Circle of the Moon (Soulwood #4)

Gently, T. Laine added, “And then Jason disappeared, taking away all the items you had collected with Rick’s DNA on them.”


“I didn’t know. I swear, I didn’t know.”

“Lie,” Tandy whispered softly. “Lie.”

“Added that information to the file,” JoJo said.

In the null room, the interrogation of Loriann Ethier was ongoing, both witches sitting up now, and the mic uncovered. T. Laine’s cell was on the table beside her and by her next sentence I knew she had checked her messages and was up to date on everything we knew. “Your brother, Jason, tracked Rick to the Appalachians. Did you know he also joined with a vampire named Godfrey of Bouillon?”

Loriann looked confused. “Vampire?”

“Godfrey is a known pedophile. He or his people kidnapped a teenaged girl and killed her. And Jason was in the van when she was taken.”

Loriann slapped the table hard, coming up out of her chair. “No. No, that isn’t true.”

On her cell phone, T. Laine showed her the doorbell security system photo of the van with Jason’s face visible. Loriann wilted in her chair. T. Laine swiped the cell screen to show the photos of the girl on the side of the road. Loriann, who had to have seen worse photos as a crime scene tech at NOLA CLE, looked away.

“Jason is a blood junkie,” T. Laine said, her tone changing from understanding to inexorable. “He’s a witch.” Her tone went harder and firmer. “He’s a teenager. He may be sick from one of the cancers that male witches are prone to.” Her tone grew in volume. “You knew all this. And Jason is here in Knoxville. And he’s with vampires who have killed a human. Now. How are we going to find him, stop him from using the Circle of the Moon curse on Rick, and get Jason help?”

Loriann began rocking again. “The bond I put into Rick’s skin works both ways.”

JoJo said, “Both ways. That’s not what she said before. Not bad, Lainie girl.”

“Rick has to come to Jason if Jason calls,” Loriann said. “Jason can feel Rick’s location if he tries. I meant it when I said I can track my brother through Rick’s tattoos. If he’ll let me.”

“I see,” T. Laine said. She turned her head, breaking eye contact, staring at the wall. “I’ll talk to Rick about this. Maybe he’ll agree. Maybe he won’t. I wouldn’t let my torturer at me a second time if I had a choice.”

Loriann flinched at the word torturer.

“One thing bothers me,” T. Laine said. “Why does Jason hate Rick? Rick let you torture him to keep Jason alive. Why hate him?”

Loriann looked to the side and when she spoke, her voice was faintly different. “Jason blames Rick for not rescuing him in time. For letting him be tortured by Isleen.”

“Even though Rick had no way to save him?” Lainie clarified. “That doesn’t make sense. Come on. I know you’re leaving out things, Lori. If you want me to help you find Jason before Godfrey drinks him down, you have to tell me everything. I won’t put the team at risk over lies or inadequate information.”

Loriann’s eyes filled with tears again. There were black smudges beneath them from rubbing her tear-wet mascara. “I … I’m not proud of it. I’m not,” she said fiercely.

“Okay. We all do things we’re ashamed of from time to time. Let me help you make it right.”

Loriann tilted her head in acquiescence and breathed out slowly. “I couldn’t tell my brother everything about his rescue. Or what happened while he was held captive by the crazy-assed vamp. I didn’t mean it to happen, but somehow I told him enough that he believes that the cop with the tattoos didn’t want to save him. That I had to use my magic to … to force Rick to save him.”

“Witch bitch,” JoJo muttered. “You selfish witch bitch. And now you want us to fix your stupid mistake.”

“I don’t understand,” I said.

In the null room, T. Laine said, sorrowfully, “Oh, Lori. You took the glory of the rescue yourself.”

“Not on purpose.”

“Maybe not,” T. Laine said. “But you gave Rick’s name to Jason. And when you figured out Jason was blaming Rick, you didn’t fix it. Even after Rick was out from undercover and living as a cop in the real world. You let your brother keep thinking you had rescued him, not Rick, because it made you look important. And Rick became what? The bad guy?”

Loriann didn’t deny it. “I didn’t think it was a problem. It was me and him against the world. It gave me some control when he wanted to drink vampire blood again. He was an addict, and the fact that I saved him, me, not Rick, was a … a bond of sorts.”

“But … ,” T. Laine encouraged.

“When Jason got old enough, he started following Rick as best he could. Rick’s social media presence was minuscule early on. Music stuff from where Rick played in bands. He eventually discovered Rick was related to Tom, Katie Fonteneau’s primo. Katie was the vampire who made Isleen and let her loose into the world before she was sane,” Loriann explained. T. Laine didn’t tell Loriann she already knew that information. She let Loriann talk. “Things only got worse when Jason did Rick’s family timeline back. He discovered Katie Fonteneau was Rick’s way-back ancestor through a child before she was turned.”

I barely managed to hold in my gasp at that one. How had Jason found that out? All we had were rumors. T. Laine didn’t react, but I had a feeling it was a near thing. Lainie said, “Because of Katie’s decision to let Isleen live, Jason developed post-traumatic stress syndrome. Yes?”

Loriann nodded. “With emotional and mental problems. That crazy fanghead kidnapped him, drank from him, and forced him to drink her blood. He was a blood addict. He developed paranoia, and he started to believe Rick LaFleur was part of a conspiracy to hurt him.”

Loriann leaned in, suppliant, trying to create a relationship that was slipping away. “Once I figured out he was going after Rick, I tried to set the record straight. I did. But Jason wouldn’t believe me. He thought I was just protecting Rick and that got me tossed into the paranoid mix too. Jason blames Rick for his captivity. He blames Rick and me for everything else.”

“Telling Rick he had a teenaged stalker would have been nice,” T. Laine said. “He could have protected himself.”

“What would I have told Rick? That my brother is mentally ill and fixated on him? I had Jason in therapy and … I thought he was getting better.”

“Until he left twelve months ago. He’s a blood junkie, Loriann,” T. Laine said gently. The words hung in the air like a note tapped on a warped brass bell, ugly and flat. “A magical blood-junkie who has created a spell for things we can only imagine. All of them bad. His magic involves Blood Tarot, just like yours does. And Jason’s been tracking Rick, showing up on the banks of rivers, laying a blood-magic curse on Rick. Rick. Who saved him. A federal officer. Creating a spell that calls Rick and then leaving before Rick arrives, which we don’t yet understand.”

Loriann gave a tiny shrug. “Jason’s deepening the blood bond in the tattoos until he’s ready to use it.” Loriann waved that away as if it was unimportant. “I know PsyLED is the agency that will find Jason and stop him. That’s why I’m here. To help you bring him in. Alive. That’s the price of my assistance.” Loriann’s face took on a hard cast, demanding, “I want my brother alive.”

Rick and Occam appeared behind us, silhouetted by the hallway lights. I didn’t know where they had gone, but I was glad they were back. Occam flashed his cell at me and I realized that JoJo had sent the live feed to Occam’s cell and the two cat-men had been following along. Smart move. Rick said, “Jason is a sick little fucker.”

It was coarse language, words that made me cringe, but he was right. I turned my chair to study him standing in the doorway. Occam stood behind Rick, not touching, but close, like a mouser cat offering comfort, and maybe using his cat magic to keep Rick calm.

I said, “So is Loriann.”

“Yeah. She is,” Rick said shortly. “I never saw it. I never realized any of this.”

JoJo said, “Jason’s eighteen. He’s a legal adult. He’s already helped vampires kidnap, torture, and drain a teenaged girl. There’s no way to return him to his sister. She knows that. No matter what happens, Jason goes into a null room for decades. If he survives the vampires.”

“So we get him first,” Rick said. “We get him help.”

JoJo shook her head. “Do-gooder.”

Rick smiled slightly. “Yeah. I’m trying to be.”

“Is it the tats talking?”

Rick shrugged. “I’m not sure it matters at this point.”

On the screen, T. Laine said, “That’s not all, is it?” Loriann’s eyes flashed down, hiding her expression. “Tell me the rest,” Lainie said.

Loriann dropped her head, hiding her eyes and her expression. “I had to protect Jason, even from Rick,” she whispered.

“While you were being forced to ink Rick with a binding to a vampire, you also, voluntarily, inked a restraining order and a protection order into Rick’s flesh,” T. Laine clarified.