Dangerous Influence (The Harcourte Vampyre Society Book 5)

by Morgan Kelley

  Jolie had no choice but to continue. Now wasn’t the time. She would have to handle this later.

  Flynn helped her to her feet and returned to his knees. When Jolie’s hand went to his bloody shoulder, he pushed energy into her body.

  He hoped it reassured her.

  Mulduk roared with anger as he started struggling to get free from the bonds.

  “Up, Flynn,” she stated.

  He obeyed, and knew what she wanted.

  “May I please have more punishment?” Flynn asked.

  “You may, pet. I will inflict one lash for each time Mulduk denies he knows anything.”

  Jolie hopped it wasn’t going to be too many.

  Then again, Flynn was…different.

  “Yes, mistress, if you please.”

  “No! I want them!” Mulduk bellowed.

  Jolie used the whip on Flynn again.

  “One,” he counted.

  “Well, Mulduk?”

  “I don’t know…”

  She hit Flynn again. “Two.”

  The blood beaded and dripped across his flesh, and again the silver inflicted wounds healed.

  She tried not to stare at it, but she was scared.

  This was wrong. They healed fast, but not this fast.

  “Mistress, please,” Mulduk begged.

  She hit Flynn again, and the whip kissed his body, leaving another wound.

  Again, it was gone.

  “Three.”

  “Fine! Stop! I’ll tell you!” Mulduk shouted. “I’ll tell you if you promise to hurt me like you’re hurting him.”

  She made no promise. “Go on, Mulduk.”

  “The only other thing I know is that the individual was from a brand new society. It recently formed, and it’s in its foundling stages. One of the vampyres, who is being courted by them, told me.”

  Jolie looked up at him her eyes glinting with black flame. “A new society?”

  “Yes. It was he, who spoke to the Tueur. He said he has a vendetta against the Harcourte society.”

  Jacques reached for his mates’ minds. ‘That could be anyone.’

  Jolie didn’t speak. She had a sneaking suspicion who would dare challenge her. The council and many of the vamps in New Orleans feared her. There was one who didn’t.

  Jolie faced the vampyre down. “Then I suppose I should reward you with torture.”

  “Yesssss,” he hissed, knowing he would enjoy having her hands all over him.

  “Very well.” She motioned toward her mate. “My love, there is a ball gag and blindfold over there on the table. Please bring them to me.”

  Mulduk got excited. From the bulge in his leather pants, no one could miss it. Neither mate liked the idea that he was anticipating Jolie’s hands all over him.

  Flynn remained on his knees as his wounds closed up. He watched Jacques cautiously try to avoid him.

  He was afraid.

  He could tell.

  There was going to be a big discussion coming up. He could see it.

  “I think you shouldn’t touch him,” Jacques said, after handing Jolie the implements she had requested.

  “I intend to give Mulduk what we had agreed to earlier—punishment.”

  Jolie took the ball gag and inserted it into his mouth tightening it so tight he jerked with pleasure. She smiled serenely as she dropped the blindfold over his eyes.

  “What now?” asked Jacques staring at the bound vampyre.

  “Nothing,” Jolie admitted as she enjoyed the panic that washed over Mulduk’s face. He squirmed and fought the silver manacles.

  Flynn knew it was safe to stand. “Man, you are cruel. That sucks for him.”

  Jolie laughed. “Yes, it does.”

  Flynn took his shirt from Jolie.

  “You’re bloody, my love.”

  “I’ll be okay until we get home.”

  They stared at him.

  He touched Jolie’s cheek so lovingly that it made tears fill her eyes.

  This was her Flynn. She saw him in there, but he wasn’t alone in there. That was the issue. Flynn picked up a squatter.

  “We should go home and talk. We need to figure out who he was talking about.”

  Jolie touched his large hand and returned the kiss to his palm that he’d given her earlier.

  “We do need to talk, but not about who ratted me out to the Tueur. I already know who it is, or should I say—I have a sneaking suspicion.”

  Both men stared at her.

  “You do?” Flynn asked.

  “Oh, yes, I do, Flynn, and more importantly so do you. Do you think that it’s a coincidence that we banished a member of our own society weeks ago, one who knew all about our pregnancy, and then we’re betrayed?”

  “Oh my God,” said Flynn, as he finally realized who it was she was talking about.

  “Balzac,” growled Jacques, immediately wanting to snap the vampyre into two pieces.

  “Yes, my loves, Balzac.”

  Flynn’s body rippled with anger. “Well, then let’s figure out how to find him. Then, I’m going to kill him.”

  They watched him head for the door, and there was the telltale sound of wings in the room.

  They looked around.

  “Jacques, I’m afraid.”

  He didn’t speak.

  He was too.

  ∞ Chapter Twenty-Eight ∞

  Early Thursday

  Morning

  When they got home, Flynn had only one thing on his mind. Only, that wasn’t going to be happening. From the look on Jolie’s face, and her demeanor, he knew that she wasn’t happy. It looked like someone wasn’t getting his reward for being a good pet.

  Well, shit!

  That sucked for so many reasons. What he fully expected was for her to be angry. He got that. After all, he’d done something without talking to his mates first.

  Only, he didn’t have a choice at the time.

  How was he supposed to call them or contact from the great beyond? It wasn’t as if he could pick up the phone in Death’s chamber.

  It had been a quick decision.

  Now he was going to pay.

  When they entered their quarters, Jolie headed right for their closet to get changed. When Flynn approached, the tendrils of Death were waiting for him.

  Even as they licked at him, he didn’t fight them. They no longer hurt, but he got it.

  She was pissed.

  Instead of invading her privacy, he headed to the bed. When he kicked off his boots, and stripped out of his leather and bloody shirt, he sat.

  Jacques couldn’t help but stare at his back.

  It was pristine.

  The leather, silver-tipped whip should have left some marks and shouldn’t have healed that fast either.

  He was worried.

  “When she comes out, I’ll explain. For the record, I never wanted to hurt either of you.”

  Jacques believed him.

  Still…

  Jolie was a mess over this.

  They waited. When she finally exited her closet, she was changed. Gone was the leather and dominatrix gear, and instead, she was dressed in a soft lavender sweater and jeans.

  Flynn couldn’t recall the last time he’d seen her in jeans. It had to be…never.

  “Baby.”

  She handed him his clothes. “Get dressed.”

  He obeyed.

  When he was finished, Jolie took a seat in Jacques’s lap at their little table. At one time, they’d go there to wait for Flynn to eat. Now it was for his inquisition.

  That memory seemed so far away.

  It seemed like eons—not months.

  “What have you done?” she finally asked. “What are you?”

  “I don’t really know what I am,” he admitted. “Death offered me something, and I accepted.”

  They stared at him.

  “Can we ask Vanth to explain? She knows what I’ve done. When she went to feed me earlier, she saw what was in me the second she touched me. I saw it on
her face.”

  Jolie felt betrayed.

  She called for the demoness. “Vanth! Get your ass here now!” The pictures in the room and the mirrors shook. There was no doubt that Jolie was pissed.

  Up until that moment, Flynn forgot that she, in her own right, was powerful. She, too, was kissed by death.

  The harbinger was only dormant at the moment.

  Vanth appeared in the room.

  “Yes, Mistress.”

  “Sit.”

  A chair slid toward her. She sat.

  “You needed me?”

  Jolie got up and began pacing. “What is he?” she asked, pointing at Flynn. “What did Death do to him when she took him from us?”

  Vanth glanced over. “May I, Master?”

  “Go ahead.”

  Jolie got angry. The old Flynn would have been pissed that she called him that. The old Flynn would have protested. This Flynn…he wasn’t hers.

  The rage filled her. The mirror across the room cracked, spider webbing, until a reflection was no longer visible.

  Jacques braced for what was coming.

  This was going to be epic.

  He could see it.

  “Just tell me what he’s done,” Jolie stated, hoping it was reversible.

  “It’s simple. He drank from Death. Once you do that, you forfeit humanity. Flynn is now no longer human—at all.”

  Jolie was appalled.

  Flynn had sacrificed the last part of him. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair. She hated it with her entire being.

  “In Flynn’s defense, he really didn’t have a choice.”

  They all stared at her.

  “Death knew what she was doing. While her hands are tied with Fate, bringing Flynn there was a good plan.”

  Jolie glared at her.

  Flynn didn’t get it. “What do you mean?”

  Vanth glanced over at him, her eyes swirling. “Master, when she brought you to her domain, you died. There was no way you would ever come back alive. Until that moment, you were human. You may be morphing, thanks to Jolie’s gift and the blood, but you were human at the core.”

  Jolie stared at her mate. “What is he now? I heard wings. I’ve only heard that with you.”

  Vanth stood, and they heard it. It was as if she was opening and closing her wings to stretch them out.

  “Yes, like that.”

  “He’s Rinnon inside the vessel carrying him.”

  They glanced at each other.

  “What is that?” Jolie asked.

  “For lack of a better description, he’s a demon.”

  They looked appalled.

  “Well, it’s more like a vampyre and demon rolled into one. Rinnon was this old deity. He sired the first of your kind. When he mated with a human, this was the outcome. His children were born into this world as the undead. Shortly after that, Fate stepped in to make sure that male vampyres couldn’t sire children.”

  They were confused.

  “I thought Death was the one who created us,” Jacques asked.

  “Well, she did, but Death wasn’t always Death. At one time, she was human, but there was a war.”

  They stopped her.

  “Stick to the facts. What is Flynn?”

  “He’s still Flynn, but he was made an offer. Stay with Death for ever, or accept her gift to defeat what’s coming.”

  Jolie wanted to weep.

  This was all her fault.

  “What does this Rinnon do to him?” Jacques asked. He needed to know what they were dealing with when it came to their mate.

  “First, it’s not like he’s possessed. He’s just modified. Flynn drank from Death, and no one does that and lives when you’re human. She gave him some gifts to protect him.”

  Jolie laid her hand over her belly.

  “Don’t be angry,” Flynn begged. “I had to get back to you. I couldn’t spend one thousand years, hoping for an end, only to be stuck there. I needed my family. I needed you both. I didn’t want you to forget about me. I didn’t want to miss seeing my daughter born.”

  Her heart ached.

  “Death forced his hand,” Vanth admitted. “I can see him for what he is, but he’s still Flynn. He’s the core, and the rest is just feathers and fury.”

  That didn’t make her happy.

  It didn’t make it right.

  This was the last thing she wanted. They stole so much from Flynn and now this too.

  He went to move toward her.

  Jolie stepped back.

  It hurt his heart, but he continued.

  “I was already changing, Jolie. What was one more step if it meant protecting you? I was willing to do anything to save you. My soul is nothing to me if I lose either of you.”

  “Flynn, you shouldn’t have…”

  He exploded in rage.

  “Stop it! I should. I did. I am. You can’t keep yourself safe. You’re marked to die. I can’t watch that happen. I’m willing to be your armor. I’m willing to shield you four,” he said, talking about his children too.

  “At what cost?”

  “My soul. My life. My future.”

  They gasped.

  “In exchange for returning me, I took a blood oath to take over the duties of Tueur.”

  “For how long?”

  “Forever. When we find the Tueur, I will kill the leader. I will then take over.”

  “And us?” Jolie asked, her eyes filling with tears.

  “I don’t know. That’s going to depend on you. If you want me to leave, I will. I want our daughters born, and that’s all that really matters at this point. I won’t see you killed, or them. My duty is to make sure that happens. I won’t lose my family. If I do, why bother existing?”

  Jolie got up.

  At first, he thought she was going to come to him, so he opened his arms.

  “I can’t, Flynn.”

  His heart broke. He’d been denied by the only woman he’d ever loved in his life. Jolie didn’t want to touch him.

  This was the end.

  “I need a few minutes. Jacques, can you call Nathaniel’s replacement and find out where Balzac is? I need to take a walk to clear my head.”

  They both knew how dangerous that was.

  But they didn’t stop her.

  Flynn watched her leave.

  When she was gone, and the door was closed, Jacques finally spoke, “You shouldn’t have done this.”

  He glanced over at Jacques. “What would you have done in my place when faced with the same choices? Would you have passed up the chance to keep her safe? Would you have let my child die, and yours too?”

  Jacques didn’t have to think about it.

  He knew what he’d do.

  “I would have done the same thing.”

  “Then how can you blame me?”

  “I don’t, but as your family, it’s my job to tell you what you did risks us. It risks her heart. Had the decision been mine, you would have said the same thing to me.”

  He was aware.

  “Go find her. You two need to work this out.”

  “When I have to leave…? When I have to go away…?” he asked, not able to finish his sentences. It hurt too much.

  Jacques stared at him.

  “Never mind.”

  Flynn went to leave the room. It was probably best he didn’t know that answer to that. He figured it would be heartbreaking.

  Jacques did what he felt was needed. He stopped him and hugged him. “When the time comes for you to take on this burden, we will be by your side. I won’t turn my back on you, Flynn. You’re my mate. You sacrificed something so huge for us, that I can’t forget it. Our children will have a chance thanks to you.”

  He let his head rest on the vampyre’s shoulder as the weight of what he did hit him full force.

  “I didn’t want to lose her or you.”

  He understood.

  “I couldn’t go on. Now she hates me. I can’t even look into her mind. I’m afraid of what I’ll s
ee.”

  Jacques patted him on the back.

  He knew what Jolie was feeling.

  It wasn’t hate, but guilt.

  “Go talk to her. Then we’re going to take your new gifts for a run.”

  “Spin,” Flynn offered. “Take them for a spin.”

  “Whatever.”

  Flynn wanted to laugh, but his heart was too heavy. Instead, he stared into Jacques’s eyes. “Thank you for trying to make me feel better.”

  “Je’Taime.”

  He returned the words.

  Because they were true.

  * * * H a r c o u r t e * * *

  Jolie found solace by the tree.

  At one time, it was where Flynn and she came when he was lost. He’d begun loosing pieces of his humanity, and she found him here, trying to punish himself.

  Now, she was there doing the same.

  Jolie couldn’t help but hate herself. Had she not left that morning, not ventured out alone, then Flynn wouldn’t be…

  He wouldn’t be this demon/vampyre thing.

  It scared her.

  How could she not blame herself?

  As she sat there, her back against the tree, much like Flynn had once sat, she needed to find a way to accept her fault in this. He wouldn’t blame her.

  Of course not.

  Flynn was an honorable man.

  A part of her wished they’d never rolled into his life. She would have rather not have found her mate than to damn him to this fate.

  Flynn was dead.

  He was gone.

  As she began crying, Jolie rested her forehead on her knees. The pain overwhelmed her, and she couldn’t help herself. It was time to mourn his loss, even when he wouldn’t do it himself.

  As she heard footsteps, she didn’t need to look up.

  She just knew who it was going to be.

  It was her Flynn.

  “Jolie,” he said, stopping not far from her. “We need to talk. I figured you’d be here.”

  She was sure they did, but Jolie wasn’t sure she could do it. She was hurting over what he’d lost.

  “I’m sorry you ever met me. I’m sorry that we came into your life. I wish I could go back and stop it.”

  Her words hurt.

  They stung.

  “You don’t love me anymore?” he asked. “Because of what I carry in me, you’re willing to give me up?”

  She didn’t reply.

  “OUCH! That hurts, Jolie. When you became the Harbinger, I loved you more, not less. I see that maybe I always did love you more than you did me. After all, you have a spare mate. I can be replaced.”