by Unknown
“No, Zola. He felt no remorse, even in death. His sentence is carried out, and when he returns to ash the wind will blow him from my sight.” Jolie began her walk up the hill to the house, suddenly very weary. She brought the family to New Orleans to preserve them, and yet she was forced to kill another member.
Jacques could feel her weariness. “Let’s go check on Flynn.”
“I hope he’s resting peacefully,” she said. At least one of them would be.
Jolie was certainly restless.
“I’m going to go to death,” she stated, trying to find a place to hide. In one day, she’d nearly lost a mate and had to kill a betrayer in her family.
There was guilt and pain.
“Maybe that’s for the best,” he offered.
Jolie didn't speak.
What more could she possibly say?
∞ ∞ ∞
Tuesday Mid-Morning
The dreams started again.
He was back in the crypt and closed in with the decaying body. Except this time, he somehow had light. Glancing over, the corpse was still there, but this time it tore a scream from him as he recognized the face.
It was his.
Brogan sat up in bed with a start and groaned at the pain which had flooded his body. Granted, it had been far worse not too long ago. As he ran his hand down his chest, something didn’t quite feel right.
The large gouges were almost healed and were now mostly bright pink welts. Wow, a little ancient blood, and he was almost completely healed.
Well, this was a miracle.
Lying back in bed, his arm brushed the cold form beside him, and he instinctively curled toward her. Jolie was in her customary place, and he was desperate to not be alone.
Although he was still weak, it felt nice to be pressed against her. In fact, he buried his face in her neck and just took the moment to breathe in her scent. The skin to skin contact made him feel a million times better. As he nuzzled her throat, he heard the door opening and Flynn froze.
“Detective,” Chloe whispered, holding a breakfast tray in her hands.
He relaxed. “I’m awake. You can come in.”
“I’m sorry to bother you, but Jacques instructed me to check your wounds and force you to eat.”
He smiled, continuing to cuddle with Jolie. “You won’t have to force me, Chloe. I’m starving.” Slowly, he pushed his sore body into a sitting position.
When Chloe didn't move toward him, he found that odd. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“They told me that you rushed out of the house to save me.”
“Yeah, that bastard Devin said you were missing,” he replied. It wasn’t lost on him that she was afraid. “Why are you worried?”
“What do you mean?”
“I can feel your fear. Why?” he asked, staring deep into her eyes.
Chloe sat beside him on the bed and stared down at her hands. “There are a few reasons, but mostly because she would die if she lost you. I can tell that she loves you very much.”
Brogan patted her hand. “The feeling is mutual. I love Jolie and Jacques too. Now, why else are you upset?”
She didn't know if she should tell him.
“Come on.”
“I hope the mistress doesn’t blame me. I already feel bad. I should have watched you closer.”
Brogan found that funny, since he was supposed to do the same thing. “How about we call it a draw and not worry about it.”
She smiled at him. “Okay, Master.”
He stared at her.
When Chloe giggled, she automatically corrected herself. “I mean, Flynn.”
“Perfect. Now, what are you feeding me for breakfast?” he asked hungrily.
“French toast and berries,” she answered.
“Tell me that there’s coffee, and I’ll forgive anything,” Flynn offered, trying to cheer her up. What was done was done. No one was to blame for this other than Genevieve.
She grinned and stood. “I see why Jolie loves you.” She got up from the bed and walked to the door. “Enjoy breakfast, Detective. I’ll be back when they wake.”
Brogan waited for the young girl to leave before he headed to the table. His body ached too much to walk all the way to the closet. Instead, he swiped Jacques’s silk robe from the floor. He hoped he didn't mind, but then again, he wasn’t going to be in it long.
Inhaling breakfast, he took a few minutes to enjoy his coffee before he tried to walk back to bed. As his eyes got heavy, he planned on just closing them for a minute.
Maybe two.
Before Flynn knew it, he’d fallen asleep.
∞ ∞ ∞
Tuesday Late Afternoon
Jolie and Jacques stood in front of him as he slept in the chair. They watched him curiously, not sure what to do next.
“Should we wake him?” Jolie asked.
“I think he’ll wake if we move around. I don’t know how good an idea it is to startle him.”
“I don’t want to do that,” she replied, “especially after what happened to him in that crypt. I have to admit, I’m afraid to touch him.”
“Our detective is strong. He’ll heal.”
Jolie returned to the bed. When she woke and found Flynn missing from her side, it gave her a nasty start. She was edgy and worried about him.
Okay, she needed to own it.
Jolie was feeling guilty.
When Chloe entered the room with more coffee, she motioned toward the detective asleep in the chair. When Chloe moved toward the table, the sound of her approaching Brogan snapped him awake.
“I’m sorry, Detective. I didn’t mean to wake or scare you.”
“That’s okay, Chloe,” he replied, gingerly stretching out his body. Then, he felt her eyes on him and turned his head. There was his angel, watching him. “Hi there, beautiful.”
Jolie didn't acknowledge his words. If she did, surely she’d burst into tears. What she wanted to do was crawl to him and beg for his forgiveness. It was all her fault that he was hurting right now. From the way he barely moved, to the fact he was wearing Jacques’s robe, proved it.
Her heart ached.
Wordlessly, she called to Chloe to feed her. Maybe he’d let her slink away with her tail between her legs. It was all she could hope for at that moment. When the feeding was finished, Jolie released Chloe and headed toward their bathroom.
She needed to be alone.
Jolie knew she didn't deserve him in her life. Once he’d saved her, nearly dying, and now it had happened again. Her poor detective was better off far from her.
She was a disaster.
Brogan stared in amazement and didn't know what to say or do. She’d actually blown him off.
This had to be a first.
She didn't even acknowledge his greeting. Why was she avoiding him? It was so bad, that she didn't even offer to feed him.
Oh hell!
Glancing over, he noticed that Jacques was feeding from Mina, but watching him. This didn't bode well at all. They were treating him like he was a leper.
“What did I do?” asked Brogan, noticing the vampyre kept his distance.
“Pardon?” asked Jacques.
“She just avoided me,” replied Brogan. “Jolie wouldn’t even touch me, and now you’re staying across the room.” A sick feeling cascaded over his body as realization dawned.
Jolie was pulling away from him.
His hand went to his face, and he could feel the scars beneath his fingers. He was sure they were nothing compared to last night, but still.
Was he hideous?
“Jolie isn't avoiding you, mon ami. We’re simply giving you some space until you’re comfortable around us again.”
Brogan began sinking deeper into desolation.
Oh God!
It was all coming to an end.
“What did I do?” he asked, putting his head in his hands. When he glanced up, Jacques was standing in front of him.
“You didn't do anything, my
friend.”
“Am I disfigured?” Brogan asked, needing to know. “Did she make me a monster? Is that why Jolie won’t look at me?”
Jacques hurt for the man. Placing his hand on his arm cautiously, he offered him some reassurance. “Look,” he said, showing Flynn what they saw.
Brogan stared at himself in his mind, and he did look like he got the shit kicked out of him, but he didn't look scary. His body had scars crisscrossing it, as did his face, but he wasn’t disfigured by any means.
“See? You’re healing back to normal.”
“Then why is she pulling away from me?” The misery flooded his voice, and it cracked under the strain.
Jacques offered the truth. “Mon ami, we’re afraid to touch you. We don’t wish to remind you of your ordeal at Genevieve’s hands. When Jolie touched you a few times, as she was trying to mend your wounds, you pulled away in fear.”
“I don’t understand.”
“She doesn’t want you to hurt more. If our touch scares you, we can’t bear to make you more anxious.” Jacques stepped back as Brogan stood. “We both feel guilty about not keeping you safe.”
“Why? You didn’t do this to me,” he reassured.
“Jolie and I feel like we failed you. I didn't protect my friend when he needed me most. We knew that Genevieve would come after our center, and it isn't Jolie. It’s you and the donors. I made a tactical error, and it nearly cost you everything.”
“No, that’s not true!”
“It is true, mon ami. We allowed someone in our house to harm you. You were taken because of us and you nearly died. That’s on us. Our job is to protect the ones we love, and we failed.”
“This is ridiculous! I’m not one of your vampyres, Jacques. I’m supposed to be part of you both. This isn't fair to me, or to either of you.”
“Oui, but it doesn’t change the truth. Life is seldom fair, and you know that.”
Brogan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was obviously approaching this the wrong way. “Help me get Jolie to see that I’m not afraid of you both. How do I do it?”
“You will have to convince her. Her heart breaks for what was done to you.” Jacques stepped forward and put his hand cautiously on Brogan’s shoulder once more. When he didn’t flinch, Jacques relaxed marginally.
“Please.”
“Go talk to her. Maybe if she sees you’re still here, you’ll get through to her. We’re each different.” He removed his hand and stepped away. “I need to go check on Zola. After last night, I’m nervous about her being in the house.”
“Is he…dead?” Brogan asked.
The man looked him right in the eyes. “Oui. Jolie ended his life. He won’t be able to hurt you anymore.
Funny, he was both happy and sad about that. There was peace knowing the man paid, but at what cost to Jolie’s heart?
Brogan waited until Jacques was gone before making his way to the bathroom. He would fix this before it went too far and damaged what was so delicately blooming between them.
Standing in the doorway, he watched Jolie try to drown her pain under the spray of water. Yeah, this was going to be harder than he thought.
She was suffering.
Finally, when he couldn’t take anymore, he strolled into the large walk in shower. He knew she was aware of him when her body tensed, and then the violet eyes met his blue.
“I’ll get out of your way,” she offered, trying to avoid his body at all costs. When she went to walk past him, and he touched her arm, she nearly jumped out of her skin.
It unnerved him to see her this afraid.
He went for broke. “I might need your help. I’m a little sore and can’t move all too well, yet.” He rolled his shoulder and flinched.
Jolie looked alarmed. “I’ll get Chloe or Mina.”
“I prefer you stay, please?” He reached out to touch her face, and she went completely still like a statue. He would have sworn she stopped breathing, and her heart stopped beating, as if she was prey. “Please, Jolie?”
“Okay, Flynn,” she replied, giving him more room in the shower. Funny, it normally felt huge in here, but now it was suffocatingly small. With her back to the corner, she tried to be unobtrusive.
“Can you get my back?” he asked, turning away from her. If she wouldn’t come to him, he’d find a way to make it happen. If he could just get her to touch him, Jolie would see that he was okay.
They were more than okay.
Flynn didn’t hear her move but he knew she had picked up the soap and went to his back.
“How are you feeling?” she asked tentatively.
“Not bad. I healed fast. I must have been a mess. I don’t remember all of it, but what I can recall was wicked.” Jolie’s hand paused on his back.
Damn it!
Why?
“So, what happens now that I’ve taken more of your blood? Do I finally get to turn into a bat?” he teased.
Jolie figured she should be the one who told him all of it, since this was her fault. “With more feedings, when you’re hurt, you’ll move more into our world. Each time we feed you, you’ll gain more of our abilities.”
“Like what?” he asked, enjoying the way her hands moved over his body. While she was talking, it was obvious Jolie wasn’t focused on his injuries.
She paused a moment, thinking about the question. “Your mental link will strengthen, and you might be able to call the others tied to Jacques and myself, like Mina and Chloe. There is a chance you will be stronger, and more vampyre-like.”
“Okay. That’s a win-win for me.”
“We didn't want to steal more of your humanity, Flynn. I apologize. I just couldn’t bear to lose you,” she whispered, her voice so contrite that he had to turn and face her immediately.
“Stop it, Jolie!”
She jumped, looking like she’d been slapped.
“I won’t go on like this. I don’t want your pity and kid gloves every day for the rest of eternity.”
Jolie swallowed, and then moved back from him.
He could feel himself losing her, them, and everything else. “Jolie, please don’t push me away because of her.” He stepped near her, and she stopped moving again. “Stay here,” he said, touching his heart. “Please.”
She couldn’t deny it anymore. “This is all my fault. It was my family member who betrayed us, it was my enemy that tortured you, and it was me that almost got you killed.”
“So, I’m not part of this family?” he grabbed her shoulders, almost wanting to shake her. “Then, I should probably leave now. I was under the impression I was part of this.” He waved his hands encompassing everything around him. “I thought I was part of you, and that you loved me. I see that it was a lie. If you really loved me, you wouldn’t retreat, especially not now when I need you.”
“Flynn, you are part of me. We’re a family,” she replied, feeling the panic rising at his words.
“No, we must not be if you’re taking this all on yourself.” He turned to start walking out of the shower. What he hoped was she would stop him. If he could just get her to tell him to stay, it would all be okay.
When he had his hand on the towel, and she still hadn’t said anything, he turned to see why.
It nearly broke him.
His sweet, protective Jolie was in the corner, back to the wall, and face buried in her knees. Her body shook with emotion as the tears flooded down her face.
“Jolie, baby,” he whispered, returning to her side. Cautiously, he lowered himself to sit beside her on the floor. “It’s okay. I’m here.”
The tears still fell. The pain of it all was too much for her to handle. She had almost lost him to Genevieve, and that shook Jolie to her core.
No, it was tearing her to shreds inside.
Flynn couldn’t let her break like this, not over something they had no control over. Gingerly, he lifted her into his lap. “Jolie baby, don’t cry.” He rocked her body like she was a small child.
“I almos
t lost you,” she sobbed into his shoulder. “She was going to kill you, and nearly did.”
Brogan just let her get it all off her chest. When the storm began passing, he kissed her on the tip of her nose and lifted her chin. “It’s not your fault. I don’t want to hear it, Jolie. I had no doubt that you and Jacques were coming, and I knew you wouldn’t stop until you got to me.”
“We need you, Flynn. You’re our soul. I love you more than I can ever say.”
“I know that you mean everything you’re saying, Jolie. The entire time she was torturing me, do you know what kept me alive?”
“What?” she asked cautiously.
“How I knew that you loved me enough to find me and save me. Not once did I doubt it. So, stop with blaming yourself.” He kissed her forehead. “Okay?”
“Yes, Flynn.”
He ran his hand down her back and could smell the blood pulsing in her body. The scent of her skin was calling to him, so much that he had to shake his head to refocus. “I think I need you to feed me,” he whispered, fighting the urge to bite into her shoulder.
“Flynn? Are you okay?” she asked, touching his chest in alarm at the look on his face.
“Yeah, I think so. I’m just hungry and have this overwhelming need to bite into you.”
The blood lust was there, like they suspected. The next few days would be hard for him, but as a family, they’d get through it.
She turned to face him and straddled his body. “It’s okay, Flynn. This is normal. Your body is going to crave my blood. Whenever you feel this, you just need to let me know,” she offered, wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him toward her lips. As her mouth moved eagerly over his, she began pushing energy into his depleted body.
At the warm waves of energy, Brogan relaxed into the feeding. He tried to focus on the feeding and not the scent, feel, or delicious press of her body against his.
Then, something happened.
It was like tunnel vision, but with sound. Everything around him went dead silent, with the exception of her heart beat and the swish of blood pumping through her veins. It was all he could focus on. As beads of sweat formed on his forehead, he began to get edgy.
