Free In the Light of the Moon (Dark War Chronicles) by A.L. Kessler Page A

always listened to me. Maybe I can convince her
to come back.” She played with her hands.
    The shell of his sister made something in his heart break. He knew that
if Kassity hadn’t left home his father would have left Sarah to her happy and
innocent life. But no. Kass left them and Quinn turned to Sarah. Attacking her
continuously until she gained an animal form. Though Quinn’s original plans
failed he still wanted to use Sarah in the war against the vampires.
    “You can go tomorrow night, but I don’t want you causing problems.
Understood?”
    She grinned and nodded. “Thank you.”
    “You think you can handle your beast while you’re in there?” He saw her
pale at his question and he regretted it.
    “Please, please, please don’t put the collar on me. I can hold her in
for a couple hours. I promise.”
    “I wasn’t planning on using the collar. I didn’t even bring it. But Jax
might be there and I don’t want your cat going haywire over a male that’s not
family.”
    “If he’s there it means he’s doing his job.”
    Garrett nodded. “Hopefully. If not, he forfeits his life.”

 
    Kass passed the movie room and spotted Mae
reclined in one of the chairs watching some silent film. “Hey, you got a
second?”
    “Sure,” Mae picked up the remote and paused the movie. “Long night?”
    She nodded. “You have no idea, but I needed to ask you about
something.” Mae motioned for Kass to continue. “When you discovered that I was
still alive, did you share this information with anyone?”
    “No, not even the officer that had called for my opinion. I wasn’t sure
what I was going to make of it. You were the only person they could trace it to
and they never told me how.”
    Kass sighed and slouched onto the couch. “My family somehow found out
that I was alive.”
    “And you think that I told someone?”
    “It wasn’t the first thought I had. Just covering my bases.”
    “Seems to me that you need to worry more about what you are going to do
than how they found you. From what I understand your family is no good.”
    Understatement. Kass rubbed her eyes. “Any chance you’ve heard
something going around the channels? Anything at all?”
    “No, I haven’t, but I also haven’t been in my normal dives. Not since I
was turned. Lucius keeps a very tight leash on me.”
    Kass snorted. “He does that to us all.”
    “I’ll see what I can find out. There must be a reason they came after
you.”
    She swallowed. “I don’t want to think about that. I’ve got to go, I’ve
got a free run tonight and I’ve been looking forward to it. Hell, my beast has
been looking forward it.” She turned to leave.
    “Kass?” Mae waited until the girl turned around and looked at her. “You
need to be careful. Lucius has been more preoccupied with you lately. I’m
worried about you.”
    Kass frowned. “What do you mean?” Her heart sped a little, but she kept
her face blank and eyes on Mae’s.
    “He’s been talking about you, looking through documents, he gave you to
the wolves. Doesn’t that strike you as strange?”
    Kass shrugged. “Lucius does a lot of things that I can’t explain.”
    “Just, be careful. Remember what he did to Josh.”
    Kass nodded and walked out. She knew Josh acted as a safety net against
Lucius, but despite Josh’s death, Lucius seemed to ease off a little. Mae’s
words echoed in Kass’ head as she continued out into the woods.

 
    When she reached the edge of the woods she
smiled up at the half formed moon and stripped. The sharp smell of pines hit
her nose and cause her panther to stir in understanding. Tonight they would be
a team for the first time in weeks. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath,
letting the cold wind wrap around her bare skin. The smells of the night called
to her panther. Images of running through the woods and chasing after the deer
and drinking from the river ran through her mind coaxed her panther to the
surface.
    Her bones gave no