All the breath left my lungs. My knees grew weak, and I moved to sit on the couch so they wouldn’t buckle. He was so young. So close to my age. I hugged Moonshine tighter. This had to stop. Lilith had to be taken down. There was no better time to tell Eli about Arturo than now.
“That’s awful,” I whispered. “What about the others reported missing? Anyone I might know?”
“I don’t think so.” He sighed. “It feels like people are dropping like damn flies in town lately.”
“I know.”
Eli glanced at me. His eyes were cold and his jaw hard. “We have to take down the Midnight Reaper vampires. I can’t stand knowing they’re running wild in Mirror Lake, knowing that at any moment someone I care about may be taken away from me again. I can’t lose anyone else. Not after my dad. And I damn sure don’t want anyone else to experience the pain I’m going through. It’s not something I’d wish on my worst enemy.” His features became expressionless as an unnatural stillness settled over him.
I cleared my throat. “Speaking of enemies and the Midnight Reaper,” I said, using his last words as a segue into telling him of Arturo. “I think I may have a way to solve that problem for us.”
“How?”
I scratched Moonshine behind the ears, avoiding Eli’s intense stare. “There’s this guy who showed up at the diner. He claimed he was creating a documentary about the Midnight Reaper killings. Said he wanted to talk to me. He knew about what happened on my birthday. I didn’t talk to him about anything involving that night because it seemed sick and twisted to want to document such a thing.” Moonshine twisted around in my arms, and I released my grip on her so she could position herself in the narrow space between Eli and me the way she always did.
“But?” Eli pressed.
“But, then he called my cell today.” I paused because I realized I hadn’t told him Jonas and Micah had been missing. He probably knew nothing about it. My next words would have to be said carefully because Eli was definitely hanging by a thread. “Pamela gave him my number at the diner. He’d found your brothers and was calling to let me know they were there, that they were safe.”
Eli’s eyes narrowed. Fury built behind their color. “Wait. What? Safe? Did my little brothers go missing today?”
“Sort of.” My face scrunched. There was so much more I needed to stay in order to clarify, but my mind wasn’t moving fast enough.
“Sort of? How can someone be sort of missing, Mina?”
“Well, they ran away. Or, Jonas did. Micah didn’t mean to run away; he was only going after Jonas to bring him back.”
Eli smoothed a hand over his face. “Why would Jonas runaway?”
“He wanted to go after the Midnight Reaper on his own.” I leaned into the cushions of the couch, wanting to disappear between them. Eli’s gaze was too penetrating. I hated when his eyes were like this. They seemed to burn right through me. “This isn’t the first time he’s done this, actually. The other day I caught Jonas trying to run away. I thought I’d done a good job of talking him out of it, making him see reason, but apparently I hadn’t because he tried it again earlier today. Micah went after him so he wasn’t alone. They weren’t gone long. At least I don’t think. I don’t know how Arturo found them, but he did and he took them to the diner. When I went down there to get them, I realized two things. Arturo is a vampire, like a really old one who gives off a creepy vibe. And, he also happens to be our best bet in fighting the Midnight Reaper, or as he called her—Lilith.”
Eli’s hand smoothed his forehead. He exhaled a long breath and tipped his gaze to the ceiling. Flickers of guilt swept through me. I hated dumping everything on him at once but didn’t see another option. He needed to be filled in and there was no easy way to do so.
“I’ve agreed to a meeting with him in the morning,” I said. My voice was small. I hoped it made the final piece to the crap storm he knew nothing about easier to handle.
Eli’s fingers came to a steeple at his lips. He inhaled a deep breath through his nose and held it. I could only imagine what he was feeling.
“A group of demented vampires who have been tormenting the States end up in Mirror Lake. At your birthday party, no less. They kill Jane Hawker. Murder my dad. No ward can be put up by the witches to get them out of town. No one seems to be safe. Bodies keep piling up. People have gone missing. Hell, my little brothers were freaking missing for a while. And, an ancient vampire—whom we know nothing about—comes to town and seems to be our only hope in fighting the Midnight Reaper vampires,” he said without looking at me. “Things couldn’t get much worse.”
My teeth sank into my bottom lip. “I know. I’m sorry.”
I reached out for him, placing my hand on his forearm. My wolf nudged me. She wanted me to move closer to him. I obliged by erasing the distance between us and laid my head on his shoulder. His arm moved out to wrap around me and the two of us leaned against the couch.
“We’ll get through all of this. I promise,” I whispered. My gaze drifted around the trailer until it landed on the gallon of purple paint. “And when we do, you’re going to help me paint that bedroom.”
A chuckle rumbled from somewhere deep in Eli’s chest. It shook me, causing me to laugh too. I propped my feet up on the coffee table and enjoyed the moment. It seemed as though we’d shared too few like this lately.
“You and that damn purple paint,” Eli muttered between chuckles.
I shrugged. “I like it.”
“Me too. And, I’d be happy to help you paint after all this is over with.” He leaned over and kissed me on the hair.
I closed my eyes. His scent surrounded me. For a split-second, I allowed myself to relax.
9
The next morning a knock sounded at the front door too early for my liking. The unexpected sound had me jumping out of my skin. I knew it couldn’t be Arturo. He wasn’t supposed to come until later this morning.
Eli stirred from bed and headed to answer the door. I followed. When he swung it open, a familiar voice traveled inside the trailer.
“Hello, can we come in to speak with you?”
What was Julian doing here? And, why did he sound so uneasy?
“Uh, sure. Come on in.” Eli ran his fingers through his hair, and I knew he’d caught on to the anxiety pooling through Julian’s tone as well.
Great. What was the universe about to toss at us now? I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be anything good.
I moved to sit on the couch.
Julian stepped inside the trailer, and I noticed his youngest sister, Ivette, wasn’t far behind him. She appeared as shaken as he seemed. When Octavia followed behind them, there was a distinct air of worry swirling around her as well.
What reason could the Montevallos have to be so shaken up about?
“I truly hate to bother you, but I’m here to ask a favor. We are here to ask a favor,” Julian corrected himself. His head dipped so that he was looking at our laminate floors. Whatever he was about to say, it wasn’t something he was proud of.
Did it have something to do with whatever it was they’d been hiding?
Eli folded his arms across his chest. “What favor might that be? In case you haven’t realized, we’re currently dealing with a lot at the present moment.”
“Yes. I understand.” Julian stood to his full height. His eyes sought out Eli. “I can assure you this pertains to everything you’re currently dealing with.”
“We think our brother is the Midnight Reaper,” Ivette said. Her voice was soft but certain. “Or at least we think he’s a part of the group. We believe he’s crossed paths with someone we once knew.”
“Who?” I asked only because Arturo had popped into my head, and I wondered if they were talking about him.
“A female vampire. Her name is Lilith,” Octavia said.
My heart skipped a beat at the mention of her name.
Julian adjusted his glasses. “Lilith and our brother, Roman, were once close. She escaped her creator y
ears ago, and the two wreaked havoc wherever they went for close to a decade. Lilith is a bad influence on our brother. When he’s with her he’s not himself. He becomes fixated on things—mainly his addiction.”
“What addiction?” I asked, even though I had an idea as to what it could be.
“Blood,” Octavia said without hesitation. Her dark eyes flickered. “Human blood.”
“Doesn’t that describe every vampire, though?” I asked. After all, blood was a vampire’s life sustenance.
“Not necessarily.” Julian shifted his gaze to me. “We do not drink human blood. None of us. We prefer animal blood. It’s something we each agreed to in the beginning after seeing the way human blood affected Roman. We made a pact that the four of us would never touch human blood because of Roman’s addiction. One taste and he can’t stop. He won’t stop. Think of it like alcoholism. An alcoholic doesn’t stop with one sip. Instead, they consume everything within reach. That’s how it is with Roman and blood.”
All the bodies drained of blood, were they all because of him?
“So, what do you think happened to your brother? Why did he start drinking human blood again?” Eli asked. I was glad he was able to find his voice because I couldn’t find mine.
“We think it has to do with Lilith. The mark we found on the vampire in the woods—the one with the Sire Brand—that was Lilith’s work. She knows all about ancient runes because of her creator.”
A chill crept along my spine. Arturo Albus. He was Lilith’s creator. Did he know about those ancient runes? I knew there was something different about him.
“He’s a collector of sorts,” Julian continued. “His name is Arturo Albus, and he’s made a large group of vampires over the years. Each one is marked by a brand of his, a rune. Arturo is a vampire, but he’s also a powerful warlock. An ancient one. His age is unknown and so is the strength of his power. All that is known about him is he’s not someone to mess with. I’m positive if he isn’t in town yet searching for Lilith, he will be soon. He will want to get his hands on her again.”
“Why?” I asked.
“No one knows for sure, but there has been a lot of speculation. All that’s certain is she’s important to him. The problem is she continuously escapes him. And when she does, she creates chaos wherever she goes. She turns people and marks them with the rune we saw, allowing her to control them as though they were her own personal army.”
“Why doesn’t Arturo place a Sire Brand on her to better control her, then?” Eli asked.
“Some say it’s because he loves her; some say it’s because he can’t—that she’s the only one his runes won’t work on,” Ivette said. I licked my lips. “Do you think she’s placed a Sire Brand on your brother? That maybe that’s why he’s gone off the deep end?”
“No. She cares too much about him. She wouldn’t do something like that to him,” Ivette insisted.
“But she would pull him to the dark side with her by talking him into drinking human blood and bringing out his addiction—his inner bloodlust,” Octavia chimed in.
Julian smoothed a hand along his jaw. “Roman is here because of us. We were supposed to come home together. All of us. It was time to visit our roots and hang around for a couple of years in an effort to ground ourselves again before dispersing into the world once more. I think somewhere along Roman’s journey home he crossed paths with Lilith. She must’ve talked him into drinking human blood, and they went on a rampage together while Roman’s subconscious led him home,” Julian insisted. “What we need to do is find them. And, we need to do it before Arturo Albus comes to town. If not, he will not only take Lilith with him, but he’ll kill our brother. There is no way Roman will allow Lilith to go with Arturo again without putting up a fight, and there’s no way our brother will win against Arturo. He’s not someone you cross and survive.”
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Eli’s gaze fixed on me. He seemed to be waiting for me to speak and tell them everything I knew about Arturo.
“He’s already here, isn’t he? You’ve met him.” Julian’s attention was focused on me. I knew he was empathic, but sometimes it made him almost seem psychic.
I nodded. “Yes and yes.”
Julian took a step closer to me. His body grew tense. “Tell us everything you know.”
“I don’t know much. All I know is that he showed up at the diner yesterday.” I shifted around on the couch, feeling uncomfortable under Julian’s intense stare. “He claimed he was here documenting the Midnight Reaper killings. Said he’s been following them. He knew about what happened at my birthday party. He seemed to want an interview with me about it. I didn’t give him anything though, other than attitude.”
“I’m sure he enjoyed that.” Octavia smirked. “It’s rare someone doesn’t give into what Arturo wants.”
I licked my lips. “Yeah, well he didn’t seem to have an issue.”
“Is that the only time you ran into him?” Julian asked.
“No. He called me from the diner later that evening. Eli’s youngest brothers, Jonas and Micah, ran away. I was out in the woods with some pack members when I got a call from Rosemary’s. I thought it was my boss or one of the other waitresses asking if I’d come in, but it was Arturo. He had the boys with him. He said I should come down and get them.” My gaze drifted to Eli. I could tell from the way he scrunched his face up he was irritated I hadn’t told him sooner about that. I cleared my throat. “He claimed Lilith was his and that he wanted her back. Said he was the only way we’d get her out of town.”
Thinking about the conversation with Arturo and his cold bluish-gray eyes sent a shiver along my spine.
“Did you agree to work with him?” Julian asked.
I nodded.
Julian released a breath. Tension rolled off him in waves, and I immediately regretted the decision to help Arturo.
“Then you’ll agree to work with us as well,” Julian said. “You’ll work with Arturo to capture Lilith, but you will work with us to get our brother.”
“Wait a minute.” Eli held up a hand. “You don’t get to tell her what she will and will not do. If you want us to work with you on this, then you need to come to me. You need to ask properly instead of telling us what we’ll be doing. You do not rule us.” Eli’s jaw worked back and forth as he stared at Julian. Neither of them broke eye contact. Instead, they held one another’s gaze.
“You don’t seem to understand how much it will benefit you to work with us on this,” Julian ground out without lowering his gaze from Eli’s. “If you don’t agree to help us and our brother dies, you will have sparked a war with our family. We will not show mercy to you or your pack.”
I held my breath as Eli’s cold, hard stare continued to penetrate Julian.
Both men were deathly serious.
“What’s in it for us? Why should we help you?” Eli asked. “It seems to me getting your brother and Lilith, as well as Arturo Albus, out of Mirror Lake is in my pack’s best interest. Why would we want to help you if it means keeping that monster you call a brother around?”
I blinked. Had Eli really just said that?
He was in no position to be disrespectful to Julian and his siblings. Also, our pack was in no position to start a war with one of the oldest vampire families to set foot in Mirror Lake.
What the hell was he thinking?
“Because, like my brother has already stated,” Octavia chimed in. “It would be the smart thing to do. Besides, we would consider it repayment for the favor you owe us. After this, the slate between us would be wiped clean.”
Crap. We did owe them a favor. Had Eli forgotten? Not only had Ivette compelled humans to forget working for Regina and her vampire goons, but she’d also taken the time to wipe Alec and his uncle David’s memory of everything to do with the supernatural world so they could live out a normal life instead of being haunted by what they’d witnessed that night and the others leading up to it.
“Fine,” Eli ground out. “We’
ll help you, but like you said, after this our slate will be wiped clean.”
“Let’s move forward, then,” Julian insisted. He pushed the sleeves of his sweater up and refolded his arms across his chest. The anger and tension seemed to be melting away from him at a faster speed than it was Eli. “We should discuss how to go about finding Roman and Lilith. We need a plan.”
Before anyone could respond, the sound of a car door closing and someone coming up the front steps made its way to my ears. Sweat broke out across my body because I knew who it was.
Arturo Albus had come to talk.
10
Arturo strolled into the trailer as though he didn’t give a damn about a single thing. He oozed confidence unlike anyone I’d ever met.
“Good evening,” he greeted us as he adjusted the blazer he wore.
His casual slacks and sweater from yesterday were gone. Today he wore a suit as though this were a business meeting. I guessed in a way it was.
“I trust you know who I am,” Arturo said. His gaze drifted to me. “And that Miss Ryan has brought you each up to speed on our arrangement.”
“She has,” Eli insisted.
“Perfect.” Arturo moved into the living room where he bypassed Moonshine and headed straight for the couch to sit beside me. His gaze landed on Julian and his sisters. “You three are aware of the deal as well?”
“We are,” Julian insisted.
“Wonderful.” Arturo smoothed his shoulder-length hair away from his face and tucked it behind his ear. “Tell me what your plan is to catch my girl, then.”
“We haven’t figured one out yet,” Julian said. “We were about to discuss it at length when you arrived.”
“Anyone have any ideas?” Arturo asked as he glanced around the room.
“My pack and I have been searching Mirror Lake.” Eli pointed to the map on our coffee table as he walked toward it. “These are the areas we’ve already looked, and this is where we have yet to.” He pointed to the areas he’d mentioned.
Moon Revealed (Mirror Lake Wolves Book 6) Page 6