Only he didn’t know what to do to help her.
Truth be told, he had very few options—kill her and put her out of her misery or bind her to him with his blood. He thought back to the words she had whispered to him the last few days as she tried to soothe him.
He recalled with clarity how she sang to him to ease his pain. She was willing to give her life for him to survive. This small woman had promised to find him, and she did.
Holy Shit!
What had he done?
He heard the footsteps coming, so he backed into the dark shadows of the cell.
He was prepared to fight if the need be.
They’d fed him, and he was back to full strength.
They’d screwed up.
Staring down at the woman lying on the floor, he felt remorse. If they didn’t kill them, he’d save her.
He wanted to save her so she’d sing for him again. He recalled her voice, and it was that of an angel.
If they entered the cell, it was best she died.
Hell!
It was best if he died too.
They’d hurt her like they’d damaged him.
“What have you done, Alexandre?” asked the vampyre at the cell doors.
“She was left here,” he hissed. “She was food. Feeding me was a bad idea, Gradius. I will kill you.”
Gradius was furious.
“WHO put her in there with him?” he yelled, turning on the three vampyres behind him. They stood there with someone wearing a hood and manacles.
Alexzandre watched from the shadows. It looked like they had someone else now too.
“I did, Master,” said the woman.
“Katya, are you really this clueless?” he demanded. “I didn’t get to interrogate her yet, and now I won’t,” he hissed, shaking with anger.
“I thought he was dead,” she admitted. “I broke him. He shouldn’t be alive.”
It didn’t matter.
“Throw this one into the cell with them. Let them fight it out for all I care. My last link to Jolie is now dead on the floor.”
He couldn’t believe the incompetence.
The only vampyre who had a clue was the one who found Jolie and the man in the hood. She understood.
She got it.
He couldn’t trust anyone who worked for him.
It was disappointing.
He stalked toward Katya and grabbed her by the hair. “Come, you stupid bitch,” he growled, dragging her from the basement.
The other vampyre opened the door and shoved the hooded man into the room.
“Feel free,” the one offered. “He was very useful.”
Alexandre waited for the vampyres to leave before he moved toward the hooded man. Carefully, he removed the covering from his face.
He didn’t recognize him.
Mordechai blinked to focus his eyes.
He could see the woman on the floor. “Don’t kill her. She’s Jolie’s friend,” he whispered. “She performed their wedding.”
“Whose wedding?” he asked out of the loop. “Detective Brogan and Jolie?”
“Sort of, and my son’s handfasting,” he said. “I’m Mordechai Degaul. Jacques, the man who was her guardian, is my son.”
Alexzandre studied him. Finally, he believed him.
“Alexandre Harcourte.”
“Can we save her, or is it too late?”
Alexzandre stared down at her. “She’s close to death. I didn’t know who she was. I needed to feed.”
“I’ll do it,” said Mordechai, staring at the man’s wounds. He was injured.
“No!” he answered possessively. “She’s mine. No one will touch her but me!”
Somehow, this woman called to him in ways he hadn’t felt in centuries. The second he tasted her blood, stared into her pretty blue eyes as he destroyed her, he knew.
God!
He’d nearly killed the woman who was meant to be his mate. That’s how she found him. Her soul knew his, and he’d ruined her.
“I’ll bond her to me,” he said. “I’ll protect her, since she took care of me.”
He wanted to.
God help her, but he wanted to protect this woman. From the little upturned nose, to the glossy curls, he needed to keep her safe.
She’d saved him.
He owed her.
Gently, he picked her up and cradled her in his arms. He moved back into the shadows to get ready. He didn’t have silver, so he was going to have to hope his body was slow in healing.
With his fangs, he tore into his own wrist.
The blood dripped into her mouth.
He ripped again, and more filled her.
Slipping into her mind, he forced her to swallow. She didn’t fight him.
“Her name is Kiera, and she’s a witch. They took her because she helped your sister and my son,” said Mordechai. “Jacques, Flynn, and Jolie wouldn’t have cared for her if she wasn’t a good person.”
Alexandre agreed. “She’s safe now, and I’ll protect her.” He touched a curl against her cheek. For a week, he’d been forced to endure the pain, and she’d been his only light at the end of the tunnel.
“We need to get out of here to warn my son.”
He was aware.
“If they find them, they will be destroyed. Gradius has it in for my sister.”
“Then we shall have to make sure they do not find her and my grandchildren.”
He glanced up. “Is Jolie really with child?” he asked.
“Yes, she’s having two. The Tueur wants them dead.”
He didn’t understand that.
“Why? Is Gradius that obsessed?” Alexzandre asked, as he lapped the dried blood from her flesh. His heart was thumping in his chest now that he was focused on her scent and feel of her in his arms.
“That’s a good question. I say we get out and ask them ourselves,” he said.
He kept his word to his son, giving nothing away. For now, he’d protect his family.
It was his duty.
* * * H a r c o u r t e * * *
She was furious.
Jolie Harcourte was so very angry that she wanted to hurt someone—mostly a sexy mate or two. They’d treated her like a child, and she wasn’t going to take it.
There were lines, and this was crossing a major one.
She wasn’t their property, and the last thing she needed was two men running around with the need to haze her mind ‘for her own good’. It was insulting. Even more so that Flynn was able to do it to her.
She was pissed.
As she sat in Death’s chamber, she wanted to wreck the place.
“Go ahead. I can fix it.”
Jolie took a deep breath.
“Want to talk about it?” Death asked.
“He’s infuriating. I thought Flynn was bad before, but throw in a demon, and he’s a huge pain in the ass.”
Death laughed. “You think? Rinnon has always been a handful.”
Jolie glanced over. “Has he?”
“Yes. I remember him ruling our world with an iron fist. He took, stole, destroyed, and he didn’t ask permission. It’s what got him killed.”
She listened.
“He was told by Fate to knock it off, but he ignored her. I was told to intervene, and I refused. We have a history. So, Fate was going to end me. She was going to send out the Destroyer to kill me. This is the irony of it all. The demon, or man, as you like to see him, who killed the first Destroyer is not destined to have his child be the next one. Fate is a bitch.”
“He killed the Destroyer?”
“Yes. He’s the only one who knows how to do it. There’s only ever been one, and he made her too. She went to kill me, and he smote her.”
Jolie listened.
Vanth popped in with some tea and handed it to her.
“I had to make a choice, and I couldn’t kill him. I refused to reap him. That day, when Fate got angry, she took his life for taking the Destroyer’s. Then the undead were created, an
d the Tueur were born. It’s been a whole freaking mess since.”
“I remember that day,” Vanth said. “Fate was furious. She was out for blood.”
“On that day, Rinnon saved Vanth and myself. He refused to kill us. We were replaceable. Fate didn’t care.”
“They fought?”
Death nodded. “It was an epic battle. It’s how things became the way they are today. Demons and pain ruled the world before humans and religion. When I refused to kill him, and she was going to take my life, he offered himself up.”
Jolie listened.
That sounded like something Flynn would do.
“It is. That’s why he’s been put back into a being who can handle him. Flynn was meant to be his vessel, and you were meant to be his mate.”
“I want to be mad.”
“I get it. He’s a pain in the ass, but he has good intentions. He’s very protective, and once he finds that person to guard, he’s relentless.”
Jolie thought about it.
She was right.
“What did Fate do to him?”
“She cursed him. He had one year to find his true love or he’d forfeit his life. He knew it wasn’t going to happen. He knew he was millennia away from his mate.”
Jolie’s heart skipped.
“Me?”
“He didn’t know your name, but he knew you’d come. His mate was going to birth the new Destroyer. Because he stole the life of one, he would be forced to watch his own child take on that difficult role.”
“That’s horrible.”
“Fate is mean. So, when you came to me, I knew the Destroyer was coming. I knew it was time. You were his mate. I let him free from his prison.”
She finished her tea. “He suffered?”
“Yes. Fate is cruel. Frankly, she’s a bitch. She put him in an endless battle where he couldn’t win. For thousands of years, he fought to survive, only to die—over and over again. Every day of his existence he relived the battle.”
“How did you get him free?”
“Fate always has a loophole for the person she curses. You just have to find it. It’s a game to her. You think I’m a bitch? My sister is a million times worse.”
Jolie listened.
She could hear Flynn calling for her.
“What was the loophole?”
“He had to find his true love in order to set him free. The irony was, he was locked in a replaying battle for so long, he didn’t have a chance to find her. He’d fight, barely survive, and when the battle was done, he’d die in insane ways. A boulder fell on him once,” she offered.
“He was eaten by a pack of dogs,” Vanth offered.
“Lightning struck him.”
“His blood boiled.”
She got it.
“So, you helped him?”
“I love him,” Vanth said. “I’d die for him. We’ve been searching for a very long time. Then the vampyres bargained me away and I had to stop helping.”
Jolie recalled. “You came to me.”
“It was a push in the direction she needed,” Death said.
“You knew it was me?” Jolie asked.
“I’ve always known. You’re my child. A mother knows her offspring better than anyone. When I allowed Vanth to stay with you, I knew. When you asked for a child from Flynn and Jacques, I knew. You were close to understanding.”
“So everything was a plan?”
“Yes. He was your mate. Flynn was born, he was raised, and I hope you don’t think you walked into that police station out of coincidence.”
She laughed. “They had help finding you.”
“Why?”
Death crossed her legs. “We have a love hate relationship. He sired me, we had a few rolls in the hay—so to speak, and I owed him.”
“You know that’s creepy and wrong, right?”
Death laughed. “No worse than striking the most powerful demon ever created. Who does that? You’re lucky his time in Fate’s pit of hell made him much calmer. I’ve seen him peel flesh off people for looking at him wrong.”
She wasn’t afraid of him. “He infuriates me.”
“Well, that’s because he loves you. Rinnon had countless women, Jolie. Each one was nothing to him. He never cared enough to make one his mate. He sired an army of demons like myself, Vanth, and the race of vampyres. His duty was creating all of us. When that happened, he moved on. Who the hell do you think populated our Earth? I hope you don’t buy into those stories in the good book. It took years to put life here—not seven days.”
She felt bad. “He does love me, doesn’t he?”
“Right now, he’s trying to fight his way here. You’re just lucky he doesn’t have all his memories back. If he did, he could pop you back, and he’s pissed.”
She imagined.
“I’m pissed too.”
Death laughed. “You’re going to make him insane. Rinnon is accustomed to women doing what he wants. You’ll challenge him and that will make him crazy. I think this is poetic justice for both of you.”
“You’re a mean bitch.”
She grinned, flicking her tongue out like a snake. “Yeah, well, you reap people and vampyres for as long as I have been, and we’ll see how sweet you are.”
She got the point.
“Can you send me back? Put me with just him?”
“He’s tearing his home apart in anger. Are you sure you want to be near him?”
“I need to be near him. Send me back.”
Jolie had to apologize and make this right. She got it. Flynn was now trying to balance both entities in him, and Rinnon was all about protecting the ones he loved.
She’d forgive him.
Now she had to hope he’d forgive her too.
∞ Chapter Thirty-Six ∞
Kiera was warm all of a sudden. She remembered walking toward Alexandre and offering to feed him, and then it all got hazy from there on out. She realized that she was being held, and there was a rush of panic.
Then she could feel him in her mind.
Again.
‘You are safe, mon petite sorcière,’ he said, holding her against his chest.
‘I don’t speak French,’ she whispered back. ‘I’m Irish, so unless you speak Gaelic, I’ll need a translator.’
Alexandre laughed into her mind. ‘It means my little witch.’
‘Oh, okay,’ she replied, feeling all warm and tingly at the term of endearment. ‘What happened?’
‘I nearly took your life. I assumed you were a trick to make me crack,’ he answered honestly.
Kiera opened her eyes to study the man who was holding her. He was the same male she saw in her dreams.
He was the one she had to find, and the one she had to save. He had Jolie’s’ eyes—the same serene lavender. ‘You look better than when I first saw you,’ she said.
‘Gradius didn’t allow me to feed. He had to keep me weak. Once I drank your blood, I began to heal. When I wake from death, I’ll be back to my full strength,’ he answered, his gaze never wavering from hers. The icy blue drew his attention as she closed her eyes to hide them with her long black lashes.
‘Are you unwell?’
‘How did you save me?’
‘I fed you my blood,’ he said honestly. ‘You’re bonded to me. It was the only way I could save you.’
‘What does that mean?’ she asked.
‘It means you are tied to me forever.’ He felt her heart skip a beat. ‘You’ll also live as long as I do.’
Kiera swallowed. ‘I see.’
‘Do you, mon petite sorcière?’ he asked a light whisper into her mind. He brushed her black curls from her face and took in her scent. Even in this abysmal hole, she smelled like Heaven.
‘It’s the lotion,’ she whispered back hearing his thoughts.
Alexandre grinned. His fangs appeared from behind his lips.
Kiera wasn’t afraid. In fact, she was pretty sure that in her dreams she was terrified.
‘I’ll
never hurt you. You fed me and came here to save me,’ he said softly into her mind.
When his eyes flicked up at the sound, Kiera realized they weren’t alone. Kiera glanced over at the other vampyre sitting on the floor not far from them.
“We meet again,” she said, reaching out her hand to the older vampyre.
In her head, she heard the displeasure from the vampyre holding her.
Someone was jealous.
‘You’re mine,’ he whispered.
“Hello, Kiera,” said Mordechai. “You look much better than when I first saw you in here,” he admitted. “How did they find you?”
“They came to my house in the night and took me,” she said softly. “Someone had to tell them I helped Jolie.”
He was aware.
“Why did Jolie leave you behind? Surely, they knew you would be marked if the Tueur found that you had helped them.”
“Jolie tried to make me leave, but I wouldn’t go.”
“She stayed for me. She was meant to find me.”
His heart quickened when she touched his cheek. There was no fear in her eyes. There was something in them that he didn’t expect ever to find again.
She was offering him her heart.
“You allowed yourself to be caught?” answered Mordechai incredulously. “WHY?”
Kiera suddenly became quiet. “Sometimes we aren’t meant to understand fate. We just have to trust it all works out in the end.”
Alexandre pulled the woman closer to his body to protect her. Maybe it was because she offered him so much comfort.
He wanted to hold onto her forever. Already, he was attached to her and feared she’d slip away.
Kiera turned her attention back to Jacques’s father, “Were you betrayed?” she asked quietly.
“Yes,” he answered angrily.
“Who?” asked Kiera.
“I don’t know, but when I find out, they will die.”
She believed him.
He was furious.
* * * H a r c o u r t e * * *
Tuesday Evening
Gradius rested on his bed.
He was still covered in Katya’s blood. He had made her pay for her stupidity. She should have known better.
After breaking her body, over and over again, she admitted the truth.
Dangerous Sacrifice (The Harcourte Vampyre Society Book 6) Page 42
