by Ts McKinney
“Because he’s yours,” Gabriel ventured. “You being his sire puts a target on his back. And, yet, here you and Valen are, drawing even more attention to him.”
Wow. It was becoming pretty apparent that Julian and Gabriel were never going to be on the same team. I looked at Julian and then back to Gabriel…and knew whose side I would end up on if it came down to it. Since I couldn’t remember much of my life before the warlocks captured me, I didn’t have any fond memories of Julian at all. I only had the last year to base my opinions on—more importantly, the last four days and Gabriel did things to me that I hadn’t known were possible. He made me feel things I hadn’t known existed inside of me. Because I’d hated sex with Dominic so much, I’d drawn the conclusion that I simply wasn’t a sexual creature. Now? I fucking knew better.
Before I could stop myself, my mind drifted back to what had happened between Gabriel and me last night, how it had felt when he’d pushed inside of me. The fullness. The sheer perfection of it, a perfect mixture of pleasure and pain. The glorious feeling of being dominated, but not abused. And, at the end, knowing that I’d brought him pleasure was my greatest achievement of all.
Fuck, but did I have it bad for him.
Just looking at Gabriel’s silver eyes and black hair made my heart accelerate. His fragrance was intoxicating. His magical powers put me in a state of hero worship. Before we’d come into the living room, he’d dressed in some soft, well-worn jeans that left absolutely nothing to my imagination. The denim hugged him perfectly, cupping him in places I wanted to cup with my hands.
“What did the poppets have to do with it? That sounds more voodoo or hoodoo than warlock business,” Valen remarked. “Poppets? Seriously? I didn’t even know they still used those any longer.”
“This is New Orleans, Valen,” Gabriel mocked. “Voodoo dolls are a top-seller to tourists…and a weapon of witches and warlocks. The issue wasn’t the fact that poppets were involved, it was that they were at each scene and coated with blood…Marchand’s blood.”
“I didn’t know that,” Marchand cut in quickly. “I only made the dolls—had absolutely nothing to do with adding blood to them, mine or anybody else.”
“And those that were murdered, were they magically powerful or could they have been taken out with simple acts of voodoo?” Julian questioned.
“Both were members of our community. One was a voodoo priestess that Marchand believes was present when his memories and powers were suppressed. She wasn’t a Bokor, though she called herself one and was very influential, and the other man was the leader of his own coven. I would have imagined them to be equally matched in magic unless Cassius pulled the same bullshit that he did with me today—showing up with his entire clan. Vampire blood added to the poppet also shouldn’t have given it enough additional power. It doesn’t make sense,” Gabriel muttered.
“Have you consulted the other Législateurs about it?” Valen asked, his voice very nonchalant, but both vampires looked angry at the mention of the word.
Gabriel seemed to flounder with his answer, but then finally said, “No, I haven’t. I didn’t feel like I was far enough along in the investigation to get them involved.”
I looked at him and knew he was lying. I also got myself a warm and fuzzy feeling, because I had a feeling I knew why he hadn’t consulted with the other Législateurs…and it didn’t have a fucking thing to do with his investigation. To be honest, there hadn’t been any investigating going on—other than us getting to know each other better. The realization made me smile. It was a goofy grin of pure satisfaction.
“I see,” Julian answered. “I don’t believe you, but I don’t suppose that’s important to either one of us, is it?” He looked at me and then back to Gabriel. “I need to taste him.”
Gabriel jumped to his feet. “Absolutely not! Don’t you dare come near him.”
Julian stood and met him chest to chest. “I would never harm what belongs to me, witch,” he growled. “I…I just don’t understand him. I don’t know where he came from, what he is, or why he’s mine. I don’t know anything other than I feel this overwhelming need to protect him.” He glowered at Gabriel. “This whole spell you’ve cast on my lover is a fucking waste of time and your energy, Gaudet. Marchand is mine and I’ll protect him. He clearly has zero taste in men, because I see how infatuated with you he is, but that also means that me hurting you would hurt him, which I won’t fucking do!”
Gabriel snorted out a laugh. “Oh, and I’m just supposed to believe a Montague vampire? Take your word for it? I don’t think so,” he snarled.
Finally, those odd instincts of mine kicked in and I stood up, taking my place next to Gabriel. Before he could stop me, I reached out and laid my right hand over Julian’s forehead. The vampire’s thoughts and images raged through my mind, nearly knocking me on my ass with the forcefulness. His ancient strength radiated through my palm. I saw things I probably wished I hadn’t seen since there was some sort of connection between the two of us—clearly, Julian could be a vicious killer when necessary. I also saw acts of kindness and love, especially toward Valen and the children he’d sired. The warmth and love he felt for me settled straight in my heart.
Taking my hand away, I looked at Gabriel and said, “He’s not lying. He won’t hurt me.” My eyes narrowed when I turned to Julian and added, “And he damn well will not hurt you either. Give me your word, father,” I said.
“Oh, fuck,” Gabriel muttered in frustration. “Don’t tell me you’re falling for his charming lies.”
“No, I scanned his mind. He’s being honest. I trust him and I need you to trust me.” Yeah, it was asking a lot considering that earlier that morning I’d told him to run from me before I did something to hurt him. Then I’d run, betraying him and causing him to get hurt.
“Fine,” Gabriel snapped irritably. To Julian, he said, “And just for the record, he’s mine, not yours. It would be in your best interest to remember that fact.”
Julian ignored Gabriel and looked at me. “How? A vampire can use compulsion. Your powerful witch there can compel people too and scan someone’s mind. Are you part witch?”
I turned and glowered at Gabriel. “You could have scanned his mind this entire time?”
He shrugged. “I could have but didn’t want to touch him. He’s disg—” He caught himself from saying something he shouldn’t have said and amended it to, “He’s not my type.”
I tilted my head. “Did you scan my mind?”
“Yes, of course.”
“That’s rude,” I admonished. “What did you see?”
“A jumbled mess—from the warlock’s spell. There were no signs of you being a vampire. They’d hidden it quite well.”
“About that taste…” Julian interrupted.
“Your lips aren’t going anywhere near him,” Gabriel growled. After placing his body between me and Julian, he turned to face me. “Unless… Do you want to do this?”
“I need to know, Poppet. I have so many questions but all the answers are just out of my reach. If he can help me, I need it.”
Gabriel pulled a small dagger from his pocket. With a gentle touch, he took my wrist in his hand. “I’m going to do a small cut. Let the blood run into my hand okay?”
I nodded, but Julian held up a hand. “Won’t it burn you like before? Not that I care, but I don’t want you blaming Marchand.”
“I won’t let it,” I said and gazed up at Gabriel so he could see the truth in my eyes. He smiled down at me and I felt the blade slice into my wrist. Blood began pouring from the wound and Gabriel caught it in his palm. It was a strange shade—not red, but bluish red. I heard Valen gasp in surprise. For Gabriel’s part, he remained calm. “Close the wound, Darkness. That’s more than enough for Julian.”
I licked the cut and it immediately healed. “That’s pretty fucking cool,” I muttered as I watched the skin close back up, looking like there’d never been a cut. When I looked back up, Gabriel was feeding my blood to Julian.
The vampire who called himself my sire gripped Gabriel’s arm and sucked the blood from his hand…then moved his tongue lower to capture some drops that had slid down his wrist. The erotic scene with the two beautiful men made my cock harden immediately—like from flat to fat in an instant. “That’s pretty fucking hot,” I whispered in awe.
“Yes, it fucking is,” Valen growled. He’d moved to stand next to Julian, his hand possessively on his back.
“No, it fucking is not!” Gabriel hissed. “Just get it done, vampire. There’s no need to slurp up every damn drop!”
Suddenly, Julian jerked away and dropped to his knees. His body writhed in pain as the oddly-colored blood he’d just licked from Gabriel poured from his mouth, nose, and eyes—making a sizzling sound as it came into contact with his flesh. Valen was on his knees and had Julian pulled into his lap in an instant. He ripped his own vein open and smashed it against Julian’s mouth, forcing him to take his blood. Within seconds, Julian was normal again, though his eyes blazed red as he gazed up at me and Gabriel.
I took a step back and Gabriel immediately threw up a protection spell between us and them. Valen held his hand up to try and calm both of us. “He’s fine now.” His finger’s caressed the side of Julian’s face tenderly. He ripped a portion of his suit jacket off and wiped my blood from his lover’s face. Julian’s wounds healed within seconds.
“What the fuck are you?” Julian hissed in fury. “My essence is there, but something else is inside you too!”
Ouch. That hurt. In the few hours since Julian and Valen had appeared in my life, I’d already started thinking of them as family. Of course, that was probably because I so desperately wanted family in my life after spending the last year with Dominic and his cronies, aka warlocks.
“Back the fuck down,” Gabriel countered in a very firm, angry voice. “You’re the one that wanted a taste. Don’t bitch at him because you couldn’t handle it.”
“Enough!” Valen roared, probably making Gabriel even more furious. He looked at all three of us. “I believe our main concern right now needs to be the fact that those warlocks probably had his blood stocked up somewhere. If it’s dangerous enough to burn the face of a Législateur and incapacitate a seven-hundred-year old vampire, we probably need to find their stash and destroy it. After that, we can figure out what is mixed with Marchand’s blood.”
It sounded more than reasonable but both Gabriel and Julian still looked like they were locked in a battle of wills. I stepped between them again and, with a wave of my hand, Gabriel’s protective barrier vanished. He gasped in surprise behind me and I said, “Sorry about that. I wasn’t really sure I could do it.” To Julian, I said, “Your reaction to my blood just now was, quite frankly, fucking rude. I’ve heard you preach about how I belong to you and you’ll protect me with your very life but the second you realize I’m not your cookie-cutter fledging, you look at me in disgust and distrust. Fuck that. Either you’re a part of Team Gabriel or you can get the fuck out…because he’s mine.”
Julian looked away, appearing to be somewhat ashamed but I didn’t know enough about him to determine if it was fake or real. Frankly, I didn’t give a fuck. As my powers returned, I felt my bond with Gabriel grow even stronger. I didn’t understand the feeling, just recognized it for what it was. We belonged together.
Both Julian and Valen stood up, all remnants of the damage my blood had done to Julian’s face completely gone. He looked as elegant and in control as he had before the accusation sprang from his lips. Valen looked somewhat amused. I wasn’t sure what expression Gabriel would be wearing, but I was afraid to turn around and look. If he was angry with me, I wasn’t certain how I would respond—probably with a broken heart.
I felt his hand rest on my shoulder. “Valen’s right about finding where they have the blood. The warlocks used it as a weapon to destroy their enemies and I’m certain they weren’t planning on stopping with the first two deaths. As a matter of fact, Dominic tried to kill me with it too. We need to find it to ensure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.” He spun me around to face him. “Because whatever the fuck you are, I don’t care. We belong together and no one will take you away from me. I know this is fast, but I don’t fucking care!”
He sealed my fate with a kiss that caused my heart to flip flop in my chest. With my newfound powers, I might be stronger than him, but there was no doubting who dominated the kiss. He had complete control of me, could make me do anything with a mere slant of his beautiful eyes. His lips were warm, his tongue enticing. My blood began to burn again but it was from a hunger, not anger or fear. The hand that held the back of my neck sent tingles of desire racing through me. An all-consuming pain jabbed me in the center of my back, but I kept the effects hidden. I had no clue what was happening to me, what other changes my body would eventually be forced to endure, but I knew I could handle anything as long as Gabriel stood by me.
“Let’s find your blood, Darkness. Your Sire is correct; it doesn’t need to fall into the wrong hands. We may have wiped out the entire Gemini coven of warlocks today, but we have no idea how many other warlocks or practitioners of dark magic were involved with their treachery.” He turned his attention to Julian. “I need to know I can trust the two of you if we’re doing this together. While retrieving the blood is important, keeping Marchand safe has to be our main priority. Other enemies will be lurking, hoping for a chance to gain power by any means. The Gemini coven aren’t known for their intelligence or ability to keep secrets.”
It’s late,” I answered. “Wouldn’t it be safer to wait until morning? At least most of the vampires wouldn’t be able to get in our way.” One more night with Gabriel—I needed it. I wasn’t sure how this was going to end, but I knew I needed more time with the man I’d fallen for. My last year with Dominic had been nothing but a blur of lies, fear, and manipulations. The time before that, before the warlocks had trapped me in the deep sleep, I couldn’t recall any love in my life then either. Just…hate and danger. Gabriel was a beacon of light in my dark world.
Darkness…how fucking appropriate.
“No vampire in the Quarter would dare defy me or Valen,” Julian declared arrogantly. “They know better.”
Valen stepped forward, his brown eyes full of understanding. Fuck, but Valen’s warmth was intoxicating. For a creature that should be cold and dangerous, he seemed the polar opposite. His calmness was a perfect match to my sire’s bold arrogance.
“Let’s wait until morning, Julian. We should give Marchand an opportunity to come to terms with what he’s learned about himself today.” His eyes flickered toward Gabriel. “The Législateur has used an enormous amount of magic today, as well. Allow him time to refuel his power and to allow the ether to repair itself.”
Julian growled. “No one would dare defy us!”
Valen laughed. “I agree, lover. I believe all the supernaturals in the Quarter will bow to our combined power, but it never hurts to be cautious.” His hand rubbed Julian’s back, up and down, before he lowered his hand to squeeze the perfect curve of his lover’s ass. Looking at Gabriel, he asked, “Would you have a place for Julian and me to retire? I don’t believe Marchand’s sire will want to leave his child so soon after finding him.”
I turned to Gabriel. “Please, Poppet. There’s so much more I need to learn about my past. Julian’s blood flows through my veins, and I hope he’ll eventually be able to help me find answers.” My eyes cut to my sire. “Even if he questions what I am at the moment.”
“Whatever makes you happy, Darkness,” Gabriel answered immediately. To Julian and Valen, he asked, “Do you need to feed?”
“We’re fine, thank you. At our age, we don’t feed often.”
He looked at me. “Do…do you, Darkness? You haven’t indicated the need to feed on any type of regular basis before, but I wasn’t certain since your bloodlust has recently been awakened.”
I felt my eyes change and wondered if they’d turned red like I’d seen from Julian. “The
re’s only one person I wish to feed from, and I believe we both know you aren’t ready for that.” I grinned up at him. “Maybe you’ll be able to feed me another way?”
*****
Gabriel
We’d searched the entire apartment Dominic and Marchand had shared together and found fifteen vials of Marchand’s deadly blood. We also found fourteen voodoo dolls, drenched in Marchand’s blood. Two of them were representative of me and Nic. Thibeau and Rafe had a doll, as well as their sister Sophie. The others belonged to the local coven leaders and some members of the Voodoo hierarchy. Apparently, their goal of gaining control of the Quarter had been well-planned and extensive.
As we rummaged through the apartment, I couldn’t help but wonder if they would have been successful with their plan if there hadn’t been the link between the voodoo dolls from the murder scenes and Marchand and Dom’s shop. Seemed stupid for them to have the dolls available in Dominic’s shop. But then that coven was never known for its brain power. I knew, first-hand, how deadly Marchand’s blood was. When Dominic had thrown it in my face yesterday, I’d felt my magic begin to fade the instant it touched my skin. The sizzling pain had been bad enough but in hindsight, I think the boost of power I received by being a Législateur would have eventually healed the flesh wounds. No, it was the immediate loss of my magic that had terrified me…still terrified me. I knew now how Madame LeBouvier and Baptiste Chameu must have felt, trapped and helpless, when they met their fates. It would have been a terrifying way to die.
“Do you believe this to be all of their blood stash?” Valen asked quietly. I hadn’t even known he was behind me. Damn him and his eerie vampire gracefulness.
“When I performed the tracking spell this morning, this was the only place the token indicated. The Gemini’s would be idiotic enough to keep their weapons all in one location.” Frowning, I asked, “How in the hell would they have been able to get the upper hand on someone like Marchand in the first place? Dammit, they stripped his memories and powers. How? They aren’t fucking capable!” As I looked around the disgusting apartment, none of it made sense—not from what I’d seen from Marchand once he broke free from their spells.
