Unleash The Moon (The Preternaturals Book 6) (24 page)

She took a deep breath and went up the stairs. It
was quieter than she remembered. The main living area was empty.
Ordinarily around this time it was loud with everyone chattering
away. It was as if the entire compound had fallen asleep or died
when she’d left.

Sydney wandered the halls until she found her
father’s study. The door was cracked just enough to let light out.
She knocked.

“Leave me in peace,” he growled.

“Dad?”

Anthony blurred to the door and jerked it off its
hinges. His eyes glowed red. He was livid, but he crushed her in a
hug, anyway. He quickly got control of himself and backed off. “I’m
sorry, did I hurt you?”

“A little,” Sydney lied. Something told her not to
show her hand too soon.

He shoved her sleeves up to inspect her arms for
bruises while she hoped he couldn’t tell what was different about
her.

“Where were you?” he demanded. “I sent out search
parties. One of them is still out looking for you. Your mother and
I have been worried sick. She’ll hardly eat. I’ve been giving her
my blood to keep her strong.”

Lie your ass off!

Her dad looked gaunt. She hadn’t been gone long, but
in that time the vampire had defied the laws of vampirism and
seemed to have aged decades.

Typically, she was a terrible liar, but with any
luck he’d be so happy to have her home, he’d believe anything she
could string together into a coherent sentence. And weren’t the
best lies peppered with truth?

“
Jacob kidnapped me. He made me
write the letter. He had some deal to be reunited with his family
by some magic users.”

“
I’ll torture him slowly. Then
I’ll kill him.”

“
He’s already dead.”

“
How did you get away?”

“
I didn’t.” And this was where she
had to tread carefully. Noah’s dad had probably been much cooler
about all this. “Do you remember Noah?”

“
The wolf?” Anthony
asked.

Sydney nodded, hoping her face didn’t give anything
more away. She hoped she didn’t look smitten.

“
How could I forget him. That
stupid pup wouldn’t leave your side when you were little.” The
bitterness edged into his voice. “I’d thought that perhaps if you
could feed from him you’d get stronger, but Cole wouldn’t have it.
Selfish asshole.”

She was tempted to confess the full story now. If it
had been her dad’s idea to let her drink from Noah, surely he
couldn’t be too upset if she was mated to him, but a cowardly voice
inside her head warned her not to tell.

“
He was being kept in the same
facility they kept me in. He recognized me and broke out and broke
me out with him.”

Anthony’s eyes narrowed as if he could see the
whirlwind romance unfolding before him. “And where is your wolf
hero now?” His eyes flashed, but he quickly covered it.

It was too late. Sydney had seen it. If Noah had
done anything more than just bust her out and bring her home, her
father would kill him.

“
He’s at your old
penthouse.”

A territorial growl.

Sydney pressed on. “We’re afraid the magic users
might come here. Cary Town looks abandoned, so maybe they did a
quick sweep and assumed everybody moved on, or maybe they’re making
plans and will show up when we least expect it. We’re having a
meeting tonight on the rooftop. The wards need to be stronger. We
need to rebuild the city.”

“
What is all this ‘we’? What are
you going to do, Syd? I love you, but you know your involvement
will be minimal. I think it’s for the best if you stay here at the
compound. I’ll go to the meeting. You need to stay where you’ll be
safe and conserve your strength.”

“
No way. I’m going.”

“
And why would you want to do
that? Sydney, if there is something you’re not telling me… If that
filthy wolf touched you, I will kill him.”

“
N-no, he didn’t. N-nothing like
that.”
Lie your ass off!
“I just
want to go.”

“
You will stay here. Your mother
has been beside herself.”

“
W-where is she?”

“
She’s in our room.”

Her parents’ room was underground at the end of the
hallway opposite from the stairs.

“
Charlotte, you have a visitor,”
Anthony said, pushing Sydney into the room.

Her mother bolted up in bed. “Syd? Is that you?”

“
It’s me.” Despite the lie she’d
told her father, the guilt over the truth ate at her now that she
was dealing with her mom. She’d wanted freedom, but not at this
expense.

“
When you’re father claimed me, he
said I’d never get sick. The big fat liar.”

Mystical bonds didn’t seem to cover the pain of
losing someone you loved.

The door slammed behind her, the lock turned into
place. Sydney banged against the steel. “Dad, open this door!”

“
Never! You are never leaving this
compound again!”

“
But Jacob…” If he believed her
story, how could he see any of this as her fault?

“
I don’t care. I don’t want you
near that wolf. If he risked life and limb to bring you back here
there can be only one thing he wants.”

“
Oh. My. God. Dad, I’m
twenty-seven. Who the hell cares if that’s what he wants? Do we
have to have the nun conversation again?”

“
Syd, I’m not in the mood for this
right now,” her dad growled from the other side of the door.
“Reynard is out here. We’ll figure out something for you to eat
when I return from this meeting.”

“
Dad! You’re being insane!” But
there was no response. He was already on his way to the
penthouse.

“
This is bullshit!” Sydney
shouted. “I am fucking going to that meeting!”

Her mother winced. “You know how your father gets.
You’re stuck here until he decides to open that door. With me in
here, it’ll be sooner rather than later. Be glad for that, at
least.”

Sydney sighed. “I hate to leave with you like this,
but I’m going. I need to be there with Noah.”

Charlee’s eyes were shrewd. “There’s something going
on with that wolf isn’t there?”

Sydney buckled and told her mother about the mating
link. She felt guilty, as if she’d run off to elope.

“
So, I have to be there. I can’t
leave my mate and pack alone to deal with everyone—not with Noah
just now being free after so long. He tries to hide it, but even
under the best circumstances he gets overwhelmed around too many
people. And tensions could be high.”

“
They always are when everyone
gets together. But that’s reinforced steel, you’ll
never—”

Sydney wasn’t sure if her mother had finished that
sentence because she’d already blurred to the door and pounded
through it. Her dad’s guard was waiting for her on the other side.
He startled, fumbling with his gun at human-speed. Sydney ripped
the weapon from his hand, emptied the chamber and took the
magazine. She’d at least learned something useful in her time at
the compound. She pushed him with all her strength.

He went flying through the air until his back hit
the wall at the end of the hallway and he slumped down, eyes
wide.

“
Don’t get up,” she said. “You
can’t take me.”

“
Sydney?”

She turned back to her mother. “I’d love to explain
this, but I have a meeting to get to.”

“
At least I know you can take care
of yourself. Be careful, and try not to rile your father up too
much. You know how he gets.”

“
Thanks, Mom.”

“
Watch out!” Charlee
said.

Reynard had gotten behind her and
was trying to put her in a choke hold. Sydney flipped him hard on
the concrete so hard his back cracked. Even with his mate’s blood,
he was looking at a good half hour healing time for that. “I
said
, stay down,” Sydney said. How he’d
managed to stay in her father’s employ with his sub par listening
skills was anybody’s guess.

Sydney blurred out of the building and didn’t slow
until she reached the Cary Town Luxury Apartments. A few of the
more intimidating male pack members stood outside the front door.
They nodded as she approached.

“
If a vampire shows up with dark
hair and thick eyebrows
…
looks sort of like a caveman, acts sort of like a
caveman
…
don’t
let him in. He’s not on the guest list.”

“
Yes Ma’am,” one of them said and
saluted.

“
Don’t salute. This isn’t a
military installation.”

He shrugged, and she went inside. It was still hard
to get used to the way the place had fallen into disrepair, but the
wolves had already been hard at work on it. She had no idea what
they’d used for cleaning products. She’d heard a few of the girls
were quite crafty, maybe they’d made something, but it was obvious
they’d been hard at work on the lobby.

The cobwebs had been cleared away and the mirrors
gleamed as much as they could at this stage. Everything was clean,
but it was still dark as a tomb without electricity. One of the
wolves had helpfully put an “out of order” sign on the elevator, as
if anyone would try to utilize it.

She took the stairs two at a time to the sixth floor
where a few more pack members were stationed. They nodded, but
happily no one saluted this time.

She was surprised they’d cleaned the hallway and the
penthouse. The rotted peach smell was gone. She could get used to
being part of an alpha pair. Still more pack wolves stood outside
the stairs leading to the roof.

“
Let me guess, we have more goons
at the top?”

Milo smirked. “Nothing gets by you.”

“
Nice job on the clean-up by the
way,” she said.

“
No problem. We still have a lot
of work, but we at least wanted to get the areas guests would
see.”

“
Is everybody here?”

“
I think so. Noah gave me a list,
but there were a couple of unexpecteds.”

Sydney raised a brow. “Oh?” They must have been okay
if they’d been waved up.

“
Yeah, but we knew
them.”

“
How did
you
know them?”

“
Small world, I guess, but it was
that witch that gave us our music and her panther.”

Weird.

Sydney took the last flight of stairs two at a time.
She was halfway up them when she heard the vampire king roar “What
the fuck do you mean she’s your mate!?!”

Maybe she should slink away, but her conscience got
the better of her. She couldn’t leave Noah alone with her dad,
especially since her mate’s new immortality was just as conditional
as hers.

The metal door clanged against the brick wall,
announcing her arrival.

“
Sydney? You didn’t tell
him?”

The wounded look on Noah’s face nearly killed her.
As if she’d betrayed him or as if he didn’t matter to her now that
they were all back home.

“
Well… I mean… He already locked
me in the compound with a vampire guard when I
didn’t
tell him. What do you think he would have done
with more information?”

Noah growled, the fur starting to crop up on his
arms. Sydney rushed to stand between her father and her mate. “We
have more important stuff to deal with.”

The vampire king suddenly looked more pained than
angry. “I’m so disappointed in you Syd. I can’t believe you’d let a
wolf…”

She knew it was wrong, but she shoved her father
like she’d shoved his guard. He flew across the rooftop until he
landed against the brick wall. Everyone went quiet.

The king looked up, and for a second she thought
she’d only made things worse.

“
You’re strong,” he
said.

“
Yeah.”

Anthony got up and blurred to her, crushing her in a
hug. “You’re strong!”

Was he actually crying?

“
Okay, dad. It’s getting a little
weird.”

Anthony backed off and wiped his face with the back
of his hand. She’d never seen a display of emotion like this from
him, and suddenly it became clear what her mother saw in him.
Despite all their romantic behavior, it had always seemed like an
act with her father. And now she realized why. She’d never seen him
show a strong emotion except for anger. This was the first time
she’d seen him cry.

There was another moment of frozen silence, as if
everyone assembled had been put on pause. But then Anthony cleared
his throat and took a seat at the table.

That was it? She’d expected that he would never
accept Noah as her mate. She’d expected him to try to drive them
apart or keep her under lock and key, that it might even come to
bloodshed, that she might have to go far away and never speak to
him again.

“
Well?” he said pointedly at Noah,
“Don’t we have important things to discuss?”

Noah was as weirded out as Sydney, but in an odd way
it felt as if the vampire king had actually just given his
blessing. Or as close to it as they were going to get.

Cole, was another matter. Now that the vampire
king’s threat had been neutralized, it only drew more attention to
the werewolf alpha who still seemed unhappy with the situation. He
growled quietly from his seat, his eyes golden and deadly.

“
Look on the bright side,” Anthony
said, “We’re permanent allies now.”