Immortals of New Orleans Box Set (Books 1-4)

by Kym Grosso

  “James. He brings me crackers…water. I tried to hit him the first day, tried to escape. Then he beat me. I haven’t seen anyone else. But I think there might be a woman. I think I’ve heard her voice. I don’t know, though. I haven’t seen anyone else. I feel like I'm going crazy…maybe dreaming it. Even though I hear her voice, I’ve only seen James.”

  “Good girl, Samantha. Listen, this is how I'm going to play this. When James comes for me, I'm going willingly. I don’t want him using me as an excuse to hurt you. You stay quiet, okay? Just let him take me, got it?” Sydney had to keep the girl alive.

  “Please don’t leave me here. I've got to get out of here. He’s going to kill me. You promise you’ll come back for me?”

  Sydney didn’t want to freak the girl out, but she figured she’d better warn her that there were others, other supernaturals who were coming for her. “I promise. Now listen, I have some friends who are vampires. They won’t hurt you, and there's a very large, black wolf. They are friends. You’ll be safe. If they come for you…if I don’t make it back, you go with them, okay? They're the good guys.”

  “All right,” Samantha sniffled in the darkness. “Oh my God. Shhh. I hear him. The keys. You hear the keys? It’s him. He’s coming.”

  Silence fell over the small closet-like prison cell as the girls awaited their captor. Feigning sleep, Sydney lolled her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. The sound of clanging of keys was followed by a creaking door. Asgear.

  “Wakey, wakey, little whore,” he called.

  Sydney shivered as his clammy hands clamped onto her skin. He briefly freed her from her shackles but her hopes of freedom were crushed as she heard the unmistakable click of handcuffs closing around her wrists. She stumbled as he jerked her up onto her bare feet.

  “The Mistress is pleased with my success. You’re going to make a fine offering. Your smooth skin…ahhhhh.” He ran a wet finger over the swell of her breasts. She recoiled from his touch. “Now, now, little whore. You will not get away from me so easily. Consider yourself lucky that I cannot take your body for my own carnal pleasures before giving you to my Mistress. So greedy she is…she wants you all to herself.”

  Sydney resisted telling him to go fuck himself as he continued to run his palms over her belly. She needed to conserve her energy, to get him to release her from her bindings.

  “Go,” Asgear ordered, propelling her forward into the bright hallway. “No funny business. I’d hate to have to bruise that pretty skin of yours before Mistress has her way with you.”

  Shuffling ahead, Sydney squinted as her eyes adjusted to the light. The cold linoleum floor appeared oddly clean. She’d take small favors at this point, given her lack of shoes. The hallway was only about twenty feet long, which initially led her to believe the space was small. A frigidness chilled Sydney’s nearly naked body. What was this place? A basement?

  A small vestibule led into a large, cathedral-like room made entirely of smooth, grayish limestone. Large silk scarves in various shades of blacks, purples and greens draped the walls. A shiver of terror tingled up Sydney’s neck as Asgear dragged her across the chilled stone floor. Sydney spied a long, planked table with ropes attached to its legs and an enormous white chalk pentagram drawn underneath it. Hemp and human hair rope? At the front of the room stood an altar of some sort. Black and green candles burned brightly, illuminating a modest wooden box covered in black cloth, a golden chalice, and a long, silver sword.

  “Oh great Mistress!” Asgear grinned widely, as if he was high as a kite. With grandeur, he spoke into the open space. “Our offering has arrived. She will serve us nicely so that the spirits of the dead will grant us their powers.”

  “Delusional much?” Sydney said, unable to resist. Eyeing the table, she refused to let him sacrifice her without a fight. She held onto the thought that Kade would find her. She just needed more time. “Asgear, even if you do manage to conjure up some evil spirit, do you really think that bitch mistress of yours plans to share the power with you…little mage that you are? Get real! So not happening.”

  She attempted to yank her arm free from his firm grip, but he dug his fingers into her skin. Angered by her actions, he spun Sydney around by her shoulders and backhanded her across her face. She fell to the floor as blood sprayed out of her mouth.

  “Now look what you made me do, little whore!” he screamed violently.

  Sydney spat at him as he reeled her up and thrust her onto her back upon the splintered wood table. She struggled unsuccessfully as he uncuffed her wrists one at a time and bound each hand to the legs of the table. She flung a leg toward him as he went to bind her ankle. She landed a blow to his nose, his bone crunching upon impact. Sydney tugged her wrists, trying to free herself, but he rapidly recovered.

  “Be still!” he yelled and landed a slap to her face.

  Sydney refused to give up, wildly kicking her legs, hoping to make contact again. Within seconds, her eye began to swell, blurring her vision. Asgear continued his task. He wound the rope around her ankles, fully securing her to the table until she was laid out spread eagle.

  “Wait until my Mistress sees what you made me do!” He glared at her in disgust. “Your skin is marred. She won’t be pleased at all.”

  Sydney continued to writhe on the table, struggling to liberate her hands from the cutting rope. Twisting to the side, her adrenaline spiked as she spied several of Simone’s vampires entering and assembling in a circle at the perimeter of the room. Shit, shit, shit. Freaking bloodsuckers.

  Asgear knelt in front of the altar and started rhythmically chanting. The din of the crowd quieted and Sydney turned her head toward the antechamber. Her heart raced as a pale, thin, tall woman entered and approached the altar. Simone. Her flowing, alabaster silk skirt grazed the floor as a train of fabric streamed three feet behind her. A matching silk bustier bolstered her small, ashen breasts. Simone’s long raven tresses were pulled and parted down the middle flat on her head with a full, massive ponytail of tight ringlet curls, a late eighteenth century hairstyle. Sydney cringed at the overwhelming scent of gardenia perfume as Simone floated past her.

  “Hey you!” Sydney screamed at Simone. Blood trickled from her eye and mouth. “That’s right, I’m talking to you…you lily white, vampire bitch.”

  Simone glided over to the altar, scanning her worthy sacrifice.

  “Silence, human! So, it is you who attempted to steal my husband. You are nothing more than a mere dollymop…a whore for his liking. You are nothing. I shall take my vengeance tonight and the torture will be sweet. The spirits will infuse me with gifts, supremacy. This city will return to its greatness under my rule.”

  “Fuck you! This isn’t the eighteenth century, and Kade is not your husband. He doesn’t love you. You are an evil, sick bitch who will regret the day you ever met me.”

  “I said SILENCE! It is time for the offering. I sentence this human to death in the name of Satan and all the spirits who wish to grant me their gifts. She is guilty of crimes against me, the high priestess vampire.” She waved her hand, and the candlelight flickered as a cold breeze blew throughout the room. The circling vampires hissed at Sydney, their fangs dripping saliva.

  Sydney tried to speak, tried to move, but she was completely paralyzed except for her breathing. Her eyes peered wide open, feeling the chill across her flesh. This is not good.

  Through her peripheral vision, she could see Simone preparing some kind of concoction at the altar. Asgear spread oil on Sydney’s forehead, chest, and abdomen while he continued his chanting. He pivoted, cupping the golden chalice with both hands, and hovered it above Sydney’s head. Panic began to set in as Simone laid the cold, flat surface of a silver sword against Sydney’s belly, dragging the sword crosswise. Blood pooled on Sydney's skin as Simone drew an X on the soft flesh.

  “Your blood is my blood. Your life force is my life force. You give it to me freely as a punishment for your crimes. We shall drink your essence in preparation fo
r the sacrifice.” Simone spoke in a monotone, as the room fell into total silence. “Now, whore. I want to hear you scream!” She sliced deeply into the underside of Sydney’s forearm, cutting so far through the tendons that the blood flowed freely. Crimson liquid rapidly filled the chalice to the brim. Asgear watched in exhilaration as Simone licked Sydney’s arm, sealing the wound.

  Released momentarily from paralysis, Sydney cried out in pain, yet refused to give in to tears as her arm was slit open. She fought the vomit that rose in her throat as she watched Simone’s acid tongue lick over her bloodied skin. Asgear began offering the chalice to the vampires to drink as some kind of a preparatory, bloody communion. One by one, they drank of her blood, passing the chalice to the next vampire.

  Fear washed over Sydney as she spied the tool she suspected was used on the second murder victim. Simone inspected the twelve-inch-long needle, holding it to the candlelight. She raised the instrument into the air, and both Simone and Asgear began to chant in tongues. Vampires swayed in a trance to the nonsensical vocalizations. A strong hum started to vibrate the room and the wooden table shook.

  In the middle of the chaos, Sydney felt him. Kade. She wasn’t sure how she knew, but she did. He was here for her. I love him. It was her last coherent thought before Simone shrieked and slammed the full hilt of the needle down into Sydney’s torso, penetrating her belly clear down into the table.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “What in the hell just happened?” Tristan questioned his friends accusingly. “Goddammit! You were supposed to keep her safe! I should have gone with you instead of guarding the perimeter!” Tristan felt guilty, knowing he too had planned this failed operation with Kade and Luca. Although she wasn’t wolf, he considered her under his protection since the day he’d met her. Former lover, good friend, Sydney was his one link to the human world that he trusted with his life. Now, because of their miscalculations, she might be dead. Tristan howled loudly, frustrated with their defeat and the potential loss of his friend.

  “You’re right. Luca and I lost her, but we cannot focus on failure right now. We need to plan on how we are going to kill Simone and extract Sydney safely. You know our girl is not going to go down without a fight. She is strong.” Kade deliberately called her, 'our girl', trying to get the group focused on the task that needed to be done. They needed to find her quickly and kill Simone. Sydney was no one’s but his and everyone knew it, but he was a leader and could not let them dwell on their defeat. No, he needed to get Sydney back safely into his arms. He had not lived through centuries only to lose his chance with her, his one true love. “Tristan, take Luca’s cell phone and call your brother, Marcel. Let him know the situation has escalated, and that we need his pack’s assistance with backup.”

  As they arrived at the cemetery, Kade stiffened, sensing Sydney’s presence.

  “I feel her. She’s here.”

  “Kade, please forgive my question, but I sense no human or paranormal presence in the area. Are you certain she is here?” Etienne asked.

  “Yes. Do you forget? I have claimed her. I’m certain that she is here. Quickly, search the grounds. Stay in pairs,” Kade ordered.

  A high-pitched howl emanated across the darkness; Tristan. Weaving through the tenebrous labyrinth of crypts, Kade and the others converged on a nondescript tomb that no one would give a second glance to, compared to its ornamental counterparts. Sydney. Like Tristan, Kade could smell the sweet scent of her blood everywhere in the vicinity, as well the repugnant odors of Asgear and Simone.

  “She’s here, but Asgear and Simone are also present. We must move with caution. Simone will be expecting us,” Kade warned. He’d need to rely on his friend to distract them so he could get to Sydney. “Tristan, you go in first and disable Asgear. We cannot be certain if he will conjure a thaumaturgical barrier like the one we experienced back in the warehouse, so make sure to cover the whole area. If Simone is in there, then it is likely that all vampires can pass. We won’t know for sure until we get in.”

  Tristan transformed back into his naked male form, extending his claws, planning to pry open the stone door. A chorus of wolves howled in the distance.

  “Ah, Marcel and the pack are here. They will come in behind us, and kill any of Simone’s vampires who try to escape.”

  “Now, let’s see what is in this tomb.” Tristan ran his claws up and down the hard, smooth stone, loosening it. “Open up for papa.”

  “Back off, Tristan,” Kade commanded. Wolves always think they are so damn smart. “Watch and learn, wolf.” He smiled, unfolding his Smith & Wesson tactical knife. “Sometimes a vampire is well suited going old school, now is one of those times.”

  Plunging the edge of the knife far into the dusty stone seam, he jerked it upward, disengaging the primitive lock mechanism. The heavy mason door creaked open as it revealed a limestone staircase. The tunnel was illuminated by candles that sat on small wall shelves. Transforming back into his wolf, Tristan padded down the steps tilting his head back up toward Kade, awaiting his orders at the door at the bottom of the stairs.

  A blood-curdling scream resonated throughout Kade’s mind. Sydney’s scream, Sydney’s blood. He kicked the door open, letting Tristan run first into the madness. The wolf narrowly escaped being clawed by several vampires converging toward him. Slipping between their legs, he targeted Asgear who was holding a chalice above Sydney, who appeared to be strapped to a table. Razor-sharp teeth shredded Asgear’s right shoulder and arm as Tristan pinned him to the cold floor. The wolf held him down, allowing Kade and the others to enter the chamber in order to get to Simone.

  Scarlet body fluid sprayed the walls as Kade, Luca, and the other vampires tore into Simone’s fanged puppets. Kade caught sight of Sydney, who was bound and bleeding. Enraged, he slashed through a sea of vampires, advancing toward her.

  “You will die!” he spat at Simone, who ran at Tristan with a knife.

  As Kade reached Sydney, he sliced at the rope, freeing one of her wrists. She lay bleeding on the table, her life’s essence spilling out onto the floor with the thin spear lodged inside her gut.

  “Sydney, I’m here. Just hang on…stay with me. I’ve got to get this out of you. Please don’t leave me,” Kade begged. He gently kissed her cool, pale lips and clutched the needle. Realizing it was jammed into the wooden table, Kade wrenched it out in one quick stroke, hoping to minimize the pain. “I’m so sorry, love.”

  Sydney arched in agony, screaming uncontrollably as the pain slammed into her once again. Her eyes flew open, and she stared up at the cold, gray vaulted stone ceiling above her.

  Kade licked the small hole, sealing her wound. It wouldn’t stop the internal bleeding, but it might buy her time. Knowing he would need to give her blood for a full healing, he sought her permission.

  “You’re going to be okay, but love…” He paused. He shook his head. This was all wrong, but she needed his blood to heal. “You’re bleeding internally. I can give you my blood, but you must understand you will be bound to me forever. I will not do it without your agreement. I love you as much as life itself. You have no idea how much I wanted to give of myself to you, but not like this.”

  “Do it,” she whimpered. Sydney’s eyes fluttered as tears spilled over her cheeks. “I love you, Kade. I want to live.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, but Kade?”

  “Yes, love?”

  “That woman of yours from the 1800s? She’s a real bitch.” She cracked a small smile. “Now, I just need to sit up. The rope…cut the rope.”

  As Kade pulled out his knife to free her, a vampire smacked him clear across the room.

  “No! No! No! This is not going down this way! Get me off this fucking table!” Sydney screamed in frustration. Remembering her knife hidden away in her bra, she felt around with her hand. Thank you, baby Jesus. Still there. Blood sprayed her face as she cut the rope and released herself from the table. Wolves and vampires bit and slashed each other as she gently eas
ed herself onto the floor.

  She looked over to see Dominique tearing the heart out of one of the vampires and silently cheered her on. Both Etienne and Xavier were also fighting, slashing through the crowd of vampires with wooden stakes. Ash started to cloud the room as one by one they staked their foes.

  Sydney was shocked to see Simone fighting Tristan against the far wall. She sliced his wolf with a knife as he bit tightly into her other arm. Sydney struggled to locate Asgear. Where is he? Tilting her head upward, she spied the gleaming face of a sword on the altar. Pain shot throughout her entire body as she stretched her arm up to reach it. Blindly fingering the altar, her hand clasped around the hilt of the sword. She slowly lowered her arm, clutching the cool blade flat against her chest.

  Kade honed his eyes on Sydney’s, seeing she’d gotten free. He needed to get her out of the melee, but there seemed to be no end to the vampires who were attacking from all sides. Tristan was yelping in agony; several small knives stuck out of his bloody fur. Luca, Dominique, and the others were engaged in battle as well.

  “Your little whore is going to die tonight, vampire. You cannot stop us.” Blindsiding Kade, Asgear struck him in the head with the heavy metal chalice.

  “You are the one who will die tonight. Even your magic wanes in the light of war.” Kade shifted and delivered a side kick to Asgear’s thorax, pounding him into the floor.

  “She tried to fight me. I think she likes it rough.” Asgear crawled toward Kade, trying to push himself upright. “She bled nicely when I beat her. When you die, I’m goin’ to take her for my own. She’ll serve me on her knees!”