Blood Cure: A Paranormal Vampire Romance (Vampire Huntress Chronicles Book 3)

by Jessica Wayne

  Neither Rainey nor I move. It’s hard to be excited about something that will more than likely end up with one or both of us dead.

  “Don’t everyone jump up at once,” Fearghas says, taking a seat in the Adirondack chair a few feet away from where we stand.

  We remain in silence, listening to the breeze ruffle leaves, the birds chirping overhead. “Can’t we just play hooky a little while longer?” Rainey sighs.

  “I won’t tell if you don’t,” Fearghas replies, and I wonder if he’s not just as exhausted over this whole thing as we are.

  As if on cue, Fearghas’s phone rings. He pulls it out and stares down at the readout before answering. “Hello, Agatha. Yes, I am here. Yes, I told them. We’ll be there soon.” He ends the call and groans. “Your grandmother is a ballbuster.”

  Rainey’s shoulders shake as she laughs and heads for the back door. “That’s one way to describe her. I’ll go get dressed.”

  As soon as she disappears inside, the fae appears beside me, leaning against the railing where Rainey and I just made love.

  “I’m not snuggling with you,” I reply dryly.

  “How do you think this fight is going to go?” Completely ignoring my statement, he leans back on the wood.

  “I have no damned idea.”

  “I will stay close to Rainey if you like. So I can get her out should things go poorly.”

  Cocking my head to the side, I study the fae. Jealousy has never been one of my issues, but considering the way he’s staring out over the trees with his casual mention of rescuing Rainey—

  “I do not wish to bed her, Hunter,” he says and turns to me. When I don’t respond, he rolls his eyes. “It’s all over your face. I am not interested in her in any way but one that urges me to keep her safe for the good of us all. If Rainey goes, I don’t believe we will stand a chance. She’s the glue keeping this flawed little party together.”

  As quickly as it came, the feeling vanishes. “I appreciate the offer, but I think if we shield her, it will just piss her the hell off. We’ll all watch each other. Just make sure you test your damned magic before the fight next time.”

  “You’ve got it.”

  I stand. “Stay the hell out here. We’ll come get you when we’re ready.”

  “No fucking!” he calls after me. “I already had to listen to that once today,” he groans as I head into the house to dress for what could very well be the last night of my life.

  31

  Rainey

  Once I have weapons strapped everywhere it makes sense, Fearghas brings Elijah and me to my grandmother. The second we materialize, I nearly choke on my own saliva.

  “We’re back in Salem?” Elijah demands, spinning on the fae, who simply shrugs and gestures to the garden shed out back where Elijah and I nearly died and ended up killing what I’m fairly sure amounts to a dozen shifters and one old witch.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I grumble as I lead the way to the old shed. After pulling the cabinet out, I stare at the hall where Elijah bonded himself to me while Doloris and her minions awaited us upstairs.

  Based on the way he threads his fingers through mine, I imagine he’s remembering the same. At least this time, I don’t have to smear my blood on his face so he can make it onto the warded property.

  “Your grandmother figured Salem would be the best place since your precinct has already sent local officers out to check the house.”

  “They wouldn’t think I’d be sleeping in an old shed,” I confirm. It’s the least likely place for me to be. “Did Tarnley ever—” I trail off when Elijah nods.

  “Your grandmother ordered new furniture,” Fearghas says. “I have to say she was rather pissed about it, and that fact amused me greatly.”

  “If she annoys you so much, why do you take her places?”

  Fearghas shrugs. “Currently, we’re on the same path. Should that change, so shall my inclination to help your family members.” He steps around me and pushes the door open.

  I breathe a sigh of relief when I see the entire place spotless, new leather furniture placed in the exact spot the old stuff had been in.

  To see it normal—well, at least as normal as a secret underground bunker can be—eases a bit of the panic at being back in the place where my entire world went to shit. As I continue my perusal of the room, I see the indented wood where Elijah pinned me against the bookcase, caging me in between his powerful arms.

  I can hear my grandmother talking in the kitchen to who I’m guessing is Tarnley.

  “Think she had to cover him in blood when she brought him in?” Elijah asks, and I snort.

  “Maybe he pinned her against the gate and did dirty things to her mouth too.” I wink, but Elijah looks like he might actually be sick.

  Which, of course, amuses the hell out of me.

  As if she heard us talking shit, my grandmother walks out with Jack, Willa, Tarnley, Jane, and Bronywyn on her heels.

  To my surprise, Josiah, Cole, Henry, Paloma, and Grey walk out immediately after. “Seems like the whole Scooby gang is here!” Jane announces, and I roll my eyes.

  “Scooby gang? Really?”

  “We’re literally a group of people hunting supernaturals. What else would you call us?”

  “I don’t know; something not used by pop TV would be nice,” Tarnley replies dryly. “Didn’t you ever watch Buffy? That’s their thing.”

  Bronywyn puts up a hand and turns to him. “Wait, you watched Buffy? As in Buffy the Vampire Slayer?”

  He shrugs. “I wanted to see what they got wrong.”

  “You loved it, didn’t you,” Fearghas asks with a grin. “Don’t be shy. I know I did.”

  Tarnley nods. “Thought it was hilariously brilliant. Cheesy at times—sure—but amusing nonetheless.”

  “That or you just wanted to watch Sarah Michelle Gellar’s ass while she stabbed vampires with pointy things,” Bronywyn says dryly.

  “Guilty.”

  Beside me, Elijah chuckles, and I grin up at him. “You a Buffy fan too?”

  “Not a chance. You’re the best vampire slayer I know.”

  “That was so cheesy I think I may be sick,” Bronywyn retorts.

  “Now that we have that ridiculous conversation out of the way,” Agatha groans. “Can we get back to reality?”

  I don’t bother pointing out that moments like this where we’re cracking jokes and semi-relaxing is what helps remind us what we’re fighting for. Because honestly, without it, I think we would probably all lie down and die.

  Not like our lives have been overly happy ever since Salem and less so in the last week.

  “I’m guessing you finished the potion?” I ask before I can dwell too heavily on the lives lost. A crow with purple tinges to her feathers flies out of the kitchen and lands on the bookshelf behind my grandmother. It’s so damn hard to remind myself that it’s Delaney inside there.

  “I did. And after going through a few more of the books, I managed to track down the exact spell she’s using with the succubus heart.”

  “Any idea how to counter it?”

  She sighs. “Unfortunately, until it runs its course, the damn thing is potent. You will need to be careful,” she tells me. “And you four need to stay the hell out of it,” she adds, pointing to Elijah, Jack, Tarnley, and Fearghas.

  “No fucking way.”

  “Nope.”

  “Definitely not.”

  “I’m not sitting it out.”

  A string of refusals spill out of their mouths, and based on my grandmother’s reaction, she is prepared for them. “If she manages to spell you, there will be no stopping,” Agatha warns and turns to Elijah. “As in, she could tell you to gut Rainey where she stands, and you’d be helpless to deny.”

  His hand tightens around mine.

  “You will have no choice but to obey her. Is that a risk you’re willing to take?”

  “Rainey can’t go in alone.” Elijah insists.

  “She won’t be alon
e. Jane, Bronywyn, and I will go in with her.”

  “Me too,” Willa chimes in.

  “No fucking way!” Jack bellows.

  Agatha narrows her gaze on him. “You do realize we have power of our own, correct? We are far from helpless.”

  “The succubus said her magic can work on me as well,” I speak up, hoping to save Jack from himself.

  “A succubus’ kiss is potent and can sway a female as well—yes. Though it’s far less likely and a hell of a lot more difficult to induce full submission since her power feeds on testosterone and we have less in us than those with dicks.”

  My grandmother using the word ‘dicks’ should have been more surprising, but it just seems the harsh woman I knew growing up hasn’t changed at all despite her softer side.

  “So you’re expecting us to step aside while you walk into what could be another trap?”

  I know Jack is remembering the club, the way it felt to be completely surrounded by animalistic shifters.

  Hell, I can still hear their roars as they surrounded us.

  “The place was blocked.” He turns to Willa. “The shifters inside couldn’t shift. They literally tore each other apart with their bare hands.”

  “I’m not sitting it out anymore,” she tells him and reaches forward, running her palms over his chest. “This is my fight now too.”

  “Willa—”

  “This is not up for debate,” Agatha interrupts.

  “Who the hell died and put your ass in charge? You’re late to this party,” Tarnley snaps. Then, he turns to me. “What do you want us to do?”

  I stare at him as heat creeps up my cheeks. I’ve run missions before with the department, sting operations that I called the shots on.

  And yet, this is a hell of a lot more intimidating than that was.

  Elijah squeezes my hand gently, a reminder that I’m not alone, and his support helps me find my footing. Even if the decision I’m about to make is going to really piss him off.

  “Can you get us some coms?” I ask Paloma.

  “I can get you a few.”

  “Then here’s the plan. We—” I gesture to myself, Agatha, Jane, Bronywyn, and Willa. “Will go in.” Jack starts to argue, but I put my hand up. “You guys will be just out of range of any issues but still close enough to keep contact. If shit goes bad, Fearghas can bring the lot of you in,” I add in case he was about to point out that Fearghas couldn’t leave the club. “Then, if the place is spell blocked, we can either fight our way out or all die together. Sound good?”

  Jack crosses his arms but doesn’t argue.

  “I don’t like it,” Tarnley says. “It’s risky.”

  “So is ending up with you four being her latest puppets,” Jane counters. “We need to keep everyone as safe as possible, and this way, we have a backup plan if everything goes to shit.”

  “Being forced to stand there and watch my people kill each other is the worst thing I’ve ever experienced,” Henry speaks for the first time, the Drake patriarch wearing a dark expression. “You have no idea what it felt like to know it was wrong and be unable to step in and do anything about it.”

  His words resonate with me in a way I’m not willing to visit—not yet at least. When this is over, I’ll take time to grieve, to work through what happened to me when Heather’s soul was in with mine, but now is the time for action.

  “Sitting out is the smart move for us,” Elijah says. “We will be nearby if anything goes wrong, but Rainey’s right. We go inside, and we’ve now put ourselves at risk for becoming yet another enemy they have to face.”

  Tarnley and Jack both suck in deep breaths but nod.

  “Do you think you can get those coms by tonight?” I ask Paloma.

  “I can have them to you by seven,” she says.

  “Great.”

  “How are we planning on drawing her out?” Bronywyn asks. “I doubt she’ll fall for the box trick again.”

  “We do it on our turf,” I say. “By making her think the one person she wants more than anything is alone and vulnerable.”

  “That would be you, I’m guessing?”

  “Exactly.”

  “How are you planning on coming off as vulnerable?” Jack asks. “No offense, Rainey, but you’re pretty fucking stone-faced. You’re too smart to do something stupid.”

  “Fearghas is going to take Jane, Willa, Agatha, and Bronywyn back to Elijah’s place. The silver won’t work on him, so he can get them inside and then get out while Elijah and I head there the old-fashioned way. We’ll fight openly about the box, I’ll mention not wanting it in the same place as her bones. If she’s watching the place—and I’m betting she is—when he leaves me alone to move the thing, that’s when she’ll show up.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “She needs them both. The lure of having them so close will be impossible for her to deny.”

  “And if she’s not watching the place?” Jack asks. “What then?”

  “We go back to the drawing board,” I reply, but I’m not worried. Heather is obsessed with getting her hands on the grimoire again. Because of that, I know without a doubt the bitch will be stalking the place. “I know she is, though.”

  “I’m exhausted with you always thinking you know what’s best,” I snap at Elijah as we approach the steps of his house a few hours later. Without trying to appear obvious, I keep an eye on our surroundings, looking for anything that seems odd in the early morning. So far, I’ve got nothing.

  “I’m a hell of a lot older than you, Rainey,” Elijah growls from behind me.

  I whirl on him, forcing anger on my face as I’m met with an ice-blue gaze that holds no passion—no love. Damn, he’s good. “You may be older than me, but I’m the one who started this entire thing, I will be the one to finish it. And if I think the damned book needs to get moved, you’re going to help me move it. We can’t have it in the same place as the bones,” I add in a loud, yet hushed voice.

  Jaw clenched, he shakes his head. “This is a terrible idea.”

  I drop my voice. “Leaving it here was a terrible idea. Tell me, were you even trying to keep it out of her hands? I mean, fuck, Elijah… you didn’t even realize she was me.” The last thing is a low blow, and I see it on his face, but I need this to look real—for me to appear vulnerable. So I add a bottom lip quiver for full effect. “You fucked her, in our room.”

  “I thought—”

  “You thought it was me. I get it, but you should have known it wasn’t.”

  His answering glare is all heat. “I’ll open the fucking vault for you, Rainey, but I won’t help you anymore. You want to die? That’s on you, but I’ll have nothing to do with it.”

  “Great.”

  He reaches around and shoves the door open before making his way inside. Just in case anyone is listening or watching, we keep the fight going by not speaking to each other the entire way into the den.

  Elijah opens the vault, and I watch, biting the inside of my cheek as I try to fight the urge to run to him to let him know I’m not really mad about that night—that I don’t blame him. Because now I’m wondering if maybe I didn’t make a mistake by pushing so far.

  He turns to me as it slides open. “There. Have a nice life, Rainey. Call me when you’re not living with a death wish.”

  And when he storms out, my stomach churns, especially when he doesn’t bother looking back.

  32

  Elijah

  “You fucked her, in our room.” I can’t shake that statement, no matter how hard I try, and as I make the walk out to my car, it continues running through my mind despite the number of times I remind myself that Rainey and I were just faking an argument.

  And honestly, considering how arrogant Heather is, I’d be damned surprised if she didn’t show up even if only to remind Rainey that she’d managed to dupe me.

  After getting into my car, I take a deep breath and put it in reverse. It takes all of my willpower to pull out of the drive and leav
e Rainey behind. Especially when my gut is telling me this is wrong. That this entire plan is going to blow up in our faces.

  I ignore the voice and drive though because I’m pretty sure that’s only because a part of me feels like I’m feeding Rainey to the lions by leaving her where Heather can get to her.

  The car sputters and dies, smoke flying up over the hood. “You have got to be fucking kidding me.”

  “What is it?” Jack asks through the com.

  “Car died.”

  “Fearghas can come get you.”

  “Not yet. I’m only about half a mile from the house. Stay put.” Grabbing my jacket from the passenger seat, I climb out and pull it over my shoulders. “We need as many eyes on Rainey as possible right now. I’ll be there soon.”

  “I wouldn’t count on it,” a familiar voice coos from behind. I stiffen, stopping to turn around even though I already know who’s going to be waiting. Heather is standing directly behind me, dark eyes lined in black, Aoife’s red hair pulled up on top of her head. “Hello, lover,” she greets.

  “Heather,” I growl. There’s no mistaking the woman before me even if she is inhabiting Aoife’s body. Gone is the sensitive, softer side of the fae, replaced with a dark, edgier woman I can’t recognize. Where Aoife’s eyes were once a soft green, these are so brown they’re nearly black—exactly like Rainey’s were when Heather had pushed her to the side.

  “Fearghas, get him!” Rainey yells in my ear a second before the fae appears beside me. The moment he does, he falls to his knees in agony, gripping both sides of his head as he stares up at Heather.

  “Tsk, tsk, little fae. Do you know how rude it is to interrupt a conversation?”

  “I’m coming!” Rainey yells as Fearghas clutches his head, blood dripping from his ears.

  “I’m sorry,” Fearghas mutters and disappears.

  “Good, back to a party of two.” She claps her hands together then pouts. “I am just so sorry you and Rainey had a fight. And over me. How flattering.”