Lunar Marked (Sky Brooks Series Book 4) (7 page)

“If she did leave, she left some things behind that seem odd.” I wasn’t sure if telling him about the purse would make sense to him. It wasn’t that it was a purse she wanted, but because it was given to her by Dr. Jeremy. “And it wouldn’t hurt to look into her leaving, maybe even question Sable,” I offered.

His brows rose. “Sable?”

I nodded my head. “She threatened to kill her. She thought that Gavin was spending too much time with her.”

“Why is this the first time I am hearing about this?”

“It didn’t seem relevant. I may be way off. Who among us hasn’t been threatened by a vampire? He made Sable promise that she wouldn’t hurt Kelly.”

“A promise from a vampire not to do any harm, especially Sable, means nothing. He should have told me this,” he snarled. Sebastian was worse than Ethan when it came to the need to have all information.

He pulled out his phone and pressed a number. “Demetrius, I need to speak with Sable,” he said in a low voice into the speaker. Like most things it had too much of a command to it, and I knew it wouldn’t be well received by Demetrius.

I could imagine the insolence on Demetrius’s face. His silence stretched from seconds to close to a minute. It was so long that I thought he’d hung up. That wasn’t below something he would do if he felt affronted by Sebastian. It wasn’t until I heard the noise on the other end that I knew he was still considering the request for longer than he had to just to annoy Sebastian.

He finally spoke, his voice crisp and urbane, with an accent that I still hadn’t placed over the years. “Very well, but I will need to speak with Skylar as well. She has been quite busy disrupting things in our Seethe and it needs to be addressed.”

Dammit.

Sebastian glanced in my direction, considered it for a fraction of the time Demetrius had, and finally agreed.

T
here were
many things I would have preferred to a meeting between Sebastian and Demetrius, two men who hated each other and make no attempt to hide it. Both had immense power and the type of will that could stop a truck, which they didn’t mind asserting. The venomous glares, subtle threats, and displays of impudence ever present whenever they were in the same room—there wasn’t a way to ignore it because you found yourself drowned by their animosity and power. It was hard to withstand and even harder to disregard.

Demetrius answered the door of Sable’s home. His odd black opal eyes regarded me for a long time before he directed them toward Sebastian. Demetrius opened the door wider to let us in but seemed reluctant to offer us a formal invitation, his irritation apparent as he drew his lips into a tightly fixed line.

Each time I found myself in a vampire’s home, which happened more than I wished, I was always impressed with the elegant design that was often more contemporary than I expected. There was always an anachronism oddly placed, but it added charm, a reminder that most of them had been alive for more than a century. Sable was young, changed when she was just nineteen, but had been a vampire for a little over twenty years. Her home was everything I’d once expected—walls painted a muted red, textured to look aged. Black curtains were pulled back to reveal floor-to-ceiling windows and a perfect view of the large trees that surrounded her home and obscured the moon. They were closer than what would be acceptable for most people. Her home was bare, except for a brick-colored sofa and matching ottoman and two black leather chairs. Everyone had some kitchen appliances, although they didn’t need it; but Sable decided not to put up such pretenses and instead had left an empty space where they should have been.

She sat on the sofa and was genuinely disinterested, exanimate. She didn’t acknowledge our presence until Gavin, whom I didn’t know was behind us, moved farther into the house.

We really need to get him a bell to wear.

She approached us, her piercing gaze focused solely on Gavin. Each time I encountered her, it was hard to believe that she was the girl who made the headlines for weeks after she brutally murdered the family and friends of the assailants who had killed her family during a home invasion. She made the invaders watch while she did it, and then she executed them in front of neighbors and sat next to their dead bodies and waited for the police to show up.

A broken young woman who was made into a broken vampire. Wide-eyed and round-faced, she had soft, placid features that were a contrast to her personality and reputation. She walked slowly around us, and even Sebastian tensed, ready to engage if necessary. In silence she studied everyone, her tongue running over her fangs. Every once in a while she drew her lips back, exposing them like weapons. In her own little world, she refocused her attention back on Gavin and seemed to forget anyone other than him. She didn’t hear Demetrius when he called her name and didn’t respond until he said it again. His sharp hiss jerked her attention from Gavin to him.

Her face and eyes were blank, as though if they couldn’t focus on Gavin she wouldn’t bother to focus on anything. I still didn’t understand her obsession with him. She considered him beautiful—that is the extent of what I knew of their odd, sordid dealings. She had started to take on the characteristics of her creator, Gabriella, another unconscionable vampire. Her midnight hair was bone-straight, wisped just above her shoulder, with pastel pink and lavender hair extensions underneath. I could see the disgust on Winter’s face if she were here and she most certainly would have muttered what she always does, “They are weird for no damn reason.” It was a comment some she always spouted about Gabriella and her partner, Chase, who must have spent a great deal of time getting pierced, tattooed, and changing their hair in unique and eccentric ways.

“Yes?” It was a weak, distracted sound as she split her attention between him and Gavin. Like her creator, she had an odd affinity for feeding from were-animals, although they didn’t offer any nutritional value.

She finally took up a position next to Demetrius. Forcing focus, she kept her eyes trained on him, attempting to give her undivided attention.

“Sebastian has some questions for you,” he said.

With much effort, she looked at Sebastian.

“Have you seen Kelly?” Sebastian asked.

Slipping her gaze to Gavin for a second, she quickly returned it to Sebastian. “Your human pet?”.

“Yes, the woman that works for us,” he said.

“Is she missing?” she asked in a low, despondent voice.

“Yes, have you seen her? It’s been brought to my attention that you threatened her. Did you hurt her?”

Sebastian finally garnered her attention. She tilted her head, the wilted deviant smile a reminder of her past as the psychotic woman who killed several people in cold blood, who was nothing more than a ball of unfettered violence.

“No, I didn’t hurt your pet.” She dismissed him with a roll of her eyes before returning to her seat on the sofa as though we had disappeared.

“Did you have anything to do with her being missing? Have you had contact with her since the last time you visited our house?” Sebastian asked.

She turned, barely. A hapless glare rested in our direction for a moment, her voice soft. “I don’t allow others to do my work for me. If I wanted her dead, I would have done it. If I wanted to hurt her, that too is something I would have handled. I don’t see the purpose of abducting if it isn’t to kill.” Once again, she had withdrawn from the conversation and focused on the television in front of her, which wasn’t turned on.

“You have your answers, but if I hear anything, I will let you know,” Demetrius said, ending the interrogation. One of the more favorable qualities about vampires is that they didn’t lie. Their narcissism and egos gave them a sense of entitlement that makes them feel and act as if they are exempt from consequences for their actions. And they felt that everyone else should take that stance as well.

“Now may I ask my questions, Skylar?” My name rolled off his tongue in a velvet-soft seductive drawl. He wasn’t asking permission; he never did, for anything. It was a simple courtesy that he offered.

“It is a pleasure seeing you again.” He took hold of my hand, then he brought it to his face, a gentle, smooth movement as he inhaled, his nose barely touching my skin before his cool lips did. Demetrius was beauty and seduction, violence and sin, treachery and torture wrapped in a beautiful package. Everything about him was a warning and I didn’t trust him past the front door just four feet away.

“I have a couple of questions for you, Skylar.”

He was so close that all he had to do was just bend down and his lips would have easily touched mine.

“I have some questions of my own, do you mind if I ask them first?” I countered.

I appraised him for a long time, then looked down at his hand, now holding mine. Demetrius’s attractiveness disguised his cruel proclivities. He was dangerous, and no amount of gentle reassurance and touching would ever make me forget it.

He inched closer, amused by my attention. His head tilted with a look of intrigue and curiosity, so I finally asked my question.

“Is this supposed to be seductive or creepy? I want to cast my vote as it being creepy. So. Very. Creepy. And on the perv scale of 1 through 10”—I looked down at my hand as he slowly and rhythmically brushed against it, a prelude to what I assumed was more unwanted fondling—“I’m going to give it a hard 9.”

His movements were fluid and graceful as he released his grasp but his fingers trailed along the sides of my hand, slowly and steadily. He stepped back, his smile dwindling to a smirk as his eyes narrowed to study me with a new and odd interest. He looked at me, but directed his comment to Sebastian. “She’s turned out to be more than any of us could have expected. Your protégée is quite something. It must be nice to have been given unformed clay that you can mold into what you want. I for one enjoy the challenge of a wild one that needs to be broken. It’s invigorating.”

“Okay. Am I the only one taking issue with this conversation? Anyone? ‘Wild one’? ‘Broken’?” I demanded, meeting everyone’s gaze in the room.

Sebastian studied me for a few moments and then chuckled. “Unformed clay?” He chortled again at this. “I wasn’t given unformed clay. Instead I was handed a fully molded statue, glazed with obstinacy, audaciousness, and the tenacity of a bull. I do believe whatever you are giving, whether it was a compliment or a thinly veiled insult, should be directed solely to Skylar; this is none of my doing but her own.”

Really! Even after our nice dinner together?
I guess Sebastian wasn’t taking credit for the mess he considered me to be. There was truly an insult in his comment but the obvious look of respect belied it.

S
ebastian turned
his attention to Demetrius, who had a patent on smug arrogance that not even Ethan could wear with as much casual ease as he did. “Looking at the state of your Seethe and the people in it,
you
seem to be the one being broken. It’s my understanding that Chris has left you.
Hmm.
That had to hurt,” Sebastian said. They hated each other and most dealings involved poorly veiled insults and threats.

Chris is gone?

“Yes, Chris chose to leave, but I am aware of the consequences of choosing the women that I do.”

Sable laughed. It still possessed the jovial sound and gentle cadence of a person who hadn’t seen the violence and horror that she had. It was pure, and for a moment, I nearly forgot what she was.

Since Demetrius was involved with Michaela, I wasn’t sure why choosing other women was an option. I just didn’t understand their polyamorous relationship.

Eyeing Sebastian, Demetrius twisted his lips into a mirthless grin. “I do hope you find Kelly,” he said. It was an underhanded slight. The pack prided themselves on keeping those they considered protected safe. If Kelly was indeed missing, this would be the second time they failed, and I knew it didn’t sit well with Sebastian.

Demetrius seemed pleased with the response he lured from Sebastian—anger. I understood why he was so quick to assist: he considered Kelly a replacement for Chris.

His features relaxed. He smirked and maintained his hold on my hand. “Tell me, Skylar, do you plan to attack all the women in my life?” He stepped closer, and the threat in his eyes wasn’t belied by the small smile that lingered on his lips. “I must warn you, if you break them, I expect you to replace them.”

“I am sure they would be delighted to find out that you are outsourcing for their replacement if they can no longer perform their duties as concubine and/or Mistress,” I snarked.

“There needs to be no more discussion of this. If you break them, you will replace them or maybe even take their place.” He tilted his head and spoke softly. “I am curious, why aren’t you and Michaela getting along?”

Well Demetrius, your partner and I aren’t getting along because she is a self-indulgent psycho who doesn’t care about anyone’s feelings or happiness other than hers, but you already know that. It’s probably the reason you chose her and are drawn to her.
I wanted to say it, but instead I said this: “Michaela and I are fine.” I moved closer to Sebastian. I didn’t trust Demetrius and wasn’t foolish enough to believe that his desire to please Michaela wouldn’t trump all—if I was in the way of her happiness he’d be content to eliminate me. I knew that, and the charcoal crystal gaze that stared at me with intent supported my assumptions.

“I do not enjoy it when she is dissatisfied,” he said.

“Yeah, I got the memo. The world needs to bend and reshape to make sure Michaela is happy,” I said. “Because apparently her happiness is of the utmost importance to everyone and if we haven’t taken notice, we should.”

The obligatory smile stayed on his lips but his eyes hardened. “Quell is hers. It is important that you understand that.”

“And I foolishly thought he was his own person.”

He moved too fast and was in front of me before I could react. Sebastian quickly stepped between us, his eyes narrowed to slits, as he assumed a defensive stance. “It has been addressed. Skylar has no such control of Quell as Michaela has over him. She will not be held responsible for his actions or feelings,” Sebastian touted, baring his teeth in the same manner that Demetrius had. Yes, Demetrius’s could be used as weapons, but I was sure, if necessary, Sebastian would find a way to use his that way, too.