Blood Solstice: Part Three in the Tale of Lunarmorte (24 page)

The sound
of wood creaking lifted her gaze off of Benedict as Reuben, Saffron
and Vanne made their way towards her in the centre of the room.
They smiled reassuringly, Vanne squeezing her shoulder as they took
their places behind her. The next person was a surprise because
Caia hadn’t realised she was at the Centre: Phoebe MacLachlan. The
statuesque beauty strode across the room self-assuredly, her
expression as serious as always. Caia smiled gratefully at her and
Phoebe nodded before turning to the Council. “My vote of confidence
in Caia is shared by all members of my pack, including its Alpha,
Alistair MacLachlan. That is approximately fifty other lykans Mr De
Jong.”

The magik
paled slightly. “Well…”

But
before he could argue, the noise of people standing from their
seats drowned him out. Caia watched in amazement as Desi and
Ophelia led eight other Travellers to her side. Michael Brown, the
Head of the Second Unit of Vampyres, descended the stairs with most
of his unit in tow. He smirked at Lyla, the Head of the Third Unit
of lykans, as she came along the aisle to meet him, lykans trailing
at her back. Others crossed the room, all faces she recognised as
the people she had conversed with during her studies here at the
Centre. Altogether there stood at least sixty people at her
back.

De Jong
stared in utter shock.

Penelope
smiled. “I think this is proof enough that Caia is trusted amongst
many here at the Centre and that many are looking for the promise
of change. Which means the Council will take this to a vote. Excuse
us whilst we convene in the chambers below.”

Silently
they made their way downstairs.

“
Well done, Caia.” Reuben grinned and drew her into a
surprising hug. He pulled back and stroked her cheek
affectionately. “Not just a pretty face.”

She
rolled her eyes at him and turned to speak with Phoebe, thanking
her for her support. The lykan stood vigilantly by her side as Caia
conversed with everyone who had taken to the platform in favour of
her plan. It was overwhelming and unbelievable and yet… undeniably
wonderful. As Desi and Ophelia giggled and hugged her, a moving
realisation hit. It would appear she wasn’t quite so alone after
all.

***

The crowd
dispersed, everyone reluctantly finding their seats amongst the
rows again as the Council entered the hall. Their combined power
intrigued Caia, their energy announcing their arrival before she
even saw them. Alfred nodded kindly at her as he took his seat and
she took hope in the fact that Penelope seemed pleased with
herself. Benedict stood up for the Council once more, his
expression revealing little.

“
Miss Ribeiro, the Council has voted. The outcome, although
not unanimous-

Yeah, I’ll bet.

-is in
your favour.”

She heard
an outburst of hooting and clapping coming from the Travellers and
was afraid to grin and look over in case it changed the Council’s
mind.

“
HOWEVER!” Benedict shouted over the noise, causing silence to
descend along with Caia’s stomach. “You must agree to make a blood
oath, promising to give up the trace to the gods, as you say is
your intention, and not keep it for your own gain.”

She began
to speak, to promise that of course she would, when Alfred
interrupted quickly, “Caia, you should be made aware of what a
blood oath entails first… before agreeing to anything.” He shot
Benedict a dirty look if rebuke.

Benedict
sneered. “Of course. Miss Ribeiro, a blood oath is made between
yourself and the person you have sworn the promise to. In most
cases this is merely one person. In this instance you will swear
the blood oath to the nine members of this Council.”

OK, that
didn’t sound so bad.

“
The blood oath acts as a binding spell. If you break your
oath to the person you swore it to, then part of your power
transfers to that person.” He smiled wickedly now. “Usually, it is
not that detrimental to a person. But for you, Miss Ribeiro, well…
if you break your oath to the Council, then each of us will acquire
some of your energy.”

Okkaay…
she could see where he was going with this.

“
Losing energy to nine people under a blood oath would mean
the loss of all your magikal power, Miss Ribeiro.”

A tense
silence filled the air. De Jong was smirking at her as if this was
some form of torture for her. In fact, everyone seemed to be on
tenterhooks waiting for her reply. Only her friends sat confidently
in their seats because… they knew her. This wasn’t a problem for
her.

She
smiled slowly. “Mr De Jong, I have no hesitation in agreeing to a
blood oath, because I have every intention of giving up the
trace.”

He lost
the smirk as most of the Council relaxed in relief at her answer.
Chatter bounced off the walls whilst Caia stood there. Finally,
Penelope took to her feet. “If you will follow us, Caia, we will
begin the ceremony for the blood oath immediately.”

20 – Save
Me From Myself

Jaeden
held her hand out towards the plate as it hovered in the air, kept
under tight control with her telekinesis. With a wave of
satisfaction she flicked her wrist, sending the china careening
into the nearest tree. She smiled humourlessly as the shattered
remnants found company with the five other pieces of china she had
obliterated. Glancing down at the box filled with more expensive
dinnerware, she tried not to feel impotent that this was her only
act of revenge on Reuben.

Wow. Destroying his china pattern. What a kick to the
cajonies.

After weeks of berating herself and the vampyre, Jaeden had
finally dashed into the huge kitchen to look for something to train
with out in the woods. Instead, she had stumbled across some really
expensive china Reuben had locked in a closet at the back of the
kitchen in boxes. She didn’t know for certain if the stuff was his,
but she decided to use it for target practice on the off chance
that it might be. Now she was far out into the woods away from the
rest of the pack, doing just that. Ah, away from the rest of the
pack, she mused. No change there then. For the week that Caia had
been gone, Jaeden had avoided almost everyone. The only person she
really spoke to was Alexa, and thus Mal and Finlay since they never
left their sister’s side. It was beginning to drive Lex nuts and
Jae’s company was always a welcome relief from her brothers. But as
the weeks turned so did Jaeden’s heart. The immediate rage she had
felt over her father’s death had calmed enough for her to begin to
feel all kinds of guilty for what she had done to Caia. She
actually couldn’t comprehend how she could have let Caia be kicked
out of the pack. And all she wanted to do now was find her and fix
it. But how could she fix it when she couldn’t even fix herself and
her relationships with the pack? She hadn’t spoken to her mother,
and ignored her when Julia tried to approach her. As for her
relationship with Ryder it was pretty much over. Her heart flipped
in her chest at the thought. Their meeting in the hall the day Caia
left wasn’t to be their last. For two weeks Ryder cornered her
whenever he got the chance, and all she did was insult and offend
him… oh gods she had said some horrible things. She had told him
she didn’t love him anymore. And Hades that wasn’t true. She loved
him so much she was terrified of losing him too. So pushing him
away… that had been a smart plan.
Not.
Now he could barely look at
her. As for Lucien, he was trying his best to keep the pack
together, insisting on weekly runs with one another and insisting
they all ate together. At first those occasions had been blunted by
grief and Jaeden’s animosity, but she had gradually been relegated
to an outsider through her own means; the pack easing into casual
conversations with each other, easing into playing and enjoying the
euphoria and release of the pack run. With the exception of Alexa
and herself, the pack grieved as one and were the better for it.
Jaeden didn’t miss that Vil and Laila’s soothing presence helped.
Especially little Laila; she had a gift for creating peace among
them. Their other gifts had also come in handy when members of the
pack went food shopping in the nearest town – Laila used her magik
to glamour them so no one would begin to question the strangers
that kept popping into town. Their other guest, Rose, was a
different matter. As Jaeden’s guilt over what she had done to Caia
began to grow unbearable, her misdirected anger at Rose grew as
well. She snapped and snarled at the lykan any chance she got. Part
of her knew it was psychological crap, but the other part of her
knew, as she watched Rose with Lucien, that the female wolf was
biding her time with their Alpha, awaiting the moment when he threw
away Caia’s memory for good and made Rose his partner.

Dear
goddess, it was all her fault.

She felt
the box of dishes begin to shake and she clenched her fists,
bringing her emotions back under control. It was all too late
anyway. What was done was done and there was nothing she could do
about it. She didn’t have the energy to do anything about
it.

Frustrated as all Hades at herself, Jaeden began ripping her
clothes off. Once naked, she crouched down on to all fours,
luxuriating in the soft mud that seeped between her fingers and
toes and cushioned the weight on her knees. She pushed the change,
wincing in relief at the piercing of each hair through her skin,
eyes burning taut as her ears transformed, her face shifting. Her
jaw cracked as it elongated out, her teeth filling her mouth
rapidly. The echoing snap of her bones as her spine, legs, and arms
morphed sent a premature howl from between lips still formed from
the median change. Jaeden gasped in satisfaction at the stinging
pain of her claws lengthening, and concentrated on slowing the
process to prolong the happy liberation the change
wrought.

Finally, she lay in wolf-form, panting into the floor of the
forest. She wondered if she would be happier as a wolf. And then
she saw a rabbit dash from between a tree, it’s frightened eye
catching sight of her before tearing off into the camouflage of the
woods. A real wolf would see the rabbit and lick its lips at the
thought of the hunt and kill, but a lykan like her still had ‘aw, a
bunny’ thoughts running through her head.
Probably wouldn’t be happier as just as a wolf
then.

Ignoring
the frightened lump of fur, Jae got to her fours and began to run
in the opposite direction. Her mind cleared with the run, her
muscles unknotted, her soul forgotten along with the time. She ran
for hours, the fading light suggesting she head back and change
into her clothes for dinner. With a huff through her snout, she
raced back through the trees and skidded to a stop when she came to
her clothes and the broken china. The change back was faster and
the cold night air made her hurry back into her clothes. She was
just pulling her t-shirt over her head when a familiar voice sucked
the breath out of her body.

“
You were gone a while.”

Jaeden
finished dressing and spun around to find Ryder leaning against the
tree she’d used as target practice. He gave the broken plates a
pointed look but didn’t say anything.

She
gulped as he crossed his arms over his chest, his biceps rippling
as he moved. Oh goddess, he looked good in those jeans and white
t-shirt. Smelled good too, she thought longingly, as she caught his
scent in the breeze.

“
No hello?” He asked straightening up. His eyes were narrowed
and challenging. Full of dislike.

She
shrugged defensively. “What do you want?”

He
laughed low and grimly. “What do I want she asks. That’s
funny.”

Her
stomach churned, not liking his tone of voice at all. They hadn’t
spoken in weeks, and before when they had, she still had all that
anger keeping her nice and detached. Now she was just a vulnerable
mess. An easy target.

“
What’s funny?” she asked quietly, trying to infuse some
belligerence into her tone.

He moved
slowly, predatorily towards her and she felt herself back up
unconsciously. “You. Asking me what I want? Not really something
that’s crossed your mind these last few weeks.”

Jaeden
didn’t reply. There was nothing she could say. She had abandoned
him when he needed her the most.

“
What?” He mocked. “No witty comeback, no insult to cut me to
the quick?”

“
Ry-”

“
How about telling me you don’t love me anymore… cos’ I gotta
tell you I really enjoyed that the first time round.”

“
I-”

“
No. Forget about me for a minute, why don’t we talk about the
fact you haven’t spoken to your mother since her husband
died-”

She
growled, “My father!”

Ryder
glared at her and smacked a hand off his forehead. “Oh, stupid me,
I forgot Jaeden was the only one to lose someone that
day!”

Oh crap,
she groaned feeling frustrated tears burn her throat and eyes.
“Ryder, please don-”

“
Ryder, don’t what?” he spat. “Finally give you hell for all
your bullshit!”

Jaeden
squirmed, wishing the ground would swallow her whole. Her mate had
finally snapped and he wanted to have it out, here and now. She
just didn’t think she could handle it all. So she did what she’d
been good at lately and began to walk past him toward the hotel. A
frightening snarl ripped out from the back of his throat and his
hand shot out, gripping her by the t-shirt and propelling her back
with force into a tree. He loomed over in the darkness, his amber
eyes bright with fury as he pinned her there.