Page 27 of Haunted Eclipse

“What did she say?” I asked.

“She asked us to catch him to go before the Court Magika. Since I’m a member of the Dark Moon Society, I have the authority to lead the case. She can offer me some assistance, but we have to find him on our own.” She paused, then looked at me. “Nightshade’s interested in meeting you,” she said. “We have a couple openings in the Society.”

I froze. “You mean,mejoin the Dark Moon Society?”

“Yes.” Astra smiled. “Frankly, it’s a good idea. You’d make a valuable member and we could use your help.”

“But…” I tried to think of reasons why I shouldn’t. For one thing, it meant giving up some of my time to the group. For another, it meant I’d be governed by strict rules, in terms of Court Magika laws. But then again, since I was a member ofQueen Heliesa’s court anyway, and I was on the witchblood rolls, I had to follow the rules no matter what.

“I think you should do it,” Crystal said. “I’d love to become a member. I think it would be exciting.”

Astra laughed. “It’s notthatexciting, not usually. But we do valuable work, and we help govern the world of witchblood. Being a member of Order of the Moon means giving back to society.”

The Order of the Moon ruled over all the individual witchblood groups that existed in every shadow town. We worked with the local governments and, when need be, the local authorities to align our purposes. Queen Heliesa and the Witchblood Nation had stricter rules for our members than most local governments, but that was because we were more dangerous because of our powers and the things we were capable of.

Astra put the kettle on for tea. “I’ll talk to Nightshade, if you’re serious, Crystal.”

“I’m absolutely serious,” she said. “I would love to be part of the Dark Moon Society.”

“We’ll see if we can make it happen.” She slid back into the booth. “All right, since we—I—have been charged with finding this psychic vampire, we need to do several things. First, I have to verify that Devon’s being attacked by him. After that, we arrest him.”

“I saw the cords coming off Devon, and so did Crystal,” I said.

“Yes, but since I’m the official agent on this, I have to make that call. Once you’re both members, then your word would be good enough. But you aren’t, so I have to verify that it’s true. Which means, I need to meet Devon. We should take her to one of the safe houses.”

I blinked. “What’s a safe house? She’s at the shelter. Isn’t that safe enough? They’re warded against intrusion.”

“I guarantee you, it’s not safe enough. We keep safe houses to protect those who are in magical danger from those who are witchblood. They first were fashioned when the Covenant of Chaos rose to power, but even though the order faded, we kept with the tradition. It’s a good thing, too,” Astra said, staring glumly at the table.

“Why? Hasn’t that order all but vanished?” I asked.

“It almost did, but in Moonshadow Bay, the Covenant of Chaos is making a resurgence. Which means it’s only a matter of time until they show up here again.” She frowned. “I talked to Rowan and January while I was over there, and they both verified that the chaos magicians are banding together again. Queen Heliesa knows, which means that the Court Magika is going to be busier than it has been for a while, if this keeps on.”

“That’s not good,” I said. “What do we know about them? I’ve heard of them, of course, but my knowledge is limited and I thought they had mostly died out.”

“For one thing, they work with a group of rogue vampires—traditional ones—known as the Blood Collective. Not all the time, but often enough. The Court Magika considers them domestic terrorists because all of their activity is focused on disruption through magical means. The Covenant, that is, not the Blood Collective. The rogue vamps are also terrorists, but oddly enough, they aren’t as organized as the chaos magicians.” Astra rose, pushing her chair away from the table. “Hold on for a moment. I want to talk to Nightshade again.”

As she left the kitchen, I looked at Crystal. “We’ll have to bring Devon here. I doubt if the shelter will allow us to visit her there.”

“Right. They aren’t going to want us drawing any attention to them. I was sworn to secrecy in terms of taking Devon there.In fact, a few blocks from the alley, I had to pass her off to one of the organizers of the shelter, so I can’t even tell you what the exact address is. I’ll call them and see if they can either drop her off here, or I can meet them to pick her up. Do you think your aunt will want to see her tonight? It’s getting late.”

I glanced at the clock. It was nearing eight. “I’m not sure, but if she’s not safe at the shelter, probably. I’d call her, just in case.” I froze, my alarm bells ringing like crazy. “I had a thought. He might be able to track her by her phone’s location. Call her, tell her to get ready. We need to bring her herenow.”

Crystal pulled out her phone as Astra returned, her face pale.

“Crystal’s calling Devon. What if Marcus can track her via her phone? We need to pick her up now.”

“Good, because Nightshade told me to bring her in tonight. She made a couple calls. I gather the Order of the Moon knew that a psychic vampire was in the area, but they didn’t know exactly where. Marcus is dangerous. He killed two people in Terameth Lake. Cleo, the high priestess of the Mountain Moon Coven, had one of her operatives—Marquette—on his tail, but he managed to vanish before they could catch him.”

“Crap. Two victims already?”

“Yes, until they caught onto him. Somehow, he found out and skipped town.” She shook her head. “Marcus has no reason to give himself up. We have to hope he doesn’t realize that we’ve found out, so he’ll probably still be after her. Psychic vampires gain the most energy from an actual kill. So, if he thinks he’s in danger, he’ll go for max energy and then run.”

“Which means a string of dead bodies,” I said.

Crystal returned. “They’ll drop her off here. I told them that someone may be able to trace her phone, so they’re bringing her immediately.”

“Once she gets here, we need to break the cords, then get her to the Safe House,” I said.

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