Maikoda: Power of the Moon (Blue Moon Trilogy Book 2) (10 page)

              A slight sound made him look up. Tears were sliding down his mother’s face. Her eyes were swimming with emotion and one fist was clenched tightly and pressed to her mouth to stifle her cries. 

              He reached across the table and took her free hand in his. Finally, the dam broke and her crying began in earnest. Brett moved around the table and pulled his mother into his arms. 

              “I’m s-s-sorry!” she sobbed, coating his shirt with wetness as she grasped him to her. “I should have been a better mother.”
              Brett shook his head. “It’s okay, mom. It wasn’t you. I should have been a better son.” He wrapped his arms tighter around her, rocking her gently to and fro. “We both should have done things differently but that’s in the past. What’s done is done.”

              She nodded her head, her voice muffled in the fabric of his shirt. “I love you, Brett, I do. I was too stubborn to say that to you all those years ago, but I do.”

              He smiled as he held her. “I know, mom.” He leaned back slightly and kissed the top of her head, his hands smoothing down the wiry strands. “I love you too.”  She started to calm as he held her close, then pulled back and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. 

              “Look at me.  Crying all over you like a baby.” She smiled ruefully.

              “No big deal.”

              She grabbed a tissue from a box on the counter. “I must look a mess. God. I haven’t done that in a while.”

              Brett smiled. “Maybe you needed it.” He moved back to his seat on the other side of the table that held memories; both good and bad. His first kiss with his first crush after school one day, filling out college application forms, the police officer informing them of his father’s death. 

              His mother looked up as if sensing his thoughts. “We were so lost then.” Her eyes moved past him, back to the night they got the horrible news. “He wasn’t even supposed to be here. He was living out in California. He was safe. He came back and that got him two bullets in the head.” Her eyes welled up again and Brett reached out a soothing hand. “I think he knew he was going to die,” she sniffled. “I saw him that night.” 

              Brett straightened in the chair, his mind reeling with unspoken questions. “What?”

              “He came to see me the night before.” She closed her eyes in memory. “We were arguing about you and instead of leaving, your father held me like he did on our honeymoon. He told me that we had to protect ‘the Hania’. That it was your duty to protect her.” 

              She laughed. “I had no idea what he was talking about. He had always been so full of secrets. That was one of the problems we had. But he left a journal for you.” She looked up. “He gave me a journal to give to you when it was time, he said. I think it’s time now.”

              Brett stared at his mother. She wore a determined look on her face as if she had been waiting all these years for him to return. 

              “It’s time.” 

              She pulled a long silver chain from around her neck. A key was attached to one end and she pressed it into his hand. 

              “This opens a bank safety deposit box. He never told me which bank, he said that if you were truly his son, you would figure it out.” Her hands closed around Brett’s. “I’ve been so afraid, carrying that thing around with me. I just knew someone was going to ask about it and put two bullets in my head like they did your father.” Her eyes filled with tears again. 

              “He was a good man. You would have loved him.” She pressed the tissue to her eyes, “even with all his faults, he was a good man. He was just so dedicated to his duty, he called it, that it mattered more to him than anything, even more than us, sometimes.”

              She stared at Brett. “Your eyes have changed. You used to have my eyes. Now they are like your father’s. Green. I have never noticed that before.” She sniffled again.

              Brett swallowed thickly.  His eyes had nothing to do with the man who had fathered him.  His eyes had changed after Mai-coh had healed him. However, the man he’d thought of as his father, the man he had grown to hate and had blamed for driving a wedge between him and his mother, might have actually done something to help him save Layla. 

              He stared at the key in his hand; he knew which bank. His father’s Native American heritage would have dictated that he have an account with the Reservation bank and his father had been nothing but a proud Native American. He would visit first thing in the morning and get his father’s journal. Then, he might actually have a way to help Layla. 

*

              Layla walked into the college warily. Her attack only a few days ago had left her uneasy about being in the open, even though she was felt completely claustrophobic and cooped up. While having the independent research study assignments allowed her to stay at home where it was safe, she looked forward to having to head to campus for her mentoring duties. 

              She walked into the GT building and headed for the conference room. Ray would be there soon and she would be able to get their session over with. Although she still thought he was really cute, she no longer had the overwhelming urge to jump his bones. Perhaps the phone call from Brett had helped her put things in perspective. 

              Sure, she was still pissed at him for taking off without saying a word, but learning that he had gone back home to see his mother had gotten rid of a lot of her anger. Hearing him admit that the two had talked about the past and were getting closer felt like something good, at least, was happening instead of just death and disorder. The excitement in his voice made her smile and she looked forward to his return.   

              Unzipping her jacket as the heat from the building poured through her, she unlocked the door to the office she shared with the other mentors next to the conference room and tossed her purse and jacket into a cabinet before locking it for safety. She looked at her watch. She had about twenty minutes before she met with Ray. That gave her enough time to use the bathroom, get a cup of coffee and get her head in the game before she saw him. She opened the door, determined to get the fastest cup of coffee ever and stopped. 

              Ray stood outside. He lounged along the wall, his muscular body huge in the small space. Her eyes inadvertently traveled his length; his toned physique covered in snug jeans and a stretchy T-shirt that showed off his muscles to perfection. She swallowed thickly as she imagined those arms wrapped tightly around her waist and heat pooled low in her stomach.  Quickly closing her mouth at his smile, she glanced at her watch again. She really did have twenty minutes.

              “Sorry, I’m early,” he said smoothly.

              Layla shrugged. “No big deal, I just haven’t had my coffee yet.” The scent of his cologne washed over her, stimulating her even more, and she instantly regretted her waspish tone. “You are welcomed to wait here or join me, but I have to get some caffeine in my system.”

              He pushed away from the wall, a slow exaggerated movement that brought him considerably closer; her mouth dried as her eyes leveled in on his magnificent chest. 

              “I can follow you,” he smiled. “Like I said before, I like the view.”

              Nodding, she walked into the kitchenette in the back of the building. A fresh pot of coffee was already brewed and she quickly poured a cup, offering him one, relieved when he declined. She rolled her shoulders trying to shake the uneasy feeling creeping up her back as the hair on her nape stood up. 

              His presence was unnerving and erotic at the same time. Everything about him shouted danger but her nipples tightened under the white T-shirt she wore and she cursed her juvenile response before adding cream and sugar to her brew. 

              Finally finished, she turned around and found herself almost nose to nose with Ray. She cleared her throat, her eyes refusing to meet his and jumped slightly as his hands came up on either side of her. Holding her cup of coffee in front of her like a shield, she realized with dismay that she was trapped between the counter and his hard body. 

              “What are you doing?” she whispered nervously.

              He smiled and leaned down, inches from her lips. “Kissing you.”

              Layla gulped. Holy hell, what was going on? “Why?” The question slipped out before she could stop it.

              “Because you’re hot and I want to.” Before she could utter another word, his breath fanned across her face as his lips covered hers. The kiss was even hotter than he was. His arms locked around her; his lips moved over hers sensuously and she whimpered as he pressed nearer and opened her mouth wider under his. His mouth was hard and insistent and the danger vibes came back. 

              She tore her mouth from his, ducked under his arm and faced him, her skin flushed and her lips slightly swollen. The bulge prominently displayed at the front of his pants caught her eye, but she refused the temptation to look longer. 

              “Okay. Ground rules.” She held up a finger. “One. No kissing. This is a professional setting and we need to maintain that level of professionalism. Two. No kissing. I have a boyfriend. And three,” she paused, her mind reeling, “well, I’ll get back to you on that one, but there is a third rule somewhere in my brain.” 

              Ray smiled at her again and she wanted to throw the rules out the window. “I’ll agree on one condition.”

              She frowned at him. “What condition is that?”

              “You go out with me.”

              “But I have a boyfriend.”

              “A woman who kisses another man the way you just kissed me is either single or having trouble in paradise.” 

              He leaned against the countertop and put his hands in his pockets. “I can’t promise I won’t try to kiss you again but I will try harder to control myself if you agree to go out with me. I promise.”

              Layla chewed her lip. Who said that she couldn’t simply enjoy an evening out with a friend? She was tired of hiding and if they went somewhere else, like Orlando, she was sure to be able to enjoy herself a little without having to worry about the Weres trying to kill her. Besides, when was the last time Brett even took her anywhere? Yes, the sex was amazing and she loved spending time with him, but perhaps with her enhanced Were body, sex was amazing with anyone and not just Brett. 

              “Okay, but I have a condition to match your condition.”  He smiled and her heart sped up. “We go as friends and we go somewhere other than Tampa or Gulfport. Deal?”

              “Deal.” He reached for her hand, raised it to his mouth and kissed her palm before he calmly walked out of the kitchenette.

              The deep breath she took did little to quell her rapidly beating heart. The hair on her nape was still standing on end, but she this time she knew why. Her instincts were telling her that this date and being alone with Ray was a bad idea and she knew it. 

              He wanted her. Being alone together was not the best idea under any circumstance and there was no way she would stay with Brett if she did something sexually with Ray. So why did she have this overwhelming urge to be with him? Even if it was against her better judgment?

              Was it because she felt Brett was different? He felt…distant, like he was holding out on her again. He was pushing her away and she didn’t know why or how to bring him back. She wanted to talk to him, but when she tried, the wrong words just came out and it seemed to widen the chasm between them. 

              They had been good on the phone, but who knew how long that would last? Perhaps she had a fear of commitment. Perhaps she simply wanted to make Brett jealous. Regardless, she had a date with a man who seemed more interested in her than her own boyfriend.

This was going to be interesting.

*

              Brett opened the little book. It was about the size of a paperback novel and crammed full of loose scraps of paper. It had not as difficult as he had thought it would be to gain access to his father’s account. The number was scratched into the key and using his ID, he was able to fill out the necessary paperwork to become executor of his father’s estate. 

              He sat in the small room, his hands resting lightly on the black leather-bound tome that had torn his family apart. The words inside were written carefully, as if the writer had repeated the words hundreds of times with reverence. He read the small script, his brow furrowed as he concentrated on the words.

             
In the time before now, before modern man, they walked the earth. The gods of our fathers. The wolf, the bear, the fox. The eagle, the otter, the deer. These animal spirits made the land habitable for us. When we first appeared, we appeased them with offerings and dances. Then they came. The enemies. 

              We cried for help and the gods answered. They sent the wolf to us and he gave us his strength. Mai-coh. Auburn haired and wild. Hazel eyes which flashed fire and promised retribution. He bred with our women and created children who were half-gods. Only those from his line are able to summon his powers. They are our protectors.