A Werewolf's Moon (The Council) (22 page)

I laid my hand on his cheek, smoothing my fingers over his scar. “I’m sorry, but I had to do it. I have information for you from someone close to the demons.”

The wall cracked. Chunks of plaster hit the floor. He started changing, his shirt ripping as the werewolf inside began to take over. “How do you know about the demons?”

I shook my head. “Did you ever think, that maybe, you should have told me demons existed?”

He opened and closed his mouth, “
Pepper
, this isn’t something people know about. Only the oldest ones remember the demons, and they told the Council about them. So who told you?”

“What if one of the demons didn’t want the portal open?”

Quinn took a step back. His knuckles were scraped and bleeding. He stopped his transformation, going back normal. He’d ruined another shirt, though, and the designer in me wondered if I couldn’t fashion something he’d wear with a stretchy
fabric
. “You really spoke with a demon?”

“He told me he wasn’t like them, and he’s not like us. He had red eyes, but I didn’t feel like he was a danger to me. He just wants to be left alone.” I took Quinn by the arm and lead him to the kitchen. He complied, grumbling while I grabbed a small towel and soaked it in cool water before tending
to
the backs of his hands. “He told me how the portal works.”

“
Pepper
,” he grasped my shoulders. I wasn’t sure if he was going to kiss me for finding this out, or fall flat on his face in shock. “No one knows how. Not even my parents.”

“I do.” I went back to cleaning up his
hands,
prying them off my shoulders and watching them heal. “You may trade one person from this side, for another on the other.
An equal swap.
But
, if someone sacrifices their life
for love, it will open for good because of the amount of power love supplies.”

“Shit,” he ran a hand over his face. “This is…I don’t even know what to think.”

“They wanted us,” I let out a breath and tossed the towel in the sink. “I was perfect for them to use because I couldn’t fight back, but even more perfect if you’d gone over of your own free will to save me.”

“Damn,” he kissed me, a full smack on the lips that made my head spin. “I’m just happy you’re okay.”

I smiled and patted his chest. “He also said we had another problem.”

“What?” Was his eye twitching?

“He didn’t say what it was, only that we’d woken up a monster.”

“
Pepper
…just…hang on.” He pulled out his phone and dialed. His free arm came around me and half smothered me against his chest. I felt some of the tension ease out of him. My big bad werewolf had been scared; he hadn’t known what to do with himself. It was so sweet. “
Henry
, it’s Quinn, we need to get out of Capeside now. Call back Davy and the men. Meet
me
in the main hall at the compound.”

I didn’t have time to ask where we were going. Quinn
phased
us into a marble hall with bronze chandeliers and a tranquil fountain in the center that towered at least ten feet high. I felt like I was in a museum and half expected there to be velvet ropes and an information desk.

Green and gray lights flashed.
Henry
and Venna appeared with Zane and Flora, and Davy with
Garret
, and Kylie.

“What’s up?”
Garret
asked his brother.

Quinn frowned. “You know that thing dad told you about that not even Kylie
knows
about?”

I didn’t think it was a very descriptive way to tell the boy, but his eyes went so wide they looked cartoonish.
“Yeah.”

“Take Zane, Flora and Kylie to our wing and fill them in. Don’t leave the grounds.”

With a salute,
Garret
motioned for them to follow, and we watched the younger part of our party leave.

“What’s this about?” Davy asked.

“Demons,” Quinn said in a low, quiet voice.

“I don’t have to give you orders,”
Henry
glanced at his cousin. “You know what to do.”

With a curse, Davy was gone in a flash of gray light.

“Quinn, are you sure?”
Henry
asked.

“
Pepper
spoke to one.”

He stared at me. “You spoke to a demon?”

“Yeah,”

“Are you mad? No one speaks to demons.”

Judging by
Henry
’s reaction, having a conversation with a demon wasn’t common, or very smart. How was I supposed to know that, if no one warned me about them?

Once I was alone with Quinn, I was going to sit him down for a talk. He needed to tell me more. I had to know about things that could be dangerous, or that were, I don’t know…potentially illegal?

Henry
led the way through a narrow door and hallway, muttering about demons and why we shouldn’t have conversations with them. We came out in a bright room that was almost as big as the hall. We were on a black platform, looking at the backs of six gold high-backed chairs.

Thrones.

They were elevated, curved in a slight horseshoe on a white marble platform, and overlooked a long room with rows of chairs. The first few rows were filled, about thirty people seated, looking up at us.

Henry
led Venna to the right, and they stood beside a pair of chairs. As we drew closer, I saw a man and woman. Mr. and Mrs. Langley were seated in them, dressed in clothes that I hadn’t seen outside of a museum. I knew fashion, and the style screamed the Regency period.

I walked with Quinn, to the far left, wondering if they were authentic clothes or really good reproductions.

A beautiful blonde woman, wearing a ruby gown and a gold crown, sat beside a man who looked like Quinn. He was just as burly and gruff looking, but he had warmness in his features that I was sure Quinn would have as he got older.

My werewolf wasn’t really one of those fuzzy feelings types. Now that I saw his father, I knew the potential was there. I was going to have to work with him a little bit, but I was certain he’d start to warm up with me in his life.

Quinn leaned around the chair and spoke quietly in his father’s ear.

The king gave a nod and addressed the room. “We will hear one last query. Then we must adjourn. The Council will resume its duties to tomorrow morning.”

There was a murmur amongst the people and a young woman stood, walking to the front of the room. She bowed low. “You’re majesties.”

Quinn’s mother smiled. “What troubles your soul?”

“My mate, Daniel, is gone. He has been gone for a month. I feel he is alive, and I call to him, but he cannot come to me. It’s like…like he’s trapped.”

The queen stood, folding her hands in front of her. “Has he left you before?”

“Yes, but not for so long, and he always answers when I call.” The girl looked pleadingly at the Council.

A man behind her stood from his seat. “My sister is missing.”

Another man stood, “My son.
Gone.
His house empty and no trace of where he went.”

The Council stood. A man with blond hair and pale skin stepped forward. “We cannot give you a reason for these disappearances, but we are searching for the answers. You have been heard, good people, and we will do all in our power to return your loved ones to you. We must now take our leave.”

In formation, the kings and queens walked hand in hand down the aisle separating the chairs and out the open door. I fell in step with Quinn, holding his hand, right behind
Henry
and Venna.

We walked in silence
until
we reached a set of double doors. They flew open and slammed shut behind us.

“Oh, dear God.”
Henry
’s mother gasped. “What’s happening?”

Everyone was upset. I looked up to Quinn, wondering what we were going to do. He was stony faced and simply stared back at me, not even a hint of an emotion.

I was dragged into a hug by Quinn’s father, and was released only to be hugged by his mother.

“Hi,” I smiled, trying to keep up with all the commotion and affection. I wasn’t used to it. “I’m
Pepper
.”

“I’m Caroline,” Quinn’s mother said. “This is my mate Andrew.”

“The young ones?”
Quinn’s father asked.

“Kylie and
Garret
are safe, home. I sent Zane and Flora with them.” Quinn said.

“Good.” He shook his head. “All of this is bad business. Damn Resistance.”

“You don’t know about the demons?” I asked. Quinn’s parents stared at me in shock.

If it was possible, the oldest beings in the world were shocked into silence.

“
Pepper
spoke to someone with red eyes.” Quinn said.

“Red.
Red eyes?
Are you sure?” Caroline asked.

“They were blood red.”

Henry
’s father, who I’d only met a couple times, raised his hands. “We must speak of this elsewhere.”

They all murmured in agreement, and then we were phasing. We appeared in a circular stone room lit by torches around a white marble table. I was dizzy from the scenery changing on me so quickly, but shook it off when Quinn’s father addressed me. “
Pepper
, this is a special chamber. It is protected deep in the heart of the compound. Only Council members are allowed here, but in your case, we are making an exception. So I ask you, please, to tell us about your encounter with the demon.”

I swallowed, touching my fingertips to the cool table, and repeated word for word what the demon said. “He doesn’t want this world to be taken over.”

“The Resistance, we could handle.”
Henry
’s mother sat with a thump in the chair behind her, shaking her head. “But if they’ve succeeded in bringing over the demons, I’m not sure how we will fare.”

“He said the commotion has woken something up.” I said.
“A monster.”

The vampire king studied me, not for a second blinking
,.
“What he says is true.”

“Are we talking about a rogue?”
Henry
asked.

The Council members each nodded, but his father spoke. “It’s nothing to worry about now.
First the demons, and then the rogue.”

“I hate to be so out of the loop,” Venna sighed. “Will someone please explain the rogue to me?”

“A rogue is a vampire.
A serial turner.
He takes men and women for the express purpose of doing his bidding. All vampires have control over the ones they turn for the first few years, but we do not think of using the power.” The king of the vampires glanced between me and Venna, I’m guessing to make sure we were following. “What makes them so dangerous is the amount of new vampires they have control over. We could be facing a small army.”

“He turned the man that came into the bookstore.” I said.

“
Yes,
and the girl from your town.” The vampire settled back into his chair, taking his wife’s hand.

“Christy’s alive?”

“In a matter of speaking…” he didn’t sound like he wanted to go into further detail. “Dmitri is keeping her in Russia for now.”

“What about the man from the bookstore?” Quinn asked.

“We put him out of his misery,” the vampire queen closed her eyes. “He was driven mad. It had to be done.”

“But this is not our concern now. The demons must be taken care of.”
Henry
’s mother said.

Quinn’s father sat in the chair behind him and rested his arms on the table. “The Resistance wanted to open the portal and bring across demons to aide them. Once the Council has been destroyed, the demons will slaughter what is left of the Resistance, getting exactly what they have wanted for thousands of years.”

I didn’t understand, but
Henry
was kind enough to fill in the blanks. “This would be the end of our world. We would be the ones enslaved, humans wiped from the planet, and the demons would rein.”

“You’d think the Resistance would be smart enough to realize what the demons are going to do once they come over.”

“Yes,”
Henry
agreed. “But if you’re that crazy, you probably won’t be able to see past your own bizarre desires.”

Venna plopped into the chair behind her. “I don’t understand any of this. Why is there a portal? How are the demons separated?”

“This doorway…
portal
, allows the demon’s to come over, one at a time.
One of us, for one of them.”
Henry
’s father rubbed his eyes. “Those missing people are the ones
who have been traded. They are trapped on the other side. The chances of us getting them back are miniscule.”