Beneath the Watching

17. Stefan

17

STEFAN

“Don’t waste a single moment believing there is any way out of this for you.” The sound of Josiah’s voice hissed and slithered from the doorway as he immobilized me with a barely a lift of his hand

Glaring back at him, I said, “There’s always a way.”

“Not without my permission,” Josiah answered, taking a step into the room.

He tilted his head curiously, as if I were a bug pinned under a needle in a display case. It felt like he was unraveling my structure, my form, the things that made me, me. I didn’t know much of the man, having never had a conversation with him until I was summoned to the High Court. I had seen him around in the distant past, when my mother had brought me here when I was younger, but we’d never had an in-depth conversation.

She’d come here to hunt and scheme, trying to catch the eye of a higher court member. She’d been dissatisfied with her lot in life being joined with merely an ordinary demon god and wanted something greater.

More beauty, more riches, more respect, and more fear.

I couldn’t remember if she’d ever tried to ensnare Josiah, but the possibility of such enraged me.

The man snickered. “Calm down, holy man.”

“Let me down or the first chance I get, I will drive a stake through your heart.”

Josiah straightened his shoulders and clasped his hands behind his back. “You’re welcome to try,” he said. “Half breed,” he taunted.

I tried not to twitch and was unsuccessful. “Crossbreed sounds so much better, doesn’t it?” he whispered.

His implication was a trumpet in my ear. He knew—and he was letting me know he did, loud and clear.

My knees hit the stone flooring, knocking the breath out of me and then his boot appeared on my chest, pressing me down. He didn’t seem to want to get his hands dirty, or maybe he just wanted to remind me I was beneath him, constantly using his pretty boots to get a point across.

“Quit your glowering and hold still,” he snapped at me. “Your friend Julian has ambition this court does not agree with.”

My eyes met his as he continued, keeping his voice low, “There are things occurring that cannot be changed.”

“What are you talking about?” It was all I could do to stop fighting him and shove my pride away so I could think straight. The knowledge he could end me right here, right now, and I'd never get back to Mabel was the only thing ensuring my cooperation.

Josiah stood up, dragging his foot roughly from my chest. His outstretched hand kept me flattened as he spoke again. “You will not repeat a word of this to anyone. You will have the opportunity to do so—many opportunities, but you will not. I don’t need to tell you what will happen if you do.”

I interrupted, “Then why tell me?”

“Your loyalty lies with no kingdom, and I may make use of you in the future. Already, you bear many secrets. I will be making use of your one friend someday as well.”

He watched me carefully, waiting for a ripple or tear in my aura to reveal subterfuge but none would appear. He was correct about my knowledge and the things I kept close, the things I would never speak of. I had firsthand experience through my family and knew the devasting consequences of loose lips. I nodded to the man, keeping my mouth sealed as I wondered what his end game was.

“Several things have to occur before that which I speak of comes to fruition. You will allow the midnight visits.”

“What midnight visits?” If this man thought I’d let him feed from me or divulge anything, he was going to be sorely disappointed.

My head was lifted and then slammed down against the floor. “Fuck,” I groaned.

“Don’t interfere with Ramone and Kiara,” he hissed. “Let them be.”

Oh .

“I wasn’t planning on it.”

“It will be asked of you.”

He wasn’t requiring much of me, requesting I leave others alone and ignorant, and I had other priorities. Ilya made his own bed and could lie in it; I was just grateful Mabel hadn’t put me in a similar position as he.

“Okay,” I replied.

Josiah lifted his chin. “You’ll be asked to investigate a treaty between the Second and Fourth Realm. There is no legal treaty, just a bunch of gibberish that will be debated. Don’t fret, Stefan,” the man chuckled, “this is right up your alley. You can fuck with the Fourth’s court all you want.”

“How do you know all this?”

A slow smile spread across his face. “I’ve been around a lot longer than you and I’ve been watching. Julian plans to overthrow Sem, but that will never happen. He was going to install Ramone in his place—which also will never happen.”

I had a feeling I knew where this conversation was heading but asked anyway. “So, what will happen?”

“ I will.”

Letting out a deep sigh, I asked, “What does that mean for me?”

Josiah gestured to me to stand up. “Nothing. You’re not a threat.” I bristled. “You have no motivation or ambition to rule anything, and I can make use of you if you obey me.”

I thought of the treaty he’d mentioned, a paper supposedly crafted to help ensure peace between the two frequently warring Realms that espoused the benefits of free will.

Free will being defined as letting people use each other however and in whatever fashion they desired. It was contradictory and confusing, and distinctly unhelpful. But then again, there’d been peace between the Second and Fourth Realms for a while now so perhaps it’d been effective, in a way.

The document had been lost somewhere, somehow, in the spans of time since it’d been written and all that was left were notes. The treaty was rumored to be in Ramone’s hands, but no one seemed to know for sure and if they did, they weren’t talking.

“You’re planning on taking over,” I remarked. “What of Lucian and Victor?”

Josiah dismissed my question with a wave of his hand. “Inconsequential.”

“Why are you bothering to tell me any of this, I have other priorities. This means nothing to me.” All I cared about was leaving the bullshit behind and returning home.

“Oh, but one day, in the future it will. Don’t get too comfortable.”

“How do you plan on disposing of Sem?” The question was asked solely out of curiosity. From what I’d seen and heard, he was one of the most powerful beings in existence, short of a class known as the Ancients.

Josiah smiled cruelly. “That is none of your concern. What is your concern is bringing Mabel to me.”

I turned on him in a rush and he deflected the blow, gripping my fist and bending my wrist backwards until a snapping sound echoed through the small cell. “Don’t mistake my kindness for weakness. You will bring her to me, and I will return her to you unharmed. I just need a little something from her, to tide me over.”

Between the look in his eyes and the searing pain in my arm, I would’ve given him nearly anything he asked for.

Except her.

I nodded as horror filled me, swallowing and trying not to vomit.

He released my hand and swiped a nail along his own wrist. “Drink.” Stunned, I looked up at him. “You’ll need this for what comes next.” I’d be a fool to object to the request, it’d be an insult and a waste of opportunity. It could’ve been a trick, but my options were limited.

Raising my good arm, I cradled his hand and placed my mouth over the wound. A shudder ran through him as I let his blood flow across my tongue. Several seconds passed before he pulled away.

I gasped when I felt my wrist bones painfully knit back together, and again when I felt whatever magic he’d passed along plant itself into the marrow of my bones. “What did you do?” I asked but he didn’t answer.

Trepidation coursed through me and before I could stop myself, I said, “What comes next?”

“Your pretty girl is wandering the forest, all by herself, waiting for you. She walked straight into the belly of a beast.” He looked highly amused. There was no way I could get to her quickly enough and what Josiah was implying was she was not by herself.

A sense of urgency ran through me while I tried to collect myself. His blood hadn’t seemed to do much other than refresh me and I knew he hadn’t turned me into a vampire. While I did enjoy the occasional glass of blood, vampirism was not a trait I cared to possess. Most likely, he’d injected a tracking spell to locate me in the future via the signature of his blood in my cells.

“Run, crossbreed, run .”