Kiss of a Dark Moon Read Online Free Page B

arkness had fallen by the time she pulled into her brother’s driveway. Locusts sang, their calls strident and insistent on the warm night. She let herself in with the spare key Gideon had given her, looking over her shoulder and searching the shadows as she unlocked the front door. Her feet shifted in place on the porch, the wood creaking beneath her.
    Flipping on the light switch, she hesitated at the edge of the living room, her gaze sweeping the tidy room, almost expecting someone to jump out at her. It wouldn’t hurt to be extra cautious. There could be other EFLA agents in town besides Rafe Santiago.
    Shaking off her stillness, she locked the door and punched in the alarm code. Striding across the living room and into the kitchen, her eyes drifted over the framed photographs lining the walls. Married only two years, Claire had managed to fill the house with photos of herself and Gideon. Kit shook her head. Before Claire, she had never seen a photograph anywhere in her brother’s house. Not of their parents. Not of her. Gideon wasn’t the type to forage through old albums and hang pictures of the past on the wall. A past that they both fought to remember. And forget.
    Claire had become his family. His present and future. Every framed photograph proclaimed that. Someday they would have children, and more photos would line the walls. Claire would see to that. She was that sort—the kind of mother figure Kit had missed growing up. The sort that baked cookies and read stories. Her brother would have the family Kit had always dreamed of having. And Kit would have to content herself with reruns of The Waltons .
    The thought shouldn’t have made her feel the way it did. Empty. Hollow inside. Bitter with envy. It was an ugly feeling, and she shoved it back to the deep shadows of her heart.
    Lifting the phone off the wall hook, she dialed Cooper’s number. She had tried calling him on her cell on the way home but no luck. But given the amount of times he’d called her a pain in the ass, she suspected he didn’t always pick up when she called. Maybe if he saw Gideon’s number on the caller ID he would pick up. After several rings, the familiar sound of his prerecorded voice filled her ear, and she hung up.
    Hand still on the phone, she hesitated, biting her bottom lip and contemplating calling Gideon. At the moment he was at a cabin in the mountains of New Mexico. Safe with Claire. If she told him what had happened tonight he would be headed home before she could talk him out of it. She could handle the situation without him. It had taken her years to convince him that she could handle herself and hunt lycans. Did she really want to play the role of helpless female now?
    The hardwood floor creaked beneath her feet as she climbed the stairs. Once in the room Gideon and Claire used as both an office and guest room, she rifled through her duffel bag for clothes. Stripping, she kicked her grimy clothes into the corner with a grimace. She had bought the skirt for her date tonight. Now she doubted she would get the blood stains out. She had lost more clothes than she cared to recount hunting lycans.
    Still uneasy after the events of the night, she took her gun with her into the bathroom. Rafe Santiago had proven himself an expert on matters concerning her. Naturally he would know where Gideon lived. Her skin prickled at the thought of him standing just outside, staring at the house. Was he out there? Watching with those dark eyes? Waiting?
    She peered out from the small window above the toilet, her fingers parting the blinds as she looked down on the quiet street, dimly lit from the occasional front porch light. A few random cars were parked along the street. Nothing out of the ordinary. He wouldn’t make a move, she decided. Not tonight. Not as long as he needed her brother.
    Sighing, she set the gun on the top of the toilet tank and angled her neck in an attempt to ease the tension in her