In Moonlight - Ch 31 - Bring Peace and Order

Content Notice: Cinematic Violence, Nudity

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"Truly, Genevieve, I had hoped you would be a positive influence on Miranda," Luna sighed. "Instead, she was clearly a bad influence on you. I shouldn't be surprised, given that she chose to associate with troublemakers like Mariah Basso, degenerates like Claudette Faust and, of course, those horrid werewolves."

"You work with gangsters and vampires, mom," Genie said, gesturing at Mr. Grey and Betty Bow. "You're basically plotting world domination with the alien dark elf men in black."

"Mr. Grey is a professional," Luna said coolly. "And as I am certain Lady Bow has already told you, she has severed her ties with the Dark Court. As for the... what did you call them? Alien dark elf men in black? We share a common goal... the end of the shadow war, which will bring peace and order to our world. Once they control the Moonwood and Crossing is complete, we will do just that."

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"I count four, with automatic weapons," Lily snarled.

Jake tasted the air, breathing in the acrid smell of gunpowder, of the oil and metal of the guns, and the not-human scent of the svartalves themselves. It was difficult to be sure, but they smelled... focused. The scent reminded Jake oddly of Lumber Jackson when he went deer hunting. No excitement. No anger. Just calm determination.

They were hunting him, Jake realized. They were hunting his family. His pack. His people. 

Jake felt the snarl rise in his throat. They had chosen the wrong prey.

"We need to get past these guys and join up with the Moonrunners. They're closest," Jake said, stripping off his shirt. Clothes got in the way of the Change. Sometimes that was enough to prevent impetuous transformation, but at times like this it was a nuisance. 

Beside him, Lily had already tossed aside her hat and dress. Her scent, fierce and wild, mingled with his own. Lily might be a wise elder, but she was a Wolf as strong and untamed as any he'd known. She was eager to defend the pack's territory. 

"Miranda, can you help?" Jake added.

"You two take the ones on the left," Miranda said, her voice shockingly calm. Under the intoxicating aroma of her magic, her scent was as fierce and wild as Lily. Jake realized he hadn't really needed to ask. Moonwood Mill had been Miranda's home once. She would protect it. "I'll take the two on the right." 

"I always said you were trouble," Lily said with a fierce smile. 

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"Three of them, three of us," Demarco said with a savage grin. "Hardly seems fair."

Across the yard of the community garden, the assassin Mallory and her men in black had stopped their advance. Clearly they were reconsidering their strategy now that they had been detected, despite their weird alien jedi mind-tricks.

"Lux, you were right," Etta said, her voice breathless, her words tumbling over each other. "I love Miranda."

"What?!" Mariah gasped. She really hadn't expected that. Well, she had expected it, but she hadn't expected Etta to say it!

"Mariah, I swear to you I will never again do anything to take her away from you," Etta added earnestly. "She loves you. You make her happy. I'm happy that she's happy... because... I guess... I really do love her."

"You're seriously doing this now!?" Demarco snapped.

"Lux, you were right about something else too," Etta continued, speaking over her. "A lot of witches are polyamorous... including apparently me. Because, no matter what I feel for Miranda, I love you, Lux. I am madly, head over heels in love with you. I don't want to be friends-with-benefits, or fuckbuddies, or just leave what we have undefined anymore. I want to be with you. I want to be your girlfriend... and I needed to say that... because we might die."

"To Hell with this. I'm going to live," Demarco snarled.

"Did you just quote Firefly?" Etta blinked.

"You know, I didn't like the second season as much," Mariah commented.

"Ladies, can we please focus," Demarco groaned, stripping off her shirt.

"Not when you do that," Mariah muttered. "Damn girl."

Mallory forced herself to watch as the theriomorph transformed in an almost blinding burst of psychokinetic energy. Even with her limited mind-sight, she could sense the aberration's fury and feel the confused muddle of emotions, anger-lust-fear-confidence, from its human companions. 

The beast snarled a challenge while the humans moved into skillful fighting postures.

Mallory knew what had to be done. Agent Light had been wrong, she thought. Any doubts about the mission came from the implanted thoughts and memories of another woman. A failed prototype who had not understood her purpose. I am loyal, she told herself firmly. I serve Peace and Order.

"Keep one of the humans alive for questioning," Mallory said coldly. "Kill the other and the witness. The theriomorph is mine."

 

 

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"Why the Moonwood?" Jenny asked. "Sorry, but it's just been bugging me. I mean, I get that it's supposed to be this whole special magical convergence thing... but still. Aren't there any special magical convergences that don't have towns full of werewolves sitting on them?"

"I wondered that myself," Luna replied. "The Settlers were quite insistent on the Moonwood as the new primary location for their research. It turns out, for all their science and technology, the Settlers are obsessed with their own ancient myths. 

"One of those myths says that a ancient witch of the Moonwood, Avelina, was able to see through the Veil into their native Realm. The Settlers believe this vision represents a weak point in the barrier between our two worlds. Their original portal to our world was destroyed during the Century War. They hope to create a new one at this weak point."

"Crossing," Genie gasped. "A bridge between their world and ours. It really is an invasion."

"Hardly," Rohan scoffed. "They want to help us bring order, not conquer us." 

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"Why are you doing this?" Beth Volkov asked.

"Your kind was created to serve as warriors in the ancient war against the vampires," Hand replied coldly. "That war has continued for centuries. You are a failed experiment. You have no purpose."

"We’re people, not weapons," Beth pointed out.

"You are aberrations. You are a threat to the Project. You must be removed,” Hand said. Turning his attention to his earpiece, he addressed his commandos. "Team Two, report status. Team Two… report. "

"You might find we’re not so easy to remove, " Beth snarled softly. 

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"Team Two, report," Hand growled in growing frustration. "All Teams, report! I require a status update."

"I'm afraid your men can't come to the phone right now," a rough voice that certainly was not one their Protectors snarled in response. "Can I take a message?"

"Mr. Volkov? I am impressed," Hand replied smoothly. "Clearly, I underestimated you."

"Live and learn," Jake growled. "Pack up and get the hell out of my town before my sister finds you, you might have a chance to do both."

"Amusing," Hand replied, with no trace of humor. "However, I believe you will find that I have not underestimated Ms. Oaklow and her associate. You should also be aware that I am currently holding several hostages, including Elizabeth Volkov and your offspring. You will come to the town library and surrender yourself within twenty minutes, if you want to see them again, alive." 

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"Son of a bitch," Jake said, taking deep breaths to control his fury. "He's got Beth and Di, and who knows who else, in the library. He'll kill them if I don't surrender in twenty minutes."

"He means to kill you all," Miranda said quietly. 

"The Moonrunners are hurt but they'll live," Lily said. "What about these fellows?" she added, glancing at the frozen svartalf commandos.

"They'll live," Miranda replied. "It will take them a while to thaw out, but they'll live."

"Find somewhere secure to put them before they do," Jake said.

"I've got a good root cellar that should do the trick," Lily smiled.

Sobering, she added, "You know you can't surrender."

"I don't intend to," Jake snarled. "Lily, stay here and look after the Moonrunners. If he's up to it, get Daniel to help you secure our... captives. The creep on the radio said he'd taken out Rory and Lou, but that might be a bluff. I need to check on them. We could use their help. Miranda, I hate to ask more of you but..."

"Jake, you never have to ask," Miranda said. "We're getting Beth and Di back, and then we're taking the town back."

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Author's note - Poses from modders including Pandora, Simmerianne93 and SamSims (with apologies if I used some from someone I forgot to credit). -L

 

In Moonlight - Ch 30 - The Burden of Leadership

"Mom," Genie breathed.

Knowing what she now knew about her mother, Genie had wondered if she would look… different somehow. In her flawlessly tailored white dress, Luna Elderberry looked as cool, calm and in control as she always had. Was there something in her eyes that hinted at the weight she carried? Some brittleness to her confident mask that Genie hadn’t recognized before? Or was Genie imagining it?

"You shouldn't have gotten involved, Genevieve," Luna said. 

"We need to deal with these two," Mr. Grey said in his dispassionate voice, nodding at Genie and Jenny. "They've interfered once too often."

Genie blinked. She’d been so focused on her mother, she’d almost failed to see the cold, murderous gangster standing behind her.

"I am speaking to my daughter, Mr. Grey. I will thank you not to interrupt," Luna said in an eerily conversational tone. "Now, Genevieve, I hope you will understand how difficult this is…"

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"I always knew leading the pack would be difficult," Jake Volkov muttered grimly. "Balancing the needs of all the pack members, the townies, the other packs... but what I never anticipated was the paperwork. Property taxes. Local Council meeting minutes. Two pages on the debate over the Jacksons' right-of-way... which I was there for! I just spent ten minutes reading about an hour of my life I'll never get back. Honestly, I don't know how Kristopher managed..."

"Jake, you have a visitor," Lily cut him off, mid-rant.

"Miranda?" Jake said, recognizing his old friend's strangely intoxicating scent even before he turned. "What are you... wait, what's wrong?"

"The svartalves. They're coming. Now!" Miranda gasped out. "Where's Beth?"

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"This is Command," Mr. Hand said into their headset. "Location one is secure. Teams Two and Three, go."

Their eyes, their real eyes, swept the room. They were glad to finally shed their bio-mask, with its dulled senses, even if that forced them to shield their eyes. Humans were obsessed with light. Of course, humans were weak, physically and mentally, and needed the Settlers' guidance. Here, in the pathetic repository of books, they were surrounded by proof of that.

"You may refer to me as Mr. Hand," they said to their prisoners. "You are hostages. You will be detained for as long as is required to complete our mission. Cooperate and no one else will be harmed. Resist and we will use force."

"Everyone stay calm," one of them said. 

Hand observed it was a breeder. Like vermin, humans did not have proper Queens. They sensed the shape of this one's mind. Not a human, after all. One of the theriomorphic aberrations. One Hand recognized.

"You are Elizabeth Volkov," Hand said. "Pair-bonded to Jacob Volkov. That presumably is your... offspring. You will come with me. Leave the offspring here."

They sensed the breeder's anger, her defiance, but also her control. Impressive. Reluctantly, she passed her mewling spawn to another, human, breeder, muttering words of comfort to them both. Words she knew were lies. Hand could see it in her mind. The aberrations had been warned of the pending attack. 

Despite her display of confidence, the breeder, Elizabeth Volkov, knew she would die tonight.

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Everything had gone completely to shit, Mariah reflected without any real feeling. The Agency people who were supposed to be taking Bess Stirling off their hands were bleeding all over the furniture instead, and somewhere out in the night an assassin and her alien dark elf men in black buddies were closing in.

"We can't stay here," she said.

"What's your exit?" Etta asked, returning from washing Agent Barnette's blood off her hands.

"Cash, clean IDs, burner phones and rail passes for me and Miranda, in a locker at the community garden near the overpass, about a block from here," Mariah said. She'd put them there within days of them arriving in Evergreen Harbor to lay low. 

"We're parked in a public lot near there," Etta nodded, looking at Demarco.

"What am I supposed to do?" Bess cried, looking panicked.

Reaching into his coat, Agent Light tossed Mariah a small packet. She caught it easily, tried to ignore that it was wet and sticky with his blood.

"Pocket money, clean ID and a rail pass for Ms. Stirling," the agent said with a grin. "We've got a safehouse set up for her in Windenburg," Light continued, giving them the address. "Get out of here."

"What about you?" Mariah asked. 

"We'll keep Mallory and her goons busy. Buy you some time," Light smiled. "We'll be fine."

Mariah's eyes flicked to Agent Barnette on the couch. She didn't look like she'd be keeping anyone busy. She didn't look conscious. Mariah looked at Etta, putting the silent question in her eyes. Etta shook her head slightly. Barnette wasn't going to make it.

"Get out of here," Agent Light repeated. 

He knew what he was offering, Mariah realized, and that she knew it too. 

"Let's go," she said.

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"It really is my fault, I suppose," Luna mused. "I encouraged you to form a friendship with Miranda. I told myself that, if you got close to her, you might eventually be able to sway her to our side. Honestly, though, I think I was just being sentimental. I hoped you would find friendships like the ones I had at that age."

"I did," Genie said. "Well... I mean, not exactly like. We never... I mean, we aren't... God, mom, this is all complicated enough without you bringing your weird college orgies into it."

"Really, Genevieve. There were never any orgies," Luna chuckled. " The occasional threesome, perhaps..."

"Well there was that one night," Rohan grinned.

"OK! Off topic," Genie shouted. "Seriously! We will talk about you guys having group sex with my friend's parents never! Right now, we’re talking about you and the murderous alien conspiracy you’re involved in."

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"Please, hurry," Mariah said, quickly hanging up before the Emergency Services operator could ask her any questions. Maybe, if they got there soon enough, they could save Agents Barnette and Light. It was all she could do. 

Tossing her old phone and ID into the locker, she thought, that was the last act of Mary Cavaliere, newlywed S-Mart clerk making a fresh start in Evergreen Harbor. She'd liked being Mary. 

"We could cover you to the train station," Etta offered.

Mariah looked over at the little blonde ex-witch who had once seduced and betrayed her wife. She wasn't sure if she was more surprised that she welcomed Etta's offer of help, or with her response.

"Get to Moonwood Mill. Take care of Miranda for me," she said. 

"Might be easier said than done," Demarco growled. "We've got company."

"Oh God, they've found us," Bess gasped. "What do we do?"

"You, get in that bathroom there," Mariah said sharply. "Lock the door."

"And hope they don't have blasters," Etta quipped.

"No more movie nights for you," Demarco sighed.

Stepping outside, Mariah's eyes quickly scanned the community garden. Everything looked quiet. There wasn't anything dangerous here. Mariah felt herself relax, filled with a sense of calm and peace. A heartbeat later, her mind screamed in alarm at the sheer wrongness of that. She could probably count on one hand the number of times she'd felt so totally calm and at peace since the age of fourteen. 

Even then, it took her a moment to register the threat represented by the three figures in black, confidently advancing on them. With pure, bloody-minded stubborn will she pushed through the alien's psychic veil. 

"Right," Mariah snarled.

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"Of course the phones are down again," Jake grumbled. "I don't know why I bother. An hour spent debating right-of-way but not a minute talking about upgrading the cell tower. Honestly." 

"You can bring it up at the next town meeting, dear," Lily said reassuringly. "I'll run over to the Moonrunners. Update them."

"Right, I'll head into town, find Beth and Di and warn Rory," Jake nodded. "Miranda, any idea how long we..."

The roar of gunfire split the night.

"Shit!" Miranda cried as they all dropped to the floor. "Less time than I thought."

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Author's note - Poses from modders including Simmerianne93 and SamSims (with apologies if I used some from someone I forgot to credit). - L

 

In Moonlight - Ch 29 - Beautiful and Bad

Content Notice: Cinematic Violence

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"What have you done?" Genie demanded. 

Her head spun as she looked from her father to his vampire lover and back. It was horrifying enough, knowing what she now knew about her mother. The pain and loss that had twisted Luna from a teen who played with dolls into the ruthless mastermind who had ordered the death of Shannon Charm. Who, if Betty Bow was right, had ordered the deaths of Genie's closest friends.

"What we had to do," answered a cool voice behind her. 

Startled, Genie turned to face her.

"What needs to be done," Luna said.

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"I'm going to kill her," Mariah said passionately, her Amarosan accent thick with frustration.

Miranda sighed, focusing on cooking. Their house, once a place of quiet and a kind of normal she'd rarely known, had been transformed into chaos in the past couple of days. Oddly, she found the chaos comfortable. Her old therapist would have probably had a lot to say about that.

"Don't kill the witness," she muttered, not for the first time.

"Two days. Bess has been here for two days," Mariah ranted. "She complains about everything! The couch is too hard. The pillows are too soft. There's too much garlic in the sauce. Too much garlic? What does that even mean?!"

"Genie's Agency contacts will be here tonight," Miranda said soothingly. "They'll take her away to a real safehouse and we won't have to worry about her anymore."

"Good," Mariah grunted. "When are Demarco and Etta getting here?"

The werewolf and the ex-witch had been staying somewhere else, guests of the Evergreen Harbor pack Miranda hadn't know existed. It was fortunate, she thought. Five people in the small house would have led to trouble. With their complex histories and emotions, Mariah's temper and Demarco's lycanthropy, it probably would have led to bloodshed.

"They said they'd be here for dinner," Miranda said, putting on a smile. "Maybe we can all watch a movie while we wait for the spies." 

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Night came early to Evergreen Harbor in the autumn. Most of the travelers on the evening train from Windenburg lingered in the warmth of the station, but two made their way across the calm and peaceful square outside with swift determination.

"I can't believe it took this long to get clearance," Agent Candice Barnette grumbled. "All the evidence we have, and Bjergsen still dragged his heels. Damn him, we might already be too late!"

"It's all politics at that level. That's why I stay in the field," Agent Light said with a grin. "Maybe I should remind Bjorn what fieldwork is like. You know, talk to him, man to man."

"You're not a man," Barnette quipped. "You're a neuter-gendered alien. You're basically a soldier ant with delusions of being James Bond."

"Yeah, but I look good," Light grinned.

He was still grinning when the first shot rang out. 

Without thought, he was moving before he even heard the second. Ducking low, he looked for cover in the horrifyingly open square. Those reflexes - memory engrams of some past Protector, implanted in his mind before he had even been decanted - made the third shot tear through his arm instead of his chest. The fourth missed him entirely.

Crouching, he brought his gun up smoothly despite his wounded arm. His body was already shutting down his pain receptors. It cost him a moment to consciously force himself to remain aware of the pain, albeit at a tolerable level. Experience - his own real, lived experience - told him he couldn't afford the loss of sensation. 

His mind-sight swept the square.

Barnette was alive but wounded badly. He could feel her mind instinctively trying to pull her into unconsciousness, to escape the pain of her injuries. She was fighting it, using the Settler pain-blocking techniques his people had shared with their Agency partners, but she wasn't going to be able to help.

Oddly, there were no panicking civilians. In fact, there was no one reacting to the situation at all. The square remained calm and peaceful. As soon as he realized this, he felt the veil - the field of psychic distraction that hid the attack and the attackers. 

Awareness of the veil brought awareness of the minds projecting it - two Protectors, undoubtedly some of Hand's radicals. Pushing further through the psychic blindness that might already have cost his partner's life, he found the shooter.

++Hello, Bella,++ Light sent into the woman's mind.

++My name is Mallory,++ The hybrid assassin replied. Her esper abilities were too weak to form a mind-link by herself, but she could reply easily enough.

++Your name is Clone Hybrid 6004, but we can go with Mallory if you like,++ Light sent, trying to remain conversational. Conversational meant no one was shooting. ++It's one of Pollination Tech Smith's little jokes, isn't it? Bella and Mal. She's beautiful and you're bad.++

++I am better than she ever was. I am loyal,++ Mallory sent back.

++She's in there, isn't she?++ Light blinked, stunned as he sensed the familiar shape of the assassin's mind. ++They gave you Bella Goth's memory engrams... even some of her personality. I can see it, under all that Section 6 conditioning. That means you know what he's doing is wrong!++

He felt her mind writhe. Saw the flashes of memories, the implanted recollections and real experiences of women born with the instinct to protect others but trained to be killers. Women twisted into weapons wielded by Section 6's radicals. 

"I am loyal," Mallory repeated aloud.

"You can be more than this," Light pleaded, even as he saw Mallory's answer take shape in her mind.

"I am loyal!" Mallory shouted.

Gunfire rang through the square but no one heard.

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"OK, seriously, how is an animated musical about a KPop band that fights demons that good?" Etta asked, awed.

"I know, I know," Mariah nodded, not even trying to hide it as she wiped away the tears that always came during the movie's finale, no matter how many times she'd watched it.

"I don't know either of you," Demarco huffed, surreptitiously wiping away a tear of her own. "I have never met you and you can't prove otherwise."

"Is it over?" Bess asked, poking her head out of the kitchen she had retreated to earlier.

"I think you're safe to come out," Miranda chuckled.

"Maybe you'll like your next safe house better," Mariah grumbled.

"When are the... ummm... agents supposed to get here?" Bess asked nervously.

A knock at the door brought all of them suddenly alert.

"There's timing," Miranda smiled, rising to answer the door. "Unless you ordered pizza."

"Something's wrong," Demarco snarled, coiling in visible readiness to leap. "I smell blood. A lot of blood."

"Anyone got a bandaide?" the man in the doorway asked with false cheer. "Maybe a shit-ton of bandaides..."

Miranda moved out of the way as the man, staggering slightly under the weight of the obviously semi-conscious woman he supported, came quickly inside.

"First aid kit..." Mariah started.

"... under the sink," Etta finished for her, already moving. "There's a second one in the bathroom upstairs."

"I've got it," Demarco nodded, dashing for the stairs.

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"So, we got away," Agent Light finished explaining, "but it's only a matter of time before Mallory and the rogue Protectors track us here. We need to be ready to move."

"She's not going anywhere except a hospital," Etta said firmly, nodding at Agent Barnette on the couch.

"I'll be fine," Barnette said weakly.

"You're lucky you didn't bleed out on the way here," Etta snapped.

"Not important... Moonwood... tell them..." Barnette panted, clearly on the verge of passing out again.

"What about the Moonwood," Demarco snarled.

"Hand has mobilized a strike team," Agent Light said. "Elite Protectors, trained to fight theriomorphs... werewolves. They're on their way to Moonwood Mill, right now."

"What!?" Demarco gasped. Wheeling on Bess she snarled, "You said we had two weeks, not two days!"

"That's what Hand said," Bess insisted.

"He moved quickly," Agent Light said. "Between that and the ambush we just walked into, it's clear he was tipped off that we were preparing to move on him. He must still have friends in the Agency. He also has more support within our Leadership than I had guessed. That or he thinks a victory at Moonwood Mill will get him enough support after the fact." 

"Damn it! Rory's not answering her phone. Stupid bad cell coverage," Demarco snarled. "I need to go. I need to warn them." 

"It will take at least an hour to reach the Mill," Etta pointed out. Looking at Miranda, she added, "You can be there sooner."

"I'll go," Miranda nodded. Before Demarco could object, she added, "I can translocate there in seconds. I'll warn them. Besides, I can help them... until you all catch up."

"Damn it," Mariah groaned, pulling her wife into a fierce hug. "Be safe."

"I'll come back," Miranda smiled. "Remember, if you need me..."

"Call your name, and you'll be there," Mariah smiled back at her.

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Author's note - Unusually for me, this chapter leans heavily on poses from modders including Pandora, AI 1004, Simmerianne93 and SamSims (with apologies if I used some from someone I forgot to credit).

Special thanks goes out to OrangeYams who custom made, for me, the poses of Agent Light carrying Agent Barnette and Agent Light leaning over wounded. -L

In Moonlight - Ch 28 - The Truth

"Dad," Genie groaned. "Seriously?"

The walk back across the Crumbling Isle from Uncle Hugo's had been quiet. Jenny had left Genie to her thoughts. It was obvious she knew Genie was struggling with what her uncle had told her, and what she now guessed, about her mother. After all that, Genie really didn't feel up to walking in on her dad making out with some intern. 

Why had she even decided to go into the library, she wondered, and why does everyone sneak in here to have sex anyway? There are bedrooms in this house, people.

"Ah, Genie, I… this isn’t…" Rohan Elderberry stammered.

"Is she at least older than I am?" Genie muttered. "Wait, are you… bleeding? Is she…?"

"Oh my God!" Jenny gasped. "That’s… you’re Betty Bow!" At Genie’s blank look of shocked confusion she added, "Betty Bow! The original It Girl… like ‘she’s got It’ … that's what they called sex appeal before people were like allowed to say sex appeal in public. She was a huge silent film star back in the 1930’s and… oh my God, Betty Bow's a vampire?!"

Genie's breath caught in her throat as the woman disentangled herself from Genie's father. She moved with languid, casual grace that dripped sex appeal. The smile on her crimson lips was a sensual promise made terrifying as some of that wet crimson dripped down her corpse-pale chin. 

"I like her," Betty Bow smiled, revealing her fangs as she licked Rohan Elderberry’s blood from her lips.

"God, dad, what is this?" Genie groaned. She recognized that she was hiding her fear and horror behind years of being embarrassed and disappointed by her father. She decided she was OK with that. "You’re a Dark Court agent? Wait, are the aliens working with the Court?"

"How do you know about all that?" Rohan demanded, clearly trying to sound confident while pulling together the remains of his dignity. Genie would have told him not to bother, that he'd lost all his dignity in her eyes years ago, but she was distracted by the vampire.

"I told you she knows more than you give her credit for," Betty Bow said with her sensual smile. Turning to Genie, her red eyes flashed as she added firmly, "We are not Dark Court agents."

"But… you’re a vampire," Jenny said, confused.

"Not all vampires serve the Court," Betty snarled, her eyes burning brighter with her anger. "Fah, the Dark Court. A bunch of moldering Elders and self-important old men who reminisce fondly about the Dark Ages… they're vile creatures, every last one of them."

"But mom is a Dark Court agent," Genie pressed. That's what Baron Charm had said, wasn't it? A Dark Court agent, named Villareal. "I mean, she has to be. She works with vampires. She hates witches."

"Your mother isn’t a Dark Court agent," Rohan said firmly, "and she doesn’t hate witches."

"Then explain this to me," Genie demanded. "What is going on? Why is she doing this? Why are you doing this? It has something to do with my grandmother, Genevieve, doesn't it? With her death?"

"How..." Rohan began to ask again.

"I told you," Betty Bow repeated in a throaty purr.

"Alright," Rohan said patiently. "First, Genie, you have to understand there is a shadow war between the Witches’ Council and the vampire Dark Court, that has been going on centuries." 

"Yeah, dad, I know all about that," Genie said, wishing he would just get on with it.

"Well, that war took from your mother the two people she loved most in the whole world," Rohan continued. "Your grandmother and Gwen Silveroak..."

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"She’s not coming, Gwen," Luna said bitterly. Her words were a knife to Rohan's heart, and he knew they all felt the same. "Cassie’s not coming. She’s gone to another frat party. She’s probably drunk, or high, or both. Hell, by now she’s probably spreading her legs for some soccer player!"

It was their last year at university. It was the year that everything had gone wrong.

"She’s hurting," Gwen said softly. "After what happened to her… after what he did to her… she’s hurting. I can’t give up on her. I need her."

"You need her?" Luna scoffed. "You need her! You mean you need another witch to rebuild the Guardians! That's it, isn't it?! You’re not choosing her. You’re choosing the damn shadow war!"

"Luna, I…" Gwen began. 

"You don’t have to let their war rule your life, Gwen," Luna pleaded. "Not after it’s taken so much from us. It took your mother from you, just like it took mine from me. But we can choose. We can choose to say – no more. We can walk away. Turn our backs on it, together.  We can choose each other... and to hell with the witches and the vampires and their war."

"It’s not that simple," Gwen said.

"Yes, it is!" Luna cried. "It’s exactly that simple. You can choose me!"

"I’m sorry, Luna." Gwen shook her head. "I… I can’t."

"Fine!" Luna shouted. "You know what… fine. Leave then. Go chase your whore witch. Rebuild your damn coven. Fight your damn war! Leave!"

Gwen closed her eyes, so Luna didn't see the tears shining in them. All she saw, Rohan was sure, was the fair-haired woman, beautiful and terrible as an elf-witch out of some story, standing and walking away.

"Leave!" Luna shouted again, leaping to her feet. Rohan heard her heart break. He saw the tears in Luna's eyes. Tears that didn't fall. That would never fall again.

Without a word, or a backward glace, Gwen drifted gracefully across the room.

"Leave me," Luna whispered at the departing back of the love of her life. "Just like everyone always leaves me."

"I’ll never leave you," Rohan said softly, gathering the sobbing young woman into his arms.

----------------

"… and I never have," Rohan sighed. "I never will. I love your mother, Genie. I know you may not think so, but I do. Everything important I’ve ever done in my life has been for her."

"She murdered Augustus Charm, didn’t she?" Genie asked quietly.

Rohan rocked back on his feet, clearly more shocked by that question than by anything else Genie had said tonight. Of all the things he'd never imagined she knew, she thought, he'd probably wished that remained secret most of all.

"He murdered her mother," Betty Bow said caustically. 

"Why?" Genie whispered, unsure anyone could hear.

"For the same reason a chess master removes an opponent’s pawn, and with as just as much feeling," Betty replied, her red eyes burning. "Your grandfather was one of Count Straud’s most trusted and valued human companions. In those days, Straud was making allies, gathering his strength... and young Jacques, and his organization, was a key part of that. We could all see he was planning something big. By murdering Jacques' wife, I'm sure ol' Augustus hoped to provoke him and force Straud into a reaction that would have disrupted his schemes. It didn’t work. Jacques didn’t take the bait, and Straud wasn't stopped. Two years later Straud and his allies all but destroyed House Silveroak, the Guardians of Glimmerbrook."

"Gwen's family," Jenny breathed.

"A few years later, when ol' Augustus had probably forgotten all about poor Genevieve, he finally got a reaction to her murder. Just not the one he'd expected," Betty continued with a vicious smile. "I doubt he ever considered pretty little Luna to be a threat... until she poisoned his drink."

"This whole thing is just about revenge, isn’t it?" Genie groaned. "Mom killed Augustus because Augustus killed Genevieve... because the vampires attacked the witches, and the witches attacked the vampires. Back and forth, over and over again, for centuries. All the way back to Dark Ages! She's right," she snapped, gesturing at Betty Bow. "It’s become a game to them! A giant game of chess, where the pieces are real people who end up dead!"

"Why didn’t Baron Charm… the new Baron Charm I mean, Darrel Charm… try to kill Luna?" Jenny asked. "I mean, if it’s all about revenge…"

"Jacques let everyone believe he had killed Augustus," Rohan said.

"And Straud paid the weregild, the blood price… a kind of fine for killing Augustus… to prevent the feud from continuing," Betty added. "By wiping out the Guardians, Straud had destroyed a powerful coven. The Witches’ Council was on the defensive and eager to keep the war from escalating further. They forced Darrel Charm to accept the settlement."

"Until mom killed Shannon," Genie sighed. "Why? It never ends, does it? It’s always just more revenge, more death."

"No," Rohan insisted. "Genie, I know you think we’re the villains here, but we’re not. This isn’t about keeping the feuds going. This is about ending the war, once and for all! About making the world a better place."

"How does killing Shannon Charm make the world a better place, dad?” Genie demanded. “How does a crooked land deal, using gangsters to force people out of their homes, make the world a better place? How does helping the svartalves ... aliens or Settlers or whatever the hell they're called... buy up the Moonwood make the world a better place? How does planning to kill people in Moonwood Mill… to kill children… make the world a better place?"

"Wars have casualties, Genie,” Rohan said in that politician's voice of his that somehow convinced people to vote against their own interests while blaming other people... poor people, or LGBTQIA+ people, or just anyone different... for their problems. “The Settlers need that land to complete Crossing, and we need the Settlers. 

"After Augustus Charm’s death, your mother understood she couldn’t do this by herself," he continued. "So, she took her time. She made connections, and she helped me start my political career. Eventually, we found the Settlers… another secret faction, one that has the potential to match the Council and the Court. One that wants to end the war just as much as we do. Once Crossing is completed, we’ll be able to do just that."

"Well, it sucks to be you, dad," Genie snapped. She was sick of him, sick of his excuses and of his detached 'it's just politics' cruelty. "Crossing is never going to be finished. I’ve already given all the evidence to people in the Agency. We’ve got a witness who will testify about your crooked project, and the people in Moonwood Mill will be ready for the svartalves' attack... and when that's all done, I'm going to expose you. I'll expose the whole thing. You’ve lost!"

"Aren’t you just precious, dear?" Betty smiled cruelly. "Unfortunately, we already knew all that. Your brave spies, your treacherous witness, even your little friends in Evergreen Harbor won’t be able to stop us. In fact, by now, they’re probably all already dead."