Page 32 of Cursed Lifeline (Eternal Love)

Thirty One

Felix

song: secrets | omido, ordell, rick jansen

Entering my study, the orange glow of the sconces and fireplace reflects off the dark mahogany wood floors and charcoal grey walls, giving life to an otherwise dark place. The moon shines through the windows embedded in the twenty-foot onyx ceiling. The stained glass is embellished with dark lines, creating a web-like effect in the vaulted canopy over our heads.

The walls on the main floor are lined with twelve-foot-tall bookshelves. A catwalk rests above them with another row of ten-foot-tall shelves that line the upper part of the room. The space serves as more of a private library than a study and houses all the books I’ve collected throughout the decades that I thought might aid us in our quest to break the curse, from witchcraft to folklore, to everything written on my kind, to religious works dating as far back as the Codex Sinaiticus, the oldest surviving full text of the New Testament.

Floor-to-ceiling windows sit behind my desk on the far side of the room. Usually, all the windows in the space cause it to feel cold. But the fire and the extra bodies packed into the study make it warmer and more inviting than most nights when I sit here alone. That is, until my gaze locks on Dimitri who's standing behind my desk and rummaging through papers he has no business reading.Behind him, a raven catches my eye as it perches on a tree branch outside the floor-to-ceiling windows. As I enter the room and hold its predatory gaze, it quickly takes flight.

I hold tight of Esme’s hand as we enter the room, my stare falls on Dimitri, and I bitterly say, “ A little more than kin, and less than kind . I’d prefer, brother, if you didn’t rummage through my things.”

He grins but doesn’t drop the paper in his hands. Instead, his eyes drop, and he takes in Esme’s hand, protectively clutched in my palm. I grip it tighter, and she squeezes mine back as we make our way further into the space. There’s a bigger war brewing than I thought. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be graced with the council’s presence. I study everyone as we pass. In times of war, it’s best to learn your allies, your enemy, and be able to tell the difference between the two.

Evangeline sits on a loveseat next to the fire. She’s watched carefully by Alfred. Silas and Caelum stand close to his side and keep their eye on my brothers, Dimitri and Talon. Across the room, Celeste hovers next to my desk and watches as Talon joins Dimitri in his rummaging, picks up a piece of paper, and silently reads the private contents of it. The knowledge of what he’s reading makes me come to a halt in the center of the room. His brows raise curiously, and a smile wickedly plays at the corner of his mouth. Having had enough unwanted intrusion this evening, I snap, “You’d drop that piece of paper and forget what it says if you knew what was good for you.”

Talon’s eyes lift to mine, and his depraved grin deepens. Gesturing to me with the piece of paper, he says, “Does she know about this?”

The she being Esme.

Swallowing back rage, I pull Esme closer and shake my head no. Talon lets out a whistle and lowers himself in my seat. “I wouldn’t hold secrets from the woman I loved,” he pats the top of his thighs, eyeing Celeste curiously. Her cheeks flush as she debates taking a seat in his lap. Though I can tell she wants to, she seems embarrassed to have the rest of us gain the knowledge she’s so eager to fall into his trap.

Before she can decide, I counter, “You couldn’t keep a secret to save your life. Even the life of someone you loved.”

Anger fills his posture as he pivots my way in my chair. It was a low blow, considering the past he keeps hidden. But if Celeste is even thinking about sitting in his lap, it’s best she knows what she’s dealing with.

“Good to see nothing has changed over the past hundred years,” I add just to piss him off.

“Oh, and you’ve changed?” Talon seethes. “If Esme were smart, she’d...”

Caelum, Silas, and Alfred take a challenging step in his direction.

“One battle at a time,” Dimitri sighs angrily, cutting off the fight that would’ve escalated quickly had Talon been allowed to keep running his mouth.

Esme’s trio of watchers reluctantly back down.

Tired of waiting, Talon switches tactics and pulls Celeste into his lap a moment later, giving her no room to leave as he tightens his arms around her waist. Swiveling towards the desk, he cages her in and whispers something foul in her ear that has Celeste blushing and biting her lip.

Turning my attention to Dimitri, I growl, “I’m already fighting the most important battle of my life. I don’t have the time or energy to help with yours.”

Clutching Esme’s hand, I guide her towards a black, sweetheart wingback chair and signal for her to sit. When she refuses, I frown and sit by myself. Pulling her down, she protests my lap and perches on the armrest instead.

Leaning toward me, she whispers, “We’ll talk about whatever was on that piece of paper later.”

Giving into her stubbornness and swallowing nervously over a lump in my throat, I sling my right arm protectively around her slender waist and wait anxiously to find out what brought all of us together and why whatever it is couldn’t wait.

“That’s not very brotherly, is it,” Talon growls from my seat behind my desk. “Turning your back on your coven. Your family.”

Celeste tries to rise off his lap, but he anchors her in place.

“Brotherly?” I scoff. “If what Viktor did is any indication of what you deem brotherly, Talon, I’ll pass.”

Esme laces her fingers through mine as they possessively grip her hip. Talon opens his mouth to speak, but Esme cuts off his budding remark and asks Dimitri, “Who’s Ember?”

Dimitri grins. “Drusilla’s sister.”

I sit up a little straighter.

“My mother doesn’t have a sister,” I hiss.

“No?” Dimitri raises his brow, questioning my knowledge.

When I don’t answer, he sighs, “That’s what we all thought. In fact, that’s what your mother thought, as well. She’d assumed, with the rest of her former coven of witches, that her sister had run off and died of a broken heart centuries ago. Through searching for a cure for you, she recently discovered that wasn’t the case.”

“Let me guess,” I sneer, “There’s no cure, and now she wants me to come to my senses, journey home, and meet her long-lost sister?”

“Her sister is the reason for the curse, you idiot,” Talon seethes.

My gaze snaps to his. Speechless, I watch as he rolls his eyes, and pulls Celeste further into his chest. Resting his face against the crook in her neck, he breathes in deep, and I swear I hear him groan with pleasure.

“How’s that possible?” Esme asks when I still haven’t found my voice.

“We’re not sure,” Dimitri says, “Though the legend we all grew up hearing and believing is quickly unraveling as more and more truths are revealed.”

He rounds my desk and pulls Celeste out of Talon’s lap with an aggravated tug. Talon elicits a growl as Dimitri flings Celeste carelessly into a nearby chair. He rises a second later in anger. When she starts to stand as well and attempts to make her way back to Talon’s inviting lap, Dimitri raises a finger. Shaking it and his head at her, she instantly backs down.

“The most alarming bit of new information is that Drusilla’s sister, Ember, was your father, Draven’s true mate,” Dimitri suggests.

“That’s Impossible,” I scoff.

“Mate?” Caelum questions, “If they were mated, how and why did he marry Drusilla?”

“Power,” Silas hisses beside him. Dimitri’s eyes find his and he nods in agreement. “Besides, not all mates accept the bond.” He eyes Alfred, who’s once again intently watching Evangeline. “Some refuse it outright. As if it’s a curse in itself.”

“There’s a lot to this story we still don’t know,” Dimitri suggests, turning and making his way toward the three large windows behind my desk; he peers out into the bleakness of night and takes a deep breath. Exhaling slowly, he says, “Drusilla has never been forthcoming with information about her past. It’s almost as if when Draven died, the truth died with him. Though she knows we need facts, I can tell she’s scared to reveal them.”

“Make her,” I demand. My brothers eye me with dangerous warning, but I don’t heed it. “You’re part of the council. Your job is to advise her.”

“She won’t listen to us,” Talon seethes. Angrily rising from his seat, his hands grip my desk, his knuckles turn white as he says, “You’re her son by blood. You tell her.”

Talon and I bitterly stare each other down. Esme places a tender, calm hand on my forearm, but it doesn’t cool the fire rushing through my veins.

“Regardless of the mating bond,” Dimitris sighs, “When your mother wed Draven, Ember became furious. She disappeared. Like I said, everyone thought she’d died when, in fact, Ember vanished and spent her time hunting for ways to seek revenge. Hence the curse you and Esme find yourselves under.”

Pinching the bridge of my nose, trying to evoke a sense of calm, and attempting to focus, I turn to Dimitri and ask, “If this is true, Ember is also the key to breaking the curse?”

Alfred clears his throat and takes a step forward. “That’s right, and that’s what we wanted to talk to you about. Not only is Ember the mastermind behind all of this, but we’d also go so far as to say, she may be controlling Viktor.”

I give Alfred a flippant glare. He shrugs, suggesting it's true.

“What does she have against me and Felix?” Esme asks.

“What any bitter, jealous female would,” Celeste shrugs.

Esme and Evangeline turn questioning eyes Celeste’s way.

“Isn’t it obvious?” she chuckles. “She wants what she can’t have. She wants the fairytale. The happily ever after. If she can’t have it, she doesn’t want you to have it, either.”

“Viktor aside, how do we break the curse,” I ask eagerly.

“That’s what we need to find out,” Dimitri says, taking an intimidating step forward.

Alarmed, I pull Esme closer.

“What are you suggesting?” I ask.

“Working with the enemy,” Dimitri shrugs.

I immediately start to say no, not a chance, when Esme blurts out, “How?”

Dimitri and Talon eye Celeste. She squirms under their playful stare and retreats fearfully into the cushions of her red velvet seat.

“Ember will be waiting for Felix and Esme,” Dimitri suggests.

“So, we hit her with the unexpected,” Talon grins. “Infiltrate her sanctuary. Extract the information we need.” Licking his lips, cocking his head to the side, his eyes sinfully graze up Celeste’s frame in a way that makes the slayer's cheeks heat. He then proposes, “If that doesn’t work, in exchange for information, we could tempt Viktor to a savory snack he couldn’t resist.”

Realizing his meaning, Celeste snaps, “I’m to be used as bait?” Eyeing Talon differently for the first time since she set her gaze on him, Celeste rises from her seat and stalks toward the door with bitter, angry strides. “No thanks!”

In a flash, Talon mists to the exit, blocks the door, and stops her before she can get away. Celeste angrily turns and takes a heated step back, but he mists again. Standing in front of her, he prowls towards Celeste, backing her up like a caged animal into a nearby corner.

“What,” he grins, enjoying a little too much the way she twists from side to side, looking for an escape. “You don’t believe in the element of surprise?” he taunts. Leaning in, he braces one hand on either side of her head and growls, “That’s a shame because I’m still marveling at the mystery of how your smell takes my breath away.”

Talon bares his canines, and Celeste’s eyes grow wide. I’m about to put a stop to it when Silas bellows, “Enough.”

Talon takes an angry step back just as Celeste raises her hand and slaps him across the face. Clutching his wounded jaw, she angrily steps into him and violently whispers, “Try that again, and I’ll run a stake through your heart.”

“Dying by your hand would be an honor,” Talon grins. “Even if you continue to deny just how badly you want me to taste you.”

“Bite me,” Celeste barks as she pushes past him.

“Gladly,” he growls, spinning on his heels and following close behind.

She gives him a hostile glare as she returns to her seat. To my surprise, he keeps his distance. But what comes as an even bigger shock is when Celeste sits and says, “I’ll do it.”

“No,” Esme shouts.

She bolts up from her position on the armrest next to me, and stalks towards Celeste. Though the girls haven’t known each other long, they have become close over the time they’ve spent training together. Closer than I originally thought they ever would be when Silas and Celeste boarded the train to New York. That night, Esme emitted a jealous temper that only made me love her more. But as the girls started working together, she quickly saw Celeste was not a threat to what we have, more an asset to the mission at hand. Since then, the girls have been nearly inseparable.

“I can’t let you do this. This isn’t your battle. It’s mine and Felix’s.” Esme argues, but Celeste just shakes her head.

“It’s both our battles,” she smiles sweetly, taking Esme’s hand as she kneels by her side. “We didn’t choose this life. It chose us.” Truer words were never spoken. “If I can help, I want to.”

“I don’t want you to lose your life to save mine,” Esme cries.

Celeste shrugs and smiles sweetly. “Who says I’m going to die?”

Esme frowns and shakes her head, still disagreeing with her friend’s choices, when Alfred says, “It’s not up to you.” All our attention snaps his way. He nods toward Silas. “It’s up to him.”

Silas stands quietly in the corner assessing the situation. Always the man of few words, all of our gazes fixate on him like we’re a kingdom awaiting their king’s decree. I, for once, am just happy it’s not Esme’s life we’re talking about possibly sacrificing. Even though I’d kill to protect Celeste as well, knowing Esme is not walking into the ring of fire puts my heart slightly at ease.

“Silas is your watcher,” Alfred says, breaking the silence. “You were assigned to him by the council. If anything happens to you, he answers for it.”

Silas’s gaze flickers to Esme. Then to Celeste. He looks at the women with respect, love, and silent devotion for what they represent to all of us.

They’re our weaknesses and, in turn, also our strengths.

After a moment, Silas eyes Talon. My brother gives him a nod. Curiously, I study the two men as the watcher steps forward, and we await his verdict.

“Since day one, I’ve trained her to be a secret weapon,” he sighs. “This seems fitting.”

Celeste smiles. Esme softly cries. Evangeline looks on, stunned.

The rest of us, all five men in the room except Silas, collectively stand and take a protective step forward toward our women, knowing we stand to lose one of them. As Esme turns and casts a worried look my way, I hold my breath and send up a silent prayer for Celeste, thankful that, for once, it doesn’t look like it’ll be mine.