Page 3 of Luna Rising

The instant I touched the doorknob, the metal glowed orange and blisters appeared on my palm. I hissed in pain and jerked my hand back, staring down at the angry burn forming on my skin. It took a second for the laughing-crying emoji to materialize on my palm… what the fuck? Then a voice filled my head.

“You still haven’t learned to listen,” Walter Stolly said in my mind.

Gaia, I thought. Fucking fae and their stupid spells.

You’re a Wolf, Not a Dragon

No matter how hard I hit, kicked, and clawed the door, it refused to budge. Magic scorched my skin, only for the burns to heal immediately. Except for the emoji, which I supposed was Walter’s idea of a joke.

I fully intended to convey just how unfunny it was as soon as we saw one another.

Drinking blood usually made me tired, but the audacity to lock me inside of a room and tell me to stay was too great an insult. I paced the bedroom, listening to the increased heartbeats of the two people downstairs. It took a minute for logic to break through the haze of anger; if I could hear their blood pumping, I should be able to hear their conversation, too.

Either they weren’t speaking, or Walter had spelled the door to filter certain types of noises.

The curtains were parted just enough to see the cloudy night sky. Snow melted on the cold glass. I pressed my cheek to the window and peered at the winter wonderland below. Wolves patrolled the property line.

Are they meant to keep me in or others out? I wondered.

A rumble in the distance drew my attention. ATVs, five of them, headed toward the house from the valley below. Ewan drove one, with a much smaller figure sitting behind him.

Essie, I thought, a feeling of unease coming over me.

This was what she’d hoped to prevent—the rising of eternals and their protectors. Two of us had turned since we all parted ways. I worried my change might disappoint her, and Winter’s great-grandmother was one fae I desperately didn’t want to let down. She had embraced me like family, when my own flesh and blood had turned their backs on me. I couldn’t stand the thought of her looking at me with disgust in her wise eyes.

Ewan pulled to a stop in front of the house and helped Essie from the ATV. The leader of the Gemini Fae usually appeared strong, exuding confidence and power. But the woman who took Ewan’s arm hunched against the wind and moved as though each step pained her.

A tall man with a bright shock of red hair jumped off a second ATV. He wore a navy t-shirt, exposing corded forearms dotted with freckles and impervious to the cold. His irises glowed gold as they flicked to the passenger who climbed from the third ATV—Reggie.

Two other shifters pulled to a stop on their four-wheelers. One had Winter on the back. She wore a heavy parka with a fur-trimmed hood and thick mittens. Her green eyes darted toward the window where I stood watching the procession of newcomers. A small, sad smile lit her face, cheeks tinged pink from the cold, as she waved up at me.

Downstairs, the front door opened. I didn’t dare press my ear to the wood and risk another jolt of Walter’s magic. There was no need, though. All the heartbeats were impossible to miss. The soft thump, thump called to me, making my mouth water and my throat itch, despite having just consumed Ewan’s blood.

My nostrils flared, fangs descending. So much mortal blood. One taste, that’s all I need… I gravitated toward the bedroom door without conscious thought, reaching for the knob before I could stop myself. Walter’s oily magic scorched my palm again. I hissed and kicked the door reflexively.

“Fuck!” I screamed as the skin on the bottom of my foot burned and healed before my sole touched the floorboards.

Between the bloodlust and the rage, I almost didn’t hear the two sets of footsteps climbing the stairs to the second floor. My chest heaved, though the air I inhaled was pointless; I didn’t need to breathe.

The handle twisted, and the door popped open. My nose twitched as the scent of cinnamon and oranges and electricity filled the room. Essie still wore a long, hooded jacket that reached below her knees, snow clinging to the sides of her boots. Ewan towered over her from behind, arms crossed and jaw clenched, as if he hated everything about this situation.

From our very first meeting, the day after Enzo killed Nate Ames, I had felt Essie’s potent power. She was one of the strongest fae I’d ever encountered—in this life, anyway. But now, with my new vampiric senses, I truly understood just how much magic lived inside her aging body. Not even King Orrin himself had embodied such tremendous strength. If I didn’t know her, I would have been afraid of Essie Sable.

“Hello Zara, dear,” Essie said, clasping her gloved hands in front of her. “I’m glad to see you are awake. I would ask how you are feeling, but under the circumstances, I fear such a question would be insulting.”

Her words barely registered over the hum of her blood in my ears.

“Zara,” Ewan snapped, the single word laced with authority.

My lip curled back in a snarl, gaze transferring from Essie to my mate.

“Stand down.” He gave a jerk of his head. “Put the fangs away. Now.”

My lips clamped shut, obeying his command without a second thought. Essie’s mouth thinned to a narrow line, obvious displeasure on her strained face.

“May I come in, Zara?” Essie asked.

“I don’t—” Ewan started to protest.

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