Luna (Lycan Series: #2)

Vessel

© 2015 SilverStream22. All Rights Reserved.

Evgeny opened the door after we knocked, giving us only a fraction of a second to react before he all but bodyslammed into Stark like freight train barreling into a car on it's tracks. I was sure that Stark was dead for a full two seconds until Stark sent Evgeny flying back into the house from the steps, pulling himself up.

"What the actual fuck? You have a Reaper for a butler?" he growled, pulling himself back up.

"You've mentioned that before, when he first attacked you- the you with the memories." I elaborated. "What's a Reaper?"

As Evgeny adjusted his bow tie, Stark answered me. "They're like Grim Reapers, watching over the Royal family... probably meant to harvest their souls after they die. Only the most prestigious of the royal families have Reapers. After all, risking someone using your soul is deadly. Goddess knows what people like Kaleesi would do if she had her hands on a Royal's soul."

"What do you mean by harvest?" I blinked.

Evgeny cleared his throat. "It means I devour your soul before another can get their hands on it."

My stomach turned. "What?"

"Of course, that's only for Royals. Werewolves, of course, never truly die. Their souls become embodied in the Moon Goddess' wolf pack. But Royals...they endure a different fate."

My voice hardened. "You mean suffer a different fate. This just ruined my entire mood. Seriously? Why didn't you tell me this earlier? I shouldn't have come back- there's no way I'm going to be devoured by you!"

"It's not as violent as you think. Your soul departs, and I consume it before an individual snatches it for their own purposes. Fortunately your father did not suffer the same fate as Anya. I was able to consume his soul. However Anya did not have a Reaper to harvest her soul and her's was stolen for malicious purposes."

I followed Evgeny into the living room, which matched what a Victorian living room straight out of a designer's catalog would look like- full of a maroons and burgundy colors.

Stark seemed to be extremely wary of Evgeny as we sat on the dark red love seat.

"Where's everyone?" I grabbed a biscuit from the tray that Evgeny brought.

He sighed heavily. "Out, searching for you once more. They haven't stopped. They should be returning shortly."

I snorted, getting to the jam part of the biscuit. "That's because this idiot decided to kidnap me for my own good."

Stark frowned, snatching my biscuit before I could finish it. "I had your best interests in mind. Kaleesi, Orion and My King wanted me to hand you over to them."

"Stop referring to Erebus as your king, he's just a stupid vampire who probably sparkles in the sunlight."

He shifted uncomfortably, the hand leisurely laid along the couch tightening into a fist as he popped the remaining of the biscuit in his mouth. "This habit of calling him My King is a very difficult one to cease."

Evgeny looked miffed. "What a shame, here I believed Lycans to be loyal to only the Moon Goddess."

Stark's upper lip curled into a snarl, but before he could say anything probably crude and disrespectful, the brass knuckles were slammed on the door repeatedly.

Evgeny answered the door and was nearly trampled down by Iris as she launched herself at me.

"KATYA!"

I fell to the floor with her weight, my head hitting the coffee table's legs.

"Of course, Iris once again tries to kill people important to our survival." I heard Castor snort. "How many times do I have to tell you that it's my job to do that!?"