Katey’s face wrinkled into a snarl and she leaned in closer, their faces just inches from each other. “Those werewolves have families, wives and children, who are waiting for them to come home and you’re just going to kill them in cold blood over some stupid feud for no reason but to exterminate something you see as a blemish? I’d say you and your own kind are the blemish, frightening the human population and feeding off them like parasites. At least the werewolves moderate their hunting to help the environment, not destroy it. When you’re done feeding on the innocent and there are no more humans to kill, what will you do?”
Her fiery speech was erring too close to giving her away. No one would defend a loup-garou so adamantly, unless she had something to gain from their existence, whether it’s her own family or lover, which Martel knew nothing about.
Martel’s eyes went hard and penetrating. They glared at each other for a long moment, and then he leaned back with a sigh. “There is a reason... But this conversation is spoiling our date. We will continue it later.”
Katey sat back in her seat and was about to open her mouth to argue more, but the manager rushed over with her plate. A huge steak sizzled in front of her, fresh off the grill and piled with meatballs and all sorts of other roasted meats for the sides. She was sure this wasn’t anything one could order off the menu, but especially assembled for her upon her request.
Despite her gnawing hunger, Katey picked up her fork and knife and began gingerly eating away at her meal, careful not to ruin her dress or shawl with dripping juices from the meats. If she dug into the steak like the ravenous loup-garou that she was, Martel might suspect something was off.
He leered at her all the while she ate, watching her closely, examining every move she made. She could feel his cold eyes on her and to a certain extent, it unnerved her to be scrutinized so closely. Though he said they would continue their talk later, Katey could not stay silent.
“I suppose you’re happy in your new life?” she asked.
Martel slowly nodded. “Very happy.”
“Do you ever miss Crestucky?” Katey slid a slice of steak between her teeth.
There was a faraway look in his eye as he replied, “Sometimes, I do. I miss the simplicity of small town life. But, my masters give me a level of freedom that I would have never had growing up among humans.”
Katey swallowed after chewing up her meat. “I know a lot of people at school missed you. The ballroom dance club kind of fell apart after you left.”
Martel’s gaze finally dropped and his lips tightened into a line.
“I’ll admit that I missed you,” she continued as she cut into her steak. “I wondered how you were doing and even tried to look you up online a few times, but I could never find you. I guess I know why now.”
“Yaverik and Michael said that I needed to sever all ties with the outside world. It was so I could train better. No distractions or reminders of my old life.”
Katey paused and watched how the grief and regret flickered in his eyes. “Did you ever miss me?” she asked. It was a dangerous question, but one that had plagued her thoughts for months after he left. They were never that close, but Katey admired him on so many levels that it was hard to forget a guy like Martel.
He met her gaze and a small spark of the human she once knew shined through. “Every day,” he whispered.
A chill swept down her back. There was too much emotion behind those words for there to be anything but truth in them. Martel, as a vampire, did not scare her. But his honesty did.
“I bet you never thought you’d see me again, huh?” she said, stuffing her mouth once more to hide how she really felt.
Martel smiled. “Never… Are you still dancing?”
Katey nodded and stared at her plate until her mouth was empty again. “Lily and I work at the dance studio on the weekends. I would never have had the courage to apply if it wasn’t for what you taught me.”
Martel’s smile widened and he looked away, his fingernails tapping rhythmically on the table. “I thought you were too headstrong to take anyone’s advice.”
She shrugged. “Lily can also be pretty persuasive.”
He laughed, the corners of his eyes crinkling. “How is she? Still bouncy as ever, I imagine?”
Katey gladly told him all about Lily and everything new that was in Crestucky. With each story she told and each piece of news she recounted, Katey could see a little more of the old Martel come back. His masters may have beaten the small town out of him, but she could tell that he still longed to go back. Perhaps one day, he would.
If he did, what would she do? If he was an enemy of her pack, they would expect her to show him the same kind of welcome that any loup-garou would. Martel would be chased off or killed. Nothing else would satisfy them. Yet she wondered if that cockiness could be trained out of him if he returned to the town that held so many good memories, despite what happened with his parents.
While Martel laughed at one of her funnier stories regarding a particular sophomore Spanish teacher, Katey leaned her elbows on the table. “Why are you even with the vampires? I don’t get how a great guy like you decided to join them.”
Martel’s smile slowly faded as he gazed at Katey with a mixed look of disbelief and admiration. “I needed someone, Katey. I couldn’t have gone far without help. Everything in that fire was burned. My birth certificate, social security card, everything. I wasn’t going to be able to get a job or live on my own. And there was no way I was going to let them put me in some foster system. I know what Mary did to you.”
Katey sat back, slightly thrown by his statement. “It wasn’t that bad.”
He scoffed. “Don’t lie, Katey. I can tell when humans are lying. Their heartbeats are a dead giveaway.”
“A foster home would have been better than turning into a night-stalking, blood-sucking creature that can never die.”
And just like that, Martel – the one who had taught her how to waltz and how to laugh at her mistakes – disappeared and the vain vampire sat before her once more. “You don’t know anything about being what I am.”
“I know it changed you and I don’t like what they’ve done.”
Martel scowled. “They gave me a life and a future. Crestucky could never give that to me.”
Katey took a breath to calm herself. She had been where he was and thought the same thing. Life had been a meaningless concept before Logan walked in and introduced her to the pack. She had no rebuttal for Martel this time and dropped the conversation, hating herself for realizing that they had far too much in common. They belonged to different worlds, on opposite sides of the battle field, but here in this French restaurant, they found common ground.
She finished off her water and stood up to show that she was ready to leave once her plate was completely empty. Her disposition was a bit smoother now that she had eaten a decent sized meal and she hoped that it would last her a good while. She didn’t know where her next meal would come from. She wondered if the packs were being fed at all. If they weren’t, the basement must be a fairly scary place. Too many starving loups-garous in one place could only mean flaring tempers and constant fights.
Martel didn’t even bother paying the restaurant for the food as he escorted Katey out the door and back to his vehicle. He drove down the road to a small theater that reminded her of the classic opera houses from a century ago before motion pictures dominated the entertainment world.
Her thoughts were on anything other than the show though. She missed Logan and the guys. She even missed the tingling sensation in the back of her skull that she got from being around the other loups-garous. She left her face emotionless as Martel ushered Katey into the theater without even paying for a ticket. All the staff, and even some of the theater-goers, shrunk away as he passed by, and watched them saunter to the premiere box seat on the second floor.
There was already a couple occupying the box, but as soon as Martel stepped in and gave them a cold, malevolent stare, they quickly
ran out, leaving their playbooks and opera glasses. The whole theater was soon filled with the noxious odor of fear as theater-goers looked up to the box.
Katey sat into one of the plush red seats, and she picked up the playbook, curious as to what he was going to force her to watch.
She recognized it as Mefistofele, based off the legend of Faust, a scholar who sold his soul to the devil for a life of endless worldly bliss. An English substitute had their class watch it the year before when he couldn’t find the teacher’s notes for the lesson plan. How appropriate for a vampire to be attending.
“I can’t imagine what you must have done to earn such a reputation in this town,” Katey mumbled condescendingly.
“It’s not necessarily my reputation, but my masters’,” he replied with a hint of his own self-contempt. He must have wanted the masses to be afraid of him and not those who were guardians over him.
“The other vampire lords?” Katey questioned, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye.
“Yes, how did you know?”
Katey sighed and looked out over the edge of the box to the people below. The human audience wasn’t nearly as dressed up as they were, and it made her stick out like a sore thumb, even taking away the fact that she was with a vampire. She could hear their muttering and pointing up at the box with concern for her safety. Little did they know that Katey needed no protection against a vampire when she had her own supernatural powers to combat him if needed.
“I asked Helga a few questions while I was getting dressed. She told me about the solstice and all, too.”
Martel’s lips curled back to reveal his fangs in an angry sneer. “Remind me to punish her when we return.”
Katey shot a fiery glare at him. “It’s not her fault. I asked her.”
He inhaled deeply and let his eyes rest expectantly upon the stage. “Very well.”
She softened her expression, looking deep into his navy blue eyes, searching for any hint of true malice. “See, you really don’t want to be mean,” she said.
Martel looked back at her. “Whatever gave you that idea? I can be just as mean and nasty as any other,” he replied. Katey could just barely detect the glint off of his fangs, but she wasn’t afraid.
The way he said it though, as well as how he had muttered the mentioning of his masters, gave her the impression that he was desperately trying to live up to their example, inspiring fear in the masses rather than submitting to his truly kindhearted nature that made him so popular in their schooldays.
“But, you’re not.”
“Yes, I am.”
“No, you’re not.”
He turned away and she could see his struggle. He wanted to be mad at her, but he simply couldn’t. The corners of his mouth tugged into a smile.
“See, you like it when I argue,” she teased.
The curtain rose on the stage and he flicked his hand in a flustered gesture. “Hush, the play is starting,” he muttered.
Katey sighed and leaned back in her seat, resting her chin in her palm. No matter how hard Martel tried to hide it, she knew there was something good about him. There was something good in everyone, even Erik if she sat long enough to think about it.
She wasn’t sure where this new positive mentality arose from, but something told her it had to do with the night before when she almost changed. It was like a bit of her soul and personality altered somehow when her wolf spirit was just moments away from bursting out of her skin. Something melded in that moment between her and her wolf that she couldn’t explain and couldn’t pinpoint. It wasn’t nearly as alarming as it could have been. Instead, it felt natural, like that was how it always ought to have been.
Katey was not the kind of girl who enjoyed going to fancy dinners and plays. She would have much rather been out paintballing with Logan or dancing at the studio back home. The happy memories brought a grin to her face, as she wasn’t paying any attention to the play. The whole thing was in Italian anyway and she didn’t understand a word.
It was all a blur as her mind slipped into a subtle depression. She couldn’t believe what was happening to herself and her pack. All she knew was that she had to find out how to get everyone out before the killing frenzy began.
But then there was a nagging thought in the back of her mind. Martel made it sound like he was in the right to kill them all. She wondered why. Was there a darker past to the loups-garous than what she had been told? Or were both sides a little biased and both were in the wrong?
Katey wished she could have talked to John or Darren to get an answer instead of from Logan or Martel. Both were too young to know what was really going on. She would need to find someone who was there at the very beginning, when it all started, or at least a few centuries closer. She wondered if there was a vampire in the castle that she could talk to in the event that she couldn’t reach her alpha.
They hardly exchanged a word as they rode back to the castle. The road was just as rough going up as it was going down the mountain, but Martel seemed to be an expert at maneuvering through the snowy climate on the steep slopes.
Katey stared out the window, gazing at the night sky. The full moon had risen high above, but it was not as golden as the night before. It occurred to Katey that the moon wasn’t just a distant rock floating in space to her anymore. It was something more, and there was a deep reverence for the moon that had taken hold over her heart. She wasn’t sure where it came from or what revolutionary thought permitted such respect, but Katey accepted it. Even if she was alone, the moon was always there and that was a comfort in itself.
When the two arrived back at the castle, Martel took Katey by the arm and walked her inside, as the poor shivering valet took the keys to the car and drove it around to some hidden garage in the mountain.
As they made their way up the stairs, Katey turned to the vampire. “Now can I see the werewolves?” she asked, despising that she needed permission to see her pack at all.
Martel pulled a face and took a sharp breath in. “Well, it’s not really my call. But I can put a good word in for you.” He chuckled. “Maybe you can see them just before we skin them for the pelts.”
Katey balled her hands into tight fists and wanted to lash out in a violent rage against her old friend. But she walked through the doors and entered the castle without laying a finger on him. Even if she managed to land a right hook into that pretty face of his, she’d have to find some way of explaining the strength behind the punch. If Martel fought back, there would be more suspicion raised when she healed quickly.
If she couldn’t get what she wanted from Martel, then she’d find a way to see the loups-garous her own way.
The main foyer was a little more vacant than when they had left, but Katey’s nose was still assaulted by the odious scent of sulfur that seemed to fill the whole castle. There was also a horrible, putrid smell coming from the dining hall off to the left of them. The doors were cracked to let out the stench of fresh blood and rotting flesh, as well as laughter and general sounds of merriment. The vamps must have been feeding.
Katey was disgusted and turned quickly toward the stairs to escape the distasteful scene.
Martel seemed to envy their little party and paused at the foot of the stairs, looking toward the dining hall doors. She could tell he was probably hungry, having not fed on a single innocent human since she had been with him.
Katey looked over to him just as the whites of his eyes began to gradually turn black and the irises deepened into a crimson red color, giving him a wicked gaze. Katey may not have known much about the vampire anatomy, but if it was anything like that of a loup-garou, then he was certainly feeling something right now and she didn’t want to get in the way of it.
“Go on in. I can show myself to my room,” she said, waving her hand carelessly at him before walking up the stairs.
“Wait,” Martel’s deep voice commanded.
There was something in his demand that made Katey freeze in her tracks. She tried to mov
e her feet, but they rebelled against her. as if her heels were glued to the floor. She couldn’t move a single muscle, but her heart had no trouble proclaiming her fear to the vampire behind her.
Her wolf growled and writhed under the touch of magic that swirled around her and pinned her to the floor.
Martel came into her view, the whites of his eyes still blacked out from the hunger. Katey began to panic that perhaps he wanted to make a meal out of her, instead of whatever poor soul was being devoured in the dining room.
A mischievous grin crept across his face. “I must give you a goodnight kiss to end our date.”
His words sent dread streaming through Katey. She would have preferred to be bled dry than have him touch any part of her. She wanted to run, to scream, anything to keep him from kissing her, but she was unable to move or even open her mouth under her own power.
Martel’s face leaned in closer and she felt a wave of bizarre peace flood through her, as if she was perfectly fine with being kissed by a vampire. There was no doubt that this new opinion was a trick of mesmerism. She had heard stories about vampires seducing their prey this way, and just like a frail human, she was falling for it.
Their lips touched and Katey could taste the longing he felt for her. She responded, hardly knowing why, kissing him back with a rush of lust surging through her.
His arms wrapped sensuously around her waist and their kiss became more passionate. Katey was under his spell, unable to move, think or speak without his consent. He wanted her to love him, to want him the way that he wanted her. But the mating bond between her and Logan was unbreakable and not even his touch could make her want a vampire.
He finally released her from their kiss and grazed the back of his fingers along her delicate cheek. She swooned in his embrace and he longed to go further, but the hunger was beckoning to him louder than his other primal needs.
“Sweet dreams, Katey,” he whispered hypnotically in her ear, then freed her from his sway as he walked down the stairs toward his meal.
Becoming the Enigma (The Loup-Garou Series Book 2) Page 35