CURSE OF THE MOON REBORN

“It didn’t work.” Marquis kicked in the door. It broke off its hinges and flew across the room, taking one of the vampires with it.

Christina let out a shrill scream when the door crashed into the wall inches away from her, making a loud shattering noise.

“Look what you have done Marquis.” Ric picked up the wailing baby and bounced her on his arm. “Are you trying to kill her or something?”

“That is an intriguing thought.” She flashed to Ric her fingers clawed as she reached for the baby’s little neck.

“Are you crazy!” Ric turned his back to her, hunching over to shield the baby in his arms.

“Don’t tell me you have developed a soft spot for that brat.”

“The father I hate, the baby I like. She’s like an angel.” Ric cooed at the baby.

“You are infuriating,” Marquis growled.

“Tell me what happened. Why are you so pissed?”

“Everything was going so beautifully. Stephan and I made love on the beach, we watched the sunrise together. When I asked if we could be a family he said no.”

“Didn’t you expect that?” Ric watched her closely then it finally dawned on him, “You thought he would say yes. You killed his wife and abducted his child, he would have to be screwed up to even consider it.”

“It doesn’t matter what I thought. He said no and for that, he will suffer.”

“How, you have taken everything from him.”

“Everything except his son.”

“I wouldn’t try that if I were you.” Ric was going to keep the previous night’s events to himself but he figured that nothing could make her madder than she was now.

“What did you do?”

“I sent some of my men to bring the kid here.”

“And?”

“And they never came back. My guess is they met true death.”

“You idiot!” Marquis fell into the seat next to her. “Now they are going to be on guard. How can I take him if he already knows that something is coming for him?”

“I think they knew that once you took the kid.” Ric pointed out the obvious.

“I have to come up with something else. I will give Stephan one more chance and if he doesn’t take it, I’ll kill the brat then mail her to him.”

“Normally I would find this sexy, but now it’s just creepy.”

“I do not care what you think.”

“That’s obvious. So where are you taking this love, revenge train of yours?”

“Baker beach.”

***

Stephan breezed into the house. He didn’t stop to check on his wife or his son, he went straight to his room and locked it. He dropped on the bed his hands scrubbing his face thinking, fearing, and regretting his decisions.

“Stephan?” Scarlet had smelt his scent but he was nowhere to be seen.

Solara and the rest walked into the house, their heads hanging low. They couldn’t face Scarlet so they all walked past her to the kitchen.

“What happened?” Kayla used her thumb to lift Solara’s head. She looked into his eyes and one by one the events of the previous twenty-four hours flooded her mind. “Oh my God.” Kayla gasped as she took a step behind. She looked over to Scarlet who was standing alone and confused.

We can’t tell her. It will destroy her.

I know. Stephan can’t face her either. We tried telling him that it wasn’t his fault. He never said a word on the way back here.

“What’s going on you guys? I may not hear anything but I know it when you two are talking about something. So out with it.”

“It’s nothing Scar.” Kayla tried to mask her horror.

“Then why won’t any one of you look me in the eye. Where is Stephan? Does he have Christina?” Scarlet stared at Solara as she waited for a response from him. She wanted to look in his eyes just in case he decided to lie to her.

“Stephan is in your room. We didn’t find Christina. I’m sorry Scarlet.”

Scarlet turned and ran to the room. She tried the door but it was locked. For some reason, he wanted his privacy but he would have to get it somewhere else at some other time.

She jiggled the handle then broke the lock. “Do you care to tell me what the hell is going on?”

“Not now Scarlet.” Stephan didn’t raise his head from between his knees.

“Not now, then when. Solara called and told me you were getting our daughter back. Where is our daughter?” There was a desperate hitch in her voice.

“I said not now.”

“I don’t care what you said.” Scarlet forced his head up, “Look at me when I am talking to you. Where is Christina?”

“I didn’t get her. I failed. Is that what you want to hear?” Stephan battled against the sobs that were rising in his throat.

“You failed. Our daughter can not afford you to fail. What the hell were you doing there in the first place?”

“Trying to get our daughter back.”

“I know Marquis was there. Why didn’t she give you Christina?”

“She tricked me.” Stephan used his backhand to wipe away his tears.

“I do not need you to cry right now. I need you to focus. I need you to tell me everything that happened.”

“She tricked me.”

“I got that part. I need to know where my baby is.” Scarlet yelled. There was a scent on him that she couldn’t place.

Stephan grabbed her arm and pulled her down to her knees on the floor in front of him. “I didn’t get her. That is all you need to know.”

Scarlet looked into his face and saw something she never saw before and never thought she would. Defeat. She didn’t pull away from him, she only moved closer. “What happened Stephan?”

“I can’t tell you that without risking losing you.” He pressed his forehead on hers.

“Just tell me.”

“No. I can’t bring myself to say it.” Stephan dropped her hands and rose to his feet. Stepping over her, and headed for the door.

Scarlet sat on the floor, wondering had him so threatened, wondering whether or not she wanted to know. The scent sparked a memory of terror within her. She bit her lip. She wasn’t going to fish for information anymore. Maybe it was better that she didn’t know, that she didn’t say it out loud.

“Tell me one thing why that beach.” Scarlet had wanted to ask him about Ipanema ever since she remembered Marquis’s words.

“It’s where I met Sotera.” Stephan didn’t turn back to face her.

“I know that much, but why?”

“She wants to be her, to be you. She thinks she killed you.”

“I know that, her goons told me that much. Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

“Tell you what?”

“About the beach and why it’s so special to you. I thought it was about me but I was wrong.” Scarlet stood up.

“At that time, I needed you to be her. But I realized that you could never be.” Stephan shrugged as he used the back of his hand to wipe off a stray tear.

“I could have told you that. But why did you still take me there.”

“Because now it was yours. The ocean, the sand, it became you.”

“No, it never was. I feel robbed. I don’t know if you love me or Sotera. I feel like her substitute or something.” Scarlet was growing weary of the ache in her heart that had seemed to become part of her, ever since she met Stephan. If it wasn’t Marquis it was Sotera. There was no winning this fight.

“Scarlet I cannot deal with this right now. I married you, I live with you, and I have children with you so drop it.” Stephan turned to face her, and then took slow steps towards her, until he had her back against the wall. “Do you hear me? I do not have the strength to handle this right now. You need to believe that I love you and I love Sotera, but the difference is that she is dead.”

“Physically.” She whispered. Scarlet thought it was wrong but she had to risk it, “I can smell her on you.”

Stephan stiffened and swallowed hard. He looked away from her. “I can’t deal with this right now.” Stephan forced the window open and leaped out of it.

Scarlet went downstairs, she was going to get the truth out of one of them, one way or the other. “Someone needs to tell me what happened, and NOW!” her fist came down hard on the marble kitchen top, shattering it on impact.

“Mom?” SJ came up behind his mother and pulled her away from the damage.

“SJ go outside and keep your father company.” She pushed away from her anger for a second. Scarlet cupped her son’s stubborn jaw and gave him a weary smile.

“I didn’t see him leave.”

“He went out through the window. Go I know he missed you and would like to see you.” She patted his hand as it dropped from her arms.

Scarlet waited until he was far enough before turning back to the six men. “Speak now.”

“We can’t tell you anything, because we do not know anything,” Solara spoke up.

“What do you mean, you were with him?” Confused, threatened, scared, Scarlet didn’t know which emotion she felt more. But she needed confirmation of what she suspected.

“Not the whole time. Marquis demanded that he be left alone with her.” Xavier put in.

“For how long was he alone with her?”

“Through the night, we only joined him the next morning.”

“The whole night.” Scarlet swallowed hard. “He was alone with Marquis, the whole night?”

“Scar, don’t think like that.” Kayla wished she could ease her mind, but there was no way of doing that. The truth was worse than any fantasy they could make up.

“Think like what? I’m not that naive. I’m quite sure they weren’t playing monopoly the whole night.” She snarled, “Besides her scent is all over him.”

“You need to understand, he was only doing what he thought was right.” Solara defended the absentee.

“He is desperate enough to do anything.” Scarlet chewed on her lower lip trying not to scream out in rage. She wanted to crawl in a corner and weep her heart out. Now she had to add betrayal to her husband’s long list of faults.

“He was doing it for Christina. He needed to find her.”

Scarlet covered her mouth with her hand and bit into her palm. “What now?” her voice was muffled.

“Now we wait,” Kayla said as she stood beside her.

***