Mark of Blood

by Jody Morse

  Then again, that shouldn’t have been too hard. There was only a handful of members of the Stark Coven who I actually liked.

  I had just about reached the lighthouse when I spotted him. Even through the darkness, I could see that he was dressed to the nines, as usual; he wore a black pinstripe suit that I imagined must have been extremely uncomfortable through the intensity of the heat.

  As I approached him, I bowed before him.

  “Zoe, don’t be silly. You’ve no reason to bow on my behalf,” he insisted, his thin lips curved into a smile. “I ought to be the one bowing to you right now.”

  “Nonsense. I’ve always been taught to bow to my elders.”

  He stared back at me quizzically. “I never see you bow to Sebastian, and he’s your elder.”

  “That’s a bad example.” Not that I really needed to inform him. He knew, just as well as I did, how complicated things between Sebastian and I really were.

  I had loved Sebastian, and he had loved me, too. But none of that had mattered.

  Sebastian Stark and I never could have been together. As much as we’d loved each other, there was just too much against us, too much standing in our way.

  And I wasn’t sure which one of us had been destroyed the most.

  Some might argue that we would have figured out a way to make it work between us if we really loved each other. I would have had to disagree. If you know that people you love and care about are on the line if you stay with the wrong person, you give that person up—even if it means carrying them in your heart forever.

  I wasn’t sure if Sebastian carried me in his heart the same way I carried him. There was one thing I was certain of, however. And that was that any time he looked at Lila, he saw me.

  There were pieces of me in her smile, in her laughter, in the way she carried herself like he was the only thing in the world that really mattered to her. I knew, firsthand, that he was the only thing in the world that really mattered to her.

  When Sebastian looked into her eyes, I wasn’t sure if he was aware he was really looking at me, but when he looked at her, I saw him. I saw the Sebastian he was with me, the prince who had once been so in love with me.

  Of course, that only made me wonder one thing.

  Was Sebastian really in love with Lila or was it the idea of a forbidden romance and all of the dangers that came with it that he really craved?

  My guess was on the latter.

  “Yes, well, we know that Sebastian rarely does anything worthy of anyone’s respect, so you’d have to be a fool to bow to him,” the man said, snapping me out of my thoughts. “So, tell me. Is Lila doing okay?”

  I nodded. “Yes. She’s safe and sound in my cottage as we speak.”

  “Very good.” He smiled. “And Sean? Did he make it here safely as well?”

  “Yes. As far as I know, Sebastian’s locked him away in the Chambers.”

  “Splendid. This plan has gone incredibly smooth so far—almost too smoothly.” He removed his top hat and wiped away a droplet of sweat that was running down his forehead. “I thought Sean was going to take a bit more convincing, but it appears that he’s more gullible than I would have expected. He actually believed that I was Lila’s biological uncle Peter.”

  I frowned. “I wouldn’t call him gullible, Your Highness. The potion I gave you did change your looks enough to make you resemble Lila more than you realize.”

  “That may be so, but who just leaves the human world merely because a stranger tells them to?”

  “Someone who is in love and is willing to do whatever it takes to save that person’s life,” I insisted, just as a bitter thought crossed my mind.

  Lila had no idea how good she had it, really. She had a prince who was smitten with her and a boy who she had grown up with who was willing to sacrifice his own life for her. If only we all could have been so lucky.

  “I’m sure you’re right about that. However, I suspect Sean might not have come so willingly if he knew that he did not cross paths with Lila by chance but that he, too, serves a bigger purpose to the Stark kingdom than he realizes.” He shook his head frustratedly. “It’s just hard to believe he was born here, too. That human family who raised him as their own sure did ruin him. What type of guy risks everything for a girl? It’s completely foolish.”

  “Personally, I find it to be an admirable quality.” And the reality was that Sean was far less ruined than Sebastian. But, of course, there was no way I could share those feelings, not without admitting that I still had feelings... for Sebastian, that is.

  I may have had over 20 years to get over Sebastian and our relationship, but I hadn’t. I still felt the same way as I had from day one. He still had the ability to make my whole body feel like it had been set on fire any time I was around him; just being near him took my breath away.

  Looking into Sebastian’s eyes made my heart sing, even if it only knew how to sing songs of sorrow lately.

  I loved Sebastian Stark, and my plan was simple. I would do whatever it took to win back what was mine, what should have been mine all along, no matter whose heart ended up getting broken in the process and whose life was at a stake.

  Don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t that I hated Lila. No, if anything, I felt sorry for her. I knew what her future held. If she thought, for even a second, that Sebastian would always be there for her, she was wrong. I knew the way Sebastian worked.

  As much as he thrived on danger, the reality was that when he realized how severe the risks were, he would just toss her aside like a toy he no longer wanted to play with.

  It was what he did.

  Regardless, I needed to push the sympathy I felt for Lila aside. My feelings toward her didn’t even matter.

  The reality was that Lila was standing in my way of Sebastian, and I would eliminate anyone who refused to move.

  Of course, I couldn’t admit to any of that, especially not to my current company. If he knew the idea of harming Lila had even crossed my mind, he would have had it out for me.

  So, instead, I remained focused on the topic at hand. “If it took Lila to get Sean here, then so be it. The important thing is that he’s here now.”

  “Point well taken,” he replied, nodding his head in agreement. “It took a long time to make this happen, but my son is finally back where he belongs.”

  “So, what’s next?” I asked. We had known all along that we needed both Lila and Sean in Deadwood, but that was where our plans had stopped.

  King Charles glanced over at me with a devilish smile. “We watch it all unfold, of course.”

  The Vampire Kingdom series continues with Book 3: Twist of Tides