CURSE OF THE BLOOD MOON

Stephan found Marquis waiting for him in his room, she was in his bed with nothing on. He stood at the foot of the bed and glared at her anger slowly consuming him.

“I don’t have the strength to fight with you so how about you get out.” He dropped the small bag he brought with him and kicked it under the bed.

Marquis had no respect for privacy and he knew if he guarded it, she would take it. So instead of treating it like precious cargo, he kicked the bag that contained memories of his family like it didn’t matter.

“You are in such a bad mood, I can help you change that.” she smiled at him seductively. “Do you know why I had a bed brought in here?”

“I don’t care. You can take it with you if you want to.” Stephan had to lug himself out of Scarlet’s arms the previous morning, he wasn’t going to taint the scent she left on his skin with Marquis’.

“Do you remember how many beds we broke? You were always very passionate.” She slowly stepped out of the bed exposing her glorious nude body. “We could have a lot of fun while you are here. I might even make you change your mind about leaving.”

“If you depended on oxygen I would tell you to hold your breath and wait for that day. But since you don’t how about you go to hell. Oops, I forgot, you dwell there.” He added in a sarcastic tone something he had learned from Kayla.

Stephan didn’t take his eyes from hers. He didn’t want her to think that he would even consider being intimate with her. He watched as she picked her robe and draped it over her curvaceous body.

“We are going to put that bed into good use. Sooner than you think.” Her smile never faltered even with his obvious distaste for her.

“In that case, take it with you. I won’t be lying in it with you. Ever.” He growled the last word out.

Marquis left the room her ego bruised more than she cared to admit. Her beauty had made many men chase after her, and melt in her presence. She used to have the same effect on Stephan but that all stopped the night he met Sotera.

She huffed towards Salvatore’s chamber.

“What is it this time Marquis?” he asked even before she was fully in the room.

“Stephan. He’s has changed a lot.” She franticly paced up and down his room, “I don’t think he’ll help us.”

“Are you basing this conclusion on the fact that he won’t sleep with you?” He knew how hard she had been trying to get Stephan back into her bed. She was ignoring all the other men she had been toying with over the last couple of years.

“Yes and No. His mind is still in America, what are we going to do?”

“First you are going to stop that annoying pacing.” He was getting irritated.

Marquis halted and turned to face him an apologetic look on her face.

“Secondly, we aren’t going to do anything. You are.”

“How’m I supposed to do that? He won’t even look at me. He can’t stand the sight of me.”

“Yes, I know.” He gave her a quick look, wondering why Stephan wouldn’t ravish her beautiful body. “For what I need you to do, you don’t need to be that close to him and he doesn’t have to see you.”

“What are you getting at?” She didn’t understand what he needed her to do, or how to do it without getting close to him.

“Your whole body seems to be paying attention to one thing. How about you control your hormones before they melt your brain.”

It took her a second to figure out what he was implying and another second to rebuff the idea. “It’s impossible to penetrate his shield.”

“You have time to try. And if it works it will benefit the both of us.” An evil grin mapped out on his face.

“What do you want me to do?” she was getting intrigued with his idea. Although it was impossible to get into Stephan’s mind she still wanted to know his plan.

“You want me to kill his mate?” Marquis asked. She had already tried that angle with Stephan and it only enraged him more.

“If you are going to lift the information for yourself, the least you could do is get it right. I want you to make him think she’s dead and that the beasts killed her.” He loved his plan with each word and with each second.

“Killing two birds with one stone.”

“But only kill her in his mind don’t go after her, we may have some use for her someday.” Salvatore wasn’t going to risk Marquis let her jealousy ruin his plans.

“I won’t kill her for now, but after he believes she’s dead and he kills the beasts for us, I will. When he realizes he has no one to go to, he’ll stay here with me.”

She left him to get started on their plan. She would have to wear down Stephan’s defenses to get through. Getting him back was enough motivation for her to give up everything else and concentrate on that single task.

She shadowed him wherever he went, keeping a far enough distance not to annoy him. She often got distracted by his body as he trained the men, getting lost in his muscles as they flexed. He never wore a shirt while in training, so his glorious upper body was exposed.

Marquis knew she was making progress when he started complaining of headaches, something that was unheard of amongst the immortals.

***

“What’s going on with you?” Leo patted his hand on his shoulder.

Stephan was using his fingers to massage his temples. “I don’t know. I’ve been feeling kind of weird the month I’ve been here.” He saw Marquis watching her, just as she did the past few weeks.

“Maybe you are just having an allergic reaction to her.” Leo used his head to signal towards Marquis.

Stephan looked at her, and she winked at him once he did. In the first couple of days, he had wondered why she was staking him. At first, it annoyed him, but recently he decided not to pay any attention to her, that approach always seemed to annoy her.

“She keeps hanging around me.” Stephan gave her the finger then walked away. “Do you think she’s trying her mind-altering tricks on me?”

“Last time I checked your mind was impenetrable unless something happened.”

“No it still is, but I wouldn’t put it past her.”

“If she was I would have heard about it by now. She’s just your fan.” Leo chuckled glad that he didn’t have an obsessive vampire on his tail.

“When do you think the Council will allow me to go back home.” Stephan was hoping for some good news. The day he had arrived at the fortress he had asked Leo to speak on his behalf. He wanted to go back home, even if it was for the same period. They hadn’t gotten a straight answer from most of the elders.

Leo was supporting him, while Marquis was dead set against it. The others didn’t give their opinion because Salvatore was the only one who could make the final decision.

“Honestly I don’t know. Salvatore is on the fence about it. He’s mostly concerned about the training and he says he’s holding off until he sees some progress.” Leo felt sorry for him.

This was the main reason why he didn’t let himself get trapped by love. He never hung around a woman long enough to feel anything for her.

“As soon as they are ready, I can go home. I don’t want any other part in this fight.” Stephan had a sick feeling about the whole situation, and going against Xavier wasn’t something he planned to do. The beast had helped him keep Scarlet safe and he was forever indebted to them.

“Are they?” Leo had seen how he was with the warriors and wasn’t completely convinced Stephan was training them to be killers as much as to be killed.

“I know what you are thinking, but I’m out of touch with this thing. Besides, there is only so much that I can do. They are a crappy bunch.” Stephan brushed aside the accusation that was on point. Leo was his only friend and he was helping him keep his sanity, so he wasn’t going to do anything to put them at odds.

“They are, aren’t they?” he chuckled. “We are going on a hunting trip, later on, want me to get you something in a bag?” he made fun of Stephan’s insistence on not feeding on anything with two legs and resembled a human.

“It’s been a while since I last fed. Sure why not.” Stephan began to think his thirst was the reason for his headaches. He had gone without feeding before but not as long as he did then.

“Sure thing.” Leo beckoned his unit and they left for the town.

Stephan stalked back to his room. He looked at the bed and wished he was able to sleep. He felt exhausted physically and mentally. The invisible hammer was still ramming on his head. He slumped on the bed and closed his eyes.

Stephan relaxed, closing his eyes to the world. He thought about scarlet, but the image he saw wasn’t the one he was expecting.

Marquis leaned against the door, her eyes closed as she blocked out everything else to concentrate. The time he had spent without feeding had worked to her benefit. He was now too weak and slowly she had worn him out.

A smile crept across her face.