It was apparent that Mason didn’t agree with this and I didn’t try to sort out their complicated situation.
The focus remained on Marcia, as they watched her, waiting for an answer. “I follow the rules. Adherence to the covenant has always been my utmost importance, not falsehoods and the hope of something that may never manifest. You all are being swept up in the little smoke screen that Sebastian and his group of rule breakers are putting before you. I am not the one who needs to be discussed, they are. We have a dark elf living among us, one who will not and cannot be controlled. What do we do? Do you trust Sebastian to handle the matter? Perhaps he will handle him in the same manner as he handles his new little acquisition.”
Their stratagem had caused Marcia’s plan to fall apart at the seams. It took the sting out them calling me an “acquisition.”
How quickly everyone’s attention went back to Ethan, then to me, hopping back and forth with a look of curiosity and derision.
Sebastian’s lips pursed slightly as he regarded Marcia with the full intensity of a predator’s gaze. “That’s doubtful, but maybe we should stop considering how I will treat Skylar and consider what you are willing to do to get your hands on the Aufero again. After all, you went as far as to have someone try to kill her, just so you could get it back. But was it motivated by your desire to make sure we no longer needed to contain the dark elves or your desire to have more control over the witches?”
If I could hear the quickening of her breath and the change in her breathing pattern, I knew Sebastian could, too. Until that moment, all we could do was assume; now she had just confirmed our suspicion. Marcia couldn’t be trusted, she had betrayed her alliance with Ethos and attempted to have me killed, just so she could get her hands on the Aufero again. She might be allied with Ethos, but they definitely didn’t have the same plans for me.
Abigail leaned over to Gideon and they went back and forth for a few minutes. And then he spoke. “I guess in this situation, we must consider him the responsibility of the elves, and if it was controlled before, I believe in good faith that Sebastian will handle it again.”
Sebastian smiled and nodded his appreciation.
“I disagree,” Liam stated. “I have very little confidence in Sebastian or his ability to control the situation. Gideon, you are now showing exactly the essential differences in how you will rule, as a fool.”
Gideon simply smiled, allowing the insult to roll off him. Why not? I was sure when he was fully in position as the leader Liam would not have a voice in decisions anymore. Sebastian and Abigail had more or less ensured that a civil war would take place, and Sebastian seemed confident that Gideon would be the victor; Sebastian will probably have some hand in making sure it does. I tried to be okay with these things, it was a matter of survival. My ethics kept tugging at me, telling all the back-alley dealings, collusion, and silent alliances were wrong.
“This has gone on long enough. Frankly I am bored. You brought us here for a reason, Marcia, and I assume it was to vote on what will be done about this situation,” Sebastian said.
Dammit. What happens once they vote? Do we get a vote?
I kept staring at Sebastian. Come on, of all times this is the time you should be the jerk I know you are capable of being. Launch your threats. Tell them that if they touch Ethan they are all going to die. Come on, Sebastian!
Bernard and his guards stepped out, I guessed to escort us out while they decided. Sebastian dismissed them with a look. “We aren’t going anywhere. Any decision I make I stand behind it. I will not do it behind someone’s back. If I decide you are going to die at my hands, I have no problem telling you to your face. I expect the same from you.”
Liam stood. “I will not be threatened by the likes of you.”
“It’s not a threat.”
Sounded like a threat to me.
“Simply, you are asking them to kill Ethan because of what he is. Yes, we have a covenant that I supported only because the dark elven magic wasn’t controlled, and it couldn’t be helped. And if this was the case here, I would have supported it as well. But it isn’t. It was controlled; Ethan hasn’t killed anyone accidentally. So you want him killed, we have every right to know who wants it,” Sebastian said.
“Everyone wants Ethan dead,” Demetrius offered lazily, still relaxed back in the chair, his interest in this meeting slipping with every moment. “The question remains should he die because of what he is? Stay, I have no problem with either of you knowing my vote or how I feel.”
“You all are welcome to stay; I don’t care, either. Understand that it is a collective decision. Any retaliation against any of us based on this decision is a retaliation on all of us and it will be treated as such,” Gideon added, but I’m not sure why because I was sure how he was voting.
Sebastian gave a noncommittal nod.
Marcia spoke first. “I think the covenant should be enforced.”
No surprise there.
“I disagree,” Gideon responded.
One to one.
Marcia rolled her eyes before anyone could look at Claudia for her vote. “Do we need to ask?” she scoffed.
“It would be nice if you did, but you know the answer.”
Two to one, our favor.
“I support Marcia. By allowing Sebastian to circumvent this you are condoning his rouge behavior. At some point we must stand against this man who feels that the only rules he must abide by are the ones he chooses. When chaos ensues as a result of this, I want those who do not side with us to know you are to blame.” Liam’s arrogance laced his words.
Demetrius’s disinterest in the situation continued and I feared that he would go about making the decision with just as much interest. But he didn’t; he studied Ethan for a long time. The mocking kink in his lips touted the power he had in hand. He hated Ethan. I looked around the room and tried to determine if we could make it out. Then what happened if we did?
“I think Ethan should die, and I am very happy to be the one to do it.” The mocking smirk continued. “But it will not be this way. Sebastian is a son of bitch and his pack of animals are an annoyance at best, but one thing I am confident of is his commitment to not exposing us and his silly beliefs and rules. If he didn’t think it was within his control, he would do whatever he could make it so. He found a way to do it before and I am sure will again.”
That’s a color red I haven’t seen on anything but a radish.
Marcia was so angry she was trembling. No, she wasn’t just angry, I expected her to go down the line trying to bitch slap sense into anyone who voted against her. A few controlled breaths and she had found a semblance of control, although the bleak shadow of her discontent lingered long after she ushered the simple smile on her face. The room settled into an atmosphere speculation and disdain had covered us as each person questioned everyone else’s decision. Swaddled in it, everyone came out just a little more soiled than before. I watched with contentment as the arrogance of victory diminished on Marcia’s face. Anger flashed unfiltered and nearly uncontrolled.
“The decision has been made. It should be respected but those who advocated for the demise of the covenant, understand that is essentially what you have done. Now we need to hold someone accountable for controlling the situation. I think it should be the elves, the Seethe, faes, and the Midwest Pack. I’ve washed my hands of this situation.”
Look at that, a good old-fashioned tantrum.
“I am not accepting that responsibility,” Demetrius scoffed.
“Then you are changing your vote?” Marcia asked hopefully.
Demetrius frowned, considering the question for a long time, his gaze cruising over Gideon, Sebastian, and then Claudia. “Fine, as long as they know I don’t plan an active role in this because I can’t express how much I don’t care.”
Vampires were affected by dark elves: it sent them into reversion, but if they were fed before it was complete, they were whole again. No one else had that advantage. You were dea
d, the heart stopped.
Gideon, Claudia, and Sebastian agreed without hesitation. Liam sat in silence doing what he did best, looking down his nose at everyone. He thought little of were-animals, he thought little about any elves that weren’t Makellos, and with the disdainful look he cast in Demetrius’s direction, it was pretty safe to assume his feelings about him, too. The only people who seemed to garner a level of respect from him were Claudia and Marcia, the latter of whom I was sure he had established some type of alliance with.
“Are we done here?” Sebastian asked.
Marcia could barely answer the question through her anger. “Yes.”
Michaela and Demetrius were the first to leave and everyone else quickly followed behind. We were soon left with the Creed, who were not happy with the turn of events.
As we headed out the door Marcia stood. “Josh,” she said in a low rough voice still angered by her loss. “Stay, we need to talk.”
Barely giving her request consideration, Josh flicked his eyes in her direction and stopped in front of Bernard to have the manacles taken off his wrist. As he continued toward the door Marcia slammed her hands on the desk, sending a thunderous sound throughout the room.
“Josh! We need to talk now!” she demanded.
He only hesitated for a moment and turned to face them. Fishing in his pocket he took out a small oddly shaped medallion and tossed it in the middle of the floor. “There is nothing more for us to say, I am done.”
I thought she had reached the height of her anger, but whatever he had tossed insulted her more than anything Sebastian and Ethan had done at the meeting. His eyes rested on each one of them, casting his anger in their direction, before leaving.
When the doors closed behind us we could hear the dead bolt lock. Sebastian scanned the area. It was dark and the cleared path that surrounded us made it easy to see everything around us. It was clear, but there was definitely a presence there: I felt like we were being watched. The caustic smell of Ethos’s magic was dense as it coated the air. Come out, come out wherever you are.
“He’s here,” Josh said, looking around.
Of course he is. Waiting for the room to turn against me so that he could swoop in and claim me. I was scared of Ethos, a new feeling for me. I had been able to cling to the fact that he wanted me alive, and that wasn’t the case anymore. I wouldn’t be his ally as he took over the otherworld, I denied him too many times, and I was just a shell that held his prize possession—Maya.
We advanced toward the car but Ethos stayed hidden. Just a few feet from the car we were confronted by a pack of were-animals. Anderson, the Alpha, remained in human form at a distance, watching as the pack approached us. A large man approached Sebastian; he slowly started to shift mid-run and was in cougar form before he was less than a foot away. It didn’t give Sebastian enough time to change and the large felidae slammed into him. He soared back, crashing into the SUV with a thud. He recovered quickly before the cougar could advance again. When it charged at him again, Sebastian slammed his fist into the feline’s throat, and it dropped to ground gurgling. Sebastian slipped behind the animal and twisted the head until the neck snapped. The cougar lay still, body slumped against the ground. Before the coyote that had been stalking near Sebastian could approach, Sebastian was able to change into his wolf and collided into him mid-lunge.
A hyena’s jaws were clamped about Steven’s arm, and I ran over, jamming my knife into its side. It quickly released its hold. I kicked hard into its side until ribs cracked. It snapped at me, its teeth tearing over my skin drawing blood, but it wasn’t able to get a good hold. It started for me again, lunging. I positioned myself to move but before I could Gavin, in panther form, crashed into him. His claws ripped across its stomach before doing the same to its throat.
Josh was a couple of feet away surrounded by several were-animals attempting to get past the protective field that surrounded him. A coyote beat its head against it several times, a lynx clawed at it, and an oversized dingo kept thrashing its body into it, doing more harm to itself than the field. Knife in hand I started to approach, going for the coyote, who was closest to me. Then a wave of magic surfed over me, and I fell face-first into the ground. Josh’s field shattered, the last thing I saw before I was yanked up and pulled into what felt like a cyclone of magic. I heard my name in the distance before it all ended. Silence.
CHAPTER 12
The nausea hit fast, and the bile crept up but I couldn’t give into it. Traveling was still the worst way to get anywhere, and I didn’t know how anyone could ever get used to it. The moment my feet were planted firmly on the ground I slipped the knife out of sight—I didn’t need him to take my only weapon—and then spun, punching Ethos in the mouth. He stumbled back, red staining his lips and his eyes blazing. With a quick whip of his fingers I went back several feet. He sucked in his lips, tasting blood as he glared at me. Anger licked at the features of the odd form he’d chosen. His coloring was too pale, and the blush of his rage made him look ruddy.
I looked around the large space; stone walls surrounded me. The few circular windows were too small for me to fit through. I was in a blockhouse of some sort. I tried to find comfort in the fact that I wasn’t underground. To escape all I had to do was get past the only exit I saw, which was directly behind Ethos—no problem.
The smell of dirt and something pungent filled the air along with magic, odd magic—dark magic. There was something different about it that I couldn’t figure out. A mixture of magic that went wrong. To my right on a table in the corner were the Clostra, the Gem of Levage, and a copper-looking object made of a series of interlocking circles, which I assumed was the Fatifer. He had four of the five protected objects, and I’m sure he was working on finding the fifth. The one that Claudia had. I kept glancing around the room looking for the Aufero, I knew it had to be close.
I couldn’t ignore the bloodstains on the leather bindings of one of the books of the Clostra. What did he try to do with it? Whose blood was it?
“You could have made it easier on yourself. It didn’t have to end this way,” he said. He seemed almost apologetic. The odd violet eyes shone like crystals, contempt and sympathy an odd combination.
“How should it have ended, Ethosial?”
He smiled in appreciation. “I go by Ethos now.” Fear rolled over my stomach, but I didn’t know why. We knew he was powerful and had been around for hundreds of years, the strongest link to dark magic, so I shouldn’t have been surprised.
I took several steps back and he laughed. Looking around the room he frowned. “Why are you moving away? There isn’t any place for you to go.”
“Where are the others?”
“Others? I know of no others but you and rumors.”
Being under his intense gaze was starting to make me uncomfortable.
“I want it the way it used to be. That was a life, people revered us for no other reason than that we existed. I didn’t have to share power with them, to earn their adulations. The world is different.” He stopped and gave me a once-over. “Even your kind is different, human-like. Before you were beasts we used for nothing more than entertainment or punishment of others. The vampires, what has become of them? The looks of angels, when before they were monsters barely able to stand upright. Gross creatures that commanded the night and preyed on the weak for food.” The world he described sounded horrible, but he spoke of it with wistfulness and a tinge of sorrow. He missed a world that I could barely stomach hearing about.
Yes, the devil always wanted sympathy. Wah, people don’t worship me. Wah, I don’t get to rule people with an iron fist. Wah, I may be the only horrible one of us left. Wah, the vampires aren’t ugly monsters that terrorized the night. Give me a break.
“Are you sure we are the only ones?” I asked.
He smiled at the use of the word we.
“I’ve spent decades chasing rumors,” he admitted. He stepped closer to me, and I jerked back when his finger trailed up my cheek. “Th
at’s what I have you for, my sweet amphora. If they exist, we will find them. If they don’t, we will make things as close to the way it was as possible. We will control again.”
I jerked away. “No. You don’t have me. I won’t help you. This will not end well for you,” I said, boasting a level of bravado I shouldn’t have.
He smiled, his teeth stained from the blood spilled when I punched him. He winced a little. Really—the big bad Ethos found a busted lip painful? If the situation wasn’t so dire I would have found it funny.
He gnashed his teeth and shrugged. “Very well, I no longer have use for you, my little amphora. You had more value when I thought you were the only one.”
The footsteps were soft at first but quick, more than one. Rushed voices came closer and then Marcia came through the door, behind her three of the other members of the Creed carrying a limp body. As soon as they were over the threshold they nearly tossed the body on the ground.
“Don’t you hurt her.”
Dark curly waves covered her face; with her head turned to the side, I couldn’t see the face, but I had a sense of familiarity. Ethos knelt down, gently repositioning her, brushing the hair from her face. Even unconscious she still had the same scowl of youthful defiance as she had the first time we met. Senna, my cousin, and the only other person I knew who could use the Clostra.
Damn. Things just got really bad.
As if he read my mind, Ethos gave a smile that displayed self-assurance and defiance. A big fat “I told you so.”
“She’s no more fragile than that one,” Marcia said, her eyes trailing in my direction where they stayed.
Ethos’s eyes lifted in my direction and there was a hint of sorrow. “She is, she will be less durable, human,” he said.
Marcia made an irritated sound. “These affections you have developed for her are absolutely ridiculous. You realize she isn’t anything to you, just a shell that hosted Maya, not her. It’s misdirected affection for someone who isn’t your kind. It is foolish. Were-animals are susceptible to fragilities that you don’t see in humans. If my silver blade cut into her, how do you think she would respond?”
Lunar Marked (Sky Brooks Series Book 4) Page 28