Chapter 15
15
ESME
I froze just inside my apartment, my hand still gripping the doorknob as if it were a lifeline. Afraid to speak. Afraid to breathe as pure, unadulterated terror crawled up my spine with its icy fingers. My lungs began to ache, burning for oxygen as I stared at the figure lounging on my couch without a care in the world, but the air had been knocked out of me, leaving me gasping like a fish on the shore.
Marcus watched me with a casual smile, as if he were an old friend who had just stopped by for a chat, and not the monster who'd burned my family alive with a flick of his fingers.
To the untrained eye, he didn't appear threatening. No. To anyone who didn't know who he was, he seemed like nothing more than a mildly handsome man around thirty with short brown hair and a lean build, his face strangely unlined. I couldn't stop staring at him. He was dressed much the same as the last time I'd seen him, in a crisp white button-down shirt and brown slacks, the picture of a successful businessman or perhaps a college professor, blending in perfectly with the rest of humanity.
But I knew the truth behind that benign facade. Dark power emanated from him, the same sickening energy I'd felt the night he slaughtered my loved ones. His brown eyes, which might have been warm and inviting to anyone else, glinted with malevolent amusement as he watched me.
"Esme, darling," he said, his voice smooth and cultured. "It's been far too long. I was beginning to think you were avoiding me."
My throat constricted as invisible hands wrapped around it, cutting off the screams welling up inside of me. I wanted to run, to lunge at him and claw the smile from his face, to do anything but stand there frozen like a helpless animal. Like his prey. But there was nowhere I could go that he wouldn't find me.
Marcus suddenly rose from the couch with a fluid grace that belied his true nature. I flinched involuntarily as I struggled to breathe. His polite smile spread across his face, revealing perfect white teeth.
"Now, now, don't start panicking." He gave me a dramatic sigh that belied the twinkle in his eyes as he witnessed my fear. "Honestly, I find it boring. And besides, I'm not here to hurt you," he said, his tone soothing.
The invisible hands loosened slightly, but it still took me a minute to find my voice, and when I did, it was shaking. "I find that a little hard to believe."
He smiled a little and made a small sound of acquiescence. He moved closer, and I forced myself to stand my ground. I was completely terrified, but I refused to run from him. Not this time.
"It's true," he insisted. "In fact, I have a proposition for you, one that I think you'll find quite interesting."
"I don't have your goddamned book. And I don't know where it is."
"Oh, I know that now." He paced back and forth in front of me, his movements sinuous and predatory. "I'm not too proud to admit I made a mistake with your family. It seems I was...misled about the book's location." His voice was almost apologetic, but there was an undercurrent of anger beneath the words.
I swallowed hard, my heart pounding in my chest as paralyzing fear slowly morphed into anger. Not just because of what he was telling me, but that he was here in my home, temporary as it may be.
"Misled? By whom?" I would fucking strangle the person with my bare hands for what they’d taken from me.
Marcus shrugged, a casual gesture that only infuriated me more. "That's neither here nor there. It was all just a…what does this generation call it? A wild goose chase to distract me. Because now I know it's right here, in New Orleans." He stared off into the distance and laughed softly. Disbelievingly. “Do you believe it? It was right here under my nose the entire time. And I never knew it. Never felt its power calling to me."
He paused, his eyes boring into mine with an intensity that made me want to look away, but I forced myself to meet his gaze. To show him that I wouldn’t cower before him. "You killed them for nothing," I whispered, my voice trembling with a mixture of grief and rage. "My family died for nothing ."
Marcus had the decency to look slightly chagrined, but it was fleeting. "Yes, well, these things happen. It's too late to do anything about that, and again, I do apologize, but you can still save yourself." He paused, catching my eyes with his.
I forced the word from my throat. “How?”
He smiled, happy I was playing his game. “You, Esme, have the ability to find it for me." He pointed at the middle of my chest. “Right in there. Somewhere.” He made a tsking sound and waved his hand in the air between us dismissively. “I know you don’t like to use your magic because you have some strange sense of right and wrong, but I really think you can make an exception this time.” He smiled again. “For me.”
I stared at him in disbelief. " Dios mío . You think I'm going to help you? After what you did?"
His smiled turned into a cruel twist of his lips. "Yes. I think you will."
"No, I won't." I practically spit the words at him. Let him do what he would. I wasn't his puppet.
"You will," he insisted. "Because if you don't, I'll make sure that everyone you care about in this city suffers the same fate as your family."
"There is no one in this city I care about," I bluffed. "I only just arrived."
His eyes narrowed, and a knowing smirk played around the corners of his mouth. "Hmm. Funny. Because I could've sworn I saw you locking lips with a certain someone outside The Purple Fang the other night. Brogan, isn't it? The vampire . You two seemed quite...intimate."
He'd seen us? The thought made my skin crawl and my blood run cold as I wondered how long he'd been watching with neither of us sensing his presence. Not until he wanted us to know.
I tried to keep my face impassive, but I knew he could see the fear in my eyes. "That was nothing. Just a momentary lapse in judgment with a handsome male I met in a club. I'm only visiting this city."
He barked out a laugh. "Ah yes, I'm sure—despite your frequent visits to his club—it meant nothing at all," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Just like your little job at that witch's shop is… nothing .” He made a show of looking around my small apartment. “For someone who claims to just be passing through, you've certainly made yourself at home.”
I clenched my jaw, hating how easily he could read me. "What do you want me to do, Marcus?"
He stepped closer. So close I could smell the strangely clean scent of his breath. Could feel the heat radiating off his body, the dark energy that swirled around us both like a suffocating cloak. "I want you to help me, Esme. I want you to use your bruja powers to locate the book, and bring it to me. And in return, I'll spare your new friends. For now."
"Why can't you find it yourself if you know it’s here?”
He shoved his hands into his front pockets, and a flash of frustration crossed his features. "Because, due to the nature of the book, it's been hidden from me. Magically." His attention returned to me. "This is why I need you."
I was surprised he’d answered me honestly. "Then how do you know it's here at all? It could be anywhere!"
"It's here," he insisted.
"Why do you need this book?" I blurted.
He smiled again. "I was wondering how long it would take you to ask."
I lifted my chin. "And are you going to answer my question?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because it'll be much more fun to surprise you all."
Oh, God. I shook my head vehemently. "No. I won't help you. I don't care what you do to me, but I won't be part of whatever the hell you’re planning."
His hand shot out, gripping my jaw so hard, I thought he was going to break the bones, and I couldn't stop the small sound of pain that escaped me. His eyes flashed with anger, the brown irises flickering with an inhuman red glow.
"You will help me, little bruja . Or I will make you watch as I rip out your vampire lover's heart. Then I'll move on to the rest of them, one by one, until you're all alone again. Just like before. And all their deaths will be on you. Because you wouldn't help me find a simple book ."
Tears stung my eyes as his words penetrated through the pain. The thought of Brogan, of any of them, suffering because of me was unbearable. But I couldn't give in to Marcus's demands. I couldn't betray everything I believed in, everything my family had died for.
"Go to hell," I spat, wrenching my face out of his grasp, knowing I’d have bruises tomorrow.
He laughed then, a cold, mirthless sound that chilled me to the bone. "Oh, my dear Esme. I've already been there. And trust me, it's nothing compared to what I have in store for you if you don't help me."
I stared at the thing before me, my mind reeling with the impossible choice he'd given me. Find the book that would help him do God only knew what, or watch everyone I cared about die. Again. It was a cruel, twisted game, and I was just a pawn on his chessboard.
But my heart ached unbearably at the thought of putting Brogan and his coven in danger. Despite our complicated relationship, despite the fact that he'd pushed me away, I wouldn’t be able to watch him die. Not after everything I'd already lost.
So what choice did I have? Marcus had made it clear in the past he would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. And if I refused to help him, he would make good on his threats. He would torture and kill everyone I'd come to care about in this city, leaving me alone and broken once again.
Tears blurred my vision as I struggled to find a way out, a solution that wouldn't end in more bloodshed. But there was none. Marcus had me backed into a corner, and he knew it. If I didn't help him, he'd exact his revenge, and then find someone else who would.
I closed my eyes, taking a deep, shuddering breath. I hated myself for what I was about to do, but I saw no other way. If I wanted to live through this, if I wanted to have any chance of protecting Brogan and the others, I had to play along. For now. Until I could figure out a way to stop him.
"Fine," I whispered, my voice hoarse with emotion. "I'll help you find the damn book."
Marcus smiled, a triumphant gleam in his eyes. "I knew you'd see reason, Esme. You always were a smart girl."
I swallowed back the bile that rose in my throat at his condescending tone. I wanted to scream, to lash out at him with every ounce of power I possessed. But it would be futile. He was too strong, too cunning. I had to bide my time until I found a way to outsmart him.
"How exactly do you expect me to find this book?" I asked, my voice trembling despite my efforts to keep it steady. "I don't even know where to start looking."
Marcus shrugged, his casual demeanor belying the threat that lurked beneath the surface. "As I said before, you're a clever girl, Esme. I'm sure you'll figure it out." Then he smiled. "But I can give you a hint, if you'd like."
I swallowed hard and nodded once.
"Blood, shadow, death, and fire—these are the keys. But keys don’t turn themselves. You’ll have to be willing to spill, to illuminate, to break, to burn. And when it’s done, when you stand at the end of it all… you won’t be the same. But you'll still be here, along with everyone else, and I'll have what I need."
Blood, shadow, death, fire. Those were trials used to break a magic lock. What if I couldn't do it? What if I wasn't strong enough? "I'll need time," I said, trying to buy myself some breathing room.
Marcus glared at me. "You have one week from today, Esme. One week to bring me the book, or I start making good on my promises."
With that, he turned and walked out of my apartment, leaving me alone with my thoughts and the crushing weight of the task he’d given me.
I sank down onto the couch, my legs no longer able to support me, and buried my face in my hands, hot tears spilling down my cheeks as the enormity of the situation crashed down on me. I was trapped, caught between an impossible choice and a monster who would stop at nothing to get what he wanted.
You could run. The thought flashed through my mind, a desperate, tempting idea. I could pack my bag, leave everything behind again, and disappear into the night. Start over somewhere new, somewhere far away from Marcus and his threats. Cross the ocean. Cross many oceans.
But even as the idea crossed my mind, I knew I couldn't do it. I couldn't leave Brogan and the others to face Marcus's wrath alone. If I ran, he would take it out on them. Their blood would be on my hands.
And if I was being honest with myself, I didn't want to run. I was tired of living in fear. My family had died because of this book. I owed it to them to see this through, to end this.
I wiped the tears from my face with shaking hands. I had to be strong now. I had to find a way to outsmart Marcus, to beat him at his own game. And I had to do it without putting anyone else in danger. The first step was to find that damn book and discover why it was so important to him.
I stood up, my knees still wobbly, but my resolve strengthening with each passing moment. I would find it, but not for Marcus. I would find it for myself, for my family, and for my new friends. And when I did, I would use it to destroy him, to make him pay for everything he had done.
I was finished being a pawn in Marcus's game.