Ghost Moon Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  PRAISE FOR THE NOVELS OF RUTH GLICK

  WRITING AS REBECCA YORK

  “Action packed . . . and filled with sexual tension . . . a grippingthriller.” —The Best Reviews

  “A steamy paranormal . . . danger, shape-shifters, and hot romance. The best of everything. Brava.”

  —Huntress Book Reviews

  “A compulsive read.” —Publishers Weekly

  “York delivers an exciting and suspenseful romance with paranormal themes that she gets just right. This is a howling good read.” —Booklist

  “Mesmerizing action and passions that leap from the pages with the power of a wolf’s coiled spring.” —BookPage

  “Delightful . . . [with] two charming lead characters.”

  —Midwest Book Review

  “Rebecca York delivers page-turning suspense.”

  —Nora Roberts

  “[Her] prose is smooth, literate, and fast-moving; her love scenes are tender yet erotic; and there’s always a happy ending.” —The Washington Post Book World

  "She writes a fast-paced, satisfying thriller.” —UPI

  "Clever and a great read. I can’t wait to read the final book in this wonderful series.” —ParaNormal Romance Reviews

  Don’t miss these other werewolf romantic suspense novels from Rebecca York

  KILLING MOON

  A PI with a preternatural talent for tracking

  finds his prey: a beautiful genetic researcher

  who may be his only hope for a future . . .

  EDGE OF THE MOON

  A police detective and a woman who files a

  missing persons report become the pawns of an

  unholy serial killer in a game of deadly attraction . . .

  WITCHING MOON

  A werewolf and a sexy botanist investigate a swamp

  steeped in superstition, legend, and death . . .

  CRIMSON MOON

  A young werewolf bent on protecting the environment

  ends up protecting a lumber baron’s daughter—

  a woman who arouses his hunger as no other . . .

  SHADOW OF THE MOON

  A journalist investigates a sinister world

  of power and pleasure—alongside a woman

  who knows how to bring out the animal in him . . .

  NEW MOON

  Unable to resist his desire for a female werewolf,

  a landscape architect will have to travel

  through two dimensions to save her—

  and earth—from the wrath of her enemy . . .

  Books by Rebecca York

  KILLING MOON

  EDGE OF THE MOON

  WITCHING MOON

  CRIMSON MOON

  SHADOW OF THE MOON

  NEW MOON

  GHOST MOON

  BEYOND CONTROL

  BEYOND FEARLESS

  THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA

  Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada

  (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)

  Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  Penguin Group Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.)

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  (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.)

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  (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.)

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  South Africa

  Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  GHOST MOON

  A Berkley Sensation Book / published by arrangement with the author

  PRINTING HISTORY

  Berkley Sensation mass-market edition / May 2008

  Copyright © 2008 by Ruth Glick.

  Excerpt from Eternal Moon by Rebecca York copyright © 2008 by Ruth Glick.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form

  without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in

  violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,

  a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

  eISBN : 978-1-4406-3194-8

  BERKLEY® SENSATION

  Berkley Sensation Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,

  a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

  BERKLEY SENSATION and the “B” design are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  http://us.penguingroup.com

  PROLOGUE

  JUNE 1933

  THE TWO WEREWOLVES were out for blood and too inexperiencedto think of death—their own or the other’s.

  They had fought over a flirtatious little brunette, and neitherone of them was willing to say she was just a temporary whim. So they met in a patch of Maryland woods, far from the haunts of men—each prepared to rip the hide off the other.

  They had driven in separate cars to the dueling grounds, neither one of them bringing a second because this was a very private affair.

  Back into the mists of time, the adults of the Marshall clan had trusted no one besides their life mates. Certainly not their fathers or brothers or cousins. They were all alpha males, all leaders of their own pack. And the only individualsadmitted to that pack were their wives and children.

  But neither had yet reached the age of bonding. And neitherof them knew how to control the rage that flared in the animal portion of their spirit.

  So
they pulled their cars into the woods, then went to separate thickets to strip off their clothing and say the ancientchant that changed them from man to wolf.

  Neither of them understood the words. They only knew the ritual had been passed down from father to son through the ages.

  Then they trotted into the clearing that they had selected and faced each other, eyes blazing and muscles tensed. One of them howled, then the other, before they began to circle— looking for an opening.

  At the beginning, someone might have backed down. Yet pride and the violent instincts of their kind outweighed good sense. One sprang, knocking the other to the ground, and the fight was on.

  They rolled across the forest floor, each trying to score a bite that would punish the other enough to make him back off.

  Then one lost all sense of proportion and went for his opponent’s throat, his teeth sinking through thick fur into vulnerableflesh. And when he felt the other combatant go limp, he raised his head in alarm, then took a quick step away from the shaggy form sprawled on the ground.

  His cousin lay still, blood gushing from his neck, his expressionas astonished as that of the wolf who had taken the fateful bite.

  The attacker stepped back, saying the ancient chant in his mind, feeling his muscles and tendons contort as he changed from wolf to naked man. Ignoring the wounds on his shouldersand ribs, he knelt beside the injured animal.

  “Caleb, Jesus. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean . . .”

  His cousin raised dull eyes. His jaws moved, and his face contorted, and then he, too, made the transformation from wolf to man.

  He lay breathing shallowly, then tried to push himself up, before falling back against the blood-soaked leaves, his fingersclawing the ground.

  “Jesus,” Aden repeated, fear leaping inside his chest. “We’ve got to get you to a doctor. We can say . . . an animal attacked you.”

  But it was already too late. The life in his cousin’s eyes flickered, then went out.

  Aden looked around wildly, wondering what the hell he was going to do.

  His heart pounding, he went back to where he’d left his clothes and swiftly pulled on his khaki pants and long-sleevedshirt.

  It struck him, then, that he had killed a man. Well, a werewolf.His cousin. He had heard whispered tales in the family of werewolves who had disappeared over the years. Caleb lived alone, the way they all did before they bonded with a life mate. And his job took him away from home for long periodsof time. It might be days, weeks before anyone realized he was missing. And there was nothing to tie his disappearanceto his cousin.

  Still, it seemed wrong to leave his naked body in the woods. So he retrieved Caleb’s discarded clothing, dressing him in his jeans and shirt before pulling on his shoes and socks.

  As he worked, his mind churned, making feverish plans. He’d have to drive the abandoned Ford somewhere else. Maybe he should push it off a cliff into the river. That might be the best option. Or maybe not.

  Well, he didn’t have to figure out that part yet. But he’d better not drive too far, because he’d have to race back here in wolf form and . . .

  Bury the body. He couldn’t leave the evidence. Or could he? What evidence was that, exactly? That a man had been killed by an animal in the woods.

  He shuddered, and a surge of family loyalty made his throat tighten. He might have killed another one of the Marshallmen in a stupid fight, but he wouldn’t abandon him out here in the open—to be torn apart by forest animals.

  He gritted his teeth. He had come out here roaring mad over a woman who wasn’t important. And now he was reapingthe consequences.

  CHAPTER ONE

  PRESENT DAY

  Quinn had come through the portal between the worlds six times now, into this strange place—the Maryland woods.

  She took a deep breath of the air. It smelled different. In her universe, she would have caught the tang of wood smoke. Here, underlying the scent of pine trees, she detected exhaust from automobiles and smoke from factories—even this far from the city called Baltimore, so unlike anything in her world.

  She had been there a few times, riding in a car with Rinna and Logan Marshall. Although they were both werewolves, they were very different from each other. Rinna was from Quinn’s world. Logan was from this universe, where few people had the psychic talents that were so important to the lives of Quinn’s people.

  Rinna and Logan had both taught her so much. Enough to get around here. She had a driver’s license, Social Security number, and credit cards. They were of no use back in Sun Acres, the city where she had lived for the past nine months. But here, they were a necessity. Logan had even given her driving lessons, although she wasn’t very good at it yet.

  She rubbed her arm, where an adept had removed the slave mark from her flesh. She was a free woman now. Yet she carried heavy obligations. And she must hurry.

  After taking a moment to orient herself, she went to the green plastic storage bin that she had hidden in a tangle of raspberry brambles. Inside was modern American clothing. After removing a T-shirt and jeans, she stood for a moment, sending her mind outward, searching the woods for danger. In this place, it always felt like someone was watching her, yet when she looked around, she saw nothing.

  Putting the feeling down to her own uneasiness, she pulled off her leather tunic, the cool evening breeze tightening her nipples. With a shiver, she snatched up the bra that Rinna had told her was part of a modern woman’s clothing here and wrestled it into place. Again she looked around, seeing no one but still feeling like someone was spying on her.

  Determined to shrug off the unsettling feeling, she reached for the T-shirt.

  It was tempting to keep on her own leather pants, but she knew they would look primitive in twenty-first century America. So she shucked them down her legs as rapidly as she could before donning silky panties.

  When she followed them with the worn blue jeans Rinna had given her, she breathed out a little sigh.

  Next she exchanged her sandals for socks and running shoes.

  After bundling up the clothing and hunting knife from her own universe, she took out a fanny pack and hooked it around her waist. Inside were her ID cards—and a Sig Sauer. Logan had taught her gun safety and marksmanship, but she still hated the power of the weapon.

  When she’d returned the plastic box to the tangle of brambles, she started toward the Marshalls’ stone and wood house, using a rough trail through the thick underbrush. It was a familiar route, but this time she came to a place where loose dirt and boulders had tumbled down a cliff, blocking her path.

  She stopped, running a hand through her sun-streaked hair as she considered climbing over the mess. But if the rubble shifted, she could get hurt. And out here, there was no one to help her. So she reversed directions, taking an alternateroute.

  She reached a small clearing in the woods and started forward,then stopped short, her nerves tingling.

  Sometimes she could sense other people’s emotions. And this evening the ability was working strongly.

  Her eyes strained to penetrate the shadows. Although she saw nothing, she knew there was some presence hovering here. Waiting for her.

  Waves of deep pain beat at her, pain and a gnawing hunger. Not for food.

  Shuddering, she took a quick step back, ready to turn and flee. But before she could escape, the air around her rippled, as though a portal had opened in front of her.

  A portal to her world?

  Impossible.

  Portals didn’t just spring up at random times and places. And as far as she knew, nobody here could open one. A group of trained adepts from her world had to cut a slice in the membrane that separated one world from the other. At least that was the way she had pictured it. Cutting with a sharpened psychic talent instead of a knife. And it took the energy of more than one person to do it.

  When the air stopped shimmering, she breathed out a littlesigh. The sigh turned into a scream when a man’s strong arms grabbed her from behin
d. But the scream was cut off by a large hand clamping over her mouth.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Quinn gasped and tried to twist away from the man who held her. She knew it was a man, because she could feel a masculine body pressed to her back—and feel his arm across her middle, just below her breasts.

  Unable to break free, she kicked backward, trying to inflict some damage. But she couldn’t make contact with his legs.

  Although he held her in place like a giant restraining a troublesome child, when she looked down, she saw nothing.

  And that was more terrifying than catching a view of a powerful opponent. As the horror of her plight slammed home, her heart skipped a beat and started up again in double-time.

  She had called him a man. But she couldn’t see him. Not because he was hidden. There was nothing to see. Yet she felt the substance of his energy body and knew that his grasp was stronger than that of any mortal.

  He wasn’t human. Couldn’t be human. And a feeling of desperation made her redouble her efforts to get away. Arms and legs pumping, she jabbed and kicked at the air, even though she knew that to best a demon or ghost or whatever this supernatural being was, she needed cunning, not physicalforce.

  As her strength ebbed, she wondered how she had gotten caught by this creature. Truly, she hadn’t expected anything like this in Logan’s universe.

  Fighting the impulse to keep struggling, she forced her shoulders, arms, and legs to relax. And when she did, she thought she heard a ghostly sigh.

  “Turn me loose,” she said softly, a plea not a demand. Maybe that would work.

  “Not yet.”

  Because she hadn’t expected an answer, hearing any words at all gave her as much of a shock as her captivity.

  His voice was deep and resonant and just a little rusty, like a man who hadn’t spoken in a long time.

  “Who are you?”

  “I will not hurt you,” he answered softly.

  “Turn me loose,” she repeated.

  “You’ll run.”

  He had that right. But she wasn’t going to agree—not out loud.