The Moon Rises (11 page)

“Find anything yet?” Ella said, her gaze back on
Michael.

“No.”

“Then what do you want to bother Gigi for? Got a
crush?”

“I wanted to tell her I’m done.”

“No, you’re not.”

“The Katia chick is just gone. Her apartment was
cleared out by the landlord. Nothing left behind to track. No signs of foul
play around the apartment. Nothing to follow, so I’m out.”

“If you tell her that, she’ll cry,” Ella said
with a sigh. “Cry her pretty brown eyes out. Best tell her when she’s not at
work. Silas is still pissed about these idiots making Monica cry.”

Declan knew Ella was gesturing towards him and
Anton, but his gaze wasn’t on her. He was watching Silas frown at the little
device he carried around which allowed him to watch all the different floors
from various camera angles.

“Problem?” Declan asked Silas loudly, but the
Were ignored him.

Ella frowned. “Gigi’s on the ghoul floor for the
first time. I hope they don’t sniff her ass and make her cry. She cries easily,
you know,” she said, eyeing Michael who shrugged like he didn’t care. “Or maybe
they’ll try to eat her?”

The males all frowned at her and Ella snorted.
“Dipshits. The ghouls won’t eat Gigi. Maybe nibble, but nothing serious.
Tobin’s on the floor after all.”

The necromancer irritated the hell out of Declan,
but he was good about controlling his nasty minions. Silas was still studying
the device and he signaled for one of the bouncers to head to the elevator.

“I hate when he gets all secretive,” Declan
grumbled as his gaze remained on Silas.

Sighing, Ella headed for Silas. “I’ll find out
what’s happening. That way the birthday boy can settle down and stop all his
bitching.”

“Ella,” Declan warned, but he was happy to see
her head towards Silas.

The redhead shoved up against her boss and looked
at his device. Frowning, she seemed confused. Declan noticed the three males at
his side were also watching Silas and Ella, clearly curious. Anton’s body
language was hard to read to those who didn’t know him well, but Declan knew
the Alpha was tense, worried even. He liked Gigi, though it was doubtful he
would do anything about it. He was still waiting with a tension to his jaw
which wasn’t like him.

Finn’s reaction was stranger because his brother
didn’t even know Gigi, hadn’t asked about her, yet his face was tight with
worry. Even if Michael blabbed about Gigi on the ride over – and Michael didn’t
blab – Finn shouldn’t be so concerned over a girl he had never met. For
Michael’s part, he looked cranky, but he always looked that way.

Ella laughed loudly and nudged Silas who was
watching the screen with a half grin. Finally Silas let out one of his barking
laughs. Ella whispered something to Silas who eyed the males. Rolling his eyes,
he walked to them.

“I think they like her,” Silas said, lifting the
device.

Declan watched as a circle of ghouls danced
around Gigi who was holding a hideous thing in her arms. The ghouls were
clapping in unison as they did their little dance while Gigi looked happy, if
not a little confused. How she got those nasty things to treat her like royalty,
Declan didn’t know. Maybe it had something to do with Tobin. The necromancer
seemed human enough and he was male.

“Maybe she’ll be assigned to the ghoul floor
permanently?” Ella said with a grin.

Declan rolled his eyes, but then he noticed how
Finn clearly wasn’t looking at Gigi for the first time. Declan stared at his
brother until the younger Were noticed.

“What?” Finn asked.

“How did you meet her?”

“Grocery store,” Finn said almost defiantly.

“Declan’s going to call dibs,” Anton muttered as
he watched Gigi on the screen.

“Too late,” Finn replied. “We’re going out tomorrow.”

Declan frowned at Finn, but his brother purposely
looked away and watched the little screen. Silas was smiling, but Anton had
become very still again. Michael looked grouchy, having not changed his facial
expression since arriving.

“Good for you,” Declan finally said.

Finn eyed him and there was worry in those eyes.
Declan wanted Gigi like he had never wanted another female in his life. He
wasn’t going to interfere with his brother’s love life though. If Gigi liked
Finn, Declan was happy for them. Happy might be too strong a word, but he
wasn’t going to meddle.

Gigi didn’t know what to expect on the ghoul
floor. Everyone made it sound like hell, but when Gigi stepped out of the
elevator, she was only startled by the bubbles. At first she thought children
were chasing the bubbles which floated everywhere as slightly hypnotic music
played. The music wasn’t too loud and the lighting was soft like on the witch
floor. The room was lined with booths which sat mostly in the dark while the
center of the room was a dance floor where the children were chasing bubbles -
except they weren’t really children anymore.

The first one sniffed Gigi cautiously like a dog
testing out a new person – curious, yet wary. The second one pulled at her arm
and sniffed her wrist up to her armpit. Gigi stayed very still as her mind
tried to grasp what these things were. Maybe they were once children, but their
faces had thinned out to the point where they looked like tiny old people. Soon
she was surrounded by them as they sniffed her intently. Then the little
boy-thing to her right licked her and giggled. The others giggled too and licked
her.

Gigi wanted to run away, but she was transfixed
by what these things might have once looked like before death twisted them into
little monsters. She just stood there and watched them until she heard a high
pitched bark.

Maybe it was a dog. Once it might have had fur
and its eyes might not have bulged out as they did now. Yes, maybe once it was
a dog like her neighbor Bethany had – a little yippy fluffball dog. Now it was
a discolored monstrosity and it was coming straight for her.

Gigi watched as the child ghouls backed away. The
dog ghoul jumped up against her leg, its claws reaching just above her black
boots. It was wagging its hairless tail and panting with a tongue which was
black and foul. She realized it wasn’t attacking, but looking for affection.
Gigi didn’t want to touch the ugly thing, but it whimpered and she finally
reached down and picked it up.

Cuddling the stinky monster in her arms, Gigi
wasn’t sure she wanted the dog to lick her. Soon what she wanted was a moot
point. The ghoul slobbered on her face, licking excited as its tail wagged
wildly. Around her, the child ghouls gasped and awed. They spoke in strange
childlike voices, in a gibberish language Gigi didn’t understand. What she did
understand very clearly was how they were amused based on their smiles which
displayed sharp little teeth and black gums.

When the song changed, the little ghouls began to
clap. Gigi thought they were clapping to the beat, but then she realized they
were clapping for her. The little ghouls in their fancy dresses and suits,
looking old fashioned, yet high class in clothes which hung from their twisted
bodies began to circle Gigi. They clapped in unison and danced to the song and
they laughed in their creepy way.

Gazing down at the ugly thing in her arms, Gigi
realized it was happy just as Fred, Bethany’s dog, was whenever Gigi showed it
a bit of attention. This thing was hideous and smelled weird, just like the
child ghouls, but it only wanted love and acceptance. The children also wanted
acceptance and so she made herself look at them and smile as they danced and
clapped. When the song finished and they again moved towards her, Gigi hugged
the little monstrosities. They were essentially children and based on her
memories of her childhood, she knew kids loved hugs.

One of the child ghouls took the dog from her
while another snagged her hand and pulled her towards a booth. Gigi wasn’t sure
who was hiding in the murky light, but she couldn’t imagine anything more unsettling
than the child thing holding her hand.

Two figures sat in the booth – one looked human
while the other looked like it was once human. They were both male upon further
inspection and the ghoul tapped his clawed hand at the booth so his dog-thing
would join him. While the human male had long brown hair and dark blue eyes,
the ghoul’s head was bald and discolored while his eyes were a creamy black.

“Were you raised around our kind?” asked the
human male.

Gigi shook her head and her eyes fell to the boy
ghoul who was licking her hand again. The human looking male made a noise with
his tongue, a sort of clicking sound, and the ghoul stopped licking Gigi. The
boy-thing looked scolded so against her better judgment, Gigi caressed his
head. The little ghoul looked up at Gigi and gave her a horrible, yet sweet
grin.

“Familiar with death then,” the ghoul male asked.

“No, I don’t think so.”

The ghoul smiled. “Impressive. You must be
Katia’s replacement.”

“Yes,” Gigi said, unhappy to be referred to in a
way which diminished Katia. “I’m Gigi.”

“The owner of the dog you treated so well is
Murphy. I am Tobin. It is very nice to meet a human who can embrace our
children without cruelty. You are human, aren’t you?”

Gigi nodded, but Tobin squinted as if unsure.

“You have no magic. Not a hint. How long have you
lived in the Circle?”

“A week or two.”

“Soon,” Murphy said, petting the ghoul dog who stared
at Gigi as if in love. “All humans absorb a hint of magic if they remain in the
Circle for long.”

Gigi just nodded because she wasn’t sure what to
do. Did she just pull out her pad and paper and start taking orders? Was she
supposed to entertain these ghouls like she did Simon? Did she have to play
with the ghoul children or babysit them? Confused, she must have shown something
on her face because Tobin smiled.

“You are doing just fine,” he said then glanced
at the children who were off chasing bubbles. “Don’t let them lick you though.
They know better.”

Gigi also looked at the children who suddenly
stopped and all stared at her. She frowned as she returned her gaze to Murphy
and Tobin.

“How do I keep them from licking me?”

“Just tell them no. If you show authority, they
will respect you. They just need direction and boundaries like all children
do,” Tobin said.

Gigi thought to get their drinks, but then she
remembered how Sara told her to be rude and get banned from the floor. Turning
back to the males, she asked the only question which truly mattered.

“Why do you have dead children?”

“Because we can not have living children, Gigi,”
Tobin said softly as if explaining something rather obvious.

“Whose children were they originally?”

“Who knows?” Murphy said. “Many are older than
you and I can’t remember where many of them come from.”

Tobin held Gigi’s gaze then smiled. “For a few of
the children, their parents paid to have them returned to life and then changed
their minds once they witnessed how harsh death can be on a body. Most were abandoned
in life so we claimed them in death.”

Gigi didn’t feel she was being rude enough so she
eyed the dog who was still gazing at her.

“What about the dog?”

“Jasper?” Murphy answered with a grin. “He was a
fine companion and I couldn’t bear to let him go when his time came. Dogs are
man’s best friend, are they not?”

Gigi realized these ghouls weren’t easy to offend
and she wasn’t sure what to say which would make them ban her from the floor.
In fact by the end of the evening, the children begged her to return and Murphy
had Gigi hold his ugly dog while he took a picture of them. Gigi was making
friends left and right even when she tried not to.

Declan was Ella’s favorite jackass, but she had
no idea what to get him for his birthday. With his money and power, he didn’t
really need much. As a male, he didn’t long for things. If he saw something he
liked, he just bought it for himself. The exception to this rule was Gigi and
so the blonde was Ella’s birthday gift to her Alpha.

Between his dating policy and Finn’s date with
Gigi later in the day, Declan would never do more than ogle the blonde. Ella
figured Declan needed more opportunities to check her out. No matter her good intentions,
she couldn’t avoid screwing with Declan when the opportunity presented itself.

The male Weres were standing around sweaty and
very macho when Ella entered.  None of them paid her much mind, only because
Declan called dibs on Ella years ago to avoid having anyone move in on his “kid
sister.” For Ella, his protective streak meant she was forever flirted with,
but never dated. Yeah, this alone meant Declan had some punishment coming his
way.

Declan nodded a hello to her then returned to
talking with Dave. At first none of the males cared about Ella and her guests.
Then Dahlia pushed back her cloak and the gym fell silent.