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Moon Master
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MOON MASTER
Vampire for Hire #16
by
J.R. RAIN
MATTHEW S. COX
(Red Rider: Part 2)
Other Books by J.R. Rain
STANDALONE NOVELS
Winter Wind
Silent Echo
The Body Departed
The Grail Quest
Elvis Has Not Left the Building
The Lost Ark
The Spear (with Randy Keys)
The Journey (with Piers Anthony)
The Worm Returns (with Piers Anthony)
Lavabull (with Piers Anthony)
Jack and the Giants (with Piers Anthony)
Dolfin Tayle (with Piers Anthony)
Dragon Assassin (with Piers Anthony)
Lost Eden (with Elizabeth Basque)
Judas Silver (with Elizabeth Basque)
The Vampire Club (with Scott Nicholson)
Cursed (with Scott Nicholson)
The Black Fang Betrayal (with multiple authors)
VAMPIRE FOR HIRE
Moon Dance
Vampire Moon
American Vampire
Moon Child
Christmas Moon (novella)
Vampire Dawn
Vampire Games
Moon Island
Moon River
Vampire Sun
Moon Dragon
Moon Shadow
Vampire Fire
Midnight Moon
Moon Angel
Vampire Sire
Moon Master
Dead Moon
SAMANTHA MOON CASE FILES
Moon Bayou (with Rod Kierkegaard)
Blood Moon (with Matthew S. Cox)
SAMANTHA MOON ORIGINS
with Matthew S. Cox
New Moon Rising
Moon Mourning
VAMPIRE FOR HIRE SHORT STORIES
Teeth
Vampire Nights
Vampire Blues
Vampire Dreams
Halloween Moon
Vampire Gold
Blue Moon
Dark Side of the Moon
Vampire Requiem
Moon Love
VAMPIRE FOR HIRE EXTRAS
Vampire Alley (poem)
Moon Extras (Bonus Scenes)
Moon Dance (Deluxe Edition)
JIM KNIGHTHORSE SERIES
Dark Horse
The Mummy Case
Hail Mary
Clean Slate
Easy Rider (short story)
THE WITCHES SERIES
The Witch and the Gentleman
The Witch and the Englishman
The Witch and the Huntsman (with Rod Kierkegaard)
The Witch and the Wolfman (with Rod Kierkegaard)
THE PSI SERIES
with A.K. Alexander
Hear No Evil
See No Evil
Speak No Evil
Touch No Evil
NICK CAINE SERIES
with Aiden James
Temple of the Jaguar
Treasure of the Deep
Pyramid of the Gods
THE WATSON FILES
with Chanel Smith
Sherlock Holmes and the Missing Shakespeare
Sherlock Holmes and the Lost Da Vinci
Sherlock Holmes and the Werewolf of West End
WINTER SOLTSICE SERIES
with Matthew S. Cox
Convergence
Containment
Catalyst
DEAD DETECTIVE SERIES
with Rod Kierkegaard
The Dead Detective
Deadbeat Dad
TEAM QUANTUM
with Kris Carey
The Accidental Superheroine
My Big Fat Accidental Superheroine Wedding
MADDY WIMSEY SERIES
with Matthew S. Cox
The Devil’s Eye
The Drifting Gloom
ALEXIS SILVER SERIES
with Matthew S. Cox
Silver Light
Deep Silver
ICE WOLF SERIES
with H.P. Mallory
Ice Wolf
THE SPINOZA TRILOGY
The Vampire With the Dragon Tattoo
The Vampire Who Played Dead
The Vampire in the Iron Mask
The Vampire on the Train (short story)
THE ALADDIN TRILOGY
with Piers Anthony
Aladdin Relighted
Aladdin Sins Bad
Aladdin and the Flying Dutchman
THE WALKING PLAGUE TRILOGY
with Elizabeth Basque
Zombie Patrol
Zombie Rage
Zombie Mountain
THE SPIDER TRILOGY
with Scott Nicholson and H.T. Night
Bad Blood
Spider Web
Spider Bite
SHORT STORY STANDALONES
Little Snowmen Everywhere
Vampire Road
Skeleton Jim
Vampire Rain
The Santa Call
The Bleeder
SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS
Dark Rain: Stories
Blood Rain: Stories
Black Rain: Stories
Red Rain: Over Forty Stories
Moonlight & Monsters: Ten Vampires Tales
ANTHOLOGIES
Chronology
Primetime
Darkscapes
For Young Readers
STANDALONE NOVELS
The Emerald River
The Angel and the Gift
Forever Silent
Spirit Mountain (with Alexandra Swan)
YOUR CHOICE BOOKS
Deep Sea Danger
The Legend of Eagle Eye Mountain
Playoff Pressure
THE ROBOT TWINS
The Mystery of the Walking Statue
The Secret of Stonehead Island (with Randy Keys)
KIDQUEST ADVENTURES
The Secret of the Sphinx
THE DISTANT WORLD TRILOGY
Dare to Enter a Distant World
TEAM LEGEND
with Randy Keys
The Enchantress
Moon Master
Published by Rain Press
Copyright © 2019 by J.R. Rain
All rights reserved.
Ebook Edition, License Notes:
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Dedication
To Eve, the best ever.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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
Reading Sample
About J.R. Rain
About Matthew S. Cox
Moon Master
Chapter One
The crew was assembling.
Okay, admittedly it felt a bit like the Avengers coming together. Kingsley helped me with my bags, carrying them as easily as most men would carry a loaf of bread. Allison sat quietly
with Tammy on the couch, laughing and holding hands like old friends. My daughter was maturing. I’d been hearing rumors of a boyfriend (and by rumors, I meant Anthony had been mercilessly teasing her), but I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of the poor bastard, at least not yet. Tammy was, undoubtedly, nervous to bring him around. I reminded her that I had my ways to sniff him out. She rolled her eyes and told me they were just friends, but I could see it. Oh, yes, I could see it. As those eyes were rolling up, up, up, I saw something in them. Something close to love.
Just friends, my ass.
In fact, I seriously suspected Allison was getting the scoop even now, and probably promising not to tell me anything. The bitch. I’d torture the information out of her if I had to. Or guilt it out of her, whatever worked best.
And there was Anthony, only fifteen years old, but already over six feet. Yeah, he’d shot up like two or three inches in the past six months. His shoulders seemed to be broadening by the minute, too. He still walked like a kid though, slouched, slightly duck-footed. He picked up the habit of keeping his hands in his jeans pockets. He kept them in there when he walked, talked, and sometimes when he sat. It was, I suspected, “his look.” Like all kids, he’d gotten stuck in a nowhere land trying to find himself, and so I quietly snickered, as he strolled by me, shoulders slouched, feet pointing out, hands in pockets. He looked like an extra on the set of West Side Story. He saw me giggling and shot me a look, but I kept a mostly straight face.
“What?” he asked.
“You’re cute.”
“Gross.”
I snickered as he moseyed past me, and laughed a little harder when he tried opening the screen door with his hands still in his pants pockets. Amazingly, he did.
“He’s so weird,” Tammy said to Allison, who promptly stated all boys are weird in an attempt to defend Anthony that didn’t really sway my daughter all that much.
I shot Tammy a mental rebuke, reminding her he’s her brother and she loves him and has his back. She reminded me that he had spent nearly an hour this morning popping zits. I reminded her that her boyfriend was probably doing the same, even now. She rolled her eyes, got up and stormed out.
Allison blinked at my daughter’s dramatic exit and came over to me. “I take it the two of you had a telepathic fight.”
“Not a fight. Just a lesson in manners.”
“It’s okay for siblings to bicker, Sam. Didn’t you bicker with your brothers and sisters?”
I shrugged. “Yeah, maybe. But I’m also only close with one of them.”
“Siblings don’t have to be friends.”
“But I want my kids to be friends. I want them to be like me and Mary Lou.”
“And they probably will be. They have a bond that few siblings have. They have seen things, experienced things. Don’t worry, they do have each other’s backs when it really matters. In fact, you should be happy they tease each other. It comes from love.”
“By the way, have you seen Anthony and his new look?”
“The hands in the pocket thing?”
I giggled. “Yes.”
“When I was his age, I thought it was super cool to hook my thumbs in my belt buckle. I did that everywhere.”
“You still do,” I said.
“When a look works, it works.”
“Do I have a signature look?” I asked.
“You fold your arms a lot and lean against things.”
“What do you mean?”
“Like this.”
She folded her arms and leaned her hip on the couch. As she did, she squinted her eyes and scanned the room.
“What’s with the eyes?”
“That’s what you do. You are always scanning, looking at everything. Nothing gets past you.”
“You look like you’re hurting yourself.”
“It’s not easy being you.” She kept doing the ‘me’ pose.
“What’s with the squinting?”
“You squint during the day, Sam.”
“That much?”
“More, sometimes.”
“I didn’t know.”
“Makes sense. I mean you do have a bit of a sun problem.”
“Okay, you can stop doing that now.”
“But I like being Sam Moon.” She moved away from the couch but kept the same posture, arms folded, body leaning. Awkwardly.
“Such a bitch,” I said.
“Look. I’m Samantha Moon.”
“No, you’re a bitch.”
“Look at me, everyone. I’m a vampire with kids and a hunky man.”
“Wait, what?” I asked.
“Oh em gee,” said Tammy, sweeping out of the hallway. “You two are such dorks.”
I slid in behind her, running my fingers through my hair and walking in the same uptight way my daughter sometimes walked. Allison did the same thing, and we followed her through the living room. “Look at me,” I said. “I’m too cool for school.”
“No one says that anymore, and I don’t walk like that. All uptight.”
“Sometimes you can walk a little... stiff,” said Allison.
“Is that wrong?”
“Not at all,” said my friend.
“But you think I can loosen up a little?”
“I think you are perfect,” I added.
“Just tell me, please you guys. What should I do different?”
I think her eagerness might be related to this new boy.
“Just tell me how I’m supposed to walk. You’re my mom. You’re supposed to show me these things.”
“But am I? I don’t recall seeing that on the job description.”
“But you think I can loosen up a little.”
“Fine, maybe.”
“Loosen up how?”
“Like this,” piped in Allison. She walked away from us, hand on her hip, her bubbly butt rolling this way and that.
“Okay, not that loose,” I said.
“Is that really how women are supposed to walk?”
“Yes,” said Allison.
“No,” I said.
“It’s how I walk,” said Allison.
The fact that Allison used to be a stripper in Vegas didn’t come up often, but no one could keep secrets from my daughter so I left that alone, knowing she picked up that very thought.
“There’s nothing wrong with the way anyone walks,” I said. I stepped in front of Tammy. “Baby, my only wish for you is to be happy.”
She brushed me off. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Like this, Allison?”
Tammy pushed past me, knocking me aside with her hip of all things, as she sashayed through the living room.
“Perfect!” said Allison. “But more lift at the high end.”
“Lift?”
“Like this...”
“No, like this,” I said, and used my hip to knock Allison to the side... so hard she stumbled into the recliner.
“Sam!”
With Tammy giggling, I rocked the hip swivel all the way out the living room and through the front door and even down to the driveway, where I helped Kingsley load the minivan, certain that I could still hear my daughter giggling in the house behind me.
Chapter Two
We’d packed the Momvan to overflowing.
Kingsley drove with the seat pushed as far back as it could go, which still wasn’t enough as he could have used another foot or two. Anthony sat in the front passenger seat, which left us girls in the back seat, where Allison and I did our best to get more boyfriend information out of Tammy. From the front seat, Anthony informed us that the boy in question was a loner at school and looked kinda weird. Tammy shot back that that was like the kettle calling the pot black. I let her know she got the saying backward and she let me know it was a stupid saying anyway. Pots weren’t black and what the heck was a kettle anyway. She had a point.
The two-and-a-half-hour drive up the coast was mostly spent in silence; after all, my crew knew we went there on business, not fun. The Red Rider had abducted a young girl named Annie.
It didn’t help my emotional state that the missing girl was only ten years old… as far as I knew, substantially younger than any of his other victims. This kid was in a boatload of trouble, and only my daughter knew the full extent of the story, since she always looked into my mind. Allison knew a lot too, having unprecedented access to my head thanks to our months of blood exchange. As in, me drinking often from her finger, a transfer which gave me strength and also emboldened Elizabeth, something I hadn’t been aware of at the time. The process also increased Allison’s witchy powers, too. Now, it gave us a helluva one-sided telepathic neural connection. I say one-way, because her mind, by orders of her witchy triad, was closed off to me. Well, not me, but Elizabeth... who saw and heard everything.
But... Allison’s access only went so far. I doubted she could have read the complete contents of Jeffcock’s letter from my memory, or pieced together much more than anything I was currently thinking about. But what I thought about was surely enough... a little girl in terrible danger. The worst imaginable, quite frankly, and I had gone through it too, once, long ago, in another life.
So, yeah, I held some of what I knew back. There was just... too much to share with everyone, and I wasn’t ready to share everything just yet... at least not all the personal details about my one-time father. And not with Annie still missing. Later, when the dust settled, I would catch them all up. Indeed, only Tammy, who had access to my mind 24/7, knew everything.
Kingsley, being an immortal, had no telepathic connection to my mind. Not all creatures are created equal, so to speak. Werewolves aren’t too big on the telepathic stuff for example. Lichtenstein monsters have none as far as I know, and merfolk? I’ve heard theirs is the most powerful, but it comes with a cost—it’s tied to sexual attraction. If someone isn’t attracted to them, their telepathic powers are far weaker than mine.
For now, the others knew a young witch had been kidnapped and that the man—or entity—was a bad mamajama, and it would take our combined might to locate her in time. Anthony had asked, “in time for what?” But Tammy just shook her head. She knew the contents of the letter I had read, and knew that the Red Rider didn’t just drink the blood of his victims, but feasted on them completely.