The Wicked Within

SIX

GOD, HE WAS SUCH AN Ass.

Guilt hounded him, sank into his body like a heavy weight as he jogged to the third floor. He could hear Ari’s footsteps retreating. He’d lied to her. He stood there and lied to her face, told her everything was fine. Fine. Was that word ever uttered in truth?

It was possible for Ari’s curse to be removed—needle in a haystack to make that happen, but it could happen. If only the same could be said for him. If only there was a way to go back . . .

But there wasn’t a way. Vampirism wasn’t a disease or a curse. It was a product of evolution, a divergence off the human family tree eons ago. Not every Bloodborn vampire drank blood. Not every half human, half vampire drank blood. Blood was simply the catalyst that changed the body. Humans who’d been turned into vampires were different; they had to have blood from the time of their turning and onward. But those born to vampire parents had a choice. If they could avoid the catalyst—ingesting blood—they’d never change. But it was so hard to resist. Most rarely did.

But he had. He’d resisted. There’d been no doubt in his mind that he’d never take blood. And then Athena came along. With the aid of Zaria, her vampire servant, they’d drained him, denied him food, tempted him with blood. Tempted him with Ari. And he hadn’t been able to resist her once she slit her skin and offered to save him.

The only thing left to do now was try like hell to get a handle on it. For newbies like him, his near-constant desire for blood was normal. It’d take years to master control, years for his body to calm the hell down. He knew that. He knew all this . . . chaos . . . was normal. He just didn’t want it. And he sure as hell didn’t want Ari, or his father, or the kids to start looking at him differently. More than anything, he didn’t want to see fear or disgust in their eyes.

He was torn between hiding his blood lust and saying fuck it, letting them all see. But he couldn’t risk losing them. He knew intimately what it was like to lose, to suffer that kind of loss. First his mother, then his father, for a decade. After the day he’d had, going through his mother’s things, it only made his decision clearer. He didn’t want to chance it, not again. Not with everyone he cared about.

At the third-floor landing he paused, staring at the large doors that led into the assembly room. All nine members of the Novem council were inside. They were the heads of the prominent families who had long histories in New 2. Three from the vampire families of Arnaud, Mandeville, and Baptiste; three from the witch families of Hawthorne, Cromley, and Lamarliere; and three from the demigod/shifter families of Ramsey, Deschanel, and Sinclair.

The heirs would be inside as well. The next-in-lines. Some were too young to realize what a massive responsibility it was to be head of a family, like Bran’s daughter Kieran. And some were far older than Sebastian, with families of their own, such as Nikolai Deschanel’s grown son, Hunter. But others, like Gabriel Baptiste and his three cronies, were bloated on their own importance. If that was what the Novem had to look forward to, the council would not last long once the heirs took control.

Sebastian drew in a deep breath, placed his hand on the door, and entered. All eyes shifted in his direction. The Novem heads sat around a large oval table, while the heirs sat on chairs along the walls.

He met his father’s intelligent gray eyes and dipped his head. He could feel Josephine’s dark stare, feel her satisfaction, and he knew if he looked at her now, he’d see the small smile playing on her lips, the smile that said, “I’ve won. You’re mine.”

Whatever.

He went to the empty seat, wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible, when a chair grated across the hardwood floor and a figure stood. Sebastian froze. Shock crashed through him, lighting every nerve. His heart started to pound. The figure turned and looked right at him.

Zaria.

Memories flashed through his head, unbidden and unstoppable. Zaria offering him her wrist, tempting him every night in Athena’s temple until he broke, until he became a monster. Her eyes traveled up and down his body, and then her lush red lips drew into a knowing smile.

Rage incinerated everything but his desire for revenge.

He was at her throat before he knew what had happened.

The council surged to their feet as his fingers closed around Zaria’s throat. She didn’t fight back. Her gaze remained glued to his, amused, calculating, challenging. He was going to rip her fucking head off.

“Bastian,” his father’s calm voice reached through the dazed fury. It was a sad tone, a tone that said he understood his son’s pain. Michel knew what had happened to Sebastian, and he knew what it was like to be Athena’s prisoner. He understood completely.

Another hand clasped his shoulder, and he shrugged it off violently. Someone grabbed his arm in a steely grip. It was Bran. He could smell him. His senses were on overdrive. All around him, he knew where everyone stood, who was holding back and who wanted to pull him from the bitch in his grasp.

He was panting. Red clouded his vision.

“You going to do it or not, Bastian, my love?” Zaria crooned.

The sound of her voice sickened him. He fought for control, fought to rise up from the rage and find his voice. “What do you want?” he ground out, his fingers easing on her throat.

“I didn’t come here for you. I can see how upset that makes you, darling. I’m here on business. Athena’s business.”

His grip went tighter at the goddess’s name.

“Sebastian. Let her go, son. This is not the time.” Then his father’s voice dropped to a chilling tone directed at Zaria. “There will come a time, that I promise you.” His voice went gentle again. “Your revenge must wait, Bastian. Another time, another place.”

Michel’s words finally sank in. Another time. Another place. But soon. Soon, she’d pay for her hand in torturing him, in wrecking everything. He shoved Zaria back with enough force that she struck the table and went sprawling over its surface. Anger filled her cheeks. Yeah. She didn’t like that, looking weak. She straightened, righting her blouse and skirt.

Bran and Michel blocked his path, but he angled through them without a word and slumped into his seat. So many eyes were on him, but he didn’t care. His heart still raced and adrenaline still flooded his system. His knee bounced relentlessly.

After everyone found their seats again, the meeting proceeded.

“Well,” Rowen Hawthorne said as she tucked a strand of long blond hair behind her ear, “that was fun. Now that we’re all here . . . ” Her attention went to Zaria. “Our surprise visitor has come via synagraphus, or safe-conduct,” she said for the benefit of the younger heirs unfamiliar with the Latin term. “I hand it over to you.”

Zaria drew in a breath and seemed to go right back into temptress mode. “Athena is not dead. Sorry to disappoint you,” she said slyly. “She sends me with a message. As you are all well aware, she wants what was in Anesidora’s Jar when it was gifted to your ancestors.”

Sebastian sat straighter. Shit. He knew where this was headed.

“Athena wants the Hands of Zeus. Let’s not play coy and kid ourselves. By now most of you have likely guessed what they are and why she wants them. But none of that matters. What matters is that you return what is hers.”

“Why would we do that?” Josephine asked in a casual tone that Sebastian knew was far from the truth.

“Why not? You have no need of them.”

Josephine drummed her perfectly manicured nails on the table. “I think we do. I think keeping the Hands in our possession keeps Athena in line. And keeps us safe.”

Murmurs of agreement went around the room.

Zaria seemed unaffected. “And that is why Athena has offered Donum Essentia Dea to the one who returns her property.”

Gasps echoed through the room. More than a few Novem went pale. Michel sat back in his chair, stunned. Bran let out a low whistle. And the tension in the room just shot sky-high. Sebastian had no idea what Donum Essentia Dea was, and from their confused looks, neither did any of the other heirs. Finally Hunter spoke up. “For those of us Latin-challenged attendees, mind telling us what that is exactly?”

Sebastian found it odd that the person most affected by Zaria’s words was Josephine. She looked as though she was about to be sick, while Zaria looked like the Cheshire cat. Whatever offering she made had just turned the tables in a major way.

Looks of warning passed around the table. It was clear the Novem didn’t want the heirs to know.

“All they have to do is look it up and put the pieces together,” Nell Cromley said. When no one took the initiative, she pushed back from the table and stood. “  Donum Essentia Dea is the act of gifting the essence of a god, or in this case, goddess. It means Athena has just offered everything that makes her who she is. Her immortality and all her accumulated power in exchange for the Hands of Zeus. She’s offering to make one of us a god.”

“She can do that?” Kieran asked her father in disbelief.

Bran answered, his deep voice resigned. “Aye. She can. She can give it all up and become mortal.”

The heirs went silent. And Sebastian was no exception. Athena was willing to give up her immortality, to be human, to get her kid back.

Zaria gazed over the assembly with a satisfied expression. “I’d suggest watching your backs from now on.” She pivoted and sauntered to the door, waving a hand as she went. “Good luck. You’re gonna need it.” And then she disappeared into thin air.

As soon as she left, Bran glared at each Novem head. “Stop. Stop it right now. Do not let this divide us. That’s exactly what she wants, and you know it.”

“The Hands are currently in the library, correct?” Simon Baptiste asked quietly, flipping a pen through his fingers.

A shiver went down Sebastian’s spine.

Simon was known for his excesses and cruelties. He stayed just barely within Novem law, but everyone knew there were heinous crimes done in secret, things the group could never pin on him. His son, Gabriel, was fast becoming like his father.

No one answered Simon. They all believed the Hands were there. Sebastian half expected all of them to run for the door. The kind of power Athena was offering was staggering. Yet no one moved. No one wanted to be the first to show where their loyalties lay.

“We must agree the Hands stay in the library,” Michel said, glancing around the room. “We must vow never to let what was said here go farther than this room. To do so would mean chaos, betrayal, murder, war.”

“Michel is right,” Rowen said. “This is our home. If word gets out, the library will be under siege. We’ll be hunted for knowing how to get inside. Your heirs will be hunted for any knowledge they might possess about the library. We must agree to do nothing.”

“What about Ari?” Gabriel asked. “She knows how to get inside. She’d be the one Athena or anyone else goes after.”

“She doesn’t know how to get inside on her own,” Sebastian said, giving Gabriel a look that promised retribution.

“Sebastian is right. I let her into the library,” Michel said. “She does not have the blood or the ward combinations to get inside herself. Only we do. But we must agree. We must not speak of what happened here tonight or we are all targets.”

“Targets, or betrayers ourselves,” Nikolai Deschanel spoke up. “Do I put my trust in all of you? Do I do nothing while the rest of you grasp at immortality, at godhood? Or do I strike first?”

The question hung suspended in the room. The Novem’s collective energy became thick, making the room hot and stuffy. Sweat beaded on Sebastian’s skin.

Traitor he might be, but Sebastian knew he had to get those Hands out of the library before someone else did—if they were even there. He wouldn’t do it for immortality. He’d do it for Ari.

“We should give them back,” Nell Cromley said. “Doesn’t that solve everything? Just send them back before this whole situation blows up.”

“The heirs can be dismissed now,” Soren Mandeville said.

After vowing their silence, the heirs were let go. Sebastian was the first to exit, drawing in a deep breath of untainted air. He didn’t stop until he was on the second floor. He was shaking, adrenaline still speeding through his system like a rocket. His boots thudded across the long gallery that fronted Jackson Square below. At one of the arched windows, he stopped and dragged his fingers through his hair.

Hunter followed and parked himself on the other side of the window, his gaze somber as he stared. Hunter was older. He’d been imprisoned by Athena and set free with Michel when Ari had escaped her cell, rescuing the lot of them. “Athena knows exactly what she’s doing, I’ll say that for her.”

“Master of strategic warfare and all,” Sebastian said dryly.

“She has it all planned out, every possible outcome, every variable. We’re infants compared to her, to what she knows, her experience. . . . In other words, we’re fucked, my friend. Dangling a jewel like that in front of the council . . . ”

The low murmur of the other heirs filing down the steps made Sebastian turn toward the landing. “They won’t all keep silent.”

“Probably not. The Hands should go back.”

“Not everyone is going to feel that way. My grandmother for one.”

“Baptiste for another. Katherine Sinclair, too, from what I know about her. Mandeville, maybe . . . ” Hunter looked at him. “What about you?”

Sebastian laughed at the idea that he’d want that kind of power. Hell, he didn’t even want the power he had now.

Hunter smiled. “Yeah, me too.” He went quiet for a moment. “This is going to get out. Having the heirs at the meeting tonight . . . goddamn bad luck. Look out for your girl. Not everyone is going to believe that she can’t get inside the library on her own. She’ll be a target for those wanting to find the Hands.”

Hunter was sincere, Sebastian knew that. He also knew that in order to remove the target on Ari’s back, he needed to find the Hands before anyone else. And that meant figuring out whether they were still in the library.

“The council will make a decision about protecting the library tonight. If you’re going to get in, you need to do it now.”

Was he that obvious? Or was Hunter just extremely insightful? He’d have to raid the library tonight while they were still up there debating. It had to be now.

Hunter slapped him on the shoulder. “Take care, Lamarliere.”

Sebastian nodded and watched the shifter jog down the stairs before returning to the window.

He had a power very few beings had. He could trace, disappear from one location and appear at another. But he’d never tried going through walls or into warded rooms. He was only learning to master the ability.

Now or never.