Forget Me Not (Phased Moonlight Series Book 2) (19 page)

              The reporter smiled at Sera. “I agree wholeheartedly. Sera, you are a natural!”

              “Gosh,” Sera said, blushing.

              “So… What are your plans for the future? You two are both young, healthy, and stunning. Tell us all what’s in store for the Acconcis.”

              “We will just live our lives to the fullest. As long as I have the man I love by my side, I will always be content,” Sera said, smiling.

              Sera and Ceo said their goodbyes and began to walk the streets of the festival, hand in hand.

              “This was such an amazing experience. Thank you for convincing me to go through with it,” Sera said. 

              “You were born to. I was simply helping my angel remember that she has wings.”

* * *

              Koda paced the confines of his cell. The haunting images of Sera writhing on a couch in pain burned his memory, and he couldn’t help but feel the urge to kill. It had been two months since they had arrived, and they still hadn’t come any closer to finding Sera. Whenever Shego caught Sera’s lifeline, it only led them to a dead end, telling them that the witch who was helping Ceolus was leading them on a wiled goose chase.

              He heard the door of the dungeons open, and he whipped around to find Jackson walking in with a laptop, his face drawn up in horror. Trisha, Faith, and Nodin all scurried in behind him. Faith and Trisha had tears in their eyes, and Nodin was shaking his head.

              “Leave me,” Koda said with a growl, turning his back.

              “Koda,” Jackson whispered.

              “Leave!” Koda bellowed, then threw a chair at the bars of his cage.

              “We found her, Koda. We found Sera.”

              Koda froze, his back rigid. “It is just another senseless hope, another dead end.”

              “Look,” Jackson said.

              Koda turned to look at the laptop and saw pictures of the Stella Luna Festival. He growled. “Why would I care about such a thing?” he snapped, then turned to look away.

              “Look, Alpha!” Jackson said again.

              “And now I am here with the Goddess Stella Luna herself, Sera Acconci,” a reporter said.

              Koda turned around, gasping as Sera’s beautiful face appeared. He fell to his knees as the sense of relief filled his lungs. She was smiling and even more beautiful than he remembered.

              “Sera, tell us what it is like to be married to the most eligible bachelor in Italy.”

              Koda tensed as Ceolus stepped up behind Sera and wrapped his arms around her waist, then laid his head on top of hers.

              Sera smiled at the camera. “It is amazing. I am the luckiest woman in the world.”

              “How about a kiss? Come on! For the fans!”

              Sera smiled and spun in Ceolus’s arms. He reached down to pick her up so they were at eye level.

When their lips touched, Koda let out a furious roar! “We need to find her now!” he cried.

“We have sent word to Thaddeus and Shego. They will be able to retrieve her.”

              “No!” Koda growled. “I will be the first one to hold my mate! She is mine! I must be there when she is recovered.”

              “Koda, you are too volatile right now. They won’t allow you out of your cage, let alone out into the mortal world.”

              Koda closed his eyes, trying to contain himself. His wolf snarled deep within him.

              “
Mate.”

              “I know,”
Koda said back. “
We can’t go save her if you don’t let me handle this. Please let me save her.”

             
Koda felt his wolf retreat back deep within him, and he was able to regain most of his humanity. He straightened his back and looked at his pack.               “I am all right. Please let me out so I can find my mate.”

              Everyone looked at Faith, who held the key in a locket Shego had given her. “Jackson,” Faith said, “is it safe for me to let him out?”

              Jackson looked at Koda, who held his stare. Though they met each other’s eyes, Jackson knew Koda wasn’t asserting his dominance; rather, he was begging for his help. Realizing this, he simply nodded.

              Faith walked over to the cage and waved the necklace over the door. It creaked open, and Koda stepped out. He looked at his pack, nodding to each of them.

              “We need to contact them,” Koda said, walking up the stairs to the main house.

              “We have sent word,” Trisha said.

              “It won’t reach them quickly enough.”

              “Then what do you propose we do?”

              Koda turned to Faith, whose eyes widened. Nodin growled but remained quiet otherwise. Koda gave him a quick glance, then walked forward until she had to crane her neck up to look at him. He held out his hand. “Give me the necklace.”

              Faith quickly slipped it over her head and handed it to him. Nodin’s arm looped around her waist, pulling her away from the alpha.

              Koda threw the small pendant on the floor and smashed it under his foot. Purple smoke escaped from the glass, and no more than a second later, Shego and Thaddeus appeared, each looking worried.

              “What happened? I felt the amulet break,” Shego said, rushing over to Faith.

              “I’m fine. Koda smashed it to get you all here.”

              “Why did you let him out?” Thaddeus asked, growling. 

              “Because we found Sera, and he was able to pull himself together.”

              “You found her!?”

              Faith nodded.

              “Jackson and I were watching the parade for Lady Stella Luna on the laptop,” Trisha said. “She’s in Italy, with Ceolus.”

              “Of course they’d be there,” Jackson grumbled. “How could we not have known?”

              “Because we didn’t know how insane Ceolus truly is. Never in a million years would I have thought he would go back there,” Koda said.

              “We will make preparations to leave shortly, but we must think this through,” Shego said.

              “What is there to discuss? Go to Italy, kill Ceolus. It’s simple…and urgent,” Koda said.

              Shego shook her head. “She doesn’t remember you, Koda. She isn’t the same woman you knew. To bombard her all at once could overwhelm her and cause more harm than good.”

              “Then I will go alone.”

              “No! You must take someone along for power. Take Jackson and Trisha. If it turns into a battle, you will need the willpower and strength. Thaddeus and I cannot go with you.”

              “Why not?”

              “The other members are growing suspicious of us. It is too risky for us to leave.”              

              Koda nodded. “Flash Faith and Nodin back to Hawaii, since they won’t be coming with us.”

              “Like hell I’m not!” Faith said.

              Koda growled and turned to look at her. “It is too dangerous for a human. You will only get in the way.”

              Nodin turned Faith to look at him. “He’s right, little one. You can’t go.”

              She turned away from him, walked into the room she had been given, and slammed the door.

              “She’ll get over it,” Nodin said with a shrug.

              “Go be with her. I will stop in after I send these four off,” Shego said.

              He nodded and walked into Faith’s room.

              “I will transport you to the festival in Italy. Koda, when Sera gets her memory back, she will be very weak, so I suggest you return home on a plane. The overdose of magic in her could cause a lot of damage.”

              He nodded.

              “I will create two magical necklaces that will transport Trisha and Jackson home. Simply hold the gem in your hand and picture your home.” She clasped her hands together and closed her eyes. She spoke in a foreign tongue as a bright light illuminated from her hands. When she finished and the light subsided, she held up two black gem necklaces. She handed them to Trisha and Jackson, who nodded and slipped them around their necks.

              “Now, I will cast a spell that will protect you from any black magic Ceolus may use against you.” She muttered in the odd language again, and Koda felt pin pricks all over his skin as her magic washed over him. “There. It is done. Shall we go find your mate?” Shego asked, extending her hand to Koda.

              Koda gripped her right wrist as Jackson and Trisha gripped her left.

              Before Shego could call her magic, Thaddeus laid his hand on Koda’s shoulder. “Bring my niece back safely,” he said, his voice thick with emotion.

              Koda nodded. “I will, or I will die trying.”

              “Good wolves of the All Mother,” Shego said as she began to chant.

              Koda felt a sense of lightness as a whirlwind surrounded him. The journey itself was instant. One second he was standing in Thaddeus’s home, and in the next, he was in the town square in Italy.

              People shoved past them as they walked about the streets, visiting street vendors to look at merchandise and art. The moon was high in the sky, but Koda didn’t feel the pull of the moon; instead, he felt a pull he had thought he would never feel again, the pull of his mate.

              He scanned the crowd and found her quickly. His heart stopped when he laid eyes on her. Her scent instantly wafted into his nose, and though it was different, he was drunk on it almost instantly. She was standing at a crafter’s tent, watching as the painter was hard at work. 

              Koda commanded his legs to move, but he felt cemented in place. It was then that he noticed a man walking up to Sera to converse with her. He knew the male was a wolf, for he knew his own kind anywhere. He snarled and walked forward.

Jackson reached out and grabbed his arm. “Koda, keep calm. Don’t scare her away. Clearly, he doesn’t know there are other wolves in the area. Calm down and wait for him to leave, then make you move.”

              Koda nodded and stayed where he was. He watched as Sera and the male conversed. He grew angrier by the minute as he watched the other wolf talk to his mate. When Sera touched him, he felt his very resolve being shaken. He was only able to breathe again when Sera waved the male off and he walked away from her.

              Taking his chance, Koda walked up to stand beside her, feigning interest in the artist’s handiwork. “What beautiful artistry,” Koda said.

              Sera nodded. “It is.”

              When she turned to look at him, his wolf lurched forward. He fought to contain him, but by the look in her eyes, he wasn’t as successful as he hoped. “What is it?” he asked hoarsely.

              “Your eyes,” she said quietly, with wonder in her voice. “They’re…glowing.”

              Koda nodded once. “Are you afraid?”

              If at all possible, she looked more deeply into his eyes. “No.”

              He smiled at her, and she smiled back.

              “Did you enjoy the festival?” she asked.

              “Very much. It was wonderful, Lady Stella Luna.”

              She smiled and looked at her toes. “Please call me Sera.”

              He nodded. “My name is Koda.”

              She sucked her lower lip between her teeth and frowned. “That name sounds familiar. Have we met?”

              “Perhaps.” Koda smiled. “You know, the bridge up ahead has the best view of the river, especially at night. Care to join me?”

              She contemplated it for a moment, then smiled. “Why not?”

              He offered his arm to her, and when she placed her hand in the crook of his elbow, he fought the urge to howl with pleasure.
Oh how I have craved her touch.

              They weaved their way through the crowd easily. With Koda’s large size, people quickly moved out of his path. He kept tabs on Jackson and Trisha, who kept their distance but stayed close enough that they could intervene if necessary. He led her up a staircase, to the top of the bridge.

Sera gasped as she looked down at the river. “This is amazing!”

              “Yes,” Koda said softly.

              He watched her closely and smiled at the wonder in her eyes. Beneath the tiny outfit she was wearing, Koda could see that she no longer had scars on her back. She was thinner, as if she’d lost much of her muscle mass.

Sera caught him staring and smirked. “It’s not nice to stare,” she admonished, then laughed.

              Koda smiled. “Forgive me. I can’t help myself. Your eyes are breathtaking,
mio amore.
”