by L. A. Sable
And he really seemed to think that he’d done it.
But he was wrong. Dead wrong.
Ceres smoothed the hair next to my ear with one hand. I felt the hot rush of his breath against the side of my throat.
"I've a mind to keep her around for a while," he said to Bianca as he brushed his fingers down the skin of my upper arm.
I couldn't stop a shiver of disgust and Bianca smiled widely, likely mistaking it for passion. "You must tell me how you enjoy being Ceres' new pet, Juliette.”
She moved to kiss my cheek in the traditional greeting, a mocking smile still playing in the corners of her mouth. Quick as a striking cobra, I grabbed her chin in a grip like a vise and forced her gaze to meet mine.
Her cool brown eyes, the color of sweet molasses, sparked with anger. As we stared at each other, the anger faded until it was replaced by surprise and then fear. She wrenched her face away and eyed me warily, like I was a particularly dangerous animal at the zoo.
She had seen it, then.
I touched the hand that still stroked my shoulder with light fingertips.
“Ceres," I sighed, only loud enough for him to hear. I turned in the circle of his arms so his bent face was a scant millimeter from mine. My breath whispered against his skin and I looked into his eyes for the first time.
There was nothing.
That dark gaze should have swamped me. A wave of pure longing should have carried me to a place where I would be his slave. But his eyes were simply eyes. There wasn’t any power behind them.
His expression was still smug. The idiot still had no idea what was coming next.
I laid my hand against his cheek and Ceres smiled, thinking he had finally captured me with his pathetic parlor tricks.
Smiling back, I leaned closer. "I'd like a drink. Get me one."
Ceres shook his head as if to clear it as he stepped back. My words hadn’t been what he expected. But we did have an audience and Ceres would never allow himself to be embarrassed. As far as anyone else knew, this was just part of the fun.
"As you will," he murmured and insinuation laced his tone. "What would you like?"
"Don't be rude, Ceres," I admonished gently. I turned to the stranger, drawn in spite of myself. "What are you having, Mr.…"
"Armagnac."
Hair the color of unset rubies cascaded down the stranger’s shoulders as he stared at with me with those eyes as cold as chips of ice. I made a leisurely appraisal of his body with more heat than a girl of my chaste upbringing had any right to have. He returned the look with amused eyes. “Is that a name or a drink?"
"The drink," he replied easily. "You may call me Valentine."
I boldly offered him my hand and I could hear my mother gasp at my brazen behavior. "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Valentine." I paused. "I'm Jinx Darkward.”
The name came to me for the first time in that moment. I was no longer Sweet Juliette, Docile Juliette or Juliette the Victim. I was a curse.
He cradled my cold hand for longer than courtesy strictly dictated. I could feel the seductive heat of him seep through my fingers. "That seems a decidedly unlucky sobriquet, Ms. Darkward."
"For you or for me?" I asked, the darkness in my voice matching his.
Valentine smiled and took a casual sip from his glass.
"You heard the man." I spoke to Ceres without looking at him and slid my hand out of the stranger's grip with a twinge of regret. Turning back, I stared into his eyes, voice hard and heavy with command. "Bring the bottle."
A confused expression crossed Ceres face and then was gone, quickly replaced by his usual confident bluster. He worked to convince himself that everything was still going according to his plan. I could practically see the wheels turning as he hesitated, telling himself that he was only doing what he wanted to do, regardless of what I’d said.
Ceres left and quickly returned from the bar with the bottle of brandy in one hand and a full glass in the other. He stopped short of me and looked down at his hands in uncertainty as if he had no idea how the items had come to be there.
“It’s a little late for hard liquor, Ceres." Bianca giggled. She seemed to have recovered her wits. "You've already had your fun with her."
I took the glass from the bewildered vampire. "But I haven't had my fun with him yet."
There was a small rumble of polite laughter.
The brandy slid down my throat in a trail of smooth fire. The heat of it warmed my cold insides as I surveyed the room. All eyes were on us, the quiet profound as I realized even the band had stopped playing. Ceres regarded me with the silent intensity of a newly trained puppy. It was annoying me. I could think only of the violation, of how little my freedom had mattered to him. Raping my body hadn’t been enough for him, he had tried to violate my very soul.
But he had done what he intended to do, forging a link between us that created a master and a slave. If only he had thought through all the possible consequences, perhaps he could have been saved.
“Ceres," I murmured and took a small sip of my drink. "You're boring me."
That was when I pulled my mental hold on him tight. I could never explain how I did it, but some part of me just knew that I could force this control over him. Ceres had been the one to open the floodgates, he just hadn’t anticipated which way the water would flow.
It was as if silken ropes bound his every limb as Ceres bobbed on his toes like a living marionette. His hand rose mechanically above his head and the brandy flowed in a dark rush as he upended the bottle. Burgundy rivulets ran down his face and into his eyes until his clothes were quickly soaked through. Liquid streamed off of him to the floor like spilled blood.
“I think this party should move outside,” I said, my voice light.
Ceres took jerking steps as I made him walk through the open veranda doors and outside into the moonlight. He tried to resist my compulsion, but he no longer controlled his own body. His footsteps were loud on the stone floor as I made him take one slow step after another. He fought to break my control as the silent crowd followed us, but it was no use.
Our audience had an unrestricted view, and I relished the moment. For so long, I’d been a family embarrassment, hidden away so no one would know the extent of my failures as a witch because out here I was anyone’s prey who wanted a piece of me. And all of that anger I’d kept under wraps would finally be unleashed in an unstoppable rush. I would never be a victim and Ceres would be a lesson for them all.
The feasting bonfire had been built higher than I was tall, lighting up the sky with burning red and orange. Later in the evening, people would gather and dance around in it a carnal display to worship the night. But for now, that fire would be a cleansing force, burning away the sick connection that Ceres forged between us.
The look of horror on his face was unmistakable as I sent him through the gate that surrounded the feasting bonfire.
Then I turned away.
His body caught fire almost immediately. I let him have control of himself just long enough for the frantic sounds he made to rent the night air. Ceres screamed as his skin curled and smoked in the fire. The wedding party stared into the leaping flames where one of their prized sons once stood.
Bianca was the first to react. She screeched as if her own pale and precious skin was aflame. "You hell bitch. I'll kill you for this."
I barely spared her a glance. “Shut up, Bianca."
Bianca opened her mouth to speak but could only work her jaw back and forth in silence. She wrapped her hands around her throat staring at me with widened, fear-filled eyes.
And I drank her fear like it was the finest vintage. For so long, I had been on the other side of that equation, terrified of what might be inflicted on me next. I felt powerful for the first time in my entire life and I rebelled in it.
"Did you know that Ceres stole a piece of my soul?" I approached her with a sad smile as she stood frozen with what must be shock. "Should I take a piece of yours to replace it?"
; She backed away from me, so fast that she collided with the people who had gathered behind her. They all watched me with the same watchful expressions, waiting to see what I would do next. There was no outcry at Ceres’s death, everyone here was much more concerned with themselves.
The fire crackled outside as Ceres' burning husk of a body crumpled into ash. I finished the brandy, enjoying the liquid burn as it rolled down my throat, eyes drifting closed in pleasure. When my eyes opened, I found Valentine’s gaze on me, the look in them intense and penetrating. I saw no trace of fear in those crystalline depths. I licked the last drop of alcohol from my lips, not breaking eye contact as a small smirk twisted his lips.
"Such a waste." I tossed the glass onto the black granite floor where it smashed into a million glittering pieces. "That was a fine brandy."
The crowd parted like a wave when I made my way to the door.
Valentine waited in the archway, leaning against the stone wall with an expectant expression on his face. I had no idea how he had made it there so quickly, even a vampire wasn’t capable of appearing out of thin air, but in that moment I didn’t question it.
For reasons that I would never understand, it made perfect sense that he was there and waiting for me. When he held his elegant hand out in a gesture of welcome, I took it. I remember that his skin was hot, as if a greater fire than the one outside burned in him.
I left the room as silent as the darkness of space. The glass shards scattered on the floor were merely distant stars.
For the first time in my life, I felt like a Darkward.
I was a monster.
Chapter Six
Jinx
I had to remind myself that the phantom hands whispering a trail down my skin weren't real. I couldn't actually feel the heat of Valentine’s breath on the curve of my neck. The sound of his dark laugh was only an illusion.
I’d spent six months curled in his shadow, a partner in name but functioning as a pet. He’d found my newfound power fascinating, and I quickly learned the dangerous allure of dark magic. I finally came to understand the terrible danger that the Blooded represented. Valentine was their leader, after all.
He was cruel and terrifying.
But so was I.
I possessed a power that I barely understood, and unlike any magic the supernatural world had ever seen. With Valentine, I began to explore the limits of what I was capable of.
But the power became a compulsion. The longer it went, the more I had to use it or risk going mad. It whispered terrible things in my mind, compelling me to consume and destroy like some malevolent force. I craved the dark magic, as if there was a deep well of emptiness inside of me that needed to be filled.
When I shared my fears with Valentine, they fell on deaf ears. He denied me nothing, convinced me to use the magic that would allow me to take my place at the top of the supernatural world. In the beginning, I reveled in possessing the magic that I’d always been told was my birthright. But Valentine used me for his own ends, and the more that I used my terrible power, the more I fell under his thrall.
Then I woke up one day, and no longer recognized the dark creature that I had become.
So I ran and didn’t look back. And I’d tried my best to never use magic since escaping the supernatural world.
The temptation was simply too great.
I forced my mind back to the present. Darius sipped his latte, and I caught the smirk he hid behind the paper cup. He knew the effect his words would have on me. Valentine's name was like an incantation, summoning its bearer from the wastelands like a waking nightmare.
Nancy rubbed circles on a nearby table with a washrag. She glanced our way with a friendly smile, but I dropped my eyes to avoid her gaze. The last thing that I needed was for her to get curious and come over here.
"Valentine wouldn't send you for me," I said, my voice pitched as a low murmur.
"You don't think it's true love?" Darius winked at Nancy as she moved down the row of tables with her arms full of dirty dishes. He slipped a folded bill wrapped around the receipt into her back pocket as she slowed to pass our table. If a phone number was written on it, I could only hope she had the good sense never to dial it.
Darius turned back to me with a twisted smile. "You are the one who got away."
I did get away. I got away by fleeing into the night and never looking back.
"No." I drummed my fingers on the table. "Valentine isn't the type to pine." If he ever came looking for me, it would be to kill me and I would never see him coming.
"I shouldn't think so," Darius agreed affably.
"What is it, then?" My finger clenched on the edge of the table. The next words out of his mouth would seal my fate.
"You still owe a blood price for Ceres's life." He stretched like a cat. Muscles tightened and corded in places where no human would have them. "How much did it come to again?"
"Two hundred thousand." I spoke softly. If I couldn't really hear the words, then maybe they weren't real. It may as well have been two hundred billion for all the likelihood that I'd ever get that much money together at one time. Ceres's worth far eclipsed mine by anyone's reckoning, which was how these things were decided.
And fleeing Valentine meant that I was no longer under his protection and everyone in the supernatural world knew it. Anyone who considered Ceres an ally, or the Darkwards as enemies, could kill me without consequence unless the blood price was paid. I didn’t have the money, which was why I’d been hiding out among the humans for the past year.
But obviously there was no place to run far enough to escape my past.
"That much?" Darius made a show of widening his eyes in mock surprise. "Mommy and Daddy can't help you?"
"You know they can't," I said through clenched teeth.
“Oh, that's right. It’s been so long since the last blood feud that I’d forgotten. You have to earn the money on your own, no gifts allowed.” He said it as if his memory wasn’t a steel trap. Manipulative bastard. He leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest, his gaze appraising. "That really is too bad."
Tension sang through me. I clenched my hands together in an effort to keep them still as an irrepressible shiver shook my body. The heat of fire and smell of acrid smoke in my nostrils were so vivid that they seemed real. The sound of Ceres’s screams rang in my ears. An electric buzz burned along my skin, as if looking for an outlet and I only held the power in with the force of will.
Was it magic or just evidence that my mind had fractured completely? It was impossible to say.
The restaurant suddenly seemed too quiet. We were the only customers left. The kid in the corner booth had left while my attention was distracted. West seemed patently disinterested in the conversation, leaning his chair back to stare up at the ceiling.
"It's only a matter of time, now." A small smile played along the corners of his lips, but Darius spoke with deadly seriousness. "I found you. Which means others will follow. The Killoran family isn't known for their forgiveness."
My back stiffened. "Is that a threat?"
"I don't need to threaten you." Darius leaned forward so both of his elbows rested on the table, with his hands clasped under his chin. "I just think it’s important that you understand your position. For bargaining purposes, you understand."
We had finally come to it. I eyed him warily. "What do you want?"
"I have served my master for longer than you can imagine."
"Always a bridesmaid, huh?" I couldn't resist the barb.
“Unfortunately so. But that's where you come in, my dear." Darius leaned back and draped one arm over the chair behind him. The movement was casual, but the force of his gaze betrayed him. "This is politics in its simplest form. Valentine stands in my way and I want him gone."
"Gone?" The incredulity in my voice made it a question. "As in dead?"
"Correct." Darius said the word slowly as if he spoke to a young child.
"Good luck with that," I scoffed. "I doubt killin
g him is even possible."
Valentine was a mystery. Months with him and I never came close to unraveling it. He wasn't a witch, shapeshifter or vampire. There were breeds of Fae able to live on the surface in the human world, but his power was unlike anything anyone familiar with them had ever seen. He didn't follow the rules that bound magic as anyone understood it.
"For your sake, I hope that's not true," Darius said with a scornful laugh. "You're going to be the one to do it."
My heart skipped a beat. "If you're trying to get me killed, you could save a lot of time by just taking care of it yourself."
"No trick." He spread his arms wide in a gesture of openness that wasn’t even a little believable. I wouldn’t trust him to pick up my dry cleaning, much less with a deal this deadly important. As if I could ever believe he was harmless. "Valentine is older than memory and he has never once revealed a weakness. Until you."
My body went cold. I didn’t like the reminder of Valentine and I together. I’d been a very different person back then. "We had some fun together for a while. That doesn't mean anything."
"On the contrary, it means everything." Darius played with the lid of his coffee cup and a smirk twisted at his lips. "I won't call it love — infatuation perhaps. He opened himself up to you in a way that I've never seen before."
The memory was more vivid than anything that could be real. Valentine's hands sliding down my skin. His voice whispering through my mind as power raged in me like a storm of fire and ice.
I forced the recollection away with an effort.
"That's ancient history." I said, finally. "I couldn't get near him now if I tried."
I snuck away from Valentine like a thief in the night. And I didn’t have to imagine how terrible his anger must have been at that betrayal. I’d seen enough displays of the force of his rage to last for a lifetime. There was a good chance he would kill me on sight just for embarrassing him.