The Moon Rises (38 page)

Gigi was heading away from the bar with drinks
for Roger and Kyle when Anton arrived. All her prep work about not wanting him
anymore and being more angry than hurt faded away when his eyes met hers. Gigi
had wanted Anton so much she tricked herself into believing lies. Realizing she
couldn’t trust her own judgment, Gigi now had to second guess her every
decision. Those unhappy feelings were on the inside though.

Anton looked at her like he always looked at her
and it made her feel stupid to have misunderstood the meaning behind his gaze.
Gigi delivered the drinks to Roger and Kyle then moved towards the kitchen.
Stopping, she realized Ella was busy talking to Declan’s pack and no one was
serving Anton’s table.

Gigi knew she loved Finn so she needed to let
Anton go. Hiding from him was impossible. She went to his office most days and
worked at the club he frequented. They lived two blocks from each other. She
needed to clear out her feelings for him like Finn said. Plus Gigi needed to be
strong like Sara taught her.
Make big sis proud.

Both Garrison and Chad seemed nervous, having
been in the office when Gigi left crying. They kept their heads down and eyes
away from their Alpha while they ordered. The other males were more interested
in Roger and Kyle who were still playing pool. Anton though only had eyes for
Gigi.

Avoiding the Alpha’s gaze like the two Weres did,
Gigi looked at Anton without looking into those eyes which made her feel things
she should no longer feel. At first, he tried to catch her gaze, but then
seemed to understand she wasn’t going to let him woo her again. His eyes lowered
and he just stared at the table with a slight frown. Gigi peeked at him while
his gaze was away from her and she thought he looked miserable. She didn’t even
attempt to guess why because she was always wrong when it came to understanding
Anton.

Having faced her fear of seeing Anton, Gigi was
able to work the floor without avoiding anyone or losing her focus. Feeling
confident, she didn’t mind Roger’s ogling or Kyle’s coldness or Anton’s unhappy
expression. Gigi belonged at The Moon Rises and she needed to stop acting like
it was her first day.

While delivering drinks, Gigi felt a strange
tingling in the palms of her hands. Then she remembered when she had felt the
tingling before and took off running past the Weres to the stairwell.

Justine was leaving early to go on a date. Mentioning
this information in the locker room, she had sounded depressed. Gigi didn’t
understand why Justine would be unhappy about a date, but Dahlia whispered the
male taking her out wasn’t Nolan. So instead of being in the club and waiting
for an escort, Justine was walking alone to the adjacent parking lot.

“Justine!” Gigi called out as she ran in her
cowboy boots, so thankful not to be wearing heels.

Gigi spotted the monster flying towards Justine
who was leaning against her car.

“Behind you!” Gigi screamed, but Justine turned
too slowly.

The monster grabbed Justine and lifted her off
the ground. A choked cry left Justine who then just hung limply without making
any effort to save herself. Reaching Justine’s car, Gigi jumped onto the hood
then the roof. Throwing herself at the monster, she landed partially on its
back.

Squawking, the monster released Justine who
flopped to the ground while Gigi jumped down next to her. The ugly thing flew
upward, escaping into the night. Justine looked dazed, maybe drugged as she
stared at Gigi. Nearby male voices rang out and Gigi realized the Weres had
followed her outside. Standing up, she waved at them so they could see where
the females were crouched next to the car.

Apparently undaunted, the monster swooped down for
another try. Gigi thought it was heading for Justine who was in a ball on the
ground. Instead the monster was coming straight for Gigi.

“Crap on toast,” Gigi said, now running towards
the males who were firing at the monster.

The black creature dipped down low enough for its
claws to sink into Gigi’s shoulders as she ran. Then she felt her feet leave
the ground as the monster lifted her up and over the males. For just a moment,
Gigi considered waving at the Weres who seemed shocked by the sight of her flying
over them. Well most of them were shocked - Silas just looked pissed.

As the monster flew away from The Moon Rises,
Gigi glanced back and saw the males in pursuit on foot. The Weres were fast,
but the monster’s long wings put some distance between them. The beast flew
higher and higher, before tilting its head under its chest so its black eyes
could focus on Gigi.

“You need to leave shit alone, bitch,” said a
voice from the bird’s mouth.

“Fuck off,” Gigi growled because Ella always said
fuck off when she was pissed and Gigi was getting pretty pissed as the monster’s
claws dug deeper into her flesh.

“You’re a curious thing,” the voice said. “Let’s
see if you can fly.”

Gigi realized the monster was releasing her and
she was at least eight stories in the air. Before it let go, she reached up and
grabbed just above the claws and onto its birdlike ankles. The beast screamed
and tried to bite her, but the strain of doing so much caused it to tip to the
side. Focused on keeping its balance, the monster used its long spiky tail to
stab at her.

While holding onto an ankle with one hand, Gigi
used her free hand to seize the tail and shove it upward into the monster’s
belly. Black goo flooded down onto her, but she turned her face away to avoid choking
on the nasty liquid. The monster’s tail broke free and stabbed her in the leg,
but she closed her thighs, trapping it between them.

The monster lowered its head again and screamed
at her.  Gigi screamed back and a rage started rising up inside her. The
feeling of such anger warmed her and she reached up into the monster’s belly
wound. Digging deeper, she started tearing out black organs.

The tail once again broke free, but Gigi must
have grabbed something important inside the monster because it started to convulse.
Its tail jabbed at her weakly and she seized it. Twisting the tail hard, Gigi
felt the monster losing altitude.

The creature lowered its face. “You’re fucking
dead,” the voice said.

Gigi didn’t reply, instead using the tail to tear
out the monster’s left eye. As soon as she pushed the tail in deep enough, the
beast dropped from the sky.

They had flown in circles for so long that Gigi
wasn’t sure where they would come down. Holding tightly to the monster, she climbed
up higher to hug it as they dropped towards the ground.

The monster’s head flopped around as they spun in
the air and Gigi heard the raspy voice cursing at her. Gigi grabbed its face
and forced the good eye towards her.

“I’m coming for you and I’m going to kill you
like I killed your fucking bird,” Gigi said, embracing the rage.

Just as the ground came up, Gigi shifted over the
monster so it hit the park floor before she did. The creature exploded underneath
her, sending chunks of black goo as far as the street and as high as the top of
the large oak.

For a few minutes, Gigi thought maybe she was too
broken to move, but then she pushed herself up and was able to stand. Her hair
was thick with goo and her thigh hurt from the monster’s tail, but she had
killed it and she would find a way to kill its master.

The Weres suddenly appeared, maybe ten of them,
with the Alphas, Kyle, and Silas in the lead. They almost ran past her then
stopped and walked cautiously towards the smashed monster and Gigi.

“Are you okay?” Declan asked.

“Yeah, I used the monster to soften my fall.”

Silas stormed up to her with a frown then pulled
her into a hug. “You are the damnedest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“And that’s in a hundred years,” Gigi said with a
grin.

Silas laughed even as he poked at the black blob
with his foot.

“Is Justine okay?” Gigi asked.

“We left her with some guys. She looked fine,”
Declan said, eyeing the monster’s remains. “What in God’s name made you think
running outside to fight this thing alone was a good idea?”

Gigi studied Declan, Roger, and Anton, knowing
they wanted to have sex with her. She glanced at Silas who seemed like he
thought she needed a dad to watch her back. Kyle had seemed pretty indifferent
in the club, but he tried to save her too. They were powerful males who all knew
how to kick ass, but they were completely useless when it came to saving the
girls at The Moon Rises. From Katia to Justine, none of the Weres had done more
than sigh sadly about another missing human.

Gigi smiled at Declan. “I’m going to kill this
monster’s master. It knows I’m coming, but it won’t matter because I’ve got a
plan.”

“Care to share?” Declan asked while Anton just
stared at her with those dark eyes of his.

Gigi said nothing, just smiled. Even without
knowing exactly what she was, Gigi understood her purpose in the Circle now.
She was a weapon. Her blood could kill and she wasn’t scared to die. The
monster which baffled the witches, necromancers, Vamps, and Weres would be powerless
once Gigi found it.

Finn was clearly very happy to have her in once
piece. After giving her the “you need to be careful” speech, he kissed her and
didn’t stop. Twenty minutes later Gigi pried her lips away for long enough to
slide off his shirt. Skimming her nails along his chest, over hard muscle and
hot skin, she heard him moan as his grip tightened around her. Gigi responded
with her own moans as his hips pressed against hers. Wrapping her legs around
him, she pushed up against the hardness hidden by his jeans.

Finn withdrew his lips and stared hard at her,
conflicted in his mind like he wasn’t in his body. He wanted her and he had to
feel how much she wanted him, but Gigi felt him pulling away even before he
did.

“No,” she groaned, wrapping herself tighter
around him.

“Gigi, it’s our third date.”

“So?”

“So you almost died and you still want Anton and
I’m a jerk for being here. A lot of answers to the so question.”

“I love and want you,” she whispered, licking his
jaw and tasting the saltiness of his skin. Skimming the hint of stubble with
her tongue, she closed her eyes and wrapped her legs tighter around his hips,
searching for his arousal.

“I love you,” Finn said without a trace of heat.
“I don’t love you enough though.”

“What does that mean?” Gigi asked, happy because
she wanted his love, yet he was pooping all over it.

“It means if I loved you more than I loved
myself, I would stop visiting you so you would be safe.”

“But I’m always almost dying and I killed two
monster birds. Besides you sound confused.”

“Confused?” he asked with a grin.

“I want you to be with me and you want to be with
me so your love gives us what we both want. You’re saying if you loved me more,
you would make us both unhappy and that would be a good thing. I might not be
smart, but that sounds like crazy talk to me.”

Finn sighed. “I know you don’t take the threat
seriously…”

“No, I do. I just don’t care enough about it to
stop seeing you.”

“But you could do better than to be with me.”

“Why, because your brother likes me?”

Finn frowned and watched her for a long time
while Gigi just kept kissing and touching him as if he were actively
participating. Finally he pushed her hair away from her neck and kissed the
spot just under her ear, arousing a moan from her.

“When I was teaching you poker,” Finn whispered
in her ear, “I would tell you that your hand was no good and you should fold.
You wouldn’t listen and I thought you were just stubborn. Maybe you were, but
two out of three times, you ended up winning.”

“I remember that because of how Michael would freak
out,” Gigi murmured with a grin as she kissed his bicep then moved to his
shoulder.

“I sometimes feel like you’re fragile and I need
to protect you from everything, but you understand more than I think.”

“Thanks,” she muttered, not really following his
train of thought which disproved his theory about her understanding.

“I still wonder if you wouldn’t be better off
with Declan or some other male with more power.”

“I don’t want Declan. I want you.”

“You wanted Anton.”

“Yes, but he doesn’t want me.”

Finn frowned. “You know that’s not true.”

“Fine, he doesn’t want me enough. Declan and
Simon don’t either. Do you want me enough? If you don’t, then you should go
now. I lie to myself when I want someone. I did it with Anton and I think I did
the same thing with Simon. I only see what I want to see. If you can’t want me
enough to stay and take risks, then go now because I need you to love me
because I love you. You’ll hurt me if you pretend it’s enough now then turn
around and abandon me. If you’re going to leave me, do it now before I get used
to having you with me.”