Taken by Moonlight (29 page)

Thank
you. You’re in my head again.

She was
slowly getting the hang of being a druid, but she didn’t think she’d grow
accustomed to him or anyone just popping up in her thoughts.

Would
you like me to stop?
It
had to be his voice, because that statement was in no way erotic, yet the tell
tale signs of her growing
warm
were beginning to start within her body.

Y-yes.
Thank you.
Even
Vivienne acknowledged that this seemed too formal a conversation to be having
with the man who’d done wickedly delicious things to her not two nights ago.

There was
no reply. He continued to stare at her. Vivienne zoned in on his face. She
almost gasped by what she saw in his eyes. Want, need, desire. Conall was
staring at her like she was a particularly tasty treat, and he wanted to eat
her all up. Pronto.

She heard a
slight growl in her mind that served to confirm what she was thinking, and
shuddered. Blinking rapidly, she swallowed and crossed her legs, before
uncrossing them. She’d been out here for a while; her mother was probably ready
to teach her something else.

Are you
going to run?

The window
went back up and the door opened. Conall stepped down. He’d changed his
clothing and now wore a black leather jacket that stopped at his waist, loose
navy jeans, and dark boots. He leaned back against the truck as a devilish
smile touched his lips.

Vivienne
slowly came to her feet.

I’m not
running from anyone, especially you.
That
was the defiant part of her speaking but instinct told her to turn around and
sprint back inside. So what, the sun had not yet gone down, so what the
neighbors could see them…something in his stance, in the way he looked at her,
told her he didn’t give a damn.

Really?
Pity…I want you to.

Before she
could fully think through her decision, her body turned and sprinted for the
door. A rush of adrenaline she’d never felt poured through her veins and
triumph soared through her when her fingers grazed the doorknob. That was all
they did. Graze it. As soon as she tasted victory, she felt him behind her. She
was still moving forward, intent on pushing the door in, when he spun her
around and pulled her against him.

 “You’re
fast.” His breath caressed her lips and she found herself licking them as she
struggled to control her breathing. His eyes were drawn to her tongue as it
snaked out, and remained on her lips when she was finished. “Very fast. But not
as fast as me.”

Captured as
she was, at his mercy, only an impish devil could have made her say, while
snaking her hands up his chest to grab his jacket, “Not yet.”

His arms
tightened around her waist, pulling her flush up against his heat. Conall’s
eyes flashed yellow and Vivienne was reminded of the creature she’d seen him
morph into. Hours ago, that might have freaked her out enough to push away from
him, but something had changed. She was being driven purely by instinct, and
she found herself entranced by the color.

She licked
her lips again, and Conall’s head swept down. As soon as his lips touched hers,
she moaned and gave him further access. His tongue was heaven, caressing,
possessing. She shuddered, holding on the lapels of his jacket as her body
began to burn. Thousands of flames danced across her skin as her blood boiled.
Her hands snaked around his neck to pull him closer—as close as they could get
through layers of clothing.

His hands
moved down to her buttocks as he pressed her firmly against his stiff erection.
Vivienne whimpered then, rubbing against him in frustration, before opening her
eyes and noticing, with her heightened vision, that a few of the neighbors were
staring directly at them.

“Is that
the judge’s daughter?”
Someone was saying.

“Probably
the tree-hugging one—what was her name again? She’s always been the wilder of
the two. I wonder if her father knows
….
”

Mortification
made her put space between their bodies, but she was too far gone to stop. She
looked into his eyes, found herself lost in them. Grabbing his hand, she pushed
the door open and pulled him through.

Her eyes
and ears did a quick scan of the foyer before she shoved him against the door,
and launched at him. Her tongue dueled his, she gyrated with uncontrollable
need, until he spun them so that she was against the door and he was the
aggressor. She released a frustrated growl as he nipped at her lips while
maneuvering his hands under her layers of clothing to caress her sensitive
skin. His hands suddenly disappeared and she whined briefly until she
recognized he was tugging the zipper of her jacket down. She wore a long
sleeved NYU-Track and Field shirt and a sports bra underneath. His hands were
under the shirt and had settled over the elastic material covering her breasts
when the doorbell sounded.

They might
have been able to ignore that, as caught up as they were, but what followed was
a barrage of desperate thumps to the door that had Vivienne shrieking and
Conall pivoting them away. As she stood behind him, rearranging her clothes, he
approached the peephole and looked through.

 “Mom!
Dad!” Cassie’s slightly hysterical voice came through the door.

Vivienne
immediately stepped in front of Conall and pulled the door open. Cassie stood
there, her hair pulled away from her pinched face. “Cassie?”

“Viv, what
are you doing here?”

Reaching
forward, Vivienne hugged her close, glad her sister was safe. Although her
mother hadn’t mentioned anything about Cassie today, Vivienne knew that Evelyn
had gone upstairs to use whatever powers she could to locate Cassie.

Cassie
sighed and placed her chin against Vivienne’s shoulder, closing her eyes.
“Whatever. Doesn’t matter. I might as well tell you, too.”

“Tell me
what?” Vivienne asked in confusion, stepping back so that Cassie could enter
the house. As soon as she stepped through, she closed the door behind her and
braced her against it.

“Where’s
Mom? Dad? I think they’ll want to be here to hear this,” she muttered, shaking
her head and rolling eyes that, on closer inspection, looked bloodshot.

“Mom’s
upstairs. Dad’s in Maryland.” When she’d asked her mother about her father
being incommunicado, she’d found out that her great-aunt was ill.

Cassie’s
eyes narrowed, and her brows pinched. “Maryland?”

“Aunt
Sophie is ill. Did something happen to you? Are you sick?” Vivienne
interrupted, staring at her sister for any tell tale signs of a problem. She
thought that perhaps the people chasing her had gotten to Cassie but her twin
was acting too normal, although still in the
strange
category of normal,
to have encountered trackers.

“Cassandre!”
Evelyn came down the staircase quickly, rushing over to Cassie and pulling her
into her arms. She clasped both hands to Cassie’s cheeks and said, “
Ma chère
,
you must answer your phone. That is why I purchased it for you.”

“Sorry,
Mom. I was busy, and then I was—I—” She broke off suddenly as her gaze lifted
and landed on something behind Vivienne. “Who are you?”

“Conall,”
he replied, obviously unaffected by the bluntness of the question.

Vivienne
felt her face flush. He was her, oh God, how to describe him. Conall was…Conall.
He’d called her his mate, and she didn’t really know what the word meant,
although just moments before, she’d almost ripped off his clothing and
satisfied both of their hungers. She forced a smile, hoping her sister would
leave it alone, but Cassie did no such thing.

“Are you
Vivienne’s
boyfriend
?” Her expression was genuinely puzzled. “You have a
boyfriend and you didn’t tell me?”

As she
squirmed and looked uncomfortable, feeling as if the signs of Conall’s kisses
and caresses were visible to Cassie, Evelyn placed an arm around Cassie’s
shoulder.

“Come,
ma
chère
—”

“No! Wait a
second! It’s got to be serious if he’s standing here. He’s met Mom before me?
H-how long have you two been together? Probably before our birthdays, and you
didn’t tell me when we went camping?” Now she sounded hurt, and as she stared
at Vivienne, her sister could do no more than shake her head and look extremely
flustered.

“It’s not
like that, Cassie.”

Cassie
suddenly pulled out of her mother’s grip and threw up her arms, “You know what?
Doesn’t even matter! Nothing matters anymore. It’s not like I’m ever going to
be able to go to your eco-friendly wedding or your children’s birthdays or your
anniversaries or anything else for that matter, because I’m going to be locked
in a padded white cell.” She gave three nods in rapid-fire succession. “That’s
right, everyone including the guy who my sister never mentioned, I’m insane.”
When they all stared at her slack-jawed, Cassie nodded again and laughed,
hysteria clearly setting in. “Not just insane, I’m
freakin’ certifiable
.”

Everyone
but Cassie froze. She continued bobbing her head. Conall passed a confused look
to Vivienne, who was staring from Cassie to Evelyn and back. Evelyn was the
first to recover.

“What are
you talking about, Cassandre?” Evelyn spoke to her softly, carefully.

“Oh, just
the usual. I’m going crazy, this time for real.” When Evelyn sighed and gave
her a motherly pat on the hand before reaching for her again, Cassie pulled
away and stared at them all, wide-eyed and frantic.

“I’m not
joking, Mom! I just told you, I’m losing it. I’m having weird dreams, I’m
seeing things that don’t exist, and I’m being commanded by these voices that
will not stop.” She broke off and drew in a ragged breath, running her hand
across her face as she shook her head. “Alexander told me this would happen. He
told me, but I didn’t know I was crazy yet. I know what it is, too: paranoid
schizophrenia. I researched it. I was at work, hearing these voices, the
commands, the chants. I’m going insane and there’s nothing anyone can do to
help it. I’m sorry I’m crazy.” As if defeated, she slouched back against the
door and closed her eyes. “I want to go back to sleep. I want to go back to the
beach—dream beach. I don’t care. I just want…peace.”

Evelyn
stepped forward slowly, so as not to frighten her already jumpy child, and
placed both hands against Cassie’s temples. Her skin was hot and slightly
clammy. Something was unlocking Cassie’s powers, and although it wasn’t a
breach large enough to send out a beacon to other witches, it was large enough
to send her daughter into hysterics. Her inner druid was speaking to her, and
she couldn’t cope. Evelyn began to wordlessly chant a spell that would put
Cassie to sleep. Like Vivienne, Cassie would need to rest before she could cope
with anything Evelyn had to tell her.

Cassie’s
opened her eyes and shook her head weakly. Gradually, her lids fell, but Evelyn
could see that she was fighting it.

“Relax,
Cassandre,” she murmured aloud, gently caressing her daughter’s face. “I will
take care of everything.”

“But you
can’t fix this, Mom….” Her voice trailed off as blissful sleep took hold. As
her body slumped against the door, Evelyn held her tight. Cassandre was right.
She couldn’t fix it, but she surely could make everything better. She’d let her
child rest, give her brain and body enough time to recuperate, and when she was
at full capacity, Evelyn would explain, and teach.

Maximilian
Cronin might have ruined her plan to keep her girls in the dark about their
powers, but now that he’d forced her hand, she would train them to their full
potential, making certain they could defend themselves against any attack he
launched.

Drew was
both surprised—and not—to find their apartment untouched. She’d half-expected
police tape and barricades preventing them from entering the scene of a crime
but there were no such things. The apartment was still trashed, with broken
pieces of glass, overturned furniture, and feathers almost everywhere, but that
was it. Obviously, something had been done to ensure that the cops didn’t show.
She and Max had been in the place for little under an hour, grabbing valuables
and tossing them into a black duffel bag that they’d found in Vivienne’s room.
The bag currently housed Vivienne’s jewelry and passport, Max’s many different
passports, and Drew’s important documents. Max, tense and watchful, had
shadowed her as she worked, until they stepped from the apartment to the black
sedan that belonged to Evelyn.

“I thought you
told Vivienne the cops were here,” Drew commented, opening one of the back
doors and placing the bag on the seat.

Max didn’t
deny it. “I lied. I said that so she wouldn’t come.”

When Drew
cocked a brow that plainly said she didn’t believe Vivienne was that stupid,
Max added, “For her mother’s jewelry.”