Enemy Within (Moira Ashe Book 1)

The loss of her hat was incredibly upsetting for Moira as she resumed her usual morning routine. Worry seeped into her mind as she thought about the possible ramifications from last night.

If her hat was stolen by someone last night, not only would she possibly never see one of her most treasured possessions again, it was possible that whoever took it had also discovered her secret.

She felt sick just thinking about the possibility of being exposed. If she even managed to escape with her life, having to flee the place she’d made her home for the last seven years scared her. But she couldn’t risk getting caught. As much as she wanted to find the bastard who stole her hat, she valued living more.

Her mind made up, Moira left her table and ate the last of her breakfast as she left to her room. Luckily for her, she didn’t have a lot of possessions. The only things she really owned were the things she needed to do her job, and those required her to travel light anyway.

As she left her room and loaded up her gear, she paused by Lincoln’s door.

She’d forgotten about him this whole time. She pulled both their room keys out of her pocket and quickly unlocked the door. Not wanting to face him, Moira hurried down the stairs into the inn. She stopped in her tracks as she spotted Commander Murphy with six of his men.

The guards were fully equipped but kept their weapons aimed at the roof of the building. The commander held Moira’s stolen hat in his hands.

Dread hammered Moira, but she kept calm as she slowly set both of the keys on the bar for Bridget to collect.

“Going somewhere?” Murphy asked, still standing with his men.

Moira stopped at the bar and turned to them. “I’m just going out.”

He raised an eyebrow. “With all of that?” He pointed to her equipment.

She shrugged. “You never know what you might need out there.”

He smiled. “In that case …” He held the hat out for her. “You might want to take this with you as well.”

Moira slowly approached and accepted her hat from him. “Where did you find it?”

“It was given to me, courtesy of your friend Lincoln Clarke.”

Moira’s heart sank. No wonder she smelt his scent so strongly last night. He was there with her. She felt violated as she thought about how long he might have been there watching her.

“Why are you here? I know you didn’t bring these men here just to deliver this to me.”

Bridget spoke up. “What is this about, Hugh?”

The commander clasped his hands behind his back. “Mr Clarke has levied accusations against Moira here.”

Moira’s expression darkened as Bridget’s voice filled with concern. “What is it? What do you think she’s done?”

The commander raised a clenched fist. The guards lowered their weapons, aiming directly at Moira.

Murphy growled, “You are to be detained on suspicion of lycanthropy!” His fist wavered menacingly, threating to drop for the slightest reason.

Moira stood silently as two of the guards approached her and relieved her of her weapons. Bridget was left speechless upon hearing the charge.

Murphy continued. “You are to be escorted under guard to your holding. If you choose to defy my orders,” he motioned to the multiple guns and bayonets pointed at her, “we will not hesitate to kill you.” His voice inherited a dangerous tone as he announced the threat.

Moira didn’t resist as they surrounded her and led her out into the street.

She was marched to the town’s jail, where she was placed in a cell by herself, designed for just this occasion. Normally she would be accompanied by a firing squad ordered to execute her if she started to change, but instead she was left alone. She was tied to a chair in the centre of the room and deprived of her coat and hat.

It was only a short few minutes before she was visited by Ryan Quinn, accompanied by the commander.

The commander moved behind her as Ryan stood in front of her.

“I’m sorry about all of this.” Ryan looked around the cell. “But these accusations against you are serious.” He looked her in the eye. “And the evidence is compelling.”

Moira looked up at him. “What evidence? My hat?” She said mockingly.

Murphy replied. “We have an eyewitness that claims to have seen you turn last night, and he brought us your hat as proof of that. Then there’s the fact that you seem to have an issue with anyone carrying silver weapons. And …” He walked up behind her and yanked the neck of her shirt over her right shoulder, revealing her scars. “Most damning of all, the bite from a werewolf.”

Moira sat defiantly without saying a word as Ryan closed his eyes and turned away from her. “Aw shit.” He rubbed his hand against his face as he turned around to face her again. “Please tell me that’s not what it looks like.”

Moira said sadly. “It’s from a bear.”

“Pfft,” Murphy scoffed at her lie from behind her.

Ryan crouched in front of her and pulled the shirt back to cover the scars. “If it’s any consolation, I believe you.”

“You have to be joking.”

Ryan glared at him. He puffed out his chest as he rose to full height. “If I wanted your opinion, Commander, I would have asked for it!” His voice boomed as it bounced around the sparse cell.

The commander became silent and turned his gaze to the floor as Ryan returned his focus to Moira.

“If you believe me, let me go,” Moira pleaded.

Ryan stood up and took a step away from her. “I can’t do that, but just get through tonight and I’ll have you freed immediately.”

Moira begged, “Please, just let me go.”

He shook his head. “Once everyone sees you haven’t turned into a beast, this will be the end of it. You know how people are. If I released you now, rumour would start—and there’d be a whole matter of business I would rather avoid.” He placed a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, eh? Everything’s going to be fine.”

His words gave her no comfort. She failed to meet his gaze.

Ryan signalled the commander to leave. “We’ll post a guard on the door. Just let them know if you need anything.”

Moira kept silent.

Ryan made for the door. “I’ll see you again in the morning. All right?”

“Sure,” Moira replied as the door closed behind them.

Moira sat alone with her thoughts for a time until they were disrupted by the cell door opening.

“And here I was thinking I was done guarding suspects.”

Moira lifted her head to see Sloane smiling in the doorway to her cell.

Moira smiled. “You can release me if you want.”

Sloane shook her head. “I would, but if I did that, then they would lock me up!” She chuckled. “And then some poor sod would have to look after me all day. I couldn’t do that to them.”

Moira shrugged. “At least it’s only for today.”

“Thank goodness for that.” She tilted her head to the side. “So did you hear about James Nolan?”

Moira’s interest was piqued. “What about him?”

“He was late for duty this morning. The guys sent to collect him found him dead, butt naked in his home on the basement steps this morning. A hole was smashed from the sewer into his basement. The poor bastard bled to death from a h—”

Moira interrupted her, “A hole in his gut.”

Sloane was surprised by her interruption, but a sly look covered her face as she caught on. “Your handy work, I presume?”

“Never mind that. Did you find any bites on him?”

Sloane shrugged. “They didn’t find anything. Other than the wound in his gut and a few small scars here and there.”

Moira was confused. She was caught between the satisfaction of being correct all along and the bewildering nature of her unanswered questions.

If he wasn’t bit, how had James contracted lycanthropy?

How had Lincoln discovered her secret?

She also wondered where Kelly was, even though she was certain that he was dead, hidden somewhere in the forest. But none of these questions mattered now. What she needed to focus at this moment was how she was going to get out of this place alive. Escaping the cell would be easy.

The room was built by people who didn’t understand the curse like she did. The large window located to her left of her was used to expose the prisoner to moonlight, it was a common misconception, and not one she was going to dispel anytime soon. Moira knew she would turn, with or without the light. She could even turn at will now that she’d lived with the curse for so long. But the window would provide an excellent escape route for her nonetheless.

It was getting through the town and past the outer wall that was the problem. Although she could try escaping now, she didn’t dare. In broad daylight and with the guards now armed with silver-based weapons, it would be suicide!

She had to wait for the cover of night if she stood any hope of leaving alive. But her troubles didn’t stop there. If she did manage against all odds to escape the town, she would be left with nothing to her name. No money, no weapons, no clothes, and with her identity exposed. Her days amongst civilized company were numbered.

Moira prepared for her escape as Sloane left the cell and took her post.