Darkness Unveiled

by Emerson Knight

  The vamps didn’t trust us. They wanted to be certain that Sky’s version of the story wasn’t tainted. I scowled at the insult, but Sebastian nodded agreement.

  From his place at Sky’s side, Dr. Baker eyed his vampiric visitors with a dark glare, angry gold sparks flashing in his eyes as they filed into one side of the clinic. He reserved his harshest judgment for Quell. Steven and Taylor rose from their seats. I caught a glance from Steven and nodded to Eros, letting him know to keep a particular eye on the mysterious vampire.

  At a nod from Sebastian, Dr. Baker scowled, then retrieved a syringe and a small bottle from his medicine cabinet. After injecting the solution into Sky’s shoulder, he hovered over her, watching closely as she blinked awake.

  “How do you feel?” he asked, a smoldering anger marring his usual bedside manner. “You lost a lot of blood. I had to give you a transfusion. Sit up, slowly.” He gently guided her to sit on the edge of the table.

  She noticed Sebastian and me, first, visibly confused as she tried to read the anger in our expressions. A question formed on her lips, but then she noticed the vampires glaring at her from the other side of the room—all but Quell. As she held his gaze, her expression softened.

  She pities him! Even now, after he nearly killed her. I shook my head in disgust, barely able to look at her.

  Her gaze shifted to the floor.

  “Skylar,” Demetrius said sharply, his accent thickening with his anger. “What happened between you and Quell?”

  She blinked back at him, then glanced about the room. Did she really not understand? Does she not remember that he fed from her? Slowly, the gravity of the situation seemed to sink in as she once more regarded Quell.

  “Someone tried to break in,” she explained to Sebastian, choosing her words carefully. “They were forcing down the ward when Quell showed up. Quell tried to grab him when he was staked. I didn’t think Quell deserved to die because he wanted to make sure I was safe, so I made sure he didn’t,” she announced proudly.

  What Sky described was impossible. A were-animal’s blood couldn’t stop a reversion. Yet I knew by her respiratory and heart rates that she wasn’t lying, and the bloody hole in the back of Quell’s shirt seemed to corroborate her story. Was this some new, unexpected ability granted by Maya? If it was, this was a fucking bad time to find out.

  Sebastian stoically accepted Sky’s story. I did my best to do the same, but Steven and Taylor made no bones about their confusion. Gavin scowled and shook his head in loathing and disbelief. The vamps took their cue from Demetrius, who leaned forward with a renewed, but subdued curiosity.

  “He refused at first,” she continued, even more cautiously than before, “but I made him feed.”

  Steven scoffed. “You made him?”

  She turned to Sebastian with a pleading look. She has no idea what she’s done, I realized. The muscles of his neck were thick cords as he constrained his anger. Sparks of amber flashed in his eyes. She wasn’t lying, but she wasn’t telling the entire truth, either. The clean nature of the wound on her wrist indicated that she hadn’t resisted, but the jagged wound on her neck was another matter. Most likely she’d offered her blood as she described, but Quell, experiencing the taste of human blood for the first time in his long life, had lost control. When she’d denied him more, he’d taken it.

  Still she defended him.

  “I couldn’t let him die,” she explained.

  I shook my head, resisting the urge to cross the room and tear Quell’s head from his shoulders. Everything I’d predicted had come to pass, yet her belief in him remained unbroken. If she was so determined to get herself killed, was it really my place to stand in her way?

  Sebastian struggled with his anger as well. His entire upper body was a clenched knot. After a long, tense moment, he finally nodded—not an acceptance, but an acknowledgment. The wrong of what she’d done would be drilled into her later. I knew then that Quell was going to escape punishment—for the moment. Nothing was going to prevent me from dealing with him later. Eventually I would find him alone in the dark.

  “Hmm,” Michaela mused. “Why is that, Sky-lar?” she asked with a particular venom.

  She had claimed Sky, I remembered with disgust. Not only had Sky robbed Quell of the very oddity that made him intriguing to Michaela, but he’d taken something his maker had claimed exclusively for herself—at Sky’s urging. As if Michaela needed another reason to hate Sky.

  “If the roles had been reversed, I believe Quell would have done the same.”

  “I would have,” he promised her, drawing baleful glares from everyone in the room, vamp and were-animal alike. Disgust at the sickness of their relationship filled my gut like a poison.

  “Sebastian, your reaction was unnecessary,” Demetrius announced. “There wasn’t a need for me and mine to be called here. I can assure you that Quell hasn’t become so besotted by your precious little pup that he would abandon his way of life.”

  The other vamps seemed to relax—except for Michaela, who seemed to be stewing in her anger, her vengeful glare fixed on Sky.

  Quell rose abruptly, starting toward Sky. I strode forward to intercept him, but Steven got there first, blocking his path. Quell quickly raised his hands in surrender, clarifying that his intentions, whatever they were, weren’t to cause her harm. Steven growled a warning. Instead of backing away, Quell turned to Sebastian for approval.

  “I am going to remove her marks,” he said. “I believe it would be best if there weren’t any reminders of what has occurred.”

  I didn’t want him anywhere near her. Perhaps the marks might prove a potent reminder of her folly, but they would also be a constant source of contention to the rest of the pack. Very likely, they would no longer accept her. I didn’t want her to join the pack, but I didn’t want the choice forced upon her by a vamp.

  At a nod from Sebastian, Steven reluctantly stepped aside, his hard gaze following Quell’s every move as he cautiously approached Sky and gently took her wrist. Slowly, carefully he raised her wrist to his lips. I uttered a warning growl, joined by Steven and Taylor. Even Gavin tensed. Despite his loathing of Sky, he wasn’t going to stand by in our own house and watch a vampire bite one of our own. Now that Quell had tasted human blood, could he stop himself from biting her again? If he drew even a drop of blood, I would kill him first, then join the slaughter as war between pack and Seethe broke out in our clinic.

  Delicately, he pressed his lips against her skin and laved his tongue across the marks there, filling me with disgust. He seemed to take his time before finally pulling away. Sky examined her wrist, then raised it to show us that the bite marks had vanished. Only the barest hint of a bruise remained, but I could see the glint of light reflecting from the vampire’s saliva that still coated her skin.

  “Why didn’t you do that in the first place?” Steven snapped.

  “Hiding the evidence of what was done would not have helped in exonerating me,” Quell stated softly. He leaned in to the crook of her neck, surprising even Sky as he licked the marks there.

  A chorus of growls erupted, starting with my own as I clenched my fists in front of me, barely restraining myself.

  Once again, he lingered, the two of them seemingly transfixed by each other. I found myself inching toward them, as did Steven, but then Quell gave a slight nod and backed away. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to beat him more than I wanted to smash the smug smile on Demetrius’s face.

  “That will be enough, Quell,” Michaela snapped. “I believe you have entertained yourself with her enough for the day.”

  “Very well,” Sebastian stated in a barely restrained voice. “The matter is handled.”

  Get out, I thought. The sooner the better. I would have Josh revoke their invitation at the first possibility. After you, I gestured toward the double doors, then followed the vamps out. After Demetrius transported away with Chase and Gabriella, Michaela turned back to me, drawing something from the pocket of her faded jeans.
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  “I almost forgot,” she said with a mischievous smile as she handed me a small card smeared with dried blood. A driver’s license. “He was just lingering outside Demetrius’s home,” she chuckled. “Can you believe it?” I hesitated for a moment before wiping the blood that shrouded the picture, but I already knew it would be Dennis McDuffy. The expression in his photo was fittingly grim. I examined his blood that now stained the tip of my thumb.

  “At first, I just thought he was a toy. I had barely started playing when he gave me your name. He even mentioned Sky,” she mused, adding as an afterthought, “and Chris. Imagine my surprise. Well, we just played and played but turns out he’d already told me everything he knew. Does Sebastian know about your little spy? I know Chris doesn’t. I wonder what she’d say.” Her smile grew devilish just before she vanished, leaving me with my anger and guilt.

  I should’ve sent Dennis away the moment he’d informed me that he’d followed Chris to Demetrius’s house, but I’d let my anger cloud my judgment. Dennis didn’t belong there. He didn’t have the skill set required to evade the leader of the Seethe, or his Mistress, even if he had known what they were. In my anger, I’d left him to be slaughtered. Painfully. And slowly.

  I carefully slipped the ID into my pocket and strode back into the house. On my way back to the clinic, I passed a glowering Gavin leaning against a wall with his arms folded over his chest, waiting for me. “She’s in Sebastian’s office. She just opened a whole shit storm and doesn’t even know it,” he scoffed as he pushed himself from the wall and unfolded his arms. “What do you think Demetrius is going to do once this alliance ends, now that he knows her blood can stop a reversion?” He glared at me, judging.

  “It doesn’t matter,” I lied, glaring back.

  “Demetrius knows she was the only were-animal who could be used to complete his ritual last year, and he knows she is the only were-animal that can stop a reversion. You think he doesn’t want to find out what else she can do?”

  “If he does,” I growled, “we will deal with him.”

  “Will we? She’s not a member of this pack.”

  “She hasn’t made her choice,” I stated. Sky’s latest revelation changed everything for her, and she didn’t even know it. I’d thought I could protect her on my own. Now that she’d drawn increased interest from Demetrius and Michaela, joining the pack might be the only way to keep her safe. In saving Quell, she might well have closed the door on the life she wanted.

  “You’ve changed your mind, then.” Gavin shook his head in disgust. “You were never interested in protecting the pack. You just wanted to protect her.”

  “She will always have my protection,” I warned.

  “She’s a threat!” he snapped. “We have no idea what she is capable of. Letting her live puts the entire pack at risk. The only sensible move is to kill her. Kill the risk. If she were anyone else, you’d agree with me!”

  I squared up to him, my arms ready at my side and my fists clenched. “Leave.”

  “Your obsession with her puts this pack at risk, and so does your obsession with Chris.”

  I glared down at him. “If you feel I am not able to fulfill my responsibilities as Beta, then challenge me.”

  The temptation played across his expression like a dance, until he finally smirked and walked away. I stayed there a moment, focusing on my breath as I worked to bring my anger under control. Punching a hole in the wall helped, so I punched another. I was on the verge of creating several more when Sebastian emerged from his office.

  I strode to the door, but he stopped me, physically barring my path. “Not now.”

  “I need to talk to Sky.”

  “Come with me.”

  He closed the door behind him and walked away, leaving me there. For a moment, I considered barging through the door and demanding Sky explain what the hell she’d been thinking, but pack hierarchy was deeply ingrained into my being. I slowly eased myself back from the door, swallowed my frustration, then followed him to the kitchen where he was busy pulling leftovers from the fridge. He put a bowl of mac and cheese into the microwave, then placed a cold steakburger next to it. While that cooked, he retrieved a bun and some condiments from the refrigerator. Since Sebastian didn’t eat mac and cheese, I assumed he was gathering a meal for Sky.

  “How could she stop the reversion?” I asked.

  “The only possible answer is Maya,” he said, a hint of frustration in his tone. “Ethan,” he said as he added condiments to the bun, “how did you know that Quell had been stalking her?”

  “Their fascination with each other was a threat,” I announced, unrepentant. “Sooner or later he was going to tire of his plant. Sky made herself vulnerable to him. It was only a matter of time before he attacked her.” Following Quell wasn’t exactly a violation of our alliance with the vamps. Had I been caught, it would’ve been a source of contention.

  Sebastian sighed. “The best way to protect Sky is for her to join the pack,” he said matter-of-factly.

  “Maybe,” I admitted reluctantly, then changed the subject. “Quell will call her.” New vampires struggled to control the intoxication of human blood. If anything, Quell’s seventy years as a vamp would make his bloodlust even more difficult to control. That he hadn’t killed Sky was a testament to his will, but that would fail eventually, once the hunger got to him. Having freshly fed from her, he had the power to call her. She wasn’t strong enough to resist. For the next three days, she would need around-the-clock supervision.

  “Sky will be staying with us until the danger passes. She’ll need clothes and some of her belongings.”

  “I’ll take her.”

  “No,” he said definitively, meeting my gaze.

  I growled.

  “Ethan, you’re no good to Sky right now. You’re angry. You’re overprotective. You’re barely in control of yourself. Even on your best behavior, we both know how she will respond to you. I will take care of her myself.”

  I turned from him, suppressing a growl, but I knew he was right. I acknowledged his decision with a faint nod, then left the room.

  I was in the gym, sparring with Taylor, when Joan informed me that Marko was awake. I didn’t bother to clean up. When I arrived in his room, Dr. Jimenez was checking his vitals. He was pale and obviously weak as he lay supine, but he was awake.

  He smiled at my arrival. “Ethan,” he said in a strained voice, then retrieved a cup of water from the neighboring table and sipped from the straw. “That poison was a bitch, wasn’t it?”

  “You heard.”

  “The doc gave me the lowdown. Just give me an hour. I’ll be back into the fight.”

  “Rest.” I grinned, relieved. “You’re going to need more than an hour.”

  “You’re not going to deprive your number six, are you?”

  “There’ll be plenty more fights before this is over, I promise you.” I studied him for a moment, my smile fading. “I shouldn’t have gotten you into this. You had no business taking that trip with me.”

  He waved my confession aside with a weak gesture. “From what I hear, these creatures have been attacking our best fighters. I would’ve been the first one attacked, anyway. No shame in getting hit protecting one of my weaker companions.” His sudden laugh was interrupted by a cough, but the smile remained.

  “Right.” I chuckled. “Good to have you back. Anything you need?”

  “A steak? Winning lottery numbers would be convenient.” He thought for a moment. “Fresh underwear.”

  “I’ll see what I can do—about the underwear.”

  For security, Sky spent the night in Sebastian’s room. The only entrance, protected by a sophisticated security lock, was through his office. Even if Quell called her, she wouldn’t have the combination to escape. Sebastian retired to a nearby guest room, while I placed myself on a couch that gave me an unobstructed view of his office door.

  When I woke in the morning, they had already left to retrieve Sky’s clothes from her home
. When they returned an hour later, Sebastian was furious, taking her and her bag of belongings directly to his room and locking her inside.

  “What happened?” I demanded, prepared for a fight.

  “Josh?” he asked.

  “He’s in the library.”

  “We need to talk.”

  We found Josh at a table in the library, studying from a handful of open books.

  “Our silver-haired witch has made an appearance,” Sebastian said. “At Sky’s, while I was in the next room.”

  “You left the ward down?” I asked, irritated.

  “No. The witch took it down effortlessly.”

  Looking at Sebastian from head to foot, I didn’t see any sign of a fight.

  “What happened?” Josh asked, slowly rising to his feet.

  “He transported away before I interrupted them. According to Sky, he wanted to talk to her. She said he called her ‘my amphora.’”

  I turned to Josh, anxious. “Could this witch break your field here without you knowing?”

  “No.” He frowned, then asked Sebastian, “Are you sure he said ‘amphora’?”

  “Yes.”

  Josh ran a hand through his hair as he thought, pacing a small line along the side of the table. “It’s a word for an ancient Roman jar with two handles. But it has a magical context as well. The handles of the vessel each exert an opposing force in an effort to control it. It’s an allegory for the conflict between good and evil.”

  I felt a sense of dread pressing on my chest. “Sky is the vessel for Maya.”

  “You need to stay at the retreat until this is resolved,” Sebastian said to Josh, drawing a quick nod in response. “I want you on hand if the witch attempts to break your field. I can’t keep her in my room, but we need to make sure she is under constant watch.”

  “I’ll take care of it,” I said through gritted teeth.

  “If he wanted to take Sky, he would have,” Josh insisted. I gave him a warning look as Sebastian waited for him to continue. “He could’ve simply touched her and transported her away. Could it be that he just wants to talk?”