Taken by Moonlight (69 page)

Conall
slipped into her mind easily. At the forefront was a quick replay of that
fateful night. He saw Samia, a younger and more naïve version, following Tia
through the woods. Then Tia disappeared, and Samia laughed and called after
her. The attack was swift. She didn’t give Samia time to change, instead
lunging for her throat. Samia’s reflexes were quick. She’d caught an arm
instead, and in that moment, Samia had realized that it was no game. The rest
happened quickly. Samia shifted, countered the attack. In less than a minute,
she was standing over Tia with her muzzle buried in the other wolf’s throat.
And then had come the tears, the horror, the lies….

He pulled
away from the memories, and nodded once. It was as she’d said. She had killed
the girl in self-defense. Samia wasn’t old or strong enough to fake a memory so
vividly.

“You lied
to me,” Conall said, looking from Brennus to Rafael. They both were impassive,
refusing to speak. “I have little patience—”

“We will
leave Cedar Creek.” Brennus bowed his head in defeat. The Elder sighed and
shook his head. “My children and I, we will leave.”

Even as a
part of Conall rejoiced at hearing those words—Brennus had been a thorn in his
side since the Elder had come to the pack, especially when it came to
Vivienne—another part saw the injustice in it.

“What are
your feelings to my mate?” Conall asked instead, eyeing each and every one of
them.

Rafael was
the first to answer, and Conall only restrained himself because Vivienne had
spent all of yesterday rousing and soothing his beast. He’d catered to her
every need, as only he could, and she loved him for it.

“Beauty,
brains, strength. If Vivienne ever tires of you, I’ll be waiting, and—”

“And you,
Samia?” Conall interrupted before he was forced to kill him.

She tilted
her head slightly, and her hair tumbled over her shoulder, hiding most of one
breast. “She is strong, and merciful. I respect that.”

“Brennus?”

“Well, she
isn’t
just
a druid. She’s part wolf, and as my daughter said, merciful.
I have no objections to the ceremony anymore.”

“Good.”
Because if anyone had so much as hinted at one, they’d all be out on their
proverbial asses. “You’ve been with this pack for decades, Brennus. I value
your opinion as an Elder. You don’t have to leave if it is not your wish. I’ve
seen Samia’s memories, and she acted as any of us would in that situation. It
was either kill or be killed. As far as I am concerned, there’s no need for
this to ever be brought up again. If something like this happens again, though,
I will have the truth!” Following nods from the three of them, he turned to
Rafael. “You’re leaving soon?”

Rafael
shrugged. “It’s possible. Now that this is cleared up, I may stay a bit longer.
Cold ain’t so bad when you’re around family.”

“Keep your
distance from my mate, and I won’t kill you.”

A smile
curved Rafael’s lips and for a moment, Conall thought he would have to make
good on that threat. Instead, Rafael nodded once.

“Samia.”
Conall dipped his head in acknowledgement and she nodded.

He turned
and walked from the house with Sloan following him. It was just after noon and
the schools had let out for lunch. Conall was about to ask Sloan if he’d
suspected anything with Samia and Tia when Eli stepped into his path. Looking
tousled and boyish, his nephew grinned and asked one question.

“Can I come
home now? Raoul says the heat’s back on.”

Conall
passed his nephew a smile and nodded, watching as he bounced away to join his
friends. In a few months, Eli would be called upon to demonstrate his skills as
a hunter. His nephew was growing up quickly. Gregory would have been proud.

“Someone’s
called a Council meeting,” Sloan said, and Conall turned to find his friend
scrolling through his Blackberry. “Six o’clock this evening.”

Curious,
Conall asked, “Did it say who?”

“No. E-mail
came from Agar.”

He nodded,
unsure if he was going. Maximilian Cronin had left a sour taste for the Council
in his mouth.

When he
left Cedar Creek for the emergency meeting of the Council, Vivienne was still
asleep. She’d awoken briefly to eat, and had promptly gone back to sleep.
Before he left, he’d alerted Zahira, so that the Elder would be there in case
she awoke, and Vivienne would be around a female who’d had similar experiences.
As he had centuries ago, Vivienne had grown fond of Zahira. If not for this
meeting, he would have stayed with Vivienne. Still, he was curious to know the
state of the Council after what had happened at Stonehenge. In fact, every time
he thought of the witches, he wanted to rip throats out. Cronin was dead, or
worse off—Vivienne’s druid grandmother had seen to that—so he put him from his
mind, but there had been almost a dozen of them at Stonehenge. He remembered
seeing Tiberius, whom he believed was still alive, and Wilhem, although Wilhem
had obviously been forced to be the sacrifice. The vampires had been there as
well, although they chose only to observe.

He arrived
just as Dominic and Drako steered their cars into the parking lot of the
warehouse. Greetings were exchanged before Drako spoke.

“So the
druids have been resurrected?”

Conall
nodded. He’d spoken to them very briefly since he’d returned to the country.
Between taking care of Creek business, and Vivienne going into heat, he hadn’t
had the time.

“And
they’ve vowed not to make trouble?” Dominic questioned.

“They seem
genuine,” Conall replied, keeping pace with the other pack alphas as they
headed into the building.

“And
Cronin’s dead?”

“Or wishing
for it.”

They
entered the room to find Agar, Wilhem, Verenus, and Keitaro there. Greetings
were exchanged.

“Thank you
for coming,” Agar said clearly as each of the wolves took seats. His eyes went
to the door as if expecting someone else.

“Santiago?” he finally asked.

“England,” Conall replied.

Agar nodded,
and turned to Verenus. “Lucian?”

“Unavoidably
occupied,” Verenus answered easily.

He looked
to Wilhem. “Tiberius?”

The grand
wizard scowled as his fists clenched. “I do not know, Elder. He seems to have
disappeared.”

Looking
around the table, it was noticeable that there were empty spaces. Two empty
spaces for the witches, one for the vampires, one for the wolves. But there
were also two extra seats.

As Conall
focused on them, Agar spoke. “I have called this meeting to find out the state
of the New York Council. Your being here proves that you are willing to
continue this interconnection of communities. Am I correct?”

Grunts went
around the table, and Conall spoke. His eyes were on Wilhem. “I will sit on no
Council with persons who have attempted harm to mine. Tiberius is not here, but
if he intends to—”

Wilhem
shook his head. His scowl was as fierce as Conall’s. “Tiberius has fled. I’ve
searched for him these past days, but he’s nowhere to be found. His covenant,
like Maximilian’s, is in the process of choosing another grand wizard.”

“And you
had no knowledge of what your brothers planned?”

“It was my
plan to stop them before I was ambushed.”

Satisfied,
Conall returned his attention to Agar, and nodded once.

“Because we
are a fair, representative group, I have called for a representative from the
druid community, and one from the warlock community to sit with us. Are there
any objections?”

There were
none.

Agar lifted
a hand to the vampire guard who followed him everywhere, and soon, two others
filed in. Conall recognized both. The warlock he’d seen with Max, and the druid
was Nicolette. Had the druids decided to settle in New York?

She passed
him a smile as she took her seat and turned to Agar.

“Thank you
for your invitation, Elder.”

The warlock
murmured words of a similar nature.

“Council,”
Agar began, standing slightly. “Here sits Nicolette De Gaul, representative of
the druid community in this state.” He nodded to Nicolette. “And here sits
Kyros Theopolis, representative of the warlock community in this state.” He
nodded to Kyros. “Welcome to the New York Council.” He then proceeded to
introduce every creature seated around the table to the newcomers.

When he
finally sat, shuffling papers as he did so, Conall stared at Nicolette.

“Seats on this
council are by community size,” Agar said in a clear, strong voice. He
addressed both Nicolette and Kyros, telling them that they would have to send
him an account of the members in their communities. When they nodded, he looked
around the table. “Is there any other topic you wish to broach, Council
members?”

There was
no answer. Agar nodded.

“I will
send the transcription of this meeting to those who were not here, and those
groups whose communities still lack leadership. Thank you again for your time.
If there are no objections, Council is adjourned.”

“So you’ve
settled in New York?” Conall asked of Nicolette once they were outside. The
other council members had driven off or were in the process of doing so. His
beta had gone over to his car to allow them to speak privately.

“Some of us
like New York, particularly the city. It allows for certain eccentricities.”

“There are
others elsewhere?”

Nicolette
only gave him an amused look. Her eyes sparkled. “Are all of your people
concentrated in New York? Of course not. Neither are mine. I see you’re
confused? Not only are we strong, Conall Athelwulf, we are fast. We did not
contemplate staying in Europe, at least not for a few years, so the rugged
lands of America seemed the obvious choice. We’ve been through all of these
states, and only a few measured up to our standards. New York was one of them.”
When he didn’t ask another question, she changed the subject. “How is my
granddaughter?”

“Well,” he
replied, smiling as he thought of Vivienne. Nicolette watched him carefully,
wondering if her daughter’s mate had been anything like Conall. Her heart
tugged painfully and she tried to push the thought away. Her Annabel. The pain
she must have known, on her own with no mate and no mother to help her as that
black-hearted bastard hunted her down. Annabel had been her only child, and
Nicolette had indulged her every whim. In her heart, Nicolette knew Annabel had
struggled without the support of another, and it was for that reason, and many
others, that she requested such suffering for Cronin. To this day, the
knowledge that he was being tortured in Tartarus gave her incredible pleasure.
“If you’d like, you can visit her.”

An amused
grin tugged her lips upward as she responded, “Thank you for your invitation, wolf,
but no one could keep me from my family. I will visit, but not now. There are
other matters that must be fixed first.” She headed for the sleek gray car that
had been purchased recently. “These things are marvelous, are they not?
Thousand-pound creatures you can control with your hands and feet. Beautiful
beasts. Machines, they are called.”

Conall
nodded. It was his turn to be amused.

“Expensive
machines,” he retorted, holding the door as she stepped into the Audi. She
easily adjusted her seatbelt over her cream, long coat, smoothing away a piece
of dark lint on the material.

“Are they?”
Nicolette asked curiously. Conall pushed the door in. “I will see you soon,
Conall. I intend to formally visit this Cedar Creek of yours within the month.”
When he raised a brow, she added, “Oh, I have seen it. I was very thorough when
scanning this state.” He stepped back as she turned on the engine. “Please say
hello to my granddaughter for me.”

Her shower
was long. Vivienne was certain she spent close to an hour soaking under the
lukewarm spray. She’d awoken feeling better than she had in years. Even when
her mother had unbound her powers, she hadn’t felt this…refreshed.

According
to Zahira, who’d knocked and walked into her bedroom minutes after she’d awoken,
much to Vivienne’s embarrassment as one could obviously tell the reason the
room was in such disarray, Conall was at a Council meeting. The Elder had
chuckled and mentioned something about Vivienne being raised human before
Vivienne escaped to the bathroom.

Now, as she
turned off the water and wrapped herself in a bathrobe, she wondered if Zahira
was still in her room. She wasn’t, but it was obvious someone else had been
there. The bedding had been replaced. Gone were the torn sheets and comforters.
In its place were new ones.

Dressing
quickly, Vivienne made her way downstairs. Zahira sat on one of the plush
couches in the living room, flicking from channel to channel in search of
something to watch. Eli sat in the La-Z-Boy, white iPod headphones in his ear
as he bobbed to the beat of a song while doing his homework.