Shadowed Desire: Daughters of the Vieux Carré Book 5

by Rowlyn, Rhys

  Lucy: Thanks, I’ll be leaving soon.

  Me: See you soon.

  I pace in the living room. She needs me, but I’m not able to help her. Bram enters the room, and he’s about to speak when his phone rings. He holds up a finger for me to not leave.

  “Phillipe.” He listens, nodding his head. “It’s good to hear from you. I’m going to put you on speaker so Etienne can hear what you have to say.” Bram holds out the phone and motions for me to join him.

  “Bonjour, Phillipe. I take it your trip was uneventful?” I speak loudly at the phone, and Bram chuckles. Arsehole knows I’m not used to these blasted things.

  “Oui, but flying is not something I desire to do again, even though I’ll have to make a return trip.” His voice has a growl to it.

  “What happened? Surely it wasn’t that bad.” Bram is barely keeping the laughter out of his voice, and I have to turn my head as I cough into my hand to hide my own laughter.

  “Let’s just say riding in an automobile is nothing compared to bouncing around the sky in a metal tube.” We hear him take a deep breath and Giselle laughing in the background.

  I can hardly wait until they get home and get her version of the trip.

  “So are you in the village?” Bram asks.

  “Yes, we arrived at daylight and plan to try to find him this evening. I’m hoping it won’t be too difficult. We talked to the innkeeper, and he mentioned a recluse who lives up the mountain. I’m thinking we’ll try there first.”

  I nod, even though he can’t see me. “That sounds very promising.”

  “So any news? Have you found any leads on Minerva?” Phillipe asks.

  “We have. She turned a man named Rodney, and we got to him before she could force him to go feral. He’s a bit high-strung and isn’t liking being a vampire at the moment, but he’s not feral.” I still can’t believe we got to the man in time and saved him.

  Bram bursts out laughing. “He gags at the sight of blood. It’s rather comical, although the girls all get mad when I make fun of him.”

  “Sounds like you have been busy,” Phillipe replies.

  “Do you know a wolf named Kane Theriot?” I tilt my head to the side, already knowing what his answer will be.

  “Oui, he occasionally works at the club.”

  “He’s Lucy’s half-brother,” I say.

  “Your Lucy?” Giselle’s voice comes over the line, shocked.

  Bram interjects. “Oui, she was as surprised as we were he was a wolf.”

  “At least now she doesn’t have to give up her brother. She’s visiting her mother with him today. The witches made her a charm to mask her scent, and they say Kane’s scent will make it almost impossible for her to smell her.” I scrub my face with my hands, still wishing I were with her.

  “You’ve explained she can’t change her mother unless she’s compelled, right?” Phillipe asks, concern evident in his voice.

  “Oui, we’ve talked at length, and I told her about Luca’s sister.” I furrow my brow, frowning at the memory.

  “Such an awful thing. I hated the girl had to go through that.” Phillipe’s voice sounds as saddened as Bram and I look.

  “It’s dusk here, and Giselle and I are going to try to find some blood. I think we may have to do it old school.” Phillipe changes the subject, and I’m glad.

  “Keep us posted,” Bram says.

  “Will do.” Phillipe ends the call.

  Bram and I jump when the front door bursts open, and both of us prepare to battle whoever is invading our home.

  “Kane, you don’t understand! It doesn’t work like that. Don’t you think I would change her if I could?” Lucy stomps into the house, yelling over her shoulder.

  “I don’t get it; you have the ability to save her but you won’t.” Kane follows her inside, his fists clenched at his sides.

  Lucy faces Bram and me, pointing at her brother. “Please explain to him why I can’t change our mother.”

  “Kane, if she’s not compelled to do it, then it’s best she doesn’t. It can be tricky even with compulsion, much less without it, especially if the person is seriously ill.” Bram grips the man’s shoulder, meeting his angry gaze.

  “But Rodney did fine, and we know Minerva wasn’t compelled to change him.” Kane has a point, but he hasn’t seen what we have and doesn’t truly understand what can happen.

  “Bram, why don’t you show him?” I dip my chin, giving Bram a meaningful look.

  “Show me what?” Kane narrows his eyes, looking from Bram to me.

  Bram shakes his head. “I don’t like to do this. It can be hard on both of us, and it’s a memory I don’t like to relive, but it will help you understand and is, I believe, the only way you will know it’s not possible to change your mother.” He grips Kane’s head between his hands and presses their foreheads together.

  I know what Kane is about to see. I wrap my arms around Lucy and hug her to me. “I’m sorry, mon trésor.”

  “What’s Bram doing to him?” Lucy tries to move toward them, but I hold her tightly against my chest.

  Kane’s face pales, and he groans as if in pain. Lucy glances back at me with wide eyes.

  “Bram can mesh his mind with others and show them memories from his past. He’s showing him Luca’s sister’s change.” I hug her to me, needing to feel her in my arms as I remember that awful night.

  “Didn’t she die?” Lucy is shaking as she watches her brother struggle to stay standing.

  “Yes, but he needs to know how dangerous it is. We all have lost loved ones we wanted to save. It’s only natural to want to save them, but is it worth the chance?” I know the answer to this, and no, it’s not. I would never put one of my loved ones through the change unless I knew I was supposed to.

  Kane staggers away from Bram, his face pale. He looks at us with horror. “Who was that?”

  “One of our brothers who hasn’t awakened yet. His younger sister was extremely ill, and he couldn’t stand the thought of her dying. He was a new vampire and didn’t heed our warnings. We found them while she was in the middle of the change.” Bram sits on the sofa, rubbing his temples.

  “She was already dying, so it was much more painful than it needed to be.” I rub Lucy’s arms and don’t know if I’m trying to comfort her or myself.

  “She literally exploded.” Kane covers his mouth, gagging slightly.

  “Yes, it was gruesome,” Bram states solemnly.

  “And you felt no desire to turn Mom?” Kane questions Lucy softly, his tone much different from the yelling before.

  “None. I was so hoping to, but instead I felt the opposite and knew it would be the wrong thing to do.” Lucy takes his hands in hers, leans forward, and kisses them.

  “I’m sorry I asked you to. It was wrong of me to try to guilt you into it.” Kane pulls her into a hug, and I know when her mother’s time comes, these two will be there for each other, and I’m glad.

  “It’s all right. I know why you did it. I want her to live too.” A tear trails down one of Lucy’s cheeks, and she hastily brushes it away. “But she said the chemo is working. We’ll still have some time with her.”

  “You’re right.” Kane paces the length of the room, running his hands through his hair. “If only my father had claimed her as his mate, then this wouldn’t be an issue.”

  Bram looks up, surprised. “Your parents were mates and he didn’t claim her?”

  “Yeah, my biological dad was a real piece of work. He was an alpha and left her pregnant. I’ve tried to find him, but he must have given her a fake name, and by the time I went looking, the trail was too cold.” Kane hits his hand with his other fist, growling.

  Lucy puts her hand over her mouth, gasping. “I didn’t know you tried to find him.”

  “Yeah, when Mom first got sick. I thought maybe he’d save her if he knew she was dying.” Kane pinches the bridge of his nose, blowing out a frustrated breath. “I now believe he never wanted her to find him and knew one d
ay she would face death. He simply didn’t care.”

  Bram shakes his head in disgust. “I know most wolves think of mates as sacred, so it amazes me the ones who can walk away from theirs. I’ve seen several do it, and it is usually a human woman who is left devastated. Now that I have my mate, nothing could drag me away from her, and I mean nothing.”

  “Hear, hear, brother. I feel the same.” I wrap my arms around Lucy, kissing her neck.

  Her cheeks turn pink, and she bites her lower lip but can’t hide the smile wanting to break free.

  Lucy

  “What happened?” I run to the door as Jean Pierre and Kane drag Etienne in. I feel my knees go weak at the sight of so much blood and wonder if I’m going to faint. Kane yelling my name snaps me out of it. “Sorry, what do you need?”

  “Get blood. He needs blood to heal!” Jean Pierre yells as he lowers Etienne onto the sofa in the living room.

  I race to the kitchen and grab four bags of blood, then run back as fast as I can. Oh God, if anything happens to him, I don’t know what I’ll do. I come to a complete stop as it hits me. I love him. Oh my God, I love him.

  “Lucy, get your ass in gear and give us the blood!” Kane is holding his hand over Etienne’s neck wound that is gushing blood.

  “Right!” I jerk out of my stupor and kneel in front of him, pushing a bag against his fangs. “Don’t you dare die. I’m not through with you yet.” Tears run unchecked down my cheeks, making me realize I was crying.

  Etienne opens his eyes, and his gaze connects with mine. He narrows his eyes and tries to raise his hand to my cheek, but it falls weakly to his side.

  “No, don’t move. Let us get some blood in you.” I remove the empty bag and place another in his mouth. “Jean Pierre, why isn’t the bleeding stopping? Why isn’t it healing?”

  “Bram! Get the witches!” Jean Pierre yells over my shoulder, and I hear the back door slam.

  Giles rushes into the room with more blood and places a bandage on the wound, replacing Kane’s hands.

  Cara runs in and kneels beside me, murmuring. She opens a bottle with black powder in it and moves the bandage to sprinkle the substance onto his still-gushing wound. Green putrid-smelling smoke rises from Etienne’s neck for several minutes as Cara continues to murmur words, which I don’t understand, and sprinkle more powder. When the smoke clears, the wound begins to knit itself back together.

  Cara falls back on her heels, her brow sweaty. “Give him more blood. He should be fine now.”

  I place another bag on his fangs, and some of his color returns. My gaze darts between Jean Pierre and my brother. “What the hell happened?” I growl.

  “We thought we had a lead on Minerva, so we followed to the outskirts of town. What we found was a group of witches, and they were performing some kind of ritual. Their guards ambushed us, and one of them cut Etienne with a strange-looking blade. Kane grabbed the blade and stabbed the guard, which gave us an opportunity to get out of there, but the wound kept bleeding. It wouldn’t heal, and finally he fell out, so we rushed home.” Jean Pierre rubs the back of his neck, not knowing he’s getting blood all over himself.

  Rodney walks into the room and looks around with wild eyes. He covers his mouth, gagging loudly, and runs to the bathroom where we can all hear him throwing up.

  “Isn’t that guy a vampire?” Kane asks, clearly confused by this situation.

  “Yeah, he’s new.” Giles rolls his eyes, chuckling.

  “Cara, what type of weapon was used on him?” Bram pats my shoulder, and I’m glad for his support.

  “It was clearly bespelled, but it wasn’t hard to break, thank the heavens. I would love to know what you three stumbled upon that had someone protecting it to this level. They obviously didn’t want you near their ritual site.” Cara sits in a chair and takes the water Giles hands her, smiling her thanks.

  “To be honest, this sounds like witch territory, so I think we’ll leave it to you. We have enough on our plate trying to find Minerva and with Cassie being pregnant.” Bram tilts his head to the side, examining the now-healed wound. There is a light scar where the gaping hole was only minutes ago.

  Etienne opens his eyes and his gaze darts around the room at all of us staring at him. “What’s wrong?”

  I fling myself against his chest, unable to stop the sobs. “You almost died!”

  He wraps his arms around me. “Mon trésor, I promised to never leave you, and I plan to keep that promise. Why are Jean Pierre and Kane covered in blood?”

  Kane wrinkles his nose at his bloody hands. “It’s your blood. Don’t you remember being knifed by that witch guy?”

  “Oui, but I should have healed straight away.” Etienne feels his neck and frowns when his fingers touch his new scar.

  “The knife had a spell attached to it that prevented you from healing. I don’t think they meant for you to die because I lifted it almost immediately. I think it was a distraction to get you to leave where you were. Do you remember where the site was?” Cara sits forward, leaning her forearms on her thighs.

  “Oh yeah, it was… Wait a minute, I’m drawing a blank.” Kane shakes his head, trying to clear it.

  Jean Pierre rubs his temples. “I can’t remember either.”

  “It’s just as I thought. Hopefully these witches aren’t our enemies, but I suggest we move about with caution until we know more.” Cara stands, gathering her things from the table in front of Etienne. “And, Bram, you’re right. It is a witch problem, but you still need to be careful.”

  I grab Cara into a tight hug. “Thank you so much for saving him.”

  “You’re welcome, child. Now it’s time for you to give him what you both need.” Cara kisses my cheek as she silently leaves the room.

  “You three need a shower before Rodney catches sight of you and tosses his cookies all over the floor.” Giles picks up the bloody bandages and empty blood bags.

  “How do you feel? Can you stand?” I move to stand under Etienne’s shoulder to help him up, but he brushes me off until he stumbles, still weak.

  “Here, brother, let us help you upstairs so you can get cleaned up.” Jean Pierre and Kane each grab an arm and practically carry him up the stairs.

  I go grab another bag of blood to give him before he takes a shower. I rush to follow them as they lay him on our bed.

  Kane narrows his eyes when I push him out of the room, and I smirk at him. “Get a grip. He’s my mate, and I’m not leaving him. Consider him part of the family,” I say, and I slam the door in his face.

  I hear Jean Pierre laughing and Kane grumbling under his breath about bossy little sisters as they walk away. I smile, turning back toward the bed, and catch Etienne watching me.

  “How are you feeling?” I sit on the side of the bed and hand him the blood I brought with me.

  “Exhausted.” He places the bag in his mouth, and it’s quickly empty. I toss it into the trash can.

  “You scared me.” I brush his dark hair off his forehead and am glad some of his color is coming back.

  “I apologize.” He grabs my hand and kisses my fingertips.

  “Never do that again,” I whisper past the lump forming in my throat.

  He smiles weakly. “I promise.”

  “There is something I realized I need to tell you.” I take a deep breath, determined not to break down before I get this out.

  “And what is that?” He raises a brow, and I cup his chin.

  “Etienne, I love you. It felt as though my heart was being ripped out of my chest when I saw you hurt.” I can’t hold back the tears any longer and bury my face in his chest.

  “Ah, mon trésor, please don’t cry.” He lifts my face between his palms, wiping my tears with his thumbs. “I hate seeing tears in your eyes.”

  Sniffling, I nod. “I want us to bond, and I never want anything to come between us.”

  “I love you so much, Lucy.” He kisses me deeply, and I taste the salt of my tears. “You are my world, and I promise noth
ing will ever take me away from your side.”

  I climb in bed beside him and lay my head on his chest. He tries to roll me to my back, but I shake my head. “No, we have all the time in the world, and tonight I need you to hold me in your arms so I know you’re safe.”

  “But don’t you want me to clean up?” He smiles against the top of my head.

  “No, I want you to hold me.” I tighten my grip on him, holding him in place.

  “For all eternity, I will always hold you. You are my one and only desire.” He pulls my hair lightly until I lift my lips for him to kiss.

  And he is my one and only desire, the vampire who stole my heart.

  About Rhys Rowlyn

  By day Rhys is helping people as a nurse and during the night she’s creating characters and other worlds.

  Throughout the years she has honed her wicked sense of humor and mastered sarcasm down to a fine art. She has always had an avid imagination and now she’s putting it to good use.

  Rhys was told over and over she should write a book and she finally took the plunge, turning her stories into books. She loves creating complex characters and other worlds for others to enjoy. Her perfect day is sitting at her computer, spinning her worlds into words.

  When Rhys isn’t writing she’s spending time with her family or sitting on the beach with a book in one hand and a frozen drink in the other.

  Also by Rhys Rowlyn

  Daughters of the Vieux Carré

  Shadowed Awakening

  Shadowed Allure

  Shadowed Valor

  Shadowed Secret

  The Forgotten Ones Saga

  The Forgotten Curse