Lunar Marked (Sky Brooks Series Book 4) (32 page)

This was going downhill fast. The freight train was out of control and I didn’t know how to stop it. What happened if they decided the weird oddity ends today? The six of us against them. Could we make it out?

“Are you saying that we need to be concerned about Skylar? She seems harmless enough, but I could be wrong,” Michaela’s saccharine voice asked before she turned to me, and I knew her question had malicious intent. She was planting the seed of doubt. She was trying to add fuel to the fire by just being an innocent observer allowing others to speculate while she stood back and watched a small flame become a forest fire.

Everyone was considering the changes over the past year. Was it coincidence that they occurred when I entered the scene? Was I dangerous to them or just the pack? If so, would the danger eventually affect them? Did Sebastian really care about protecting them? All those questions showed on their faces, the tension in their posture, the cool drift that came over their stares. Abigail whispered something to Gideon.

“It seems as though we have gotten off the topic here,” Gideon said. “You brought us here to discuss a covenant that had been broken by Sebastian; now we somehow have moved on to his new little acquisition.”

Seriously, stop it.
Acquisition
as though I was a pawn, someone’s property, a thing that one put on display as a prize possession. I bet Sebastian didn’t consider me a prize possession, not with all the peculiar things that came with me.

Gideon continued, “Let’s discuss Ethan.” Then he directed his attention to him. “How long have you been like this?”

“Initially seven days, then we found a way to get rid of the ability. Unfortunately, it has returned.” If anyone expected anything less cryptic they didn’t know Ethan at all, and they would probably be given something just as ambiguous from Sebastian.

“That’s not really answering the question, and since your life is on the line here, it will be to your advantage to give us more.” Mason spoke up. Abigail rolled her eyes dismissively, and I was still trying to figure out which one of them would cast the vote as the elves’ representative. Mason was ornamental. There wasn’t going to be an election in two months but rather an induction, because no other nominations were made once Gideon accepted.

Gideon casually looked at Mason and then disregarded him. He might not have initially wanted the position but he had slipped into the role quite nicely.

Before Gideon could continue, Marcia interjected, “We would like to know how you purged yourself of the ability. After all, we had tried for years, the elves have tried and the faes as well. Yet, the were-animals with access to a mediocre witch were able to.” Marcia’s cold glare shot in Josh’s direction.

Mediocre my ass.
People don’t hate mediocre—they hate power. A couple of months ago Josh demonstrated that his skills and power now exceeded hers, and she wasn’t very happy about it.

The dissonance continued as they waited for Ethan to respond. Ethan considered the question in silence for a long time, his gaze easing over each person, and he worked to squelch the disdain that worked over his features. He didn’t like to be questioned: as someone who felt the need to only answer to Sebastian his contempt for the situation was apparent.

He chewed on his lips, I am sure biting back a caustic response, carefully choosing his words and making sure to only give enough information to diffuse the situation. He looked to Sebastian, and the nod he gave him was so slight, easily unnoticed.

Ethan smiled. “Skylar, our new acquisition as you put it, is a Moura Encantada. Most of you know what they are—if you don’t, she is responsible for guarding a protected object. She is the protector of the Aufero, which she had in her possession until yesterday. It was stolen from us and the spell reversed by Ethos. Before she had it in her possession, it was in Marcia’s. It is odd that she used it to punish the witches but not once decided to use it to help the elves from having to kill their own. That was our intention. We were fortunate to be able to practice on me, to perfect it. The reason Skylar didn’t have it in her possession before was because it was being hidden by dark magic. Now, I guess we should all consider how it was hidden by dark magic, by a witch.”

Well, that’s that.
When the pack decides to yank open the door to expose the skeletons they make sure they take other people with them. The best person—Marcia.

All eyes went to Marcia, and her face flushed, the mesh of lines around her eyes narrowed and focused on Ethan and Sebastian.

Sebastian added, “If you all can’t see this, Marcia’s motives aren’t as pure as she would like us to believe. Last year, Demetrius’s Seethe and my pack were attacked by Ethos. His sole purpose was to control us, and the rest of you were expected to fall in line as a result of it. Now let’s think about what has occurred recently. Marcia had the Aufero, with the potential of removing the magic that makes dark elves lethal to us—she didn’t. Instead, she kept it hidden with the use of dark magic. Ethos has taken the Aufero from us and restored Ethan to the way he was, and now, we are here. My pack and I are depicted as having this Machiavellian plan. I ask you, who is the one whose behavior seems unscrupulous?”

“My actions aren’t in question here, it is their pack’s, and I hope you aren’t swayed. It would have been a bigger disservice to give false hope,” Marcia said, her face still flushed as she was left wondering how quickly the tides had turned on her.

“But you didn’t even do that, did you?” Abigail asserted. “You didn’t give an ounce of hope. Instead you kept this information to yourself.”

Marcia looked at Abigail but barely acknowledged that she spoke, as though she was decoration for her brother. Gideon’s lips tightened. “My sister asked a question, and when she does, you treat it as though it is coming from me or Mason.”

It was apparent that Mason didn’t agree with this and I didn’t try to sort out their complicated situation.

The focus remained on Marcia, as they watched her, waiting for an answer. “I follow the rules. Adherence to the covenant has always been my utmost importance, not falsehoods and the hope of something that may never manifest. You all are being swept up in the little smoke screen that Sebastian and his group of rule breakers are putting before you. I am not the one who needs to be discussed, they are. We have a dark elf living among us, one who will not and cannot be controlled. What do we do? Do you trust Sebastian to handle the matter? Perhaps he will handle him in the same manner as he handles his new little acquisition.”

Their stratagem had caused Marcia’s plan to fall apart at the seams. It took the sting out them calling me an “acquisition.”

How quickly everyone’s attention went back to Ethan, then to me, hopping back and forth with a look of curiosity and derision.

Sebastian’s lips pursed slightly as he regarded Marcia with the full intensity of a predator’s gaze. “That’s doubtful, but maybe we should stop considering how I will treat Skylar and consider what you are willing to do to get your hands on the Aufero again. After all, you went as far as to have someone try to kill her, just so you could get it back. But was it motivated by your desire to make sure we no longer needed to contain the dark elves or your desire to have more control over the witches?”

If I could hear the quickening of her breath and the change in her breathing pattern, I knew Sebastian could, too. Until that moment, all we could do was assume; now she had just confirmed our suspicion. Marcia couldn’t be trusted, she had betrayed her alliance with Ethos and attempted to have me killed, just so she could get her hands on the Aufero again. She might be allied with Ethos, but they definitely didn’t have the same plans for me.

Abigail leaned over to Gideon and they went back and forth for a few minutes. And then he spoke. “I guess in this situation, we must consider him the responsibility of the elves, and if it was controlled before, I believe in good faith that Sebastian will handle it again.”

Sebastian smiled and nodded his appreciation.

“I disagree,” Liam stated. “I have very little confidence in Sebastian or his ability to control the situation. Gideon, you are now showing exactly the essential differences in how you will rule, as a fool.”

Gideon simply smiled, allowing the insult to roll off him. Why not? I was sure when he was fully in position as the leader Liam would not have a voice in decisions anymore. Sebastian and Abigail had more or less ensured that a civil war would take place, and Sebastian seemed confident that Gideon would be the victor; Sebastian will probably have some hand in making sure it does. I tried to be okay with these things, it was a matter of survival. My ethics kept tugging at me, telling all the back-alley dealings, collusion, and silent alliances were wrong.

“This has gone on long enough. Frankly I am bored. You brought us here for a reason, Marcia, and I assume it was to vote on what will be done about this situation,” Sebastian said.

Dammit. What happens once they vote? Do we get a vote?

I kept staring at Sebastian.
Come on, of all times this is the time you should be the jerk I know you are capable of being.
Launch your threats. Tell them that if they touch Ethan they are all going to die. Come on, Sebastian!

Bernard and his guards stepped out, I guessed to escort us out while they decided. Sebastian dismissed them with a look. “We aren’t going anywhere. Any decision I make I stand behind it. I will not do it behind someone’s back. If I decide you are going to die at my hands, I have no problem telling you to your face. I expect the same from you.”

Liam stood. “I will not be threatened by the likes of you.”

“It’s not a threat.”

Sounded like a threat to me
.

“Simply, you are asking them to kill Ethan because of what he is. Yes, we have a covenant that I supported only because the dark elven magic wasn’t controlled, and it couldn’t be helped. And if this was the case here, I would have supported it as well. But it isn’t. It was controlled; Ethan hasn’t killed anyone accidentally. So you want him killed, we have every right to know who wants it,” Sebastian said.

“Everyone wants Ethan dead,” Demetrius offered lazily, still relaxed back in the chair, his interest in this meeting slipping with every moment. “The question remains should he die because of what he is? Stay, I have no problem with either of you knowing my vote or how I feel.”

“You all are welcome to stay; I don’t care, either. Understand that it is a collective decision. Any retaliation against any of us based on this decision is a retaliation on all of us and it will be treated as such,” Gideon added, but I’m not sure why because I was sure how he was voting.

Sebastian gave a noncommittal nod.

Marcia spoke first. “I think the covenant should be enforced.”

No surprise there.

“I disagree,” Gideon responded.

One to one.

Marcia rolled her eyes before anyone could look at Claudia for her vote. “Do we need to ask?” she scoffed.

“It would be nice if you did, but you know the answer.”

Two to one, our favor.

“I support Marcia. By allowing Sebastian to circumvent this you are condoning his rouge behavior. At some point we must stand against this man who feels that the only rules he must abide by are the ones he chooses. When chaos ensues as a result of this, I want those who do not side with us to know you are to blame.” Liam’s arrogance laced his words.

Demetrius’s disinterest in the situation continued and I feared that he would go about making the decision with just as much interest. But he didn’t; he studied Ethan for a long time. The mocking kink in his lips touted the power he had in hand. He hated Ethan. I looked around the room and tried to determine if we could make it out. Then what happened if we did?

“I think Ethan should die, and I am very happy to be the one to do it.” The mocking smirk continued. “But it will not be this way. Sebastian is a son of bitch and his pack of animals are an annoyance at best, but one thing I am confident of is his commitment to not exposing us and his silly beliefs and rules. If he didn’t think it was within his control, he would do whatever he could make it so. He found a way to do it before and I am sure will again.”

That’s a color red I haven’t seen on anything but a radish
.

Marcia was so angry she was trembling. No, she wasn’t just angry, I expected her to go down the line trying to bitch slap sense into anyone who voted against her. A few controlled breaths and she had found a semblance of control, although the bleak shadow of her discontent lingered long after she ushered the simple smile on her face. The room settled into an atmosphere speculation and disdain had covered us as each person questioned everyone else’s decision. Swaddled in it, everyone came out just a little more soiled than before. I watched with contentment as the arrogance of victory diminished on Marcia’s face. Anger flashed unfiltered and nearly uncontrolled.

“The decision has been made. It should be respected but those who advocated for the demise of the covenant, understand that is essentially what you have done. Now we need to hold someone accountable for controlling the situation. I think it should be the elves, the Seethe, faes, and the Midwest Pack. I’ve washed my hands of this situation.”

Look at that, a good old-fashioned tantrum.

“I am not accepting that responsibility,” Demetrius scoffed.

“Then you are changing your vote?” Marcia asked hopefully.

Demetrius frowned, considering the question for a long time, his gaze cruising over Gideon, Sebastian, and then Claudia. “Fine, as long as they know I don’t plan an active role in this because I can’t express how much I
don’t
care.”

Vampires were affected by dark elves: it sent them into reversion, but if they were fed before it was complete, they were whole again. No one else had that advantage. You were dead, the heart stopped.

Gideon, Claudia, and Sebastian agreed without hesitation. Liam sat in silence doing what he did best, looking down his nose at everyone. He thought little of were-animals, he thought little about any elves that weren’t Makellos, and with the disdainful look he cast in Demetrius’s direction, it was pretty safe to assume his feelings about him, too. The only people who seemed to garner a level of respect from him were Claudia and Marcia, the latter of whom I was sure he had established some type of alliance with.