I kept a cautious eye on the other witches, who came from the corner where they were working to take up positions on each side of her. “Witches were once considered the protectors of this world. Before the infighting, the power-lust, and Marcia’s replacing the witches who wanted to maintain that role with sycophants who allowed her to abandon our values, we took pride in doing that job and doing it well. It’s been so long since we’ve been held to that esteemed role. I would like to restore the witches to it.”
She flashed a wry smile. “This”—she waved her hand toward the witches who surrounded her, and a breeze of magic hummed in the room—“was a long time in the making. When my mother was removed from the Creed and Marcia continued with her numerous attacks on me, I vowed to take over. It’s fortuitous that things happened the way that they did.” Her gaze shifted in Josh’s direction and she gave him an appreciative smile. “We’ve worked behind the scenes, but we’re no longer forced to do that.”
London came to mind, how she had reluctantly assisted us and maintained her distance from the Creed—Marcia’s regime. Josh and I looked in her direction.
Ariel continued. “Magic is powerful. I’d even go as far as to say sacred. And it hasn’t been given the respect that it deserves.” Her tone was still gentle but had become firm. “As I said, my goal is to succeed where Marcia failed. I am not driven by lust for power, but by the obligation to maintain the same path of those who came before me. Magic is a gift, and the significance of it needs to be appreciated. Not to exert force or to display power, but as a tribute to the great impact that it has. All magic has consequences, often so minor they are negligible and can be dismissed when magic has been used frivolously. I understand my role. I was born into it, burdened with the knowledge that I am strong and would be expected to lead—something that Marcia didn’t want, but I accepted it as my calling—my obligation to the witches. In doing so, I will enforce regulations not because I am trying to show a display of power, but because it is right. As you uphold your pack rules, I uphold our laws. Although Marcia and the others upheld them at their discretion, I will not.”
“I respect that,” Sebastian offered, and I could tell he was getting impatient but was being his typical curt self. With anyone else, he would have quickly expressed his boredom and directed them to get to the point.
“I’m glad you do. Skylar almost performed the rever tempore, and the penalties for doing such a thing are severe. That is not acceptable. She doesn’t respect magic. It’s not her fault, but it is her burden.” Then she directed her attention to me. “As a show of good faith, we require that you submit to interdico.”
“That’s as bad as her wearing an iridium brace. And the amount of magic required—”
“Yes, we are aware of the amount of magic we will be sacrificing to do this. You now understand the severity of this.” She looked over at the new Creed; they stood from their desks in solidarity. A powerful display, and whether it was intentional or not, magic moved through the air, pricked at my skin before thrumming at me with a hint of force. “We will stand weakened, but you must understand how important this new order is to us.”
“She made a mistake. Sky is mine to punish, not yours.”
“She is your wolf, but magic is our responsibility.”
Sebastian looked in my direction, waiting for my response, which came quickly without hesitation. “I’m not going to agree to it,” I asserted forcibly.
Magic feathered out behind Ariel, no longer a gentle wave but a violent sandstorm pounding against us. Sebastian hissed at the sharp pain. The door closed behind us. “I didn’t ask for your consent. I simply informed you what will be done.” Her voice was so cloying and sweet it was easy to dismiss her command. “Sebastian, my goal is to have a harmonious relationship with you. Don’t let this be the incident that destroys it. I can assure you it will not end well for either one of us.”
“She said no.” Sebastian would stand his ground on principle, a display that we would not be controlled by the witches. But I wasn’t ready to toss aside a potential alliance, an entente cordiale that we desperately needed. I would not be responsible for discord between us. But I wondered if it would even work. She was under the assumption that I possessed witch magic. Could Maya’s magic be so easily contained? Part of me found comfort in the prospect that it could.
I nodded in assent.
Ariel kept a cautious eye on Josh and Sebastian as she made her way to a dark wooden cabinet. Sigils ran along the side and hints of magic radiated off it. She whispered an incantation and the doors opened, revealing a medium-sized box. She might have been kinder and less power-driven than Marcia, but I had the impression that she was far more cynical and cautious.
She pulled the box out, handling it with reverence as the others looked at it with the same respect. Sebastian and I looked to Josh for cues, but he didn’t offer anything of use. Whetted curiosity caused his brow to furrow as he watched her carefully. He stepped closer when she pulled out a small glowing band. Magic more powerful and potent than I had felt on Josh or Ariel fanned over the room. I leaned in; the band had markings similar to those I’d seen on Logan. What the hell did I agree to?
“What’s that?” Josh asked, stepping closer and inspecting it, and again his lust for magic was evident. It was neither natural nor dark magic, finding an idiosyncratic place between the two. Intrigued, Josh stepped even closer, looking mesmerized by it. I understood the allure of it, magic that was elusive and neither dark, natural, Faerie, fae, nor mage. It was magic that worked on a frequency that none of the other types did, which meant it was its own source. With a faint smile, she offered, “It’s a Lar.” The name alone evoked the same sense of reverence that the other witches displayed.
“You know what it is?” she asked.
He nodded. “You did the spell on Logan?”
“No, my mother and her contemporaries did. It uses the magic from us to create its own. But—”
She waved her hand over the room at the other seven witches. “It will take all of us to do one spell. Not one of us is strong enough to use a spell from it. It will not be able to be lifted without the Lar and enough magic.”
“I don’t think it is necessary. Sky won’t do it again.”
“Of course she won’t, and we will make certain of it.”
The other witches closed in, moving around me, until I was encircled by them and the overwhelming gust of magic that moved with them.
She picked up the ring and joined the others, completing the circle that formed around me. I tried to calm down, but magic was roaring in me. Burning, fighting to be released. Maya was railing against being subdued in any manner. Did I want something that could counter even Faerie magic on me? Ariel dropped the ring in front of me. I watched each of the witches take out a small knife and slash it over their palm, giving their blood sacrifice. They linked hands. I had agreed to it. Fear sparked in me, unnatural fear. It wasn’t mine, but it drove me into fight mode nonetheless. Protect or die trying.
“Sky, are you okay?” Sebastian asked in a gentle voice. I wasn’t. I kept taking breaths to ease it, but I was too far gone. Protect or die trying. Just survive this. That’s what happened.
Magic burst from me, sending Ariel crashing into the wall. Blustering flows of it came from me. I’d lost control of it and the storm that took over the room. Protect or die trying. But the impulse was no longer to save my life but to take the lives of those who were trying to do me harm. Logic had left, and I tried everything to rein it in. Maya was fighting for survival, and it felt like she was ready to leave a trail of bodies in her wake. I did the only thing I could to stop her. I dropped to my knees and forced a change.
The humbling pain tore through me as my clothes were ripped from my body. I gasped for a breath during that torturous moment when my bones broke. Ligaments stretched taut, organs shut down for moments to accommodate the transition, and my body gave way to its new form. My bloodcurdling screams rang through the room.
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Sebastian’s hands rested against my back, helping with the change. Maya was fighting tooth and nail to prevent it. Finally, in wolf form, I collapsed on the ground. Sweat matted my fur. Exhausted, I closed my eyes. The storm had stopped, and the pain subsided. The desire to destroy everything in sight lingered, but I was too exhausted to act on it.
“Give her a minute,” Sebastian said, his tone low and soothing, but there was an undercurrent of anger. I wasn’t sure who it was directed at.
After a few moments, the fatigue had lifted—the desire to protect myself hadn’t. I rose, growling at Sebastian, who attempted to keep me on the ground.
“Sky”—he said, his voice latent with command—“stop.”
Paranoia took over; if he wasn’t going to protect me, he was against me. I lunged at him. He moved. His hands slammed into my side, and I soared back and crashed into one of the witches. I rolled to my feet and clamped down on her arm. She wailed, pounding her fist against me. A sharp pain hit me in my side. I whipped around, not caring to be gentle with the witch as I tore myself from her arm. I bared my teeth at the witch who had hit me, and jumped at her. Sebastian’s solid-muscled form slammed into me midleap, and I crashed to the floor.
When I attempted to roll onto my legs, he held me down. “You all need to move fast. I am about to change her.”
He pressed his hands against me as I clawed and bit at him. Soon, the inevitable prick of my body easing back into its human form came.
I lay on the floor naked. Words filled the air but became nothing but a string of rhythmic prose, a harmony that I allowed to overtake my thoughts. Warmth wrapped around me, and I opened my eyes only for a second as black marks appeared on my body. I only briefly wondered whether they would be permanent. I closed my eyes, caring far less than I should.
I awoke covered by a blanket. I sat up and looked over my naked body: my marks weren’t like Logan’s, but I had two small ones on the insides of my wrists, easily hidden, but marks nonetheless. No matter how eloquently they’d said it, I had been cursed by the witches. Like Logan, forced to bear marks as some form of punishment. He was restricted from forming deals without the indebted party knowing; I was prohibited from doing magic.
I looked around the room. There were small pools and trails of blood. Papers littered the room, and several chairs were flipped over. I wondered if it was from me, the wolf revolt, or the curse that they had just cast.
“How do you feel?” Ariel asked. There was a lingering feeling of anger and hate, and I tried to subdue it. It wasn’t warranted, I had agreed. I was going to need a moment to reconcile myself to it.
“Fine,” I whispered.
She nodded. “I do appreciate your offering.” It was said with such a level of sincerity it was difficult to be angry. Difficult . . . not impossible—Maya held on to it for all that it was worth. Despite parts of me feeling a level of peace, there was that little part where Maya had taken up space that held on to the umbrage.
After several minutes, I stood. I made an attempt to catch the attention of the witch whom I’d bitten, but as she glared at me from across the room, it was obvious I wouldn’t receive forgiveness from her anytime soon.
Dressed in the clothes that the witches had put on me and my shoes, the only things that had somewhat survived my transition, we headed out.
Before we could leave, Ariel called Josh’s name. He stopped; his icy eyes didn’t welcome her, and she approached him cautiously. She fished in her pocket and then extended an oddly shaped medallion similar to the one he’d tossed to the floor in front of Marcia. He looked at the silver peace offering and back at her. His gaze slowly swept over the room before he returned to looking at it. His gaze was steely and cold, but when he spoke, his tone was even and tepid. “I’m not ready to accept that. Respect and allegiance have to be earned. You’ve not done that yet.”
Before he left, he took another look at London and they held each other’s gaze for a long time; the weighted silence spoke louder than any words could. This was yet another thing that had strained their relationship.
We dropped Josh off first, and Sebastian immediately took me to a restaurant drive-through. I was starving, as was apparent when I started on the second burger mere seconds after I’d devoured the first. I’d attacked the food that Sebastian had handed me the moment we’d left the drive-through like a rabid animal. He’d ordered four burgers, a shake, and two large fries; I should have asked if he had ordered any for himself.
“Did you want one?” I asked, stuffing a handful of fries into my mouth and holding up one of the two burgers left.
He made a face. “No, thank you. I have a feeling if I reach for it, my hand might be in danger of being devoured.”
“I’m hungry,” I admitted, wiping crumbs from my lips.
“Wouldn’t have guessed that by the way you accosted the burgers,” he said as he handed me several napkins out of the glove compartment. I think he was more concerned about his shirt, which was covered in ketchup because I’d used it and his seats to wipe off my hands. Watching him wince each time my hands touched the soft leather, I couldn’t help but smile. I thought he kept looking in my direction because of my appalling eating habits, but he seemed to be troubled for other reasons.
“I’m sorry,” he finally said after several long moments of quiet, which seemed to work between us. Sebastian and I had a unique silence. Not comfortable but not uncomfortable. A neutral lull.
“For what?”
“I feel like I didn’t protect you.”
“From what, me making a big mistake that deserved to be addressed? I screwed up, you weren’t going to be able to get me out of that without consequences.”
He inhaled a ragged breath, and I knew that it came from a place where he lived—a person who protected his pack, consequences be damned.
I looked at him for a long time, trying to find the right words when it was obvious that the truth would suffice. “I’m kind of happy to have this.” I looked at the markings on my wrist and felt a sense of relief. “I like magic, but it’s hard to control. Each day I live with the struggle of controlling Maya. I’m sure it would get easier, but honestly, there is some comfort in knowing I don’t have to. No apologies needed.”
A small, relieved smile feathered along his lips.
“And I won’t be angry if you continue to pursue Ariel, I definitely see why.”
“It’s business.”
“Yeah, Ethan gives me that ‘business’ look all the time, too. Usually while he’s disrobing me,” I teased.
Sebastian still had a smile on his face when he pulled up to my home; I’d been sure it would have dropped from fatigue by now. His smile muscles had never been used that long. But his scorn, scowl, frown, and grimace muscles were probably made of steel by now.
Before I got out, he said, “Sky Brooks you are . . .” He smiled, lost for words. I just leaned in to let him pet me on the head, I figured that was going to be our thing. He grinned and placed his hand lightly on my head before removing it.
I walked into the house, and Ethan was sitting on the sofa waiting for me, a small plaintive smile on his face. I took a seat next to him, and for a long moment, he didn’t say anything, just sat, allowing the things we wanted to say to go unspoken. When we finally looked at each other, I knew my face reflected the same expression as his: the cruel irony of things. I no longer had access to magic because I’d attempted to do the rever tempore, Josh was sentenced to death because of it, and Ethan hosted a dangerous and reviled spirit shade because of it. He traced his fingers along my marks before he kissed them with admiration and sorrow. He understood that I wore the marks of doing whatever was necessary to save the pack.
CHAPTER 24
The next evening, I decided I needed a reprieve from thinking about what had happened to me with the witches, the challenge, Michaela’s death, and even Ethan, who was consistently disobeying Dr. Jeremy’s orders. When I came out of the bedroom, it was one of the few times Et
han was adhering to medical advice and staying off the ankle. He was seated on the sofa with his legs elevated. He gave me a look—my hair was pulled back into a straight ponytail, and I wore a fitted lilac shirt, jeans, and short heels.
“You’re going out with Steven?” He raised a brow. I knew he wasn’t jealous of Steven, but I usually didn’t put a lot of effort into dressing up when he and I went out.
I made a face. “And David.” Although David was too polite to make disparaging comments, he was a man who considered cashmere, linen, and button-down shirts casual wear. I didn’t want to spend the evening with him telling me which of my outfits he liked, a roundabout critique of the one that I actually was wearing.
Driving to Steven’s home with David next to me made me realize how much I needed both him and Steven. Despite everything David had been through, he was still himself. Human, normal, refined normalcy, something I desperately needed. Steven knew how to shut off the pack and conform to it. I was looking forward to a night without magic, shifting animals, vampires, and chaos.
“I see that our tasty boyfriend has moved in. I want your life,” David said. He held on to the comment as long as he could, and I watched the struggle. Ethan unfortunately lived a clothing-optional lifestyle, and David had seen more of him than any neighbor should have.
I laughed. “You can have it. And the way I feel about ‘the boyfriend,’ you can have him, too.”
“Are you two having spats already? He is an intense one, isn’t he? But damn.” He made a overexaggerated gesticulation that reminded me of a swoon executed by an actress in an old movie.
Moon Cursed (Sky Brooks Series Book 5) Page 31
