It was an automatic reaction. But then he knew for certain. So he stayed with her ever since. It wasn’t like she didn’t want to help him; it was what he wanted her to do! Like she could just walk right up to the Knight Estate and tell the famous rock star Angel Knight that someone from the dead wanted to speak to him. Right. That would likely land her in a jail cell. She would never make it through the gates.
She had tried calling, but since she didn’t want to leave her name, the security officer wouldn’t put her through. And what if she did leave her name? When she would tell them what she wanted they would know who they were laughing at, or who they were pissed at for trying to prey on their losses.
Honestly, she could never imagine taking money to help someone who’s passed rest. But with this guy, hell, she was willing to pay someone else to make him go away. Surely there was someone else somewhere that could see him and was willing to risk their public reputation to help him.
Just not her.
Macy quickly showered and tried with no luck to drown him out. By the time she was rinsing, he had gone into a litany of Shakespeare quotes. She turned off the water and wrapped her towel around herself. She stayed in the bathroom to dry. She didn’t know why, but she trusted when he said he would stay out there, that he would. Whoever he was, she got the impression that he could be taken at his word. This, of course, made her feel worse about not helping him, because he probably was the dead band member.
Just about the time she was brushing her hair out and getting ready to face him again, he got quiet. No singing. No renditions of Hamlet. Before she breathed a sigh of relief, she opened the bathroom door and peeked out. No one. She walked down the hall and inspected every room. She was alone. Oh thank God, she thought as she went to her dresser to get out her underwear.
“You didn’t really think I left did you?” he said from behind her.
Well, Damn.
CHAPTER TWO
After the final show in LA, Frankie had gotten in her car and had intended to head back to Indiana. That’s where her family was and that’s where she belonged. Besides, what would Jacque think if he knew she was secretly stalking him, or that she had spent well over two grand on concert tickets just so she could see him?
What was that saying about good intentions? Oh yes, that they paved the road to hell. And that was exactly where she was headed if she didn’t stop stalking Jacque.
From the moment she had met Jacque she felt a pull to him. Where most people would have been offended by his lewd behavior or his choice of wardrobe, Frankie found it endearing. She loved the way his dark hair stood on end all over his head, she loved that he had more metal in his face than most army supply shops had on hand. She loved that his brown eyes were surrounded by long black lashes. Maybe it was because she had spent enough time with him to know what he was really like.
He wasn’t a hound dog like everyone seemed to think. Yes, he would partake in the groupies or whatever, but he was a rock star and that was the life. What the general public didn’t know was how incredibly brilliant he was or how fiercely he cared for his family.
She also spent enough time with the vampires to know that they each had a perfect mate out there somewhere. Angel had found his. Sebastian was now with Jessica, who was once Frankie’s best friend. Of course, when Frankie left, she had to cut ties with Jess as well. It didn’t stop her from emailing Frankie periodically to give her updates, and even though Frankie never replied, she read each and every one.
That was how she learned of Rebel’s dragon mate. Well, from that and the evening news. It’s also how she received news of Antonio’s passing. It was part of the reason why she had bought thirty concert tickets. She had to know that Jacque was okay.
Given his performance, Frankie thought not. Yeah he played like a beast on the drums, and yeah he held up and sniffed every bra that landed in his lap, but there was something missing. The spark had gone out of him, out of all of them.
So instead of going home, Frankie decided to stay the night in a hotel in LA. Just for one night. Maybe she should email Jessica and let her know she was thinking about them all, but only if Jessica didn’t know where she was. She would insist that Frankie visit and that just wouldn’t do. If she visited, she would see Jacque.
Frankie knew that if she saw Jacque up close and personal again, she wouldn’t be able to leave. And if she stayed, she would be keeping him from finding his true mate in life. And if he did find that woman, and eventually he would, Frankie would be broken beyond repair.
Maybe calling would be better. She could survive one phone call if she only talked to Jessica. That would be perfect.
Frankie pulled into a Holiday Inn and gave the front desk attendant her nearly maxed out credit card. It was a short walk to the room and Frankie entered without issue. It was everything she had come to expect in hotel rooms over the last few months. A large bed, a TV, a dresser, and a bathroom all snuggled up in the amount of space befitting a shoebox. And, there was free Wi-Fi. Always a plus to surf the web while pining over someone you just can’t have but are stalking anyway.
It wasn’t like she thought Jacque didn’t feel something for her. She knew he did, but it wasn’t an all-consuming force drawing him to her. If it was, he would have come after her and found her. The fact that he didn’t said everything she needed to know. She knew that she couldn’t be near him and not get her heart broken eventually. So she played it safe. She prayed to the Goddess every night that Jacque would find his mate, and that something would happen to bring him and the mystery woman together. She would cast a spell once a week for his safety. She wanted him to be happy, even if it meant she would be miserable.
Frankie dropped her bag by the end of the bed. No need to unpack; she was leaving first thing in the morning. Then she headed to the bathroom for a much needed shower. While the water warmed up she stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her hair had gotten significantly longer, and her face had become thinner over the last year. She was even carrying extra baggage around her eyes. She knew she wasn’t eating right and wasn’t getting enough sleep. Hell, every time she closed her eyes, she still saw him. Even as sad as he was lately, Jacque was still beautiful to her.
After a quick wash and dry, Frankie sat on the perfectly made bed and fetched her cell out of her purse. She stared at it a long time trying to work up the courage to use it. It was one phone call. She could even block her number. “So dial it, already,” she told herself.
Oh for crying out loud, just make the call! She unlocked the keypad and dialed Jessica’s number. It took three tries before making it all the way through the number, another couple of times to wait for it to actually ring. On the sixth time, the phone rang once and before Frankie had time to change her mind, Jess answered.
“Hello?” she said. Her voice was exactly as Frankie remembered it. Sweet, honest, and with a slight smile in it, even with everything they had all been through lately. It made Frankie’s heart jump in her chest.
“Hello?” she said again. “I guess nobody’s there,” Jessica said. Frankie could tell she was pulling the phone away from her face. It was now or never.
“Jess?” Frankie said quietly.
“Oh my god! Frankie?” Jessica nearly shouted into the phone.
“Shhh!” Frankie chided her. “Please, don’t tell anyone it’s me.”
“Why the hell not?” Jessica demanded in much quieter voice. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Where are you?”
“I’m fine,” Frankie assured her friend. “I just thought I should call.”
There was silence on the other side for a long moment. Then, Jessica opened her mouth. “Thought you should call? Wow, that’s really nice of you. You’re just gonna call me up after all this time? Where the fuck have you been? Why haven’t you returned any of my calls, or emails, or letters? Why did you just disappear like that?” Her voice was steadily growing louder with each question and Frankie knew she deserved it and when Jessica got it out of her system
that she would be able to talk. “Where did you go? Do you know how fucking worried we’ve all been?”
“I know Jess and I’m sorry,” Frankie said.
“Well,” Jess replied, “you damned well better be.”
“You have no idea how much I miss you,” she said.
“Where are you?” Jessica demanded.
“I really don’t want to say,” Frankie said. “I just wanted to call and let you all know that I’m thinking of you. I’m really sorry about Antonio. I really liked him.”
“Thank you,” Jess answered. “That’s not the only reason you called.”
“Is he okay?” Frankie asked quietly. She knew Jessica would know who she was talking about, no need to say his name.
“I don’t know,” Jessica answered honestly. “He’s taking this really hard. Every night he stays in his office, on the computer, looking for answers.”
“Answers to what?” Frankie asked.
“Oh, I haven’t told you!” Jessica explained how Leigh was pregnant and how everyone seemed to think they saw or heard Antonio. Frankie listened quietly and let her talk. When Jessica had said all that she thought was worthy of mention, which was quite a bit, Frankie finally spoke.
“Oh my Goddess, I am so sorry Jess,” she said into the phone. “And you’re sure ya’ll tried every psychic? I mean, surely there is someone who can do a quick sight spell or even a lost and found?”
“Oh Frankie! You’re a genius!” Jessica yelled in her ear, “You can do the spells! You’re so good at it!”
“Oh no. No no no, that’s not what I meant,” Frankie quickly said. “I meant you should find a witch who can do those spells.”
“Well, can’t you?” Jessica asked.
“I can but…”
“Well, it’s settled then. How fast can you get here? Are you in LA or do we need to send a car to get you to the airport?”
Frankie felt like Alice falling down the rabbit hole. “Jessica,” she said, but she didn’t get another word in.
“Who are you talking to babe?” she heard Sebastian say in the background.
“It’s Frankie!” Jessica exclaimed. “She’s coming here to do some spells to help us with Antonio.”
“Oh thank God,” he said, “At least we know her magic is real. I’ll go and tell Jacque right away.”
“No!” Frankie shouted into the phone, but she knew it was too late.
“What’s the problem, Frankie?” Jessica asked, genuinely confused.
Frankie racked her brain, trying to think of an excuse for why she couldn’t personally come and help, but she thought of nothing. Damn her and her damn phone call. Why did she ever give in to temptation? Because she missed her best friend and she really missed Jacque. On some level, Frankie thought she knew this very thing might happen, and of course it did. Well, there was no going back now. “Nothing,” she resigned, “I can be there tomorrow.”
CHAPTER THREE
Antonio felt the darkness closing in on him again. It started with a little tingling on the back of his neck, then a shiver down his spine. He knew it wouldn’t be long before the shadows came again and tried to pull him to he didn’t even want to know where.
It was strange to him, knowing exactly who he was and what he needed to do, but completely at another’s mercy to do it. He had always been very self-sufficient and this ghost shit was getting on his nerves. And he remembered everything.
He remembered burning. God, it still hurt just to think about. He remembered the fight and watching his family set his ashes free over the Pacific Ocean. He remembered everything that he saw in that instant when his spirit left his body. It was enlightening, to say the least. Everything he ever wanted to know, every question he could imagine asking, the answers were provided for him.
Which was why when the most beautiful light shined for him, beckoning him to come and join it and all those who had gone before him, he turned away. He needed to tell his family what he knew and he needed to tell them now.
And Miss Macy Burns was the way to do it. Of course, he had tried to contact the guys on his own, but no matter how hard he concentrated, or how loud he screamed, all they ever got was a whisper of sound or a flash of his image. He knew this because even though they couldn’t see him, he could see them perfectly. He had seen their reactions. He had seen the way Jacque researched every night and the myriad of fakers and posers who had been through his old home. He had seen the defeat in his family’s eyes.
He had just about given up until the day he met Macy, who was completely freaked out by him, by the way. And wasn’t she just adorable when she pretended not to hear him. Her curly black hair framed her face beautifully and she blushed such a pretty shade of pink when he was around. Her eyes were the color of sapphires and as intriguing as they were beautiful. She was tall for a woman, almost as tall as he when she wore heels. And those legs! They went on forever! She was just the kind of woman that would set his blood on fire.
Too bad he was dead.
He guessed he could understand her reluctance to help him. He was asking her to risk her social image. But he knew deep down that if she could just get to Angel, or Jacque, or hell, any of his brothers, that they would listen. The problem was gonna be getting to them.
So he pestered her as often as possible. He had a routine now. When the darkness came, he would fight it. When it subsided, he would spend time trying to contact his family. When that didn’t work, and it never did, he would go back to Macy.
The darkness was something Antonio dreaded and feared. Each time it approached him, it got stronger and harder to fight. It pulled on his spirit, in all directions, as if it were going to pull him apart. Sometimes it took his sight. Sometimes it took his hearing. Sometimes it took both. He supposed it was his punishment for turning his back on the light. But it was a price he was willing to pay to save his family. And he would pay it, but not until then.
CHAPTER FOUR
It was early for a Tuesday morning. Hell, it was early for any morning. Frankie never had been a morning person and to be honest, seven a.m. was entirely too early to be doing anything other than sleeping. She downed her third cup of coffee and sat the cup on the counter by the little coffee pot in the bathroom of her hotel room. Nothing like drinking where you pee, she thought, shaking her head. She never did understand why the coffee was in the bathroom, but it seemed every hotel everywhere kept it there. That is, unless one could afford a suite, and she couldn’t.
Three cups just wasn’t enough, but she had run out of the grounds provided by the hotel. Really, there wasn’t enough coffee in the world to prepare her for what she needed to do. She had tried to sleep the night before, but it wasn’t happening. She knew there was no way she was gonna get out of seeing Jacque, but at least if she came early in the day he would soon be going to bed.
Or at least, that was the idea. Knowing her luck, he was going to stay up all stinking day long. But daytime was the best time to see Jessica. They could leave and go have breakfast and do some catching up somewhere the vampires couldn’t go. She wanted some private time with Jessica. Plus, Frankie was a little excited to meet Leigh.
Leigh was Rebel’s dragon mate, and after all Frankie had heard and read about her, she couldn’t wait to meet her. Powerful. Beautiful. Independent. All the things Frankie wanted to be herself. And if what she heard was true, Leigh’s magic made her own look like parlor tricks.
Frankie packed her bag and grabbed her purse and cell phone. She looked at the phone a minute then dropped her bag back on the bed. That damn phone had gotten her into a bunch of trouble. It was gonna get her out of some.
She dialed, it rang, and Jessica answered.
“How is it you sound so damned chipper so early in the morning?” Frankie asked.
“Because I missed you and I’m excited to see you!” Jessica replied. “When are you getting here? They guys are getting antsy.”
“That’s why I’m calling,” Frankie told her. “I want you to meet me
somewhere for breakfast. Anywhere. You can bring Leigh and Brea if you want.”
“If I didn’t know better, I would think you were avoiding the men,” Jessica teased. “Where at?”
“I don’t care,” Frankie answered, “I’m hungry and it’s early.”
“How about Jack’s place?” Jessica offered, “They have the best biscuits in LA.”
“Got it. See ya in a few then, I’m leaving now.” Frankie stuffed her phone in her purse and left the hotel room. She got into her car and immediately put the address of the restaurant in her GPS. It wasn’t far and it wasn’t hard to get to. They had food there and the best thing about it was, she could talk to Jessica and not worry about the vampires for the moment. They were all so hopeful for her help, and really Frankie was worried she couldn’t live up to their expectations. And then what would Jacque think of her? She would be more than a thorn in his side; she would be the woman who obsessed over him that couldn’t help his fallen brother. Not a good combination to be sure.
Well, at least she could see Jessica without any distractions first, she thought as she entered the small diner. She immediately recognized her friend’s super shiny blonde hair. It had always made Frankie jealous the way Jessica’s hair behaved. Even when she just rolled out of bed it looked perfect.
She also recognized Brea by her gorgeous red hair. And she assumed the black haired woman with them was Leigh. They were sitting in a large booth in the back and when Jessica looked up and saw Frankie, she waved and got up. But she didn’t stop there. She walked the length of the diner all the way to Frankie and immediately, without saying a word, wrapped her arms around her tight.
Forbidden Love Series Book 4: From The Ashes Page 2
