Blood Moon (21 page)

She sighed heavily and bit off the tip of an asparagus spear with a little more force than necessary. “Uh huh. I know you too well for that. You’ll be blurting them down the table.” 

Cern chuckled. “It would liven things up a bit, don’t you think?”

“Personally, I don’t think it needs any help. This is the calm before the storm, and you and I both know it.”

He sat back, patting his stomach. “Oh, I don’t know. You are all being excessively polite, but it seems like you can keep it up indefinitely.”

“They can perhaps.” She nodded towards the other end of the table. “I don’t know how much longer I can handle this. When I think too hard about it, I just get angry, and losing my temper right now would
not
be a good idea.”

Cern chuckled. “I suppose it wouldn’t. You are a little unpredictable, aren’t you?”

Something in his voice made her look up, studying his face. Somehow, he knew about her “power surges,” even though she’d never told him or had one around him. Unease rose within. He’d already shown up several times just when she needed him. Once could be brushed off as coincidence. Three times? That was something else.

Another servant took their empty plates, forcing her to sit back in her chair and keep her questions to herself.

Dessert was a gloriously decadent dark chocolate cake with ganache icing and a dramatic dusting of confectioner’s sugar. Her mouth closed over the spoon, and she couldn’t help moaning her approval. It was the most amazing chocolate dessert she’d ever tasted.

She sucked all the chocolate off the spoon, closing her eyes and savoring the flavors melting on her tongue.

“No wonder you all are fighting over her.” Cern’s voice boiled with laughter.

Every man in the room, servants included, watched her with identical expressions of disbelief. Her skin flushed, but she refused to look away from her dessert. She scooped up another spoonful and raised it as if it were a toast, and winked. “I’m terribly sorry, but really, this is the most amazing thing I’ve ever had in my mouth.”

Cern made a choking noise. Thaddeus coughed into his napkin, his shoulders shaking. He might even have passed money to Lawrence under the edge of the table, but she couldn’t be sure.

Mortification froze her to her chair. She hadn’t intended for the words to come out dirty, but everyone continued to stare.
Well, hell
. Stuffing the spoon in her mouth, she smiled, then kept her gaze on the plate in front of her.
So much for not causing trouble at the dinner table.

The rest of the meal was finished in silence.

***

Lukas caught Aria’s elbow as they followed their host into a smaller parlor. “Remind me to get the recipe for that cake.”

A fresh wave of embarrassment surged to her face. “Stop it. I was enjoying myself. It was either that or stand up and start raving like a lunatic.”

Lukas laughed, a husky, breathy sound she felt all the way to her center. “Believe me, baby, I liked your choice. Just not in front of so many witnesses.”

She took a seat on a brocade fainting couch, Lukas crowding her towards the angled back. His thigh pressed along her own, and she could feel his heat even through his pants and her dress. His entire body broadcasted possessiveness. Lawrence took a wing chair a few feet away, and Thaddeus stood, casually leaning against the doorjamb.

Haemon sat on another couch, flanked by his guards. They paced, watching their counterparts warily.

Jonas took a chair in front of a large marble fireplace, scooting it so that he could view everyone in the room. When his gaze rested on Lukas and Aria, his lips thinned. Cern crossed his legs, stretching them in front of the desk he occupied. Something strong and amber sparkled in the cut glass decanter at his elbow. It must have been placed there, with cups and a bucket of ice and bottle of soda water for the company to enjoy.

“How about drinks for everyone?” Cern jumped up, pulling the stopper and sniffing at the liquid. A grin broke out over his face. “Why Jonas, I didn’t expect good, old fashioned whiskey!”

The older man’s voice dripped disdain. “What did you expect exactly?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Cern handed a half-full tumbler to Thaddeus, who waited for Lukas’ permission and then grinned. “I sort of expected something stuffy like port or sherry, I guess.”

“Sorry to disappoint you.”

Cern started to hand a glass to one of Haemon’s Pack Guards, but the man refused. “I’m sorry, but
my
guards are not allowed alcohol while working.”

Lukas stretched, nodding as Lawrence also asked permission. Only Sebastian refused the offer. “I know my wolves won’t overindulge, and I trust them.”

“Are you implying something?”

Lukas met Haemon’s bristling with a cool stare. “Don’t get so worked up. If I insult you, Haemon, you won’t have to ask. You’ll know.”

Aria sighed, took a large swig of her own whiskey and allowed it to burn a clear path down her throat. Haemon’s lips tightened even further with disapproval. She met his gaze and raised an eyebrow, taking another sip. In the past, her act of disobedience would have resulted in Haemon’s physical display of anger. She raised the glass again, enjoying his irritation.

Jonas cleared his throat, leaning forward to rest his arms on his knees. “Listen, the Council does not need to hear this at all. We can come to an arrangement agreeable for all parties.”

Aria cut in. “You mean you’ll allow me to return with Lukas to his Pack? Because that would make this party happy.”

“Aria.” Haemon’s voice lost any sense of gentleness or comfort.

“I am not a yippy dog to be heeled, Haemon. Do not treat me like one.” The words hissed through her teeth, and his surprise showed briefly on his face.

“Forgive me. My need to see you safely home is overcoming my better manners.”

Laughter bubbled up in her throat. See her safely home? Who did he think he was kidding? All his Pack Guards had seen her bleeding under his hands, and he’d killed Lukas before. The pretense made her feel like she was being smothered.

She slid a hand to cover Lukas’ where it rested on his thigh. His fingers curled under, pulling hers over his lap. She wasn’t even sure he realized he’d done it. Haemon’s nostrils’ flared, and she could see his anger rising. Good. He needed to be a little less in control.

“I don’t think you understand, Haemon. I am happy right where I am. Although, there is something you could do to make me even happier.”

Lukas stiffened, and she squeezed his fingers. Haemon didn’t respond, watching her closely.

“This is good!” Jonas seemed genuinely pleased. “What could Haemon do?”

“Leave us in peace.” Her gaze never left Haemon’s. “Or die. Your choice.”

Chapter Twenty-one

The silence in the room swelled, shock etched into everyone’s faces. Calmly, as if she’d asked him to switch seats, she sipped at her whiskey.

Jonas cleared his throat. “I don’t think you’re really getting into the spirit of this negotiation.”

“Oh, I think I am. You all want to pass me around like a Council whore, and I won’t have it. I’ve made my choice. Make yours.”

“You don’t have any idea what you’re saying.”

Lukas spoke up. “Watch how you speak to
my Mate.
”

Haemon’s laugh surprised her. He shook his head, brushing a strand of golden hair off his forehead. “I can’t believe you all have managed to deceive one another. He isn’t your Mate, Aria. I own you, body and soul, and have since your father promised you to me when we were ten.” His glare flicked to Lukas, who sat ramrod straight next to her, a growl rumbling in his chest. “Think, Aria. If you truly cared for him, you’d leave him. He managed to escape disaster once. Do you think he could do it, again?”

She shot off the couch, trembling with the need to tear the smug smirk off his lips. He enjoyed her reaction to his thinly veiled threat.

Lukas tugged on her hand. “Aria, baby—”

She shook off his hand. Somehow, watching Haemon’s face had triggered something inside her. The last remnants of the naïve, sheltered girl she had been were snuffed out. In their place, a hard, unbending determination remained. Haemon had threatened her family. This time, she would not sit back and allow disaster to strike again.

The room seemed colder, but she brushed it off. She felt icy, from the inside out. Haemon had pushed too far. She moved to stand in front of him, crouching down to his level. Her eyes flicked to the others in the room and a firm smile crossed her mouth. Jonas sat back in his chair, horror etched on his face. Cern stood, expressionless with Thaddeus, who looked as if he’d swallowed his tongue. Even Haemon seemed less certain than he had before.

“I don’t think you are listening to me, Haemon. It’s a problem you’ve always had, actually.” Her finger slid along his jaw, her fingernail pushing at his chin until his gaze was locked with hers. She wanted him to see that she meant what she said.

“I am not a toy to fight over, or a brood mare to take home and fuck. When you took Lukas from me the first time, I was too young to really understand. I am not the same girl, and I will not allow you to destroy my world again. I have a family now. You are not included.”

She stood slowly and turned to Jonas. “And you are no better. I think it’s about time you called the senior members of the Council.”

Aria took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Her body shuddered as Lukas’ fingers curled around her wrist and gently tugged her to the couch next to him. Ice trickled out of her, and her body slumped. She’d made her point, and exhaustion overcame her. Absently, she touched the necklace hanging under the edge of the dress. The metal burned through the fabric with cold. Funny, but she hadn’t noticed it before. Little by little, the metal warmed to her body. Glancing around the room, she became aware that everyone was watching her with strange expressions on their faces.

Jonas muttered something, and Aria glanced back toward Haemon. Instead of cowering, his rage burned even brighter, there for all to see. Her stomach turned and dinner crept towards the back of her throat. 

“Is this everyone’s wish?” Jonas asked, a disapproving frown marring his features.

Lukas’s firm voice broke through when no one answered. “Call them, Jonas.” 

Haemon nodded once, then raised his hand, calling total attention. “I do have one request.”

Jonas paused in the process of flipping open his cell phone. “What?”

“As the question of her Mate is still unanswered, I believe she needs to be kept separate from both Lukas and I. It is only fair.”

Beside her, Lukas’ temper finally caught up with them. The tinkle of breaking glass mixed with his oath. Whirling, she watched as he uncurled his right hand, glass dropping with blood onto the fine Persian carpet. His whiskey tumbler had been no match for the strength of his anger. She got up, gently cradling his hand in her own. Most of the glass had fallen onto the carpet, and she shook her head.

“I take it you object to this arrangement?” Jonas’ voice held dry amusement.

“I object, but I can see the sense of it.”

He jumped when she pulled out the last piece of glass a little more forcefully than necessary. Already his cuts were knitting themselves closed. A servant appeared at his elbow with a wet cloth and a broom and dustpan, sweeping the mess while Lukas cleaned off his hands.

“Who exactly do you expect me to stay with? I don’t think you’ll let me stay alone,” Aria commented, sitting again and taking the cloth from Lukas. She wiped off the blood from her fingers. She had been expecting something like this all evening, but had hoped it wouldn’t happen.

“No, given your history, I don’t think that would be wise.”

She feigned innocence. “My history?”

Jonas ignored her. “I suppose she will be taken to one of the rooms in my wing and locked in. I don’t suppose you will trust me to watch her, and I know she won’t.”

“
She
is sitting right here.” Aria understood their belief that she would run yet again, but it still rubbed her the wrong way. She wasn’t a teenager anymore to be bossed around and handed from guardian to guardian.

Cern stepped forward, for once his normal mocking tone gone. “I’ll act as her guardian. I am a neutral party.”

Aria didn’t miss the glance that slid between Haemon and Jonas. Cern wasn’t quite as neutral as they’d thought.

He was, however, her best option at the moment.

“Fine.” The men turned to her as if she’d just appeared. “Cern can be my guardian.”

Jonas looked uneasy. “I’m not sure that—”

“I don’t think you understand. Cern gets to do it, or I’m going to disappear and make your lives
really
miserable.”

Jonas snorted. “You cannot disappear here.”

Aria stood. “Was that a challenge?”

Lukas tugged her hand and she sat back down next to him, pressing herself against his side without trying to be obvious about it. His warmth seeped into her skin and she took a deep breath, memorizing his scent. It took all her control not to say anything else, but she feared what else her anger would draw out of her mouth before she had a chance to think it over.

“Well, are we in agreement?” Cern waited, crossing his arms.

Haemon slowly nodded. “I think that’s an acceptable solution if Lukas agrees.”

Her Mate nodded once.

Cern held out one hand. “Come on, Aria. I think it’s best if we leave now.”

She wanted to protest, but she’d had enough. She was bone tired, and drained. Everyone stood as she rose, somehow remembering their manners at the last minute. Tears burned as she looked up at Lukas, cupped his cheeks in her hand and pressed a kiss to his lips. His hands settled briefly over her hips, fisting in the snug fabric. She pulled away before she could spill any tears.

“Lorenzo, take them to the Blue Room.” Jonas gave the order, meanwhile, his thumbs worked the cell phone.

Following Lorenzo and Cern into the hall, she heard Jonas sigh from behind her. “It seems we’ll need the senior Council tomorrow morning….”

***