A Cursed Moon
Page 15

Celia tensed as my hackles rose. A sudden chill overtook the air around us. She slipped off my lap. I stood, releasing the throaty growl rumbling my chest. Gray mist crept its way from the exits and crawled along the floor, thick enough to blanket the feet of the dancing patrons. The humans continued to bump and glide against each other, their steps growing louder as the music faded and the hairs on my arms curled tight against my skin.
The air grew denser, tightening my chest. Something had entered the club from all directions. I didn’t know what the hell it was, but knew we needed to get rid of it—fast.
“Do you feel that?” Celia whispered.
I nodded and motioned to the vamps. They’d stopped dancing and straightened, their keen sights taking everything in. “Your girlfriends felt it, too.”
“Can you tell what we’re dealing with?”
“No. But it’s nothing good. Looks like the spirits aren’t done for the night.”
Chapter Six
Celia pulled a cell phone out of her back pocket. “My phone’s dead. How about yours?”
I yanked out mine. “Yeah. The paranormal activity must be interfering with the electrical equipment.” The flashing strobe lights flickered in and out and music reached an abrupt end. I reached for her hand again. “Come on, let’s take a look around.”
We made our way through the crowd of sweating bodies. Celia stopped and tugged on my arm. “Bren, look.”
I hadn’t noticed the clubbers’ eyes. They stared expressionless at their partners, despite how hard their bodies moved against each other and to the beat of music that no longer played. “Shit. Their souls have been numbed.”
“What?”
“A poisonous spirit can paralyze a weak soul—especially if their prey is intoxicated. Think of a snake that’s bitten a rat. Makes the rat easier to eat.”
“Jesus,” Celia whispered taking in the swarm of drunk humans. “There are a lot of rats around here.”
Speaking of which. The she-vamps slinked their way around the bodies, charging to Celia’s side. “We have to get you out of here.”
The ice blonde reached for Celia but withdrew when Celia hissed. “I’m not going anywhere until we dispose of whatever entity has trapped the humans.”
Blonde bombshell shook her head. “We’ll deal with it once we get you back to the master.”
“No. It’ll take too long. I’m not risking some poor sap having his soul devoured.” Celia’s husky voice was absolute and she squared her jaw. “I’m staying to help Bren. And so are you.”
The blonde swore before whirling to face the chick with the dark pigtails and little glasses. “What are we dealing with here, Agnes?”
Agnes frowned. “I won’t know until we find it. It, they—whatever the hell is scattered around. We have to wait until one takes physical form to feed. It’ll entice the others to present in their physical forms and feast.”
“We have to wait until it chooses its prey?” Celia’s head whipped around. “Aw hell, there’s got to be a hundred people crammed in here.” She prowled toward the center. “Spread out in pairs. Bren, you’re with me.”
I pounded after her and almost ran her down when she stopped short. A stunning Latina with skin the color of warm chocolate and long black hair that dragged to her feet stood swaying in the middle of the floor watching Dan. His eyes remained partly in focus; unlike the other fools surrounding him, he wasn’t drunk and therefore not trapped in the spirits’ magic. He was, however, making an ass out of himself. In a mad effort to “wow,” Dan had thrown common sense, pride, and his balls out the window. There he stood in perfect nerd glory: one hand clasped behind his neck, the other square in front of him jerking erratically. He was, no lie, trying to impress the hot babe by doing the “the sprinkler.” If I wasn’t busy trying to find the evil that continued to burn my senses, I’d have slapped the shit right out of him.
The Latina’s head whipped in our direction, fast enough to toss the blanket of hair shrouding her naked form behind her. Black, unearthly, immortal eyes blinked back at us. She bared her jagged teeth and snarled, “Mine.”
Oh, hell no.
Dan’s hands dropped to his sides and his face blanched. Celia and I shoved aside a few bodies and bolted to him. “Get back, Dan!” I growled.
Celia disappeared in a blur of speed. My steps grew heavy, weaker, despite how hard and fast I tried to propel my body forward. The thick air solidified in my chest, smothering my wolf and forcing him to lose consciousness. I fought to stay alert and lift my feet while coaxing my beast to wake and rise.
The mist slithered up my thighs, morphing my muscles into lead and pulling them from my bones. I groaned from the strain. And still I pushed. I had to destroy the spirit. She’d chosen Dan. I had to save him . . .
A trumpet blasted and a second Latina stepped in front of me. Good God. This one was younger, no more than twenty, and the most beautiful being I’d ever laid eyes on. The muffled crunch of a fist meeting hard bone made me want to tear my gaze away from her. Someone . . . something screeched in agony as skin was punctured and sliced like beef. I thought I picked up Celia’s pained grunt. And still I kept my focus on the vision of sex and desire before me. The fight—or whatever was happening ahead of us—didn’t matter. Nothing did. The lovely lady standing before me became my world.
Long dark ringlets curved around her heart-shaped face and the swell of her br**sts. Brown perfect ni**les punctured like bullets through the sheer fabric of her white dress. She ran a hand between her legs and rubbed, adding enough friction to make her lids flutter.
She was offering herself to me. And who was I to deny her? We needed our bodies to join. It was the only way. The only way to end her suffering . . . and mine.
“Bren!” Celia flung herself at my love.
My love answered by punching her in the jaw and sending her reeling into me. I snatched Celia’s wrists with one of my hands when she lurched back to attack. She fought my hold, screaming, “Damn it, Bren, snap out of it!”
The woman approached me slowly, her smile widening and her ni**les taunting me to play. I jerked Celia to the side, extending my arm to keep her away from us and giving my lovely beauty space to work. She yanked my T-shirt over my head and flicked her tongue down my chest and toward the strain pounding against my jeans. Celia lurched forward and kicked her in the stomach, despite my best efforts to keep her still. My love responded with a growl then ignored Celia to return to me.