Shadow of a Moon 45

Dani stared at the large safe with a bit of trepidation. It was more than a safe really. Well, more of one than he had expected. It was a gun safe with one of the old fashioned wheels on the front that had six bars sticking out of it. Jinx was standing next to it as one of the many employees worked to unlock the thing. But Dani noticed he wasn't quite himself, "What happened?"

"Nothing," Jinx answered unconvincingly. Dani wasn't fooled even slightly but he knew that Jinx wouldn't be sharing whatever had happened with him. He hadn't been much for sharing before and had grown even less fond of the practice after Tarot had been taken from them.

Finally the man got the safe unlocked and pried it open before quickly stepping back. Jinx flung the heavy door open even wider to look inside before Dani could do so himself. Jinx pulled out several folders and flipped through them. Several birth certificates were inside. All of the children's though, like he had expected, not a single one of them had Tarot listed as the father. He scowled at Caleb's name on two of the birth certificates, Katie's and Reese's. A quick count named six different mothers of Tarot's children.

Dani stepped past Jinx and peered into the safe. He didn't know what he was looking for exactly but he wanted desperately for something even more helpful to be in this safe. Something that might help Tarot remember something besides what they'd done to him for so long.

It took a minute but then he noticed a box on the bottom of the safe. He pulled it out and opened it. Inside were bloody and torn clothes. The ones Tarot had been wearing the day he was captured. Dani's eyes watered as he pulled the hole ridden shirt from the box. It had clearly been ripped off forcibly and there were dark brown stains of blood covering both the front and back. The jeans inside were hardly any better. Dani slammed the lid back over the box. He couldn't fathom why they would have kept his clothes. They clearly never intended for him to wear anything again, and those had been beyond wearing. What was the point?!

Jinx spotted a book tucked against one corner and pulled it out. He only flipped through it for a moment before throwing it to the side with utter disgust. They had apparently called it a 'Ritual' book but really it had been detailed instructions on the various ways you could rape someone and have them survive.

Dani glanced at the book where it was discarded for a long moment before he abandoned it and picked up a manila envelope. He opened it and dumped the contents out on the table. His eyes widened as he spotted Tarot's long dead cell phone, keys, and wallet fall out. But what caused his breath to catch and eyes overflow with tears was the band of gold that matched the one on his own finger as it spun once or twice before coming to a rest. They had kept it. He reached out a shaky hand and picked up his mate's wedding band. He brought it to his chest as if it were the most precious piece of metal every forged, and for him it was.

It was the proof that Tarot had loved him irrevocably and completely. That he'd always hold Tarot's heart, no matter what happened. He'd thought it stupid when Tarot'd first proposed but after they'd married Dani had come to love the word 'husband' it had given a note of finality that 'mate' simply hadn't done. They had been born human, after all, and humans got married.

Dani'd noticed Tarot staring at his wedding band many times since they'd rescued the blonde. He'd wanted so badly to give his mate his own ring again. And now, he finally had the chance to do so. And not just a replacement one. The real one. The matching band that had been made for Tarot's finger. "I would have thought they'd pawn it," Dani admitted as he wiped his eyes furiously.

Jinx didn't say anything for a minute; "I guess...they didn't want to risk us finding it in a pawn shop," he said finally. "It would have made them easier to track." Dani nodded absently while he pocketed the ring and wiped his eyes again. There was still more in the safe to go through.

They found deeds to houses and other properties, none of which they had previously connected to the cult. Then Dani stumbled upon a series of death certificates. Pages and pages of them. He frowned as he scanned all of them with the quick eye of someone used to processing lots of information quickly. His eyes widened when he finally realized what he was looking at. "Jinx," he called softly. The blonde looked over wearily. "Stillborns," he whispered looking up from the documents.

Jinx's eyes widened slightly and snatched the papers from his brother-in-law. It didn't take long to realize Dani was right. All of the causes of death were the exact same but there weren't any birthdates listed on the certificates where normally there would have been one. Jinx quickly counted the number of certificates and came up with eighteen.

Jinx dropped the papers to the table and abruptly sat down in a nearby chair. There had been eighteen other children that hadn't survived. Over half of his nieces and nephews hadn't even had the chance to live. He wondered if Tarot knew about them but then realized there was no way Caleb wouldn't have told him. If only to hurt his brother more.

Jinx couldn't imagine it. The horrible pain of being told your child had died. Much less eighteen times. For a human it was agony enough, for a wolf it must have been utter torment. They felt such strong connections to their family to begin with, especially children. This would explain Tarots overprotective ways towards his children though; even more than just the environment they'd been raised in did, at least. He was so terrified of loosing them it bordered on paranoia. Something that losing eighteen children was bound to cause.

Dani stared at the eighteen pieces of paper in front of him, trying to blink back his tears. The more he knew, the more he cried for his mate. The only bright spot he'd had in his life for so long was his children and even they were in danger that he couldn't protect them from. Tarot was all protector; it was part of the reason Dani had fallen in love with him. For him to be unable to do that...Dani closed his eyes and looked away from the certificates. The bastards hadn't even bothered to name them.

Dani quickly riffled through the rest of the safe but only found stupid things such as money and bonds. Though he did find the two silver daggers that Tarot had carried with him the day he was taken. He pocketed those along with the rest of the things that they'd stolen from his lover, at least, the material things. There was no way he could take back everything they'd robbed Tarot of. They'd taken everything from his phone to his sanity and Dani desperately wished he were cruel enough to return the favor.

"Go be with your husband, Dani," Jinx said softly yet firmly. "There's nothing left in there."

Dani nodded and glanced at the box of ruined clothes, "Can you have those gotten rid of for me?" Jinx waved his hand absently. It was a given for the blonde that the clothes drenched in his brother's blood would be destroyed. "Thank you, Jinx."

"Don't thank me," Jinx muttered still staring at the floor. "I'm the reason this happened in the first place."

"Yes," Dani agreed and Jinx's head dropped even further. "But you haven't given up on him. You didn't stop looking for him and you're trying to help him get better. And for that, I thank you. I might have hated you more than once throughout the years but you were also one of the few links to him I had. So don't go and die or something stupid. Not yet. He couldn't handle that. And I'd be pissed at you if you did."

"Was that supposed to be a pep talk?" Jinx asked dully.

Dani scowled slightly, "It's the best you'll get from me. You wanna pep talk go to Conner or Brad."

"I don't."

"Then stop complaining."