The Quarter Moon (Afterlife saga)

by Stephanie Hudson

  “Mrs Ambrogetti was very disobedient tonight, punishment will be needed.” Adam’s eyes flashed his demon side before he lowered into a bow, making Pip forget the belt and grip on.

  “It will be done, My Lord.” Pip let out an excited squeal and then over Adam’s shoulder she shouted,

  “You the man, Luc!” Then her husband carried her out of sight.

  “You know you just made her night, right?” I said the obvious but he chose not to answer. No, instead he nodded to his lap and ordered,

  “Come here!”

  “You know, I think I’m good here.” I replied but why I bothered I didn’t know. I mean this was Lucius we were talking about! I didn’t know whether he knew the rules on personal space or whether he just chose not to care for them, either way I was plucked out of my seat and placed in between his legs. Lucky for me the seats were big enough to accommodate the both of us without me having to actually sit on him.

  “Let’s get this off you, shall we?” He said raising my shackled hands in his. I was then left with my mouth gaping open at the sight of his thumb nails growing into deadly shards and then start glowing poker hot. They reminded me of tiny swords still being made in the fire. With the way he held my hands, with his arms surrounding me, all he needed to do was swipe each point down the centre of the metal cuffs until they broke away under the intense heat. I was surprised it didn’t burn me, but before I could ask I felt the same points gently start making little circles on my open palms.

  “I was worried about you, my little doll.” He said letting his words skim along the skin on my neck and he chuckled when he felt me shudder. I didn’t know what to say, so for once stayed silent. I also stayed deadly still in sight of those dangerous thumbs still playing with my hands. It was only when I saw the wicked nails start to descend back into his normal looking thumb nails that I finally relaxed back into him.

  I then watched his hands leave mine and start travelling up the length of my arms. They followed the slow path right up to my shoulders then up my neck until his hands cupped my head, where he then started the delicate task of removing the rest of the pins from my hair. I was amazed at such a gentle touch coming from such a big man, as he made quick work of freeing my hair from the up do some unknown person had put it in.

  “I thought it was a wig in order to disguise you.” He said softly, making me realise how different I must look from the last time he saw me.

  “It is a disguise, just a real one done by me.” I informed him trying in vain to keep my voice steady. He decided not to make a comment and I didn’t know whether it was due to the waver in my voice that told him I didn’t want to talk about it, or just that he had nothing to say…either way I was thankful.

  Once all the metal grips had been discarded to the floor he ran his fingers up and under and I couldn’t help but groan as he massaged my scalp with his large hands.

  “I am glad you are safe in my care again, my little Keira girl.” He said in husky tones that sent shivers down my body straight to my damn toes. I couldn’t say I didn’t agree with him on that, but then with that single thought, I bolted upright and shot out of his hold and stood panting. What the Hell was I doing enjoying his touch and basking in the safety I now felt, when others who had kept me safe were still out there! Did they know what had happened? Did Sigurd know where I was? Did Jared get to Marcus in time? Hell, did Jared even get out of there safely? And what about Percy...? I had to find him and save him from a life of misery with Dimme!

  Jesus what was wrong with me?

  “Keira, sit down and take a breath.”

  “I can’t! Shit, shit, shit!” I said freaking out as everything hit me all at once. It was as though once I saw my rescue as a reality, I had been somewhere in between ‘I still can’t believe this is real and I am not in that crap hole prison’ and ‘I am so deliriously happy I have not been sold to an abusive Demon overlord that wants to use me as a human footstool’! When really I should have been freaking out about this before I even got on this plane!

  “Calm yourself and talk to me…now!” He added the ordered ‘now’ when I didn’t listen to him, but with that quick change from gentle coaxing to commanding Lord, it had me sitting before I even thought about it. Now that I was sat facing him, he released a sigh before leaning forward resting his arms on the table in front of us.

  “Now ask your questions, Keira.” I bit my lip and said quietly,

  “No games?”

  “No games, but I will advise you to take breaths in between.” He commented giving me a knowing smile.

  “Do you know where Sigurd is or Jared Cerberus…? Did he get to Marcus in time? Did he beat back Gastian’s army at the Hellfire Caves?” I knew I was supposed to take it easy on the questions but I found that once one came, others rushed out to follow.

  “My, my we have been making new friends haven’t we, my little dove?” He said leaning back in surprise.

  “Wait a minute…you didn’t know any of this?” I asked letting my shock be known.

  “What, that you now obviously know the Shadow King on first name bases? Gone on a date to the Hellfire Caves with The King of the Hellbeasts? Or the fact that you have been caught in the middle of a war with Gastian’s demons of the damned…? Oh, before getting kidnapped of course…Fuck me Keira, did you put out a damned ad asking for trouble?” He snapped this last part at me as his anger got the better of his usual cool facade.

  “Yes, yes I did, didn’t you read it last year when my second kidnapping happened?” I asked him sarcastically, snapping right back. He took a deep breath and I did the same.

  “Right, let’s start this again and start it from the beginning…what the Hell has been happening to make you turn this insane?” I scowled at him and then snapped,

  “Draven died on me, that’s what!” At this not so shocking revelation, I was more than a little surprised to find Lucius trying to hide his bewilderment.

  “But…you knew that…right?” I asked slowly wondering what in my world was going on!

  “Right, Lucius?” I said again when he didn’t answer me.

  “Yes… that’s what I know.” He said and this was the point that I knew with utter certainty…

  Lucius was lying.

  Chapter 53

  My Brave Contacts

  The rest of the short plane journey was spent having the difficult conversation where I had to tell Lucius every single thing that had happened to me. Starting back with the day Leivic turned up delivering me with the killer blow, to the Oracle giving me back hope, that started my mission and then of course, finishing with where I was now.

  His reactions were a mix of disbelief, concern and controlled anger. Every now and again he would swear under his breath, which I would purposely ignore or he would speak in other languages, giving me no option other than to ignore. Either way, it was pretty obvious he was less than happy about what I had been through, which then brought on our first argument, starting with him saying,

  “Why the fuck didn’t you contact me!?”

  “Are you shitting me right now?! Contact you? You and every other supernatural that I knew were the ones who disappeared!” He looked about to say something, but I wasn’t quite finished with my tantrum.

  “No Lucius, don’t even bother ‘cause I have heard this record before and I didn’t like it the first time!”

  “Keira, calm down and explain without the smart mouth!” He had the balls to say, which totally got my back up even more.

  “Ok, let me spell it out for you, using small words so my smart mouth doesn’t upset you…You. Abandoned. Me!” I said not being able to help my building anger at every single person Draven had brought in my life and then ripped away! I knew I wasn’t being fair to Lucius, because he did in fact save my ass, but at that moment I lost every ‘right action’ to the shadows of every ‘wrong action’ that was done to me since that day.

  Draven was never meant to die! We weren’t supposed to go through all that with Mo
rgan, Sammael, Lucius, Layla and then some wacked up ‘horned God wannabe’ like Malphas, then for him to just leave me! That was not how the story was supposed to end. He was my soul mate, the better part of me and lastly, my love’s saviour… but now, well… now I was expected to be his saviour and I wasn’t even strong enough not to cry at the injustice of what he himself did to me!

  I didn’t understand any of it. Did he not think that by having everyone I loved around me, that this would have not made me stronger? Was that why? Did I have to know my own Hell on earth before facing his?

  I didn’t realise that I asked this last question out loud because I found at some point I was on the floor sobbing in Lucius’ arms and he was answering me tenderly,

  “I don’t know love, I just don’t know what he was thinking… no one does.”

  After this embarrassing little breakdown of mine and an apology from me, Lucius sat me down and explained all he knew…or all he was willing to tell, as it still seemed as if he held something vital back.

  He told me that Draven’s decision to put his plan into action should anything happen to him was final, no matter what those closest to him tried to say on the matter…Lucius included. No-one knew what happened in his search for the Oracle, but once he found her it all changed for me that day. He started planning for something only he knew was coming, which was either his death or his capture but that was something no-one seemed to know.

  However, only one thing was ringing clear, Draven simply used this new rule as a way of keeping me safe from his world or what he knew would happen if I tried to rescue him. And considering all that had happened so far, I was starting to understand why. Which begged the question, what would have happened if I had just let it be? Would I have moved on to Eddie at some point in my life? Was that my ultimate choice, normality in the human world or the dangerous path I now walked down?

  Well, one thing was for certain, there was no going back now, so what did it matter? What’s done is done and I would stop at nothing in getting back to Draven, even if I ended up dead while getting there! Just one more sight of Draven and I just knew my soul would finally find its peace…

  Whatever may come to pass.

  The next thing I learnt from Lucius was that he had no clue what part Sigurd and Jared had been playing in my life since he had received his orders to leave me alone. That was of course, until he heard I was in trouble, from none other than…

  Jack.

  Lucius had given me a quizzical look when I shouted out his name and nearly ended up crying again at the strength and bravery of my very human friend. I had told him before leaving that if I didn’t get in contact then to get in touch with Lucius, no matter what it took.

  “Yes and what it took was about fifty messages left until someone took him seriously enough to pass me the damn phone! Of course, one mention of not only your name but also the one you gave him for me and of course the plans you had to find Draven was enough for me to take him seriously.” Lucius had told me, cracking his knuckle one handed, expressing his agitation at this memory.

  So, thanks to the persistence of a good friend, Jack had played the biggest part in saving my bacon from being sold at the meat market. I knew the first chance I got, I would have to call Jack and when saying as much to Lucius he told me how he had first reassured the ‘boy’ that he received ‘fake’ word from me to say I would be in touch shortly. What on earth I was going to tell him because of this I didn’t yet know, but Lucius told me he had no other choice as Jack was adamant he would travel all the way here and see I was alright for himself if need be. Oh yeah, a phone call was on my ‘to do first list’ alright!

  It was only in the drive on the way to Lucius’ nightclub ‘Transfusion’ that I thought to ask the question,

  “Ok, so if it was Jack that originally got you looking for me, who was it that pointed you to the Auction?”

  “A contact on the inside of Gastian’s plans came forward just in time and being of course on the Lega Nera guest list, I was informed where it would be held as I always receive an invitation.” I rolled my eyes at his snobbery and said a muffled,

  “Course you do.”

  “So, who was your contact?” I asked after he didn’t explain any further.

  “I forget his name but he was rewarded and sent on his way.” Lucius sent Pip a strange look that said, ‘Isn’t that right?’ making her quickly pipe up with,

  “Oh right, yeah we sent him off all happy and shit.”

  “O…kay.” I said unconvinced, wondering what the heck was going on? I was about to dive in head first and ask outright, when one look at Pip told me not to bother. After all, I knew I could just get it out of her later as Pip was easy to crack for information.

  “Ok, so there is another matter I need to discuss with you.” I said turning to face Lucius, who, as always, was sat next to me in the back of another Limo.

  “Like?”

  “Well a few things actually, but first there is someone I need to find.” I watched him take a deep breath and sigh, letting me know with that reaction he thought I meant Draven…and yeah, of course I wanted his help in that, but first there was the promise I had made that I had to see though.

  “It’s not what you think, Luc.”

  “No?”

  “No it’s not. I need to find out where they kept me before the auction.” His reaction was not one I thought it would be, which would be shock. No, instead I got a slight smirk and as he rubbed a hand over his mouth he asked,

  “Really? And your reasons for this would be…?” I sucked in one side of my bottom lip and held it there thinking of how to put this correctly.

  “I’m not expecting anyone to understand, but there is someone there I need to help…someone who helped me when he didn’t have to and someone that…well, someone I have come to care about, very…very much…he saved my life, Lucius.” On hearing my voice thick with emotion he dropped his smug attitude and gave me a caring smile.

  “I will help you find this person, Keira.”

  “You promise?” I had to hear it.

  “I do.” He said nodding his head once in what looked like respect for my unexpected request. Then he turned to Adam and said,

  “You know what to do, get it done.” Adam nodded in the same way Lucius had done and said his usual,

  “Yes, My Lord.” Then he got out his smart phone and was soon talking to someone in what sounded like German. I tore my gaze off Adam’s phone call and noticed, as I turned back Lucius, Pip now looked even more excited than usual, bouncing on her hands which she held under her bottom.

  “I also need to find some way of contacting Sigurd, as the book we are bound to has had some sort of spell put on it.” Ok, so now this was starting to sound like something straight from Harry Potter!

  “So I heard. I happen to know someone who has dealings with ‘Snake eye’. I will get word to him and yes, before you ask, I will also get word to Cerberus as well, as I know you are anxious about your new eclectic group of friends.” He said sounding both amused and annoyed.

  After hearing this I started to let myself relax, knowing that soon everyone would know I was in safe hands and hopefully I would be hearing the same thing about them. I let my tensed shoulders slump back into the comfy seat and I saw Lucius watch me from the corner of his eye.

  “Why don’t you rest, you have had a long night and must be tired?” Lucius advised and I shook my head.

  “I can’t, I have too many things I need to do when we get there.”

  “Everything will still be waiting for you to ‘deal’ with, but you need to rest also…so close your eyes and rest for a while.” Just the sound of his voice was making my eyelids all of sudden feel heavy. It was like he was hypnotizing me with that soft lull add to every word.

  “Maybe I could just close my eyes for ten minutes, just the time it takes us to get there…you will wake me when we get there, won’t you?” For some reason my saying this and giving in, made him look as if he ha
d just won some epic battle.

  “Of course.” Although the way he said this wasn’t inspiring much confidence in me but by this point I was suddenly so tired it’s all I could think about.

  So I gave in and slept and my last conscious feeling was when Lucius plucked me from the seat and cradled me to his chest.

  I woke up to the sound of a rumbling noise, but as soon as I became aware of it the noise stopped. I gingerly opened my eyes feeling the effects of more than a ten minute sleep. I almost growled out his name knowing that he didn’t wake me, but then stopped when I took in the new sights. The first of which was one I had seen before and I watched my own reflection mouth the word ‘Shit’.

  I stared up at the ceiling full of mirrors encased in black lacquered frames of all different designs, shapes and sizes. It was like a gothic montage all showing the same thing, that of me lying in an enormous black sleigh bed under rich crimson coloured sheets. Oh yeah, I remembered this alright, only the last time was after Pip had bitten me. I quickly turned my head from side to side to expose my neck, checking just in case I had been caught again, only this time by someone with bigger teeth than my little Imp!

  After that panic was squashed a new one quickly arose after looking more closely in the mirror and seeing Lucius’ naked body next to me. My hands flew to my mouth to keep in the little scream that nearly came out. Once I had my reactions under control, my hands curled into loose fists I held at my mouth not knowing what to do. I looked up at my own worried face and then decided to brave a look to my left.

  Lucius was lying on his side, facing me with his eyes closed. His long lashes fanned out along the almond shapes casting shadows on the tops of his cheeks. There was just enough light coming from a lamp that someone had left on, to properly let me drink in my fill of this vulnerable side to Lucius I had never seen before.

  He had an ethereal beauty that made me want to reach out and run my fingertips along his pale skin. His lips were a perfect balance of not being too full and not too thin and I had to bite my own so as not to giggle. I don’t know why but like this he looked younger and although always considered handsome, right now I would have gone more with cute. I think it was because he was void of a devilish grin that promised dark pleasures and predator eyes that could make the strongest of beings squirm.