Blood Moon's Servant: A Paranormal Thriller Read online

  Zack began a hilarity-inducing game. He secretly paid a slew of his younger cousins to dance with Susan while he and Amy giggled on the sidelines. Each time Amy’s sister freed herself from one dance partner, another hopeful preteen waited to take his place. Susan grew exponentially more flustered with each new admirer.

  “Are you paying those boys to torture my sister-in-law?” Clarisse had snuck up on them with Justin at her side. Susan’s current partner, a gangly thirteen-year-old over a head taller than she was, twirled her energetically. Her onyx hair swished against her crimson cheek.

  “I’m not.” Amy struggled to keep a straight face. “It’s all Zack!”

  Justin lifted an incredulous brow. “Sure, it is.”

  “Come on, bro, I bet you used to pay guys to dance with me.”

  “No, sis. I used to pay guys not to dance with you.”

  Zack shared a smile with Clarisse as Amy and Justin laughed together. The Evans siblings so rarely brought up their painful past that it made every brief mention special. Zack enjoyed their stories and was careful not to intrude. If he had learned anything from dating Amy, it was that space was essential. Space to share. Space to keep silent. Space to remember her past for both the good and the bad that it was.

  “You look amazing.” Amy awarded Clarisse with a genuine smile. “And what’d I tell ya, your wedding was perfect.”

  “You look pretty good yourself. I knew you’d rock that dress.”

  “Yeah, thanks for that by the way.” Zack draped an arm around Amy and smirked at her brother. Since he and Justin were dating each other’s sisters, they had decided being annoyed at suggestive comments was pointless. Instead, they slipped them in more frequently when together, as if keeping score in an entirely inappropriate game.

  Justin flashed a wicked grin. “I like your dress too, Clarisse. But honestly, I’m more looking forward to taking it off.”

  “God, Justin!” Amy covered her mouth with a hand.

  “Ha! Evans, one. Donnellson, zero.”

  “Hey.” Zack choked. “You don’t know what we have planned for later.”

  “A red-eye flight to Vancouver is what you have planned.” Clarisse gave a triumphant toss of her platinum hair.

  “Planes have bathrooms.” Zack winked.

  Justin blanched. “My little sister would not do it on an airplane.”

  Amy flashed him an evil grin. “Zack can be very persuasive.”

  Justin looked nauseous. “I am going to try very, very hard to forget this conversation ever happened.”

  Zack did his best to keep a straight face. Amy and Clarisse took the suggestive commentary way too far.

  Clarisse’s eyes twinkled as she slipped her arm through Justin’s. “Anyway, we have our own flight to catch.” The couple had a honeymoon awaiting them in Hawaii.

  The newlyweds had rented a condo in downtown Vancouver. They had both lived in the city for years and neither wanted to part with their mild west coast winters. Zack and Amy were going to be a quick car ride away once they settled in at school. Everything was changing, and Zack was bursting with excitement for it all to begin.

  Amy hugged her brother goodbye. “Have a safe flight. I’ll text you when we land.”

  “Just so long as you spare the details of the time in between. Hope your first week at UBC goes well.” He turned to Clarisse. “I’m gonna go find Sue to say goodbye in private. Meet you at the limo.”

  Zack gave his sister a tight squeeze. “Enjoy married life, and your vacation. You’ve earned it!” Clarisse had graduated from law school last week and was due to begin her year-long articling position the day after she returned from her honeymoon. Then, she faced writing the bar exam at the end of an intensive study period. Zack had every confidence she’d make an excellent lawyer. He only worried she worked too hard.

  He and Amy joined Chris, Susan, and a crowd of wedding guests who had gathered to hurl rice at the happy couple. Susan and Chris quickly digressed into throwing rice at each other, and it turned into a free-for-all against a swarm of Zack’s younger cousins.

  Amy touched his arm. “Zack, look at the time. We gotta go or we’ll miss our flight.”

  “Right.” Zack waved at his parents to catch their attention. “Amy and I have to split.”

  His mom wrapped him in a smothering embrace, and his dad surprised Amy with a hug goodbye. “We’ll miss your spunk.”

  She laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll be happy for the break by tomorrow.”

  “What?” Susan rushed to Amy and threw herself into her big sister’s arms. “You’re leaving already? It can’t be time yet.” Susan had taken the news of Amy’s cross-country move with grace and maturity. She had wished her the best and promised to text her every day. Her calm acceptance had crumbled in the blink of an eye.

  “I have to, or I’ll miss my flight.” Amy hugged her sister, her own eyes welling up.

  Susan burst into tears and clung to Amy like she would never let her go. Zack led his parents away to give the girls some privacy.

  “She’s so good with her.” Mrs. Evans trailed after them with a wistful sadness in her eyes.

  “Give her time.” Zack’s mother embraced her and passed her a tissue.

  Zack eyed Mrs. Evans with a mixture of frustration and pity. Amy had treated her mother’s years of drinking and rehab with a kindness and understanding far beyond her eighteen years. Susan had not been so accommodating. With a sister like Amy to care for her and love her, she had no need for the mother who had turned her back on her as a child. Susan and her mother had spent next to no time together since Mrs. Evans’s recovery a year and a half ago. This placed Amy in the awkward position of trying to help them bond, something Susan had resisted at every turn. Amy was leaving behind a mother and sister who barely knew one another. How were they going to manage without their buffer? Zack shook his head. At least they weren’t Amy’s problem anymore. Moving Amy away from her family drama had been a big part of why he had pushed to go to UBC. Too many people relied on her for far more than was healthy. She needed to worry about herself for a change.

  Chris wended his way through the crowd and glommed onto the girls’ hug. Susan laid her head on his shoulder and sobbed into his dress shirt. Amy threw him a grateful look and patted Susan’s back. Her eyes shown with a fierce, loving loyalty that stole Zack’s breath. Amy was one in a million. He couldn’t believe his luck that she was his. Happiness welled in his heart like a warm, peaceful spring

  Mrs. Evans grasped his arm. “Please take care of my little girl.”

  Zack jerked his gaze to her, startled. “She’s more than capable of taking care of herself. But don’t worry. I’ll look out for her, I promise.”

  “You’re so good to her.” She threw her arms around him.

  Zack awkwardly returned her hug and shot Amy a panicked glance over the top of her mother’s head. “Time to go, babe.” He extricated himself from the group of emotional parents and made a B-line for his silver Maserati.

  “You just called me babe in front of my mother.” Amy slammed the passenger-side door with an irate swish of her ebony hair.

  “Sorry, babe.” His voice was full of laughter. They waved goodbye to their families and friends and set off for the airport. Zack cranked Bon Jovi and shared a smile with Amy. They were starting a new chapter together, one without parents breathing down their necks and little siblings to look after. His future was bright as long as Amy was a part of it.

  “I thought security was going to kick you off this flight.” Amy giggled as she squeezed past Charles to take the seat by the window.

  “And I thought you both had been swallowed by Justin’s wedding.” Charles Banks, one of their best and closest friends, stood to give Zack the seat next to Amy. Charles was five foot five and skinny with short strawberry blond hair and amazing, forget-me-not blue eyes. He was also one of the smartest people Zack had ever met. His acceptance to UBC had been no surprise to anyone.

  “Ar
e you going to be okay until takeoff?” Amy was still giggling.

  Airport security had found a water bottle in his carry-on luggage. Zack had had to chug the entire liter to avoid missing their flight. He was about to explode, and Amy talking about it was making it that much worse.

  Zack opened his mouth to shut her up. The frantic buzzing of his phone did the job for him. Ken’s beaming face appeared on his screen. He answered the call with an amused smirk. Drunken Ken was a sight to behold. “Hey, man. Miss me already?”

  “Dude.” Ken’s voice echoed like he had his head in a toilet. “I did something really, really stupid.”

  Zack rolled his eyes. “What now?”

  “I cheated on Jessie. Slept with Raquel.”

  “You did what?” Amy whipped around in her seat at such intense velocity, she looked like a puppet whose strings had been yanked. Zack avoided making direct eye contact with her. She was a furious puppet.

  “Oh God!” Ken sounded near death. “Amy heard that?”

  “Yeah, we’re on the plane.”

  “Sir, I have to ask you to put your phone away.” A redheaded flight attendant had stopped by their row.

  He shot her an apologetic look. “Just one second.”

  “I’m an idiot,” Ken said.

  “Got that right.” Amy skewered his phone with a red-hot glare. Zack waited a beat for it to burst into flames.

  He tried in vain to think up words of comfort. Amy had to tell Jessie what Ken had done. The best friend code was clear on that. Jessie deserved to know. At least he wouldn’t have to be the one to break the news. Zack gazed up to the ceiling and rolled his eyes. They had all known deep down that the couple would not survive the distance, but none of them had expected Ken to screw it up so fast.

  “Look, man, I have to turn off my phone. I’ll call you when we land. We’ll work this out, okay?”

  A toilet flushed, and the line went dead. Zack switched his phone to airplane mode and shoved it into his pocket. Ken knew he was lying. There was no fixing this mess. Jessie had too much self-respect to stay with him. He had lost her as surely as he had lost the contents of his stomach.

  “Unbelievable!” Lightning bolts of rage shot from Amy’s gray eyes. “Jessie isn’t even gone eight hours before he cheats.”

  Four

  PETER JENKINS WALKED the streets of Toronto without a dollar to his name and nothing but the clothes on his back. And yet, he felt better than he had in years. The air was fresh, the sunshine bright. Freedom tasted better than he ever imagined possible. He was homeless, friendless, and very nearly penniless, but he was free.

  He ambled up to a bus stop and scanned the schedule for routes exiting the city. He might be free, but he was also a target. Peter had betrayed Assassin’s Honor, the gang his father had started and he had once belonged to, by saving Susan and cooperating with the police. He was top on their hit list now that he had been released. Distance was his best shot at safety.

  He shaded his eyes and shot a quick glance over his shoulder. Seeing Susan had simultaneously flooded him with happiness and put him further on edge. The little girl, now practically a teenager, reminded him more of his own sister every time they spoke. A lump formed in his throat. How old would Julia be now? Sixteen? No, she would have turned seventeen last month. Time was flying by, the years unraveling behind him like so much wasted string. Peter scrubbed a hand over the stubble on his chin and squared his shoulders against his grief. He was done wasting time. Susan’s visit had been a breath of fresh air, a parting gift from the city that had stolen it all. He swallowed his depression with years of practiced pain and traced a westward route along the bus line. He was long overdue for a fresh, new start.

  “Fancy seeing you here.”

  Peter jerked his gaze toward the cheerful exclamation. His former cellmate, Damien Brown, was leaning against the bus shelter as if he hadn’t a care in the world.

  Damien looked nothing like a stereotypical ex-con. He was far too pretty, for one, with his clean-shaven face and compassionate emerald green eyes. But his life’s mission was to downplay his good looks in favor of becoming a chameleon. He used his average height and average build to wear outfits so painstakingly average he blended effortlessly into the background. Today, his charcoal shirt and black slacks were as anonymous as his casual pose.

  “What the?” Peter squinted at him in openmouthed shock. Damien had vanished from his and Peter’s cell three nights ago. Peter had assumed he had been thrown into solitary again and hadn’t thought much of his disappearance except to regret the absence of a goodbye. Damien escaping had never crossed his mind.

  “I know. I have mad skills.”

  This dude, the only friend Peter had made on the inside, had initially kept to himself in a permanent state of paralyzing shyness. Most inmates struggled to assert their dominance in prison society, but Damien had fought to fly under the radar. Socially awkward convicts were few and far between. Peter had appreciated having a normal cellmate for once and earned Damien’s loyalty by backing him up in an unfair fight. His shyness had faded, and they had become an inseparable team. It was a mark of how screwed up Peter’s life had been that the best friend he had ever had was an ex-con.

  “How did you? Where have you?” Peter asked.

  “I’ll explain on the way. We’ve got a flight to catch.”

  “A flight? Where do you think we’re going?”

  “Sunny Vancouver.”

  “Isn’t it rainy Vancouver?”

  “Whatever. I’ve hung around here longer than I’d like waiting for you to get released. Vancouver is the furthest, easiest place to go without leaving the country. Plus, I got accepted to UBC before I got arrested.”

  Peter gawked at him in openmouthed awe. Damien’s smarts were off the charts. Had he hacked into a police database and destroyed his criminal record? Damien simply grinned and strode off down the sunny sidewalk.

  Peter trailed after him in a state of confusion. “Why were you waiting for me to be released?”

  Damien mimed being shot through the heart. “You’re my best friend. Also, I needed someone able to interact with the public.”

  Peter snorted. “What a touching sentiment.”

  “Hey, it got you a free flight out of here.”

  Peter nodded. He couldn’t argue with that. Damien was Bill Gates loaded. He had either inherited a small fortune or robbed the queen. The first sparks of excitement whizzed through his veins. Damien had everything Peter needed to make a brand-new start.

  Peter caught up to him and quirked a cautious smile. “What’s your last name now? Damien Green?”

  “How’d you guess?”

  Damien had been pulled over for speeding back in June, and the cops had arrested him for driving under the influence. His sentence had grown infinitely more severe upon the discovery of his previous criminal record and unserved jail time. That was as much as Damien had chosen to share. He never talked about his past, and Peter never pried. He, too, had plenty he kept quiet. Like the fact that his dad was a world-renowned criminal and his high school friends were either in prison for murder, responsible for a rape, or dead. His stomach churned with acidic guilt. Peter wished the lot of them dead. His father. His former buddies. Everyone who had ever hurt someone and walked away like it didn’t matter.

  Peter clenched his fists. His anger was much harder to swallow than his depression. It had always been that way with him. It was infinitely simpler to feel other’s pain than deal with his own. He was okay if everyone around him was okay. And if they weren’t, Peter wasn’t either.

  Luckily, or unluckily for him, his circle of friends had shrunk to near extinction in recent years. Damien was the only one left. Damien, with his own painful past and his bottomless stash of secrets.

  Damien’s eyes were naturally electric blue, but when he got arrested in June, he had been wearing brown colored contacts and living under the alias, Damien Brown. He had changed his last name after his first arrest and esc
ape and altered his eye color to match his new identity. Ludicrous last names had become their ongoing joke. Peter had wiled away the hours in their cell by teasing him about his next eye color and fake last name. Damien’s eyes now gleamed a vibrant emerald green, a stark contrast to his pitch-black hair.

  “Aren’t you afraid of someone cluing into the pattern? I’d rather not go back to prison for assisting a fugitive.” Peter thought the world of Damien, but prison had left its scars, both figurative and literal. He wasn’t taking any chances with his parole.

  “Relax, will ya? They’d never guess I’d be dumb enough to continue naming myself after the color of my eyes.”

  “What is your real last name, anyway?”

  “I don’t have to tell you all my secrets.”

  “I bet it was Damien Blue.”

  “Could be.”

  “Or Yellow. Or Pink. Maybe Turquoise?” Peter cracked a smile.

  “Turquoise! Talk about a stupid last name.”

  Peter snorted. “You’d rather Damien Pink? That one makes you sound like a gay male stripper.”

  “I have one! How about Damien Sparkle.” Damien suggested this in an offhand tone as if Sparkle was a perfectly respectable surname. A split second later, both boys were laughing.

  “No one would ever guess you were an ex-con. Maybe you should find sparkly contacts after your next escape and try it out.”

  Damien shoved his shoulder. “Thanks for assuming I’ll get arrested again.”

  Happiness lifted Peter’s heart high above the city. He had one great friend. He needed no one and nothing else.

  Airport security was a walk in the park. They arrived at their gate with time to spare. Peter flopped into a seat next to Damien and let the tension in his muscles fade. The hard part was behind them. He flicked his gaze over the quiet rows of seats, and his heart leapt into his throat. Charles Banks, a kid he had beaten up countless times in school, sat a mere three rows in front of them. A lump of dread formed in his chest and sank slowly into his stomach. Charles was going to make a scene, prompt awkward questions about Damien, and land them both back in prison. His insides curdled at the thought. Peter darted his gaze away from Charles and studied a plane preparing for takeoff with military intensity.