Moon Dance Read online

  “Well, should we try to find a way to trace that number, and then just go to her?”

  “No,” said Cole. “I’ll call her. I think she’s going to help us.”

  Dana nodded. “When? When do you call her?”

  He took a deep breath. “Now, I guess. No reason to wait.”

  “Okay.” Dana sounded nervous.

  He dialed the number. “I’ll put it on speaker phone so that you can hear, but let me do the talking, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  The phone began to ring.

  They stared at it.

  It kept ringing.

  Dana bit down on her lip.

  “Hello?” said someone on the other end of the phone.

  “Deedee?” said Cole.

  “Yes,” said Deedee. “Who’s this?”

  “It’s Cole. You said it was okay for me to call?”

  “Yeah, I did. How are you?”

  “Uh, okay,” he said.

  “It’s been awhile, big brother,” she said. “I heard you had trouble with Enoch recently.”

  “A little bit,” he said. “But then you’re not with him anymore either.”

  “No, that didn’t work out,” she said. “I think I always knew that he and Angela were better suited than he and I. But I stayed because of her. Still, we’re all close, Cole, so don’t try to put me in the middle of something.”

  “I’m not saying that,” he said. “I’m calling about the children from the SF. Supposedly, you have them. Is that true?”

  “Yeah, it’s true,” she said. “What do you care about that?”

  “There was a little girl at the eastern regional SF, and—”

  “Oh, you’re talking about Dana Gray’s daughter. This is all about her, isn’t it? Shit, Cole, I heard that whatever went down with you and Enoch was all mixed up with that woman. Can’t you let it go?”

  He took a deep breath. “I’m talking about my daughter, Deedee.” It was strange to say it out loud, but it too was pleasant.

  Deedee was quiet. “You’re kidding me.”

  “Not,” he said.

  “Oh, goddamn it, Cole, I already placed her.”

  “Placed her?”

  “That’s what I do. I take those kids, and I find them homes. Families who will take them in. Last thing I heard, the little girl was just starting to get settled in. You want me to rip her out of there, don’t you? Rip her away from her new family.”

  Dana looked at Cole in alarm, but he shook his head at her. He gripped the phone tighter. “You’ve got no call to give her to a new family. She has a family already.”

  “The people who adopted her want a child more than life,” said Deedee. “I work with families who are so desperate for children that they’re willing to adopt werewolves. It’s a win-win, because these are stable, loving homes, and these kids don’t have to grow up in the SF anymore and be taught that their werewolf nature means they’re damaged.”

  “You know that I would never teach that to a kid.”

  “What would you teach her, Cole? What do you have to offer her?”

  “That’s not the point,” he said. “The point is that she’s ours.”

  Deedee sighed. “I don’t want to go to those people and tell them that the child I promised them is no longer theirs. They’ll be crushed.”

  “How do you think Dana feels? Her daughter’s been given to other people, and—”

  “Oh, fuck Dana Gray,” she snapped.

  “You don’t have to tell anyone anything,” said Cole. “Tell me where Piper is, and I’ll get her myself.”

  “Oh, I don’t think so. I’m not exposing the kind of people that adopted Piper to someone like you.” Deedee sighed again. “I’ll do it. I’ll bring Piper to you. But only because you’re my brother. If you were anyone else, I wouldn’t. And if I do this, you never ask me for another thing as long as you live, Cole.”

  He shut his eyes, exhaling in relief. “Thank you. Thank you, Deedee.”

  “Swear it to me, Cole. After this, we are done.”

  “Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, I swear.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY- TWO

  Dana’s heart was in her throat as she watched the car pull into the driveway. The sun and the trees were reflecting against the windows, and she couldn’t see inside.

  The car pulled to a stop, and then a woman got out. Deedee. She had the same look as a lot of the people from Hunter’s Moon Farm. Not in her dress, but in her face and manner. She was wearing a tank top and jeans, and several tattoos on her shoulder were half-exposed. She had sunglasses perched on her nose.

  She peered up at Dana, making a face like something smelled bad. Then she walked around the car and opened the back door. She leaned inside, working with the car seat.

  Dana wanted to run forward, but she couldn’t move. She was rooted to the spot, staring forward, waiting.

  And then Deedee set Piper down on the ground outside the car, and the little girl looked up.

  Dana started crying.

  “Mommy?” whispered Piper.

  Dana ran for her, scooping her up into her arms. She didn’t ever want to let her go. And she probably wouldn’t have, but Piper started to squirm.

  “Too tight,” she pronounced, trying to wriggle free.

  Dana loosened her grip. “Sorry, Pipers, Mommy just missed you.”

  Piper beamed. “Kisses!” she crowed, squinching up her lips.

  Dana’s tears got even more intense. She kissed her daughter. “Did you miss Mommy?”

  “Uh huh,” said Piper. “Wanna walk.” She squirmed more fiercely.

  Dana sighed and set her down.

  Piper scampered over the stone walkway and began climbing up the porch steps.

  Dana turned to Deedee. “She seems okay.”

  “Yeah,” said Deedee. “They get the kids out before any of the violence happens, so don’t worry, she didn’t see anything. Kids are pretty resilient, you know. If I hadn’t brought her back here, she probably would have forgotten all about you.”

  Dana was struck by the urge to hit the woman. Instead, she balled her hands into fists and turned away, following Piper.

  Cole stood at the top of the stairs to the porch, watching the little girl crawl up. He looked stricken, and he wasn’t moving, just staring.

  Piper looked up at him. “Help?”

  Cole looked at Dana.

  She nodded.

  He reached down and picked her up carefully, moving her up the stairs.

  “Down!” said Piper. “Down, now.”

  Cole looked alarmed.

  “Put her down,” said Dana. “She’s in a phase where she wants to do everything herself.”

  Cole put Piper down, and the little girl toddled over to the front door. She reached up to grab the knob. She could touch it, but she couldn’t turn it.

  Dana hurried after her to turn the knob.

  “No!” Piper screamed. “I wanna! I wanna!”

  And just like that, frustration washed over Dana. She felt ashamed. After all, she’d been back in her daughter’s presence for less than five minutes, and she’d missed Piper like a piece of herself was gone, so shouldn’t she have more patience now? She let go of the doorknob.

  “Hey,” said Cole.

  Piper turned, craning her neck up at him. “I know you.”

  “You do?”

  She nodded. “You Cole. You took my Mommy.”

  Cole cleared his throat. “Well, kind of. Do you, um, want me to hold you up so that you can reach the doorknob?”

  Piper nodded.

  Cole picked her up, lifting her so that she was eye-level with the knob. The little girl turned the knob and the door opened. Cole set her down. She clapped her hands in delight. And then she ran inside.

  Deedee climbed up onto the porch. “What the hell is this place, Cole? It looks abandoned.”

  Dana went in after Piper, who was running through the living room.

  “Piper, where are you going?” Dan
a called.

  Piper paid her no mind, rushing out of the living room and into the kitchen.

  Dana hurried behind her. “Hold on, Piper. You need to calm down.”

  “Daddy,” said Piper. “Where Daddy?”

  Dana rubbed her face, her heart sinking.

  Deedee stepped into the house. “We told her that her parents were gone. Now that she’s here, she thinks that—”

  “I don’t need you to explain to me what my daughter is thinking,” said Dana.

  Piper’s face was crumpling. “Daddy not here?”

  Damn it. Dana knelt down next to the little girl. “Baby, Daddy is… not coming back.” She started to cry again, but these weren’t tears of relief. They were tears of shame and sadness and grief. Seeing Piper miss Avery hurt her worse than anything.

  Piper’s chin trembled. “Where Daddy?”

  “Oh, sweetie…” Dana wrapped her arms around Piper.

  But Piper didn’t like that. “Let go! Want Daddy!” she wailed.

  Dana let go, but then she collapsed into sobs. Avery was gone. Gone forever, and she didn’t think she’d quite known it until exactly this moment.

  * * *

  The comfort and sweetness from before seemed completely gone, and Cole didn’t know what to do with himself. Dana had lain on the floor and cried over Avery for what seemed like hours, and he hadn’t even tried to comfort her. He told himself it was because he didn’t think she’d want him to, but he wasn’t sure if he didn’t just suddenly realize how much she’d cared about that man.

  And… well, damn it, he didn’t care about him.

  As for the little girl, well, she wasn’t in a much better mood. She’d been cranky as well, and she wouldn’t talk to Cole when he tried to talk to her. Not that he knew how to talk to her. He was out of his depth. What had he been thinking before when he’d told Dana that they could all be together? He wasn’t sure he’d be able to do this. He had literally no idea what was going on.

  Deedee stayed. She said that Piper was cranky because she needed a nap, and she convinced Dana to put the little girl to bed, which at least stopped Dana from crying.

  There was still a bed in his bedroom, and he sent the two of them back there. Ten minutes later, he went to check on Dana, and he found her and Piper curled up on the bed together, both asleep.

  They both looked so beautiful there. He stood and looked at them, still trying to fathom the idea of being connected to the two of them. He was terrified.

  “Cole.”

  He turned to see Deedee.

  “What the hell are you doing?” she said. “You can’t stay in this house. There’s no electricity.”

  He started back up the hallway. “We’re not going to stay here.”

  “Where are you going to go?”

  “I haven’t worked that out yet, but I will work it out,” he said. “Don’t worry about it.”

  “So, you’re asking me to leave a child with you when you’re homeless?”

  He stopped, back in the living room. “God damn it, Deedee, why are you even still here?”

  “I’m worried about that little girl.” She folded her arms over her chest. “I don’t even think Dana likes her.”

  He glared at her. “She loves her.”

  “I have a very bad feeling about this.” Deedee started to pace. “I would never leave a little girl in these circumstances, not normally. To be honest, I don’t like doing it now. She was better off where I placed her, Cole. Stable home, loving parents, safety.”

  “Stop it,” said Cole. “We’re going to take care of her.”

  “How? You’re wanted by the SF, and maybe that’s not that big of a deal, because Enoch will knock out the rest of them within the next six months, but Enoch will still be looking for you. You’ll be on the run, with a toddler, constantly hiding. It will be a terrible life for a child. You need to convince Dana to give Piper up.”

  “What?” Cole couldn’t believe this. “How can you say something like that?”

  “I’m thinking about Piper,” said Deedee. “You two are being selfish.”

  He stalked into the kitchen. “Go away, Deedee. Leave us alone. We don’t need you here anymore.”

  Deedee didn’t leave. She came after him and stood in the doorway. “I don’t know when you’re going to realize that you and that woman are bad for each other.”

  “No, we’re not.” He rested his hands on the counter and bowed his head. “She’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”

  “That’s not true. She’s broken your focus, made you weak and stupid, and put you in danger time and time again. Plus, she doesn’t even care about you.”

  “She does.”

  “She’s selfish. She’s spoiled. She doesn’t understand what it is to be a wolf.”

  “You don’t even know her.”

  Deedee came into the kitchen and put her hand on Cole’s shoulder. “Look, I know that you’re doing the best you can here, but you’re living in a dreamworld.”

  He turned to look at her. “What are you talking about?”

  “You think this is a fairy tale, Cole? You think you and your queen and your princess will go riding off into the sunset on a white horse and everything will be perfect? When have you and Dana ever even tried living together?”

  “We’ve been together a lot.”

  “You think you can raise a child together just because you like to fuck each other? Because let me tell you, there is a lot more to it than—”

  “What do you even know about it?”

  “Plenty.” Her face twitched. “Look, the real reason I left Enoch was because I was pregnant.”

  Cole furrowed his brow. “What?”

  “He doesn’t know, and you can’t tell him.”

  “I don’t expect to be talking to him again pretty much ever, Deedee.”

  “Right,” she said. “Of course. Well, the thing is, I found out and I… I knew it wouldn’t be right. It wouldn’t be a good environment for a baby. You know what it was like growing up the way we did, not having our father be committed to only our mother? And Enoch… he’s not a bad man, but he’s not exactly father material, and he moves around so much, all over the place. Living in campers, all those men that he keeps there. They’re hard, and they’re violent, and I didn’t want it.”

  “So, you left to raise your child.”

  She pressed her lips together, and for several seconds, she couldn’t speak. When she did, her voice was quiet. “I realized it was better if I didn’t raise him either. I had nothing to give him. I found a wonderful couple to adopt him, and he has an amazing life. It was the right thing to do, you know? And then when I found out what Enoch was planning to do with the SF, I realized I could help the children that he was displacing. And that’s what I’ve been doing ever since.”

  Cole was floored. He didn’t know how to react to her news. Part of him wanted to shake her and ask her why she wasn’t appalled that Enoch was systematically killing all the people that worked at the SF, but he knew that she didn’t see it that way. Truly, Cole didn’t value the lives of the SF workers enough either. In her own way, Deedee was trying to make things better.

  She took a shaky breath. “When I tell you to give up Piper, I’m speaking from experience, okay? I know what it’s like. But it’s the right thing to do. I think deep down you know that.”

  “Deedee…” He didn’t know where to start. “I’m sorry you felt you couldn’t keep your own child, but just because you didn’t—”

  “Think about it, okay?” she said. She left the kitchen.

  He rubbed his face. He leaned against his refrigerator, which hadn’t been used in years, and he wondered what the hell he was going to do. Where was he supposed to hide Dana and Piper, exactly?

  They’d stayed clear of the SF thus far, but their faces were still being broadcast all over the television, and people were very frightened of werewolves. If they were spotted, it would be all over. And then what would happen to Pipe
r?

  He closed his eyes, and he stayed like that, just leaning and worrying, for quite some time.

  He only opened his eyes when he felt a small tug on his clothes. He looked down to see Piper standing beside him.

  “Hi,” she said.

  “Uh… hi,” he said. Wow, she was amazingly small. Small and perfect.

  “I hungry,” she said.

  “Oh,” he said. “Well, um, that’s… that’s not good.” Jesus, maybe Deedee was right. Maybe he was crazy to think this would work. After all, they’d gotten this little girl here, and they hadn’t given much thought to food. He and Dana had shifted into wolves and hunted in the woods near the house earlier, but Piper couldn’t do that.

  Cole opened up one of the cabinets next to the refrigerator. There were several boxes of cereal and a box of crackers—both horribly stale by now, no doubt. But then he saw some cans. He turned them around, surveying them. Beans. Corn. Soup.

  “Do you like soup, Piper?”

  “What kind? Chicken noodle?”

  This can was tomato, but next to it… “Yeah, I got chicken noodle.”

  She grinned. “Yummy.”

  Okay. Okay, maybe this wasn’t a disaster, after all. He got the can out of the cabinet and set it on the counter. There was no electricity in the house, but he had a gas stove. As long as the gas was still in the tank…

  He tried one of the burners.

  Perfect.

  The next hurdle was the saucepan, which was covered in dust, and the water in the house was turned off as well.

  But he fixed that by using some glass cleaner and a paper towel. He set the newly clean saucepan on the stove and poured the soup into it.

  “Whatcha doin’?” said Piper.

  “Making soup,” he said. “You want to see?”

  She nodded.

  He picked her up and sat her on the counter, right next to the stove. “You can help me if you want. Just watch it and tell me when you see bubbles, okay?”

  “Okay.” Piper started to chew on one of her fingernails.

  “Don’t touch it, though.”

  “No.” She shook her head vigorously. “Hot.”

  “That’s right, it’s hot.” He smiled at her. He might be a little bit biased, but he was fairly sure she was the prettiest little girl that had ever existed.