When Adam emerged from the woods and stepped back into the Gypsy encampment, Jacob caught up with him.
“Very clever, bringing Hannah to appease Mother,” his younger brother mocked him straight off, nodding his head to the Demon female in question.
“At least I will not be on Mother’s bad side come the morning,” Adam said absently, trying to focus on the world around him again, trying to pull away from the senses of his Enforcer self and become more the son and brother.
“Mother does not have a bad side, only a meddling one,” Jacob pointed out with a put-upon sigh.
“You blatantly disregarded her request that you bring an escort.” Adam put energy into the conversation. “You have earned yourself a steady string of lectures this week. I am glad you have the time for them. I, however, have more important things to do.”
“So you say,” Jacob goaded, his dark eyes flashing like those of the Gypsy girls. “I prefer to think you are simply Mother’s well-trained little boy.”
“Thinking like that is how someone finds his face kissing the dirt come training tomorrow.”
Jacob was unimpressed by the threat, and it showed in his casual, single-shouldered shrug.
“You gave her your word,” Adam pressed.
“No, you gave her my word, there is a difference.”
“That is splitting hairs.”
“Hannah is just the sort of girl Mother would love to see reel you in,” Jacob said, changing the topic back to taunting Adam. “She is from the royal household, she is smart, sassy, and sensible, and Mother likes her. I think you would do best to worry about ending up at the altar and stop worrying about threatening me.”
“Hannah knows better than to look at me for home and hearth,” Adam responded, clearly unconcerned. “We make excellent friends, occasionally quite excellent bedfellows, and nothing more.”
“She seeks a husband,” Jacob pressed, trying to get a better rise out of Adam. “Not many of us are oriented in that manner, but Hannah is.”
“Seeks, yes. Seeks in me, never. She is too smart for that.” He flipped an impatient hand at his brother. “Do stop pestering me. Buzz about me like a fly for much longer and I will swat you.”
“You can try,” was the cocky retort.
Adam ruined his threat by smiling. One day, that threat would actually have truth behind it, if Adam did not keep up with his young sibling. Jacob might gain the upper hand one day because he’d had the luck of being born under the element of the Earth. It was a powerful element, controlling nearly everything that affected the planet. Maybe someday the heavens and the universe beyond would become part of their domain, but it would very likely be a long time before a child was born to an element of that magnitude. And while Demons were far more advanced in science, culture, and logic than humans were, they were admittedly still savages themselves in other ways.
If they had been above savagery, there would be no need for Adam’s profession. He knew the majority of Demons wished quite hard that there was no such thing as an Enforcer. Having been tempted himself with forbidden desires, he felt kinship with his brethren keenly. When considering it, Adam would gladly give up his profession if it meant no more moonlit madness or straining Hallowed nights.
Shrugging off thoughts of the impossible, he focused on castigating his troublesome brother. “You are over two centuries old and supposedly a highly respected and successful adult,” he remarked to Jacob. “Why is it you only act like one outside of our home?”
“Because if not for me, you would take things far too seriously.”
Jacob ducked swiftly to avoid a swat from Adam.
That was when Adam caught sight of the Gypsy girl who lingered not too far from Jacob’s back. She was not socializing with any of the others. Instead she hung back and stood cloaked in moonlight, trees, and shadows as well as a burgundy-colored hooded cape, the material unusually rich for a girl of her station. She stood a few yards behind Jacob, her breath clouding on the air. The early spring night was bitingly cold, in spite of the bonfires lit for the festival, but Adam was suddenly struck with the feeling that it was not the cold that made her draw the fabric of her cloak so tightly around herself.
She seemed afraid.
Strange. The Gypsies were usually quite at ease with them. They even shared almost the same religious beliefs and had proven to be quite open and accepting of the Demons. However, he could hardly blame her for her fear when her kind received censure from so many other quarters.
“Jacob, if you will excuse me?”
He had the strangest urge to investigate this odd young woman. As the eldest son, it was his duty to keep a keen eye on all those invited onto the family lands tonight. Her anxiety seemed to strike a particular chord in him, and Adam was very used to obeying his instincts when it came to things like this. Adam felt Jacob turn to watch as he moved around him and began to cross the chill, wet grasses in order to approach the girl who had piqued his interest. He saw dark eyes of undetermined color staring out from beneath the hood.
Adam slowed his steps when he realized those eyes were not focused on him as he had first thought.
They were fixed solely on his brother.
He paused, turning to follow the line of her sight back to Jacob, unable to help wondering why she should look at him in such a ravenous manner. It was quite possible she was merely attracted to him; Jacob was, after all, a seriously handsome heir to very powerfully attractive genes. But she would be disappointed if she thought to lure Jacob to her bed. Demons mating with humans was their priority taboo, after all. However, with the full moon of Beltane lurking above them all, and after having so recently faced his own wayward desire for an inappropriate woman, Adam would have a care for his brother’s well-being.
He was momentarily glad to see that Jacob had not noticed the girl even for a second. Of course, Jacob would be the very last Demon to break that particular code. His brother would rather die than act with such harmful dishonor. Humans were too fragile, too frail. It would be like picking up a cat by its tail with the intention of swinging it and releasing it at speed. You knew it was wrong, knew it would be painful and harmful to the smaller, more vulnerable creature, possibly even resulting in death. To do so anyway would be tantamount to coldhearted brutality toward an innocent and defenseless creature.
Jacob was incapable of such brutality. Adam believed that with all of his soul.
At least if Adam had crossed the line and taken his cravings for that fine little Vampire to conclusion, he would have only broken laws of purity. The saucy little Nightwalker was more than his equal in strength, for all her feminine build, and he wouldn’t have hurt her in the process.
Much.
The thought was a wholly wicked one and damnably distracting in its potential. Adam shook it off and tried to focus on the concern at hand. A Gypsy girl looking at Demons the way this girl was could be a potential problem. Adam would cut the trouble off at the knees by giving her an ungentle discouragement. Flirting was one thing, but there was something far too covetous in her eyes. Strong as Jacob was, Adam wished him to have no temptations on such a volatile night.
“Are you enjoying our festival?” he asked her by way of greeting.
The Gypsy turned her bottomless eyes onto him slowly, clearly uncaring if he observed her interest in his brother. She then swept an implacable gaze over him slowly and thoroughly, as if she were appraising him for all he might be worth. For some reason, it unnerved Adam. He was not easy to perturb, so her scrutiny put his guard up immediately. Gypsies were known to dabble in magic and, though she did not smell of that vile taint, there was always a chance she was dealing in some unknown variable of it.
She was not like the others. To start, she was far younger than she had first appeared from a distance. It was the eyes that had fooled him. They were aged beyond the years of her body, drawing time to her facial features that did not belong there. This girl, he realized, had seen terrible pain in her lifetime. She wore
the weight of the world on her slender shoulders. She was tall for a human girl, even at what was clearly a very young age. She was not pale or darkly tanned, but had coloring that was a cross between the two, a slightly warm toffee that seemed somehow out of place with the swarthy Gypsies and Demons all around her. Still, the pitch-colored hair and shadowed eyes were Gypsy through and through.
“You are the eldest son of the lord of these lands?”
She spoke in his language, but it was awkward on her tongue, her accent heavy and strange. She posed it as a question, but he felt she already knew the answer.
“I am. Adam, by name.”
“Adam.” She breathed his name as if it was a sacrament, and the tone gave him a chill. How odd that she did not dissemble and call him “my lord” as anyone else would have done. Was she really so bold? She was certainly old enough to know better. Her behavior led him to believe she was plotting something. Perhaps she thought to become the mistress of one of the lords of the household. Despite rumors, Gypsy women were not indiscriminate when it came to choosing a man. They were far more calculating than that. It was something Adam could respect, actually. There was nothing wrong with trying to better one’s position in the world. There were many ways of doing so, and the use of one’s body was one path. Considering the way he and Hannah used one another for ulterior motives, he would be a hypocrite to think otherwise.
But the chit couldn’t be a day over sixteen. That was a great deal of ambition for one so young. Though humans tended to push their females into their sexuality quite young.
“Would you like to have your fortune read, Adam?” she asked before he could formulate some kind of warning to deter the strange child from pursuing his brother.
“I am not interested in your games, girl,” he told her firmly. “Nor will my brother be.”
She looked back at Jacob, who had long since begun to cross the field and was moving steadily away from them.
“I am not engaging in a game, Adam. I merely see things in your future of great importance and thought you would like to know what they are. If you prefer to remain in ignorance, I will graciously accept your choice.”
Adam sensed that it was not as easy for her as she was trying to make it seem. The creases in her young brow were far too serious, and there was something about the stiffness of her body as she made herself turn away that belied her words.
Adam was confused.
And intrigued.
“I suppose you will tell me there is a woman in my future, and she may even look a lot like you,” he taunted her dryly.
To his chagrin, she laughed at him, as if it were honestly the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard.
“I wouldn’t know about that.” She turned back slightly, giving him a shadowy view of her profile. “But I do see danger. Danger you must be prepared for, because it’s like nothing you’ve ever seen or experienced before.”
“That is a fair guess. We all see danger in these times.”
She actually smiled at his sarcasm. It was a cold smile, however, and it chilled straight through to his spine. There should never be an expression such as that on one so young, no matter how hard life might be.
“The danger does not come for you, Adam, but for your brother.”
Adam felt almost as frozen as the breath he exhaled sharply into the air.
“You dare to threaten my brother?” he hissed, reaching for her arm until he was gripping the slim limb painfully.
“I’m only trying to warn you about the future,” she snapped, her anger adding a sudden life to her that her shy and demure act had diminished. “Your brother will die at the hands of a traitor. Someone will murder him while his back is turned, his attention focused on something else. You, however, are nowhere to be seen when he needs you most. Why is that, Adam, the eldest son? Perhaps it’s because you didn’t listen to a simple girl who wished only to help!”
She jerked her arm away with surprising strength and turned as if to go. Adam did not want to be pulled in if this was some sort of ploy, but the Gypsy people had proven to have a history of strong precognition. Then again, there were those who believed them Witches, the sort who would become necromancers if given half a chance and the spells to do it with.
But despite his fears and doubts about the origins of her fortune-telling, she had struck him on the chord of his deepest vulnerability.
Jacob.
Jacob meant the world to him. What was more, he meant the world to their mother and father. If something were to happen to him, it would be a devastating blow to their family.
“Let us assume I believe you,” he said suddenly, halting her withdrawal. “What is it you expect to enable me to do? Jacob is far more capable of protecting himself than a little female like you would ever understand. He would not die easily.”
“I understand more than you think I do. You are correct, however. Jacob is more than capable of protecting himself.”
“Then—”
“But,” she interrupted, “say he was not protecting himself. What if he endangers himself for the family he loves?”
Now that, Adam realized with painful dread, was very much like Jacob and even a real possibility. Adam’s brother would use his own life in trade for those of his family in a heartbeat if it were the only choice left to him.
“I have had enough of your cryptic stories,” Adam barked at her, the force of his statement ruined by his apprehensive glance for the brother who had disappeared from his sight. “When will this danger occur that you speak of? Surely one so full of insights can tell me that.”
“It will occur today. Tomorrow. Any time you choose it to occur.”
Adam instantly came to the end of his temper. His hand shot out and closed around her delicate throat, which he used to drag her back into total darkness. Her back hit the trunk of an enormous oak, but her heart barely picked up a beat and she did not make a single sound under the physical manhandling. He leaned in close to her ear, using the bulk of his body to trap her.
“I am finished with your games, girl. You will tell me how to protect my brother and when, and you will do it this instant.”
The Gypsy girl flicked up an unsympathetic gaze in the darkness and her eyes suddenly caught the moonlight. For the first time he realized they were a beautiful violet color.
“Will you give your life for him? Will you trade away everything you know and love to save your brother?” she demanded of him.
“Tell me!”
“Answer my question or kill me, Adam. Those are your choices.”
She still had the upper hand, he realized. Even though he held her very life between his fingers, her apparent inability to feel fear in this situation gave her power over him and would keep him forever on the defensive. Adam realized he had no choice but to concede to her demands.
“I would,” he hissed. “I would sacrifice everything I have in this world to keep my brother safe.”
“This very moment, with no preparation? No goodbyes? No promises that you will not die along with him?”
“I said yes! Now tell me what you know!”
“I prefer to show you,” she whispered quickly.
Her hands suddenly shot out and hit his chest. The moment she made contact with him, Adam felt his entire body burst with heat. Every autonomic system contained within his skin seemed to flip into overdrive, picking up into a double-time beat before tripling again, quadrupling quickly after. He felt the stress on his systems with the sensation of impending doom. He had no time to react or act or even think beyond that.
The world around him disappeared.
Chapter 5
Samhain 2008
Isabella skidded to a halt, shoving her daughter behind herself so suddenly that Leah’s dress hit the dirt once more.
Bella and Jacob squared off to face the traitorous Demon Ruth.
Jacob knew instantly that this was the worst scenario he could ever be trapped in. His family was his one true vulnerability, even thou
gh at the same time it was his most powerful strength. Perhaps if it had only been Ruth, he would not have been so worried, but he immediately recognized the Vampire named Nicodemous, who had joined her in her destructive causes a couple of years back, tripling her access to power and advantage over those she considered her enemies.
Jacob felt Bella’s knee-jerk reactions as they flew through her mind, just as she felt his; she knew how dire he understood the situation to be. Even though their enemies’ minions were out of reach, that would not last very long if Ruth was given a moment to concentrate. She would begin to teleport them down into the caverns any second now.
We’re in trouble, Bella thought frantically, her glance back at their vulnerable child a luxury he did not have with two such powerful enemies in front of them.
I know, little flower. But we will not fail. We cannot fail.
Jacob, I have to do it ...
The Enforcer knew what his wife meant. She intended to dampen the abilities of the Nightwalkers before them, stealing their power and making it her own on a temporary basis. The problems behind that plan rushed through him. Ruth and Nico’s powers were tainted with blackness and evil. To take something like that inside herself could destroy everything about her that he loved and knew, everything that she was. She had dampened the powers of necromancers before, but nothing like this. Nothing had ever been like this. As Isabella’s power had grown, they had realized she always took something away from her victims when she did this. A part of them would live inside her forever, plaguing her with premonitions or who knew what else. Ruth was one of a kind. So was the Vampire who had been altered because he had drunk her tainted Nightwalker blood and now shared in the blackness of her magical spell casting. In an ideal situation, Jacob would have rather done anything else than allow Bella to risk herself in such a way.
His wife, however, was just as stubborn and protective of her family as he was. Nothing he said or did would stop her once she made up her mind.
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