River Cast: Part Two in the Tale of Lunarmorte (31 page)

The witch’s mouth fell
open in surprise, her eyes round with torment. “Why...?”

“
I’ll take
that as a yes then.”

Laila shook her head. “I
don’t... I can’t... I-”

“
I’ve been
there, Laila,” Jae whispered, not even sure why she was telling the
girl something so personal. Perhaps she knew it might be the only
way to get information from her. “Ethan...
personally
kept me in a cage. He
tortured me. For weeks. Although it felt like years.”

Her young face crumpled in
empathy and she reached out to place a cool hand on Jaeden’s wrist.
She was surprised by the gesture, for Laila had only allowed Vil
near her since their arrival. As her hand withdrew from her,
Jaeden’s pain at the memories dissipated, leaving a warm peace
lingering in its wake. Relaxing back into the sofa, she smiled
sadly at the Midnight. “Is that what happened to you?”

The girl nodded
rigidly.

“
Why?”

A tear slid down her pale
face. “It was a behavioural modification camp for magiks. He took
children of magiks from all over, I come from Halmstad, but others
came from Grena, Oslo... all over Scandinavia. He told our parents
he was going to train us to be an elite force. It was an honour to
be chosen. Instead, he used all measures of control - withholding
food, brainwashing... all to turn us into an elite force that would
only answer to his command, no matter the order.”

“
Like
daemons.”

Revulsion passed over
Laila’s face. “Like daemons. But so much more powerful.”

“
Why the
torture? Was that part of it?”

She shook her head wildly,
and Jaeden was surprised to see an almost smug smile form on her
lips. “His men couldn’t break me. So they tortured me in an attempt
to subdue me.”

Horror rippled through
Jaeden at the thought of what this frangible creature had gone
through.

“
How did you
escape?”

A cold, ferocious look
froze over her face. “The oldest trick in the book.”

“
Being?”

“
One of the
warlocks had an... unhealthy interest in me.”

No, no,
no
, Jae pulled back,
he didn’t... oh goddess
.

“
Don’t
worry,” Laila assured her, “They had orders not to touch us that
way. It could have a disturbing affect on the controls. But this
one.” She shuddered. “He would sneak in some touching,
petting.”

“
Bastard,”
Jaeden snarled.

The witch looked startled
at her vehemence before throwing her a grateful smile. “I used it
against him, though. I pretended an interest in him, which is
probably the most difficult thing I have ever had to do, and he
took me from the cage and snuck me out towards the back of the
camp. He turned his back for a second and I knocked him out with a
spell my mother had taught me years before. Stupid man.” She shook
her head in disgust. “I stole his keys to his car, got a few miles
away before I abandoned it and set off on foot, confusing my trail
as I went. I thought Ethan would find me... but he never
came.”

Jaeden snorted. “Yeah,
cos’ he was dead.”

“
He
is
dead then?” Laila
queried quietly, her haunted eyes begging for an
affirmative.

“
Caia killed
him.”

“
She helped
save me from prison... and now this news. It seems I will be
forever in her debt.”

A sense of connection
threaded its way between them and Jaeden smiled warmly at her for
the first time. “The way that girl is going, we’re all going to be
in her debt.”

The sound of the front
door slamming pulled them from Laila’s tale, and Ryder strolled in,
an obvious look of surprise on his face at the sight of them
sitting together.

“
Everything
OK?” He queried, his eyes flicking between them.

“
I was just
going to ask that?” Vil hurried in now, his anxious gaze locked on
Laila. She smiled at him, holding her hand out to draw him to
her.

Visibly
relaxing, he moved towards her like a magnet. Jaeden huffed in
amusement at the suspicious look he levelled at her and jumped up
towards Ryder, wrapping her arms around his waist, snuggling close
to him. “Everything is good actually.” She searched his eyes,
attempting to find the answer he had received this evening from her
parent’s. “Everything
is
good?”

“
What did I
miss?”

“
Ryder?” She
whined.

“
I’ll tell
you if you tell me what happened here.”

She groaned and pulled
away from him. “You’re a pain. Fine. Laila and I understand one
another now, and I believe Caia when she says Laila is a good
Midnight, who would have thought. Now tell me what my father
said.”

All of a sudden he laughed
and grabbed her, whirling around the room. “Yes!”

“
Yes?”

“
Yes!”

“
Oh my god-”
he smothered her words with a passionate kiss. A discreet cough
pulled them apart a few seconds later and they turned, smiling, to
see Reuben lounging in the doorway. Immediately she felt Ryder
tense.

“
What are you
doing here?”

“
I came to
see how your guests were faring, but obviously I’m interrupting a
celebration.”

Vil grinned. “Jaeden’s
parents are allowing them to mate.”

Reuben remained passive,
not giving anything away. “How nice for them.”

“
Reuben.” Jae
made a move towards him, hating to hurt her friend. “I’m glad
you’re here. I want you to be here for the ceremony. You’ve been
through so much with me it would feel weird without
you.”

“
No it
wouldn’t,” Ryder growled, brushing past her to stand bristling at
the taller vampyre. “For a start my guests are none of your
business.”

“
I was merely
curious. She is a Midnight after all.”

Ryder scoffed, his fists
curling into knots. “We both know why you’re here, you son of a
bitch.”

Jaeden fought an oncoming
headache. “Ryder-”

“
Son of a
bitch?” Reuben stood up straight now, all evidence of passivity
gone, and replaced with a stony anger. “I’m the son of a bitch?
You’ve done nothing but hassle me since I got here.”

“
Because
you’re always here!”

“
I’m her
friend. I’m not going anywhere.”

“
We’ll
see-”

“
Guys!” She
shouted, looking desperately to Laila and Vilhelm for help. They
were no good. They were already sliding quietly from the room to
disappear into their bedroom.

“
You have no
right turning up all the time, that’s all I’m saying.”

“
I came here
to see if the boy and the girl were OK. That they weren’t causing
any trouble, that’s all.”

“
That’s what
you can’t seem to wrap around your thick skull... this isn’t your
business.”

“
Whatever’s
coming I’m more equipped to deal with it than you,
lykan.”

“
Enough with
the prophet crap, it’s wearing on my nerves, vampyre.”

“
You’re such
a child.”

“
I’m-”

Their argument drifted out
of ear shot as she slammed out of the apartment and down the stairs
out of the building. Half the time she didn’t think their inane
arguing even had anything to do with her. Her headache throbbed
harder.

A run.

A run would be good to
work out everything that had happened this evening. Laila’s
sorrowful tale, the bond that she had felt forging between them,
the idea that Midnights might not all be bad (sheesh who saw that
coming?), her official engagement to Ryder, and his inability to
function normally in a room with Reuben.

Yeah, a run would be
great.

Trying to throw off her
irritation at Ryder and Reuben, Jae mused over Laila, feeling an
impatience growing for Caia and Lucien to return so they could work
this all out. With relief, she pulled into Lucien’s driveway and
walked across the gravel and up on to the porch. She didn’t bother
going through the house, knowing they would hear her strolling
around to the back porch and would work out for themselves who was
there. That impatience she felt bubbling in her skin changed into
an impatience for the run. Jae jerked out of her clothes and she
suddenly wished she could be like Caia. Ryder had described how she
could change into a wolf instantly now, how she could run into the
woods in human legs and soar into the change. It sounded wonderful.
But as her muscles strained in the burn of the change, and as her
bones cracked with eye-watering satisfaction, she knew she wouldn’t
give up this feeling for anything. Distantly she wondered if Caia
missed it. The cool night air rushing through her pelt was exactly
what the doctor ordered. She crunched through pinecones, ran at
full speed towards a tree, and launched herself at it only to bound
off of it and race in the opposite direction.

With the run, her mind
cleared, replete and calm.

After a while she grew
exhausted, and so made her way back to Lucien’s backyard, leisurely
and purposely slowing the change back into human form. Jaeden
smiled, stretching her muscles from top to bottom and yawning. With
a final roll of her neck she began shuffling back into her
clothes.

On the last button of her
shirt, her ears pricked up at a loud crack that came from the woods
close by. She sniffed the air and an unfamiliar sweet scent she
couldn’t quite identify swam up her nostrils. She hadn’t quite
turned around to investigate when pain shot through her head and
dark spots clouded her vision, swallowing her whole as they
multiplied into a thick black tar.

***

“
I can’t
believe this. It’s all your fault!” Ryder railed at the vampyre as
they followed Jaeden’s scent.

Reuben snorted. “You
started it.”

“
She’s
probably furious at me. At you. I can’t believe she left without me
evening knowing it. It’s your fault. You piss me off past
rationality.”

“
It’s always
nice to be appreciated.”

“
Don’t make
me come over there, vampyre.”

“
I’m shaking
in my boots.”

Ryder bared his teeth and
swung the truck viciously into Lucien’s driveway so that the
vampyre slapped against the passenger door with an
‘oof’.

“
Childish,
immature-”

Ryder ignored him as his
eyes narrowed on two figures he saw at the side of the house. Two
figures that appeared to be struggling.

“
Jaeden!” He
bellowed, cutting the vampyre off. Slamming on the breaks and
cutting the engine, he threw himself out of the truck running
towards the dark figure that had Jaeden bundled over their
shoulder. The figure stopped at the entrance of the woods, jerking
towards them, their face hidden by a black hood. Unceremoniously,
it dumped Jaeden’s unconscious body to the ground and like a shadow
disappeared into the darkness of the trees.

Reuben was running past
him. “You check Jaeden, I’ll go after them!” He ordered, his face
set with determination. Ryder barely had a moment to register that
he had never seen anyone look quite as dangerous as Reuben did in
that moment as he blurred past him.

“
Jaeden.” He
fell beside her, turning her limp body over. He pressed fingers to
her pulse, relief rushing through him at the steady
beat.

“
Ryder, what
happened?”

He looked up to see Ella
and Magnus rushing out of the house, their faces etched with
concern. “She’s been knocked out, her head’s bleeding.”

“
Get her into
the house,” Magnus ordered gruffly, his gaze searching the woods.
“There’s someone out there.”

Ryder nodded, lifting
Jaeden into his arms with ease. “I couldn’t see who it was.
Reuben’s gone after them.”

Magnus frowned. “The
vampyre. Sure he can handle it?”

The venomous look on
Reuben’s face flashed before his eyes. “I’m sure. Let’s worry about
Jae.”

Magnus reluctantly agreed
and followed them into the house. Ella cleaned the blood from the
wound and Magnus checked her over.

“
When she
comes around it’ll heal,” he assured Ryder, “No
concussion.”

Ella wrung her hands.
“Must have been some hit to take one of us down.”

Ryder growled in
response.

At that, Jaeden stirred,
her eyelids fluttering open. “Ow.”

Relief overwhelmed him as
he took her hand in his. “Jae. You’re alright baby, you’re
alright.”

After a few moments, her
eyes seemed to focus and she groaned in irritation. “What the hell
happened now?”

“
I lost
them!” Reuben suddenly strode into the sitting room, his hair wild
from having run against the wind, his shirt torn from obstructing
branches.