Remembered by Moonlight (26 page)

“You can be better than that. You be that friend, someone he trusts. Let the years take care of the rest of it.”

“I don’t have any friends,” she mumbled, staring down at her feet. “I scare people away.”

“You have one now.” He bumped his knuckle beneath her chin. “And I don’t scare easy.”

Pearl gave him a tremulous smile that said Oscar Babineau wasn’t the only one she was seriously crushing on now. Then she blurted almost to test his statement, “It’s not your fault.”

Cale’s head cocked. “What isn’t?”

“Your brothers don’t blame you.”

He could feel the color leach from his face. “What?”

“They want you to be at peace and to let you know that they are, too.”

Forgetting she was just a little girl, he gripped her arms tightly, bending down close to her somber features. His voice was raw. “Who told you to say these things to me?”

Large, unblinking blue eyes stared up into his. “Michael and Derrick.”

He took a staggering step back, fighting to lock his knees. His world dropped out from under him. “How do you—? Why would you tell me something like that?” His heart hammered. His eyes filled until the angelic face wavered before him.

“They spoke to me when you touched me. I didn’t make it up. I thought it would make you feel better to know. I’m sorry.”

When the regretful little girl began to withdraw, he seized her wrist to demand, “What else do they say? Tell me!”

“They’re gone. But there are others. Lots of others. Lots of voices. So many I can’t understand them. They’re screaming.”

“Stop!” He choked and released her, scrubbing shaky hands over his face. “I don’t believe you.” He sidled away, tortured stare fixed upon her sad face.

“I don’t make it up.”

Cale took a quick, restorative gulp and challenged, “What about what you said to me earlier? Keep your daughter close? I don’t have a daughter!” He flung that at her as if it negated everything else she’d told him and headed away without a backward glance. But her quiet reply followed.

“You will.”

Pearl watched him go, the inevitable unhappiness settling deep inside her. He wouldn’t be her friend any more. No one could be after they knew what she was.

She turned longingly toward the sound of GTA and welcoming flicker of light. This time she’d keep her hands to herself and wouldn’t mention anything beyond what Cale suggested.

Oscar Babineau turned dreamy dark eyes her way and offered what might have been an inviting smile.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

He lifted a controller. “You play?”

“On the computer. My Dad lets me sometimes before my mom gets home.” A timid smile. “But don’t tell anyone.”

A quick grin that melted her heart. “Our secret.”

“Can I just watch for a while?”

He patted the spot beside him, and she thought she’d died and gone to that heaven with the ghosts who haunted her.

After a few minutes of following the on screen action, Pearl murmured, “You’re good at this. Better than my dad, even.”

Oscar spared her a look of surprise and then another sigh-worthy grin. “Yeah? Thanks.” He went back to the game, showing off his mad skills just a little more blatantly as she
oohed
and
ahhed
at appropriate moments.

And Pearl smiled to herself, watching his hands, wondering how they’d feel holding hers.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

No way. No fucking way she could know such things
.

Panic and a strange, twisting breathlessness followed Cale back toward the parlor. He’d talk to Jacques, demand to know what the hell was wrong with his kid that she’d spout such upsetting craziness.

Michael and Derrick. How would she have known? How
could
she have known?

Still reeling, he drew up short. Nica MacCreedy stepped into his path and refused to move. There was nothing subtle about the female’s dislike or her words.

“You burned that brand into my husband’s wrist.”

He had no excuse, no way to lessen that truth other than the obvious. “It was a long time ago. Things were different.”

“You’re great pals now, are you?”

A wry smile. “I wouldn’t go that far. We’ve come to terms with things as best we can.”

“So you say. Silas may be trying to let it go, but that holds little weight with me, Shape Shifter.” Her eyes grew as hard as the deep blue stones they resembled. “There may come a time when you need my help. I won’t be inclined to extend it. Don’t ask any favors from me. They won’t be given.”

“No problem.”

“Good. We won’t have any then.”

No. No problems.

Time to get the hell outta Dodge
.

There was nothing for him here. Never had been or would be.

Clad in his leather jacket, with helmet and duffle bag in hand, Cale strode down the hall, ignoring the sound of camaraderie in the parlor. The doors to the office suddenly opened, and he found himself face-to-face with a stunning older woman. He meant to make a polite overture in passing until he saw something dark and deadly seep into her expression. Nothing obvious, just a tightening of her mouth, a tension that had her cheekbones cutting along that gorgeous face like a jagged mountain range.

She slowly inhaled his scent.

And fiercely expelled that breath as if her only desire was to see he never took another one.

“Aunt Genny,” Max said smoothly, taking her expensive coat. He and Cee Cee met their uninvited guest in the foyer, away from where the others were gathered. Just a precaution. Perhaps a necessity. “We weren’t expecting you. How did you know we were having a party?”

“Are you? How delightful. I’d love to meet your friends.” She smiled up at him.

It could have been a happy coincidence, her just happening to show up nicely attired and perfectly coifed. But deep down in that instinctively predaceous soul he dressed up with fancy suits and manners and often pretended didn’t exist, he knew it wasn’t. A hint of challenge prickled beneath her sociability as if daring him to prove her anything beyond what she seemed. He didn’t want to. He didn’t want to lose this last link to family, no matter what purpose lay behind her genial kiss on his cheek.

Why couldn’t it be simple? A long-lost relative at his door seeking nothing more than nostalgic reconnection? Couldn’t love for her sister’s child be reason enough for her to come all the way to New Orleans?

Maybe. But if that was all Genevieve Savorie desired, why did she hold his past hostage in return for his affection? What did she want from him,
really
want?

Her eyes locked on his as these things spun through his mind. He caught a faint shimmer in the depths of her stare that pulsed in time with the quiet throb in his temples. With a sudden jolt, he realized she fed upon his unguarded thoughts even now.

She had been all along!

He carefully rebuilt the wall around his consciousness, wondering at the same time how much of its inner workings she’d pried into. Had the blatant invasions early on been a diversion to hide the silky intrusions of this very clever female? Had everything he’d said and done been laid bare for her observation?

He’d mistaken his true enemy. It wasn’t distant and faceless. It was here in his home wearing his mother’s scent and features.

Max smiled at the serpent in their midst. “Before I make introductions, I’d like a private word. That’s what you came here for, wasn’t it? My answer?”

Her gaze sharpened, growing bright. “Let’s talk.”

He waved her into Jimmy’s study and, with a cautioning look at Cee Cee, he and his mate followed, shutting the door behind them.

“All this is yours?” Genevieve mused, moving about the room to finally stop and stare through the floor-to-ceiling windows at the darkness beyond. Her reflection in the glass was attractive and translucent, much like the woman, herself. Where was the true substance? That’s what Max needed to find out.

“I inherited it from my employer.”

“The man Rollo sold you to.”

Even blandly delivered, that truth made him wince. Cee Cee’s hand pressed instantly to the small of his back, rubbing gently as if to soothe that pain away.

“Yes. I grew up here within these walls. Jimmy took care of me, kept me safe. As both my parents intended.”

“Ummm.” That non-committal sound cast his statement in doubt. “So you’ve built a new family for yourself, a new purpose, both then, and now. How very resilient of you. You continue to amaze me with your ability to adapt and survive. A pity more of our kind don’t have that talent.”

Enough.

“Why are you here, Genevieve?”

She turned to regard him with a steely candor. “For you, Max. I’m here for you.”

A chill coursed through him. Cee Cee tucked close against his side, her grip on him one of possessive defiance. “For what purpose? And spare me the familial tears.”

Genevieve stood still and stiff for a long moment, so inanimate she could have been on display at Madame Tussaud’s museum. Then she revealed her true nature. Ice cold and unattractive.

“It was supposed to be me and your father. You were supposed to be ours, our experiment in refining the perfect genetic creation. I did exhaustive studies, tracing lineages back to our ancient ancestors. The purest of stock, both Chosen and Shifter, added to my mother’s Ancient heritage. You were to be my life’s work, the savior of our race, the absolute best we could ever hope to become.”

“But your sister and Rollo fell in love and disappeared,” Cee Cee surmised. “That must have been a bite for your plans.”

Genevieve’s glare burned laser bright, then she gave a faint smile. “It didn’t matter in the long run. Max was born, that perfect blend of Savorie and Moytes.”

“But you couldn’t find him. Bummer.”

“An inconvenient delay. I sent Michael Furness here to this catch-all community, hoping he could find what I was looking for in his genetic samples from the abandoned children.” She turned that frigid smile on Cee Cee. “Children like you and your friend, Ms. Fraser. Now
she
brought some interesting data to the table. Unfortunately, she slipped through his fingers, and one of my competitors grabbed her up. They certainly got their money’s worth out of her.”

Max curled his arm about the detective’s tense shoulders to secure her at his side. Now wasn’t the time for retribution. It was the moment of discovery. One that had been denied him for far too long.

“My patience paid off,” Genevieve continued. “Michael tracked you down once you came out as Legere’s enforcer.”

She knew everything. What Furness hadn’t supplied she’d pieced together during her meeting with Rollo in Baton Rouge. She’d been monitoring his movements from a careful distance, waiting for the right time to make her presence known.

The priest’s betrayal hit Max harder than the other revelations. He’d felt a connection of respect and trust between them. Had it all been a lie?

“And then Doctor Duchamps’ work came to my attention,” Genevieve added. “Her brilliant data combined with my breakthroughs in psychological and psychokinetic abilities opened unbelievable possibilities. I knew the time had come for me to test my theories. But that greedy idiot Frost nearly ruined everything with his inability to control his mate. I had no time to implement my plans before your brave little group of liberators stole both you and the doctor away from me. So I did the only thing I could.”

“You made sure I’d return.”

“Yes. A rather crude and hastily conceived plan, but all I had time to do. I knew if I had something you needed, you’d return for it.”

“Too bad about those best laid plans,” Cee Cee drawled.

Genevieve ignored her. “So, now you know everything.”

“I doubt that,” Max murmured, “but I know enough to see you for the blight you are. No wonder my parents risked losing everything to escape you.”

“If you’re trying to hurt my feelings—”

“You’d have to have them first.”

“Sticks and stones, dear boy. I still have something you need, and you have something I want. How are we going to resolve this? Peacefully and reasonably I hope. I do hate violence.”

“What do you want?”

“I want you to come with me to Chicago. Let me help you become what you were meant to be. No one will harm you. I’m not a heavy-handed butcher like many of my peers. You have until tomorrow evening. Then your choices will be limited.”

Cee Cee stepped away from Max and gestured to the door. “I think it’s time for you to leave our home. Our hospitality is running a little low. And forgive us for not wanting to introduce you to our friends. Don’t take it personally.

”On second thought, yes. Take it personally.”

Genevieve regarded her coolly. “Bold talk for someone who has so much to lose. I have other ways to get what I want. I can always skip down to the next generation.”

With that threat freezing Cee Cee on the spot, Genevieve swept past the two of them to pull open the door. Coming face to face with an unexpected surprise.

She didn’t know his name or his business beneath her nephew’s roof, but she knew what the stranger was the instant she took in his unmistakable scent. And she let all civility drop along with the guise of her humanity.

“Holy hell!”

Cale yelped and leapt backwards as the elegant female morphed suddenly and completely into a ferocious creature with fiery red eyes, bared fangs, and claws intent on ripping him to pieces. The impossibility of it momentarily blanked his mind and slowed his reflexes.

Their females couldn’t shape shift!

How then to explain this snarling thing riding him to the floor, snapping at his face with hot breath and spittle flying? The razoring pain of sharp teeth sinking into his defensively raised hand shocked through his daze.

Helpless on his back, Cale swung his helmet with all his strength. The solid
thunk
of it against shaggy head knocked the beast off him, sending it rolling into a crouch. Cale didn’t launch his own counter-attack. He didn’t wait to see if one of the others, who were drawn by the commotion, would step up in his defense. He scrambled onto hands and knees and lunged for the door, not taking a steady breath until he’d cleared the open gates and gunned his motorcycle down River Road.

Max caught the writhing she-beast by the back of her tailored dress as the others gathered, agog, in the parlor doorway. When she twisted free and attempted to race after Cale, a determined hound on the scent of a hare, Max physically barred her way. Not Max, the gracious host and urbane businessman, but the powerful and deadly creature Jimmy Legere had kept on a short chain, the one who’d shown Charlotte Caissie his true face and had her call it magnificent.

“Enough!” he roared, body mass seeming to expand within the confines of his tailored clothing. His eyes caught fire, blazing with a lurid flame as, called up by his fury, the animal inside surged to the surface. His features distorted, becoming all harsh, elongated angles until they resembled nothing even remotely human. Teeth and claws emerged, sharp and ready to tear in with a vengeance as he growled low, “We don’t eat our guests in this house.”

Wisely, his aunt relented, leaning back against the wall, panting, resuming her recognizable though disheveled form
was causing.Or perhaps justnot caringebt for her pain.e plan for her friend to perish in the fire set by his handim
.

“You knew he was here,” she accused. “You let him escape me. After what they did to our family!”

“Considering the things I’ve done in my past, I tend not to judge others for theirs,” Max told her flatly, slowly beginning to change, shedding his savage appearance but not the underlying threat of violence. “Leave now, peacefully or in pieces.”

Straightening her torn clothing, Genevieve licked the blood from her mouth with a savage pleasure and declared, “I want your answer and the body of that Terriot abomination at my feet. Consider those things you hold dear, starting,” she glared at Cee Cee, “with that child she carries.”

Child.

Child?

His aunt snatched up her coat and stalked out into the night. Max let her go, too emotionally blindsided to do anything but turn to the woman he loved and trusted for confirmation. Only to have her avoid the question in his eyes.

Shaken, suddenly afraid of what she might find in his vulnerable stare, Cee Cee relied on training to get through the next awkward moments with shell-shocked mate and stunned company. She bent to touch the blood streaked marble tiles before looking up at Silas soberly.

“Someone should go after him.”

Silas made an expansive gesture. “I’m guessing he’s halfway across Texas by now. Shit!” He pulled out his phone and attempted a call only to shake his head. No answer.

Cee Cee sighed heavily, straightening. “I can’t blame him. He didn’t sign on for this kind of trouble.” Brutally aware of those piercing eyes still fixed on her, Cee Cee couldn’t look Max’s way. Being outted by his drooling aunt wasn’t how she’d planned to announce his fatherhood. But it was done and she was going to have to deal with it sooner rather than later. But not in front of an audience.

“I think it’s safe to say the party’s over.”

Her announcement earned agreeing nods. As Jacques and Alain quickly rounded up their kids, shushing their questions, Max recovered his composure and purpose enough to quietly ask Silas and Nica to stay behind. After he’d warned each of their guests to be careful in the wake of Genevieve’s threats, he motioned the remaining four into Jimmy’s study with a grave, “I think it’s time we did some eavesdropping of our own.”

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Alain Babineau was not a happy man. They rode back to their little house in silence, but he could feel Oscar’s questioning stare on the back of his neck. The boy had seen the blood on the floor and had likely done the math to find Cale missing. He hadn’t asked about his uncle’s absence, yet. And Alain didn’t know what to tell him.

He was soul-deep weary of the conflicts his partner had brought into their lives due to her infatuation with Max Savoie. But, in fairness, it wasn’t all her fault. She had nothing to do with the fact that the gentle, sweet-natured woman Alain married turned out to be as much an aberration as Savoie. Nor was Cee Cee to blame for his stepson’s foreign DNA. Those were his problems, accepted when he’d opened his arms and his home to them. The two choices left him weren’t to his liking. Embrace what they were or let them go. Neither felt doable or natural.

Problem was, even knowing their differences, he still loved them and would protect them with his life. He just didn’t know if he could continue to live with them. The pain they brought into his heart and mind was all too familiar, too raw.