Blade of Moonlight: Midnight Justice Read online

  Chapter One

  The warm summer night weighed on Luna as she tread quietly through the back alleys of Newcropolis. The humidity in the air made it hard to breathe, and her clothes clung to her skin. Smells from dumpsters clashed with the reek of alcohol and urine, but the stench stayed trapped close to the ground, unable to rise and disperse. Breathing through her mouth, she edged along the brick buildings towards her destination.

  The darkness of the night emphasized the closed-in feeling, and she glanced anxiously at the sky. The thin wedge visible between the tall downtown buildings was black as coal. Only a few stars peeked through, and definitely not the moon. It was at low crescent tonight and not yet high enough on the horizon.

  Heat lightning suddenly crackled. The streaks spread out like an electrified spider web, highlighting the underside of the fat, low-hanging clouds.

  It was those clouds that put a shiver down her spine. A few she could handle. Total overcast would blot out her powers, meager as they were tonight.

  She checked her palm unit. Sneaky Nick was still at the Crying Foul. He’d have to leave there soon if her intel was correct, but would it be before the sky was totally socked in? She judged the clouds again. Nick was true to his name; he was one sneaky son of a bitch. This might be the only opportunity she had to bring him in.

  Putting her chin down, she pressed onward. She was pushing it, she knew, but she just couldn’t give up when she was this close. She’d been tracking him for weeks, but every time she’d thought he was in her grasp, he’d somehow managed to evade her.

  The risk was worth it.

  She concentrated on her task. She didn’t need that much time. All she had to do was shine the light on him and notify others of his location. Ideally, if he moved on the schedule her source had indicated, she could shine that light while he was in the act of robbing Bell King Jewelers.

  Nearing the back of the shop, she evaluated her options. Smelly as it was, the shadow beside the dumpster behind the Chinese restaurant next door would provide the best cover. Swinging her dark cape around herself, she crouched and hid.

  Time seemed to split as she waited. On the ground, it slowed to a halt. No breezes flowed. The club down the alley pumped out the same music over and over again. Even the rats scurrying for food were sleepy and slow. Nick was taking his time.

  The storm wasn’t. The clouds barreled in, thickening above her. They crowded together as the rumble of thunder came closer and closer.

  Luna kept her gaze plastered on the one remaining star she could spot. A star meant there were still holes in the cloud cover and the power of the moon could find its way to her.

  The star blinked out…then came back… It had just gone out again when a rat in the middle of the alley jerked its head. Detecting something, it scurried under the dumpster next to her, and her senses went on high alert. She peered into the darkness, searching for movement, while her ears hunted for the slightest sound. It wasn’t long before she heard footsteps. As quiet as the unseen visitor was trying to be, his approach echoed off the bricks behind her.

  She waited until she heard the scratch of metal against metal. A lock was being picked. Adrenaline pulsing, she looked to the sky. One star… She just needed one…

  There!

  Spreading her cape wide, she stepped out of her hiding place. Reaching deep inside, she sought her power. She was used to it waxing and waning. Tied to the moon, it was ever in flux. She’d learned how to adjust and use what she had.

  Tonight was no different.

  Flipping back the hood of her cape, she let her white-blonde hair show and lifted her face. The power was dim, barely a spark, but it was there. A low beam of bluish light emanated from her and radiated towards the man trying to break in to the jewelry store.

  Flinching at the glow, Sneaky Nick turned towards her. Fear made his eyes bug as he stared, but his brow furrowed and those beady eyes narrowed as his expression changed to anger.

  “On low beams tonight, Luminescence?”

  Fingers of warning trailed down the back of Luna’s neck, but she couldn’t show weakness. “I save the high beams for the big fish, Nicky.”

  Her light wasn’t her only power. Like the moon’s gravity controlled the tides of oceans around the world, she held the power of attraction. Only she didn’t pull water, she pulled people. She just needed to focus on him until the authorities or one of her cohorts closed in on the scene.

  Twitching, Nick looked up and down the alleyway. With one last reluctant glance at the jewelry store door, he began backing away from her.

  She followed, sweat beading her brow. She couldn’t let him out of her sight. If he ran before someone came, all her work would have been in vain.

  It took a moment before she realized it wasn’t sweat on her forehead, but raindrops.

  Those fingers of dread at the back of her neck wrapped around her throat, and her steps faltered. Breathing deeply, ignoring the stench, she struggled to keep her light glowing. Nick might seem like an insignificant weasel, but he was dangerous, and she was alone with him in a dark, desolate alleyway. She clung to the wavering energy. She had to hang on.

  She focused on him, emitting what light she could, even as the rain intensified. Her hair dulled as it grew damper, clinging to her neck and her shoulders. She searched with her senses for anyone, anything that could come to her aid.

  She knew the exact moment when the cloud cover bunched together and blocked out the source of her power. It wasn’t the rain splattering down on her face or the earsplitting thunder overhead. It was the fatigue that shot through her, robbing her of her breath.

  Her arms dropped to her sides and her knees wobbled. She’d forced too much. She’d dug too deep.

  Now she was going to pay.

  Realizing the trouble she was in, she grabbed for the taser she kept on her hip.

  She was too late.

  Sneaky Nick hit her like a freight train, slamming her backwards. She toppled over, landing awkwardly on a moldy, moth-eaten mattress that hadn’t made it into the nearby trash bin. She bounced back up, but Nick already had her by the throat.

  Circling behind her, he knocked her taser to the ground and tightened his stranglehold. “Do you know how sick and tired I am of having you do-gooders follow me?”

  His fingers bit into her neck, and stars dotted her vision. They weren’t the good stars, the ones that might guide her to her powers. These were red and white sparks flashing before her eyes.

  “And a low-level heroine like you,” Nick scoffed. “You know what you are, honey? Bait.”

  Luna struggled to think. Desperate, she slammed her heel down on the man’s instep. Rain had slickened his shoe, though, and she slid right off. Jamming her finger upwards towards his eyes, she tried a different attack. He caught her wrist in his free hand and merely laughed.

  “I know how you work, baby.” His hips swiveled against her in a slimy caress. The rain was coming in a steady downpour now, and they were both drenched and panting. “You get yourself in trouble and you call for help. Then the real superheroes come flying in to save the helpless little woman.”

  His finger slid down her bare stomach. “They’re probably hoping they can score a piece of ass in return. Do you do that, golden girl? Is that how you keep all the big strong men at your beck and call? You certainly dress like it.”

  His breaths were hot and wet against her ear. “I could find some uses for you—if only you hadn’t pissed me off. This was supposed to be a big score for me tonight.”

  His forearm lifted, pulling in and up, making her rise on her tiptoes. “Bitch.”

  Luna clawed at his arm and kicked backwards at his shins.
Her throat felt tight and raw, compressed. Opening her lips, she struggled to breathe, but rain filled her mouth, choking off the thin breaths she was able to take.

  It occurred to her in her fragmented thoughts that she was going to die here, in this deserted, smelly alley…with a man named Sneaky Nick at her side…and a hungry rat at her feet…

  The thunder of her pulse in her ears quieted. Or maybe that was the thunder overhead… Her knees sagged. Lightning flashed behind her eyelids. Or maybe it was in front of them. It was too hard to tell.

  Footsteps echoed down the alleyway, and she dreamed she heard a shout. Her heart leapt at the thought of rescue, but it slowed again at the lack of oxygen.

  Another roar blended with the constant ringing in her ears, and her last support disappeared.

  She crumpled to the ground atop Nick.

  Greedily, she sucked in air. Valuable, delicious air. She couldn’t get enough, but the prickle at the back of her neck wasn’t leaving. Sneaky Nick… She had to get him in her sights. She rolled off him but couldn’t find the energy to run or stand or even crawl.

  Yet he didn’t follow.

  Confused, she stared down at the man who’d just tried to kill her. He was a lifeless heap sprawled out on the moldy mattress. There was red pooling beneath him. Was that blood?

  Adrenaline surged and she scrambled back, getting only a few feet away from him before her strength vanished. What had just happened? How had he ended up there? And why wasn’t he moving?

  The prickling at the back of her neck spread until her entire body was quivering in warning. On her knees, Luna looked up. Unable to support her head, her neck tilted back. A dark shadow hovered over her, big and lurking. Thunder crashed and lightning struck almost simultaneously. The bright light illuminated the figure in front of her, and her eyes widened in the rain before drifting shut. Her gasp stuck in her damaged throat. She’d pulled someone to her, all right, but not someone she wanted.

  Terror clutched at her gut even as she tilted sideways onto the gritty, dirt-covered cement. She patted the ground, looking in vain for her taser.

  This man wasn’t one of her own. He wasn’t one of the do-gooders, but the worst of the worst. A big fish. She’d gone from low-level thug to the deadliest blade of them all.

  Words couldn’t squeeze through her throat. In the end, only her lips moved. “Scythe.”

  Then everything went black.

  Chapter Two

  The cloud was soft underneath her. The air smelled pure and clean. The rumble of thunder had been silenced, and the blinding lightning was gone. When Luna awoke it was dark, but she felt calm, safe and at peace, just like a soul new to heaven should.

  But her throat still hurt.

  She swallowed with care. Shouldn’t her pain be gone? Wasn’t that one of the benefits of the afterlife? She’d always been told that when one passed on, pain disappeared and troubles drifted away like clouds on the horizon.

  Make that pains.

  She shifted in discomfort. The cloud underneath her supported her like a protective palm, but her knees stung where gravel had dug into them. She took a moment to evaluate. Her shoulder ached, too, from her off-balanced fall in that dirty alley. She’d been pushed, hadn’t she? Yes. The memory became clearer. Sneaky Nick had shoved her down and then picked her up by the throat. No wonder it burned. She swallowed again, unable to stop the impulse. It burned like the fires of hell.

  Her sense of peace began to waver as the memory refused to go away. He’d pushed her down, but then they’d both fallen. She’d fallen atop Sneaky Nick, their bodies pressing together slick and wet. The hair on her arms rose. Sneaky Nick… What had happened to him?

  When she remembered the blood, she sucked in a sharp breath and immediately regretted it. The air felt like shards of glass jabbing into her esophagus. Opening her eyes, she stared into the unending darkness. Whoever had told her about the bliss of heaven should be kicked. The pain wasn’t gone and the memories were rampant.

  Unless she hadn’t gone to heaven.

  She stilled. Where, exactly, was she?

  She looked around, but everything was dark. Pitch as night. She went to push her hair back from her face but was surprised when her wrists wouldn’t move. She pulled harder, but they wouldn’t budge. Fear bubbled inside her, thick and oily. She tried to roll onto her side, but her legs were hindered too. Something bound her ankles.

  Inhaling sharply and ignoring the biting pain in her throat, she sat up straight—only to find she couldn’t make it that far. A choked rasp escaped her. She wasn’t dead. She hadn’t gone to heaven. She was tied up.

  Her fingers straightened, searching for what held her. She touched wood and traced its lines. They were dowels of some sort, decorative from the feel, but sturdy. It was a headboard! She was bound to a bed. Her eyes popped open wide as her senses became more acute.

  She was tied naked to a bed.

  Her rough pants echoed around the unfamiliar room. She could feel the soft stroke of the sheet that covered her—the sheet that had been pulled up to her throat but had slipped down to her breasts with her exertions. The material sat perched on her nipples, and she froze when she realized its precarious position. Much more movement and that sheet would slip, exposing her.

  To what, though? To whom?

  Bits and pieces of memories seeped into her confused brain. She might have lacked oxygen for a while, but she knew what she’d seen. She knew who had stood over her at the end. A predator.

  Scythe.

  Her heart began pounding so hard, the sheet fluttered.

  Her head turned from side to side as she attempted to judge the seriousness of her situation. Where was she? What could she use to defend herself? A knife. She needed her knife or her taser. She had to escape before he came back. She had to—

  Click.

  The sound was soft, but its impact was louder than the full-throated thunder that had rocked her earlier. With it came a dim light and fear itself.

  Her gaze locked on gray eyes. He was in the room, sitting in a chair in the far corner. He’d been with her all along, watching her in the silence.

  And he looked livid.

  A shudder went down Luna’s spine, curling her toes. Her powers were no match for him, even at full charge, but this was worse. He had her at his mercy on a moonless night. He’d stripped her of her man-made weapons and her clothes. He’d trussed her up naked on a bed in a room she’d never seen. She pulled at her restraints, feeling every muscle protest.

  Why hadn’t he just killed her? Why had he brought her here? Nothing good came to mind, and fear turned her taste metallic. What was he going to do to her?

  “You deserve to feel that fear, lightness.”

  Even his voice brought goose bumps to her skin. It was soft and lethal, like the steel blade he carried that gave him his name.

  “You need to learn to heed its warning,” he continued. “You ignored it earlier tonight.” That gray gaze stroked down her body, lingering where the sheet dangled so close to the edge. “Look where that mistake has gotten you.”

  Luna was frozen with fear. Ice and heat alternated through her veins, but she forced herself to think past the paralyzing terror. She twisted her wrists, searching for a weakness in her bindings. Her ankles felt clamped tight, but the material circling her wrists was soft and lightweight—and unforgiving.

  Her unwanted companion looked over his shoulder. Pulling back the shade that covered the window, he glanced outside. Now that she was awake, she could hear the rain splattering against the glass. Washing away the dirt and grime… Cleaning away all the evidence…

  “Is he dead?” Her voice wasn’t quite right. She licked her lips and felt the man across the room watch the unconscious motion. Suddenly, she was very conscious of it and every other motion she made, every breath she took and every pinch against her restrained skin. “Sneaky Nick?”

  “He should be.” Again, the man’s gaze slid over her, lingering on her bare shoulders
and the exposed curves of her breasts. “For what he did to you, he deserved death.” He shrugged uncaringly. “He should be in the hospital by now. I heard the sirens of your compatriots—the ones you wanted to come to your rescue.”

  Their gazes connected, and Luna couldn’t look away. He had rescued her. He’d taken Sneaky Nick down without a second thought, but instead of doing away with her, too, he’d kidnapped her. For what reason, though? Did he want her secrets? Did he think she knew the plans her side was making to take him and those like him down?

  She’d give him nothing.

  Because, loathe as she was to admit it, she didn’t know anything.

  The man known as Scythe rubbed his thumb slowly across his lower lip in contemplation. She knew she should be doing something. She should be talking her way out of this mess. He’d already saved her. He wouldn’t bring her here just to hurt her himself, would he?

  Reality struck. Of course, he would. He’d already stripped her and tied her to a bed. What more did she need to tell her his intentions? Her thighs clenched, but the straps around her ankles held fast. This man didn’t have a conscience. None of the criminals who were dirtying her city did.

  She watched him intently, knowing she had to keep her senses sharp. If she got out of this alive, she had to find some way to identify him, one clue that would lead the authorities back to him or this hideaway where he’d stowed her.

  How long did he plan to keep her? For the night? Longer?

  The stone of her necklace was cold and heavy where it lay against her chest, between her breasts. Her power might be her only hope, but it wouldn’t come back for several nights.

  He stood in one fluid motion. Luna flinched, and the sheet shifted. She lay still as the man who was such a threat to her began to move around the room. Every time he neared his weapon, she thought it was her end, but he left it perched against the corner. When it became apparent that he didn’t intend to gut her, her fear subsided enough that she could concentrate on details.

  He’d taken off his Grim Reaper cape, she realized. Somehow, it didn’t lessen his formidability in the least. When he’d stood over her in the alley, she’d kowtowed before him. He might not look like death’s servant now, but he was still danger personified. He prowled around the room, his big body moving silkily, lethally.