by Rebecca Main
“What exactly was running through that pretty little head of yours when you decided to stay behind and mingle?” Sebastian asks.
A trio of men passes by us. Only one inclines his head in our direction, the other two look decidedly through us.
“I thought I might steal a few minutes of precious freedom before being confined to our apartments again.” In response to my blithe answer, Sebastian directs me down a new corridor. This one claims only the two of us as its occupants.
“Really? I quite thought it was to make some grand escape with the lycans.”
I jerk out of Sebastian’s tentative hold and lengthen my stride. “Don’t be absurd,” I hiss over my shoulder. “You know I can't leave this place and what would happen if I did.”
Sebastian catches up to my side quickly, his cold fingers wrapping around my upper arm to tug me into his side. “What did you say to them, Irina?”
A painful second ticks by as my throat clots with emotion. “Only the truth.”
“Tell me you didn’t reveal your—”
I yank from his hold once more. “I know you don’t hold me in the highest regard, Sebastian, but I do have some modicum of sense. Of course, I didn’t reveal the mark to them.”
Sebastian casts a hasty glance up and down the hall, a grievous frown cutting his features into sharp rebuke. “But you did ask them to reach out to your pack,” he says lowly.
I swallow thickly, avoiding the intense glow of silver in his brown eyes. “And, as you so obviously heard, they refused. My pack and family will continue to think I’m dead.”
We continue down the corridor without another word. I’m glad for the silence. My last words, cracked with poignancy, still echo loudly in my head.
“I’ll keep your conversation with the Blancs between the two of us,” Sebastian finally says after we delve into another empty corridor. “When Jakob questions your whereabouts, tell him you wished to speak with the banshee. She is a friend of yours, is she not?”
I eye Sebastian warily but nod. “Yes.”
“Good. I’ll confirm your story should he question it. I’ll say I interrupted your chat about the results of the meeting.”
“Why are you doing this?” I ask.
Sebastian slows. A short glance his way and I catch the faraway look in his eyes as he mulls over his answer. “As you said, the Blancs do not plan on sharing your whereabouts with your pack. Furthermore, I trust in Adele’s spiteful nature,” he tells me. “Since no direct harm will come to our family or our plans, I see no reason to inform Jakob of your actions.”
“Thank you.”
“I need not remind you though, that there is no guaranteeing Jakob will not find out about your encounter with them. He has eyes everywhere,” Sebastian says.
“I’m aware,” I say dryly. “Lucky for you, he likes to keep every set of eyes he owns on me.”
Sebastian grunts, turning us down a narrow hallway that is vaguely familiar. “His caution is valid. You cause trouble everywhere you go. Unlike the others and me.”
“No.” I bare my teeth at Sebastian in a vicious smile. “You just sleep with the enemy.” Sebastian flinches.
“Not anymore.” The heartache in his voice stirs my sympathy, and I release a regretful sigh.
“Sorry,” I mumble.
“Don’t apologize. You’re right, after all. Things have not been the same between us since my discovery. Worse still, I’ve been able to inspect two other rings form the Roux Household, and neither held our insignia.”
“Only Briar’s?”
He gives a tight nod. “Only hers,” he confirms.
“What are you going to do?” Sebastian stops at my hesitant question and busies his hands with smoothing his suit.
“Stop avoiding her for starters,” he tells me.
My eyebrow rises in judgment. “You’ve been avoiding her?” Sebastian nods. “And you’ve been spending all your time with her ‘sisters,’ right?” He nods again, albeit more reluctantly. My bottom lip finds its way between my teeth as I ponder Sebastian’s situation.
“I do realize the implications of my actions, but I cannot stop my endeavors for the sake of my heart. Uncovering the location of the remaining rings and discovering why Briar is in possession of one… that is my priority. Family first. Always.”
I place a comforting hand on Sebastian’s arm, but he glides away from my touch with a step back. “Bash—”
He holds up a hand. “It’s far past time I stop avoiding the matter for fear of losing her.” Sebastian swallows and valiantly washes away any trace of concern or worry from his face and voice. “I’ll go to her now. I trust you can make it back to the apartment by yourself? Good. If any question my whereabouts, tell them I had an opportunity to spend the remainder of the evening with the Rouxs.” And then he is gone.
++
The long walk to our secluded apartment is uneventful. I keep to the shadows as I reroute to more obscure corridors and minor hallways.
A wriggling notion tugs at my nerves. I cannot shake the feeling that something is off. Several times I cast anxious looks over my shoulder to see nothing, to hear nothing. And yet the feeling remains, growing into something hot and unsteady inside of me.
I grapple with the feeling, smothering it until it’s a faint whisper in my veins, but even then it is difficult to ignore.
When I reach our lone corridor, a shout sounds from our apartment that gives me pause. I place one foot in front of the other with apparent caution, my ears perked for the slightest noise to occur nearby. But it is only another roar of frustration that sounds from inside that makes me flinch.
I stop a few feet from the black walnut door. The raven knocker seems to watch me. Its sunken eyes are all-seeing.
“Going in?” Ruby calls, emerging from the other end of the hall like some kind of apparition.
“Eventually.”
Ruby cocks her head as she walks forward. Her hips rock from side to side as her feet cut across the floor in a deliberate X. The slim fit evening gown sashays elegantly with the coquettish prowl.
“Where’s Bash? Jakob sent us looking for you.”
“He found me,” I confirm. “On our way back, an opportunity presented itself with a Roux sister.”
“Oh? Which one?” Ruby ignores the shouting going on inside the apartment suite and leans against the doorframe, studying me from cat-lined eyes. I stand a little straighter.
I lift one shoulder. “Lily or Lilac. Something floral.”
A sly grin appears on Ruby’s face. “It’s quite easy to get them all confused, isn’t it? All that red hair and the insistence on botanical names. Was she there…?”
“No,” I say quickly. “At least, not that I saw.”
“He really shouldn’t be out tonight,” Ruby says, a frown building on her forehead. “Everyone is up in arms over the vote, and now that the other members of the Celestial Court have left with their entourages, things are getting a bit unruly out there. I’d hate for Bash to get caught up in all the chaos.”
“He doesn’t seem the type to be fond of that sort of gathering.”
The frown breaks for another smirk. “He isn’t. He prefers his debates to take place in more civilized atmospheres.” Ruby opens the door, letting it swing open, and sweeps her hand out to gesture me inside. “I’ll go look for him. Be a dear and see if Nova is all right in there with all of their fighting, will you?”
I thrust a smile onto my face and nod. Ignoring the wild pulse of my heart, I step inside the war zone. Ruby shuts the door behind me. Its closure rings throughout the room, but Jax and Jakob don’t miss a beat.
“This is what you wanted!” Jax cries in exasperation. “You wanted to bring them down. You wanted to turn the Dark Court on its head. With the demons—”
“With the demons, everything is compromised. Your desire for change is superseded by your own hunger for power,” Jakob counters vehemently. “You are lo
sing sight of the bigger picture. If the Dark Court suspects your fanatical obsession with change, you’ll ruin us all.”
Electricity simmers between the two men. They stand on opposite ends of the grand fireplace, their features lit in shadow and light, making them look more ominous and fierce. Nova perches at the far end of the black leather couch with a glass filled to the brim with a thick red liquid. A subtle sniff to the air and I make out the scent of mulberry, earthy minerals, and blood. Blut wein.
She is fixated on the two men but manages to impart a simple wave of her fingers at me from over her shoulder.
“No, you don't see the bigger picture. Because you still aren’t over the fact that it was a pack of demons that killed your family. Your hate and need for revenge go far past retribution with the Royal Households. You’d see all demons suffer and pay for a crime only a few committed.”
The room holds its breath—or perhaps it is just me.
Jakob goes impossibly still. And Jax, realizing he has crossed an unspoken line, shrinks back. Exhaling with needless care, I take a step forward and am rewarded with a groan from the floor. Of course, this sound draws their attention to me.
“Don’t let me interrupt,” I say, keeping my voice as light as air. “I’ll just be in my—”
“Stay there,” Jakob commands roughly. A lock or two of hair falls across his troubled brow. The command is almost punishing as it penetrates the soulmark bond. Taken off guard, I stumble to a halt, making my irritation known with a short growl. Jakob has already turned his attention back to Jax.
“I know you believe my priorities are shifting,” Jax hedges, hands coming up in a placating manner. “But I’m only trying to take advantage of the unrest this has caused. Think of everyone we could sway to our cause—”
“When you accepted the invitation to be part of this family, you knew what order our priorities lay. While the upheaval of this court is on our ‘to-do list,’” Jakob explains, as if to a toddler, “all fall second to the retrieval of our family's rightful property. It is only upon their acquisition and further determination of who dared slight us in the first place that we can successfully move our chess pieces further up the board. The change will come but not now.”
“Change is already here,” Jax argues, surging forward and coming to an abrupt halt as his eyes squeeze shut. He takes a large breath and shakes his head. “We can do both. I have pieces in place ready to advance—”
“Yourself,” Jakob adds callously.
“—this family,” Jax continues, eyebrows traveling to his hairline. In frustration, he turns away from Jakob, hands raking through his ashy brown hair and back down over his beard. “My loyalty to this family has never wavered before, but you think it of me now?”
Jakob doesn’t answer immediately. He walks briskly over to Nova instead, stealing her glass of blut wein. Stormy eyes watch me intently as he downs the liquid, their blue color changing to scarlet.
The fierce heat of before begins to simmer in my veins once more. I swallow down my nerves, tilting my chin and holding Jakob’s intense gaze. With an even breath, I smother the violent anger raging through our bond until it is a dull throb. Jakob narrows his eyes in challenge.
He tosses the empty glass behind him. Nova catches it with a curse before it hits the ground.
“You know better than to insult me with such callous assumptions,” Jakob says to Jax. The sorcerer ducks his head, but his hands are held as fists against his thighs. “Go then and play your game.”
Jax startles at the rising storm in Jakob’s words.
“Go.”
Jax gulps, his shoulders sinking while he ducks his head further. “Thank you. You won’t be disappointed. I swear.” He flees from the room, casting apologetic eyes my way as he passes by.
“I’ll take that as my cue to leave too,” Nova announces, slipping from her spot and making her escape. All the while I stand in the same place, arms folded over my chest as I wait for Jakob’s order to lift.
“My apologies. Please, feel free to move,” he instructs once Nova’s bedroom door shuts. I scoff and follow in Nova’s wake. “Or take a seat. We can… talk.”
“Seriously?”
My glare could burn holes in the floor, but Jakob doesn’t so much as flinch in its wake.
“Now you want to talk?” A second scoff breaks past my lips, this one harsher than the last. “You are unbelievable.”
He uses his vampyric speed to cross the room and stand before me. “If I recall correctly, it was you who wished to speak on the recent development of our relationship.”
“That was four nights ago,” I snarl back. “Anyone would think my soulmark a petulant child instead of a centuries-old vampyré with the way you act. Everything has to be done your way.”
Jakob blinks, and the hint of an amused smile is at his lips. “Four nights are nothing to a vampyré,” he murmurs. “Perhaps you should work on your patience, dear heart. We do things the longer and harder way, because that is what it takes to make sure they are done correctly. And, I’ll have you know, I’ve made compromises.”
“Said ‘compromises’ are news to me,” I fume, going to step around Jakob, only to be blocked. I give an angry shake of my head. “You can’t have it your way all the time. You can’t want me and then push me away. Going around trying to control everyone and expecting obedience in all things? Family and relationships don’t work like that,” I tell him.
“I—” Jakob swallows thickly, a flicker of doubt rippling over his strained features “—cannot afford to have things fall out of place. Not now. Not when we are so close to achieving our goals.”
“At what cost? You have us all on the same leash, calling us to heel the moment you think we step out of line. You use your sire bond with Sebastian, Ruby, and Nova. Our soulmark bond. I don’t know what kind of power you have over Jax, but it must be something good for him to not pledge his allegiance elsewhere.”
“And what would you have me do instead?” he hisses. “I am the head of this household. It is my duty to see you all taken care of and to make sure the wants and needs of this family are met.”
“The only wants and needs of this family are yours. Your rings. Your dead family avenged. They only want to please you because of the sire bond. As for Jax, I’m sure his loyalty was bought with a handsome bounty. It’s your wants that are putting this family at risk, nobody else’s.”
Jakob reels back, the strength of my words more than I intended them to be. I go to move around him once more, but Jakob mirrors my movements.
“Please,” I beg. But Jakob is already herding me against the wall. He presses forward until my back hits the wall. My chest rises and falls in quick repetition while I stare into his eyes.
“I know it isn’t easy,” he rushes to say, boxing me in with his arms. “But if things aren’t done correctly… if even one of us were to take a step out of line, we’d lose everything.” Jakob’s eyes shutter closed for a moment. “I’ll lose everything again. It has to be this way, but only for a while longer. I promise.”
I quiver beneath his breathless fever, unable to tear my eyes away from the raw edges of the man before me. I place a hand carefully against his chest.
“Jakob—”
The door to the apartment crashes open with a bang. “Help! Jakob!”
We lurch toward the front door in unison, Nova sprinting from her room to join our fray.
“What’s going on—oh God!” Nova stops somewhere behind us as Jakob moves to the other side of Sebastian’s wilted form. He hangs precariously from Ruby’s grip, but with Jakob’s help, they move him swiftly to the couch.
“What happened?” Jakob demands, voice like an icy river over my blistered nerve endings.
“I don’t know,” Ruby confesses, hands reaching out to touch Sebastian but pulling back with a little sob. “I was out to look for him when I found him…. He was crawling….” Nova pulls Ruby back from Sebastian as the
older vampyré gives in to her tears, ushering her to the footstool nearby.
“Get me something to clean his wounds,” Jakob barks.
I rush to grab supplies. Clean cloths from the kitchen and a bowl of water. Nova beats me back to the others with a small assortment of ointments and salves she uses for her battles. They scatter along the low obsidian coffee table for Jakob to rifle through.
“These aren’t like any wounds I’ve seen before,” Nova murmurs.
They aren’t like any wounds I’ve seen either. Cuts run deeply over his neck and chest, and purples bruises with ominous red patches spoil the remainder of his skin. Jakob tears his shirt down the middle, shredding apart what little is left to hold it together. Upon closer inspection, the gashes marking his torso hold an even more frightening component. Spider-like black rivulets creep from the edges of his severed flesh, creeping out along his alabaster skin.
“Poison?” I ask breathlessly.
Jakob’s lips thin to a trim line, and he moves to place himself near Sebastian’s head. With the care of a father, he eases Sebastian’s battered head upon his thigh, grimacing with the sound of Sebastian’s groan. Jakob rolls up his sleeve without further ado and bites savagely into his wrist. Blood pours from the bite and is ushered into Sebastian’s parted lips with gentle probing.
“Find Jax,” Jakob orders, his fierce gaze briefly meeting Nova and Ruby. They take off like a shot. The front door closes with a sharp slap behind them—perfectly in time with Sebastian’s choked gasp.
Sebastian convulses on the leather couch, weakly batting at Jakob’s forearm. Aghast, Jakob moves his wrist from Sebastian’s mouth. We watch in horror as he continues to violently shake, sputtering and spitting out Jakob’s blood as if it is vile.
“Why isn’t it fixing him?” I ask, grabbing onto Sebastian’s arms when he starts to claw at his wounds. “I thought your blood is supposed to heal your children faster.”
“It is,” he growls.
Sebastian’s eyes roll back into his skull. The whites strain against the red veins that mean to hold them. A fearsome jerk from Sebastian almost dislodges my hold, and I rear forward, stopping millimeters from his wound. The cool stain of death reaches my nose. Along with something else….