First Moon (The Ternion Order Book 1) Page 8

  “What do I do?”

  He meant it as a rhetorical question, but she answered him in a sympathetic voice. “I can’t answer that for you, but the cards suggest that you choose someone to trust and rely on that person to guide you.”

  Kyle nodded thoughtfully but said nothing.

  Returning her gaze to the spread, Lucille said, “We do have one more card to interpret.” She pointed to the last card in the lower row. “This final position is about the future. When reversed, The Hanged Man suggests that you must open your mind to alternative courses of action, but be decisive. Don’t let your worries distract you, or you will lose the opportunity to choose for yourself.”

  That card didn’t make any sense. As far as Kyle knew, his fate had been sealed the night Clarissa infected him. What alternative courses of action did he have? Was she talking about the option of staying at the Rutlinger Foundation?

  Kyle silently berated himself for taking this drivel seriously, even if only for a moment. It was time to get out of here. He had enough to think about without all this psychic mumbo-jumbo distracting him.

  He slid off the bar stool and got out his wallet. “Thanks for the reading, but I need to be going. How much do I owe you?”

  Lucille huffed and shook her head while she picked up the cards and put them away. “That was on the house. You may not have asked for it, but I know a troubled soul when I see one.”

  Kyle put his wallet away. “Sorry if I offended you. Psychics and magic aren’t my thing.”

  The older woman laughed. “If you say so, dear.”

  Kyle edged back toward the door to make his escape, but right then the lock turned and Amanda stepped in. She closed and locked the door, and then paused when she spotted Kyle.

  Amanda came down the aisle toward him and stopped a couple of paces away. Her dark-brown hair was windblown, and she had tucked the forward strands behind her ears. He’d forgotten how pretty she was until her hazel eyes met his and he found he couldn’t speak.

  “Hi, Kyle. I’m glad you came by.” She didn’t smile, but she sounded sincere.

  “Hi, Amanda. I think I owe you an apology.”

  “For what?”

  Kyle looked down at the floor. “For a couple of things, actually. I’m sorry I was rude when you sat with me at lunch. I guess you were only trying to help.”

  She waved a hand in dismissal. “Don’t worry about that. I’m used to it.”

  He brought his eyes back to her face. Along the way, he noticed that she was wearing white tennis shoes, blue jeans, and a long-sleeved white shirt with lacy frills at the edges of the sleeves and collar. Over the shirt, she wore a purple velvet vest. The odd ensemble came together nicely over her feminine curves.

  She noticed his lingering gaze and smirked, raising an eyebrow. “And the other thing?”

  “What? Oh, yeah. I think I may have gotten you in some trouble today … accidentally.”

  The look she gave him was curious, but not concerned. With a teasing tone, she said, “Now Kyle, what have you done?”

  “I was talking with some people at a place called the Rutlinger Foundation and your name came up.”

  Amanda’s eyes grew wide and she went still.

  Kyle continued. “Anyway, the lawyer—some guy named Fenris—seemed to get pretty steamed when he found out that you talked to me about … you know.”

  Amanda’s brows drew together and she took a step forward. Kyle felt like a jerk for scaring her like this when it was probably nothing.

  “What did he say, Kyle? His exact words.”

  Kyle shrugged. “I’m not sure I can remember his exact words, but it was something like they needed to do something about that meddling witch. It’s probably nothing to worry about. He can’t sue you for talking to me.”

  She moved forward until she was only a couple of feet away. She smelled like warm vanilla. “But it worried you. That’s why you’re here.”

  Kyle nodded. “Some of the things they told me confirmed what you said at McWort’s. Your name slipped out while I was thinking about that.”

  “That’s okay. I can take care of myself.” She glanced at Lucille. “Plus, I have friends who are looking out for me.”

  Kyle sighed. “Must be nice. I can’t talk to my friends about this. They’d think I’ve lost my mind. I’m starting to think I’ve lost my mind.”

  “Don’t worry about it. You’re doing fine … for now. What did they tell you at the Foundation?”

  “Mostly the same stuff you told me.”

  Amanda looked surprised. “They told you about the shape-shifting?”

  “Yes. I asked about it, and they said it was something I could control. As for the rest, they said the symptoms will get bad over the next couple of weeks, and they offered to let me stay with them until I get past the worst of it.”

  Amanda folded her arms and nodded. “Mmm-hmm. And did they tell you why everything gets better after the next couple of weeks?”

  Kyle had assumed that the initial symptoms just settled down after a while. “Not really. I guess the worst of it just goes away.”

  Amanda snorted and leaned toward him. “No. It gets better because you just go away.”

  A chill ran down Kyle’s spine. “What do you mean?”

  Amanda tilted her head at him and narrowed her eyes. “They stuck to the story that this is some kind of disease, right?”

  Kyle shrugged. “Isn’t it? Clarissa infected me and there’s no cure.”

  Amanda slowly shook her head and gave him a pitying look. “Infected isn’t the correct word for what Clarissa did to you. She passed something to you all right, but it wasn’t a disease.”

  “I thought that’s what lycanthropy was—a disease that gets passed on when someone is bitten or scratched by a werewolf.”

  “That’s what the legends say, but it’s not entirely accurate. Lycanthropy is caused by a lupusdaemon. It’s not a disease, it’s a form of demon possession.”

  Kyle swallowed hard and wobbled on his feet. Amanda and Lucille each took an arm and guided him back to the bar stool. He barely noticed the tingle when Amanda gripped his arm. He sat down and put his face into his hands.

  A demon? Inside him? A sick feeling twisted in his stomach and his throat closed up. He tried to take a deep breath, but that only made him feel worse. He groaned and took fast shallow breaths, panicked and on the verge of tears. Amanda rubbed his back until the dizziness passed.

  When Kyle finally raised his head, both Amanda and Lucille looked at him with sympathy. He remembered something Amanda had said at McWort’s. He grabbed both of her arms above the elbows and pulled her toward him, speaking with a demanding tone. “You said you could help. Can you get it out of me? Can you exorcise this thing or something?”

  Amanda grimaced and looked down at his hands. Kyle released her and clenched his hands in his lap. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to …”

  Amanda’s tone was forgiving. “I understand. You’re upset, and for good reason. Not everyone has to deal with their inner demons so literally.”

  Kyle let out a nervous laugh and then groaned. “So now I’m going to have to live with a demon in my head for the rest of my life?”

  Amanda put her hand on his shoulder and waited until he met her eyes. “No. Only until Erst Mond.”

  Kyle blinked several times. The term sounded European and he was sure he’d never heard it before. “I don’t understand. What does that mean?”

  “It means First Moon. The demon shifted from Clarissa to you during Vollmondritus—the Full Moon Ritual. The demon establishes itself during the subsequent month and takes over at the next full moon—First Moon.”

  “Takes over? I won’t be in control of my own body?” Kyle couldn’t imagine the horror of having to watch helplessly while a demon used his body for its own purposes. Did transforming into a wolf put the demon in charge?

  “Kyle, you won’t even be in your body. You’ll be gone.”

  Gone. That sounde
d like a euphemism. “You mean dead.”

  “Yes.”

  Kyle suddenly felt light-headed and thought he might faint. Amanda’s hand on his shoulder was no longer reassuring. According to her, he had about two weeks left to live.

  “I thought you said you could help me,” Kyle said in a defeated tone.

  Amanda started nodding but then changed her head motion into a side-to-side “maybe” movement.

  “I’m a hunter with an organization called the Ternion Order. We watch for paranormal activity and monitor known paranormals operating in our region. We’ve known about the Selkirk Pack for decades, and we have a sort of truce with them. They don’t make trouble for normals, and we don’t make trouble for them.”

  Kyle got up from the bar stool and waved his arms in agitation. “How does possessing me with a demon not count as making trouble?”

  Amanda shrugged. “It’s a gray area, but it gives us some latitude.”

  Kyle shot her an incredulous look. “Gray area? I’m going to die!”

  Amanda spoke soothingly. “We have until First Moon to stop it. But after that, there’s nothing we can do.”

  If she was still talking about stopping this, there had to be hope. Kyle gave her a sidelong glance. “So there is a cure.”

  Her voice became cautionary. “There’s a record of a cure, but no details on how it works. I’ve been researching it off and on for a couple of years, but to be honest, it hasn’t been a high priority because your situation is actually quite rare.”

  Kyle snorted. “Low priority. That’s great.”

  “Well, if it makes you feel any better, it’s a high priority now. For me, anyway.”

  This was crazy. His life depended upon a witch finding a rumored cure for lycanthropy. Meanwhile, a werewolf pack was trying to convince him to hang out with them at their cozy little mansion in the mountains. His life was out of control in the most surreal way.

  He shook his head, unable to see a way out. “What can I do to help?”

  “First of all, don’t let the Pack get wind of the fact that I’m working on a cure. I’m sure they would try to stop me, and they’d probably succeed.”

  Kyle didn’t want to think about how they might stop her. It was starting to sound like she was putting her life at risk for him. If she succeeded in saving him, he was going to owe her in a big way.

  “No problem. I have no intention of visiting the Rutlinger Foundation ever again.”

  “That might be more difficult than you think,” she said. “They protect their own. If you don’t go to them, they’ll come to you. You’ve already shown an interest by visiting their facility. If you suddenly cut off all contact, they’ll wonder why.”

  Kyle knew himself well enough to know that he wasn’t that great at lying or acting. “I can’t hang out with them and pretend to go along with their plan to kill me.”

  “I understand. Tell them you want to try working through the next couple of weeks on your own, but stay cordial. If they get suspicious, reluctantly tell them that you know about their little demonic secret. It will piss them off, but they believe that nothing short of killing you will prevent full possession at First Moon. All they have to do is wait. They win by default.”

  The best way to avoid giving away their plan would be to minimize contact with both the Pack and Amanda. But he couldn’t sit around and wait to see if she succeeded in discovering the secrets relating to this supposed cure. He had to be useful somehow, and the idea of spending more time with Amanda had its appeal as well.

  “Can I help you with your research?”

  Amanda considered his question for a moment, and then shared a long look with Lucille. Lucille shook her head slowly from side to side.

  Amanda frowned and finally answered. “That wouldn’t be a good idea. The less you know about my progress the better. To be honest, telling you about the potential for a cure was risky.”

  Kyle’s brow furrowed. How could giving him hope be risky? There was no way he would voluntarily share her secret with the demons.

  With a shock, Kyle understood her concerns. He wouldn’t share her secrets, but the demon inside him would. He sat down on the bar stool again as the feelings of nausea and dizziness returned.

  In a shaky voice, Kyle said, “It’s hearing all of this, isn’t it?”

  Lucille answered for Amanda. “It knows what you know. In another two weeks, it will be able to impersonate you well enough to take your place.”

  Kyle wanted to run, but there was no place to go. He wanted to deny this ridiculous story Amanda was spinning for him, but he didn’t want to miss what might be his last opportunity to survive this nightmare. He was in a battle for his own body with no way to fight back. Somehow, he had to get this thing out of him.

  His desperate mind went back to an earlier idea. “What about exorcism? Can’t a priest remove the demon and send it back to Hell or something?”

  Amanda shook her head. “It’s been tried. An exorcism somehow isn’t enough. The theory is that lupusdaemons have been among us for more than a thousand years, and now they are bound to the earth. As far as we can tell, the only way to force them back to Hell is by destroying their host body.”

  Kyle straightened, his eyes wide with alarm. “That’s the cure? Destroy the host body?”

  “No. That’s how you get rid of them after First Moon. It’s too late for any kind of exorcism at that point.”

  “But these demons have been successfully removed before First Moon, right?”

  “Once, supposedly, about a hundred and fifty years ago.”

  Kyle closed his eyes. His fate rested on the rumor of a technique that had been lost since the years of the American Civil War. For the first time, he seriously considered ending the nightmare on his own terms. He would rather take his own life than surrender his body to some demon.

  Amanda seemed to know the direction his thoughts had taken. “Hang in there, Kyle. I know the stakes are high, but we still have some time. Don’t give up on yourself. And don’t give up on me.”

  Kyle opened his eyes. “If you think of any way I can help you, please let me know.”

  “I will,” she promised. “For now, you need to go on as if nothing has changed. Distract yourself with work and the things you’d normally do for fun in the summer.”

  In a wry tone, Kyle said, “Sure. I might as well live it up for my last two weeks on Earth.”

  Amanda nodded. “And pray Dr. Rutlinger believes it.”

  Chapter 8

  Boomerang

  Kyle groaned and rolled over, throwing the too-warm covers off his sweating body. Another crappy nightmare. The sleeping pills had helped at first, but lately they were wearing off about halfway through the night. He’d have to ask his doctor to give him something stronger.

  He got up and turned off the alarm. It would have gone off at any moment anyway, so he figured he might as well get up. He had a standing appointment with Greg to go sailing on Sunday mornings, and he needed to get ready.

  After his conversation with Amanda the previous day, he had gone home and moved around the house like a zombie, trying to assimilate what he’d learned. How was he supposed to act like everything was normal? He was so scared that he could hardly think. He wanted to call Amanda and make sure she was working on his problem, but he knew pestering her would only piss her off and slow her down. She knew how serious this was. He had no choice but to trust her claim that he was her top priority. He had never felt so completely helpless.

  Kyle padded to the bathroom to use the facilities, get a drink of water, and wash his face. The drugs always left him feeling a little hungover the next morning, but that was better than how he’d feel after a totally sleepless night.

  He shook his head at his reflection in the mirror; it looked like a mug shot. He had dark circles under his eyes, his short brown hair was tousled from tossing and turning, and worry lines creased his brow.

  He leaned forward to closely inspect his eyes and th
en quickly backed away from the mirror. The amber ring around his irises had definitely widened. Soon people would start to notice. He could wear sunglasses on the boat today, but tomorrow he’d look pretty stupid wearing them while he worked at his computer.

  Staring at his reflection, he wondered how else the demon was changing him. He suspected that the nightmares were more than simply dreams—the demon was trying to take over his mind. Eventually, it would succeed and Kyle Nelson would cease to exist. Kyle closed his eyes and turned away from his waking nightmare.

  After a quick shower and shave, Kyle dressed for a day on the boat. To minimize the area he’d have to cover with sunscreen, he wore a long-sleeved t-shirt and cargo shorts. He was gathering his things and throwing them into his dry bag when he heard a car pull into the driveway. He peered through the kitchen window and saw Deputy Skyler Arpin stepping out of her cruiser.

  Spotting him through the window, she smiled and waved.

  She was one of the last people he wanted to talk with right now. But she knew he was here, so he couldn’t hide and pretend he wasn’t.

  Heart pounding with anxiety, Kyle went to the front door. He had to play this cool. Not wanting to invite her into his house, Kyle grabbed his stuff and went out onto the front porch as she was coming up the steps.

  “Good morning, Deputy Arpin. I was just heading out. Is there something I can do for you?”

  She smiled sweetly, and he saw past the uniform to the sexy woman he’d encountered at the Foundation the day before. Under other circumstances, he might have been attracted to her, but something about there being a demon behind her pretty face cooled his ardor.

  “I won’t keep you long,” she said. “Dr. Rutlinger asked me to come by and find out if you’ve decided to stay with us at the Foundation.”

  “Already? It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours.”

  “True, but it’s not that tough of a decision. You can always come back here, once you are feeling better.”

  Liar, Kyle accused silently. He kept his face impassive, not trusting himself to say anything yet.