Mark of Betrayal (60 page)

He looked weary, worn. He rubbed his brow and walked past me. “Night terrors.”

“
Night terrors?” I looked at Jason's door. “Is he okay?”

“
He’s asleep now. As should you be.”

“
I heard my name being called.”

Arthur dropped his hand from his brow and pressed it to my back, guiding me down the corridor. “He was calling for you in his sleep.”

“
Why?”

He sighed. “Who do you think he was dreaming about?”

My heart tightened. “Is it…does he dream about the tortu…”

“
Yes,” he cut in. “Leave it in the past, Amara. It’s late.”

And that was that. He walked ahead and disappeared, leaving me in the darkness of the second floor corridor.

I looked up at Falcon. “Night terrors.”

He nodded. “Guilty conscience.”

“
But…he shouldn't be feeling guilt.”

“
He wouldn't be human if he didn't, Ara.”

I smiled. “He’s not human.”

“
Yes, he is. He’s just an immortal human.”

The evening chatter seemed to be louder tonight, the people alive with the presence of our newcomer. And though I was feeling quite refreshed from having seen my husband yesterday, I still found myself looking at his empty chair.

Morgaine hardly took her eyes off Mike all night, and he’d hardly touched his food, even Eric was quiet. None of the knights were yelling jokes down the table at each other and the tell-tale sign that Arthur was in some deep pit of turmoil was when Margret forced her opinions around about the reign of Genghis Kahn, and he just sat there, with nothing to say. Her theories were enough to make
me
choke. In fact, the only time Arthur came to life was to rap Jason across the back of the head every time he leaned forward to gawk at me.

On the bright side, at least Mike and Arthur shared one thing in common, for once; they both wanted to flatten Jason.

The same conversations we’d had nearly every night continued down the table, except, tonight, Jason was joining in. I tuned out most of it, since it was all irrelevant; my husband was alive, so, who the father of my child should be really wasn't important.

“
These discussions have gone on long enough,” Walter said. “Fact is, we need a new king and an heir—the prophecy is of little significance at this point.”

“
Well, I’ll do it.” Jason shrugged; everyone looked at him. “Even if the queen doesn’t love me, I’ll be more than happy to step into my brother’s role.”

“
And what a powerful king you would be, too,” Old Margret said, grinning bashfully at Jason. “I’ve only heard stories of your talents.”

He winked at her. “Even then, I bet you haven’t heard the half of it.”

You tease!

He looked over at me and scratched his nose, attempting to hide his laughter.

“
Yes, imagine the gifts their child—our future queen—would possess,” Walter said.

“
Remarkable,” another said.

“
I still believe she should pair with Arthur. He is, after all, a firstborn son,” a vampire woman said. “Perhaps we can achieve the prophecy child, and I am sure Arthur would make a great king.”

“
Can we stop deliberating who my best friend needs to have sex with, please?” Mike said and dropped his head into hands. “We’re at the damn dinner table, for God’s sake.”

I reached over and pried his hand away from his hair. “It’s okay, Mike.”

“
No. It’s not.” He looked around at everyone. “Forget the prophecy child. She is not having sex with him or him!” He pointed at both Arthur and Jason.

“
I disagree. I think she should unite with her former husband’s brother. If the prophecy child was supposed to be with blood of David Knight, then surely his own DNA would suffice in place.”

“
Yes, in magic this works, too,” Grey Beard said. “With a spell based on one’s blood, a twin can offer themselves up in place.”

“
But,” the other grey beard man said. “Our runes never predicted anything which indicated your child need be blood of a firstborn, or that she would be powerful—only that there were two options; one path would lead to the end of all this, the other would see it resolved but not final.”

A few arguments broke out across the table. I looked at Morgaine.

“
Ara, what matters is what Drake believes,” she said, obviously sensing my confusion. “He’s the one we’re running from.”

“
Okay, but, what does it matter if we have a prophecy child or not, I—”

“
Because she is the one foretold to free the Damned,” Morg said, practically singing each word out in an impatient tone.

“
I disagree.” I folded my arms, finally ready to challenge her. “You said the prophecy foretold her making a change, seeing an end to Drake, not that no one else could.”

“
I agree with Ara,” Jason said, smiling as if he’d been in our conversation the whole time. “Our queen may be the key.”

“
Shut up, Jason. You're just saying that because you want to be the one who fathers the child!” Morgaine spat.

Jason sat back in his chair, his smug grin making him look incredibly cute. “Last I checked, prophecies foretold events that
happen
. If this child were meant to be with my brother, he wouldn't have died. It was always meant to be me.”

“
I agree,” said a woman. “I say they marry at once.”

Mike spat his food out on his plate, coughing.

“
Well, for now, we’ll just see what happens.” I looked at Mike then Arthur. “Jason and I aren’t even together.”

“
Well, your majesty, you have a duty to uphold.” Margret sipped her drink, her pinkie in the air beside her goblet. “I agree with Francine; you should marry tomorrow and conceive immediately.”

“
Now, just a minute.” Mike stood up. “Ara is only nineteen. There are plenty of years for a child.”

“
That may be so—” Arthur stood too and glared at me, “—but she has a responsibility to her people. If there is a possibility of a child, she should take it.”

“
That’s it. There are to be no more discussions about this,” Mike said, slamming his hands on the table.

“
Perhaps you’d be more willing to discuss it if
you
were among the options,” Arthur said.

“
This has nothing to do with my feelings for Ara. She is a young girl, goddamn it, and I won't see her forced to have a child with someone she doesn't love.”

“
Well you've got no choice. Neither does she.” He pointed at me, his face red with fury. “None of us bloody well do.” His voice softened on the end and he walked briskly from the room, shaking his head.

A wash of stunned silence rolled over the table until, one by one, everyone went back to their meals and Mike sat down.

“
Mike?”

He looked at me, clearly biting his teeth together inside his mouth.

“
None of this matters.” I motioned around the table, referring to the topic of childbearing with other men. “Our
informant
will see to it.”

He looked around, probably checking no one caught on to my not-so-cryptic remark. “That's not what this is about, Ara.”

“
Well, what are you so upset about?”

He sat back in his chair, shaking his head, then exhaled and pushed out from the table.

“
Mike?” I called, but he kept walking.

“
Wow, this party is getting smaller and smaller,” Morgaine said.

“
What’s wrong with him, Morg?”

“
He’ll be all right,” she said. “He was kind of hoping the people wouldn't support a union with anyone else for a while.”

“
Why?”

“
Because they can make you marry and sleep with Jason if that’s who they choose.”

“
Really?”

“
Yes. Why do you think Lilith hated Peter so much?”

“
Oh.” I smiled down at my empty plate. “And Mike’s worried I might end up with more than one husband?”

“
Yes.”

“
He’ll have to get over it,” Jason said, sitting in Mike’s chair.

Morgaine’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. “You’d better hope Mike doesn't come back and see you sitting—”

“
Shut up, Morg.” He threw a pea at her from Mike’s plate. “I'm not afraid of him.”

“
Should be,” she scoffed under her breath.

“
So—” he grinned, leaning closer, “—care to sneak away from this dreary evening?”

“
No way!” Morgaine sat forward, throwing her napkin down.

I rolled my eyes. “Morg, stay out of it.”

“
No. Mike will freak.”

“
Yeah, and Mike is about this close to getting replaced by Falcon.” I held up an imaginary tiny thing between my fingers, “He needs to chill out. He’s making me tense all the time.”

“
You wouldn’t replace him.”

“
Yes, Morg. I would.” I stood up with Jason. “I can only take so much of his over-protectiveness.”

“
It’s for a good reason, Amara.”

“
Well, Jason is officially my boyfriend, now.” I stared her down. “If my
advisor
says it’s a good idea, then you can damn well go along with it, Morg. Discussion closed.”

She sat back, folding her arms, practically resting her bottom lip in her lap with its pout.

“
I've never been in the Garden of Strategy before,” I said, strolling over the squares of marble and grass, patterned like a chessboard.

“
Elysium has one just like it,” Jason said.

“
Did anyone ever hold a game here?” I nodded to the decaying ruins of stone pawns and knights, their cracks bleeding vines and moss.

“
Once.” He nodded, keeping his gaze ahead of us. We strolled along, quiet then, until we reached the end of the manor, just below his room and, above that, my windows. We both looked up, my head turning slightly to the side to catch his thoughtful gaze.

“
What is it, Jase?”

“
Can I talk to you in private?”

“
Sure. We could go to the Garden of Lilith,” I suggested. “The guards aren’t allowed in there.”

He looked over his shoulder to Blade, standing in the shadows, playing with his phone, not too concerned about what we were doing or saying. “I’d rather go someplace else they’re not allowed to go.”

“
Where?”

“
Up.” He grabbed my hand, grinning, and jumped into the air, taking me with him. I felt his arms wrap my waist and barely had time to hold my breath before we flew through the open window and into his room.

“
Jerk!” I shoved him when he released me to the safety of the floor.

He just laughed and wandered over to light a lantern. The room came to life under its golden flame and he sat down on the foot of his bed, placing the lantern on his blanket box. “Come. Sit.”

I plonked down right on his hand; he moved it, clearly finding my sudden moodiness quite amusing.

“
I'm going to get in trouble now, you know. You should have told me you were gonna do that,” I said.

“
Why? Then Blade could’ve stopped us.”

“
Exactly.” I folded my arms.

“
Don't do that.” He shoved his hand between the fold and pushed them down. “You know damn well you would have come anyway, if I asked you.”

I smirked at his smirk. “Okay. Fine. I would. But, just tell me next time you're going to hoist me a few feet into the air.”

“
Sure thing.” He laid back on the bed, his hands behind his head.

I could smell the strong, aromatic spice of his cologne, coming up from the heat under his shirt, and I wanted to lay on his chest and sniff him. He was just so gorgeously human.

“
You like human?” he said.

“
Stay out of my head!” I slapped his chest, letting my hand fall down on the bed right by his ribs. In truth, I didn't really want him to stay out of my head; I liked it. I missed when David used to be able to read my mind. Things had become so complicated since I had to explain my thoughts and emotions to him now.

“
So, he can’t read your mind anymore—at all?”

I shook my head. “We were working on projecting thoughts, and I could sometimes read his mind—”
when we were having sex
, “—but I can’t really control it yet.”

“
Maybe I can help you.” He rubbed the side of my arm, rolling up a little. “I'm kind of an expert.”

“
It’s not really that important.”

“
Sounds like it is.”

I shrugged one shoulder, looking around his room; it had so much personality already, like he’d gathered things from his childhood and brought them here. There was a baseball glove and ball on his drawer top, his wallet on his nightstand, a gold-trimmed picture frame with a drawing of what I assumed was Arietta, and a pair of jeans, a shirt and two socks on the floor by the foot of his bed. It seemed like he was kind of untidy, like me. I glanced over at the stack of books on the wooden table by the fireplace, sitting under his Yankees cap, but couldn't make out the titles on the spine. I wondered if he sat up late reading them, avoiding sleep—avoiding the nightmares. “Hey, Jase?”