Moonlight

Chapter 25

Merissa shifted uncomfortably as she walked down the stairs to the back area of the club. Adley glanced at her, wondering what was wrong.

"The pants are too tight," Merissa said when she realised that Adley was watching her.

With a devious smirk on his face, Adley turned Merissa into an empty room and closed the door.

"Now is not the time."

"I know."

Still, he carried on with pulling her shirt out of the pants. Sudden relief came to Merissa when he popped the button. Then he curiously pulled the band from her hair and looped it through the buttonhole. Merissa was amazed as he pulled the other end of the band over the metal button. Her pants were together but open, held in place by a mere elastic band.

"You are a legend."

"I know. Of course, it would be a little more difficult if you were wearing jeans that had a fly rather than buttons."

The shirt was draped over the small opening, hiding the fact that her top button was undone. Feeling better, Merissa opened the door.

Carson stopped and looked at the couple, noting the crinkled shirt hanging out of Merissa's pants.

"Can't you two behave yourselves for five minutes?"

Adley scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Not a chance."

"Well, you should. You've already kept your father's guest waiting for far too long as it is."

Merissa frowned as they followed Carson up the corridor.

"What guest?"

"I am not at liberty to divulge the details. You will have to wait. I can see you struggle with waiting for five minutes so we'll make this short, shall we?"

It was Merissa's turn to roll her eyes.

"We weren't," She snapped softly. "Adley helped me with my pants."

"I don't want to know the details."

To ensure Carson knew she was being serious, Merissa lifted the shirt and showed him the alteration. An eyebrow raised as he looked at the band stretched over the opening, then lifted his eyes to Merissa.

"So, you can't afford a new pair of pants now?"

"Hilarious."

Chad opened the door as the trio approached. With a nod, he waited and then closed the door once they'd passed.

Gamichee's eyes rose as he looked to the door. Merissa was not surprised that he was sitting in the lounge area but it was odd. He usually remained behind his desk and the guest sat on a chair in front of it. This was more relaxed, Merissa knew this was an informal meeting.

"Good evening darling,"

"Hey honey," Adley cheekily replied.

Gamichee's eyes narrowed as his lips tightened, barely restraining the amusement.

"I was getting to you,"

"Oh, right, I forgot Carson was behind me. Well, don't forget your daughter is here too."

The woman seated opposite Gamichee chuckled softly as she looked at Carson who was not amused.

Adley looked at the woman on the lounge chair and he knew who she was. Momentarily, he wondered if Merissa had figured it out. She was by appearances, not that much older than Merissa but if she was who Adley thought she was, then there were at least ten years between them.

The dark-haired beauty stood with amusement in her eyes.

"Adley Baker, I thought I'd never see you again."

"You know me?"

"One always remembers a wolf sniffing around the house, peering over the fence at the pretty girl that had him enamoured."

His head tilted as one eye narrowed at the crazy vampire.

"Seriously?"

"Absolutely. It is surprising that you don't remember that you didn't always live outside of the city or the fact that you've met us before. What is not surprising is that you managed to find your way back to Angelica."

Merissa's eyes widened fractionally as she stared at the woman. Her heart raced with the fear of the unknown. Before her was the past that had until these past few days, been unknown.

"Mother always said that you two would find a way. The child that refused to come inside until she'd seen the moon because when the moon came out, so did the boy. Soon she started to call you Moonlight because she would be out there, waiting for the moon. She'd see it and call out those words. The little girl would look up at the sky in wonder and then to the boy who was sitting on the fence with his goofy grin."

The smile on her face faded as sadness encroached.

"Then the council pushed the werewolf settlements out of the inner city areas and to protect his family, the boy's father took them to a place where they could be safe. The nights were never the same again, she'd wait for the moon and it would come but the boy she called moonlight would not. Then our lives got worse."

Wiping away the tears, the vampire smiled.

"Your anger, your fear, it was more than just the loss of our parents, it was the loss of your entire world. But that was the past and we cannot change what has happened. Perhaps we should start afresh? I am Ezra Korden and I am so very happy to see you again Angelica."

Ezra didn't know how her baby sister would react after all these years but she knew that she had to try. Her offer might be rejected but then again, it might be accepted and that was worth the risk.

Opening her arms, Ezra waited. With a warm, affectionate smile on her face that held back the sadness, she hoped that the woman before her didn't refuse. Ezra watched as the tears emerged and her not so little sister caved. Her arms wrapped around her waist, hugging her hard.

A soft sigh escaped Ezra. As she closed her eyes, the tears were crushed into her lashes, wetting them.

"I have waited a long time for this day," Ezra said softly. "Our time is not here yet my love but it will be soon. We will win this war and when we do, our people and our family will be able to breathe freely."

Merissa lifted, looking at her sister. She smiled, wiping away the tears under her eyes.

"We will win, we will make them pay for what they did to us."

Nodding, Merissa hugged her sister again. She knew that the path ahead of them would not be easy, filled with more painful emotions, danger and death but it was a path that they had to take. To be free, to associate with whoever they wanted, it was necessary to fight this battle. Not just for the community as a whole but for the babies growing inside her. They were half breeds and if the council found them, Merissa knew they would want to destroy them.

With the people in this room, with the woman in front of her, Merissa would fight to keep what was right in their future. She had her family, she had her love. Adley would protect her and the babies until there was nothing left in him. Each and every one of them would fight and even in their dying breath, they'd still strike hard.

Deep down, Merissa believed that everything was going to be okay.