Moonlight Virgin: Clem Starr: Demon Fighter, #2

By Kat Cotton

Left alone to train the newest member of my vampire pack, I'm torn between trying not to be awed by the adorableness of the Demon Child...and trying to fill his voracious appetite. I can't let an untamed vampire feed freely, but without fresh food, he's fading fast.

If that wasn't enough to deal with, a gang of miscreant vampires hits town while I'm not looking. Their indiscriminate killing and bad fashion sense give my kind a bad name. I'd ignore them, but the mayor makes me an offer I can't refuse: save the city, save my Demon Child.

I'm the pack leader, the one who is flawless and always in control. But with war looming and the city going to hell, I'm faced with an impossible decision --- tarnish my own perfection or allow my pack to perish?

If you like fun adventures, snappy dialogue, and hot-blooded team dynamics, then you'll love this fiendishly fun adventure.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kat Cotton
• Release date: Sep 3, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386652304

Book preview

Moonlight Virgin

Clem Starr: Demon Fighter Book 2

Left alone to train the newest member of my vampire pack, I'm torn between trying not to be awed by the adorableness of the Demon Child...and trying to fill his voracious appetite. I can’t let an untamed vampire feed freely, but without fresh food, he’s fading fast.

If that wasn’t enough to deal with, a gang of miscreant vampires hits town while I'm not looking. Their indiscriminate killing and bad fashion sense give my kind a bad name. I’d ignore them, but the mayor makes me an offer I can’t refuse: save the city, save my Demon Child.

I’m the pack leader, the one who is flawless and always in control. But with war looming and the city going to hell, I'm faced with an impossible decision -—tarnish my own perfection or allow my pack to perish?

If you like fun adventures, snappy dialogue, and hot-blooded team dynamics, then you’ll love this fiendishly fun adventure.

ROGUISH DEMON, THE fun prequel to the Clem Starr series is only available to my VIP list. Want in on that?

Yep, you do.

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It all started with three simple words: ‘It’s my wife...’. Music to my ears. He had an incubus on his hands and I just so happened to be the top incubus fighter in the business.

Little did I know that the ingenious Liderc – one of the more unusual demons I’ve come across - would make me work harder than ever before. Now, I have to kill this bozo before my client and his money walk out my door.

It’s Clem Starr versus Liderc, and I never lose.

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>> Get Roguish Demon now <<

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You also find out first about new releases, get special subscriber only bonuses and other awesome stuff.

THE FULL CLEM STARR SERIES

#1 Demon Child

#2 Moonlight Virgin

#3 Vampire Prince

#4 Undead Alchemist

#5 Mystery Widow

#6 Super Starr

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Extras:

Merry Clem-Mas – join Clem and the gang in this fun Christmas short.

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Or grab a box set, the cheaper way to buy...

Clem Starr box set (books 1-3)

Clem Starr box set (books 4-5)

The complete Clem Starr box set (books 1-6)

Chapter 1 Nic: Offer

I’D JUST GOTTEN VLAD settled when someone knocked on the door. Who would that be? No one knew I lived here except Clem Starr and the pack members. If it was someone trying to flog vacuum cleaners or religion, I’d feed them to Vlad.

I’d been so busy with him, I hadn’t even showered. I wore the old t-shirt and sweat pants I’d slept in. And I had a horrible feeling my face looked less than fresh. This was not a time to open the door to people, even if it was just a salesman. I’d ignore the knocking, pretend I wasn’t home.

But they kept knocking. Damn insistent people. Then Hellhound barked. He wouldn’t stop barking while the knocking continued.

I peeked through the curtain just in case it was someone I wanted to see.

The mayor!

What the hell was the mayor doing on my doorstep?

The last time I’d seen that guy, he’d wanted me dead. Not just in a wishful thinking way, but in the way that he’d hired people to do it. That didn’t make us friends.

I know you’re in there, Nic, he said. I just want to talk to you for a minute.

If I let him in, he’d know I had Vlad here. I called him Vlad because you can’t go around calling someone Demon Child their entire life. That became a self-fulfilling prophecy. The kid needed a proper name.

Sure, the mayor would suspect that Vlad was here. Had he come snooping around to find him? Then he’d go running off to his best buddy, the Vampire King. That would create a whole bunch of problems I didn’t want.

On the other hand, if I didn’t let him in, I’d make myself look like I had something to hide. The mayor knew where I lived so either way, I’d be screwed.

I have cake. High quality cake.

Give me ten minutes, I said. If he caused problems, I could always kill him.

Okay.

He could wait on the porch until I’d washed and changed. At least my skin still looked perfect. Good genes win out over neglect any day. I moisturized then put on a primer. The moonlight shimmer of my skin could always do with some help.

I slicked my hair back since that was the simplest way to deal with it. Once that was done, I had to change my clothes. If anyone ever found out that I even owned sweatpants, I’d need to kill them. Well, I kind of had that in mind for the mayor anyway but I didn’t want him judging me before he died.

I put on real pants and a velvet jacket. That gave the look of stylishly reclining at home.

I checked my watch. It’d only been 12 minutes. I’d make the mayor wait a bit longer.

Before I let him in the house, I made sure Vlad was secure.

Vlad, you have to be quiet.

I looked into his eyes. I needed the full strength of our unicorn/virgin bond for this. Then I put my finger to my lips to emphasize the level of hush required.

He put his finger to his lips, copying me.

Quiet, he repeated.

I ruffled his hair. That was insanely cute. If only I had my camera with me. Our Instagram account only had seven followers, the pack and Clem Starr, because it had to be totally private, but they’d love that look.

Finally, I opened the door to the mayor. I didn’t invite him in though.

What do you want?

I need to talk to you. Can I come in?

I pursed my lips. I guess killing him out in the open was a bad move. Maybe I wouldn’t kill him. I’d just torture him a little then let Vlad feed on him. But people would notice if the mayor went missing, which would be a bad thing. Still, he should not have tried to kill me.

Okay, come in. But keep it short. I’m a busy man.

I understand. I’m the mayor after all.

Not only the mayor but the most popular mayor in the history of mayordom. People loved that guy. Maybe not as much as they loved me but, for a local government guy, the mayor would win every popularity contest. I guess he didn’t put contracts out on his actual voters. His hair sat in perfect waves. I wondered what I’d look like with wavy hair like the mayor’s. I guess that’s a question could wait until Vlad’s training became less time consuming.

I really wanted to know where the mayor got his suits, because that was one well cut suit. Before I killed him, I’d get that information out of him. It’d be a shame for him to go to the grave with that tailor knowledge.

Don’t even think about killing me, the mayor said. People know where I am and they’ll come looking for me.

Damn. Foiled.

The mayor followed me into the living room. Normally, I didn’t let sunlight into my living space but this place had a fantastic view of the city especially from the bay window. A few large trees outside filtered the strength of the light so it wasn’t too unpleasant. Still, if there’s enough light to throw a shadow, there’s enough light to cause sun damage.

This place wasn’t nearly as nice as my last Airbnb but my need for a basement meant I had to let a few other things slip. There was a huge sofa in the living room, plus a wing back chair near the bay window. But the colors of the décor were a little too autumnal for my liking.

I think you and I have a common interest, the mayor said as he sat on my sofa.

I hadn’t asked him to take a seat. He made himself way too comfortable in my home. It wasn’t like we were pals.

I don’t think wanting me dead constitutes a common interest.

The mayor waved his hand, as though sweeping all that away.

That thing. Sorry about that. It wasn’t personal.

It kind of felt personal to me.

The mayor smiled. He was such as swell guy, apart from that killing thing. I mean, I could smile to melt a person’s soul but the mayor wasn’t exactly a slouch at it either. I smiled back just to prove that when it came to charm, I had no competition.

Oh, that reminds me. I brought you a small gift.

He handed me a fancy bag from a popular cake store. I accepted it gracefully, not ripping the bag open but carefully unpeeling the sticker. Free cake might be the best cake but I judged a man by his dessert choices. If this cake wasn’t up to scratch, I’d kill him, consequences or not.

Strawberry shortcake. Okay, maybe I wouldn’t kill the mayor. Not today anyway.

You asked Clem Starr to do it. Clem Starr! Did you really think she was capable of killing me?

Of course, she’d come running straight to me to let me know. She tried to hide her crush on me but I knew.

Don’t underestimate her.

Why not? You underestimated me if you thought she would be able to do the job. Hell, she’d never do it anyway. She loves me.

Yes, that surprised me. I did offer her a hefty sum of money. Where is she anyway?

He looked around as though Clem would come bursting out of one of the rooms. If he didn’t know she was in Tokyo, I wouldn’t enlighten him.

He got up and wandered around the room, picking up one of the swan knickknacks off the mantelpiece. I’d meant to put them away so they didn’t torture my eyes but it’d slipped my mind. Those swan knickknacks were the ugliest things I’d ever seen.

Interesting.

It’s not mine. This is an Airbnb.

I know. All Airbnb guests have to be registered with the city. That’s how I found you. Nice place but your last one was better. I wonder why you moved.

Questions like that are best answered with an intense glare. It was none of the mayor’s business and I’d rather not blatantly advise that Vlad was immediately under his feet.

I sat down beside the mayor and took his hand. That made the mayor flinch a little even if he tried to hide it. People are like that when you step over their touching boundaries. It works wonders when you want the upper hand.

So, how can I help you? I asked.

He rubbed my shoulder with his other hand. If he thought he could play that game at my level, he was a very foolish mayor.

Great you should ask that. Seems we have a common enemy. You obviously know of the Northside Gang. They’re becoming a nuisance.

When Oscar called me last night to go over the pack’s finances, he’d mentioned the Northside Gang had moved here. No problem for me, so long as they kept to themselves. I didn’t like the guys but I had other things to concern myself with.

Of course they are. It seems like someone wanted to take the lid off all the paranormal activity in this town. If you do that, you attract all the weirdos. You’re putting on a free buffet. Not just the demons living here but from all around. This town’s becoming a hot spot. Now, what kind of a fool would do that?

The mayor pulled his hand away and scratched his wrist. I had him flustered. Ha, I loved that.

I wasn’t expecting this.

What were you expecting? Are you an idiot? You wanted a war and now shots are fired, you come running for protection?

It’s getting out of hand and the allies I had have disappeared.

Maybe that was because Clem Starr had taken the Vampire King’s eye out. That wasn’t going to fix itself. The Vampire King would re-emerge but it wouldn’t be in a hurry. He’d be licking his wounds and planning. Hell would break loose when he recovered. And the mayor would have to be an A-grade moron not to realize he’d eventually be on the wrong side of that hell.

You know what they say, mayor? If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

I’d like to call this Plan B.

What exactly is this Plan B? You can’t get Clem Starr to help you. She’s out of town at the moment. And, even if she was in town, I’m not her receptionist. Also, she’s a bit annoyed with you.

Oh, if you talk to her, tell her I have her car. She has a lot of unpaid parking fines.

Tell her yourself.

It wasn’t her I wanted, or those other guys. They proved themselves incompetent.

They sure did. I pointed to myself to underline the fact that his stupid demon fighting buddies had not left a mark on me.

It’s you I want.

Me? I stood up. Whoa, steady on there. I might be the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen but, to get real, you’re not exactly my type. Although that’s a mighty nice suit.

Thanks. I mean, I want you to help me clean up the problem. It takes paranormal to fight paranormal.

I sat back down beside him.

I don’t do that. I outsource. I suggest you do it too. I patted his cheek, just to piss him off. Tell me, Mayor, if you had this big plan to fight the paranormal, who was going to fight in your war? Surely you had some better plan than to come here begging me to do it? Because that plan is pretty damn flawed.

The mayor tried to look unruffled but he kept scratching at his wrist.

I have troops at the ready but as a business man yourself, surely you understand that sometimes you need to do things off the books. It takes a lot of red tape to get troops mobilized, even when you’re the mayor. I want this done on the down low.

I guess you do since you’ve been telling the press you have things under control. That was a big porky, right?

The mayor cleared his throat.

There must be something you want. Name it.

I laughed. What could the mayor possibly give me that I didn’t already have? Money, outstanding looks, charm, freedom - I had everything any creature would ever desire.

I sat back on the sofa. If I started eating that cake now, I’d have to offer the mayor some. That was only good manners since he’d given it to me. But I really didn’t want to wait until the guy left.

Taaaaaaaaaasty?

The yell came from the basement. I’d learned that’s what Vlad called live human food but he wasn’t up to the stage in his training where he could chow down on real humans. As much as I wanted, I couldn’t let him feed on the mayor. That would be way too bothersome. He had to stick to bagged blood for now.

What was that? the mayor asked.

I had to get rid of the mayor fast. There was no way I could let him linger with Vlad being so vocal.

Taaaasty!

Oh, my neighbor is practicing his vocals. For one of those reality talent shows. I don’t think he’s going to make it past the audition.

That sounded like the worst excuse ever but the mayor would accept it. Or pretend to at least.

So, Mayor, the town has become the number one tourist destination for the lowest element of the paranormal class and you want the streets cleaned up?

He beamed at me.

That’s pretty much it in a nutshell. We can put you on salary or maybe a lump sum payment. Name your price.

I beamed back.

A vampire trying to wipe out another gang can cause huge issues. You might think we’re unlawful but there are repercussions for something like that.

The mayor squirmed around to face me.

There will be major repercussions if this gang violence keeps up. You know that as well as I do. You want to stay in the shadows. You wouldn’t have tried to have the Demon Child destroyed if you didn’t. You’ve shown your hand. You want this gang destroyed as much as I do. It’s unusual but not unprecedented for vampires to fight each other.

I patted his cheek.

You make it sound so simple.

It is simple, Nic. It should be a walk in the park for you.

I pursed my lips.

Let me think about it for a minute. Umm, no. I don’t think I have a spare spot in my schedule this month. I told you, I’m a busy man. What about that Harry McConchie guy? Sure, he couldn’t take me down but the Northside Gang are no me. He should be able to manage.

The mayor tried to look all pleading eyes but then his phone beeped.

Got to go, he said. This city won’t run itself but we’ll talk about this again.

I rolled my eyes. Or we could not and say we did.

Finally, he left and I got to eat my little cake. Then it was back to training Vlad. The kid pretty much needed full-time attention.

Chapter 2 Clem: Meeting with Yamaguchi

IT’S A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, right? These people aren’t human.

I trailed Kisho though Shinjuku train station as about a million people flooded around us. All of them dead eyed and shuffling at a snails’ pace. Tokyo was not the fast-paced city I’d been expecting. Hell, I’d just got off a ten-hour flight and I had more life in me than any of them.

It’s peak hour, Kisho said without turning back to me. That’s normal.

I rushed to keep up with him. I didn’t want to lose him in this crowd. I had no freakin’ idea which train to catch or where we were headed. Kisho seemed to have it all under control, though. Following Kisho was a bit of a bummer since he walked so fast and this concourse smelt very strongly of cake. The old Kisho would’ve stopped for cake. Now he’d become all cold and harsh. He was all eyes on the prize and no dillydallying. I really missed the old Kisho. I missed him in a thousand different ways.

We headed up to a platform while announcements blurted out in Japanese.

Get in line, Kisho said.

I’d not even noticed there was a line. Did people really do that? They didn’t just all rush onto the train? Weird. When the train arrived, I intended positioning myself so that Kisho would have to look at me. Only, once we got on the train, it was so packed that I barely had enough space to expand my rib cage when I breathed. People pressed against me and I really hoped that was an umbrella poking into my butt.

An old man sitting near me stared and made sucking noises with his teeth. I wanted to shuffle away from him but there was nowhere to shuffle to so I just stared back until he looked away. Sure, holding onto the train strap made my top ride up and show my belly skin but that was no reason for the pervy old creep to act like that.

He looked back again.

Stop objectifying me, grandpa, I snapped. He probably didn’t understand English but my tone of voice left no room for misunderstanding.

We stopped at a station. In the crush of people getting off the train, I inched down closer to Kisho. Really close. When the next wave of people got on the train, I had to move even closer, my body pressing against his. He stayed stock still, body tense and not responding. I could’ve been a total stranger.

That kiss we’d shared so recently now meant nothing to him.

Nic had warned me. He’d told me that in defeating the Vampire King, I’d lose Kisho and, while I’d known that in my head, my inner feels refused to accept it. It seemed like someone had whipped a warm blanket from me on winter’s night and I’d become frozen and exposed.

When he moved away as though every atom of my being repelled him, he might as well have stuck a knife in my chest and cut out my heart. He couldn’t be like this forever surely. No one could hold onto a grudge that long.

A few stops later, we got off the train.

I followed him through the station. Again, I could smell cake.

Cake? I said.

We have to meet the client.

We have time.

Punctuality is very important here.

He still didn’t look at me. I’d have cake after this meeting. I’d have all the cake I wanted. Maybe, if this client was a nice guy, he’d even offer me cake at the meeting.

When we got outside the station, there were no skyscrapers and no neon lights. Even though it’d only been about ten stops, this was a whole other world. All tranquil and calm with soft sunlight shining down.

The quiet streets we walked down were a labyrinth. If not for Kisho, I’d have had no chance of finding this client.

What’s this place called? I asked Kisho.

Nippori.

Okay, that meant nothing to me but I’d file it away in the back of my brain in case I need to know. If nothing else, this place had delicious smells. My stomach rumbled.

Finally, we got to a house and Kisho stopped.

Is this the place? I asked.

He nodded.

This place didn’t exactly look like the house of someone capable of paying my fees. Was this old geezer going to stiff us? I didn’t exactly run a charity and my fees weren’t cheap. On the other hand, he’d sent us first class tickets to get here which had been pretty damn sweet. That whole flight I’d been cradled in the lap of luxury. The hotel he’d put us up in was fancy too. We had a suite with two bedrooms and a connecting living area with a little kitchenette. Slap bang in the middle of Shinjuku. On the 32nd floor too, so we had a view over the city.

On a clear day, you can see Mount Fuji, they told us at check in.

That cozy bed tempted me but then we’d only had time to drop off our bags and have a shower before heading off to this meeting.

While Kisho rang the doorbell, I investigated. The house wasn’t even painted. It was just oiled boards. But then, had I seen a painted house anywhere? Most of the buildings I’d seen were concrete boxes. It looked like a strong breeze would knock it down.

Before I could snoop any more, the door slid open with a loud rattle.

A tiny, hunched over lady in a kimono invited us into the house. Good thing too or Kisho wouldn’t have been able to enter.

I started to follow her but Kisho nudged me.

Shoes, he hissed.

Oh yeah, that whole shoe thing. I unzipped my boots and put them on a rack. My tights had a whooping great hole in the toe but luckily, the woman had laid out slippers for us. Nice warm slippers which were especially handy since there was no carpet or anything, just old boards on the floor.

The old lady seemed to glide along those boards, not lifting up her feet. I tried to do the same but ended up just doing a jerky slide.

She took us into a room and indicated for us to sit down, then left, sliding the door shut behind her.

These people had to be poor as fuck since that room had pretty much no furniture. Just a low table in the middle and a shelf with some kind of flower arrangement on it. The straw mat floor didn’t make it look too lush either. The place smelled like a barn.

There were some cushions to sit on. Hell, if I’d known we’d be sitting on the floor like that, I’d have worn a longer skirt. I tried crossing my legs but that meant I’d be flashing all my business at the old geezer when he came in. Then I tried kneeling like Kisho did but that hurt like hell, stretching every muscle in my legs to capacity. Finally, I got settled with my legs to one side, but that meant I had to put one hand on the ground to stabilize myself. And that made me feel incredibly vulnerable.

The old lady came back in with two cups. They looked like something a kid had made in pottery class, all lopsided and weird. She set them on the table in front of us.

Please wait, she said before gliding back out.

I