Moon Child by Christina Moore Read Free Book Online Page A

couldn’t be seen behind his wraparound sunglasses. The group was quiet for a long time, lost to their own thoughts, thoughts that for Tristan were nearly drowned out by the constant drone of the boat engines and the aching in his arm.
    “It’s happened before?” Chrysanthe suddenly said, startling Tristan.
    “Being abducted by an elf and a pythia? Sure, happened just last month. Ah, what where their names again…?”
    “No no,” she scoffed. “The pain potion.”
    He considered her a moment and then sighed. “Ash gave it to me before we killed her Master but it didn’t work the way she—A jikininki bit me and I felt the bite, every tooth tear into me and then suddenly, the pain would stop. The whole night was like that. The swell and wan of pain, it was worse than just feeling the pain constantly… Haven’t tried the potion again since.”
    She nodded at him as if she were happy with the answer and fell silent, deep in thought.
    He harrumphed at her and settled down in his seat further.
    “I believe he’s important to your future.”
    Tristan straightened a little. “Excuse me?”
    “The man I seek. I think he’s tied to you somehow.”
    His pulse jumped, breath hitching. “Like he’s my… my father?”
    “What? No. But I do believe you two are linked somehow, not blood—well, perhaps he could be a brother or so… The point is, I am sure your fate and this man’s fate are tied. That is why I must find him. You are the key to everything.”
    Now Tristan’s interest was piqued—if only she’d started out with this conversation instead of trying to bribe him with things about Ash and then straight to physical bribery. Shit, he really was wasting precious daylight but it couldn’t be helped. Not anymore, he was in too deep and never saw it coming. “How? What’s my role in… everything? What does the foretelling mean?”
    “Mean? Oh dear, that I can’t say, but that you are indeed as important as that woman who keeps Lilith says you are.”
    “You know Yukihime?”
    Chrysanthe visibly flinched. Even Silas reacted. “It’s… Yukihime of Water, she’s the one who keeps Lilith now?”
    “Yeah…,” Tristan answered suspiciously.
    “Oh dear. I think I preferred Lilith under Malik’s thumb...”
    The change in conversation definitely helped distract Tristan from the pain and he felt more mentally alert as he grew curious. If she was a pythia, which she felt like to him, then how come she didn’t know about Yukihime and Lilith already? There was something fishy going on here that had nothing to do with her aloofness.
    Chrysanthe wouldn’t look him in the eye, her own darting back and forth to sneak glances. “Malik, he was broken in a special way but at least he wouldn’t touch the pythia. Yukihime on the other hand, she is a child. She will always be a child. She may think she has grown but… well, not much changes with the vampires as they age. They are who they are when they die, eternally.”
    Tristan frowned. Not because he hated hearing her say it, but that she’d said very clearly what he’d always wondered. Yuki was still just a kid, no matter her age. He was being led around by a child. “You’re saying she’s not to be trusted.” Not that he ever would.
    “No.” Chrysanthe rotated in her seat to look him straight in the eye. “In fact, you need to kill her. The moment you see her, strike her down.”
    “Is this a grudge or something… greater ?”
    The pythia harrumphed, righting herself in her seat again. “Oh dear, if I had to be honest, I would say it’s a grudge… I just don’t like that crazy old vampire.”
    “But?”
    She sighed, slumping. “But there is the greater all at work too. She’s meddling, interferes where no interference is needed, messes up the whole sodding plan.”
    “I see,” Tristan muttered, mind going over it all. It was more than interference the old vampire was causing. Was she the real reason for all his pains? Was she the answer