First Moon (The Ternion Order Book 1) Read online

  Kyle stared at the hanging artwork and tried to understand what she wanted from him. “I see cool webbing with pretty beads and feathers. It looks to be higher quality than the ones I’ve seen at street fairs.” The look she gave him told him she wasn’t interested in compliments on the construction of the object. A belligerent edge crept into his voice. “Why? What do you see?”

  She looked up at the dream catcher and said, “Tradition. Generations upon generations of tradition. That is the artwork of a spiritual craftswoman. She entrusted her creation to me, and I will ensure that it goes to someone who respects it and will benefit from it. You, dear boy, are not that person. Your spiritual self cowers within you, isolated and unaware. That dream catcher cannot help you.”

  While it was true that Kyle had never had much interest in spiritual matters, Lucille’s words stung. She hadn’t spoken with a superior tone, but the words came across as if she had.

  Kyle held up the paper bag and shook it. Anger tinged his every word. “Then what about the tincture? Will that help me?”

  Lucille raised both her eyebrows. “You tell me. Do you trust Amanda? Do you believe in her? That tincture isn’t like some chemical brew you would pick up in the pharmacy. It’s more than that. It was crafted specifically for you, and Amanda put a bit of herself into it.”

  Kyle looked at the bag dubiously. Eww. That sounds disgusting.

  Lucille saw his expression and rolled her eyes. “Oh, dear Lord. I didn’t mean a literal piece of herself. Amanda put a bit of her spiritual essence into the making of that tincture, and she did it with you in mind. That makes it more than the sum of its herbal components. For lack of a better word, it’s magical.”

  Kyle’s anger drained away. A month ago, he would have laughed and walked out the door, throwing the tincture away in the nearest wastebasket. But the past couple of weeks had changed him. He couldn’t deny what had been happening to him, as much as he tried to do so. The term “magic” still made him shudder, but he was willing to admit that the world might be driven by more than he could see.

  And he did believe in Amanda. He knew the tincture would work because she told him it would. He looked Lucille straight in the eyes and stated with confidence, “It will work.”

  Lucille gave him the first smile of their encounter. “Yes, it will. There’s hope for you yet, young man.” She came around the counter and shooed him toward the door. “Now, quit trying to throw money at me, and let me get back to work.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Kyle carefully wrapped the paper bag around the tiny bottle inside and clutched the package tightly in his hand. If Amanda had gone to the trouble of making a magic potion specifically for him, he wasn’t going to take any chances with it. He just had to make sure that Sherry didn’t find out who had given it to him.

  Chapter 11

  Sanctuary

  At work the next day, Kyle was going over the requirements specification for the new project when his boss appeared at his side. Kyle looked up to see that Vanja was frowning and her forehead was creased with concern.

  “You okay?” he asked. “You look disturbed.”

  She nodded and raised an eyebrow in a you could say that expression. “Could you join me in my office?”

  “Sure,” Kyle said, getting up from his chair.

  While Vanya led the way back to her office, Kyle wondered what could possibly be the problem. He had spoken with the data warehouse group and the new code had moved into production smoothly the night before with no incidents. That project was complete and labeled a success, as far as he knew. As for the new project, he hadn’t even had it long enough to screw something up. Had they canceled it?

  In spite of his personal issues, he hadn’t been skipping much work, and he’d made up for the little time off he had taken. Thanks to Amanda’s tincture, he’d slept solidly for the first time in days, so he was alert and ready to go that morning.

  Vanya sat at her desk and said, “Close the door and have a seat.”

  Kyle did as instructed and waited while Vanya stared at him with a confused expression.

  “Kyle, did you do something I don’t know about that might have caused trouble with someone in upper management?”

  Uh-oh. No conversation starting with that question could end well.

  “Not that I’m aware of,” Kyle answered. “Why? Have I been taken off the new project?”

  “In a manner of speaking. I’ve been instructed to let you go.”

  Kyle’s mouth dropped open and his heart skipped a beat. “Why? What have I done wrong?”

  A look of frustration flashed over Vanya’s features. “I don’t know. They won’t tell me. I told them you’ve been doing great and that the team needs you, but they wouldn’t listen.”

  “Do I have any recourse? Is there someone I can talk to?”

  “Believe me, I’ve already tried talking to someone else. The decision makes no sense. When I tried to find ways around it, I was told to drop it or follow you out the door.”

  A dark suspicion swelled in the back of Kyle’s mind. “Do you know who is behind the decision?”

  “No. Only that it was someone at a V.P. level or above. My boss, the department director, didn’t understand either. But the mantra all the way down has been, ‘Leave it be; it’s done.’”

  Kyle looked down at his hands. “Well, thanks for trying.”

  Vanya sighed and shook her head. “I wish I could have done more.”

  Kyle suspected he already knew the answer, but he asked anyway. “When do I have to leave?”

  Vanya’s reluctance told Kyle his suspicions were correct. She shrugged and let out a frustrated sigh. “Right now. I have to take your identification badge, watch you pack up your desk, and escort you to the door.”

  Kyle groaned.

  “I know. But listen, they didn’t say I couldn’t give you a good letter of recommendation. I’ll put something together and send it to you.”

  Kyle nodded and gave her a sad smile. “Thanks, I appreciate that.”

  Packing up his desk with his boss standing at the cubicle doorway with her arms folded and his co-workers looking on was every bit as humiliating as Kyle had anticipated. Everyone was shocked by the sudden termination and some even seemed angry on his behalf. But with Vanya standing there, no one spoke to him or tried to interfere.

  Shaking his hand at the front door, Vanya said, “If it’s ever possible, I’d take you back in a heartbeat. Best of luck to you.”

  “Thanks. It looks like I’ll need it.”

  The glass door to the building closed with a click of finality. Three years at Northern Peaks Sports Equipment was over just like that, for reasons no one understood.

  As Kyle turned and walked to his rig, he was pretty sure he did understand what was going on. The Rutlinger Foundation had influence somewhere high in the company. The executive in question might even be a member of the Pack himself.

  The Pack had raised the stakes. With no source of income and no place to stay other than a hotel room, they were pushing him hard to move into the Foundation.

  But the Pack had miscalculated. Their efforts to demoralize him had only made him more determined to stay out of their clutches. And now he had plenty of free time to figure out some way of stopping what was happening to him.

  He was tired of waiting on the sidelines while Amanda held his life in her hands. He was going to help her somehow, whether she wanted him to or not.

  Sitting in his Explorer, Kyle tried to figure out what to do next. The Pack was systematically stalking him, and so far, he had made himself an easy target. That had to change. They undoubtedly knew he was going to be fired today, so he could expect another visit from one of the Pack members any time.

  He needed to disappear. But how? The Pack was everywhere. He had to either find a safe place to hide or leave the area. Leaving wasn’t an option if he wanted Amanda’s help. Could he hide with her? She said the Order had an agreement with the Selkirk Pack.
Could she protect him from them?

  Kyle started the Explorer and drove to his house. He parked on the street because a work truck was blocking the driveway. The sooty bathtub insert was sitting out on the front lawn with the melted shower curtain tossed haphazardly into it. He was happy to see that someone was already at work on the place.

  He went inside, calling out to the workmen. He greeted them and explained who he was before going about his business. He set aside the box of personal items from his office at Northern Peaks, and after a quick check to make sure the construction men had gone back to work, he opened the small safe he kept at the back of the closet. The safe held important papers he didn’t want damaged or lost. Considering the suspected break-in and the fire, he concluded it was worth the money he’d spent on it.

  In addition to papers, the safe held some emergency cash. He put the cash in his wallet and locked the safe.

  After bidding farewell to the workers, Kyle got back into his SUV and planned his next move. Anxiety tugged at him, urging him to keep moving. It was particularly important to get away from all the places the Pack could expect to find him.

  His heart jumped into his throat when a police car turned a corner up the street and headed his way. But it wasn’t a sheriff’s cruiser, it was a city patrolman. Kyle raised a hand in greeting as the officer drove by. He took a deep breath and released it as the adrenaline rush slowly faded.

  Kyle checked his watch. It was ten thirty. Sherry would be at work. That was good because he had to go back to the hotel room and pick up his stuff, and he had no idea how he could explain to her what was going on. He started the Explorer and headed toward the hotel.

  Would it be right to simply disappear without telling her why? He could leave her a note, as lame as that sounded. After all, she had ditched him without warning, so why should he feel guilty about doing the same?

  A realization dawned. Kyle hadn’t even considered taking Sherry with him. More than anything, that told him how he really felt about rekindling a relationship with her. He still didn’t trust her, and he couldn’t see that changing. The sex and the comfort of familiar companionship had blinded him to that truth.

  Looking at the situation honestly, he knew Sherry hadn’t come back because she loved him. She came back because she’d run out of money. He didn’t owe her anything.

  By the time he reached the hotel, he’d come up with a plan. He went to the front desk first and paid for another two weeks. Sherry had that long to find a new place to stay, or she could continue to pay for the hotel room herself, since she would be getting paychecks by then.

  Next, Kyle went up to their room and packed his things. He sat down at the tiny table and left a brief note to Sherry saying an emergency had come up and that he needed to leave town for a few weeks. He let her know that he’d covered the room for a couple of weeks, so she wouldn’t panic. She’d be angry, but maybe that would help her move on.

  Using the room’s phone, Kyle called his landlord and told the old fellow the same story about an emergency. Bob wished him well and promised to keep an eye on the construction progress.

  At that point, he had done what he could to tie up the loose ends of his life and was free to do whatever he wanted with his last days.

  He headed out the door thinking that it was time to push his luck and see how far Amanda would go to help him.

  Kyle had a phone number for Amanda, but no address. He tried to look her up in the phone book, but he couldn’t remember her last name. He didn’t think she’d ever told him what it was. His only option was to go to Rainbows and Butterflies and ask Lucille for help.

  Kyle checked his rearview mirror a lot more often than he normally would, expecting to see Fenris’s dark sedan or Deputy Arpin’s cruiser appear behind him at any moment. They might have someone else following him instead, so he watched every car for suspicious behavior. His distracted state made him nearly rear-end the car in front of him more than once.

  The thought of walking from the downtown parking lot to Lucille’s shop was unappealing; he’d be too exposed. He decided to try finding a spot along the street near the shop, which would be tricky so close to lunchtime. But he was in luck. An elderly man pulled his gray boat of a sedan out of a spot one door down from Butterflies and Rainbows. Kyle put on his blinker and parallel parked the Explorer in the vacated space.

  Entering the shop, Kyle rushed forward until he found Lucille thumbing through a pile of receipts at the back counter. She narrowed her eyes and looked him up and down.

  “Hello, Kyle. You look distressed.”

  Lucille wasn’t who he was looking for, but she was the only person other than Amanda who knew about his situation. He was so relieved to have someone he could talk to that he blurted out everything that had been on his mind.

  “I’m fine for now, but I need to talk to Amanda right away. They’re moving in on me. They burned my house and got me fired. I don’t know what to do. Amanda said she has some kind of truce with them. Can I hide with her? If I stay at the hotel, I’m a sitting duck. And I can’t put Sherry in the middle of this.”

  Lucille dropped the receipts and waved toward him in a settle down gesture. “Stop and catch your breath.” She came around the counter and led him over to where she had done the tarot reading.

  “Are you sure the Pack is behind the house fire and you losing your job?”

  Kyle nodded vigorously. “There’s no doubt in my mind. They are trying to force me to stay at the Foundation.”

  Lucille sat down and her brow wrinkled in thought. “We didn’t expect them to be so aggressive,” she mused. “They know you will come to them eventually.”

  “So you don’t believe there’s a cure?”

  Lucille looked Kyle straight in the eye. “I won’t lie to you about it. Amanda is the only hunter who truly believes there is a cure. The Order has been indulgent with her so far, but the rest of us expect that you will be eager to join the Selkirk Pack after First Moon.”

  Kyle was stunned. Amanda was the only person who was interested in helping him because she was the only one who believed he could be helped. Her own Order didn’t believe in her.

  I’m doomed.

  Kyle’s thoughts spiraled into visions of a demon taking over his mind, of changing into a wolf and prowling the forest, and of a headstone with his name on it. He blinked several times and a tear spilled out of his eye, spotting his pant leg.

  Lucille’s voice grew tender. “I’m sorry, Kyle. But I don’t want to give you false hope.”

  Kyle’s moment of self-pity twisted into frustrated anger. “What about Amanda?” he snapped. “She’s been willing to give me false hope. So what am I supposed to do? Let the Pack win without a fight? What if Amanda is right and the rest of you are wrong?”

  Lucille gave him a hard look in reaction to his tone, but he didn’t care. She had no stake in this. It was his life that was at risk.

  “I admire your spirit,” she said. “If you are willing to trust your life to Amanda’s cure, you deserve a chance to see if it will work. But this is not a decision to be made lightly. Requesting sanctuary with the Ternion Order has consequences. You must follow certain rules, or sanctuary will be revoked.”

  “It sounds like witness protection.”

  She considered his remark. “That’s not a bad comparison. We can go over the details later, but for now you need to understand that the Order will control your movements. You’ll also need to turn your finances over to us, so you can’t be traced through your accounts. All contact with your family and friends must go through the Order as well.”

  She paused, giving Kyle a chance to respond. He shrugged. “What choice do I have? It’s either the Pack or the Order.”

  “All right then. As a hunter myself, I can sponsor your request for sanctuary immediately.”

  Kyle waited for a moment to see if Lucille was going to seal the deal by doing something special. She merely sat there with her hands in her lap.

  “
That’s it? No signing in blood? No fairy dust to mark me as a ward of the Order?”

  Lucille chuckled. “Sorry to disappoint you. Signing in blood is too unsanitary. Fairy dust would be expensive and obvious. We’ll have to make do with paper contracts and an ink pen once we get you to the refuge.”

  “Where’s that? Will I be close enough to help Amanda?”

  Lucille gave him a wry grin. “Oh, yes. You’ll definitely be close enough to help Amanda. You’ll be living with us.”

  “Us?”

  “Amanda rents space at my farmhouse outside of town. The property is also one of the local refuges. You’ll be quite safe there.”

  Living with Amanda? Sherry would be livid. Not that he cared much about what Sherry thought right then.

  “Thank you. That’s very generous. When should I go?”

  Lucille reached to pick up the phone under her counter. “You stay here for now. This place is a refuge as well. I need to make a few calls, and then we’ll move you to the farm.”

  “That sounds like a lot of trouble. Can’t I just drive there?”

  “Remember what I said about the Order controlling your movement? If you want sanctuary, you need to sit back and let us take care of you for now.”

  While Lucille made calls, Kyle grew frustrated at sitting and doing nothing. His leg bounced on the footrest of the bar stool until a significant glance from Lucille made him stop. He got up and walked around the shop just for something to do.

  The bells on the front door jingled, and Kyle stepped behind a bookshelf, peering down the main aisle toward the door. Two teenage girls dressed entirely in black had entered the shop. One of the girls was heavily pierced and wore her dark hair in a style that could only be termed “modern rat’s nest.” Her chubby form pushed her tight top into rolls over her hips and her cleavage was squished together, mounding the soft pale flesh to just below her chin. Blood-red nails tipped each finger.

  The second girl was as nondescript as the first was flamboyant. Her mousy blonde hair fell in stringy strands past her shoulders, obscuring most of her face. Her matchstick figure and pencil-thin arms made Kyle suspect she had some kind of eating disorder.