Chapter 9 Sebastian
Sebastian
Ibreathed a sigh of relief as the gates rolled closed between my car and the streets of New Orleans. I hadn’t expected them to become so unfriendly. Not like this. There had been no warning that anything this blatant was brewing out there. Temple hadn’t reported anything, anyway.
Touching my forehead, I tried to wipe the memories away. Kayla was only human, and when that vampire had pinned her against him… I closed my eyes briefly and steadied my heart rate, bringing myself back under control as I tamped down the fear that could quickly spiral into fury.
But I couldn’t control it completely, and anger teased all of my senses, turning my vision a dull red, tensing my muscles and straining my voice.
“Go up to your room,” I said tersely as soon as we were safely in the house. I needed Kayla safe and to simply obey me, and she didn’t argue as she hurried up the stairs, rushing like she was still afraid.
We hadn’t spoken at all in the car on the way back.
She hadn’t so much as looked my way, as if I was suddenly the bad guy in her head, when all I’d done was protect her.
But the fight had awakened my bloodlust, and I’d held myself away from her.
She was safe with me…She’d always be safe, but she didn’t need to meet the monster inside me when we’d just shared such a lovely evening.
All I’d really wanted was to take her into my arms, but I still couldn’t fucking trust myself around her. Not completely. And especially not with that much adrenaline coursing through me.
I grabbed a blood bag from the fridge then stormed to my first-floor office and tried to shake off my lingering fear.
I’d never felt like this. Not even when Leia, Nic’s mate, had been taken.
Then, I’d been ready for action, primed for rescue, but on the street outside with Kayla in danger, I’d nearly frozen.
Fear had left me impotent to do anything but beg for her life. I’d made offers of things I’d never want to give in order to secure Kayla’s safety.
I forced myself to take a deep breath in and release it. She was safe. The knowledge pounded through me like a second heartbeat, the total awareness of another being something I wasn’t used to.
I slumped into my desk chair and cradled my head in my hands for a moment. Maybe this was it. Perhaps it was a true sign that Kayla was more to me than simply an attractive witch with usefulness in securing the crown and Nic’s rule here.
Maybe she was destined to be more to me.
But really? Could I be so lucky to find my mate?
Someone equal to me in every way? A woman destined to be mine as surely as I was destined to be hers?
Excitement began to replace the fear inside me, sending out little tendrils to jolt my senses.
But could I risk being so impulsive again?
I was here to impress Nic, to please him by settling his new territory. Not to follow my own path or try to forge one.
Shit. I’d risked everything by chasing Leia, and I’d been wrong. So fucking wrong.
What if I was wrong this time? What if I let Nic down all over again… Let myself down?
I was trying to be sensible this time. Trying to put the brakes on, to take the steady course, to be certain.
For some reason, though, I couldn’t get a proper read on Kayla besides scenting occasional emotions from her.
I shrugged. I hadn’t known many witches.
It might have been that her magic blocked me from truly sensing her or from knowing all I wished to know about her.
I couldn’t even smell if she was a virgin or not…
Or I hadn’t so far—and that was usually something that would have driven me crazy in an attempt to possess her.
I stopped and took a breath, staring around my office, waiting for my heart rate to settle. I never got like this. Never. Not even with Leia. That had been forbidden and I’d taken leave of my senses, but it hadn’t come with waves of absolute panic and fear.
Those were both unfamiliar and unwanted.
I needed to call Nic. Maybe if he even came out here, maybe he could tell if Kayla was a virgin or not—maybe he’d be able to tell more about her than I could.
There was something about her tonight… But it was new, and it was confusing, and I didn’t damn well trust myself. Nic could help me out with this, right?
But no. A laugh forced itself from my throat. Kayla wasn’t why I needed Nic here in New Orleans. No. I needed to talk to him about the divided vampires under his rule.
I dialed his number.
“It’s late, Sebastian.” Nic’s opening gambit didn’t put me in any mood to apologize.
“Thought you’d like to know about the three vampires that tried to take me out. Went for our witch too. They oppose your rule here, and they can’t be the only ones.” I was as belligerent as younger brothers ever got. Screw him and his attitude.
“Fuck.” The word was curt and abrasive, and sheets rustled in the background as Nic moved. “Let me take this conversation to the office.” His voice became muffled and his tone changed—probably covering the mic and telling Leia to go back to sleep.
I waited.
“So, rebels?” He was clear now, and I imagined him running his fingers through his hair as he spoke.
“Yeah, pockets of them anyway.” I sounded far too cautious, and I cleared my throat. “I dealt with the ones tonight—they won’t present a problem again.”
“But do you foresee other…” He paused. “Problems?”
His question hung in the air between us. Did I? I’d called him after all—and not simply to tell him I’d killed three vampires in his new territory. Not even I believed confession was that good for the soul.
“I think assembling your council here would be a good idea. Call the local captains, bring them in, too. The rogue vampires need to see you have the bigger nests behind you. Present a united front.”
“Dammit, Seb.” Nic groaned, but his frustration didn’t seem entirely aimed at me. Then he sighed. “I’ll call and get the jet prepped. Now I have to break this to Leia.” He ended the call, and I tossed my phone onto the small leather sofa in the corner of the room.
I stalked away angrily like I could turn my back on Nic by ignoring my phone.
I’d hoped for a more positive interaction than that, and frustration burned through me. “Well, shit.”
“I’ll say.” Kyle walked into my office like he owned the space and took a seat next to my phone, propping his boot-clad feet on the glass-topped coffee table as he set a cardboard box on the floor. “Not sure it’s a good idea for him to come out here, though.”
I sat in the chair opposite Kyle. Vampire hearing was also a curse when the others in the house could overhear entire phone conversations.
“I think it’s a good idea,” I said. “It will show unity, reinforce that support for Nic exists here, and we’ll build solidarity between Baton Rouge and New Orleans.”
That was the plan, anyway.
“Temple was in contact with me while I finished that clean-up. He said there’s really only a small faction of vampires like this—the rest seem to be on board with Nic’s leadership.”
“Maybe the important words there are seem to be. Having Nic here will prove how much support he has once and for all and maybe fix some of our issues.” I pushed my hand through my hair.
Damn, I was tired. “Can we discuss the clean-up tomorrow? I’m exhausted and I have something I need to do before I head to bed. ”
Kyle nodded, but unusual curiosity filled his gaze. I wasn’t usually so vague, but I didn’t think anyone else needed to know I had to apologize to Kayla for being short with her when I’d sent her to the safety of her room.
Some things were private, and my uninvestigated feelings for Kayla definitely fell under that definition. They were feelings I didn’t feel equipped to explore, but I couldn’t ignore how protective I felt…could I?
While the specter of Leia and the mess I’d made in Baton Rouge still lingered in my mind, I needed Nic to see a changed me. And I also needed to make things right with Kayla.
I glanced back at Kyle. “We’ll talk more when Nic gets in, too.” My words were a dismissal.
He nodded but didn’t move right away so I started to leave. Maybe he just needed some time to decompress.
“Hey.” As he spoke, I turned around.
He grabbed the box from down near his feet. “This came earlier for you. It’s from Nic.”
I glanced at it. I didn’t have time for extra shit right now. “What the hell is it?”
But I had a bad feeling about this. Something told me I really wasn’t gonna like what was in the box. The last time Nic had received a box, it had a head in it, and oh… fuck.
Kyle shrugged in response to my question, the movement small like he couldn’t even be bothered to do that.
“I think it’s that witch’s ashes. Nic said he had them separated out or something and put them in an urn or some shit.
” He shook his head. “I don’t know. Sentimental bastard.
All this for some old New Orleans witch. ”
Dread trickled, cold, down my spine. “What was the witch’s name?” My throat dried before I spoke the last word. I already goddamn knew her name, but I needed Kyle to confirm it.
Kyle scratched his head. “Nic said, Lettie. Wanted her to have a proper burial, I think. Thinks we can arrange that quietly here.” He looked perplexed.
We didn’t usually observe human ceremonies, so Nic’s request was certainly an odd one.
I looked at the package, and my chest hollowed. Lettie was in there. Lettie was in my house. Dead. Ashes. And Kayla thought she was still out there living some kind of perfect, free life. Fuck.
I hadn’t even told Kayla I’d known all along that a New Orleans witch had died in the war with the Ricards, someone who I could name, someone she absolutely knew.
She’d only just told me tonight how much the witch meant to her.
But Nic had said to keep Lettie’s death quiet to avoid actions against him from the larger witch population. .. So now what?