’t be long before the assassins start showing up again.”

She agreed, but Kelly had texted her earlier about the
party, she just had been putting off mentioning it.

“Sure, but how about we do lunch at Tony’s?  We’ve been
invited to their barbeque.”

He raised an eyebrow, “A lawn party?  Me?  With shifters?”

She laughed, “You wanted to date me, and I’m half shifter. 
Didn’t you think ahead at all?  It was bound to happen sooner or later.”

He nodded slowly, although it was obvious he hadn’t
considered any such thing at all, he seemed reluctant to admit it.  And perhaps
it wouldn’t have, he didn’t have to do everything she did, did he?  Probably
not, but right now it was either both of them went, or neither of them.

She added, “I wouldn’t mind going alone of course, but right
now I can’t…” she trailed off, not willing to state the obvious.  They were
stuck together for now.

He seemed to consider that and said lightly, “We can do
that, we’ll stop by Fran’s coven in the morning, and then head to Charlotte
after the barbeque.”

She doubted it was anyone in Fran’s coven, but they couldn’t
play favorites either.  Guiltily she admitted to herself, that it might be
better if it was, rather than who she did think was behind it.

She woke up the next morning with a catlike stretch and a
soft smile.  She muttered a few words and sent out her magic, the wards were
undisturbed, the window still intact, and no one had attacked them yet.  She
glanced over and saw Ed watching her stretch her body, which was clearly very well
outlined by the thin white sheet in the morning sunlight through the window.

She could scent his growing… appreciation.

Ed muttered in daze, “I think I changed my mind, we should stay
in bed today.”

She snorted, “Right, I wish.  I don’t think our assassin
free existence will last long enough for that.”

She winked and slid off the side of the bed, and walked into
the kitchen to turn on the coffee on her way to the shower.  She smiled when
she felt him follow, and could feel his eyes on her bare backside.  His wound
was closed now, although still a little tender and she thought it only right
that they conserve water…

After some coffee and breakfast, they opened the store and
stayed until Berny showed up a little after eight.  Berny told her to be
careful, and find the bastard fast, whoever it was, and took over the store for
them.  Before they left, Ed did a thorough check of the car for bombs, but his
wards were undisturbed.  That was probably paranoid, but both of them thought
they’d have been attacked last night.  Better safe than sorry… or blown up.

She was focused on the road, but she was also thinking about
other things. 

She wondered how much Ed would be around once the danger was
put behind them, as they’d never really spoke about it, or defined what they
had together.  Whatever it was, she was happy with it for right now, and she’d
gotten used to falling asleep in his arms, and waking up next to him.  But the
circumstances were kind of unique, they hadn’t been together that long and she
didn’t know if once the danger had passed, she’d want to share living space. 
That was a pretty major decision that had been made moot, at least temporarily.

She was also feeling a bit jumpy, she felt like she was on a
hair trigger, and almost wished they’d be attacked already, before she lost it. 
But it didn’t happen, and they pulled into the coven house driveway without
incident. 

Ed smiled over at her and it made her heart skip.

“I’ll ask the questions okay?  It might be a little awkward
for you, since your friends with half of the people here.”

She nodded in thanks, and she steeled herself for the
morning as they went inside.  The coven was all gathered together thanks to
Fran, and they started to interview them one by one.  She felt a little guilty,
holding back her suspicions of who she thought was behind it, but it would be
better to find out first.  If she was wrong, it would be better if she’d never
spoken them aloud to begin with.

Still, that didn’t make the next couple of hours easy as
they questioned the witches.  She gladly let Ed take the lead, and was coming
to understand a little more why witches were intimidated by and avoided
enforcers.  It was in a way, insulting to be questioned and to be under
suspicion when they were innocent.  That led to a certain awkwardness, and to
walls being built as even the ones who liked her suppressed their anger.

The simple truth was no one liked having their loyalty
questioned.

She wasn’t surprised when none of them lied, and all were
cleared.  She wasn’t sure how Ed did it, perhaps he took a course on interrogations
and just used observation to pick out the guilty liars out of the innocent, but
as they left the coven behind, he was pretty sure of their innocence.

Not that he came right out and said it, but she found she
could read his moods rather easily now with very subtle changes of his scent,
and it also didn’t hurt that he was a lot less guarded than he used to be
around her.

Ed broke her musings, “Are you sure about this?  Witch at a
shifter thing…”

She smiled at him, “Sure, why not.  My existence brings out
the crazies, why not make it a benefit too and bring us all together.  Plus, I
think you get along with Joe, and he’ll be there I think.”

She winked and said in a faux excited voice, “We can have
campfires, and songs, and bang on drums.”

He laughed, “Okay, how about we just try to get through a
party first, before we all just try and get along.”

She shrugged, “It won’t happen overnight, too much bad
blood, but it won’t even happen in the long haul unless we push the envelope
every once in a while… you know?  Is that naïve?”

He nodded, “Maybe a little.  Pushing the envelope might
bring some together, like Berny and Tina, or Kelly.  But it’s also liable to
really anger those that would rather stay apart, or even keep killing the other
side.  It could backfire.  But I think we’ll survive one afternoon with me
around.”

There was a loud crack as the windshield took a hit. 
Without the wards, it would probably have shattered, she could see where the
bullet impacted, and it wasn’t from anywhere close.  She started to look around
at all the buildings while Ed hit the gas and started to swerve his way down
the street.  They’d gone about a hundred yards when she saw a glint of rifle
scope on top of an apartment building.

She pointed, “There, sniper,” and a second later the
windshield took another hit.

Ed mumbled something about just getting his baby back as he
raced for the apartment building and screeched to a stop.

She noticed that her frayed nerves and worry were completely
gone.  She just felt a sense of excitement, she wondered where her sense of
self preservation had gone as she jumped out of the car before the screech of
the tires faded, and she raced into the building.  Sure, they could have ran
away, but that would only give the guy another shot later.

It needed to be taken care of.

She checked her wards again as she raced up the stairs to
roof access, although with a sniper rifle she wasn’t sure her wards would do
crap, even against one bullet.  She created a glamour of herself as she kicked
the door open and moved to the side, the copy of herself ran out onto the roof
and looked around.  She heard another sharp bang and a confused muttering as it
seemed to do nothing.

The sniper must have had a back up piece, because she heard
him empty a nine millimeter handgun into the illusion.  She raced out when the
bullets stopped and rushed the man.  He was frantically reloading, and she had
all the time in the world considering how fast she was moving.  Instead of a
punch, she muttered a one word stun spell and it knocked him on his ass.  He was
more than stunned though, he was completely out.

She tilted her head and took a sniff, he was human. 
Apparently the assassin broker was branching out.  She’d thought a sniper rifle
wasn’t really a shifter’s, or a witch’s style.  It chilled her, if the guy had
been more patient and waited for one of them to be on the open street, instead
of inside a heavily warded vehicle, he probably would have had much better
luck.

She heard Ed run out, he looked pissed again, probably
because she ran on ahead.  So much for training her instincts…

“He’s human Ed… the bastard is branching out.”

Ed just grunted, and looked really annoyed.  He dropped a
glamour over the roof and then incinerated the body.  Despite the fierce flames
and smoke, no one would see it through the spell.  It took a couple of minutes,
but the human sniper turned to ash.  Somehow Ed controlled the fire well enough
that it didn’t set the roof on fire.  It made her a little jealous, she should
be able to do that too, though fighting with her body suited her shifter
nature, she was beginning to really dislike having her magic handicapped.

There were times it would come in handy after all.

“Damn it Celia, you need to listen and stop running off. 
What if there had been two up here, or one waiting downstairs to attack you
from behind, or even attack me after you left.  No more running off.”

She knew he was just frustrated, and his chest probably hurt
from the run up the stairs, but she couldn’t hold back her angry response.

“I’m doing the best I can, I wasn’t exactly trained for
this.  I was forced into it, remember?  I can fight now, but you’re going to
have to be patient while I work out the rest.”

He growled in frustration and stormed off the roof.  Who was
leaving who alone now, she thought bitterly.  She followed him back down the
stairs, and the rest of the ride to the wolf shifter’s territory was silent and
tense.

Kelly looked at her closely, “What crawled up your ass?”

She snorted, “Damn assassins, stupid witches, take your
pick.”

They were in the backyard, she’d lost track of Ed right
away, but she thought he may be speaking to Joe, the bear shifter alpha.  Kelly
and Tina had been trying to drag the story of the last few days out of her, in
addition to details about her love life.  Needless to say she wasn’t in the
mood for that anymore, which sucked, she’d been looking forward to it earlier.

Tina frowned and Lily looked at her thoughtfully.

Tina said lightly, “I’m not saying he didn’t do anything
wrong, but your shifter bitchiness is definitely showing.”

She sighed.

“I get that he’s worried, but you know I didn’t have much
choice about being an enforcer.  He’s expecting perfection from me, when I’ve
been on the job a month, and have no training in procedure.  I’m going to screw
up occasionally.”

Lily frowned and said reasonably, “But this wasn’t the first
time was it?  I mean, he gave you a lot of slack the first time right?  He
doesn’t expect you to know everything, but you did know this and ran off anyway
in bloodthirsty excitement.”

Crap.  She started to feel guilty.  It was just the three of
them talking right now.  Natalie was standing at the grill by her mate, while
Jennie and Sarah couldn’t seem to leave the new wolves alone.  She guessed
they’d been alone too long, and was glad they were taking to them.

It was obvious though that Cody and Don didn’t really care
for her presence there, especially since she’d arrived with a witch.  She could
take the suspicion though, if it meant good things for the pack.  She didn’t
get a bad vibe from them, quite the opposite actually.  They were just short on
trust.

She could hardly blame them for that.

She sighed, “It’s the excitement I think, I couldn’t wait…
more than that, it didn’t even occur to me even though it should have.  Even
though it did happen before, I was completely living in that moment, and ready
for the challenge of a fight.  It was like a rush… it’s hard to explain.”

Lily laughed, “No it isn’t, we’re shifters too, and it’s a
common trait.  You’ve got to learn to control it, it’s easier for us bears, and
much easier for the wolves, the pack bonds help us settle, make us consider the
pack before ourselves.  That obviously won’t work with you loner cats.  Maybe
you should talk to Ella, I’m sure she can relate and help you with it.”

“I suppose I should go apologize,” she said softly.

Tina snorted, “Let him wait, right now you need to finish
spilling what happened in Albany.”

She shook her head but laughed, she supposed it could wait. 
Maybe he would cool off a bit in the meantime.  She finished telling her story
despite all the questions, only about half of which involved her relationship
with Ed, before lunch was ready.  She felt better by the time they finished, it
was good to talk about, and to catch up with her closest shifter friends.

They all gravitated toward the barbeque, her included.  This
time she didn’t miss the signal, it was obvious, she could smell that the food
was almost done.  She smiled a little, she supposed she had come a long way
over the last month.  They’d talk more later, but she mouthed a sorry at Ed,
which seemed to relax him a little, but he was still a little tense from all
the shifters around him.

She was looking forward to gaining another step on her
ladder in regards to Silva’s fear of magic.  She knew it would be soon as Silva
was starting to hardly even react to a level three anymore.  A lot of the
spells in the war spell book were at level four on her scale.  And her fire and
air attacks would become a respectable tool, if still rather average. 

That would give her a much greater range of options besides
physical violence, distractions, and simple stun spells.  She still had a long way
to go though, and not just with magic.  She’d have to work hard to overcome her
instincts and make sure she had her partner’s back.

Running off had been stupid.  She decided she would take
Lily’s advice and talk to Ella soon.  Either way, she’d had enough feeling
sorry for herself, it had worked out after all, and no one had been hurt.  She
dug into the food with a vengeance, she was starving now that her stomach
wasn’t so tight with worry and the adrenaline had worn off.

After lunch, she was amused at Ed’s expense.  His reaction
to the wolf shifters all stripping right there next to the table and shifting
before racing into the forest was priceless.  Only the bears, she, and Ed were
left at the table.  That’s when her elemental returned and hit her with the
information.  The more she reviewed it the more her heart sunk.

The one sending assassins after then was one of her bosses,
one of the councilors, and a leader in the Charlotte coven.  There was no doubt
in her mind, the councilor’s bitchy granddaughter Cinna was a part of it, if
only in her shrieking demands to her grandmother that Celia had to die and the
need to know why it hadn’t happened yet.  There was more proof than that, the
emails on her computer were the most damning.

It was Sally of course, the two faced one who was nice all
the time, but Celia had never been fooled by the old woman’s lies and her soft
matronly appearance.  Sally Williams, for some reason, was trying to kill her
two enforcers, and Celia had no idea what to do about it.  She could easily see
the coven splitting over it, with her as the fulcrum that pulled the coven
apart, even perhaps to the point of bloodshed.