The Society Series Box Set 2

by Mason Sabre

  Gemma was crouching, her hands resting on her knees, her head down. She was talking to the stone—not an unusual sight, Louise mused. She had laid the flowers on the ground in front of her, and when she stopped talking, she let her head hang and wrapped her arms around herself. The sight made Louise want to go over to the woman and console her, not hand her over to some power-hungry stray.

  It was one thing to think of Gemma Davies as some high and mighty, born with a silver spoon in her mouth, asshole, but to see her in the flesh and see that she was no different to anyone else, made Louise’s heart constrict. She turned Marcus’s card over between her thumb and finger.

  Fuck. This was a mess.

  Maybe she could go to Gemma, hand this over to her and tell her that some stray was planning to claim her, but fear burned inside. Louise knew that a man like Marcus would not make these threats if he wasn’t sure of himself. He seemed like he had money—money and intelligence. Both of those together, would take Louise down. He would throw her under the bus, she was sure of that.

  Slipping quietly out of her car, Louise made the same dash across the road to the remembrance field. Gemma was totally absorbed in whatever it was she was doing and whoever her mind was with, that she didn’t seem to notice anyone around her. It was strange to see all the stones laid side by side in neat lines. They weren’t spaced the same way Human cemeteries had them—they didn’t need the space for the coffin underneath, but there was enough of a gap for someone to sit and mourn.

  Louise stepped into the darkness cast down by the large trees, their branches hanging at the entrance. She stepped out into the lightness of the marble stones and felt a sense of guilt—betrayal. She was the betrayer. Not just a betrayer of another woman, but of another Other. If she went through with this, she should be executed for her selfishness.

  Gemma stood, pushing down the front of her dress with her hands, and then bringing them back up to wipe the back of her hand across her eyes. She hadn't appeared like she was crying when she crouched, but then maybe she was just the type to sit and let her tears fall slowly. She turned and frowned, when she obviously detected Louise’s presence, making Louise stop. She nodded, and then turned and walked in the other direction—just another mourner. But as Louise walked, sticking to the perimeter of the place, she kept Gemma in her peripheral vision.

  It was then that she spotted him. Although, spotted him, was perhaps the wrong word—felt him. He was like a presence, pressing on the outside of her consciousness. An alarm bell sounding in her head, threatening to reach dangerous decibels. It threw Louise off.

  The marble stones created lines, the way they were set out. They were surrounded by hedges and bushes and pots that probably needed new flowers adding to them. Whoever it was that was hiding, was behind one of those bushes close to Gemma, and as Louise walked further, she could just make out the black hair. He was tall and slender and Louise turned, pressing her hand to her chest, trying to control the rapid beating of her heart. Maybe Marcus had sent someone else to do this—back up, perhaps. Maybe he was blackmailing a whole bunch of Others, a way to ensure what he wanted was done.

  Louise had been so focused on the man hiding, that she hadn't noticed Gemma move. The instant she realised Gemma was about to pass her, Louise quickly crouched and focused on the headstone that was in front of her. This one belonged to someone who had died when they were over eighty. An Other lucky enough to live out his life. Gemma walked by, seeming not to notice Louise’s presence, or just ignore that she was there. She walked all the way to the back where there was a small building. It was like a shed; it housed tools and unused stones, ready for an Other to be marked here. Others were not privy to the services from local authorities to keep the stones intact. There was a donation box hanging from the door, and Louise heard the clank of coins as Gemma popped them into the top.

  Clasping her hands together in front of her, and pressing her knuckles to her forehead, Louise pretended to be lost in thought, but she watched Gemma out of the corner of her eye, and saw her walk to the exit and leave. Louise didn’t move until she heard Gemma’s car door open and close, and then the sound of the engine revving into life. The man was gone, too. Louise leaned herself out so that she could see, but there was no one there. Perhaps he had just been a mourner himself. Maybe he was just hiding from the rain.

  There was a small path that led between the stones. It had been laid with gravel and then time and use had made the stones sink into the dirt. Louise quickly scurried towards where Gemma had been. She had left her flowers, separated them.

  Stephen Davies, the stone read, beloved son and brother. Underneath that, someone had carved in the words and you. Perhaps that sight was the most heartbreaking for them all. And you … who did that mean? Louise traced her fingers across the letters for a second, until her mind yelled at her that this was wrong. This was Gemma’s thing, here. She had no right to even be standing here.

  Louise snapped herself back and spun, suddenly slamming into the solid chest of the man with the black hair. She stepped away from him, just as fast, her eyes going to his. “Excuse me,” she said, nodding at him. She went to walk around him, but he moved himself in her way.

  “What business do you have here?” he asked her, his face fixed in a stern and not very friendly expression. “What business do you have with Gemma?”

  Louise’s stomach ached at his words, but sank also as she realised, this wasn’t just some man. No. Stupid Louise. This was security. Of course, someone like Gemma would have someone shadowing her movements—somebody to keep an eye on her from the distance. “I’m sorry,” Louise said. “I was just visiting my sister.”

  The man cast his eyes past Louise and to Stephen’s headstone, as if he was reading the words for the first time, and then he raised his brow, his attention back on Louise. Why hadn't she just run? Walked off? “This is not your sister. I will ask you again, what business do you have with Gemma?”

  “Nothing. I don’t even know her.”

  “You were watching her.”

  “I just recognised her,” Louise said, trying to dismiss it like she was some Society groupie. “I’ve never seen her in person before.”

  There was something coming from the man, an emotion that she wasn’t quite sure of. She wasn’t sure that she wanted to find out either, and she let her mind close for a moment, sinking to that deep sacred place of hers. The place Marcus wanted her to call to when she took Gemma to the tree. The place where her power flowed. She pulled forth her abilities until her power vibrated along her arms like a second skin. She pushed it toward the man, reaching for whatever it was that she could feel. Sorrow … maybe, she couldn’t quite grasp it. He was blocking her perhaps, but there was something dangerous lurking just beneath the surface—love maybe. Nothing was more powerful than love. “I’ll be on my way,” she said after a moment, clearing her throat.

  He smiled at her, not a happy smile, but the kind of smile that is harbouring danger. It came with warnings and promises of what was lurking behind his eyes. “Your power is useless against me,” he said. “You cannot seduce a man who is not alive.”

  Louise frowned, stepping back from him once more. A creature who was not alive, would not walk around in the light. “How?”

  “That is not your concern.” He moved, closing the gap between them and forcing Louise to back up to the stone. “I am vampire. I can tell when I am being lied to. What is it that you want with Gemma?”

  “I already told you. Nothing.”

  The man was staring at her. Staring the same way Raven had stared at her the night before after he had stopped her from beating the Human into next week.

  “I apologise for any concerns I may have given you. I will be on my way now.”

  Before the man could question her more, Louise dashed around him quickly, her heart in her throat that he might reach out and stop her. He didn’t.

  She raced away from him and out of the field, toward her car. Her stomach rolled and swe
at beaded down the back of her neck. What Marcus was asking was impossible. It was one thing to take Gemma and seduce her at the tree, but it was another to get past those who were guarding her. She couldn’t seduce the man away. She couldn’t get around him either.

  Fuck.

  She turned the key in the ignition. Maybe Raven could help her. God knows, if she did as Marcus asked, she was going to end up dead.

  Chapter 9

  Louise wasn’t surprised to see Raven’s bar all locked up. It was almost lunch time when she pulled up in the carpark and stared at the spot she had hit the Human the night before. It was all so surreal now, like it had all happened such a long time ago and she was someone different—someone else.

  In the light, Raven’s bar looked more like an abandoned warehouse than a destination drinking place where people chose to come on an evening, but later, the place would be rocking.

  Grabbing the card from Marcus, Louise stuffed it into her back pocket and then locked her car. She had to make herself move before her brain kicked up a notch and told her that this was a bad idea—a very fucking bad idea. But she had nowhere else to go. She couldn’t do what Marcus wanted; it was too hard. Gemma was too protected, and she couldn’t not do what he wanted, because she was unprotected. No one would come and save her and get those pictures from Marcus, unless she actually asked someone for help.

  Lee was working … although, she wasn’t so sure she would have told him anyway. Maybe it was better that he was away. He would have gone to the law. Everything was so simply black and white to him.

  Nipping around the back, Louise was disappointed to see that Raven’s car was there. That meant he was in, but a small part of her was relieved too. She had told herself on the drive over, that if Raven wasn’t in, she would take it as a sign that she had to do this alone. Louise believed in signs. She believed that things happened for a reason. Even this—this crazy shit with Marcus. There was a greater purpose as to why he had chosen her and not just because she was an easy mark for him. The universe had something planned.

  Running up the stairs, Louise winced at the sound of her shoes clattering against the metal steps. Well, if Raven didn’t know she was there, he would now. She knocked on the heavy door at the top, and waited.

  “Louise?” he said, his eyes narrowing in confusion when he opened the door. “Everything okay?”

  “Yes. No …” she sighed. “Can I come in? Are you busy? Shit, you're busy, right? Were you sleeping?” Fuck. She backed away from him, suddenly fuelled by panic in her belly. She needed to get out of there. She needed to get away before she told him and landed herself in shit.

  She never was one for talking to people … never was one for asking for help and right then, seeing Raven watching her, she felt even more under the spotlight.

  “Louise, it’s fine. Come in.”

  She had backed herself up until the railing was pushing into her back, stopping her from hurtling to her death onto the tarmac below. That might have been a welcomed thing, if she had thought it through. What would Marcus do if she were too wounded to act on what he wanted?

  Kill her. Her mind answered. Because of course, she was sure that Marcus was not the kind of man that would just let something go because of a loophole.

  “Ignore me,” she said, biting her lip. “I shouldn’t have disturbed you.”

  Raven reached for her hand, grabbing it before she had the chance to get away. His hand was so big, so very fucking strong and holding onto her, right then. She was torn between wanting to hold onto it because it was the only thing keeping her upright and wanting to snatch her hand back and get away from him. What was she thinking? He didn’t owe her anything. Why would he believe that she hadn't done this? Hadn’t caused this. She’d fed the blond to her grimalkins, after all.

  “Louise,” he said, his hand going to her shoulder, taking away the option that she might get away from him. “Talk to me. Whatever it is.”

  “I can’t … I shouldn’t.” she looked up at him, her eyes almost pleading. He had his hair back today, giving way to the strong line of his jaw, making him seem even more fierce than usual. “I'm sorry.”

  “Lou, come on.”

  She pressed her hands to her face. She wasn’t crying, just breathing and letting her very anxious mind calm. She didn’t protest either when she felt Raven put his arm across her shoulder and press her into his firm chest. He led her into his place, closing and locking the door behind them.

  She had never been in his living space before. It was strange … odd even. Any other day she might have taken the time to look around the stone walls, the metal décor and everything from the pinball machine that yelled bachelor. “Let me get you a drink. Coffee?”

  “I need stronger than coffee right now,” she laughed dryly. “Whatever you’ve got.”

  “A job for Jack?”

  “Jack?”

  “Daniels,” Raven winked as he led her into a room that was divided into a kitchen, lounge and bar. She sat on a stool that was just to the side. Resting on the small bar there. Raven grabbed a bottle from the back and two glasses.

  “Drinking too?”

  He smiled. “I know you, Lou. Whatever you're here for, it’s gonna make me need a drink too. I’m being prepared.”

  He placed the glass down in front of her and she picked it up. The liquid was warm in her throat, sending a nice fuzz through her body after she swallowed.

  “Tell me what it is,” he said when she set her glass down again, and licked her lips.

  “I don’t know where to start,” she said, eyeing him and wishing she had thought about this. “It’s crazy.”

  He added more JD to her glass and gave her a smile. “How about the beginning?”

  As if that would be so easy. She grabbed for her bag and pulled out one of the pictures and laid them on the bar. The blond’s face could be seen clearly, but Louise’s back was to the camera.

  “You cheated on Lee?” Raven asked, sliding the picture around so that he could see better.

  “No …” she shot. “I would never.” She shook her head, staring at the woman in the picture. “It is me. But I don’t remember.”

  “Do you mind?” Raven had picked the picture up and he was examining it, closely, making Louise feel suddenly violated at the way he was angling the photograph. “This isn’t you, is it?”

  “What?” Louise’s eyes widened as she reached for the picture and snatched it back. “It is. Isn’t it?” Her heart was pounding so hard that she was struggling to think, to breathe, to hear anything she was trying to say. “Oh god.”

  “Look,” Raven said. “She’s wearing earrings. You don’t.”

  Fuck.

  Fucking Marcus. He’d faked it?

  She stared up at Raven breathless, gulping, her heart swirling in her chest, her mind struggling to process. “It wasn’t me?”

  He slid the picture back to her. “That’s what this is about? You thinking you cheated on Lee?”

  “No. I …”

  Raven sipped at his drink, his eyes fixed on Louise as she took out the other pictures. God, why hadn't she seen it before? Why hadn't she noticed that this was someone else—a fucking body double. “What is it Lou? What are you not telling, me?”

  “The man in the pictures is Human.” She sipped her drink. “He’s … dead,” she quickly mumbled, puffing out her cheeks. “But I didn’t kill him.”

  “Dead?”

  She nodded. “I woke up yesterday morning and he was … dead, in my house.”

  Raven rested both of his hands on the bar. “Where is he now?”

  Louise pressed her lips together before speaking. “My cats kind of got him.”

  Raven’s eyes sort of swilled with that, colour bursting in … the tell shifters had when an emotion had flared inside. “Shit,” he said eventually.

  Louise couldn’t disagree there. Shit. Yep. A whole ton of fucking shit. “There's more.”

  “More?”

  “They ki
nd of put him next to me and made it look like I killed him. They have photographs.” She took a deep breath, and then knocked back her Jack Daniels and took another breath. “They want me to seduce your friend Gemma. They want me to take her to my tree so that she is fertile, so they can make her pregnant.”

  Raven’s eyes were wide, not with wonder or fear, but with pure, dark hatred. “Fucking bastards. Do you know who?”

  “I don’t. A stray. He isn’t from here. His name is Marcus.” She fished into her pocket and pulled out the card, and offered it to Raven. “He said to call him when I am ready.” Just saying the word, ready, made Louise wince. She knew what ready meant. Ready to be defiled. Ready to be raped … ready to have her life taken from her.

  “What do they … Oh.” Raven’s eyes landed on Louise again. “They're after the chair of the Council, right?”

  Louise nodded. “Yep. That’s the idea.”

  “Well fuck.” He paced backwards a moment. “We need to go to Cade on this. You know Cade?”

  “Not really.” Louise knew of him. Knew that he was DSA and that his father was the alpha of the wolves, that was about it. “But if I go to DSA, Marcus will know. He has everything that looks like I killed this man. I don’t have anything to prove I didn’t. Even if they gutted my cats, they’d find his damn DNA in there. Not that the Humans would …”

  “No, because it’s a Human, you're guilty anyway. Shit” He leaned back, his hands on the bar, his arms stretched and his head down. After a moment, he said, “I’ll get Cade to come here. Not Gemma. If you’re being watched, they’ll think you're warning her.”

  “He’ll haul my ass in.”

  “No. Trust me. If I vouch for you, he’ll go with that. But you’ve got to be honest with him, okay?”

  Louise nodded. She’d nod at just about anything right now.

  “If you give him a reason not to trust you, I can't help you.”

  “I’ll tell him everything,” She said, hopping down off the stool. “Mind if I go and use your bathroom while you call him? I think I might like to throw up.”