Daughter of the Tides, Servants of the Moon Book 2

Lothaire crept forward, at the end of the corridor was a vault door. It was slightly a jar. There was a metal ladder.

‘Lothaire…’ Tamaza’s voice called him downward.

Lothaire descended cautiously. He went through another door that looked like something one would find on a submarine and stepped out onto a catwalk. The three-story cavern was much warmer that the room above. He walked through the dim lighting, amazed that there was still power for the floor lighting. He could smell that vampires and humans had been here recently. There was also the lingering scent of wolves from months earlier. The scent of temple incense drew him like a magnet to a room that had been completely cleared. Course salt dusted the corners of the room. He could feel the vibration of an oracle in this room, but he could only smell a vampire female. On the wall, written in strange letters, were several words.

‘The Sunwolf is coming to burn the world.’ Tamaza’s ghost whispered to him.

“Who is he? Tell me who he is?” Lothaire demanded. He felt the presence of the oracle retreating from him. Reverently, he closed the door to the scrying room and continued exploring.

Walking through the immense, abandoned complex, he found the rooms the wolves had stayed in. The scents were not from the missing pack wolves, but from Servants of the Moon. One in particular stood out, the Delphi’s sister Esther had slept in one of the rooms. He reached up and pushed the metal shutter above the bed. It slid open to reveal a type of tempered glass he had never seen before and through it he could see sunlight on the underside of snow. He realized the missing packs had not been here, but the Delphi had sent her sister to help hide the vampires. It was proof, He rushed back through the empty complex and climbed to the surface. The bookcase had closed, automatically. He opened it, went out, then watched it swing close slowly.

Lothaire shifted to his wolf and sprinted through the afternoon snowfall to the cabin.

‘Look in first.’ The ghost whispered.

Lothaire’s wolf reared up on its hindlegs and looked in the frosty window. The fire in the fireplace glowed strangely red in front of a kneeling Charlemagne. Lothaire’s wolfen ears eavesdropped.

“I am not sure where we are, Helios. He dragged me to a small plane and we flew for hours over a frozen wasteland, landed on a frozen lake, then ran through more freaking snow. We are staying in some dilapidated cabin near an old military bunker of some kind. There’s nothing here. I don’t know what Valeria told him she saw, but he dragged us here and ditched our escort. I told him I was sorry her vision was false.”

Helios voice came from the fire. “Maybe this will prove the unreliability of the moon and our uncle will finally join us. Stay with him, Charlie, bring him home and keep playing the disappointed son. When are you leaving?”

“He said tomorrow morning at first light. He wants to check another place. I still can’t believe that she even managed to have a vision with all the wine she drinks, let alone convince Lothaire to come here alone because you were planning to ambush him.” Charlemagne complained, “It is colder than her heart towards my father.”

“You are the only one she loves.”

“Not as much as herself,” Charlemagne retorted.

“That is the way of mothers.” Laughing Helios agreed, then he asked, “But how did he know to go there where there was actually a building to search. Are you sure there is nothing there?”

“Brother, no one has been here since long before either of us were born. Do you want me to just kill him here? Father won’t know he didn’t die in the ambush?” The wind gusted and Charlemagne snarled. “I hate this cold. I am never going to be warm again.”

“Don’t worry, brother, you will have lots of volunteers to warm you up when you return.” It was Charlemagne’s laugh which interrupted his brother’s voice this time. Helios continued, “Lothaire is worth more to us alive. He is a tactical genius and if the Servants attack us before we are ready, we will need him.” Helios schemed. “Just play on his sympathies, I’ll let you kill him later for his insults against your mother.”

Lothaire dropped to his paws and backed away. His nephews were communicating using witchcraft and plotting to kill him. His wolf suppressed its urge to growl. He needed to stop them, but more importantly, he needed to free Charlemagne from Helios because it sounded like Charlemagne was taking orders from his Beta, not the other way around. As his wolf sprinted through the low trees, he contemplated if he should bother to save Charlemagne, who wanted to kill him. Charlemagne was the only heir of the Des Rues, but if he had a son, Lothaire wouldn’t hesitate to end his nephew’s life. With no offspring, Lothaire could not risk ending their line today because he would never allow any spawn of Helios to become the alpha heir. He needed to wait until Charlemagne had a child to continue their family, then Lothaire Des Rues vowed he would end his nephews and brother, and save his pack.

He was surprised to come across an old wolf in skin form wearing beaded leathers and a young bear shifter. There was a shelter against a large slab of stone, and a fire.

The elder waved Lothaire over, “Come, brown fur.” He then spoke to the bear which lumbered away.

Lothaire shifted to his skin. “Elder wolf. Why are you here?”

“I am often sent to give messages to stubborn and foolish young shifters.” The old one laughed, then he spoke in riddles. The bear returned as he finished. “Allow my apprentice to offer you dinner since we interrupted your hunting.”

Lothaire took the two rabbits the bear killed and ran back to the cabin. Shifting, he carried them into the almost unbearably warm dwelling.

“Did you discover anything, Uncle Lothaire?” Charlemagne asked in such a sincere tone Lothaire would have believed he was interested.

“No, nephew, but I brought back dinner. We’ll leave in the morning.” Lothaire promised.

“So, where is this other place?” Charlemagne asked.

“It’s no place to be bothered with. Your mother’s vision was obviously false. We will head south tomorrow.” Lothaire announced as he efficiently skinned and cleaned the rabbits. Impaling them on a heavy metal pin, he placed them in the fire on a spit. “Charlemagne have you decided on a choice mate? Your father had two heirs by your age and your grandfather had three.”

“The Delphi refused all of my overtures.”

“What about one of the pack breeders? Surely, one has caught your wolf’s attention?” Lothaire prodded as he put water, rice and dried vegetables to boil at the edge of the coals. “The pack needs an heir, your heir.”

“There’s plenty of time, Uncle, you sound like mother.” Charlemagne grumped.

“I am the First Beta of Des Rues, it is my duty to always look forward to the future of our pack,” Lothaire reminded.

They ate, making small talk about the future of the pack and finding the missing wolves. Charlemagne admitted that he would be interested in the Delphi’s sister, if she could be convinced to leave the Servants of the Moon and bring her sister to be the Oracle of Des Rues. Charlemagne revealed that Helios was obsessed with the Ayala twins and capturing them alive, like Charles. After Charlemagne fell asleep, Lothaire went back to the hidden city and sat in the scrying room. He lit a small cone of incense that had been left behind and set a bowl of water on the floor.

“Help me, Tamaza. I need to save my pack and your daughters.”

The incense burned, the water in the bowl shimmered, and Tamaza’s eyes looked back at him. Her finger drew the symbol of three moons. The tips of his fingers touched the surface of the water.

“I don’t understand,” he breathed out.

The water suddenly looked like flames and the water evaporated as he snatched his hand back from being burned. The symbol of the three moons appeared again in the smoke, it morphed into two wolves running north. The room was filled with the scent of moonlight and snow. Hands shaking, Lothaire reached down to dump the bowl but it was completely dry.

“I don’t understand.” He groaned out into the darkness.

‘You will.’

Retreating from the hidden city, Lothaire decided to tell no one of this place or the other location Valeria had revealed to him. The ancient wolf had warned him that the lake of the three moons was sacred and to reveal it to no one, the location would be a safe place for he and his chosen one. Lothaire had scoffed at the idea of a chosen mate, but he knew the Moon would do what she wanted.

Del shuddered, looking up at her family’s enemy through the water. He was on his knees begging for a boon. She had heard her mother’s voice calling to him hours earlier and immediately retreated to her scrying room. Tears ran down her face, remembering how her Nonna had died with his hand around her neck.

“Delilah, you do not get to choose who the Moon will save and condemn,” Tamaza reminded.

“Oh, I know, Mother. But must he be the one spared, must he be the one to save Esther?” Delilah begged.

“Perhaps it is Esther who will save him.” Tamaza’s cobalt eyes held Delilah’s cornflower blue ones. “Send him the message. He has already chosen whom he follows.”

Delilah obediently drew the symbol of the three moons on the surface of the water then plunged her candle into it. The flame jumped and engulfed the water rather than going out. The steam turned into the symbol then two wolves running.

“The Moon’s will be done.” Tamaza’s ghost whispered, “So not one of Her Children will be lost.”

“The Moon’s will be done.” Delilah answered, when she looked up, her mother was gone.

Zane spent every moment training with Nyall or Kestu, he had become practically obsessive about training, and it worried Essie. Finally, after a month, she stormed into the cottage Ketsu shared with Kaiyou and confronted him while his brother was attending the evening’s petitioners. Zane was there.

“What is going on?” She demanded hotly, “Tell me you are not going to be stupid enough to try and kill the Sunwolf?”

Zane leveled her with a look. “Yes, we are.”

“No!” Essie hissed. “You will both die. He isn’t a normal wolf.”

“He isn’t the horror your fear has made him into, Essie,” Zane argued back. “He can be knocked out therefore he can be killed.”

“That was a fluke.” She snapped. “Or maybe he was faking because of the Cruor.”

“You weren’t there.” Zane snarled. “He is killable. I just need to up my skills. If Nyall can almost overcome him, then I will.”

Essie shook her head. “You are a fool and you are going to die.” She turned toward Ketsu. “Is this your revenge? Since you are going to die, and I won’t be with you, you’re going to get Zane killed too.”

Ketsu stood his ground as she poked his chest. He growled angrily, “Essie, I… We are trying to keep you safe. You have seen my death but won’t tell me how or when so all I can do is make sure Zane has the skills to protect you.”

“You. Can’t. Protect! Me!” She screamed at them.

“Stop saying that,” Zane demanded.

“My sister is the freaking Delphi and she has only seen one… One! Scenario where I am rescued. Do you two actually think you can defy the Moon’s plan? That you can magically become more powerful than the Sunwolf? It isn’t going to happen.” She turned and stomped to the door. “Helios Des Rues is my destined one. He is going to catch me someday and the last memory I am going to have of the two males I love more than my life is telling you both to fuuck off and save yourselves. I’m done.”

“Essie,” Zane started but the door slamming cut him off. “What just happened?”

Ketsu bowed his head. “I believe she just dumped us both because she is too hopeless to believe anything, but her nightmares.” Ketsu inhaled as if in pain. “You must protect her. Love her enough for both of us.”

Zane firmly squeezed his shoulder. “Ketsu, I will try to kill him before your death. She has potential with both of us, it will be her choice freely made. Someday soon Helios will be dead, and she will finally see that love is stronger than evil.”

Essie stomped into Del’s room, her sister opened her bleary eyes.

“I want you to go back to the Moon’s Gate. Take Nyall.” Del announced before Essie could say anything.

“Fine, when do we leave? Without Zane or Ketsu.” Essie lit a cigarette as she sat on the end of her sister’s bed.

Del sat up and raised an eyebrow. “Trouble in paradise?”

“My potentials are delusional and think they can defy the Moon. I already told grandfather I am not going to be wandering any more. I need to stay close to the temples and you so when my mate comes, he’ll snatch me and you’ll escape.” Essie blew a smoke ring. “Like I said, when do we leave?”

“I’m not going, I am needed here. You, Kaiyou, and Nyall are going to take the survivors of White Mountain to the buried city. I will be sending more wolves to join you as they come forward.” Del revealed, “Oh, and dye your hair, you are going to be me.”

Essie blinked at her lazily. “If you’re going to be me, my color is a metallic called Illuminating Ginger.”

Del smirked, “Red hair isn’t my thing, but you might find your new color is blondes have more fun.”

Essie laughed really hard for the first time since Las Vegas. “I always wanted to be silver-haired like the Moon.”