Page 32 of Vicious Luna
In hindsight, I should’ve just stayed the fuck in my room.
Raising my steaming mug to my lips, I recline back against the counter, sipping my spiked coffee while I watch Matty prepare Luna’s breakfast.
“What time do you want to get together to go over the reports?” he asks casually as he picks up a bunch of grapes and starts plucking them off the stem.
“Whenever,” I mumble, taking a big swig of coffee. It scalds my throat on the way down, though I’m not sure if it’s the temperature of the beverage or the burn of the liquor. “I’ll come find you when I’m done downstairs.”
“Cool,” he replies. “I updated your calendar this morning, set a meeting for the team leads at four today.”
I arch a brow in his direction. “Who called the meeting?”
“I did,” Dad provides as he strolls into the kitchen, coming up beside me to reach for the coffee pot. “Would’ve told you about it last night, but you weren’t in any condition to discuss business.”
My lips twist in a scowl as I watch him fill a coffee mug, his gaze flickering up to meet mine.
“Got a few minutes to chat this morning?” he asks,returning the pot to the coffee machine and wrapping his hand around his cup to lift it to his mouth.
“Later,” I mumble, still irritated that he just took a jab at my sobriety.Or lack thereof.“Gotta go down to the basement.”
Dad gives me a suspicious look as he tips back his cup and takes a sip, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallows and lowers it in front of him again. “You’ve been down there quite a bit lately.”
“And?” I fire back, immediately on the defensive.
“What have you found out?”
I shrug a shoulder, taking another big gulp of my Irish coffee to buy myself time as I consider how to answer. “A few things, so far,” I say vaguely after swallowing it down. “Still working on earning her trust.”
He furrows his brow. “Why?”
“Because it’s the only way I’ll get answers.”
Dad makes a scoffing sound in his throat, lifting his mug to his lips again. “I can think of other ways.”
A surge of anger spears through me at his insinuation, and it takes more effort than usual to tamp it down. I know what ‘other ways’ he’s referring to, and I refuse to beat the information out of her. There’s a possibility it’d be effective, but it’s also fucking barbaric- our goal here is to eliminate the monsters in the world, not become them.
“Not with this one,” I grumble, gritting my teeth against the urge to snap at him. My dad and I have always gotten along, but lately, things have become increasingly tense between the two of us. “You said you’d let me take point,” I remind him.
“I know, and I am,” he replies coolly. “I don’t doubt you.”
The hint of condescension in his tone makes my hackles raise. “No? Then what’s this about?” I question, eyeing him up skeptically.
Dad heaves a sigh, shaking his head as he turns at the waist to set his coffee cup down on the counter. “Just becareful, son,” he murmurs, giving me a pointed look. “They may look it, but they’re not human. They’ll manipulate you, if given the chance.”
“You think I don’t know that?” I growl, turning to drop my coffee cup in the sink. As good as it was going down, this whole conversation has left a foul taste in my mouth. I whip back around to face my dad, narrowing my eyes on him. “Just get to the point of what you want to say.”
He presses his lips together in a tight line, giving me one of thosestern fatherlooks that only makes my blood boil hotter. “We’ve got nine new soldiers on their way, they should arrive right before the full moon. With thirty of us, we should be able to take down that pack up north within the next month, as long as you can extract the information we need about their weak spots.”
I push off from the counter, turning away and grumbling, “I’ll get it done,” effectively ending the conversation and angling to get the hell out of here before he can start it again. Matty’s still putting the finishing touches on preparing the tray, but I snatch it off the counter in front of him, pivoting to head for the basement.
After going through the motions of keying in the entry code and flipping on the lights, I descend the steps, finding Luna pacing her cell. She stops when she sees me, her lips parting as if about to speak. She must think better of it after she sees the unhinged look in my eyes, remaining silent as I stomp toward the door to her cage.
“Back up,” I order gruffly, fumbling for the keys in the pocket of my jeans.
She shuffles further away from the door and I make quick work of unlocking it, opening it just far enough to drop the tray on the ground inside. As soon as I do, I swing it closed again, the loud clang reverberating in my skull.
I’d planned on spending some time down here this morning- maybe making her pay for the stunt she pulled lastnight by threatening that brother of hers she seems so fond of- but the last thing I need is my father thinking I’m too preoccupied with this assignment to fulfill my role as his second in command. I need to refocus on the mission at hand, which means I should go through the accounts and message boards and take care of business before resuming my games with this infuriating creature.
I lock up her cell, casting her a last cursory glance before turning on a heel and heading back upstairs. I even return the keys to the hook beside the door before keying in the code, sticking to protocol for the first time in days. God forbid my dad find them missing and question why I felt the need to hold onto them.