River Cast: Part Two in the Tale of Lunarmorte (18 page)

Finally he tore himself
from her to gaze over her head at someone.

“
Thank
you.”

Ryder.

She winced at the
reminder. She had no idea how her dad was going to react to that
little piece of news.

“
No thanks
necessary.”

“
Well, let’s
all go inside where your brother, Lucia, and your niece are all
waiting for you. Maybe once inside you can explain the vampyre… and
that guilty look in Ryder’s eyes.”

Uuuggggh
, she groaned inwardly. Her
dad had always seen too much.

Everyone was just staring
at her. No questions, no prodding... just... staring.

It was extremely
disconcerting.

It was good to see her
brother and Lucia again. Good to hold Jaela’s warm little body to
her own and inhale damp earth and baby lotion. Christian had
frowned at her even as he hugged her tight, but Lucia and Jaela had
welcomed her home with broad grins and lots of bubbling happiness.
She had always gotten on well with her sister-in-law who had been
born to a different pack. When she married Christian, Lucia’s
sister Cera and her husband Michel had decided to move into Pack
Errante with her. Dimitri had requested the inclusion from Lucien,
who of course said yes, respecting Dimitri’s judgement and wishes.
After losing Michel to a gun-toting mugger, Cera and her children
had become a huge part of their family and a protected member of
the pack. Julia, Jae, Lucia and Cera were especially
close.

Somehow she had forgotten
that.

“
Where’s
Cera?” Jae asked, lowering a now wriggling Jaela to the
ground.

Lucia picked her daughter
up and strode over to place her in her playpen. “She wanted to be
here, but she has the kids and well...”

“
We thought
there might be a discussion that wasn’t... well... suitable for
young ears,” Christian finished, still staring at her with his
eyebrows pulled together. She might have known he would be the one
to not let any of this go.

Not that she had been
expecting to get off easy.

“
I’ll visit
Cera in the morning.”

Julia smiled softly. “She
would like that.”

All of them stood on the
opposite side of the room, except for Reuben, who stood close by
her shoulder. Ryder wasn’t exactly opposite, but more in the
middle, watching her cautiously, worriedly. Never in a million
years would she have ever thought he would look at her like that.
Heaving a sigh, Jae swung around to gaze at her family, and they
all stared back anxiously.

“
You’re
staring.”

“
We’re
waiting,” her brother snapped.

“
Christian,”
Julia clucked.

“
Well-”

“
Christian,”
her dad warned, “Give your sister time.”

Aw jeez. They were waiting
for the answers. Why had she run off? Why hadn’t she gotten in
contact? Why had she broken Coven law?

Craning her neck around,
she sought Reuben, sought his comfort and his go-ahead that she
could explain. After all he was an implicated villain in this
story.

His dark eyes caught onto
her blue ones, and for some reason she felt... relaxed, filled with
a sudden desire to tell them everything.

“
Dad.” She
turned back around with her shoulders braced.

Just say it.
It’s no big deal
.
Ryder is right.

“
Yes,
sweetheart?”

The relaxation started to
tighten back into anxiety until she felt Reuben’s comforting hand
on her shoulder and turned back to look at him. Swimming in his
gaze, the mellowness returned, and Jaeden suddenly knew she had to
tell them everything. The words began to tumble from her mouth. She
didn’t pause once to catch her breath. “I was tortured by Ethan.
You know that, and I won’t go into the details because that’s not
something you need to hear but whatever happened to me I think part
of his powers transferred to my blood because when I got home I was
able to move things with my mind and I couldn’t control it and I
was scared and I was ashamed so I ran away. I met Reuben who is a
rogue vampyre hunter and I joined his gang and helped him but it
really helped me deal with a lot of anger and I’ve managed to bring
my telekinesis under a kind of control and please don’t blame
Reuben for any of this because he has been a very good friend to
me.”

Silence.

“
Jae! Oh pen!
Oh pen!” Jaela slapped her ineffectual hands against her playpen
walls.

Lucia blushed at her
daughter’s bad timing and rushed over to her. “She wants you to
open the pen. Sorry.”

“
Well.”
Christian sighed, looking back from his mate and child, to his
father and then to Jaeden.“Looks like you had a reason to run off,
then. A crap reason, but one none the less.”

“
It wasn’t a
crap reason.” Jae bristled.

Her brother snarled and
made a move towards her. “Do you know what this family has been
through?! Do you know what you did to us? Or are you really so
selfish you can’t process what these last few months have been like
for us, not knowing if you were alive or dead!”

A growl ripped through the
room, and before she knew it Ryder had her brother by the shirt
front, his teeth bared. “Do you have any idea what she’s been
through? No! So back off before I make you.” He pushed Christian
away with a disgusted snort.

Jae watched it all unfold
in shock, waiting for her father’s reaction. Instead of getting
angry, however, Dimitri merely placed a placating hand on Ryder’s
shoulder. “Christian doesn’t mean any harm. He’s just been worried
sick about his sister.”

“
Jaeden’s
been through hell. I won’t have her attacked.”

Her dad
quirked an eyebrow. “Oh you won’t, will you? And
why
is that?”

Julia sighed impatiently.
“Boys. Arrggh.” She turned to her daughter, her eyes bright with
love. “I think it’s best someone says the right thing.” Her mother
strode towards her and gripped her by the arms. “I’m sorry you felt
you had to go through this alone. But you’re not alone. You’re home
now and we are going to help you get through this. We love you.
Nothing could ever stop us from loving you.”

Jaeden felt that ache in
her chest implode, the remnants spreading out into a tidal wave of
relief.

“
Thank you,”
she managed.

Julia nodded, tears
glistening in her eyes, and then turned to gaze kindly at Reuben.
“Thank you, Reuben, for being there for her when we
couldn’t.”

“
It was my
pleasure. You have an extraordinary daughter.”

Jae blushed at the
compliment before looking anxiously towards her father.

“
You’re home
now, sweetheart. That’s all that matters.”

“
Thank you,
daddy.”

“
Jae.”
Christian brushed past Ryder, who still looked ready to pounce on
anyone that caused her any harm. “I’m sorry,” he grumbled and then
pulled her tight for another hug. “But I swear to Artemis if you
ever pull anything like that again I will kick your
ass.”

“
Like you
could.”

He laughed weakly and
pushed her playfully away.

“
So,” her
father’s voice brought all eyes back to him, “Now that’s settled, I
want to know what on earth is going on between my daughter and
you,” his eyes burned into Ryder, who blanched, throwing Jae a
helpless look.

“
Dad...”

“
Because if
it’s what I’m thinking it is, I am not going to be happy.” He
clamped a hard hand on Ryder’s shoulder and tugged him
threateningly close. “Either you’ve done something that’s going to
get you killed, or you’re
about
to do something that’s going to get you killed. I
just got her back, Ryder; I’d hate to think you’re thinking what I
think you’re thinking.”

Lucia snorted. “Am I the
only one confused?”

She was met by a chorus of
‘no’s’.

Julia wandered cautiously
back to her mate. “Dimitri, would you care to tell me what’s going
on?”

His gaze was firmly locked
on Ryder, and Jaeden began to worry for his safety. “Dad, maybe you
could let go of Ryder.”

“
Dimitri,
tell me.”

“
Dad-”

“
Dimitri-”

“
Ryder here!”
Her dad yelled, causing Ryder’s eyes to widen and then wince as if
waiting for the blow. The only one he felt was the huff of air her
father expelled before releasing him completely, sighing heavily
and turning to gaze back her.

He knew.

How did he always know
these things?

“
Ryder here
is going to ask our permission to court Jaeden. They think they’re
mates.”

Everyone exploded into
conversation, except Reuben, who actually appeared to be watching
on as if fascinated. That confused Jae, who would have thought that
the reminder that she belonged to someone else would piss him off.
However, he didn’t look at all bothered. Merely bemused by the
ruckus her family were causing. She didn’t have time to ponder how
weird that was, because Julia and Lucia were hugging her tightly,
exclaiming happily. Her father and brother on the other hand were
glaring at Ryder like they wanted to rip his head off. She couldn’t
leave him there to stand alone. It wasn’t right.

Heaving a sigh of her own,
she marched across the space to take hold of Ryder’s hand. He
nodded gratefully and squeezed tight. “This isn’t going exactly to
plan,” he murmured, even though they could hear with their super
sensitive ears.

Jae chuckled humourlessly.
“Nothing ever does.”

13 - The
Proposition

Strange, how over the last
few days she had become something of a favourite at the Centre, and
with that new found status her loneliness had only
intensified.

After one young magik
approached Caia on a dare, and then been surprised and relieved to
find out how friendly she was, word had spread that the
half-Midnight in their midst wasn’t actually the daemon they’d
thought. Gradually others had come forward to talk with her, and
now she found herself with a constant cloud of groupies under her
feet.

The silence here was
particularly wonderful.

She sighed, resting her
head back against the pew she crouched in front of, hidden behind
it and from anyone who decided to enter the altar. Desperate for
the possibility to be able to breathe in air that others weren’t
sucking out of her immediate vicinity, Caia had remembered Marion
telling her about the altars. Maybe she should have paid a visit to
Artemis, but she’d found herself entering the quiet marble
sanctuary of Gaia instead. This was the goddess who had made her
existence possible after all.

There was no doubt in her
mind that in this place of worship Gaia could hear her. But what
was there to say? She had only questions that required answers, and
being trapped on Mount Olympus kind of cut off Gaia’s vocal chords
here on earth. If she wanted something, perhaps then Gaia could see
that it was done, but what she wanted even Gaia couldn’t give
her.

Not being able to confide
in anyone had brought on a fresh wave of grief over losing
Sebastian. If she’d been given the chance to tell Seb she thought
Midnights might not be so bad after all... he’d have believed her.
No questions asked.

A flash image of him lying
on the truck bed with his stomach torn to pieces, telling her he
loved her, burned behind her eyelids and Caia felt her chest
tighten around her lungs. She found herself dragging in air just to
catch a breath.

Sebastian.

She choked on a sob,
clapping her hand against her lips to quieten the sound in the
peace of the altar. What she wanted was her friend back, the most
loyal friend she had ever had, but Gaia couldn’t give her that. And
truthfully she didn’t deserve him back. She was failing miserably
at whatever it was the prophecy said she was supposed to be
doing.

She’d begun to fail when
Sebastian had drawn his last breath.

Prying her eyes open, Caia
slowly lifted her gaze to the marble statue of Gaia that presided
over the altar in its centre. Her face, though cold to the touch,
was lit with a warmth that should have soothed a desperate soul.
Instead it only frustrated Caia more. Gaia’s eyes bored into her
with a mixture of sympathy and impatience.

“
Tell me what
you want from me?”

“
You know,
there was once a time the goddess Herself would have answered
you.”

Caia gasped in fright and
looked up from her crouched position to see Vanne gazing down at
her.

“
You scared
me.” She drew in a shuddering breath as she clambered to her feet.
Even standing the magik towered above her with almost as much
intimidation as Lucien.

His mouth quirked into a
small smile, his eyes soft on her. “I’m sorry.”