The Vampyre Legal Chronicles - James

by CC MacKenzie

  "How are you feeling?" asked Anais in a gentle voice.

  She moved into her line of vision.

  The newborn vampyre that was Charlotte Gillespie, attempted to smile at the beautiful young woman who'd saved her very sanity over the past days, but her fangs, her jaw, hurt too much. Every movement an exquisite lesson in sheer agony, she handed Anais the empty bag of blood.

  "Much better." Her voice was rough in a throat scraped raw from all the screaming the human had done. "The pain is beginning to ease somewhat."

  Anais smiled, her dark brown eyes warm and gentle. "Another step in the right direction."

  Then she sat in the chair next to Charlotte and very gently placed her hand over hers.

  "James is becoming impatient to see you."

  The vampyre blinked.

  The human inside her mind cringed and turned her face away.

  "She does not wish it," the vampyre said in a tone utterly devoid of human emotion.

  Silence.

  Anais sighed.

  "Do you remember how Saira explained it is very dangerous for you to remain in control of your host's mind, her body? Charlotte must emerge and face her destiny."

  The vampyre blinked, once more her mind turned inward.

  'You are a coward and a little fool,' she hissed at a cowering Charlotte. 'You will destroy us.'

  Once again the human cringed, curled tight into a fetal position. 'Leave me be. Get out of my head. Leave me beeeeeee.'

  The vampyre blinked again and turned to Anais.

  "She is deeply traumatized. She fears me."

  "Will you let me try once more to reach her?" Anais held out her hand, palm up.

  The vampyre nodded, she placed her hand in hers, and Anais closed her eyes.

  Anais might be a newborn vampyre, but she was getting plenty of practice as an empath. This was her fourth attempt to reach a frightened and panic-stricken girl trapped in her own subconscious.

  Taking a deep breath for courage, she stepped into Charlotte's thoughts and stepped into chaos.

  It was a world beyond pain.

  Memories swirled.

  Feelings, emotions of a confused terror, of blood, the scent of vomit, the horrible agony of broken bones. And underpinning it all, the heartbreak of betrayal. Anais felt her own heart kick with a mix of pity and worry as all those emotions and more whirled into her own mind. Her eyes filled and she let the tears fall.

  She felt... everything.

  Charlotte's will to live was steadily but surely diminishing because the husband she adored, beyond all reason, had lied and betrayed her. He'd hurt her so badly. And he wasn't even a man, sobbed Charlotte. He was a vampyre. A monster. Only a monster could have done this to her. God, she couldn't live like this. She didn't want to live like this.

  And all while, watching, waiting, her presence in Charlotte's mind a silent and quiet threat, sat her vampyre.

  "Charlotte, talk to me. Please, talk to me," whispered Anais to the back of the girl's dark head.

  Silence.

  But this time, no matter the personal cost to herself, Anais dug deep to find the courage she'd need as she prepared to wait Charlotte out.

  After an eternal moment, the face that turned to her now was parchment white, the green eyes frantic, like a feral animal held captive. And like any animal cornered with nowhere to go, Charlotte attacked.

  "Why won't you leave me alone? Did I invite you here? Did I ask for your help?"

  Anais desperately wanted to hold her, tell her everything would be alright, but she knew that would a disastrous mistake.

  The girl was hanging onto her sanity by the merest thread.

  Perhaps the time had come for tough love.

  "No. You didn't," said Anais. Her tone a whiplash. "But out there, in the real world, is a man desperate to see his wife."

  Charlotte's eyes went wild with temper.

  "He betrayed me," she screamed the word.

  Anais knew that now was not the time to go into the science of what had happened to Charlotte. The girl was in no fit state to listen never mind hear it. Saira had already explained in detail to Charlotte's vampyre how Eleanor's blood, tainted and imbued with black magic, had done the most damage to her internal organs. The girl who was rocking and wailing in front of her now was in no condition to hear about witches or empaths or other supernatural beings. She was in shock, on the verge of a psychotic break. And since she was linked psychologically as well as physically to her vampyre... the worst case scenario... they'd have a psychotic vampyre on their hands.

  The future for Charlotte and her vampyre, was not looking good.

  "I know what it feels like to have something done to you without your permission. It's a kind of rape, a violation of what it means to be human." Anais spoke from the heart. And something, maybe a sincerity laced with a real anger, got through to Charlotte. Face still turned away, she stopped rocking, stopped wailing and for once, listened. "Marcus did to me what James did to you. He took away my right to choose my own destiny. Trust me, he knows he was wrong and believe me he is more than sorry for it. I didn't suffer the way you suffered and suffer still. But to lose a part of me, a part that made me human, was beyond agony and I was so scared, so angry, I could have killed Marcus with my bare hands. Don't ask me why I still love the bastard, but I do. I love him with my whole heart. There are explanations for why bringing us into their world went so disastrously wrong for me, and for you, too. Hiding here and refusing to face your reality will not give you the answers you need and will eventually destroy your mind, Charlotte, as it will destroy your vampyre. A vampyre who will fight to the death to survive. In many ways, James is as broken as you are. He loves you so much. Please, give him one chance to try to put right the terrible wrong done to you."

  Silence.

  Shoulders slumped in defeat, Anais turned to move away and realized everything had gone eerily quiet in Charlotte's mind. There was still the scent of real fear in the atmosphere, but the girl was most definitely listening hard to what she'd had to say.

  Anais could only hope she'd done enough.

  She felt the hand in hers squeeze once, twice.

  And opened her eyes to find the vampyre with the strange amber eyes staring right into hers.

  "I will see him," said the vampyre.

  Chapter Eleven

  James was sitting in the spacious lounge of the penthouse apartment of Gillespie, Pattullo and Hindmarch in downtown San Francisco wondering how his whole world had gone to hell in less than three days.

  His hands smarted to squeeze the neck of a certain vampyre bitch, Eleanor Pattullo.

  The house of Charlotte's dreams, their beautiful home, was nothing more than a pile of dust and rubble thanks to an earthquake which had taken out an entire block. They could only be thankful no one had been killed or badly injured.

  An earthquake caused, no doubt, by the opening of a portal.

  Christ, he just couldn't credit all the weird crap that was going on in his life, in his world.

  And there was no sign of Ezekiel or his Legion.

  James wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

  His father was already heading the search for Eleanor who had disappeared from the face of the earth, literally, since no trace of her could be found. A vampyre can sense the presence of another of their species, a sixth sense they are born with. And it isn’t until a vampyre enters The Fade or is buried deep below ground it is noticed by all when the palpitation of a beating heart, beats no more.

  Four sets of double doors were open to a wrap-around balcony where he saw Marcus, still wearing one of his dark Armani suits, standing utterly still looking out into the night. James knew his brother was deeply worried about Anais. Hell, James was worried about Anais himself. His sister-in-law always returned from a visit to Charlotte physically exhausted and emotionally drained. Now he watched as Marcus lifted his face to the moon as if taking rays from the sun before turning and stepping into the luxu
rious sitting room to join his brothers.

  "She is’nae in our world,” Daniel Gillespie’s voice was deep and low, stating the obvious about Eleanor, even as his tone spoke of his burning desire for payback.

  Hurt one Gillespie and you hurt them all.

  "Eleanor was ever overindulged, spoiled, by her father. Even as a child she was touched with wickedness," was Adam Gillespie's view.

  Adam was based and worked for the firm in Edinburgh in Scotland. A City where he ruled a vampyre colony with an iron fist. Adam had found his mate fifteen years ago when she'd been a young girl of eight years. A young girl who'd been attacked in an attempted snatch by Ezekiel and his Legion. Since that day Adam had watched over every part her daily life very carefully. The woman was now mature, worked as a senior nurse practitioner in a top hospital. The time was coming, and soon, for Adam to make his move to bring her into their world.

  James’s eyes met those of his younger brother. "Eleanor is mine. She almost succeeded in killing my Charlotte. And knowing Eleanor, she'll try again. Remember, she’s mine.’

  The blood tests Saira and her team had done on the wine found in his home told the truth.

  The vampyre DNA belonged to Eleanor Pattullo. And James made a sacred vow that no matter where she hid, it was his solemn duty to destroy Eleanor. There was no point in fretting over what she might do next. What was the point? He and his brothers, and his father, were making ready. A little voice asked him what he thought he could do against dark magic? Probably not a lot, but that didn't mean they were prepared to be sitting ducks. They might go down, but they'd go down fighting.

  After too many hours where she'd diced with death, Charlotte was responding well to treatment. However, they had a problem, a biggie. Her vampyre might have healed her physically, but it was in complete control of her mind and refusing anyone except Saira and Anais to come near her.

  Not being able to see his wife, to touch her, was slowly killing James, and he wasn't too proud to admit it.

  He prayed with everything he had in him that Anais had managed to make a breakthrough.

  As if his mind had conjured her out of thin air, Anais entered wearing low slung, blue skinny jeans and a sleeveless fitted shirt of white cotton.

  She was tall with long legs and slim golden arms. Her glossy hair, black as coal was tied back in a sleek tail. She strolled over to Marcus to give him a hug and a searing kiss right on the mouth, before she moved to sit next to James.

  She took his hand.

  Big dark eyes framed with thick lashes that tilted at the edges looked into deep his.

  "She’s asking for you," said Anais.

  At last.

  Joy had James preparing to leap to his feet, but her hand squeeze held him back. For such a little thing she had an incredibly strong grip. Anais took a deep breath as those dark almond shaped eyes held his. He read worry and anxiety. Joy slid away as dismay fisted in his gut.

  "You will find her greatly changed, James. Intellectually, she knows and understands she is vampyre, but her human side refuses to believe or accept it. Saira is deeply concerned that if her humanity is destroyed we might not be able to bring her back. Do you understand what I am saying?"

  James did and his heart ached.

  And he couldn't help but agree with Adam's heartfelt whisper of, "Fuck."

  Few humans survived becoming vampyre. Many went insane while others walked into The Fade rather than live a life as a creature they considered to be less than human.

  His throat closed with the pain of it.

  He should never have put her through this, should never have followed his heart or married her.

  Regret and guilt roiled deep in his gut.

  He nodded. "I’ll be careful. I'll be gentle with her."

  A voice drawled from the doorway,

  "Actually, I think that’s been your problem all along." Saira leaned her shoulder against the doorpost and folded her arms. Dressed in black leather she looked like a long haired, kick-ass vampyre from an action movie rather than a medic.

  James stood.

  "How is she?"

  Saira pushed away from the door and strolled to the corner bar and poured herself a glass of red wine.

  Holding the glass, she turned to stare at him through dark eyes that narrowed fractionally.

  "Physically, she’s about seventy-five per cent healed. Amazing really, after everything she's been through. She's feeding now, which is a positive sign and aiding her recovery. Her vampyre is strong, powerful. However, her humanity is struggling. If you want my advice tough love is called for. Charlotte loves you. You’ll need to use that love to turn the key in the lock and open the door to her heart."

  Confused, James dragged frustrated his hands through his hair.

  "Christ, I nearly killed her when I used tough love."

  Saira simply raised a brow at his attitude and tone.

  "Far be it for me to remind you that by delaying bringing her into our world, you left the door wide open for my dear sister to step through in an attempt to destroy the woman you love. I’m not talking about getting physical with Charlotte. What is it with you Gillespie boys?" She raised her hand and tapped her forehead. "The issue is in here. What’s the worst thing that could happen to her now?"

  "The worst thing’s already happened to her, thanks to your bluidy sister," Daniel's deep voice spoke the words everyone was thinking. He was the third of Duncan Gillespie's sons and based in New York where he ran their legal banking arm. He was also a clever empath. Not that he looked as if he was feeling particularly empathic towards Saira at the moment.

  Saira lifted her chin even as heat flared in her dark eyes at the way he'd attacked her sibling.

  It wasn’t a state secret that the twins were not close.

  "Eleanor has always been twisted and furtive when she doesn't get her way. My father has applied for a Juristic Ruling by the Elders and put up a bounty for her return."

  James nodded thoughtfully.

  If the Elders ruled in Eleanor’s absence and found her guilty of the attempted murder of a mated female, never mind the attack on Anais in Shanghai, the penalty was instant destruction. Eleanor would be a marked woman for every single vampyre bounty hunter on earth.

  "Charlotte was quite certain she’d killed you, James," Anais spoke softly. "She's finding it difficult to believe that she's not turned into a kind of monster."

  James turned to look at his beautiful sister-in-law and opened his heart.

  "I should have trusted my instincts and never tried to bring her into our world."

  "You didn't begin the change," she reminded him. "Eleanor did that. Part of Charlotte will always have tainted blood running through her veins."

  "She's only human, Anais. Can't we give her more time to come to terms with everything that's happened to her?" asked James.

  "You're wrong," Saira interrupted before Anais could respond. "Charlotte is not one hundred per cent human."

  Stunned, James felt the jolt of shock right down to his toes.

  Hope flickered in his heart as his eyes flew to hers.

  "She has vampyre DNA?"

  Then his heart fell as Saira shook her head.

  "Nope. But according to someone who should know, Ezekiel reckons she has a witchy side."

  A fist seemed to catch his heart and squeezed.

  They say bad things come in threes.

  He’d bitten his wife.

  She’d been poisoned and nearly died a hideous death.

  And she was a witch?

  His mind spun through all the possibilities and what it might mean.

  He frowned, the question was, what kind of witch?

  Saira grinned as if she read his mind. "Don't worry, not the dark and spooky kind. The tip toeing among the flowers kind. She’s a white witch." She rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I wonder if she’ll be able to do the twitchy nose thing.’

  Daniel started to laugh then stopped when James slanted him a lethal look.<
br />
  "You find this funny?" he growled, the rumble of his voice a specific threat.

  His brother held up both hands in peace.

  "Nope."

  James looked at Saira searching desperately for some sort of clarity.

  "So, she’s a vampyre and a witch?"

  "It appears so," said Saira. She took a sip of her wine. "Although she’s not happy with either. I’d say you have a challenge on your hands."

  "But," said a very confused James. "I know nothing about magic."

  Saira raised her glass, gave him a white toothy grin.

  "Then that’ll make two of you. Christ, it’ll be the blind leading the blind."

  Chapter Twelve

  At the other side of the room, Marcus's attention was not on James and Saira, his attention was focused one hundred per cent on Anais.

  She looked too pale with an exhaustion that had become too familiar over the past days. Every time she returned from Charlotte's bedside, she came back emotionally exhausted and physically depleted. As she listened to Saira's opinion, her dark eyes filled. The way she bit down hard on her trembling bottom lip, had him move. But his brother Daniel got to her before he did. Daniel took her in his arms, not too close, and cupped her face to stare deep into her eyes.

  "You need to learn to pace yourself as you learn your new skill, Anais, to keep a part of you back when you enter another's mind. If you like I can teach you some meditation techniques to assist your cognitive process."

  She nodded. "Thank you. Ezekiel has been a great teacher. He helped me to focus, but since he disappeared I'm desperately worried I don't know what I'm doing. I'm worried I'm doing more harm than good."

  Daniel smiled. "You follow your instincts. If she'd let me I'd have helped Charlotte myself, but there was no way she could cope with me entering her mind. The fact she's now prepared to talk to James tells me you've done a pretty good job."