The Mayfair Moon

  If only I could read the language!

  I slammed the journal shut and tossed it back into the chest. “That’s what he wants,” I said. “That’s what he meant by telling me to look around. Why else would a random, out-of-place chest be sitting in the room with me?”

  I didn’t care. So what if those pictures of him and Isaac’s father seemed friendly. They were obviously not on the same side now. The past is the past.

  At least, that’s what I kept trying to tell myself.

  Viktor succeeded only in making me curious, raising my worry somewhat, I admit. But that was all. Nothing he could do or say would turn me against Trajan, and certainly not Isaac. It insulted me he thought I was so easy to manipulate.

  The isolation of the room was my only comfort. Hours went by; the sound of bodies moving quietly past the door, voices that seemed to whisper, until eventually, I heard nothing at all. I could feel that it was the dead of night. It seemed I was the only one awake, accompanied by the constant smell of mildew and salt; the unsteady exhale of my breath. I lay in the bed staring into the fading flame of the fireplace. It danced sideways as if constantly licked by a draft in the wall. A draft, I thought and raised my head from the pillow suddenly. I went to investigate. The giant wooden shelf to the left of the fireplace covered something. I tried to move it, but it was too heavy for me even if I was in top condition. The draft came from behind it, where I noticed then that there was once a window now barricaded by boards. Frustrated, I moved over and stood in front of the fire; smoke rose from the wood in a steady coil. My mind in overdrive still, trying to find a way out of this place, I began to wonder where the smoke was going. Two ceramic pots sat on the floor holding frail, dead flowers. I pulled the dried stems from the pots and lay them on the floor beside me. Pouring the water over the flame, I snuffed it out. I got down on my knees and leaned over the sizzling smoke, twisting my body at an angle so I could see upward inside the chimney. Nothing but blackness. I peered further, hoping I was just missing something, that maybe it was so dark outside that I couldn’t see the opening, but I knew in my heart that there wasn’t one. At least, not the kind of opening that I could crawl my way out of.

  “He wouldn’t put you somewhere,” said a familiar, frightening voice, “where you could find a way out.”

  Startled, I hit my head on the fireplace. Soot and dirt fell off the stone and dusted me. My hands were black from holding onto the inside wall.

  Sibyl closed the bedroom door behind her and stood in front of it.

  “What do you want?” I snapped. I wasn’t afraid of her; I was, but I couldn’t let her know it. I pretended to be more interested in wiping the soot from my hands onto my gown, but really, I wanted to scream for help. I felt Sibyl was more of a danger to me than Viktor was.

  Sibyl slithered across the room. Immediately, I glanced at the door. It was unlocked. I could try to run for it.

  “I came to talk, that’s all.”

  “Yeah, I kind of doubt that,” I said with a snarl. “And what if I don’t want to talk?”

  “Oh, I think you will.”

  My legs hurt, but I remained standing. I needed to be strong, to show her I wasn’t as weak as I truly was.

  I got the feeling no one but I knew she was in the room with me.

  Sibyl grinned faintly and walked toward the chest, grazing her fingertips across the lid. “Viktor didn’t tell you why Trajan won’t kill him, I presume.”

  She had my attention suddenly.

  “No,” I said, “he didn’t, but I don’t care.”

  “Of course you care; what if I told you the reason,” she said. “Would you do something for me in return?”

  The atmosphere shifted. She wasn’t here to hurt me, but I got the distinct feeling if I didn’t give her what she wanted, she’d have no second thoughts about it. Dilemma. Sibyl’s offer or Viktor’s?

  “What do you want?”

  Sibyl opened the chest and pulled the journal out, smoothing its cover under her hand. She pressed her lips to it softly and then set it back inside, leaving the lid open.

  She turned to face me.

  “I simply want you to tell my son what I’m about to tell you.”

  Relay a message? It couldn’t be as simple as that. Everything about this felt wrong and dangerous.

  I stepped toward her a few steps.

  “That’s it?” I said. “Tell Isaac? Why?”

  “That doesn’t matter,” she smirked. “What matters is that he knows. You wouldn’t want to keep things from him, would you? You would tell Isaac because he has a right to know.”

  Hesitation froze me. There was some kind of catch. There had to be.

  “Wait,” I said, “how am I supposed to tell him anything in here? And when Viktor is done with me, things will be different. I’ll be different....” I swallowed hard. I didn’t want to think about that.

  “I’ll get you out of here.”

  No, this was too good to be true. I stepped away from her again. I waited for the catch, the fine print, but so far there wasn’t any.

  “A Blood Bond,” Sibyl began, “is a tricky thing.” She laughed suddenly, whirling her index finger above her. “Tricky is an inadequate word, really. It’s more a complex, deal-with-the-Devil sort of thing.”

  She sat on the side of the bed, crossing her legs and pressing her palms against the mattress.

  I didn’t budge.

  “Young werewolves,” she went on, “think they know about the Blood Bond, how it really works. Only the Elder’s know because it’s the Law. A Blood Bond is forbidden by anyone who is not an Elder and anyone who breaks that law must be killed by the Alpha of his pack.” She sighed. “When a Blood Bond is made, the human is tied to that first drop of blood for eternity or death, whichever comes first and death usually does.”

  “I thought it made humans immortal.”

  Sibyl’s grin grew wider.

  “It does,” she said, “but if the blood that made that bond ever dies, so then does the body it bonded to.”

  I tried to put it together in my mind, what she was getting at, but I couldn’t.

  “Aramei is very precious to Trajan,” she said, “and Trajan protects Viktor. It should be obvious why.”

  “Protects him?” I couldn’t grasp this at all. I refused to believe something so wicked. Trajan wouldn’t protect Viktor, not now. But if Trajan was so powerful, then why would Viktor still be alive after all this time? Maybe the things Viktor had tried to tell me were true.

  Then something clicked in my subconscious.

  My hand went up to my chest and I shook my head, trying to find any reason to substitute the revelation infecting my thoughts.

  Sibyl smiled. I wasn’t looking at her, but I could feel that wicked smile move over me.

  “You figured it out,” she said. “Yes, it was Viktor’s blood that Aramei drank first, not Trajan’s. When Viktor dies, so does Aramei.”

  I stood there in mute. Sibyl moved from the bed and approached me. I felt the stiff heat from her body so close to mine.

  “Trajan’s blood does keep Aramei alive,” she whispered, walking around me in a circle, “but Viktor’s blood is what gave her life.”

  Shock beset me.

  “Such a sad, pathetic little situation really,” she added; her words laced with sarcasm and amusement.

  “You want me to tell Isaac,” I said, “because it will pit Isaac against his father.”

  Sibyl nodded.

  “My sons should know the truth about the parent they choose to give their loyalty to, the one they choose to admire.”

  I swung my head to the side so I could face her. “Then why didn’t you just tell Isaac this yourself?”

  “I told you why.”

  “Because it’s the Law?”

  “Part of the reason,” she said, “yes.”

  “But you’re telling me. You’re breaking the Law now.”

  “I don’t care about that anymore,” she said. “The other
reason I don’t do it myself is because Isaac despises me. Can’t blame him, I admit.”

  “You’re right about that.”

  A smirk barely broke in her face.

  “You’re jealous,” I said, “aren’t you?” I wasn’t actually trying to mock her, but it seemed to come out that way.

  Sibyl snarled, grinding her teeth behind her closed lips.

  “Viktor is a fool,” she barked. “He’s only ever wanted what Trajan had. The respect of his men, the fear the very mention of Trajan’s name inflicts upon others. The love of women.” Sibyl smiled then, as if reminiscing. “It’s even how I came to be here, trapped in Viktor’s snare.”

  “Seems to me you like being in his snare.”

  “I do,” she admitted proudly. “And that’s why I have to get rid of you.”

  “That’s what I thought,” I said. “Jealous. Well, trust me, I don’t want to be here and I’ll never be willing. I just want to go home and back to Isaac where I belong.”

  Sibyl smiled a soft, dangerous smile.

  A loud crash! caught us both off-guard. I turned around swiftly, facing the door. At the same time, the door swung open and Viktor came rushing inside, pushing Sibyl violently into the massive wooden shelf. I thought at first he was there to keep her away from me, but the growling and shouting in the hall told me right away that something else was going on.

  Viktor grabbed me by the arm.

  He made it as far as the exit when I saw something move fast behind me. I dropped quickly to my knees, missing the swipe of Sibyl’s deadly fingernails coming right for me.

  She hit Viktor instead.

  I think I swallowed my throat. The look on his face, I thought demons were about to burst out of his eyes at any moment.

  “She’ll never replace me!”

  Her eyes were the abysmal black I had seen so many times before. I crawled on my hands and knees out of the way, only hoping both would be distracted enough by each other so that I could take advantage of the open door.

  Sibyl’s body went flying across the room. Viktor’s hair didn’t even stir.

  “Tell him! Tell Isaac!” Sibyl screamed at me through blood-glistening fanged teeth.

  There was no time to hear her further; Viktor had me in his arms carrying me out the door.

  “Father,” Ashe said running up, “he got in. He killed William! William’s dead!”

  I knew right away where I was once out of the room. The Vargas house was in a vicious frenzy. Werewolves in their mediate form ran through the hallways, most in the same direction. Viktor gripped me so aggressively he was hurting me. I slapped and bit him, but I was like a mosquito against the likes of him.

  I heard Isaac’s voice from afar. I couldn’t make out what he was saying, but I knew it was him. Relief and worry rushed through my veins at the same time. He was here for me, but I knew he couldn’t defeat Viktor.

  Just then, I went from being crushed by Viktor’s hold to laying face-first on the stairs. I caught my breath and my balance before looking up. Isaac was at the bottom of the stairs; blood covered his face and hands. I thought I would roll right down them when Viktor moved past me, knocking me into the stair railing, but I held on tight and only skidded one step.

  When Isaac and Viktor clashed, it shook the house like thunder. Fully transformed within seconds, I watched in horror until I couldn’t watch anymore. I pulled myself up holding fast to the rail and then practically flew down the steps. I had to help Isaac. It was crazy and stupid, but I had to do something.

  I could only tell them apart by their size difference. Isaac was like a pup next to Viktor Vargas. I thought I would faint as Viktor struck Isaac so hard I could hear Isaac’s neck crack. I grabbed my ears and cried out.

  When three other werewolves rushed from different rooms and leapt into the fight, Viktor tossed them all like ragdolls out of the way. One soared above me, falling into the stair railing. Splintered wood shot in every direction. The werewolves recoiled instantly, obeying Viktor’s orders. He wanted Isaac for himself.

  I ran for the nearest weapon, a heavy lion statue on a nearby inn-table, but just as I went to smash it across Viktor’s back, Alex grabbed me from behind.

  “Not a good idea, little sister.” The smell of her breath choked me. “That’ll only piss him off.”

  “You’re not my sister,” I screamed. I spun around and my hands came up fast, pushing her away hard enough that she let go of me, but she had me in her grasp again in no time.

  She held me there, forcing me to watch as I struggled against her. She knew Viktor would rip Isaac apart and Alex wanted me to see it happen. I thrashed around in her grasp, but she was so strong.

  To the shock of everyone watching, Isaac lunged at Viktor and buried his teeth into Viktor’s collarbone. An excruciating growl ripped through the air.

  Isaac was beating him....

  I even felt Alex’s hands loosen from around my arms out of disbelief.

  Isaac had Viktor on the ceiling, pressing his head against a massive wooden beam. Isaac’s brute head reared back, mouth wide open, and came back down on the other side of Viktor’s neck.

  Viktor fell to the floor like a slab of meat.

  Ashe and one other stepped out into the room, but Viktor, grasping his bleeding throat, ordered them away.

  “I want him to kill me,” said Viktor; blood gurgling in his voice. He lay there naked, slumped against a coffee table already back in his human form.

  But Isaac, he wasn’t about to shift and give in. He was going to kill him.

  And in turn, he was going to sentence himself to death by killing Aramei.

  I jerked my way free from Alex again and stumbled forward, catching my fall by holding onto someone’s shoulder. I didn’t care that it was Ashe. He didn’t seem to care either.

  “Stop!” My hands were out in front of me.

  The room became quieter.

  “Isaac, don’t kill him!”

  Isaac’s head, teeth dripping with saliva and blood, turned to see me. His eyes drifted to and from me and his prey.

  My voice dropped and I pleaded, “Don’t....”

  It was in that very moment that I decided not to tell Isaac about Aramei. In that crucial moment in time when everything I knew became clear. Isaac could not know the truth because sometimes the truth does more harm than good. If Isaac knew his own father chose to risk the lives of his sons to save Aramei, Isaac would be abandoned twice; first by his own mother and worst of all by the father that he revered.

  Isaac let go of Viktor, but stood over him in warning as I approached. I moved against Isaac’s beastly chest and looked down upon Viktor.

  “Humans are so soft,” Viktor said. “You would want me to live after what I’ve done to you? Stupid little girl.”

  He didn’t know. Viktor had no idea why I stopped Isaac. I wanted to keep it that way. From the corner of my eye, I saw Sibyl watching me from the second floor.

  “I guess being human has its disadvantages,” I deceivingly agreed.

  Zia and the rest of Isaac’s family entered the house in their mediate form.

  “No!” Viktor roared at his fledglings, keeping them at bay. “Let them leave, all of them.” He looked at Isaac then. “One as powerful as his father,” he said. “Of your brothers, I always knew it would be you.” Viktor’s eyes met mine then and I felt a remarkable sentiment in his gaze. “In more ways than one, I see,” he added.

  The stealthy comment was directed at me and the meaning behind it, to which I feared I’d never know, weighed heavily in my heart.

  Isaac’s massive body hardened. I stopped him. “Let’s go home,” I said softly, hoping he would continue to listen to me. Already, I felt I had asked too much of him.

  “We’ll stay to make sure no one follows,” said Nathan.

  Zia took me by the arm.

  But Isaac wasn’t following. He was staying behind?

  I tore away from Zia.

  “What are you doing?” I shout
ed at Isaac. I wished he could speak in werewolf form. He wouldn’t even look at me.

  Isaac knew something that I didn’t at first. He knew that Viktor was not ready to give up.

  It wasn’t over.

  In a flash, Viktor sprung up and bounded toward Isaac in mid-air. Claws and teeth at the ready before his feet fully lifted from the floor. My body flew backward, crashing into Ashe who tossed me aside as if I were weightless. I skidded into the kitchen, landing pressed against the legs of dining chairs. My skull jolted around inside my head as I hit the metal bar holding the massive tabletop to its base.

  I couldn’t move; beasts were all around me. I couldn’t tell who was who, except for Isaac and Viktor. Viktor was a titan among the others, and Isaac, I knew him now enough to distinguish him over anyone and in any form.

  The house began to come down all around me, the table barely shielding me from broken glass and projectile debris. A giant chandelier hit the table hard, shattering in all directions, reflecting light like glitter as it rained down onto the floor. I wondered how the table was still standing when everything else was destroyed. I hoped it would hold. I hoped it wouldn’t crush me.

  I drew my legs into my chest and pressed my hands over my ears. The roaring, the gnashing of teeth; I couldn’t take it anymore.

  Savage fighting everywhere. Blood everywhere.

  But Isaac was beating Viktor still.

  I couldn’t breathe. I sat huddled, watching; my eyes so wide open. My heart had thickened in my chest.

  Isaac’s beastly claws whirled around and cut Viktor’s neck once. Once more and I knew Viktor would be dead.

  Everything moved so slowly. In the back of my mind, somewhere beneath the pandemonium, I wondered if I would be able to say how fast it all happened.

  And then the unthinkable.

  A beast more colossal in size than Viktor, held Isaac’s arm just before the fatal blow.

  Isaac was thrown right through the wall of the house.