River Cast: Part Two in the Tale of Lunarmorte (13 page)

She ran around the arena
until her anger subsided to a thrumming beneath her skin, until it
was somewhat manageable. Once she had changed back, and had her
jeans and t-shirt on, she turned around to squint at the pile of
ash. With a flick of her wrist the tree re-materialised.

“
Good as
new,” she whispered.

If only she could do that
for herself.

***

Glamour was easy for her,
and Caia could tell Mordecai was becoming worried that she was
bored.

“
There really
is no challenge in it for you is there?” He sighed, watching as she
glamoured an apple to look like a banana.

She shook her head.
“Nope.”

Usually, she
would have been apologetic, but in truth she
was
bored, which meant her mind was
too easily on other things. Like Lucien... and his
lover
.

Mordecai rubbed his
bristly cheek in thought. “Weeeeelllll... we could try the martial
arts class. Or we could go back to natural materialisation... damn.
I just wasn’t expecting you to pick things up so quickly. Marion
did warn-”

“
Martial arts
sound good. Do I get to kick someone’s ass?”

He laughed. “Yeah.
Mine.”

She chuckled,
not really seeing Mordecai as the Jackie Chan type.
This should be funny
,
she mused.

***

This was so not funny.
Caia groaned as her back grumbled in complaint, her eyes glazed
upwards at the ceiling as she lay prone on a mat.

Mordecai’s head popped
into her vision, smiling gently down at her. “Looks like we found
something that doesn’t come so easily, huh?”

“
If I were a
wolf right now, your jugular would be mine.”

He chuckled and grabbed
her wrist, pulling her to her feet. “Well, that would be
unsportsmanlike.”

She grunted. “What, in
comparison to flipping me over your shoulder and grounding me into
the floor?”

“
It’s called
Judo.”

“
It’s called
whaling on a ninety pound, eighteen year old girl and being smug
about it.”

He laughed and shrugged.
“What can I say? It’s nice to feel good at something around
you.”

She snapped back,
frowning. What did that mean? That she made people feel inadequate?
Did Lucien feel that way?

“
Did I say
something wrong?” Mordecai asked worriedly. “I was just joking with
you.”

She sighed and turned
away, pulling her ponytail back into place. “No, I guess I just
didn’t realise how annoying it is to be around a freak like
me.”

“
Hey.” He
whirled her around, his eyes wide with concern. “Caia, I was
kidding. Your abilities are exhilarating to be around, I promise.”
He chuckled. “That doesn’t mean it isn’t funny that someone as
graceful as you is as hopeless as you seem to be at Judo, Taekwondo
and Aikido.”

“
Don’t forget
Jujitsu.”

Mordecai let out a guffaw
of laughter. “I didn’t, I was being kind.”

She smiled and shoved at
him playfully, although her mind still buzzed with
insecurity.

He seemed to sense it. “Is
this about Lucien?”

“
No,” she
said too quickly, and then had to laugh at herself when she saw the
disbelief in his eyes. “Maybe.”

“
Is it about
Rose?”

Caia shook her head
frantically. No, no one could know about her hopeless unrequited
infatuation. It was too, too sad. “No. It’s just...” She heaved a
sigh and flopped down on to the mat. “Lucien is my best friend, you
know. Sometimes when Marion or I talk about my magikal abilities he
goes all weird and quiet. What you said... I mean... I don’t know.
Do you think he might... resent me?”

“
Resent you
how?”

“
He’s the
Alpha of our pack. And he’s been through a lot and deserves that
position. He’s the most powerful lykan amongst us,
except-”

“
That he’s
not. You are.”

She nodded reluctantly.
“Yes.”

“
You think it
bothers him?”

“
I don’t want
to lose him.”

Mordecai smiled kindly
down at her. “I don’t think you need to worry about that, Caia. The
way he looks at you... he cares a great deal about you, I’m sure of
it. I think you are as much his friend, as he is yours.”

His friend.
Wonderful.

“
Now, if you
are done having your ass kicked, might I suggest you shower and
then join me for the afternoon lecture on the element of
water?”

“
Sure.
Whatever floats your boat.”

“
Was that a
joke?”

“
A poor one,
but yes.”

He laughed and pulled her
to her feet. “You’ll learn a lot. It’s a beginner’s lecture, but
it’s useful, I promise.”

Caia would never know if
her first beginner’s lecture in the practice of water magik was
useful. After Mordecai had led her to an area of lecture halls that
seemed to be situated in the basement level of the back of the
building, an increasing sense of unease had began to trickle down
her spine. An unease that was accompanied by a familiar icy,
tingling sensation. The feeling only grew stronger as she followed
him into lecture hall A, and took a seat in the back row of a
semi-circular theatre room. She blankly took in the younger magiks
who sat talking and laughing, notepads to the ready in front of
them; numbly was aware of a short magik taking up position down in
the centre of the room, where he had a laptop connected to the
projection screen behind him. The magiks quietened as he began to
speak, but Caia was no more aware of his words than of Mordecai’s
concerned stare.

There was a Midnight at
the Centre.

Caia honed in on the trace
and found the female. Because the girl was young, un-practiced, and
afraid, her connection to her was strong. She was somewhere dark
and cold. Trapped and bitter. Feeling stupid.

For
what?
Caia snapped internally. She pushed
harder with the trace until she made a connection to the girl that
was the strongest she had felt since her horrific invasion of
Ethan’s conscience. The young girl had fled from somewhere where
there were many Midnights. She had hated them. She had found a
Daylight.

She had come here to join
the Daylight cause.

Caia gasped and tightened
her hold on the connection. Could this be right? She scrambled like
an excited child through the trace, trying to find some kind of
evidence of this girl’s duplicity, of her malevolence. She found
none. Only a bitterness that she had naively wandered into the
Centre, and been imprisoned.

No!
Caia shook her head.

Who was this girl? Where
did she come from? Frustrated, she collapsed back in her chair. She
couldn’t pick up any definitive details, but she knew enough to
know that an innocent girl was imprisoned here in the
Centre.

“
Caia?”

She suddenly became aware
that Mordecai was shaking her, and others around her were no longer
paying attention to the lecture but staring at her, bewildered by
her presence and the disruption she was causing.

She didn’t care about
them. She turned to Mordecai. “I need to speak with Marita.
Now.”

***

His cell buzzed on the
coffee table, and he groaned when he saw the caller ID. He really
didn’t want to speak to that Midnight at the moment, not with what
had happened. He needed Nikolai to maintain confidence in him, and
this situation was only going to incite the opposite.

Sighing he flipped the
phone open.

“
Yes.”

“
I’ve called
you twice now. Why haven’t you answered?” Nikolai’s thick voice
queried suspiciously down the line.

He better just get it over
with. “There’s been a development.”

“
Good or
bad.”

“
Not
great.”

“
Well,
outline the problem quickly. I have one of my own.”

“
Du
Bois?”

“
Du Bois.
Speak, Kirios.”

He bristled at the use of
his name, but bit his tongue to curb a verbal reaction. He
swallowed and tightened his hold on the phone. “I’ve temporarily
lost my access to Caia.”

Silence hung heavily down
the other end of the phone.

“
Nikolai?”

“
I’m still
here,” he breathed wearily. “This is just not a good time. Things
seem to be unravelling.”

“
No, they are
not. If you had been paying attention, I used the word
temporarily
. I’m on
this, don’t worry.”

“
I shall try
to maintain faith in you, Kirios. You can’t have survived the world
this long without a certain amount of ability.”

He grunted. “I appreciate
the confidence.”

“
Hmm, well, I
can do no other thing but trust you will take care of this. I am
having enough trouble with Du Bois. He has gathered some rebels,
idiots who believe in his faithless words. I have one in custody;
she says they are planning an attack against a pack of lykans, the
MacLachlans.”

“
Have you
taken Du Bois into custody?”

“
Not yet. I
need verification from the other idiots who are joining his little
rebellion before I can take him before the Council. I
will
put a stop to the
attack in time.”

Frustration rippled
through his body. “You better. You realise Caia will be aware of
this little attack, which means the Daylights will be gearing up to
defend the pack. If Caia is caught in the crossfire then our plans
are going to be obliterated. We need that girl alive.”

“
I am aware
of what is at stake, Kirios!” Nikolai raged. “Do not push me. I am
not the one who lost our inside asset.”

“
Yes, well,
it looks like we both have a lot of work to do and very little
time. And Nikolai… don’t ever speak to me that way again.
Understood?”

A tense silence, followed
by. “Understood, Kirios. Apologies.”

“
Accepted.”
He sighed. “Call me when you’ve squashed Du Bois.”

With that he hung up,
throwing his phone over his shoulder, and leaning back into the
sofa with his eyes squeezed tight.

He had to get moving.
There were too many years at stake to let Caia and Du Bois control
this war.

10 - Mate

The television flickered,
lighting her face up in the dark motel room, revealing her sardonic
smirk as she chewed on candy and watched the latest soap opera. He
watched her from his place on the twin bed next to hers, and was
amazed at the feeling of peace that settled over him just by being
near her, and being allowed to look at her.

Ryder closed his eyes
briefly as he fought the courage to say what he had to say to her.
Maybe he should just let it be. She had had a rough few
days.

After her revelations the
night before, Jaeden had fallen asleep quickly, exhausted from her
much needed crying jag. He, on the other hand, couldn’t even close
his eyes, her descriptions of her torture rolling around in his
brain and roiling his stomach. How had she survived what had
happened to her, and still be able to function as normally as she
was?

Her strength amazed
him.

Jae had been sleeping for
only an hour or so before she had started crying out in her sleep.
Her bed started to shake, and then the telephone on her bedside
table flew across the room and smashed into smithereens. The
television in the corner was just beginning to rumble when he had
jumped across the room and slid in beside her, pulling her into his
arms and soothing her away from nightmares. Slowly, the movements
ceased in the hotel room, and she stopped crying; snuggling into
him instead. When she had woken up in his arms that morning, they
hadn’t said anything. Jae had merely tugged herself away from him
to sit up. Climbing out of bed she had seen the telephone smashed
on the floor and had turned back to smile at him gratefully,
realising the kindness he had paid to her last night.

After they had rid
themselves of the vamps body, Ryder had let her drive to give her
something to do, but the conversation had been shallow and teasing,
and the dramatic events of the night before had been studiously
avoided.

When it was time to stop
at another motel, Ryder had refused to let her sleep in a room by
herself; so despite the warnings in his brain that he might not be
able to keep his hands to himself another night running, they had
booked into a twin room.

“
I can feel
you staring, you know,” she said softly. “Go to sleep, Ryder, and
stop worrying about me. I’m fine.”

He grunted and reached
over to switch on the lights.