by Unknown
There was a weight pressed against his chest, and it was moving. Then, he recognized the voice and panic set in. There was no way it was morning already since it felt like he’d just fallen asleep.
Why was she waking him?
One minute he was lying in bed, waiting for them, and the next he was being beckoned. As he prepared to open his eyes, he fought to remain calm. “What’s wrong?” he asked, his heart thumping in his chest.
“Flynn, your partner called. They have another body, and she’s coming for you,” said Jolie, turning his hand to lovingly kiss the inside of his palm.
“Oh. Okay. What time is it?”
“It’s not quite three in the morning,” she paused. “I need to feed you. We were going to stay awake, but I think we’ll rest once you leave.”
“Alright, baby.” He sat against the headboard, waiting for her to move into his lap. This was his favorite part of the day, and who could blame him?
“Are you ready, Flynn?”
“As ready as I ever am,” he replied.
Jolie leaned into his body, wrapping her arms around his shoulders so she could get closer to him. When she positioned her lips on his, to push energy into his body, she could feel him becoming more aroused. Breaking away, she couldn’t help but run her fingers across his rough chin. “Are you okay?”
“Mmmmm… Yeah, I can’t help it. This is a great way to wake up, go to sleep, or hell, even in the middle of the day,” he admitted, as Jolie remained on his lap.
“Where’s Jacques?”
“He’s in the shower. I was going to join him when your phone rang. I hope you don’t mind me answering it. I know some men can be territorial about that.”
“I don’t mind, Jolie. It’s not like it’ll ever be my other girlfriend,” he smiled, and then realized what he had said. “I mean…”
“Shhhhh… Flynn, it’s okay. I don’t mind.”
He rolled with her, following the motion of her body so he could trap her beneath him. “It’s more than that, Jolie. Don’t ever doubt that, and please don’t let my jokes ever take away from it either. There won’t be anyone but you. I love you.”
She pulled him down, ridiculously touched by his words. As her lips moved silkily over his, she couldn’t imagine the rest of her life without him either. “I love you too,” Jolie offered.
Flynn loved having her against his body.
“We have an engagement to attend tonight, and I need you by my side. Will you please come with me?” Jolie asked, kissing him again.
“Uh, yes I will, but I should probably ask what you just talked me into first.” He cherished her laughter but loved her kisses more.
“It is a harvest ball, and it’s being held by the societies. We were asked to attend, now that we’ve been accepted into the council.” She played with the amulet that hung from his neck. With little openmouthed kisses, she left a trail around his tan flesh, punctuating the words. “I want you to be with us, because we’re a couple.”
“So, this is my official coming out?” he asked, smiling down at her.
“In a way, yes.”
“Then, sign me up. I’ll be there,” he said, knowing there was nothing he could deny her while she was kissing his chest and laying beneath him.
Jolie was addictive.
“I’ll have your clothing ready.”
That snapped him back to reality. “No frilly stuff or I’m changing my mind,” he warned, sitting up as Jacques walked into the room. “I mean it. Leather yes, lacy shirts…NO.”
Jacques was greatly amused as he sat on the bed.
“Then I’ll pick out your clothing since Jolie is fond of the ruffles. No matter how much she promises to behave, she won’t.”
Jolie rolled off the bed and headed toward the shower. “Have it your way, but the man in this relationship who lets me play dress up gets a little something extra in bed.” It was then she inundated their heads with sexy flashes of them engaged in plenty of extracurricular behavior.
When they gasped, Jolie turned to stick out her tongue. She was well aware they were watching her like predators.
As she disappeared into the bathroom, he glanced over at Flynn. “See what I’ve had to live with for centuries?”
“You love every minute of it, Jacques,” said Brogan, pulling on his jeans and shirt. He must have looked perplexed.
“What’s bothering you, Flynn?” he asked, sliding into their bed.
“Why are they throwing a ball? It’s not the eighteen hundreds anymore. I really didn’t think that people even used the term anymore,” he asked.
“Oh, I don’t doubt that this was a spur of the moment thing. I’m betting that they want to watch us. There has to be a healthy amount of speculation on their behalf. Look at it from their perspective. We roll into town with a mistress who is over eight hundred years old and mated to two men. We stand out, and they want to study the potential enemy. As of now, Jolie is a novelty to them, but I don’t fear for her safety there. It’s uncouth to challenge at a gala, so we’ll be fine.”
“Okay, but she has other plans. You can see it in her face. I know she didn’t want me there to just twirl her around the room. I don’t dance.”
“Oui, she plans on looking for the killers at the ball. You have the description, and the one vampyre has a scar on his face. We’ll occupy their attention with dancing. You will mingle and see if you can pick them out.”
It was a good plan.
“For the record, you can deny it all you want, but if Jolie asked, you would dance with her.”
“Probably, since I’m a pushover for her, but let’s keep that our secret, okay?” he laughed, and then got serious fast. “What if I do find them there?”
“Jolie will kill them,” he paused, seeing the look on the man’s face. “Flynn, you know it has to be done or more children will continue to die.”
“I know.” He checked the clips in his guns as he slid them into his holsters.
Jacques intently watched the action. It seemed that Flynn was doing it without thought, much like it was now second nature. “Mon ami, you never carried this many guns before,” he said, pointing to the three strategically placed on his body.
“Yeah, well, I didn’t have a crazy vampyre trying to gut me before.” He slid on his boots before facing his mate. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. I just have to meet with the desk sergeant and file the paperwork. I don’t want the two of you here in the morning alone for too long.”
Jacques appreciated his worrying. “We’ll be fine. I’ll watch Jolie while she sleeps, and then join her at dawn,” replied Jacques, as their other mate headed to the door. “Flynn?”
“Yeah?” he asked, turning.
“Be careful. You need to watch your back. I get the distinct feeling that your partner doesn’t like Jolie or myself, thanks to her mate. Anything you share with her is going to get back to the council.”
Flynn was well aware.
“Careful, is my middle name,” he stated. “Rest well, Jacques, and keep Genevieve away from her until I get home.”
With that, he closed the door and headed downstairs to get some coffee before leaving. Who knew how long of a day this was going to be? Flynn was probably going to need it.
Just as he sat at the table, there was a knock on the kitchen door. He could see his partner through the glass, waving at him.
It looked like it was time to go out into the unknown with Lily, who also had a vampyre lover. His life had definitely become more complicated over the last few months. Gone were the days of Detective Tommy Gress and normal murders.
Life could be very strange.
“Hey! Are you ready, Brogan?” she asked, as he opened the door.
“Yeah.”
Lily stood there staring as he reset the alarm and locked the door. “Are you all paranoid or what? You live with an eight hundred year old killing machine. I think you can safely leave the door unlocked,” she teased, getting into her car. “You need that much se
curity to protect an immortal?”
“Yep,” he said, already irritated by her comments. When his blood pressure went up, he could feel the soft touch to his mind.
“Flynn, my love, be calm. I’m with you.”
“I’m trying, but she irritates me.”
“I can calm you down,” she offered silkily.
“Oh yeah? How?”
Jolie sent him what she was seeing.
Flynn watched as the sexy movie played out in his mind. There stood Jolie in the steamy bathroom, wiping the mirror with her hand. He could barely make out her form, but what he could see had his mouth watering.
“Jolie, I wish I was right there. I’d lick every drop of water off you,” he promised.
When her laughter rolled over his body, Flynn grinned wickedly into his travel mug.
“I figured I’d drive,” Lily offered, hopping in behind the wheel of her Mustang.
“I had a car just like this before I met Jacques and Jolie.”
“Really?” she asked, a little surprised he was sharing details of his past.
This was new.
Lily pulled out onto the main road. “I enjoy it. Malachi doesn’t like it all that much, because he prefers less flashy.”
Brogan laughed as he thought about the cars in their garage. “We go for safety.”
“Yeah, I can see that. The tank you drive proves it.”
“It’s part of a pair, and I love it. It was the first thing, Jolie, ever gave me.” He thought of the H2 and the Van Gogh that were his prized possessions.
“She seems crazy about you. Usually, from what I have seen and experienced, vampyres are less… doting of their human mates. They are really just used for mating purposes.”
There was no doubt in his mind that Jolie loved him. “I believe she is, and the feeling’s mutual.” He sipped his coffee and wondered if Malachi was one of the less doting vampyres that she was talking about. From the tone in her voice, he was beginning to suspect it.
“You don’t like to talk about her, do you?”
“Not particularly.”
“Why?” she asked, digging deeper.
“I don’t see you telling everyone about Malachi,” he answered. “I don’t ever remember seeing him at the station visiting you.”
“He doesn’t go out during the day,” she said quietly.
“Why not?” he asked, genuinely curious as to what made this vampyre tick.
“Not all vampyres can last a whole day in the light, Flynn. It takes a great deal of energy to keep from burning up.” Lily didn’t bother to look over. She was pretty sure she knew what his face was showing.
“And that freaks you out about Jolie?”
“Yeah, we knew there was a new vampyre in the city. Word travels fast in our community. When I first saw her at your home, and then in the office, she reminded me of the typical vamp, because of the vibe she gives off. I didn't consider it when she strolled in off the street in the middle of the day. I really believed you were just one lucky man.”
“Well, I am regardless.”
“She can mask herself, and that means she’s got a hell of a lot of power.”
He was torn as to what to answer. “Yeah, our family is ancient.” It seemed like the best reply, giving very little away.
“Is the Harcourte society gracing us at the ball tonight?”
“Yes, we are. Jolie just asked me if I wanted to go when she woke me up.”
“She asked?” Lily looked genuinely surprised, and this time glanced over.
“Of course she did. Why do you look like someone just shocked you with electricity?”
“The old ones tend to be authoritative and bossy. I assumed you had no choice, and when she wanted something it was just done.” Lily pulled into a huge parking lot.
“Yeah, well, it looks like you assumed wrong again. The three of us are a partnership, and we don’t boss each other around.”
“I can see that. She’s a mystery.”
Brogan let it go at that. Jacques’s words echoed through his mind, and he opted to end the conversation.
“We should get on scene,” he stated, taking in all the police and news vehicles scattered about. The coroner’s investigators and the media were swarming the scene already, and he knew it was going to be bad.
Brogan stepped out of the car, dropping his police badge around his neck before heading toward the police tape. The minute he hit the line, the anger was returning.
Shit!
It was happening again.
He struggled to regain control as he moved closer to the victim. It wasn’t easy being a homicide detective. Standing over dead bodies wasn’t a funfest. When it was a child, it was a million times worse.
This time, the victim was a little boy. He had curly hair, green eyes, and was wearing Sesame Street pajamas. It pissed him off that the vampyres had taken his body, tossing it into a vacant lot, like he was nothing more than trash.
The rage surged.
Brogan knew he needed to put space between him and the child, or the anger was going to explode from him.
“Flynn, do you need us?” Jolie’s voice rolled through his mind.
“God, yes! I can’t handle the rage,” he replied, struggling to keep it from taking over. “I need you both,” he whispered.
Immediately, there was wave after wave of peace flooding him, as Jolie and Jacques built a barrier to protect him from the negative energy all around him.
“Thank you,” he offered.
“Do you want us to come to you?”
“No, I think I’m okay now. There’s just more rage than last time.”
“Is there more than one body?”
“Not that I can see.”
“Look around, Flynn. We’ll continue to draw some of the negative energy from you. Keep your mind open and be careful, my love,” she whispered.
He pointed over at the closest cop. “Did we search the entire area?”
“Not yet, Detective. We were waiting for you and your partner to arrive on the scene.”
“I want you to search it now, please. Expand the perimeter another hundred feet in every direction. I want to make sure that there’s only one victim.”
The tickle down his spine was more proof that they were being watched. Now, Flynn needed to worry if it was the killer, or Genevieve.
“Flynn, are you safe?” Jolie called to him.
“I’m being watched.” Thankfully, his cop instinct was enhanced when he became bonded to them.
“Stay with the group, mon ami,” Jacques warned. “If this is Genevieve, this would be a good time to make her move.”
Didn't he know it?
Before he could reply to them, Lily was at his side. “What are the cops doing?” she asked, watching the patrol officers set up a grid and move off into the surrounding neighborhood.
“They’re checking for another victim.”
She stared at him. “How do you know that there is one?” she asked, as she dropped her voice lower.
“Hunch.”
“That’s total BS, Flynn.” She grabbed his arm, demanding his attention. “What do you know that I don’t?”
“Nothing that won’t freak you right out.” he mumbled to himself, as he moved back to the dead child. Bending over the body, he pulled on gloves to not contaminate the scene. Already, he was well aware that they weren’t going to find anything on the victim. Vampyres left no DNA and no fingerprints.
They were ghosts.
“Detective, come look over here,” called one of the cops, waving him over.
Brogan hustled toward the police office. He was standing in a grassy lot not far from their crime scene. Lying in the debris, which was piled there, was a young man and woman. Oddly, they were also in their pajamas. The woman had curly hair and the man had the same dead green eyes.
“One hundred bucks says that these are the parents,” he added, touching the woman’s neck to search for a pulse. It was too late for either of them.
Flynn would also bet that they had lost their souls, trying to protect their child.
“Shit,” said the cop looking down at the bodies.
Brogan’s partner walked over. “They’re changing their MO late in the game. Why?” She looked expectantly at her partner.
“No idea.”
Then, something caught his attention.
“Get me an evidence bag.” He leaned down beside the dead man’s leg and picked up the cloth tied with twine. “Here’s our first piece of evidence.”
“What’s that?” asked the police officer.
“It’s a gris-gris bag,” replied Lily. “Do you think Voodoo has something to do with this?”
“You got me, partner. I don’t know much about it.” Yeah, that was total bullshit. He knew that it had everything to do with it. Flynn wasn’t going to be showing his hand at that point.
This wasn’t his first day on the job.
By visiting Mambo’s shop, he’d learned that vampyres and Voudon didn't mix.
Dropping it into the evidence bag, Flynn whistled for the coroner. “I have two more over here!” he called, scanning the area for anything that looked out of place.
When he found nothing, he reached for Jolie and Jacques. All he could hope was despite it being nearly dawn, they wouldn’t be sleep. At the tickle in his head, he was infinitely grateful.
“The killer’s upping the game. Not only do I have a dead child, but now I have two dead parents.”
“A soul is a soul to the vampyres. They would prefer a child’s, but they’ll still steal that of a parent trying to protect their young,” replied Jacques.
“I’m betting they caught the vampyres in the act of taking their child,” answered Jolie. “They probably had to be killed not because they were the target of the original crime.”
Brogan agreed. “You two should rest. I’ll get home as soon as this mess is cleared up.”
“Be safe, mon ami.”
“Have Chloe watch you both until I get there. I don’t like this.”
“Oui, that is a very good idea.”
Flynn had a lot to think about. In his mind, things weren’t adding up. At Lily’s car, he leaned against it and contemplated the whole situation. Nothing about this made him feel at ease. As his partner approached, the look on her face said it all.
