Unhallowed Redemption

by Tara Rose

  She giggled, and then she laughed as tears of relief and joy streamed down her face. The men took turns holding her and kissing her again, and at one point Faina realized the servants were no longer in the room, but she didn’t care. She had what she wanted, right here.

  These two were everything she’d ever fantasized about, in both forms. They’d fought demons from hell for her, and won. They loved her. And now she’d have the rest of her life with them.

  Chapter Twenty

  Tuesday morning, Konstantin surprised Faina by handing her a cell phone before she barely had time to wake up. “You need to see this.”

  She sat straight up, staring at it. “It’s my phone. Finally. Thank you.”

  Alexei sat on the edge of the bed. “There’s a text message.”

  Her friends. She opened the phone and read.

  Tonight is the last night of our vacation in New Orleans. I’m hoping you’ll meet me in a private club in the warehouse district called Underground. Please mention Mikael Moreau’s name at the door and you’ll be allowed to come inside. I hope to see you all there.

  Faina squealed and jumped out of bed, dancing around the room with the phone in her hand. “It’s from Erin. She’s all right!” Faina glanced at the message again. “She sent it to all of us. That must mean everyone is okay. May I text her back? We’re going, right? You two know where this is? What kind of a place is it?”

  Both men laughed. “Slow down,” said Konstantin. “Yes, text her back and tell her we’ll be there. And yes, we know where it is. It’s a paranormals-only place. Humans see it as a nondescript warehouse that looks abandoned. We’ll have to ask Dagon or one of the other angels to come with us, just until we get inside.”

  She paused in the act of texting Erin. “You won’t be in danger there now that you’re human, will you?”

  “I don’t think so. At any rate, we’re going. It’s important to you to see your friends, and to let them know you’re all right.”

  “Thank you. Thank you so much.” She texted Erin back.

  OMG you’re okay??? I’ve been so worried!!! I’m so glad to hear from you!! I have so much to tell all of you!!! (((HUGS))))

  Then she added a heart emoticon and closed the phone. “It’s charged. Thank you.”

  “We have your laptop as well,” said Alexei. “I’m sorry we had to keep them from you.”

  “I understand why you did it. You were trying to keep me safe.”

  He pulled her into his arms. “And tonight, you can tell all your friends the adventure you had this past week.”

  “And that I’m moving here permanently.”

  He nuzzled her neck. “Damn right you are. We’re never letting you go.”

  Faina shivered as he kissed her, knowing there was no place else she’d rather be, for the rest of her life.

  * * * *

  Dagon appeared at six in the evening on the front porch. He wore jeans and a polo shirt, and at first glance, Faina would have easily mistaken him for human. It was only when she looked into his eyes that she realized the difference. He stood as they came outside. “The warehouse district is about eight miles from here, and since you two can no longer astral project, do you want me to take us there?”

  “No,” said Alexei. “We’re driving.”

  “You drive?”

  Konstantin shrugged. “We haven’t driven a car since the nineteen twenties, but how hard can it be?”

  “Ah, no you’re not.” Faina held out her hand. “Keys, please. Neither of you has a driver’s license, and cars have changed a bit in the past hundred years. So have traffic laws.”

  Dagon chuckled. “Sounds like you have two choices. Let me take you, or let her drive you.”

  Konstantin looked genuinely hurt as he handed Faina the keys to one of the cars the servants used to run errands. He slid next to her in the front seat while Dagon and Alexei climbed in the back.

  “This is a weird way to travel,” said Dagon.

  Faina started the car and eased into traffic. “Are you staying in the bar with us, Dagon?”

  “No. I’m only going to make sure you all get in and there’s no initial trouble. Konstantin and Alexei can still summon me if need be. They haven’t lost that particular power.”

  “Do you think they will one day? Lose the powers they still have?”

  “I honestly don’t know. I hope not. I’d like to think I’ll still be around in the background to help you three if I need to.”

  Faina smiled. “How many people can say they have their own personal angel on hand?”

  When they approached the warehouse district, Dagon guided them to the correct street, and they parked in a public lot at the end of it. They walked toward a brick building, and he pointed toward the alley. When they reached the end of it, he knocked on a metal door with a simple sign over it that read, “Underground.”

  A panel in the door slid open, reminding Faina of pictures she’d seen of speakeasies in Chicago during Prohibition. The creature peeking through the slot didn’t say anything. He merely eyed them, and then Dagon nodded once.

  The door opened, and Dagon ushered them into a dark room that stank of rotting flesh, blood, and smells Faina couldn’t identify. “Three humans?” asked the creature.

  Faina took a better look at him. His eyes glowed like Dagon’s, but he was no angel. That much she could tell.

  “Konstantin and Alexei Veselov were demonic until yesterday. They defeated Sargatanas and Vassago in a contract dispute, and won back their humanity. The girl is with them, and all three were invited by Mikael Moreau.”

  “Fine.” The creature waved them on.

  Now that they were past the gatekeeper, Faina scanned the crowd, looking for her friends. She squeezed Konstantin’s hand on her left, and Alexei’s on her right. When she spotted Heidi, sitting with two men, she shrieked and let go of the men’s hands.

  Running toward the table, she realized all her friends were there, each with two men. Faina giggled at the possibility that her friends had been as busy all week with fun and sex as she had been. That would make her feel better for having become separated from them.

  She and Heidi embraced, both talking at once, and then the men with Heidi pulled over another chair so Faina could sit. The men were all standing behind each woman, as if protecting them, so that’s what Konstantin and Alexei did as well. Faina embraced each of her friends then finally took her seat.

  “Oh my God, I was so worried about all of you.” She scanned their faces. “I have so much to tell you. I saw this weird ritual the night we were looking for Marie Laveau’s tomb. I…” Her voice trailed off as she fixed her gaze on Erin. To say the girl glowed was an understatement. Her skin looked like alabaster, and her eyes held the wisdom of old. She was changed somehow. Different, but yet still Erin. “What happened to you?” whispered Faina.

  “It’s a long story. You go first.”

  “Well, okay. Where do I start? Um, this is Konstantin and Alexei Veselov. They…they used to be demons.” When no one at the table reacted, she continued. “They died during the Russian Revolution and were recruited by a demon named Sargatanas to interfere in human wars and cause trouble.” She glanced around for Dagon, who was gone.

  “It’s okay,” said Alexei, so quietly she wasn’t sure the others had heard him. “He won’t be far away if we need him.”

  “I wanted to thank him again.” She turned her attention back to her friends but waited until a server took their drink orders. To her amazement, the men standing behind Erin ordered blood, as did Erin. Faina asked for ginger ale because she had a feeling that by the end of the evening, her stomach would be doing flip-flops.

  She’d grown used to the smell inside the club now, but the music was heavy with a slow beat. At first it had reminded her of clubs at home, but now it sounded like a jazz funeral. She needed to calm down. Everything was all right. Dagon would never have let them come here, or left them, if he thought they were in danger.

  “A
ll right. Um…they sought help from a fallen angel named Dagon, who helped them renegotiate the contract. Basically they had to sacrifice someone they loved to become human again. And before I forget, that’s what happened to Lisette. She was marked as a sacrifice of some sort.”

  “Oh, I know,” said Heidi. “She came to me in a dream. I have to tell you all what she said, but finish your story first, Faina.”

  “Okay. So, they were in human form all week, even though they were still demons, and I became very close to them. Very close.” She laughed, but it was from nervousness. Not because she was reluctant to tell her friends her sexual escapades, but because she didn’t know any of the men standing around.

  “We get it,” said Dani. “We each have stories like that as well from this past week.”

  “Oh good!” The group chuckled good-naturedly, and then Faina continued. “So you all remember the visit I told you about from what I thought was a demon when I was twelve? It turns out it was a being called a Lidérc, and he marked me. But he never returned, so when Konstantin and Alexei made love to me, the mark transferred to them. By having sex with me, they took the Lidérc’s mark and transferred it to them.”

  She took a deep breath, trying to get the story straight in her own mind. “They didn’t know it marked me as belonging to them until Dagon found an ancient parchment that detailed that bit of magick. Sargatanas and Vassago, who was in league with Sargatanas, didn’t know about it either, until yesterday. And since they didn’t know it, they both voided the contract by coming onto the grounds of Alexei’s and Konstantin’s house. They lured them out of the house by tricking them, but Dagon and his angels helped them out of that as well. Then they defeated Sargatanas and Vassago, and now they’re human again.”

  She glanced up at each of her men before continuing. “And now I’m staying here with them. I’m moving to New Orleans permanently.”

  The women all hugged and high-fived each other, and then Heidi told her story. She’d ended up in the wrong cemetery and witnessed Rémy, one of the men she was with, performing a ceremony over the grave of one of his ancestor’s associates. And Niko had been waiting for a chance to rise from the dead, just like Konstantin and Alexei had longed to be human again.

  As Faina listened to their stories, she realized they were all staying in New Orleans with their men. She smiled up at Konstantin and Alexei, her heart full of joy. “I don’t have to leave them.” Then she turned her attention back to the others as the men each placed a hand on her shoulder.

  Niko, one of the men with Heidi, ordered a Zombie to drink, which nearly made Faina laugh. The absurdity of this situation wasn’t lost on her, yet at the same time she was so happy. She wasn’t saying goodbye to her friends as she’d thought she’d have to do.

  But the real story they all wanted to hear was when Lisette’s spirit appeared to Heidi, and told her that she’d never been angry with them over her death. There was more than one tearful face among them when Heidi relayed the details of the visit, and Faina finally let that part of her guilt go. Lisette’s death hadn’t been due to their negligence, and no one at this table was responsible for it. They all knew that now, and finally they each could release the guilt they’d carried for so long.

  “What about the turf war?” asked Faina.

  The men all talked at once, explaining how the vampires that Erin were with had decided Erin was too important and had backed off. Faina put a hand to her heart as she finally realized the truth about Erin. She was one of them. A vampire. And when she told them about the brain tumor she’d been diagnosed with, and the fact that she hadn’t been given long to live, tears slid down Faina’s face again.

  But Erin told her it was all right now, and she’d been given a new lease on life. That would take some getting used to, but then again, Faina had faced down demons this past week. Having a friend who was a vampire would be a cakewalk.

  “But what about the other beings in the turf war?” asked Faina.

  The guys explained that there were those who still wanted to stir up trouble, so it wasn’t over completely by any stretch of the imagination, but for now they were all safe.

  Konstantin leaned over and kissed her neck. “And you know Alexei and I will never let anything happen to you.”

  The men with each of her friends expressed similar sentiments, and then the girls all drank several toasts and continued with their individual stories. As Faina listened to them, so excited about their new lives and futures, she felt warm and toasty inside because she was among her friends once again. With each of them staying here in New Orleans, they’d have the chance to get to know one another all over again. It was the best of all possible worlds, made even more exciting by the addition of the paranormal element. Now she could claim to have vampires as friends, in addition to a host of fallen angels they could call on at any time.

  Her life had come full circle from that night in her room years ago. She was marked, in more ways than one, as belonging forever to Konstantin and Alexei. And now she belonged to a wider circle of friends and powerful beings, just as she’d always dreamed about.

  Faina took Alexei’s and Konstantin’s hands as they left the club, knowing her life would always be this exciting, new, and full of love. She would make sure that Alexei and Konstantin would never doubt her love for them. Not for one second of their lives together, for all eternity.

  “Are you happy?” asked Alexei.

  “Oh, yes. I couldn’t be happier. And the best part is that I have you both to love for the rest of my life.”

  Konstantin pulled her close and stroked her hair. “And we have you, my lovely Faina. For the rest of our lives. Finally. Our human lives.”

  As they made their way back to the house, Faina couldn’t stop smiling. She would never let them regret what they’d gone through. Not taking her from the cemetery that night, or choosing to fight for the right to keep her as theirs. She would spend every day for the rest of her life making sure they knew how very, very much she loved them.

  THE END

  WWW.TARAROSEROMANCEAUTHOR.COM

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Tara Rose loves to write about small towns and the quirky people that inhabit them. You’ll find engaging characters, budding romance, intrigue, and plenty of hot, steamy ménage sex within the pages of her books. You never really know what goes on behind closed doors, but her books will take you there, and leave you panting for more.

  When she isn’t writing, Tara spends time with her husband—her real-life hero. She loves to cook, collect antique pottery, and she will read just about anything. Tara also plays the cello, and loves decorating her house for Christmas.

  For all titles by Tara Rose, please visit

  www.bookstrand.com/tara-rose

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com