CHAPTER ONE

The room behind the stone wall was now a jumbled mess of shattered glass, dust, and rock.

And the air was filled with lots of tension, as if it were reflecting the turmoil inside me.

Turmoil because Ezra had just vanished like a bad magic trick. Now Magnus stood there, clad only in his white boxer shorts with my mother’s red lipstick smears all over his ridiculous chest. Gray, aka Valerian Shadowbane , still hung suspended in midair, and what was once his glass prison now lay in a million shards around us.

“Kate?” Gray asked, pulling my attention back to him. “I don’t understand,” he started, shaking his head as he looked from me to the chaos surrounding us.

“I don’t… either,” I managed to reply, trying to make sense of everything that had just happened. But even as I replayed the events that had culminated in this moment, they still didn’t make much sense. Ezra had been here, and he’d attempted to kill Gray with an onyx blade made of shadows. Actually, Ezra would have succeeded in killing Gray if I hadn’t interfered by yanking the blade out of Gray’s chest. Then faced with the enormous hemorrhaging chest wound, I’d offered Gray my new healing powers by way of the blood in my wrist. Of course, Ezra didn’t know I’d saved Gray, because he’d simply vanished into the ether as quickly as he’d appeared. So that left me with one panic-inducing question—would Ezra realize he’d fa iled in his task to assassinate his former leader? And, if so, would he return to ensure the deed was done?

At the stinging sensation coming from my wrist, I glanced down to where Gray had just bitten me with his two vampire fangs. As I watched, almost mesmerized, a rivulet of red coursed down my hand, staining the floor beneath me. Looking back up at Gray, I noticed his fangs had retreated until his canines appeared no different than mine. Well, maybe they were a little bit pointier.

“Kate, get away from him!” Luke’s voice cut through the din of my thoughts, reminding me that he was still standing there. Feeling as if I were in slow motion, I turned to look at him and could only comprehend the mix of anxiety and concern in his eyes.

I was about to try to explain the situation as best as I could, but words completely failed me. I didn’t know where to even start.

“Kate,” Gray whispered my name again, pulling my attention back to him. Clearly, he had no idea where he was nor what was going on. As far as Gray was concerned, he’d just found himself rudely yanked out of the garden prison where he’d been interred for the last few decades, courtesy of my Aunt Artemis, only to be thrust back into the real world with no explanation.

“What have you done?” Luke yelled at me, snatching my attention once again. His usually kind, chocolate eyes were now wide with confusion as his gaze shifted from Gray to the blood dripping down my arm, and then back to my face again. I could see the cogs turning in his head as he attempted to make sense of the fact that not only was Valerian Shadowbane alive, but I’d been the one to make it so.

“I did what Artemis wanted me to do,” I replied, my voice firm despite my own uncertainty—I mean— was this what Artemis wanted me to do? I hoped so, because otherwise, I’d just landed all of us in a huge heap of stinking shit.

Luke shook his head, anger and disbelief flashing through his eyes. But there was something else there too—distrust—as though he couldn’t even begin to comprehend my words—as if there were no way he could lend credence to the idea that Valerian had repented for his evil ways and was no longer the man he’d formerly been.

Meanwhile, Magnus moved towards Gray with deadly intent in his narrowed eyes .

“Stop!” I yelled at him, shaking my head. “He’s not the man you think he is!” I then screamed at Luke, giving him the same urgent expression.

“He’s Valerian,” Luke answered simply and Magnus nodded, continuing to approach.

“No,” I insisted. “He’s changed. And that’s the exact reason why Ezra staked him!”

“I don’t understand what’s happening or where I am,” Gray stammered, his eyes darting between me, Magnus, and Luke. If he were just playing a part, he was damned believable. But judging by the absolute shell-shocked expression on his face, I realized that my initial estimation of the situation was spot on—Gray wasn’t acting. He was absolutely confused, and he was afraid. And that had to mean he was no longer Valerian. In fact, I was pretty sure he still had no clue who he was.

“This is all a lie, Kate. It’s all an act,” Luke insisted, shaking his head when I turned to face him. “We can’t trust him.”

It was then that Luke advanced towards Gray, and with Magnus closing in from the other side, I realized there was no time to waste. “Stop!” I shouted as I held my palms out towards each one of them. Yes, I could have temporarily paused time but that wasn’t going to do much because I’d just have to restart it again and they’d be equally as murderous as they were right now.

With my heart pounding hard in my chest, I leaped in front of Gray, shielding him with my own body. “Both of you, stop moving—right now!” I continued, glaring at them both. “This isn’t the same Valerian Shadowbane you knew.”

“He is one and the same,” Luke argued, shaking his head and the look he gave me was just as angry as the one I was giving him.

“No. He’s a different man.”

“Why do you think that?” Luke demanded.

“Because Artemis gave him time to repent in his prison, which is the only reason he’s here—barricaded in a glass case, behind a stone wall—and not rotting in a grave somewhere,” I continued as I glowered at him. “Furthermore, Ezra just tried to kill him, so doesn’t that tell you something?”

My words seemed to strike a chord, and both Luke and Magnus stopped approaching. But while Luke wore the expression of someone who didn’t appear completely convinced, Magnus looked… well constipated .

“Maybe it was just a trick,” Luke argued, his voice tense.

“A trick?” I nearly laughed.

He nodded. “Ezra could have made it look like he wanted to kill Valerian, just so we’d trust Valerian—so we’d believe Valerian was a changed man.”

“Why?” I demanded, shaking my head.

“So we’d keep Valerian here, inside this castle. It was a trick, designed to make us protect our enemy.”

I met Luke’s gaze, still shaking my head but this time with conviction. “It wasn’t a trick, Luke. You know that as well as I do.”

“I don’t know that.”

I further narrowed my eyes at him. “Ezra not only wanted to kill Gray, but he would have if I hadn’t interfered. You saw the same thing I did—Ezra stabbed him, then disappeared. That was no trick.” My eyes then locked onto Magnus’s, who’d dropped the ‘I need to poop’ look in preference of an ‘I’m ready to pounce again’ expression. I gave him a copy of the glare I was giving Luke. “Now back the fuck up.”

Magnus hesitated for a moment, but when I raised my eyebrows at him, he eventually relented, stepping away from Gray with a begrudging nod. Then he turned to face Luke with a shrug that indicated he had no idea what to make of the events that had just assaulted us like a freaking hurricane.

Before I could say another word, a new voice joined in the fray.

“Was that an earthquake?!”

My mother suddenly stepped through the gigantic hole in the stone wall—a hole that had been blasted by Magnus when he’d forced his way into the room. As soon as I saw my mother, my heart dropped to the floor then started beating double-time. Why? Because she wasn’t supposed to see this. She wasn’t a Daughter of the Moon, she wasn’t magic, and didn’t even know magic existed. Which meant she wouldn’t understand.

Son of a freaking bitch…

“Kate?” she asked, as her attention moved from admiring the breadth of Magnus’s back (because he hadn’t bothered to turn around at her entrance, instead fastening his attention narrowly on Gray) to my absolutely horrified face.

I was so flummoxed, I couldn’t even say a word. Instead, I just stood there like an idiot, barely taking in the fact that my mom was dressed like she was planning to attend a local BDSM party. Seeing the black leather corset that cinched her waist and the silver buckles and lacing that was done up as tight as tight it could be, I could only wonder how she was able to breathe. Not to mention the bright red, vinyl booty shorts that were cut in such a way that the entirety of her ass had to be hanging out in the back. Add to that the thigh-high, black leather stiletto boots that were over seven inches tall and she reminded me of a stilt-walker on her first day at the circus. Just standing there, she appeared wobbly—if someone breathed on her a little too hard, I was more than sure she’d fall over.

“Kate?” she repeated. “ Was that an earthquake?”

“Earthquake,” I said as I sounded out the two syllables until they made four.

“Magnus, Baby, can you please explain why my daughter’s brain is missing?” Mom demanded as she started to take a step closer to him, but then thought better of it and pressed her hand on the wall in order to stabilize herself. That was when I noticed the long, fingerless red vinyl gloves that extended past her elbows.

“The Daughter of the Moon’s brain is missing?” the colossal idiot bellowed in a voice that sounded like another earthquake, only this one was centered in his chest. Then he turned his now ire-filled expression to the only man in the room who could be blamed for destroying my brain.

“The Daughter of the what?” Mom repeated, frowning.

Well, this situation had quickly gone from bad to worse. “Magnus, my brain is fine,” I said to the behemoth who then studied me like he was trying to decide as much for himself. I turned to face my mom then. “I know this looks,” I started and then lost the words because I wasn’t even sure how the situation looked. “Crazy,” I eventually settled on as I figured that was probably the best word for it.

My mother’s attention moved to my face and the expression of surprise was almost perceptible through her dark grey eyeshadow and the eyeliner that was winged at such an angle that her eyes looked like twin airplanes taking off in opposite directions.

“Crazy?! This is wayyyy more than crazy!” she started, her eyes scanning the room as if taking inventory of the bizarre scene before her. It was then that I noticed her lipstick was smeared all over her teeth. And the fuchsia pink offensively clashed with the red of her hair—hair that was so teased, she looked like a peacock that had just been electrocuted .

“I can explain,” I started, even though that was the biggest lie of the century.

“A sex dungeon?” Mom continued, shaking her head while she turned to take in the room from the other direction.

“What?!”

I actually wasn’t sure if she was more disappointed that there was a ‘sex dungeon’ in my new ‘house’ or that said sex dungeon had been destroyed.

“Apparently, my sister was into some pretty kinky-doodle stuff,” Mom prattled on, her gaze now fixed on the remnants of what remained of the ‘dungeon.’ And it didn’t surprise me that she’d assume that’s what this room was—I mean, with the candle sconces appended to the stone walls, it had that sort of feel. “Or, Katie, does this sex dungeon belong to you?”

“What?!” I repeated, but my mind was so overwhelmed by everything that had just happened, I couldn’t even defend myself.

“I’m not sure what’s worse,” Mom persisted, throwing her hands into the air as she shook her head before stabilizing herself on a massive boulder just beside her. “My posthumous sister being a fetish weirdo, or my daughter becoming one! ”

“Mom, this isn’t what you think,” I finally said after I got my tongue to work.

She minced her way carefully over the glass and rubble from the destroyed wall, her black boots threatening to teeter and send her plunging to the ground. With a little wobble, she paused and her eyes shifted up to Gray, who was still floating in the air by seemingly nothing, as naked as the day he was born.

“And who do we have here?” she asked.

“Hello,” Gray replied, appearing as awkward as I felt.

Mom’s eyes, meanwhile, traveled the length of his face, to his pecs, then his abdomen and further south. Once her attention settled on his man meat, she couldn’t seem to pry her gaze away, an appreciative smirk playing at the corners of her mouth. That is, until she seemed to remember the fact that there was a naked man suspended in my supposed sex dungeon.

“Katie-Bear,” she started as she turned to face me, propping both her hands on her hips, “why is there a naked, hanging man in your fetish dungeon? ”

I inhaled deeply and tried to ignore the headache that was beginning between my temples. “It’s not—”

“—is this illegal, or did he actually choose to be here?”

“Mom, can we just... not talk about this right now, please?” I started to reply, feeling my face flush with mortification. Her attention shifted to Magnus then, who stood so still and silent, it looked like he was doing his best to imitate a statue.

“Did you know about this, Magnus Honey?” Mom asked, looking disappointed—probably because he hadn’t told her.

“Did I know… what?” the ape replied.

“That Katie abducted this… this poor, homeless man?” Mom answered as she rolled her hand in Gray’s general direction.

“Homeless man?” I repeated. “What are you talking about?”

“Did you offer him dinner or cash? Maybe drugs?”

“What? Neither—nothing! I didn’t give him anything!” I insisted.

She shook her head like this was all such a shame. “Gave him maybe twenty bucks, then stripped him of what little clothing he, no doubt, used to have,” Mom continued, still shaking her head like she’d just discovered her daughter was the worst of all offenders, “and then suspended him in her sex dungeon… and all very illegally?” Then she looked at Magnus again. “Well, what do you have to say about this?”

Magnus scowled, his eyes darting between my mother and me. “I was not aware that my enemy was in this castle, nor was I aware he was naked,” he replied tersely.

“And why didn’t you know?” Mom demanded.

Magnus never took his eyes off mine. “Your daughter did not see to it that I was informed.”

“Because I’m only just finding out now! Jesus!” I yelled at him—well, and her too for that matter. God, as colleagues or partners or teammates or whatever the hell we were (certainly not friends) went, Magnus was the absolute worst!

Mom narrowed her eyes at the place where the ‘abducted man’ still hung suspended. “What is he even hanging from? And why does he have an IV?” She looked at me then. “Are you feeding him drugs to keep him subdued?”

“Oh, my God,” I groaned, shaking my head. “Mom— ”

She nodded, her eyes still on Gray. “Benzodiazepine, if I had to guess.”

“I’m not even going to ask how you know—” I started, but Mom interrupted.

“—clearly, you’re in trouble with the police or if you aren’t yet, you soon will be, Kate,” she continued, breathing in deeply as she shook her head as if the discovery that her daughter was a kidnapper and a sex fiend was no more than a big embarrassment. “Good thing I’ve watched every episode of CSI, because I’m pretty sure I can come up with some sort of plan.” She paused. “It’s a damn good thing I moved here too, because I had no idea your life was going downhill so fast.” Then she tapped her fingers on her chin like she was in the process of remembering a CSI plot. “First things first—we need to do away with any… evidence.”

At that, she looked up at Gray again, her eyes narrowing.

It was then that I realized my mother was contemplating killing him.