“This is a curse or the removal of one?” I asked.
Studying me, he approached slowly, feeling my unease. He leaned down and kissed me softly on the lips. Any other time it would have been welcome, but it did nothing to comfort me now. The quiet lingered longer, and I waited for him to continue. “It’s a curse.” And he said something in a language that I wasn’t familiar with. An ancient language similar to the one I’d spoken with Maya’s influence. I studied him as much as he’d studied me.
“How do you know that?”
“Did you finish reading the book I gave you about the Faeries?”
Skimming it probably didn’t count. I wanted to, but the tales of senseless murders, abuse, infanticide, and torture made it a hard read. There were stories of the many things that they had done for their own entertainment, spells that did horrible things to people. I understood why people had come together and wanted them dead.
“Before we became this”—his hands swept over his body—“we were weaponry against them and a big reason why they were defeated.”
I recalled Logan saying that once upon a time, we weren’t “pretty little things” but monsters. Creatures that had walked on two legs but had been undoubtedly more animal than human, more monstrous than typical animals. When we’d changed to our animal form, it hadn’t been much different than the beasts we’d presented daily. Based on Logan’s description, we’d behaved like those creatures as well, savagely. I could see why the Faeries had considered us competition.
“In an effort to keep us from being used as weaponry, they attempted everything, trying to find a combination that could do magic against us. Nothing worked. It wasn’t just their cruelty that led to their demise; their unyielding efforts to try spells to kill us off caused others to come together to defeat them. Apparently one curse was said to work, although it is questionable. Josh read one account that said it’s tied to the lunar eclipse. It was the symbolic death of our total immunity. We bear the curse of the lunar. Once that curse is performed again, it is true death.”
I didn’t know what to say, and neither did Ethan. A lunar eclipse would happen in twenty days. Yesterday the curse had taken place. Maya had fulfilled the Faeries’ final wish to get rid of the were-animals—or those who were descendants of the were-animals that had existed when they ruled.
This was the clusterfuck of all clusterfucks.
CHAPTER 10
Everyone was preoccupied with trying to find out more about the curse of the lunar, but I hated that after the night Ethan had told me about it, he’d gone MIA. And so had Josh. I’d never felt more in the dark. Responses to my questions were reduced to single-word comments via text. I wasn’t supposed to question the men behind the machine, but I didn’t operate that way and didn’t know how to with something as serious as this, something that I had inadvertently been the trigger of.
It had been refreshing when Claudia had asked me to lunch, and I’d quickly accepted, hoping that she might be able to provide more insight. A part of me also craved the maternal comfort that she exuded. It wouldn’t change anything, but I needed something to quell the feeling.
Claudia’s warm smile met me as I walked through the door, and my attire garnered an appreciative nod. I’d traded my jeans for a pair of black slacks and heels and a beige silk shirt. I’d even managed to tame my curls and pull them back into a long French braid. I wouldn’t have her brushing back my hair and telling me how pretty I was—Claudia’s sweet way of telling me to handle my hair.
No matter how much effort I put into dressing, I doubted I could ever look as refined and elegant as Claudia, who was dressed in a pearl-colored suit and lilac shirt. The light gloves that she wore never looked out of place on her. They enriched her style, while on anyone else they would have looked odd, pretentious.
Her melodic South African voice greeted me. “Ah, Skylar, I’m so glad you decided to accept my invitation.”
She was probably indeed pleased that I hadn’t turned her down because it would have been an absolute first. I knew Claudia was a gallery owner, but behind the gentle eyes, dulcet voice, and refined demeanor was someone with great connections and more power and secrets than even the pack, and I had no idea what she was. She’d helped save Ethan a couple of days ago, when it had been discovered he was a dark elf, which carried a death penalty. Representing the faes, her vote, Gideon’s, and Demetrius’s had been the ones that had saved Ethan. How did a peddler of expensive art have such connections? And I couldn’t forget the reverence with which Demetrius had treated her.
Guiding me by the elbow, she led me to her office. “Where are we having lunch?” I asked.
“Here, of course.”
Translation: I thought we could talk, and we would need some privacy.
She directed me to the small table that already had two covered plates on it. I uncovered mine to find roasted duck, potatoes, and vegetables. She gave me a half-smile as if she was apologizing for the meal. I wasn’t sure why, but I assumed she felt I wanted something different—were-animals’ favorite, rare steak.
Once seated, she slid a chocolate mousse in my direction. “It is my understanding you enjoy your dessert first, please don’t let me stop you.” I was a “dessert first” type of woman, but with Claudia, it seemed totally wrong to do.
I slid it over. “I’ll eat it later.” We ate, engaging in the most banal casual conversation, which I suspected was a prelude to more. After all, this was the woman who had once asked me if Sebastian could kill Ethan for the safety of the pack. She was an enigma, and her line of questioning often fell in with that.
“I understand your human is missing.” She liked to attribute ownership of people to others. When she’d first met me, she’d asked Ethan and Josh whose I was.
“Yes, Kelly is missing.”
She lifted her eyes to meet mine. “How is Sebastian handling your Kelly being missing?”
I couldn’t help but smile; I wasn’t sure if Claudia would be exempt from getting sprayed with a water bottle by Kelly for wording it like that. Once, Kelly and Sebastian had been at a stalemate and had a peculiar stare-off as she held the water bottle, ready to spritz him for what she deemed bad behavior. In the end, she’d mumbled under her breath about him being a bad wolf and walked away. Thinking about her made me realize how much we missed her. The gnawing guilt came back. Why hadn’t we looked for her sooner? Why had we given her so much alone time? We should have at least checked on her. Anxiety about something bad happening to her coursed through me.
“He feels guilt, like the rest of us. We should have protected her.”
She nodded slowly. “I do believe the best was always done to ensure that she was protected. This, too, will be handled if Sebastian doesn’t become too consumed with guilt and his perceived failure to rise above it. I do enjoy the changes I’ve seen in him; you and your human have softened him.” The curt displeasure in her tone contradicted her words.
“He’s still capable of leading. He’s just more considerate,” I pointed out.
“I’ve never doubted his effectiveness to lead and never will. He is a skilled and astute Alpha. I think it’s the kindness that you see in him that has made you willing to accept things so well. I am glad you continue to think so highly of him despite the situation. It is a great sacrifice on your part, and you must trust him and care for the pack a great deal to offer such a gift.”
What that hell was she talking about? “What gift? Despite what situation?”
She paled, and for the second time since I’d met her, the genteel facade dropped. She was having difficulty hiding the red streak of anger that fell over her features, and it spread, racing up her cheeks.
“I do apologize, I’ve misspoken. Please continue with your meal.” She excused herself from the table and walked over to her desk, where she picked up the phone and dialed a number.
“Yes, hello, Sebastian. I’m having a lovely lunch with Skylar and do believe I’ve misspoken. Perhaps I was wrong, but h
ave you not had the discussion with Skylar about the lunar curse and the way to stop it?” I couldn’t hear him on the other end, but Claudia strained to keep the smile on her face.
“Well, of course this isn’t my pack and it is indeed yours, but I have an obligation to protect what is mine, and that is contingent on you doing your job as the Alpha of the pack and the Elite. There are others involved. Although I appreciate your fondness for Skylar, it is a disservice for her not to be informed of all things. We will be here for a while, please join us. I do think such information should come from you, but I will be more than willing to tell her. If you aren’t here by the end of our lunch, it will be my duty to do so.”
She didn’t give him a chance to respond; she simply smiled.
For thirty-five minutes, Claudia and I had lunch while engaging in the most frivolous and trite conversation imaginable. Each time I broached the topic, she simply smiled and reminded me that Sebastian would be joining us soon. Which only led to my imagination running rampant. My curiosity about Claudia was no longer just a gnawing interest—it had become a need. I needed to know who the woman was who Ethan and Josh considered godmother, who with one call could literally command Sebastian to join us for a meeting.
“Besides being an empath, a Moura, and an impresario, what else are you?” I asked, softening my voice until it lacked the urgency I actually felt, and yet it still seemed like I was being rude to her. How did she do that to people? It was a simple question and something I had the right to know, but the small grimace that settled on her face made me feel like I had asked her the most intrusive personal question imaginable.
“Nothing more. Why, have I given you a reason to think otherwise?”
I nodded. I’ve hopped on the train to Rudeville, might as well keep traveling. “People who are feared by most seem to be apprehensive around you. Marcia considers herself and the witches superior to most and often refuses to cooperate, yet somehow you were able to get her to allow her assistant to help us when Kelly was injured. And the situation with Ethan—what would give you the right to represent the fae on something so important? It seems like you are more than what you present yourself to be.”
She nodded slowly, the grimace blossoming into a genteel smile, but her eyes were still shadowed and it was apparent she wasn’t accustomed to being asked such things.
“I do believe your understanding of this world has made you cynical. You had a rough introduction, and your first encounter was with Demetrius and Sebastian. What they possess in strength and power they lack in diplomacy. It is a flaw that they both have. I find that when there is mutual respect, then negotiations can be easier. I’ve made many sacrifices to acquire debts that have worked in my favor. You, from the outside, look to be no more than what you are, but from my understanding, it was because of you that the vote went in Ethan’s favor—I don’t believe I ever thanked you for that.”
Damn, she’s good. She’d said a whole lot of nothing. There wasn’t any way I planned to leave this lunch without knowing more about her than I had when I’d walked in. “Do you mind me asking what sacrifices you have made and how Marcia became indebted to you? Before, you said that she didn’t like you. I find it hard to believe that a person like her would ever allow herself to be indebted to you. So how did it happen?”
The smile didn’t falter. “Your assumption is the debt was from Marcia; it wasn’t. Her assistant, Bernard, had an obligation he had to fulfill.”
“Are you a fae?”
“No.”
“But they accept you as one of them.”
“I have similar gifts.”
It was like pulling teeth, and when she stood, feeling like I was about to lose my opportunity, I blurted, “What are you? I want the truth, no more convoluted answers.” Watching her eyes narrow and the frown slip into a smile, I knew I’d violated some unspoken rule, but at the moment I didn’t really care. I wanted answers. The truth.
“You’re right, my introduction into this world was challenging, and you’ve been one of the people who have made the transition easier. I’m tired of being in the dark.” Before she could give me the line she had given me before about how sometimes the darkness was where we were safest, I continued. “Being in the dark doesn’t make me feel safe. It makes me feel uncomfortable and more frightened than I need to be. In the last month, I’ve found out that the shade that I am hosting is a Faerie. I’m one of the few people in the world who can read the Clostra, and I can manipulate magic in ways that no one else can. I don’t think being in the dark is a good thing for someone like me.”
She considered me for a long time. “Dark elves were sentenced to death because of their ability to cause death with a simple touch, something that most of them could not control. They were considered the worst of the otherworld, because very few know that people like me exist. I am a Messor.” She shrugged, as if her reveal was inconsequential, but you didn’t tell someone that you were a Reaper like you told them you liked peanut butter instead of jam on your toast.
I hoped my Latin was off and what she was telling me was incorrect. I looked at her gloved hands and was glad that she wasn’t a shapeshifter with the ability to detect my emotions and changes in my physiology because my heart was racing. I could feel it. I took several sips of water because my mouth was becoming increasingly dry. I saw why Demetrius looked upon her with aversion and fear. She had earned it.
“So you’re death?”
She sighed softly, and I concluded that more often than not, she had to explain what she was, and I needed an explanation right now. What I was imaging might be more nefarious than what she was. Messor also meant harvester. Maybe she was the garden-growing diva.
“I can use the energy from death to perform magic.”
Nah, that’s about as bad as her telling me she’s the Grim Reaper. I ushered a plaintive smile onto my face, where it remained. She might not have been able to recognize or sense the distress, but Sebastian did, and the moment he walked into the office, his eyes flew to me, where they settled and stayed. After a long moment of consideration, he turned to face her.
“It was not your place to tell her anything,” he snapped.
“I didn’t tell her any of your information, I told her mine.” Her tone was more gentle than usual, as though she was trying to soothe the agitated predator before her, but she was just as dangerous and predatory as he was. “Sebastian, I respect your position and your role in the pack; however, when it comes to Josh and Ethan, there aren’t any boundaries. And if you have any boundaries present when it comes to them, please know that I will have no problem crossing them.”
The gentle smile might have belied her words with anyone else, but that didn’t do it for Sebastian. He bared his teeth, taking her gloved hand in his and kissing it. He showed a level of reverence that led me to believe that there might be more to being a Messor.
“Claudia, we’ve always been on the same side with mutual interest, and I hope this will continue. You are someone that I hold in deep regard, and not just because of your relationship with Ethan and Josh, but because you have earned it. However, when it comes to my pack, boundaries are not optional. It’s good that while you deserve to be feared and revered, were-animals are immune to your magic as well.”
He slipped past her, and they both kept the fake smiles plastered on their faces. There wasn’t anything more uncomfortable than predators out-polite-ing each other while issuing thinly veiled threats.
Sebastian took a seat on the chair across from the small table that we were sitting at and crossed his arms. He was focusing more on the art on the walls and around the room than on me, but from the intensity of his face, I knew he was weeding through the thoughts in his head. His hands washed over his face several times before he sighed. Holding his gaze was hard, but I did.
“I didn’t hide this from you out of cruelty but to keep you from needlessly worrying, and I still feel we are at a juncture where it isn’t a cause for worry.”
&nbs
p; “Seventeen days, I assure you it is time to worry,” Claudia interjected. “Worry and take action. This can’t be handled without the urgency it deserves.”
He glared at her, and when he looked at me, his amber eyes were soft, saddened. “We’ve been trying to find a way to reverse the curse. We’ve asked around, Josh has researched it, and for now there is only one way. To end the curse at the source.”
His nice way of saying the curse ended when the source of the curse did.
“That’s not an option we’re considering,” Josh said as he walked in. Like Ethan always did, he stopped, taking Claudia’s hand and giving an air-kiss on each side of her cheek before coming farther into the room. His hair was disheveled—not the typical artfully careless way it usually looked—and I suspected he’d been running his fingers nervously through it.
Sebastian continued. “Josh has been working to find another option, and he’s close.” It was Sebastian’s confidence in the face of potential defeat that made him a good leader. Even if it was a certain form of hubris, any other time it would have helped. Now it didn’t. They would work tirelessly to find an alternative, but if the sacrifice of one life to save many was a choice, he would have to make it, no matter how hard it was. I thought of the jar stored in the pack’s home that was linked to my life and mine to it. There was a macabre irony that in her effort to kill off the were-animals, Maya might have guaranteed her death.
CHAPTER 11
Josh’s house looked like an office supply retailer had decided to set up shop there. I counted six dry-erase boards on stands, three with spells on them. Books were stacked on the sofas, side table, and small desk near the bookcase. He had his laptop open and a headset tossed to the side. I assumed he’d been calling his good friend, London, who was better at magic than he was. She wasn’t stronger, but having completed her magic studies, she was better at spells from an academic standpoint.
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