Daughter of the Tides, Servants of the Moon Book 2

Delilah wished well to the last petitioner she had seen as the dawn and moonset hovered over the rim of the crater. She smiled at Louis, “Another successful night. Are you looking forward to going home for your brother’s birthday?”Delilah wished well to the last petitioner she had seen as the dawn and moonset hovered over the rim of the crater. She smiled at Louis, “Another successful night. Are you looking forward to going home for your brother’s birthday?”

“Yes, Delilah… You know you could come with me,” he offered hopefully.

“Maybe next year. Enjoy your vacation for both of us, Louis,” Del yawned,

“You work too hard,” He admonished her.

She gave him an ‘oh really’ look, waving her finger between them, “Pot, kettle… Good journey, see you in a few weeks.”

Louis watched her going and longed for her to look at him the way she had once looked at his late brother. Back in his office, he looked at the lists of petitioners before scowling. Delilah’s names were tagged to a half dozen petitions every night. He decided it was time he did more than answer a phone call now and then. He was going to be more proactive in bringing about the future he wanted, a future that did not include his lovely Delphi working herself into exhaustion every night. He took a burner cellphone out of his drawer.

“Hello?”

“I want to talk to you about furthering our arrangement.”

“We’ll meet you at the place you selected then. When?”

Louis hesitated for a moment, there would be no going back. “And you give me your word, she won’t be hurt, that I can take her away?”

‘You have my word as an Alpha.’

“Tomorrow, 9AM.” The call disconnected and Louis breathed out slowly.

He went to his room and packed for a week, then caught the first morning ferry to the shore with the leaving petitioners. He got off the boat and walked through the crowd to a parking structure. Getting in his car, he drove east.

It had been a long day and night of driving. Louis nursed his third espresso in a row, he was about to leave when two blonde alphas sat across the table.

“Alpha Des Rues, where is your uncle?

“Petitioner Coordinator Louis Dolbeau, my brother Helios… Uncle Lothaire could not make it. Helios will be taking his position soon, you will be dealing with him from now on.” Charlemagne announced smoothly.

“Shouldn’t your uncle be the one to tell me,” Louis asked cautiously.

Helios scowled, “Our uncle is becoming unreliable, paranoid, unfortunately it looks like I will be assuming his duties sooner rather than later. He forgets things and becomes irrationally angry when reminded.” Helios sighed as if saddened by the revelation.

Charlemagne looked just as depressed. “If he calls you, answer his questions then call us so we can make sure he doesn’t get into trouble.”

The barista called out “Charlie” and Charlemagne got up to retrieve the coffees.

Helios looked intently at Louis. “So, how can my brother and I help you?”

Louis pressed his lips together but something about Helios made him want to talk, so he told the alpha son and next beta of Des Rues about Delilah and her visions of a werewolf war. Of her unnatural obsession with a sun-worshipping wolf and how she put herself at risk unnecessarily.

“You love her, and want her to retire from the Temple before she is harmed,” Helios observed, then he sat back nodding as if considering what to say next. “Louis, we had nothing to do with the attacks on the Delphi. Our father has been accused of many things he did not do simply because of the success and wealth of our pack.” He shook his head slowly. “The Moon blessed us because of our lineage and our enemies envy our good fortune.”

Louis nodded. “Montreal has the same problem.” Then he eyed Helios. “Why had no one heard of you before you became Alpha Charlemagne’s Beta?”

Helios’ eyes became hard, but Charlemagne answered. “Our father was indiscrete before his mating to my mother. He did not know about my half-brother until much later, but I am grateful for my brother. Our father’s wolf has always been unstable, especially since my mother died. I have tried several times to see the Delphi to petition for a vision to guide us, but she has been convinced our pack was responsible for the destruction of the Benjmin-Naphtal.”

“I could talk to her,” Louis offered.

“No, just stay close to her. We will help you protect her. The time of the Moon’s Temples is ending. We have heard the rumors too, about those who wish to destroy the temples and replace the worship of the moon.” Helios then asked a question that surprised Louis. “Do you still believe?”

“I…” Louis hesitated.

Helios stood up. “I’m sorry, we won’t help an unbeliever.”

“No, I believe… just not like Delilah believes. I don’t believe in the Servants or their methods. I don’t believe that we have no choice. If the Goddess loves us, then she would want us to be happy and with someone who loves us. She wouldn’t condemn someone to spend the rest of their lives alone, would She?” His doubt made him hesitate.

Charlemagne patted his brother’s arm. “It’s okay, Helios. I know Louis, he is a good wolf, like his brothers and father. He believes in the Goddess, not the temples. Please, sit back down.” As Helios sat, Charlemagne revealed, “I’m sorry, Louis. My brother’s faith is unique. He knows and believes the Goddess exist, even though he has been rejected by those who serve the Temples because his mother wasn’t a wolf. He tends to be very sensitive about those who doubt the existence of the Goddess.”

“My brother was the same way.” Louis gave them a tight smile then begged, “Please help me, Delilah has been forced into the life of the Delphi since she was twelve. She doesn’t realize how dogmatic it has become. Help me save her before she gets herself killed or kidnapped.”

The Des Rues brothers exchanged a silent glance then Helios spoke softly, “I apologize for doubting you, Louis. We will happily help you. As soon as we hear anything that might put Delilah in danger, we will come to help you protect her personally. You have our word.”

Louis thanked them and took another espresso for the road. Charlemagne grinned at his brother. “I can’t believe how gullible he is.”

Helios smirked over the lip of his cup before he gulped the burning contents. “It is a good thing for us that he is a doubter and blinded by his lust for the Delphi. We will now be able to know exactly where she is at any time.”

Charlemagne nodded, “I wouldn’t mind knowing where her sister is. She’s feisty.”

Helios growled slightly, but pretended concern, “You need to stay away from her, she almost left you sterile the last time you danced with her.”

Charlemagne tapped his chin, “I wonder if the Petitioner Coordinator knows the Delphi went on a date with a vampire the last time she was pretending to be her sister?”

Helios smirked, “I doubt Delphi Delilah realized the depth of Louis’ obsession with her. He will guide us straight to her and her sister when the time comes.”

“And when in that?”

Helios pretended to look at his watch, “In about a year, a month after the next winter solstice. But we need to lay low until then, no more covens or packs. It is time we start consolidating our own pack away from father’s… then we will collect our Lunas from the Moon’s Temples.”

“So, which of the twins do you want, the slut or the saint?” Charlemagne asked with a chuckle as they walked out to their Challenger sportscar.

Helios gave him an evil but knowing smile. “I want the same thing you want, brother… I want them both.”

They laughed as they roared off toward their next target.

It had been a year since any packs had disappeared, and the Augur Vampyr’s brother-in-law had brought two covens to the Moon’s Gate, from which they had been sent to Patmos. Jack stayed behind to try and find covenless vampires. The unnervingly quiet year since she had come face to face with Helios Des Rues and almost been taken had ended when finally he had made another move against a small but wealthy mining pack.

Del scowled as she and Essie stopped side by side. Kiayou’s wolf howled in grief as it and Ketsu’s wolf searched the burned-out buildings of the pack town for survivors. The wolves here had mounted a defense against the sunwitches. They had fought back with human weapons and killed several of the rogue wolves that followed the enemy. As revenge, the witches had burned all the cinderblock buildings with a heat that cracked the walls and scorched the landscaping.

Nyall flipped up the visor on his helmet as the twins took theirs off. Nyall pointed to a landslide on the other side of the small valley. “They moved to a more secure location after the attack on their sister pack outside Waterville three years ago. The whole pack disappeared then and only the Alpha’s daughter’s body was found in town weeks later. Alpha Garrett was determines that what happened to his sister’s pack wouldn’t happen to his. This time when the attack came only half the pack was caught. The rest escaped through the mine after blowing the entrance.”

“Nyall, I’m sorry. I should have had them moved to safety sooner.” Del sighed as Essie lit a cigarette. Del apologized because he had trained these wolves to fight in their skin and it had barely worked to stall the onslaught of witchcraft and corrupt wolves.

“He hadn’t acted in months, sis. We’ll get them to the Gate, then move them north. Marcus is waiting for them.” Essie flicked her cigarette and leaned back on her motorcycle.

“No, take them straight north. I don’t want anyone at the temples to know any survived. Not until I figure out who the spies are.” Del clenched her fists. All she could see was thorns growing among the Moon’s flowers on the temple walls, but not who had sown them.

“Come on, let’s go before the rain starts again.” Essie pulled on her helmet, stomped the starter and rode down to get Ketsu and Kaiyou, but Del just sat there staring out at the empty valley.

“Del, it isn’t your fault. We don’t know how they found this pack. They weren’t known to any other pack,” Nyall started.

“But they were known to the temples. I visited them last spring. They trusted the Servants to keep their secret.” She swung her leg over her bike and stalked to the edge of the road, pointing at the destroyed pack town. “How can I keep the faithful safe if the Sunwolf is always one step behind me?”

“Del…”

“How many pups died, Nyall?” Her tone trembled as she seemed to hunch down on herself. He kicked down the stand on his motorcycle and walked over to stand beside her.

“None… What happened to you and Zane… I told Alpha Garrett. He had evacuation protocols in place, drills they practiced for the moment their wolves left them. The juveniles and females got the pups to the mine and sealed it behind them.” Nyall put his hand on her shoulder, repeating, “It wasn’t your fault.”

“I made eleven small pups orphans because I didn’t see this… because I can’t see him…” She turned into his shoulder as her frustration overcame her and wept.

He hugged her, it was all he could do. “They aren’t all orphans, because ye sent me and Ketsu to train them, a half of their relatives survived.”

“But half died,” she sobbed.

Finally, she tried to step away, but he held her because his wolf didn’t want to let her go. Since she had barely escaped the Sunwolf, his wolf had become overly protective of her. “Look at me, Del. I know ye are hurting but ye can’t blame yeself. This war is beyond us, it is between the moon and the sun. Kaiyou keeps telling me to have faith, and that is all we need to win. Ye are the one who is our strongest warrior in that respect, but if ye lose faith, then we’re all lost. Ye are always telling me we can’t let the sun-worshipers win but if ye don’t believe it… if ye lose faith...”

Del breathed out slowly. “I’m sorry, I’m trying not to...” She looked up at him. “But sometimes I feel hopeless, like I am trapped alone between death and the Tides.”

His sky-blue eyes appraised her cornflower ones. The wind shifted around them and he was surrounded with the scent of purest snow and moonlight. Suddenly, his heart was pounding, almost painfully. “Ye are not alone, Delilah, ye’re never alone.”

Del broke eye contact and leaned her forehead on his chest. “Thank you, Nyall.” This time when she pulled away, he let her go.