Midnight Moonrising (Moonrising #2)(35)

Rounding the wall barrier separating the foyer from the living quarters of the house, Phoenix stopped dead in his tracks and stared wide-eyed at Jaxon, with a bloody, overweight Caucasian male slung over his right shoulder.

"Jaxon?" At the sound of his name, Jaxon's head shot up in alarm. "What is the meaning of this?" Phoenix shouted, with rage distinct in his tone and radiating from his rigid limbs. His hands trembled at his sides and his fingers itched to wrap around Jaxon's throat until his face turned blue.

He knew better than this, Phoenix thought, and just when he was about to make good on his plan and turn Jaxon into a vampire pretzel, Mena's hand lightly touched his forearm.

"Wait, Phoenix. Let him explain," she said.

Phoenix glared at Jaxon. "You have five seconds. One…"

Jaxon's mouth fell open and he stuttered through a string of words that Phoenix either couldn't understand or the blood pounding in his ears was too loud to make them clear enough to hear properly. "Two… Three," Phoenix said, and his fangs extended to their full length.

Jaxon threw out his arms, sending the blood-covered body to the hardwood floor. "Wait, Master—"

"Four…"

"Lea—Santino—her brother, he—"

"Five." Phoenix broke into a run, heading straight for Jaxon, and just before he got within reach, a wrecking ball in the form of a five-foot-six-inch-tall-brunette-beauty plowed into him, knocking his body hard against the living room wall. A twenty-thousand dollar painting was jarred off its nail and fell atop his shoulders as he tried to sit up. He groaned when he heard the canvas rip.

"Jaxon," Mena said quietly, "is there a good explanation for why there is a dead human body in Phoenix's living room?"

Phoenix's head shot up at the question. Mena? It was Mena who had struck him, not her wolf.

"Ye-yes, ma'am," Jaxon stuttered. "He broke into the compound to find Lea, and Santino ripped his throat out." Jaxon was panicked as he looked over at Phoenix. "It's not all Santino's fault, Master. This guy beat on the door until Santino opened it, and then Santino said he just went crazy, that he was pushing him and demanding to know where Lea was. Santino thought he was some lunatic that Lea must have dated before becoming your assistant, so Santino did what any of us would have done if a nosy intruder found his way into your compound."


Phoenix sighed heavily as he got to his feet. "Find a place to dispose of the body where the cops won't find him. We have enough of the Heat breathing down our necks as it is."

Jaxon took a step forward and held out his hand to stop Phoenix as he turned to go. "Wait…"

Phoenix shifted on his feet, so he was looking at Jaxon as he stretched the muscles in his back to release the kink Mena had put there with a wall. "What?"

Jaxon's face fell as he glanced down at the body. "He is Lea's brother."





Chapter 21



Mena





"Where is she?" I asked Jaxon.

Phoenix's mouth was agape and his eyes were wide as he stared down at the body. He'd obviously forgotten how to speak, and possibly even think. He didn't need to be the first to talk to Lea anyway. The girl would need someone to cling to, someone who understood what it felt like to lose a loved one. I could be that person, because I could offer her comfort, and I had lost more people that were dear to me in a week than I had in my entire life.

"She's in my room," Jaxon said. "It's downstairs, first door after Phoenix's chambers, on the left."

I turned to go, but Phoenix reached out and gently brushed my arm with his fingers. I thought he was going to try to settle our dispute here, in front of Jaxon, with everything that was going on with Lea, but I was surprised by him once again.

Sympathetic eyes roamed over my face and finally settled on my eyes. "Thank you," was all he said, and then his hand fell away, leaving my skin on fire where his touch had once been. How the hell does he do that to me?

Fighting the need to close the distance between us and kiss him, I nodded once and left in search of the door that led downstairs.

From the outside, one would think Phoenix's home to be about the size of a three-thousand square feet house, excluding the three car garage, but I was probably one of the few special outsiders who knew differently.

Even I hadn't seen all the rooms and hallways that were located downstairs. The main house was just a decoy to fool the neighbors and, more importantly, the city's werewolf pack; not anymore, thanks to me. I supposed Lea lived in that part of the house and kept everything tidy.

I had noticed upon arriving that the landscape was nicely tended, with the lawn cut and the shrubbery pruned, and I wondered if Lea was the keeper of that detail, too, or if they allowed other humans on the premises.

Opening a door that looked familiar, I flipped a switch on the wall right inside the door to reveal the staircase Phoenix led me up right before kissing me the first time. Memories flooded my mind and I welcomed the warm thoughts, because I would be a lot better at consoling Lea if I didn't have murder on my mind.

I quickly descended the staircase and walked at a brisk pace down the long corridor, passing the weapons' room and the room I awoke in after Marc bit me and turned me into half beast. I finally reached Phoenix's chambers, the room where I had felt so awkward around a man who was so beautiful. He'd told me his secret there, and mine, that he was a master vampire and I was a werewolf pack leader, and that we were born enemies. I had changed that. I hoped.