Lunar Marked (Sky Brooks Series Book 4)

by McKenzie Hunter

  To the right were Gideon and Abigail. Their appearance always struck me as odd. They were supposed to be fraternal twins, but except for their gender they were weirdly similar. Her hair was a long mane of platinum waves; his was short. The winged cheeks made him look too feminine and her too androgynous. Their bowed lips gave them a gentle appearance, and wide pale lavender eyes made it hard to describe as anything other than peculiar. They were both thin. He had a thing for Kelly, and Abigail was Winter’s ex-lover. To the left of them was Liam, the ruler of the Makellos, the self-proclaimed elven elite. The two guards with him were dressed in the same military attire they had worn when we visited Elysian. His eyes were going to cross if he looked down his nose any further at us.

  There was silence for a long time. “Should we get started with this witch hunt?” Sebastian said.

  “We are still waiting for the Faes. They must not be excluded in this matter,” Marcia stated.

  When Claudia, Ethan and Josh’s godmother, walked in, Marcia’s eyes narrowed as she watched her approach the table. Marcia kept a focused eye on her as she removed the beige pashmina that matched her ocher-colored suit. Her beige high heels clicked across the floor, making her entrance grander than I think she would have liked.

  “I apologize for my tardiness, but I wasn’t going to miss out on a sale of one of my favorite artist’s work for this contrived nonsense,” she said, walking in Demetrius’s direction. He pulled out a seat and helped her into it.

  “I am not sure why you are here, you were not invited,” Marcia said.

  Claudia pulled a small envelope from her purse and handed it to Demetrius, who took it to Marcia.

  Marcia made a grand presentation of pulling it from the envelope and slowly reading. “You are not a fae, I am not sure why they would send you as their representative,” she said through gritted teeth.

  “I have no home, therefore I belong to all and none,” Claudia Replied. “The faes have welcomed me as their own. It was your request that all sects be represented. They chose me to do that. You have no business questioning anything further than that. The faes are being represented.” Claudia slowly looked around the room. “It appears all are represented, shall we continue?”

  “There is no way your presence here is appropriate. You are biased and won’t be able to accept all evidence against the men you have a maternal relationship with,” Marcia hissed.

  “You have no business here, either. You will not be able to take the same evidence and assess it without bias because you have already labeled them as your enemy. If I have no business here then neither do you,” she said firmly, holding Marcia’s gaze. “If you would like, we can waste more time and hold it to a vote. But the vote will be for us both. Either we both leave or we both stay. If I am to recuse myself, then so should you.”

  Marcia’s eyes drifted over the faces of those sitting at the table, I assumed quietly assessing their standing with the pack and Claudia. She looked down at the letter again and frowned, I suspected looking for a loophole. In the time I’d known Claudia, I’d come to doubt she would ever allow a loophole to exist unless it was to her advantage.

  The long drawn-out silence persisted until Marcia conceded to the fact that Claudia wasn’t leaving. She had a problem with Claudia being there; I had a problem with Mason, the some-what leader of the elves. A feckless leader whose vote was as worthless as the paper it was written on. The position hadn’t officially been given to Gideon, that would happen in two months, but upon his acceptance of the nomination it was tacitly accepted that the position was his. Gideon’s presence was a constant reminder that he was not the leader anymore. If they could impeach him now and open the office to Gideon they would. I considered saying something but tucked away the disagreement if I needed it later.

  When Marcia stood she commanded the room in a manner that made it apparent why the other witches had relinquished their authority to her. Her confidence and poise commanded a level of veneration that was awe-inspiring. She spoke with confidence and captivation. “We all agreed that due to the nature and the danger that the dark elves posed to us, regretfully they had to be contained.”

  I hated that word. It was such a diminutive word for such a vile act. Contained, the lovely word they chose for assassination or worse, genocide. I understood why they did it, but it didn’t make the act any less abhorrent and to pretend otherwise was just infuriating.

  Everyone nodded. She continued, “The covenant wasn’t entered into lightly, but it was something we all agreed to uphold for our safety and of those not in this world. It was necessary to prevent exposure, but unfortunately Sebastian and his pack feel that they are exempt from any of our rules and reneged on the very covenant he agreed to.” She stopped and slowly looked over the room. Her voice dropped, low and grave. “Even if we chose not to protect ourselves, shouldn’t we protect being exposed?”

  Demetrius leaned back in his chair, obviously unimpressed with Marcia’s entreaty. I assumed that he felt that at any given moment he could be on the other side of this meeting. After all, his Seethe often found themselves doing damage control when a new vampire allowed his lust to overtake him, or one of the pretty psychotics that Michaela had created was unable to be controlled adequately. Michaela looked equally apathetic, finding more interest in her black cherry-painted nails. With a hazy ominous smile, her attention moved around the room, resting on various faces. Josh seemed to garner a great deal. When he noticed and looked in her direction, her smiled flourished into something lascivious.

  Josh jerked eyes from hers and quickly returned them to Marcia, who was walking the small section of the room in front of us, casually tossing baleful looks in our direction, disdain escalating in slow beats. Her tone still grave, she continued, “Am I the only one concerned with what Sebastian is doing? He has a witch whom he has formed an alliance with that supersedes our control. He is strong and I assure you has the potential to be dangerous. He no longer follows our rules but adheres to theirs. His final slight against us is Ethan”—she looked at him—“the descendant of a dark elf, one who recently died. One that they kept hidden, and now…”

  I didn’t know we kept her hidden. But it was his grandmother, and of course he wouldn’t kill her and I am sure Sebastian had his hand in the situation at all times. Sebastian’s jaw clenched tight and his hands remained balled at his side. Amber rolled over his eyes, and if looks could have killed, Marcia would have been a dead woman.

  “Is there a point you plan to get to or will we be treated to more of your show? I can do without the community theatre, get on with it,” Claudia snapped. Rarely giving into emotions, she was usually placid. The room tensed. Why was everyone afraid that Claudia was angry? Who the hell was this woman skillfully hiding behind the disguise of an art peddler?

  “Marcia, if you have a point. Will you please make it?” Her voice returned to its usual gentleness, emanating the same warmth she used with her patrons as she helped them part with obscene amounts of money for a painting or sculpture in her gallery.

  “Of course you will take this lightly, after all, you consider them perfect, entitled, and impervious to our rules,” Marcia said.

  “No, not at all. But I see this for what it is, a witch hunt. Lay your torch and spear down and let’s focus on what is real. Don’t make this seem more detrimental than it is. Has Ethan hurt anyone?”

  Oh, that’s not the question you want to ask. Come on, Claudia, I thought you were on our side.

  “As a dark elf. Do you know of anyone who has been injured or killed by him?” Claudia added.

  “Well, of course not. You and I both know that they are quite capable of covering it up if it were to occur.”

  “Then if that is the case, why are we here? Your argument is that they broke the covenant and are at risk of exposing us. If they are in fact covering it up adequately, why are we here?”

  Marcia flushed, losing the calmness that had colored her demeanor and mood. “Because they are dangerous,
rule-less monsters incapable of being civil. Do you know why there isn’t any evidence? They removed it from him!” she shouted.

  Demetrius finally seemed to speak up as the debate became heated. “Wait. If they are capable of removing such things, I must agree with Claudia on this, why are we concerned?”

  Even Sebastian was taken aback by Demetrius’s defense of us. His face had slackened, mouth slightly open, before he found his composure once again.

  “Honestly Marcia, this is a waste of time. They keep to themselves and whether it is out of their delusion of self-importance or they know their kind are the only ones that can tolerate them, either way, it is no concern to me. If Ethan is a danger, it will only be to them. Let them have at it. If he kills them … so? And if they can control it—then even better for them. This brings forth another issue, how are they doing it? If they can do it, I am confident they should be given the responsibility to do so. Perhaps it will keep them busy enough to stay out of others’ affairs.”

  Nicely done Demetrius. Always nice to be on the receiving end of your backhanded compliment and poorly veiled insults.

  “Why don’t you tell them why you are or rather were able to control Ethan’s ability,” Marcia urged Sebastian in a smooth voice and took a seat.

  Sebastian’s expression was hard to read. The stern look faded into a smile as his eyes locked with Marcia’s. He quietly accepted her challenge. “Recently we came in possession of the Aufero. Before it was being hidden, unused. Our research had shown that we could use it to stop more containment.” His voice became tepid and smooth. “Marcia, you of all people know I share your desire to maintain our anonymity to the humans. But we don’t share the same belief about killing Ethan. As you so assiduously pointed out, I had it under control.”

  Sebastian was doing what he did best, the thing that Ethan and he were very skilled at, which was giving just enough information to color the situation the way they needed. I wasn’t happy about it, but I suspect it was a good idea not to tell everyone that I was a Moura. I am not sure why but he seemed to want to guard that information, and so did Marcia. But I was equally sure her reasons were quite different.

  The moue spread over her entire face to her eyes, making them narrow. Her heart was beating faster, anger had turned her peach color ruddy, and I could feel that magic pooling over her, as the need for violence heightened.

  “Yes, recently the pack has acquired a lot of things, including your little special wolf. She is quite the peculiar thing, isn’t she? A wolf, with the terait and the ability to perform magic.” She looked around the room. “You all know this, right? She is wrong, very wrong. From her recent arrival on the scene and the outbreak of chaos that soon followed.”

  She had everyone’s attention. Each person except for Claudia had shifted forward in their seats and was paying close attention to me. “I know you all see her as a little oddity—the pack’s problem. But Demetrius, were you not going to use her in a ritual to remove the curse that binds your people? It wasn’t able to be used on any other were-animal but her. Is anyone curious as to why? Is that bothersome to anyone?”

  We watched as concern swept over the room. While we were watching the front door making sure it was secure, she crept in through the back. This didn’t have anything to do with Ethan, it was about me. We were being handed false flags and Ethan was just a casualty of the situation.

  “Those of you who can sense magic, the variations and changes, have you noticed the change? Tre’ase, once controlled by the curses that limit their ability to wreak havoc on this world and restricted only to interact with those who seek them out, are no longer under such restrictions. Am I the only one who has noticed? Perhaps Liam can elaborate on the changes he’s experienced over the past few months.”

  This was going downhill fast. The freight train was out of control and I didn’t know how to stop it. What happened if they decided the weird oddity ends today? The six of us against them. Could we make it out?

  “Are you saying that we need to be concerned about Skylar? She seems harmless enough, but I could be wrong,” Michaela’s saccharine voice asked before she turned to me, and I knew her question had malicious intent. She was planting the seed of doubt. She was trying to add fuel to the fire by just being an innocent observer allowing others to speculate while she stood back and watched a small flame become a forest fire.

  Everyone was considering the changes over the past year. Was it coincidence that they occurred when I entered the scene? Was I dangerous to them or just the pack? If so, would the danger eventually affect them? Did Sebastian really care about protecting them? All those questions showed on their faces, the tension in their posture, the cool drift that came over their stares. Abigail whispered something to Gideon.

  “It seems as though we have gotten off the topic here,” Gideon said. “You brought us here to discuss a covenant that had been broken by Sebastian; now we somehow have moved on to his new little acquisition.”

  Seriously, stop it. Acquisition as though I was a pawn, someone’s property, a thing that one put on display as a prize possession. I bet Sebastian didn’t consider me a prize possession, not with all the peculiar things that came with me.

  Gideon continued, “Let’s discuss Ethan.” Then he directed his attention to him. “How long have you been like this?”

  “Initially seven days, then we found a way to get rid of the ability. Unfortunately, it has returned.” If anyone expected anything less cryptic they didn’t know Ethan at all, and they would probably be given something just as ambiguous from Sebastian.

  “That’s not really answering the question, and since your life is on the line here, it will be to your advantage to give us more.” Mason spoke up. Abigail rolled her eyes dismissively, and I was still trying to figure out which one of them would cast the vote as the elves’ representative. Mason was ornamental. There wasn’t going to be an election in two months but rather an induction, because no other nominations were made once Gideon accepted.

  Gideon casually looked at Mason and then disregarded him. He might not have initially wanted the position but he had slipped into the role quite nicely.

  Before Gideon could continue, Marcia interjected, “We would like to know how you purged yourself of the ability. After all, we had tried for years, the elves have tried and the faes as well. Yet, the were-animals with access to a mediocre witch were able to.” Marcia’s cold glare shot in Josh’s direction.

  Mediocre my ass. People don’t hate mediocre—they hate power. A couple of months ago Josh demonstrated that his skills and power now exceeded hers, and she wasn’t very happy about it.

  The dissonance continued as they waited for Ethan to respond. Ethan considered the question in silence for a long time, his gaze easing over each person, and he worked to squelch the disdain that worked over his features. He didn’t like to be questioned: as someone who felt the need to only answer to Sebastian his contempt for the situation was apparent.

  He chewed on his lips, I am sure biting back a caustic response, carefully choosing his words and making sure to only give enough information to diffuse the situation. He looked to Sebastian, and the nod he gave him was so slight, easily unnoticed.

  Ethan smiled. “Skylar, our new acquisition as you put it, is a Moura Encantada. Most of you know what they are—if you don’t, she is responsible for guarding a protected object. She is the protector of the Aufero, which she had in her possession until yesterday. It was stolen from us and the spell reversed by Ethos. Before she had it in her possession, it was in Marcia’s. It is odd that she used it to punish the witches but not once decided to use it to help the elves from having to kill their own. That was our intention. We were fortunate to be able to practice on me, to perfect it. The reason Skylar didn’t have it in her possession before was because it was being hidden by dark magic. Now, I guess we should all consider how it was hidden by dark magic, by a witch.”

  Well, that’s that. When the pack decides to yank open the
door to expose the skeletons they make sure they take other people with them. The best person—Marcia.

  All eyes went to Marcia, and her face flushed, the mesh of lines around her eyes narrowed and focused on Ethan and Sebastian.

  Sebastian added, “If you all can’t see this, Marcia’s motives aren’t as pure as she would like us to believe. Last year, Demetrius’s Seethe and my pack were attacked by Ethos. His sole purpose was to control us, and the rest of you were expected to fall in line as a result of it. Now let’s think about what has occurred recently. Marcia had the Aufero, with the potential of removing the magic that makes dark elves lethal to us—she didn’t. Instead, she kept it hidden with the use of dark magic. Ethos has taken the Aufero from us and restored Ethan to the way he was, and now, we are here. My pack and I are depicted as having this Machiavellian plan. I ask you, who is the one whose behavior seems unscrupulous?”

  “My actions aren’t in question here, it is their pack’s, and I hope you aren’t swayed. It would have been a bigger disservice to give false hope,” Marcia said, her face still flushed as she was left wondering how quickly the tides had turned on her.

  “But you didn’t even do that, did you?” Abigail asserted. “You didn’t give an ounce of hope. Instead you kept this information to yourself.”

  Marcia looked at Abigail but barely acknowledged that she spoke, as though she was decoration for her brother. Gideon’s lips tightened. “My sister asked a question, and when she does, you treat it as though it is coming from me or Mason.”