Lunar Bound, page 27
part #4 of Sky Brooks World: Ethan Series
“Okay,” I laughed. “Deal.”
“And.” He half raised an index finger for emphasis. “You’ll help me get the little redhead girl that lives across the street.”
Gavin gave me a puzzled scowl. I cocked my head at Josh, not sure if he was joking. The van rocked slightly as we turned onto the private road that led to the retreat.
“Josh,” I said. “I think that’s Charlie Brown.”
He chuckled. “Oh, yeah.”
In the pack’s infirmary, Dr. Baker gave Josh something to keep him awake. It also made him a pain in the ass. While Dr. Baker worked to stem his bleeding and start Josh on fluids, he demanded that Dr. Baker abandon Josh’s live-saving treatment to tend to London’s crushed leg. Even when Dr. Baker began her treatment, Josh was barking out suggestions.
“Josh,” I growled, “you have to hold still.”
He snarled something about fucking myself to hell.
So much for our brotherly camaraderie from the SUV.
“Josh! Calm down.”
Launching into a rant, he expanded on all the ways I could fuck myself. I let him go on, nodding encouragement along the way. While he was focused on me, Dr. Baker did his best for London’s leg. Only after her bones had been set and a cast placed around her leg did Josh finally calm down enough for Dr. Baker to finish attending his wound. Once the stitches were complete and Josh was quiet, I slipped out of the infirmary to take a much-needed break.
Sky found me there, leaning against a wall.
From the infirmary, we heard a testy Dr. Baker exclaim, “Would you let me do my job?”
Sky gave me a sheepish look. “Josh?”
“Of course, because apparently being a witch is equivalent to holding a medical license.”
The corner of her mouth bent into a slight smirk.
“I’ll be staying with you for a while,” I said as she started toward the doors. Her smile faded. Reluctance quickly became relieved resignation.
“Should I stay here?” she asked.
I tensed. There wasn’t anywhere safe against Ethos now. He had broken Josh’s blood wards with ease. With his transport spell, he could turn up anywhere, anytime. Eventually, he would come for her. I’d have to keep her glued to my side until we could find a way to kill him. Even so, I wasn’t sure I could stop Ethos alone. Even with the pack’s best, we’d barely managed to chase him away.
Sky’s brow furrowed as she read my concern. Cursing myself, I wrapped my arms around her and gently kissed her forehead. We remained close, taking comfort from our shared embrace until she broke the silence.
“Your skills with magic seem to be improving.” She pulled back enough to search my gaze. Whatever she found there, she latched onto. “Do I know everything about you, Ethan?”
I grinned, doing my best to seem natural. “Of course not. That could take forever.”
“Not about that. About magic. I feel like there is more.”
“You know everything that is needed to be known.” I started toward the clinic. She gripped my arm, guiding me back from the door.
“I need to check on Josh,” I complained.
“Don’t hide things from me, because I always find out.”
Not everything. “Of course you do,” I said, amused. “I need to go check on Josh.”
“I know.” She smiled. “But don’t be you when you go in there.”
“Who exactly should I be?”
“Someone who can be reasoned with. A person who believes that others’ opinions have merit and his way isn’t the only way.”
I stared back at her, confused.
She sighed, gave up on subtlety. “Don’t fight with your brother, please.”
Inside the clinic, I found Josh sitting up in a bed, running his fingers over the numerous stitches on his stomach. Tattoos covered his arms, chest, and back. Surprisingly, his stomach was clear of them. His intense gaze fixed on London in a neighboring bed. Steven sat in a chair next to her, gently encouraging her as she tried to raise her casted leg without using her hands. Her mood was foul, understandably so.
“How are you?” I asked her.
She stopped to glare at me. “I want to go home.”
Josh slid off his bed onto his feet, winced. He clutched at his stitching as he hobbled toward her. I wanted to stop him, force him back to his bed, but thought better of it.
She tensed at his approach, refused to even look at him.
He pleaded, “London.”
The room filled with magic that had to be hers, but it was different than what I’d felt at her house. Her magic, like her, brimmed with anger and fear. With a twitch of her finger, she brushed Josh backward several feet. He grabbed at a counter to keep from stumbling.
“I want to go home,” she insisted, fixing a determined stare on me. “Now.”
She jumped off the bed in an attempt to be imposing, but was too weak. Steven caught her before she fell to the floor. Frustrated, she sobbed into her shirt.
Unable to help her, Josh was crushed. The feeling was familiar. I empathized with him.
“Just let her go home,” Steven said. “Can’t Jeremy check on her there?”
I looked to Josh. Guilt weighed heavily on his sullen mood. I knew that watching someone else comfort her had to cut him to the quick. He looked to me and I knew he wanted me to order her to stay. Ethos wanted her to host Maya, but his first concern was getting control of Sky. For the moment, London was safest away from us.
“Of course,” I said.
She needed crutches. The pack didn’t keep them around because were-animals heeled too quickly to make use of them. Sky and Steven helped her to one of the pack’s SUVs while Josh shuffled uselessly behind, wincing at each step. Once London was securely in the vehicle, the others joined her and they drove off.
The next twenty-four hours were tense. Josh restored the blood ward around Sky’s house, but it was just a glorified alarm. If Ethos wanted in, he’d break it easily. We were both convinced it was only a matter of time before he showed up, more likely sooner than later. We didn’t share our fears with Sky. Worrying her wouldn’t help, so we lied. While convincing her that Ethos wasn’t likely to show up anytime soon, one of us was always at her side.
I stayed with Sky. At night I curled up in wolf form at the end of her bed. Josh took the guest room. He seemed to have abandoned his earlier jealousy. I could thank London for that. His mood had lifted since taking London home. They’d eventually talked out what had happened in the field with Ethos, how she had ended up there. She’d made her choice, but that did nothing for Josh’s guilt. I appreciated his newfound desire to take responsibility. We were all relieved that her leg would heal. Thanks to Dr. Baker, there would be no major side effects.
Expecting Ethos, Josh and I had worked out our plan. Josh’s job was to transport Sky to safety, then bring reinforcements. My role was to keep Ethos busy until Sky and Josh were safe—probably a suicide mission, but I let Josh believe I could hold out long enough for help to arrive.
At lunch the next day, I reminded Sky that she had a training session with Sebastian at six o’clock.
Her expression contorted in disbelief. “Seriously?”
I smiled. “Sebastian never cancels a training session.”
Just before six, we arrived at the retreat gym to find him waiting. Several swords were laid out on a table. I watched from the stairs.
I knew firsthand that he was an unrelenting teacher. For four hours, he put Sky through her paces, punishing and then correcting every mistake. She learned on a bell curve. The going was rough at first. Eventually, she caught on. I watched as Sebastian swiped her leg for the seventh time, then she surprised him. She landed on her butt with her sword arm extended, ready to defend. Fending off his attacks, she rose to her knee, then to her feet. After a quick parry, she drove her pommel into his solar plexus, followed with the other fist to Sebastian’s knee. He fell with her towering over him, the point of her blade at his throat.
He grinned, as did I.
She found her success suspicious. “Did you let me win?”
“It was a good sequence. It would have worked with anyone.” Coming to his feet, he placed the sword aside. “See you tomorrow, same time.”
“I slayed you. How about eight?”
He chuckled as he walked passed me up the stairs. “You defended yourself well. Six o’clock, Skylar.”
She grinned at me, proud. “I kind of kicked Sebastian’s ass.”
Aroused, I took her in my arms, brushed my lips against her cheek. “You did very well.”
My lips brushed hers. My hands roved to her hips as I walked her back against a cushioned wall. Our kisses were hard, eager, as I tugged off her shirt and tossed it aside. Hungry for her, my lips traced the curve of her neck, embraced the softness of her breasts. Her aroused heart pounded in my ears. My lips tasted the firmness of her stomach while I pulled off her jeans. Eager for more, I rose, lifting her. Her legs wrapped around my hips.
“Ethan,” she whispered, suddenly reminded of where we were. “Someone can—”
My lips covered hers, kissing her hard as I plunged into her. The grip of her legs tightened around me, pulling me in as I thrust. Our carnal desires became a single, primal need. Our ragged breaths became indistinguishable as our passions consumed us until we reached our pleasure together. We clung to each other as the moment subsided, kissed each other. Unwilling to leave her embrace, my hands gripped her thighs, keeping her legs secured around me.
I pressed my forehead to her, inhaled her scent.
Catching her breath, she whispered, “Should I be freaked out that kicking Sebastian’s ass turns you on? Because I need to tell you this is all kinds of strange. And a little twisted.”
I kissed her. “Winter has trained you well.”
She kissed me back.
CHAPTER 13
That evening, in human form, I fell asleep next to Sky. Some time in the night, I snapped awake to the jarring vibration of Josh’s blood ward shattering.
Sky and I reached the living room to find Josh drawing magic to him. Before I could speak, the front door burst into splinters. A wolf charged through, leapt onto him. Distracted, his magic disappeared. He landed on his back, the snarling wolf on his chest.
I stepped in front of Sky. Before I could reach Josh, a wave of dark magic rushed into the room and threw us against the wall, pinning us there. Josh remained still beneath the wolf, its bared teeth inches from his throat.
A smug Ethos in human form strolled over the debris of the front door. His violet eyes flashed as Sky and I struggled to free ourselves, a futile gesture. His magic was too strong. In the face of it, my own magic paled.
Without even acknowledging us, he strode into Sky’s room and emerged with the glowing Aufero in his hand. It tried to erect a protective field. Ethos dismissed it with a casual gesture. I felt the orb’s magic rush to Sky, responding to her call. She turned it back on Ethos, slamming him first against the wall, then the floor. Furious, Ethos slammed his hands onto the floor. A circle of fire erupted around Sky, the flames threatening her.
“That’s for you,” he declared.
Fear overwhelmed Sky as the flames closed in around her. In her panic, she forgot about the Aufero. While she was distracted, Ethos muttered a quick incantation over the orb. A black fog enveloped me, sucking the oxygen from my lungs. I gasped, struggling for breath in a vacuum.
Ethos released me from the wall. My oxygen-deprived limbs couldn’t do more than break my fall as I collapsed to the floor. The struggle to breathe became all consuming. Fear raced through me as I realized there was nothing I could do to break through the fog. The panicked pounding of my heart drummed in my skull, but quickly faded. My mouth hung open, fighting for even a molecule of oxygen. The void left no crumbs. My vision went black. The last faint beat of my heart carried me into darkness.
Nothingness became a gasping breath. My lungs screamed. Pain pulsed through my skull, along with a dark buzzing I’d hoped never to feel again. The sound of Ethos’s voice nearby sent my fragile heart racing.
“He will be as he should have been.”
Darkness returned, but at least I was alive.
I woke to a dark vibration that hummed in my body like a ringing in my ear—the dark elf magic. Sky had used the Aufero to remove that magic. Fucking Ethos had given it back to me.
Sky’s voice spoke near me. “Ethan?”
My eyelids fluttered open, revealing the infirmary. Familiar faces crowded me: Sebastian, Winter, Dr. Baker, Steven, Gavin. Josh sat in a chair next to the bed while Sky stood nearby. They were both watching me. She started forward to touch me.
“Don’t,” I snapped.
She recoiled.
I’d almost killed her once with the dark elf death magic, just by touching her. I’d learned to control it before, but could I control it now? I was afraid to find out.
Josh’s brow furrowed. “Are you okay?”
He asked several more times before I snapped back, “I’m fine.”
Dr. Baker cleared his throat. “Perhaps we should leave him be.”
Sky remained while the others left. Josh, reluctant, was the last to leave. When Sky tried to touch me again, I growled, rolled off the bed onto my feet and into a corner of the room.
“You were able to control it before.”
“I know,” I said, wondering if I’d kill anyone before I learned to control it again. “It’ll take time.”
She extended her hand to me, whispered, “Come with me.”
I blanked at her hand, read the confidence in her expression. Slowly, her confidence in me became contagious, enough for me to reach out and touch her hand—tentative, at first. The warmth of her fingers brushed the buzzing from my mind, for a moment.
I didn’t kill her.
Relieved, I took her hand. Stepping closer, I lightly kissed her lips.
She led me out of the house and into the backyard. Watching me, she stripped off her clothes and stood naked, waiting for me to do the same.
I grinned. “Not so modest, are you?”
“Yeah.” She glanced around. “It is still odd standing outside naked for the world to see all my lady parts.”
Anticipating the relief of my wolf, I stripped, shifted, then darted into the woods. Sky followed, but slowly fell behind. My wolf was twice the size of hers. Realizing I’d lost her, I turned back and found her in a small patch of grass beneath a pine tree. After an affectionate nudge with my nose, I brushed my face against her neck. Then I licked her. Her head snapped around and I narrowly avoided her playful nip. When I tried again, she bared her teeth. I grinned.
Deciding to rest, I dropped down into the grass and laid my snout on my paws. The dark elf magic didn’t affect my wolf. In animal form, I felt like myself. With Sky near me, I was in no hurry to return to the house. Eventually, I’d have to shift and deal with the situation at hand. Ethos hadn’t taken Sky, to my relief. But he had the Aufero, which gave him all of the protected objects except the Vitae. Claudia was the Vitae’s Moura. Ethos would be coming for her and Josh, next.
I brushed those thoughts aside as Sky nestled into the grass next to me.
Marcia emerged from hiding to call a conclave, inviting every sect of the otherworld. No explanation was given. We all knew it had to do with me. Ethos was playing his game, using Marcia as his pawn. I was a dark elf again, and she knew it. The conclave was a trap. It was also an opportunity.
Sebastian drove, with me, Josh, Winter, and Sky in the back of the SUV. Gavin and Steven followed close behind in a second vehicle.
“Why are we going?” Sky demanded. “There isn’t anything forcing us to go. Just because Marcia calls some kind of conclave doesn’t mean we have to accept.”
“Skylar,” Sebastian said. “We need to go. If it goes well, we have an opportunity to end the covenant. If we don’t go, it would be an insult and slight to all involved and make us look guilty.”
“We are guilty!” She gestured to me. “We violated it. So why the hell are we going?”
Her frustration peaked as we pulled into the driveway of a single-story stone building isolated on a grassy plain. The few windows were blacked out.
“You don’t have to go,” she insisted to me. “We don’t have to go.”
I sighed, sagging in my seat. “What do you think will happen if we don’t, Sky?”
She didn’t have an answer, which only frustrated her further.
The steel front door opened on our approach. Bernard greeted us wearing tortoiseshell-framed glasses and an impeccable gray suit. I wasn’t sure what capacity he held. He served the Creed but was mindful of his own interests, which made him a vulnerability. Claudia had something on him once. He’d reluctantly come to the retreat at her behest to advise us regarding Kelly’s illness. I made a mental note to look into his life, for future leverage.
“This way,” he said, barely masking his disdain. He pushed the glasses up onto his nose, then led us into a narrow hallway. At the second door, he stopped. Two large men emerged from another door behind him in a show of support.
One of the men addressed Sebastian. “We will need your weapons.”
“We don’t have any.”
“Do you mind if we check?”
Sebastian responded with a mirthless smile. If we were going to defy Marcia’s call, we wouldn’t have bothered to show up. She was provoking us, hoping for a reaction. He nodded, his steady gaze fixed on the guard patting him down. It was a momentary insult. The guards weren’t satisfied with the handful of knives they confiscated from Sky. They’d expected more.
Backing out of our way, they remained wary, the bulk of their attention fixed on Sebastian and me.
We were directed through a door that led to a large open room. Runes were scrolled across the wall, a spell that inhibited us from changing to our animals—another insult, but nothing new. A long wooden table extended across the far end of the chamber. From the center seat, Marcia fixed an anxious gaze on Josh, staring out from deep-set eyes. Her thin lips were pressed into a hard, flat line.
