Moon of Curses Read online

  If I was being totally honest, I was glad that the priming ceremony of Ward’s niece was where I would be able to hit, because the way they’d strung up my father at the Harvest Celebration had been public and unnecessarily gruesome. It only seemed right to me that I should repay that display of disrespect.

  Of course, I’d always had a soft spot for children. I saw them as the only innocent souls among us, so when the fact that so many would be present at the priming ceremony—the ceremony itself was for a pup just stepping into adulthood—did not give me pause, I should have taken it as a warning sign.

  I reasoned that the children of my family had been present when the Wards had hung Dion from the rafters at the Harvest Celebration, had they not?

  As it was, all I could think about was winning, of showing my dominance, of proving myself as Alpha.

  To be fair, females in my position were very rare. Rare enough that the ones who ascended to these heights were recorded in our history, and could be counted on the fingers of one hand. I only mean to point out that the pressure was high, and while I’d like to think that those sort of things didn’t affect my motivations, that would be a lie.

  So by the time two moons had risen and fallen, and the ceremony for Ward’s niece was to be held, I was as resolved in my decision as a Wolf could be. Hell, I was even excited.

  I looked down at the four names that were the targets of the operation. First, there was the Ward Pack Alpha, Ezra Ward. Then there were his two brothers, Asher Ward and Levi, and finally, their father, Ansel Ward, the male who’d met me in the train yard not so many moons prior and had made the threat that led to my father’s death.

  All four had to go. They were the crux of the Ward Pack’s power. They were the head of the snake, and I was going to cut that head clean off while the whole of their Pack watched.

  Once everything was in place, and I’d gone over the plan several times with those who’d be assisting me, there was nothing to do but wait. I thought about visiting Eli, because he was often the only thing that could distract me for stolen moments enough to keep my mind off of everything else, but my pride kept me from going to the Demon. I hadn’t spoken to him since I’d left his loft during dinner, and he had not tried to reach out to me, despite the fact that I’d grown used to speaking with him daily.

  Thinking about his absence stirred something in me that I did not have the luxury to dwell on, should I even want to. If he didn’t want to see me, I would move on. I would survive, because that was what I did. Surviving, perhaps, was one of the only things I was truly good at.

  So instead of seeking out Elian, the night before the hit was to take place, I sat alone in my bedroom, a glass of shine in my hand and my revolvers resting across my lap. I looked down at the guns my father had given me so long ago, relics from another time and place, weapons created by creatures that were now nothing more than myths and tall tales.

  Come tomorrow, I would use them to exact my revenge, to ensure my dominance. With that finally and fully decided, I drained the rest of the shine in my glass and took myself to bed.

  I slept soundly and without trepidation.

  Chapter 11

  The morning came, the day clear and cool. I woke early and had some coffee.

  Then I had Kyra use her magic to check in on Delia and little Demarco and the twins. They were still safe at the location Eli had secured for them, bored and wanting to return home, but safe.

  If all went well this evening, they would be returning soon enough.

  The plan was simple. Devon, Kyra, and I would get to the location in the forest before any of the Ward Pack arrived. Then, we would wait. We’d let the entire Ward Pack get there, and wait for the part of the ceremony when the three Ward brothers and their father would be before the whole of their crew. Kyra would portal us to a position in front of them. I would shoot two in the head with one of my revolvers, and Devon would shoot the other two. Quick and dirty, the same way they’d killed my father.

  The only part of it that concerned me was the part where I was relying on Devon to make two of the kills. I knew that he was not as comfortable with such action as was I, knew that his heart had always been kinder, softer. But he’d come through for me before, and there was no one else outside of Kyra and Dev I trusted enough to do this with me.

  No, it had to be this way.

  Originally, I’d planned to challenge Ezra Ward to a fight to the death, wherein I would absorb his Pack and power upon winning. This was a challenge he was no doubt expecting, as it was unwritten protocol, but when I’d set my father’s pyre to sail, I’d decided that this new plan was a better way to go.

  After all, with the insult my father had made to Ansel Ward in the train yard, Ezra could have called me out and challenged me in the same fashion. But he hadn’t. He’d gone and murdered my father and then hung him up at my personal harvest celebration, adding insult to injury. The public manner in which he’d done this had overridden any rules of war I might have considered adhering to.

  So now, I was going to shoot him, his brothers, and his father dead in front of his Pack, his family, his children. I was going to spit in their faces the same way they’d spat in mine, and the dark, cold part of my heart delighted in the idea.

  I’ve never claimed to be particularly sane, and any Wolf who finds themself in my position would be a liar to do so.

  Kyra, Devon and I set out early, to make sure we could scout the area and have plenty of time to get in position to carry out our tasks. They met me in the foyer of the main house, Kyra looking bright eyed and bushy tailed, and Devon looking expectedly apprehensive.

  “Ready?” I asked.

  They both nodded, faces grave.

  “Good,” I said. “Let’s go.”

  We took our horses as far west as we could, riding quickly over the countryside, the hooves drawing up plumes of dust as we passed. When we reached the edge of the forest where the priming ceremony would be held, we stowed the horses between two large outcroppings of rock and went the rest of the way on foot.

  “Make sure to mask our scents,” I reminded Kyra. “If the Pack picks up our trail, they’ll know we’re coming, and either delay the ceremony or take extra precautions.”

  Kyra waved Devon and I closer so that she could cast the spell to do as I asked. The charge of her magic filled the air and her eyes swirled violet. She nodded once it was done.

  “It’s done,” she said. “Now all we have to do is hope that the Shifter didn’t betray us, that her information was correct.”

  Of course, this thought had crossed my mind as well, especially after Mila had voiced concern about my plan to take out the Wards in front of the children of the Pack, but there was no way to avoid some risk when it came to things like this. As with any business, one had to weigh risks against the rewards, and then decide if the potential was worth it. Thus, I had.

  “I paid her well,” I said. “Anyway, we’re here now.”

  Neither of the two voiced any more apprehension, and so we moved into the positions that we’d predetermined, nothing left to do but wait.

  The day passed, and we saw the first of the Ward Pack begin to arrive from the vantage point we’d taken up in the trees. The sun began to sink in the sky, counting down the minutes until show time.

  When Ezra finally arrived, just seeing the other Alpha had a coldness stealing over me, settling somewhere in the space of my heart. I removed one of my revolvers from its holster, and passed it over to Devon, who hesitated only a moment before taking the weapon into his hand.

  I watched his face as he looked down at it, as the resolve I was glad to see settled into his expression.

  “For father,” I said into his mind.

  I watched his throat bob as he swallowed. Surprising me, he leaned in closer and placed a gentle kiss to my forehead, a show of affection I hadn’t realized I’d been missing from him until just this moment.

  “For you, Dita,” my brother said, and some part of my cold he
art thawed with the words.

  I looked back to where the Ward Pack was arriving, some of them in mortal form, others as their Wolves. They looked happy, dressed in fine clothes and greeting each other with smiles and perky tails.

  This was supposed to be a good time, a jubilant celebration, same as the harvest celebration had been supposed to be for me and mine. I gripped the revolver in my hand, my knuckles white around the handle.

  It was just about time.

  Priming ceremonies have a certain order in which things take place. First, the people arrive and mingle, standing around and talking. After they are all gathered, the pup whose name in which they are celebrating makes a grand entrance, so that the others may adulate over his or her fine appearance, and congratulate them for making it to young adulthood.

  Paisley Ward arrived in just such a fashion, wearing a dress that was both elegant and enchanting. Her hair was dark, like that of her father and uncles, and had been set into long ringlets that fell over her shoulders and down her back. She wasn’t a gorgeous girl, but she was pretty enough, and downright lovely when prepared as she was for this day. At only fifteen years old, she walked with the air of someone who’d grown up in a wealthy and powerful family, with a confidence these things had no doubt afforded her.

  I reminded myself not to dislike her for this; none of us could help the circumstances that we’d been born into.

  An hour passed as the Wolves of the Ward Pack mingled among the trees, dancing and laughing, singing and gorging on the various meats that had been laid out. By the time Ezra Ward and his brothers and father got up to make the speech that would solidify the ceremony, I was more than ready for the whole ordeal to be done and over with.

  A small platform had been erected near the head of the affair, allowing for the speakers to climb atop it and be seen by all those present. It was not unlike the stage where they’d hung my father in that grand ballroom, if less elegant for its place in the trees.

  It was on that wooden platform that they would meet their end.

  I watched with rapt interest, barely blinking, barely breathing as Ezra Ward, the Alpha of the Pack, made his way to the platform. On his heels followed his two brothers, Asher and Levi, and behind them, their father, Ansel.

  Ezra took up a position in the center of the platform, his brothers and father flanking him from the back. Paisley stood in the front of the gathered, looking up at her beloved kin men with an expression that might have given a less indifferent Wolf pause.

  As it was, my trigger finger itched, my resolve as solid as the trees in which we crouched.

  Silence fell over the Ward Pack as Ezra cleared his throat, all eyes turning in the direction of the platform. He stood tall and proud, a male with complete certainty of his position in the world.

  “Thank you all for coming,” he began.

  I didn’t hear the next words. Instead, I looked over at Kyra, who was propped on a branch beside me. The floor of the forest was some sixty feet below. She asked me with her eyes if I was ready, and I told her with mine that indeed I was.

  With a final glance at Devon to ensure his preparedness, I nodded at the Sorceress, and braced myself for the transition that would put my brother and I on the platform, where we would murder four Wolves in front of every person they loved.

  Stepping through a portal is disorienting for those who do not have familiarity with it. The body can take some time to adjust, and many have been known to pass out or throw up after doing so.

  This was why I’d spent the past few days making Kyra open portals for Devon and I to jump through, so that by the time we came here, there would be no period of disorientation. We needed to move quickly, as the element of surprise was our biggest advantage.

  So when Kyra opened the swirling hole in space and time just below where our boots hung over the bough of the tree in which we were sitting, I braced myself for the trip. Gun in my right hand, I wrapped my free arm around Devon’s shoulder, and the both of us dropped into the portal.

  A half a heartbeat later, we were standing on the platform where the Ward males were posted. Two heartbeats later, I was raising my weapon and pulling the trigger.

  Once, twice, and again.

  The sound of the gunfire was enormous. I’d landed in front of Asher, the youngest of the Ward brothers, and his hot blood sprayed my face as the top of his head ripped back. He hadn’t yet collapsed before I’d turned the weapon on Levi Ward, and offered him the same exit.

  Bang! Bang! Bang!

  There was a gasp from the crowd as another gunshot sounded, their minds finally catching up with the turn of events. I saw from the corner of my eye as Ansel Ward’s face exploded at the end of my brother’s gun barrel, as his body slumped to the floor.

  Someone screamed. I thought it might have been young Paisley. I did not look to make sure.

  Ezra Ward, the Alpha, and the very head of the snake I’d come to kill, spun around, taking in the bodies of his two brothers and father. His face twisted into a rage so hot it could have scorched the earth. By the time he’d begun to process what had happened, I’d placed the tip of my iron to his forehead, and gave the trigger a squeeze.

  The spray of blood was more a shower. I felt it splash my face, watched it fleck my hands, drip down the tips of my fingers. Chaos erupted among the Wolves, those in the front row stumbling back or rushing forward depending on what their nature dictated. I made the mistake of glancing into that crowd, of catching the eyes of Paisley Ward, which were wide and filled with horror. The lovely dress she’d chosen for her big day was now spotted with the blood of her father, her uncles and grandfather.

  Their blood flecked her cheeks, and when her hands came up and covered her mouth as if to keep in a most wretched of screams, there was blood on those, too.

  That was the last of the imagery I took in, however, because another portal opened up in front of the platform, and I was shoving Devon through before I could think twice about anything.

  Then I was tumbling through space and time.

  And, indeed, the entire thing felt very much like falling.

  Chapter 12

  We made it through the portal, but one of the Ward Wolves followed along with us.

  Kyra made the portal spit us out near where we’d stored the horses, so that when the deed was done we could hightail it back to our home, where we would lie low until we decided what action should be taken next.

  The Wolf that followed was in his animal form, and the three of us tumbled out of the portal together in a heap. It took a moment for me to realize that we’d been followed, and before I could think to act, the bastard had gone for Devon’s throat, leaping at my older brother with sharp fangs bared.

  Devon managed to turn just enough so that the Wolf’s teeth sank into his shoulder rather than his neck, but he howled in pain as the Wolf took out its anger on his flesh. Luckily, Kyra was more prepared than I was, and she sent a blast of magic at the Wolf, ripping free his hold on Devon and sending him tumbling backward.

  By that time, I was all caught up, and I wasted no time in putting the Wolf out of his misery. The report of my gunshot brought up the image of the blood-splattered Paisley Ward, which I promptly shoved away.

  “We need to go,” I told them, turning away from the still body of the Wolf, a heap of fur and fangs.

  Neither of my companions argued. We mounted our horses and rode like hell back to our home, the plantation where we would be surrounded by our soldiers, our Pack.

  When we finally arrived, the Wolves on our grounds stared at us as we handed the horses off to those who worked the stables and made our way into the main house. I received several nods of approval, several accolades as I passed by. Some spoke into my mind, congratulating me on handling manners. Others simply bowed their heads and averted their eyes. Later, I would call a meeting and let them know about the Wards’ disposal, but right now, the blood marring my face and hands spoke for me.

  It seemed a long walk to the offi
ce, but the three of us made it, and as soon as we did, Kyra and Devon sank into the two chairs in front of the mahogany desk. I went over to the bar along the side of the room and poured three glasses of shine. I handed one to them both and stood before them with my own, leaning back against the front of the desk and swallowing the shine in a single gulp. It burned hot in my belly. When I placed the glass on the desk beside me, I noted the bloody fingerprint along its rim.

  For a while, none of us spoke. After draining his own drink, Devon stood, meeting my eyes with an expression I didn’t dare decipher, and left the room without a word. Blood was on his face and hands as well, and I told myself that he was just eager to wash himself clean of it because of his prim nature, and not that he was eager to get away from me.

  With this thought, the horrified, blood splattered face of Paisley Ward flashed once more through my head. I poured myself another glass of shine, as if the poison could rinse the image away.

  Kyra sat still as a stone in her seat, watching me. I wanted to know what she was thinking, but was afraid to ask.

  “It’s done,” I said.

  She gave a slight nod. “It is.”

  Sliding away from the desk, I took the seat beside her that Devon had vacated and stared into the bottom of my glass. We sat that way for some time.

  After a while, Kyra asked, “Is it over, then?”

  I considered my answer. I realized that I wanted to give her an affirmative, to insist that there would be no further bloodshed, no retaliation from someone with the Wards. After all, the four that we had killed were the only males in the Ward bloodline. Other than Paisley, there were two other Ward females, both younger than the girl whose ceremony we’d just destroyed. Wolves were not known to exact revenge outside of those who shared their blood; they were more likely to move onto another Pack, eager to align with an Alpha they thought could protect them.