I had finally caught up with them when I found myself drawn to an intriguing picture. It was a portrait of two boys. The smaller of the two lay on the bed; his eyes were closed. His pale brown hair in disarray, his face relaxed into a tranquil canvas as he slumbered. The older, knelt close to him. Flickers of gold in his ash-brown hair complemented his deep-blue eyes that seemed too intense and tempered for someone of his age. His posturing was warm and protective as he crouched closely to the sleeping boy. The picture was untitled and the artist unknown. I stared at it until Josh’s hand slipped behind my back and urged me forward.
Stepping further into the gallery, we were greeted with an earnest smile from a slender woman in her mid-50s. Her delicate, dusk brown waves were pulled back into a bun. She was the epitome of regality and sophistication in her dark blue business suit completed with a pair of dark blue satin gloves that contrasted beautifully against her alabaster skin. It was the most peculiar style, yet, on her, it didn’t seem out of place.
“Ethan, Josh,” she greeted sweetly as her eyes lit up. Her voice had a hint of an accent but I couldn’t quite place it. British? Australian?
“It’s South African, dear,” she responded, smiling. Her voice was a pleasant sound as she kept her focus on Ethan and Josh.
“It’s such a pleasure to see you two,” she continued. She leaned in and kissed the air on each side of their cheeks. Placing her hands in theirs and holding them firmly, she said, “It’s been far too long. How have you been?”
“Please accept my apology. I’ve been very busy,” Ethan said regretfully. Josh chimed in as well, offering his apologies. As they humbled themselves in her presence, displaying undeniable reverence, I wondered who she was to evoke such behavior. Josh was generally cordial and polite with everyone but Ethan made it painfully apparent that he wasn’t a “people person.”
“We will make a better effort in the future,” Josh promised.
“No worries. I see why you’ve been so busy. She’s absolutely lovely. Whose is she?” she asked softly, directing her attention to me.
You have to be kidding me! ‘Whose is she’? I wasn’t a feminist by any stretch of the word, but that offended whatever sensibilities I did possess. I stared at her, waiting for the inevitable punch line that never came.
“She is lovely,” Ethan responded as his eyes met mine briefly, “but she is neither of ours. She is the pack’s responsibility, and we need your help.”
The smile quickly vanished from Claudia’s face as she looked at Ethan then Josh. He nodded his head once. Her head bowed as if she were given disturbing news. She looked uneasy as she walked toward me. She slowly removed her gloves. With a faint smile on her face, she took my hand into hers.
“Relax dear,” she urged as her eyes held mine before they phased into a distant gaze. Time stood still as her reaction evolved from emotionless, to complete sorrow, terror, and eventually settled on something in between. She dropped my hand suddenly. The level of grief that wafted from her made me shudder. Her hand gently touched my cheek before a tear ran down her face. “I’m sorry, dear.”
“Goodbye, Ethan,” she stated coolly. She turned to face Josh, “You need to take care of this—all of it. Do what is necessary. Hard choices need to be made and they need to be done rather quickly,” she commanded insistently. Josh looked like he was recovering from someone punching him in the stomach.
“What should I do?” he entreated, despondently.
She stepped closer to him, touching her ungloved hand to his cheek. “Josh, you know what needs to be done, you’ve always known. You will do what is necessary because you always have,” she stated softly with a faint smile.
His shoulders sagged; a sullen look overtook his features as troubled eyes held her gaze. His fingers interlocked with mine as he walked toward the door, trying to guide me with him. He tugged a little harder when I called after Claudia to get her attention. She ignored me, walking swiftly toward the back room. When Ethan started after her, she turned, holding out her hand to halt him.
“You come to visit me as much as you please, but don’t you ever do this to me again without warning,” she snapped.
“I’m sorry.” He lowered his head remorseful stepping back slowly from her.
“No need for apologies, just don’t do it again. I expect better from you Ethan. Next time such rudeness won’t be forgiven.”
“I’m sorry,” he muttered again.
Who the hell was this woman?
We sat in silence for the majority of the trip back to the house. Josh looked as though he were submerged in cement and feeling the weight of it overtake him. An appearance that usually held self-confidence looked unnerved and uncertain. The look on Claudia’s face played over and over in my mind. I closed my eyes tightly, forcing her expression aside. A person doesn’t see that kind of emergence of sorrow, horror and fear without it leaving them feeling a little unsettled.
Ethan’s face remained fixed in a distracted state as he stared out the windshield. When he turned to face me, he looked troubled. I wondered what was going through his distressed mind.
“Who and what the hell was that?” I finally asked, breaking the silence.
“Our godmother. She has the gift of foresight. We rarely come to her for assistance because it is too hard on her. We don’t know if she is an empath, but she feels things too deeply not to be,” Josh responded in a dry voice. And I doubt that they would ever ask.
“They are going to kill me. Nothing we do is going to stop that,” I finally choked out. Whatever she saw in my future couldn’t have been good. That wasn’t a tear of joy and neither one of them had a look of potential victory. Almost instantly, I could feel the pain of fanged enamel pressing into my flesh, draining me of life.
Josh couldn’t hold eye contact with me. He turned and looked out the window as I waited for his denial. A spirited response of how things were going to be just fine. But his only response was painful silence.
“Josh?” He took a long moment before he looked in my direction. When he did—I wished he hadn’t. Strained, worried eyes stared back at me. “I’m going to die, Right?”
He nodded once, “Yes.”
Yes. I was going to die. Again.
Josh stood at the threshold of the room. Uneasiness radiated off him. The brave front that he once exhibited throughout this ordeal was shattered. Frustration, fatigue and discouragement now painted a worried frown on his face.
It had been three days since we had seen Claudia, and during that time, he remained scarce. He only came to the house occasionally to look things up and would leave before I could ever talk to him.
“Claudia spooked you,” he acknowledged, sitting in a chair across from me. He carefully watched me as he fidgeted with his hand.
“Everything that has happened lately has spooked me. She was just the grand finale,” I admitted as he walked in, his gaze darting nervously throughout the room.
“Skylar, things are getting bad. We’ve already been attacked. Two were-animals are dead and Steven nearly died. What happened two weeks ago was just a taste of the many things to come. Honestly, I am surprised it has taken them this long to act. They will only get more aggressive and violent until they feel their point is sufficiently made. I’ve tried everything and I can’t find that damn gem. I’m running out of ideas here and I’ve exhausted all possible sources,” he vented, frustrated.
“Your effect on magic has made things more complicated. If we fail, and they perform the transference, they will be stronger and have access to magic that may render them invincible and a true threat. I have no idea of the extent of your magical ability and the power you will give them. I don’t know how to prepare for things.”
He started rambling. Some of the things made sense, but most of it didn’t. Eventually he would get to the point, so I just waited it out. He was pacing the floor when he came to an abrupt stop.
“Given the situation, I think you’ve handled things pretty well,” he fina
lly admitted.
With limited options, I handled things the best I could, making some painstaking mistakes—pun intended. What were my alternatives?
“What are you prepared to do if we can’t gain possession of the gem?” he asked in a strained voice.
What options did I have? Could I call Demetrius and ask him nicely not to kill me and I would be ever so grateful? He didn’t strike me as the type to give in to pleas for mercy.
He bit down on his lips as he continued to ponder things. Finally, he exhaled, conceding to whatever debate was taking place in his head. He walked toward me and handed me a vial of thick purple liquid. “It’s Trincet, known as ‘pleasant death.’ You take it, and in less than a minute you are dead,” he stated flatly.
Holding it up, it seemed to shimmer invitingly when the light hit it. “Is there such a thing as a pleasant death?” I considered.
He shrugged. “Depends on your view of death or the alternatives.”
He waited, looking past me, his attention on the wall behind me as I reflected on the situation. “Don’t make the decision out of idle heroics or the romanticism of self-sacrifice. You have nothing to gain from that,” he finally stated.
“I have no desire to do either,” I admitted. “I guess if I am going to die anyway, I would rather be in control of how it happens. If the results are the same, why leave things worse off?” I admitted. “Sixty seconds, huh?”
“Give or take a few.”
I closed my eyes and waited out the sixty seconds. It seemed like such a long time at that moment. When I opened them, Josh’s was staring at me with empty dull eyes. I had finally broken him.
“You would take your own life?” he inquired in a low surprised voice.
Why not? I had tried before and knew I was capable of doing it again. I wish the thought of imminent death brought me more fear but it didn’t. The idea of dying torturously with the vampires feeding from me scared me, but not death by poisoning.
“Your death will only stop them temporarily until they can find another suitable person. Lives will continue to be lost. They won’t stop until their goal is achieved. Their passions aren’t that easily extinguished,” he informed me in a dry, tired voice.
“I know.”
He stared at me for a while, searching for answers. “You don’t fear death,” he acknowledged, amazed.
I shrugged. It didn’t terrify me the way it should, especially since my mother’s untimely death. In fact, my life was the very epitome of death. My biological mom died giving birth to me and my father died minutes before. I died at birth and now hosted the spirit of a witch’s formerly dead child. Death didn’t scare me; it was the brutality that I associated with it. A painful death was unsettling. No one just went quietly into the night and just closed their eyes, drifting into an eternal sleep, the way it was done in the movies. I wouldn’t be opposed to a peaceful rest if my life ended in a beautiful sleep.
“You puzzle me. I don’t know if you are selfless or just suicidal?” he asked as he stared at me. Suicidal—I didn’t like the word—it seemed selfish and self-indulgent. Killer—it was stronger. I was willing to kill Skylar Olivia Brooks.
Since our first meeting, Josh was undeniably comfortable and friendly, behaving as though he’d known me a lifetime. Now he looked at me as though I were a stranger whose acquaintance he wasn’t sure he wanted to make.
I felt self-conscious and guilty, like somehow I betrayed him. “I am not suicidal. Just because I don’t fear death doesn’t mean I want to die. I’ve just mastered the skill of elementary math. One life is less than the many lives that will be lost if things continue in this manner. Believe me, if there were other options, death would not be my first choice. The vampires aren’t going to just wake up one day and say ‘gee, the were-animals are making this too hard—let’s give up.’ And I’ve seen what they are like with the restriction. I don’t want to imagine what they would be like amped up on werewolf strength and new magic,” I admitted.
My gaze drifted to the floor, I couldn’t stand him looking at me in that manner. “I see the situation for what it is. I doubt I would have lived this long without you all intervening. You all have done so much to fulfill an obligation that shouldn’t have been yours in the first place. You’ve fought harder than I expected and sacrificed more than I deserved. All that can be done has been. Eventually the were-animals will grow tired of protecting my life or the vampires will eventually succeed. Either way, I end up dead. I have had so little control of things in the past month that it feels a little empowering to possess a little—even if it is just over my death.”
Things were bad. I would gladly choose a painless death over what I experienced in the library any day. Admittedly, I wasn’t as brave as I thought. If a stiff upper lip and a gallant fight were all that were needed for this to come to a fairytale end, then the battle would have been won long ago.
He nodded, slowly taking in my words before kneeling in front of me. “Skylar, use the Trincet as the last possible option. It’s a choice when our failure is apparent and absolute. When all things have been exhausted and your death at the vampire’s hand is imminent,” he stated firmly.
Avoiding his gaze, I didn’t agree. “When failure is apparent.” What did that mean? When all the people who agreed to protect me were dead or so badly injured that they were no longer a threat? Did Josh really think I would agree to that? I shook my head. When I feel the risk is greater than the reward, then that will be the time.
“Agree.” He stood and took several steps away from me.
“No," I finally stated as I placed a firm grip on the vial. I held it so tightly that my nails dug into my skin leaving deep red indentations in my palms.
We stared at each other, resolute and lost for words. He sighed. “Give me a couple of days,” he requested.
I nodded in agreement. Although I wasn’t afraid to die, I wasn’t in a hurry to do so either.
CHAPTER 14
I didn’t want to die.
There had to be something I could do. Could Demetrius be reasoned with? What could be exchanged or offered that would be worth him giving up total freedom? The ritual, could it be done without me having to die? Even so, the end result would be vampires unrestricted and stronger than most people who could otherwise regulate them. I dropped my head into my hands, inhaling the dank smell of failure and fear. The house had been quiet, too quiet. Sebastian, Ethan, Josh, Winter, Steven and Gavin were in the office where they had been for hours. Each time I went past the office, there always seemed to be more silence than conversation.
“No! There is no way in hell I am going to let you do that!” There was more concern than fury in Ethan’s escalated voice.
I came down the stairs just in time to see Sebastian’s office door swing open and Ethan storm out, with Josh trailing not far behind as he followed him out of the house. Keeping out of their line of sight, I stayed close to the house watching them. But they were so preoccupied, I doubt they would have noticed me.
Standing nearly a foot from each other, I expected another brawl, something aggressive, tumultuous and violent; but instead, Josh stood motionless, watching his brother, his face shadowed by confliction, longing and doubt.
When he stepped closer, Ethan’s jaw clenched tighter. “I don’t care what you have to say. I am not going to let you do this,” he stated firmly.
Josh’s eyes lowered, his thin veil of lashes didn’t hide his troubled eyes. Ethan looked withdrawn, his gaze lifting periodically to meet Josh’s. Then he turned his back to him focusing on the verdure. “You owe her nothing,” he said softly.
“I don’t. But I owe you. I owe this pack. You know Demetrius won’t stop. If it’s not her, then it will be someone else. He hates you and despises Sebastian. When he succeeds, it won’t be long before he comes after you. What happens if the person he uses is stronger than Skylar and imbues him with strengths and gifts that exceed anything she offers? Then what?’
Ethan turned t
o face his brother as his hands washed his over his face. When he swallowed, it looked painful as though it was glass that went down. “Don’t do this to protect me. I can take care of myself.”
“If things get so bad that you can’t … ?” Josh asked in a low, sullen voice as his gaze dropped from Ethan’s. His face was distant and morose. When he looked up, his face said it all. If something happens to you, then what will I do? “You wanted me to become "blood ally," because this pack is a force most won’t oppose, to ensure my safety.”
Ethan exhaled a long ragged breath, “This is dangerous. You’ve never tried anything at this level before and there is nothing I can do to help you if it fails.” Ethan looked defeated by the harsh truth.
“The favors that we curry, the alliances we have formed, the power we enjoy are all the results of our successes. If we don’t stop this, our failure will be apparent, our weaknesses exposed. The faes trust us and the elves have given us their unyielding respect because of what we have achieved. This one failure will ruin it—will ruin us, and you know it.”
He did. And it was displayed aptly on his face. Yet it seemed to mean nothing if his brother’s safety was the cost. Josh sighed, “You are going to have to let me do this.”
Whatever Josh was about to do must be dangerous because he made no qualms that he could care less what Ethan thought about him using magic and voiced it a time or two. They looked at each other for a long moment as if they were trying to freeze that moment in time. Ethan walked toward his brother and pressed his forehead against his. He inhaled a long ragged breath, “Okay.”
Pulling away abruptly, he headed toward the woods, leaving a trail of clothes as he changed into his wolf, disappearing into the mass of trees.
Josh watched him disappear between the dark florets of trees and greenery. When he turned toward the house, his gaze briefly met mine. Weary and nervous eyes held them for just a millisecond. As he walked closer, I could sense that whatever he was about to do scared him. His heart rate was a series of rapid beats. It was then that I realized emotions had a smell, and intense fear reeked like sewage. I followed him into the house, and when I couldn’t stand it any longer, I grabbed his arm.
Moon Tortured (Sky Brooks Series Book 1) Page 29
