Black as Midnight

by Mary Martel

  I didn't know the answers to my questions and wasn't entirely sure I wanted them.

  "Word of advice, baby," Quinton rumbled from beside me. "Don't go drinking shit from that table or anything from a vial that looks like that. In fact, I think you might actually be better off if you stick to Julian's liquor and call it good at that."

  It was almost like he wanted me to get drunk or something.

  I'd been drunk before but it wasn't something I did often. Vivian had a lot of male suitors who'd come over drunk and mean. Vivian herself had been a mean drunk. I wasn't afraid I would follow in her footsteps. That wasn't why I rarely imbibed. No, that had everything to do with the fact I didn't like feeling out of control and getting drunk always made me feel that way. Not that getting drunk had made me feel out of control, just slow, not always myself and, often times, it made me a whole lot louder than was necessary. That was too close to out of control for my tastes.

  A man I didn't recognize walked passed me. He had honey colored eyes and hair to match it. He was so thin he bordered on being frail and I had an urge to find something for him to eat. He stumbled a step when he went to walk by me and caught my eye.

  His eyes hurriedly raked over me, only taking pause when they hit my cheek, but that didn't stop them from carrying on with their journey and filling with heat.

  The look in his eyes had me immediately breaking eye contact and looking away.

  Two seconds later, a nasally male voice from in front of my chair asked, "You're Ariel Kimber, aren't you? The new witch. It seems there are a lot of those popping up lately, but not..."

  His words trailed off and I finally turned back to look at him.

  He trailed his fingers through the air by my face and I swear I think I heard a groan of appreciation come out of him.

  "None of them feel anything quite like you do," he purred. "In fact, I don't think I've ever met a female who felt anything quite like you do, witch or not."

  It was official, this rail thin man with the honey colored eyes and matching hair creeped me right the fuck out.

  "You're very pretty as well," he murmured, while smiling down at me. "Scar and everything. Though, I imagine that a little plastic surgery could fix that right up for you and make you beautiful instead of just simply pretty."

  My boys remained deathly quiet, but the tension was starting to build and I knew if I didn't do something soon to shut this shit down there was going to be a fight on my hands.

  I stood up quickly and stuck out my hand. "You know my name," I said in a smooth voice, "but I do not have the pleasure of knowing yours."

  He took hold of my hand in his. The smooth, softness of his hand turned me off in a way I had never experienced before. Heat filled my palm and raced up my arm, but it dulled in comparison to when I touched the guys in my coven.

  He lifted my hand to his lips and turned it so he could lay a chaste kiss on top. His overly dry lips left a bad feeling on my skin and I quickly yanked my arm out of his greedy grasp.

  "I am Aaron Lemond," he said. "And I am the leader of the Lemond coven."

  I nodded like I knew what that meant when I absolutely did not.

  I fought the widening of my eyes at what he'd said. Adrian had failed to mention there would be head members here from other coven's. He'd just said Council members, Marcus and other people from covens. I felt like there was a distinct difference and it had been kept from me.

  "We do not have a female of our own," Aaron divulged, while leering at me with an almost frenzied look to his eyes. He cradled the hand he'd used to shake mine with up against his chest. "Yet."

  I had nothing nice to say to that so I very wisely kept my mouth firmly shut.

  He bowed to me from the waist. "I look forward to dinner with you, Ariel."

  The way he said my name sent a chill up my spine.

  He sounded like he was shopping around and I was something that was up for auction, and that's why he was so looking forward to dinner with me. I wanted to slap that insane, heated look right off of his face.

  I slumped back in my chair as I watched him walk away and toward a huddle of men I also did not know and never had met toward the far end of the long table.

  "This is my worst nightmare," I groaned as I lowered my face into my hands.

  Silence rang out from around my half circle of guys, nobody saying anything.

  I didn't think that boded well for me and it was made worse by the fact my guards at my back didn't say anything either, but I felt their tension rising even higher. They were on red alert now and just looking for someone to strike out at.

  And the night had only just begun.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  An hour later and two other men had stopped by where I'd been sitting with the guys. They wanted to meet the girl witch who'd just recently dropped into their world, coming seemingly right out of thin air. And they eyed me like starving men and I was their last meal.

  I had never been more uncomfortable in my whole life. The only thing that saved me from getting out of my seat and running away was the constant stream of incoming text messages of encouragement from Rain. Even when I didn't respond to him he kept them coming. It was almost like he knew I needed to hear from him in any way that I could. I had never loved him more than I did in that moment.

  I couldn't even tell you their names because I had been so freaked out by the looks on their faces that I had sat back in my seat after that, and retreated into the safety of my own mind. Quinton had carried on the conversations for me after that, taking the lead like the good leader I knew him to be.

  They all walked away looking amused and way too interested for my liking. They wandered around, talking amongst themselves and other men who had yet to make their approach. The Council members that I had actually met before stood amongst them, holding court and eating up the attention they were getting from the men around them.

  Julian had yet to return from his venture inside the motel with Rachel and this was actually the only thing I wasn't concerned about at the moment.

  Adrian walked out of a door in the back of the motel and raised his hands high. The sleeves of his hippie shirt fell down to around his elbows as his chubby arms waved around in the air.

  "Ladies and gentlemen," he yelled, and a hushed murmur went over the crowd of mostly males. "Dinner is ready to be served. If you would be so kind as to take your seats around the table." Male voices rose around the backyard and Adrian stopped speaking. He watched them all as they seemed to argue amongst themselves about something.

  That something I thought they were arguing about was me.

  And wasn't that just a joyous thought.

  The cell phone in my purse vibrated and I wanted so badly to reach in there and read whatever asinine message Rain had sent to make me feel better. I wanted to lose myself in his world and forget the one I currently occupied.

  I did no such thing.

  It helped me a great deal to know that he was there and knew what was going on here.

  I grabbed Quinton's hand that rested on the arm of his chair. I would have grabbed all their hands if I could.

  "Let's go sit down at the big table now before everyone sits down and we are forced to be separated," I suggested.

  Quinton stood up with me. The arrogant smirk on his face didn't sit well with me. Then again, nothing tonight did.

  He gestured toward the big table, "Lead the way, baby."

  I wanted to smack him upside the head. This was not the time for his sweet nicknames.

  Instead, I smiled painfully at him and walked toward the table. My silent bodyguards moved like a wall behind me.

  Nobody actually sat at it yet and I didn't bother to count the seats.

  I'd yet to actually see Marcus who this dinner was actually supposed to be about. These people were serious assholes.

  Everyone watched as I picked a seat at the middle of the table and sat down. Addison and Abel walked around to the other side of the table and sat down
directly across from me. Tyson and Quinton sat on either side of me. Dash sat beside Tyson, and Julian and Damien sat down beside Quinton. Surprisingly, my bodyguards moved over to the other side of the table and sat down next to the Salt and Pepper twins.

  Adrian moved to the head of the table and took a seat with flourish. Marcus was suddenly there beside him, sitting in the seat to Adrian's right. He looked down the table at me and winked. Daniel sat beside Adrian. The rest of the seats quickly filled up.

  I looked over my shoulder and back toward the swing. My throat closed up with emotion when I saw Annabell slumped over in a heap, the swing no longer moving. Nobody even glanced in her direction.

  What happened to females being precious amongst them?

  I turned back around in time to see the oh so lovely Rachel sit down beside Marcus. She turned toward him and leaned in intimately. I jerked my gaze away, not needing to see any more of that. Little Miss Rachel seemed desperate for male contact and any male seemed to work just fine for her. Where had she come from, a convent?

  Adrian started speaking once the seats were full around the table and young males, looking around twelve or thirteen, started moving around the table with trays held aloft in their hands. They were wearing plain black, long-sleeved button ups and black dress pants. Their feet were oddly bare.

  Ignoring Adrian, I leaned into Quinton and asked, "What the hell? Where did these kids come from? Do you know who they are?"

  Rude to ignore your host, I know, but I didn't give a crap at this point. I was done after people started looking at me like they wanted to eat me alive. In my opinion, they were rude first.

  "They're orphans," Quinton whispered back. "The Council takes care of them, acting as their parental figures until they come of age. Then they will be given a choice to stay with the Council or petition to join a coven."

  "I'd like to raise a toast," Adrian boomed, drawing my attention back to where he stood at the head of the table.

  Everyone, myself included, picked up a glass from the table and that jug of Julian's brew was passed around. I filled my glass to the rim and passed it on to Tyson. If Quinton said it was safe for me to drink and not to worry, then I was taking his word for it. I needed something to take the edge off or I was going to start flipping people off for staring at me.

  I raised my glass high along with everyone else.

  "To Marcus Cole, our brother finally returned to us. We welcome him to the Council."

  People cheered, I wasn't one of them, and glasses were tipped back. I put mine to my lips and drank heavily.

  And choked on the toxic taste that I had poured down my throat. It left a trail of fire in its wake. The glass was taken out of my hand by a laughing Quinton and placed on the table. My hand went to my throat as my eyes watered.

  Nobody else seemed to be bothered by the taste and I ended up scowling, angry at everyone.

  "That tasted like shit," I muttered under my breath, as Marcus gracefully thanked people.

  "Have you ever drank before?" Tyson asked in an amused voice.

  "Not cat piss," I shot back.

  The boys across the table openly snickered at me, but I didn't see any of them drinking from their glasses. I picked mine up and chugged some more of it just to prove that I could do it without choking.

  A plate was placed in front of me by a teen boy and I murmured my thanks politely. He grinned down at me mischievously before placing a plate in front of Quinton.

  I pushed my plate away, not wishing to eat anything from it until after I saw other people eat first. I was paranoid about everything and that kid smiling at me made me want to be extra cautious with the food. I didn't even see what was on the plate.

  People around me began eating as they talked amongst themselves. The boys across from me were all digging into their food like all was right in their world. I tell you, I did not understand boys at all.

  Quinton nudged me with his elbow and gestured toward my plate with his fork. "Eat," he ordered. "Eat and maybe they will stop staring at you."

  I hadn't noticed people were staring at me anymore, I’d chosen to ignore them since the moment I sat down.

  I shrugged before chugging back the rest of the vile poison Julian was passing off as magical alcohol. When the cup was empty, I slammed it down on the table and picked up my fork.

  Adrian clinked his fork against his wine glass and the conversation abruptly stopped.

  "There is one more thing I'd like to discuss." He smirked at me.

  Of course there was one more thing he wanted to discuss. I shiver ran down my spine and I knew I wasn't going to like what he had to say next.

  "The Council has never had a female grace its ranks before, and we feel the time has come to change that. We would like to offer you, Ariel Kimber, a place amongst us, and we would be honored if you joined our coven."

  Oh, hell no.

  My eyes widened in shock as my fork clattered to my plate.

  "She's already a member of my coven," Quinton said in a harsh voice. "If you were going to try and poach from me and mine, then you should have had the decency to let me know before you tried to fuck me."

  "This is not why I'm here," Aaron called out from farther down the table. "You promised us the opportunity to get to meet her and woo her to see if we could coax her away from them. Now you're asking her to join the Council? What game are you playing here, Adrian?"

  My stomach churned at hearing his words.

  "Woo me," I choked out in a strangled voice. "Nobody is wooing me or getting the chance to. I have a coven that I belong to and I have no plans on switching. I'm not going anywhere."

  "It is an honor to be asked to join the Council," Daniel spoke in an annoyed tone. "Especially since you're a woman and aren't accustomed to our ways just yet. We felt that given enough time and training you could be amongst the best of us. You should be careful and reassess your answer before you so quickly dismiss us."

  "Are you threatening me?" I asked in a low voice. The lights above the table flickered as my rage mounted. "How dare you invite me here just to threaten me."

  The outrage at my words didn't come like I thought it would. Instead, a hush fell over the table as people sat back, either staring up at the lights in awe or staring at me in much the same way.

  "You see," Adrian cried with glee, "this is exactly what I'm talking about. There’s so much raw power within her. If harnessed correctly, it could be used in so many different ways. It's glorious just to think about. She belongs amongst us, even if we have no idea of her background or what stock she comes from. She's perfect."

  What stock I came from? I shouldn't have been surprised but I was, and, oddly enough, I think my feelings were a little hurt.

  "Women aren't allowed on the Council for a reason," someone sitting close to Rachel said, and I turned my hostile glare on them.

  He was glaringly bald but had a thick, dark goatee that hung down to his chest. His eyes were so dark brown they were almost black. His septum was pierced through with a hoop that had a ball hanging from it. He'd been one of the ones who'd watched me with naked hunger in his eyes. When he wasn't trying to eat me with his eyes, he was scowling at everyone else and, as far as I had noticed, he hadn't come here with a group like the rest of them. He'd been the only one outside of myself earlier who'd looked unhappy to be here.

  "I meant not disrespect to you being a female and all," he told me in a soft, kind voice that didn't match the look in his eyes. "You should be treasured, protected, and taken care of the way we always do with our females. There's a reason we do that too and we all know it. Because of our ancestors we're a cursed lot. We need to make up for it by doing right by our females this time around. If you start to allow them positions on the Council, places of power, then you are potentially exposing them to dangerous situations."

  He turned his stare onto Adrian and I swear the temperature dropped fifteen degrees when it did. I was learning I was powerful, but I certainly wasn't the only one.<
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  "Especially now with there being hunters around here. Hunters you've allowed to get close enough to her that they tried to burn down where she lived and attempted to kidnap her roommate. Then they went to where she works." He said work like it was a dirty word and shook his head ruefully. "Now you want to make her a Council member? I don't think so. Something stinks here and I'm thinking it's you."

  "None of this matters," Quinton said. "If Ariel says right here, right now, that she's sticking with my coven, then that's all there is to it and the rest of you can get fucked."

  "Young Alexander—" Adrian started in a bored voice.

  I cut him off as I pushed my chair back and stood. "His name is Quinton, not young Alexander, and you know that. You only call him that to get under his skin. Frankly, Adrian, it's childish and I would have thought beneath you. That doesn't matter right now though. What matters is he's right. I will not be joining you or anyone else. Not today, not tomorrow, not six years from now."

  His face pinched in an angry frown as his eyes grew mean and I knew our welcome here was about to wear out.

  "As I'm sure you're aware," I waved my arm out across the table, including the whole lot of them, "all of you are aware by now that my mother," I choked over the word, "wasn't a very good person when she was alive and didn't treat me very well. I've never had a real family or even a home before we moved in with Marcus and he made one for me. Then I met the Alexanders and their family, and by some miracle my family grew even larger. If you think I'd ever simply walk away from that because you want me to, then you haven't been paying enough attention to me in the time you've been given to get to know me. I'm loyal and, now that I have a family to call my own, I'll not turn my back on them. Not for anything."

  Before I could sit back down again, Adrian, coughed and fell forward, face first. His face landed in his plate of food and he didn't get back up again.

  "Oh my god," I cried out. "Somebody help him."