Moon Tortured (Sky Brooks Series Book 1) (44 page)

She started to pace, her words were barely audible as she spoke. “He must not have had any other options. Obviously, the locating spell he used in the Chasm failed. He wouldn’t call upon Pala unless it did.” She continued pacing the floor, working through things as she tried to find a reason why Pala was here.

“Chasm?” I asked, interrupting her frantic pacing. So engrossed in her thoughts, she either didn’t care or forgot I was standing there.

She looked at me impatiently and took several control breaths. “Between natural and dark magic is the Chasm. The Chasm is the last place where witches who practice natural magic can go as a source of answers or to perform magic, which is neutral. It’s not necessarily a safe place to be, but often, when you are trying to find the source of dark magic, it works. Most locating spells are done in the Chasm, but the stronger the dark magic you are trying to find, the less helpful it is. The magic hiding it must be too strong, so he is going to use her to locate it. She’s so strong, she should be able to locate anything.”

When she heard a noise from the room, she stopped her pacing and raced around the corner to the other side of the house until she found Ethan. “Pala’s … ”

He rushed around the corner toward the room before she could finish the sentence. I followed behind them breaking into a run to keep up with them. We plowed through the door to find Josh, lying on the floor, thrashing violently. Pala sat next to him, her hand gripping his tightly. Her eyes were closed, but the sound of three were-animals rushing through the door momentarily distracted her. She opened them, exposing pupils that were absent of all pigmentation, cold and piercing. She shrieked, making a loud reedy sound that brought us to our knees. We covered our ears simultaneously at the force that swept through the room with chilling power. The only person who seemed unaffected was Sebastian, who had just entered the room. Suddenly, the room came to a halting calm. Josh lay motionless, his eyes paling. He was alive; I could hear his shallow ragged breaths. And his body was intact, but he wasn’t wholly there.

“Release him,” Ethan commanded Pala through clenched teeth, his eyes so gray there wasn’t a hint of humanity to be found.

“I am not finished,” she responded in a sharp, dark tone inconsistent with her doll-like appearance. He lunged at her, but Sebastian intercepted, pushing him forcibly and sending him back several feet. Ethan crouched and snarled at Sebastian, baring the edges of his teeth. Sebastian’s eyes narrowed into an aggressive glare before he returned the posturing. Within seconds, the level of rage that filled the room was all-consuming as the flames of hostility ignited.

Sebastian seemed to have been in a calmer state until a rolling aggressive growl from Ethan consumed the room. The sound continued to resonate moments later, leaving a ringing in my ears. It didn’t take long for Sebastian’s soft brown eyes to sharpen into amber and hone in on Ethan. They were now wolves in human form, ready to give in to their carnal nature.

They were snarling at each other. I wasn’t sure what a challenge entailed, but I think I was about to witness the beginning of one. Sebastian took a step forward. His face—the hardened grimace of an animal ready to attack and prepared to kill. Winter panicked when Ethan took a step forward.

She moved slowly and timidly reaching out for Sebastian. “Sebastian, please. It’s his brother,” she said in a small, soothing voice. “He’s just trying to protect him. I know you understand that. He’s not challenging you. You know he would never do this to you. Not like this.”

The grimace remained on his face, eyes still fixed in a hard glare on Ethan. There didn’t seem to be any signs of this coming to a nonviolent end. Logic had left the room minutes before and the only thing that remained was unmitigated primal rage. I wasn’t sure how to defuse this bomb, and Winter looked like she was struggling too.

“Sebastian,” she continued so softly that her words came out as a faint whisper. She tried to gain his focus. Reaching up, she used two fingers to guide his focus toward her, but he wasn’t easily distracted as he maintained a predator’s glare on Ethan—angry and intense. She took several steps over placing herself directly in front of him. “Sebastian, please look at me. It’s not a challenge.”

Placing her hand on his cheek, she directed his face toward hers, to meet her gaze. “It’s not a challenge,” she whispered. At that moment, she seemed unnaturally gentle, like Joan. Her mannerisms lost their typical abrasiveness that seemed to be the very essence of her personality. This may have been the most docile I had ever seen her. Winter stood between Ethan and Sebastian, and if they decided to proceed in a fight, she would probably be trampled. But this seemed to be the best way to handle the situation. If she attempted to stop them with similar aggression, the end result would be unnecessarily volatile.

Winter didn’t do submissive, nice, humble or even pleasant. However, she knew assuming submissive, neither Ethan nor Sebastian would hurt her. For the first time, I could see why Joan held Winter in such high regard. This realization was an epiphany: Winter was third for more reasons than her fighting ability. She did what was necessary, despite how uncomfortable or hard it was. Crap, disliking her was getting harder.

She continued to speak in a low, gentle voice. Her movement’s slow, calm and overtly meek. “It’s his brother and our blood-bonded ally. His aggression is misdirected. You know he would never do such a thing if his brother wasn’t involved. Sebastian, it’s not a challenge,” she assured him, keeping eye contact with him.

The aggressive sounds began to decrease to a noticeable calm. His posturing relaxed slightly. She looked at me, directed her gaze toward Ethan and then the door, hinting for me to get Ethan out of there.

No, thank you
. If I left with him, that would leave me alone to endure the full power of Ethan’s rage. I remembered vividly what it felt like to be in Sebastian’s presence after the vampires’ attack. But I knew I had to. With emotions so turbulent, all it would take would be the wrong thing said or done and we could be back to where we started.

Sebastian straightened and stepped away from Winter. “Ethan, we need Pala alive for now. It would be better if you stepped out. Seeing him this way may be too hard to handle. I will protect his life as though it was my own,” he stated in a surprisingly calm manner although his eyes still maintained the deep tones of his wolf.

Ethan took in a ragged breath before his face relaxed. He nodded and left the room with me close behind.

After I closed the door behind us, he kept his focus on it. Within minutes, he reached for it and I grabbed his hand. Graphite eyes and an aggressive sneer dared me to stop him as he made another attempt for the door. I pushed him away.

“Move,” he barked. I was just as frustrated with the situation as he was, I wanted to snap right back at him.

When he didn’t stop, I pushed him back again. “No. Not until you calm down,” I stated firmly. I couldn’t stop him if he used force; we both knew it. He didn’t know that I wasn’t above playing dirty pool and kneeing him where it counted. He’d be pissed, but he would recover, and it would be a lot less violent and rapacious than what he and Sebastian would do to each other.

There was harsh glacial silence between us. He stood so close, I felt crowded standing in front of the door. I inched closer to the door forcing more space between us. Stepping back, he paced the floor with wild inhibited force as he tried to suppress his anger, rage and frustration. I exhaled softly, “I understand … ” but before I could finish, he was just inches from my face.

“What
exactly
do you understand?” he challenged in a sharp voice. I didn’t want to look at him, but it was hard not to with him so uncomfortably close. The emotions pulsing off him were so turbulent, they were hard to ignore—he was hard to ignore

Frustrated as well, I wanted to snap back at him. But what purpose would it serve to poke the bear—or rather the irate wolf? “I understand what it’s like to feel you are responsible for endangering others who feel obligated to protect you. I understand how infuriating it can be to wish you were the one dealing with Pala instead of standing idly by watching Josh take risk that should be your own. I understand what it feels like to be so angry that all you want to do is curse, fight and kill, but know that it won’t make things any better. I understand more than you care to know,” I said softly.

His angry scowl melted but the intensity of his emotions didn’t falter. He leaned in, resting his face in the crook of my neck. Warm breath nicked at my skin; moist lips pressed against my pulse. His face kneaded in closer; I could feel the intensity of his heart and the rapidness of his breaths.

“I am sorry,” I whispered. “I know it’s doesn’t mean anything to you, but I wish I hadn’t come into your lives and created such problems.”

“It’s not your fault,” he whispered, his lips brushing lightly against my face as he spoke. He repeated it so softly it was barely audible. I think it was to remind himself. His lips were a feather touch against mine. When he pulled away, I wasn’t quite sure if I’d been kissed.

Then he kissed me again. Firm lips pressed against mine, sinuous and attentive. But it quickly changed to something intense, ravenous, sensuous and intoxicating. I could feel his anger, rage and frustration as he expunged them into the kiss. Grasping fistfuls of my hair, he pulled me closer to him. I felt every emotion flood into me, leaving me breathless.

I was submerged by lust and sensuality that I’d never experienced, yet simultaneously felt trampled and shattered. If I were a wall, he had just put his fist through it. I pulled away and slipped past him. Standing several feet from him, I dealt with the diametric of emotions he made me feel: sated and empty, paramour and prey. We stared at each other for a long time. The silence wasn’t intense, awkward, sensual or even comfortable. It was diaphanous. As though every emotion felt, exchanged and absorbed had shattered, leaving only faded remnants of their existence. “I need to see how things are going with Josh,” I stated, ending the odd silence.

He nodded, stepping back from the door, giving me space.

I wasn’t in the room long before I felt his presence near me. Sebastian sensed it as well, he turned and their eyes locked. I held my breath in anticipation of what would become of this moment. Ethan brought his hand to his chest and extended it in nonverbal apology.

Sebastian shook his head as if to say an apology was not necessary. “If the roles were reversed, I would look to you to save me from myself,” he responded in understanding.

Winter had missed the whole exchange as she closely watched Pala. Her look of scrutiny turned to clear suspicion as she looked at Pala and Josh, who was now starting to look sickly.

“Something’s wrong!” she shouted as she lunged at Pala.

“He’s strong; I couldn’t resist having him for myself,” she admitted, making little effort to hide her pleasure. Pala held Josh’s hand firmly even after Winter grabbed her. Pala’s free hand took hold of Winter’s wrist. The room dimmed, and Winter’s face became a series of grimaces and suppressions of pain before she was thrown back crashing into the door. A dark smile covered Pala’s face, finding pleasure in the pain—in Winter’s pain.

As she continued smiling, darkness emanated off her in waves, stifling the air. All Josh needed was to use the magic, and I had the ability to hold magic. I grabbed the knife that lay a few feet from her and whip it across my hand. Blood welled in the palm of my hand just before I grabbed Pala’s and held it tightly in mine. I recited the same words that Josh had when he was bound to me at Caleb’s and a few days when we practiced the protective fields. As soon as the last word fell from my lips, the surge of magic ripped through. It was nothing like Josh’s magic; it was rough and bleak, chilling me to the core. Pala bucked under me, screaming out as I tugged at her magic, pulling it toward me.