Blood Cure: A Paranormal Vampire Romance (Vampire Huntress Chronicles Book 3)

by Jessica Wayne

  Jane’s agonized scream tears through the room, her head falls back as she arches her back in pain, trying to do anything to alleviate it. She screams again, and I watch as blood drips from her eyes, her ears, her nose. I cry out as every moment we’ve ever had together runs through my mind.

  From the skinned knees, to first loves, and everything in between, I watch in complete horror as my best friend’s soul is ripped from her body.

  She said she wanted rest, that she was exhausted with living, but this—this is not what she deserves.

  “No!” I scream, biting down on Elijah’s arm, but again, he doesn’t move.

  What feels like an eternity later, her body slumps, and Heather drops her to the ground. “You thought you could beat me,” Heather growls, stalking toward me. “You foolish little bitch. You should have known better.”

  “Yes, we should have.”

  Hope unfurls within me, replacing the grief as Jane stands, withdrawing a blade from her hip.

  “How—”

  Heather doesn't get the chance to finish her sentence as Jane rushes forward, and with the force of her anger, she drives her blade into Heather’s heart. The bitch stumbles backward into the room, staring at Jane in complete confusion.

  Jane takes another step toward her and spins, slicing out. Heather’s throat opens, and blood spills from the gash as she falls to the ground, landing beside Agatha, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.

  Behind me, Elijah bellows and releases me, rushing toward the fallen witch.

  “Grab him!” Jane orders. I don’t hesitate and am reaching for him as a blood-soaked Jack rushes into the room, Fearghas looking exactly the same beside him. Cole runs in right behind them, his naked body soaked with blood. “Get him out of here. Lock him in the bunker back in Salem,” Jane orders, kneeling to grab the ruby-encrusted dagger from the floor. Fearghas, Jack, and Cole disappear with Elijah in tow. Then, Jane marches over to the duffel in the corner and rips the bag open, revealing Heather’s bones.

  I don’t have time to ask her how she’s alive before she’s dumping the bones onto the ground. “What are you doing?”

  “The only way to make sure she doesn’t come back is to destroy her bones,” she says quickly, her tone sharper than I’ve ever heard it before. “It will work better if I don’t do it alone.” Without making eye contact, she reaches back for my hand, and I take it without hesitation, kneeling beside her.

  Jane closes her eyes, and power surges through the room. “What once was here, now must go, into the dark you go. What once was here, now must go, into the dark you go,” she repeats. “Into the dark you go, my dear, into the void you’ll stay.” Another strong surge of power nearly shoves me backward, but Jane’s hand in mine keeps me right.

  A scream fills the room, high pitched and chilling as the bones begin to pop and smoke, folding into themselves and dissolving. Black smoke swirls around us with such force it sends our hair flying around our faces.

  “Don’t let go!” Jane orders as something rips at us, trying to tear us apart. I cling to her hand, holding my ground as the smoke grows so thick I can barely see.

  Finally, with a terrorizing scream, it dissipates, and I look down toward the bag, finding nothing but dust.

  She’s gone.

  Jane pulls her hand from mine and stands before turning to face me for the first time since she stood back up.

  “How are you—” The question dies in my throat when I realize the gaze I’m staring into doesn’t match the mismatched one of my best friend. Instead, dark eyes with flecks of caramel—so similar to my own—are what’s staring back at me. Covering my mouth with my hand, I stare at her as she watches, waiting for my response.

  Truly, I have no idea how I’m supposed to feel. Grief over the loss or guilty that I feel some joy at the gain. Maybe a hell of a lot of both. But I know that as soon as I utter her name, it all will become real. Tears well up in my eyes, and I whisper, “Delaney?”

  37

  Rainey

  Fearghas appears beside me, Cole, now wearing pants, beside him. “Rainey?” the fae asks softly, stepping in front of me as I gape at my sister.

  “Is it really you?” I choke out, ignoring him.

  Her caramel eyes fill with tears. “It’s me, Rain.”

  Beside me, Cole chokes on a sob. “Del?”

  She shifts her gaze and smiles at the shifter. “Hey, Cole.”

  He stumbles back, and the sound of bones popping fills the room as he shifts from man to wolf and bounds through the door and down the stairs.

  I can’t even begin to process his reaction, not with everything that just happened staring me in the face.

  “How?”

  “When Heather ripped Jane’s soul out, I briefly passed her in the veil. Since I have the ability to repossess, I took the chance to take out Heather. I couldn’t let her kill you.” She steps forward, and I see fear written all over her face.

  A face that once belonged to Jane and now apparently belongs to my sister.

  “I—”

  “Wait a minute,” Fearghas waves a hand in front of us. “You’re Delaney Astor?”

  She nods.

  “Not Jane.”

  “No.”

  “Damn, I leave for two minutes and miss a lot of shit.”

  Grief strangles me as tears stream down my face. “Jane’s gone? You saw her?”

  “I did.” She smiles softly. “She said to tell you to eat all the Skittles you want.”

  I choke on a strangled laugh and nod even as I know it hasn’t all hit me yet.

  My grandmother is dead.

  Jane is dead.

  Elijah is—fuck, I don’t know what he is.

  “Did you take Elijah back to the bunker?”

  Fearghas nods. “Whatever she did to him—it’s bad. He nearly took a chunk out of Jack.”

  “Where’s Tarnley?”

  “Here.” The blood-covered vampire moves into the room and takes stock of the two dead women. “She’s dead?”

  I nod. “What happened downstairs?”

  “A hell of a fight. Josiah’s pack managed to wrangle some of them, and the succubae are working their way through removing the spell.”

  “As soon as they’re done, Fearghas will bring one of them to the bunker.”

  “Elijah?” he asks tightly, and I nod. “I’ll bring my team in to handle cleanup.” He starts to turn away but meets Delaney’s gaze. “You’re not Jane.”

  “Tarnley, meet my sister.”

  His eyes widen as he looks between us. Bottom lip quivering slightly as he realizes what that means, he nods at her. “Nice to meet you, Delaney.” Then, he disappears into the hall.

  I grab the book, shoving it into my now empty duffel, before turning to Fearghas. “Take us to Salem.”

  Gripping our hands, we dematerialize, appearing in the bunker in time to hear a massive roar rip through the space.

  “Thank fuck,” Jack curses as he rushes toward me. His ear is covered in blood, parts of it knitting back together. “Your boyfriend nearly bit my fucking ear off.”

  “That’s not my boyfriend,” I growl and drop the book as I rush toward the steel door separating us from the room where we first found the grimoire in.

  “Whatever the fuck he is, he nearly killed me. Do we know how to help him?”

  “I will be bringing back a succubus,” Fearghas offers before disappearing.

  “Hi, Jack.” At Delaney’s words, he turns, eyes widening when he sees her.

  He glances at me, and my bottom lip trembles as I fight back another wave of grief. “Jane is dead.”

  “Then who—”

  “Delaney,” I interrupt. “She possessed Jane’s body after Heather ripped out her soul. She killed the fucking bitch.”

  Eyes wide, he stares at Delaney, and a tear slips down his cheek. “Delaney?”

  “It’s me.” She smiles and rushes forward as he wraps his arms around her. “I missed you, Jack.
”

  “Fuck, Delaney, I missed you too.” They embrace for a moment before he releases her and steps back. “I—”

  “I know about Willa, Jack. I’ve seen you two together, and I can’t tell you how happy I am that you found someone.” She touches the side of his face gently. “We were always great friends, and I don’t want to lose that.”

  “We won’t,” he promises her.

  Elijah lets loose another wall-shaking roar, and I turn toward the door, pressing my hand to the steel door as everyone else around me fades.

  “We’re coming, Elijah.”

  The door opens, and both Jack and I jump to our feet, hoping like hell to see someone—anyone—with some good news for a change. It’s been six hours since we put Heather down and brought Elijah back here.

  Six damned hours, and Fearghas has yet to show up with help. I know there were plenty of supernaturals who needed help, but Elijah is mine.

  Losing my grandmother, my best friend—it’s taken one a hell of a fucking toll on me. My entire body aches, residual from both the fight and the mental state I’m currently stuck in.

  So much lost.

  And for what? A power-hungry bitch with an ax to grind.

  Tears burn in my throat, the ache something I worry I will live with for a long damned time.

  If what doesn’t kill you is supposed to make you stronger—watch the fuck out because I might as well be a walking slab of concrete.

  Delaney walks in, face contorted in disappointment. It’s still so hard to get used to my sister being back, especially when—other than her eyes—she looks exactly like Jane. But having her here has almost soothed some of my pain, even as I feel guilty as hell to feel any joy in her return at all, given it cost Jane her life.

  “Anything?” Jack asks. He’s been at my side, along with Delaney, since Fearghas brought us here and left for the club again.

  “Fearghas said they are finishing up and should be here soon.”

  “Fuck,” Jack murmurs. “I’m going to go grab you some water, Rainey.”

  I don’t respond as I sink back to the floor, defeat weighing on me, and Delaney sits to my right, setting my cell down beside me. “He’ll be here soon.” She wraps an arm around my shoulders and pulls me against her in a move she’s done countless times since we were kids.

  “Every hour that passes, I can’t help but wonder if whatever the hell she did to him is going to last forever.”

  “How are you doing?” I ask her, looking for any possible distraction from my current scenario. Elijah roars behind me and slams into the door. I wince when he falls to the ground and cries out, an agonized sound that tears me up no matter how many times I’ve heard it over the last few hours.

  “Okay, I guess I feel guilty, tired, and hungry all at the same time.”

  “Jane wouldn’t want you to feel guilty.”

  “I know that, and I know that as a bird, I really didn’t have much of a choice given it was either body jump or let Heather kill you, but it still doesn’t make the one I made any easier. I hate that Jane died, that Grandma died.”

  My throat tightens, the burning of fresh tears making it difficult to swallow. “Me too.”

  Fearghas brought both Aoife and Agatha’s bodies here so they can be laid properly at rest while Tarnley’s team takes care of the rest. Then, he popped out of sight again, promising to return once the succubae were done.

  “Tell me about the day you and Elijah met,” Delaney requests. I know she’s trying to distract me, so I let myself remember the first time I spotted his ice-blue gaze in that club.

  “He sat next to me in a club. But I didn’t know what he was then. He was just some hottie with an accent,” I joke. “Anyway, we didn’t officially meet until he pulled me out of the alley.”

  “You have no idea how terrifying it was for me to watch that happen and not be able to do anything but squawk and try to poke out their eyes. Seeing Elijah show up—shit, Rain, you should have seen the way he decimated them. It was very hero-like.”

  The ghost of a smile passes over my lips. “He would hate being called a hero.”

  “What do you think, big guy?” Delaney asks, yelling into the room behind us. “You good with it?”

  He growls.

  “See, he’s fine.”

  Smiling, I rest my head on her shoulder and watch the clock on the wall across from us. The smile fades as I realize yet another hour has passed since the last time I took notice. Tears slip down my cheeks as I pray harder than I ever have. Please don’t let this be the end. Please bring him back to me.

  Grief overwhelms me as another blood-curdling roar breaks out from behind us. “I don’t know how much more I can take, Del.”

  “I know,” she whispers.

  Fearghas appears in front of us with the succubus from the night Elijah found me in the church. I jump to my feet, hope briefly overshadowing my pain.

  “How long has he been like this?” she asks, rushing across the room.

  “Six hours,” I reply.

  “Shit. We’re nearly too late.”

  “What? What is it?”

  Fearghas’s face is grim, and I wait for someone to tell me what the hell is going on.

  “I need to get in there,” the succubus says.

  “Why?”

  “Because if I don’t, your hunter is going to die a very miserable death.”

  I rush forward and reach for the security panel that will take us into the room where I first found the box. “He’s not himself.”

  “Chances are I’ve seen worse.” I swallow hard and type in the code as Delaney moves closer to Fearghas.

  Elijah stands against the far back wall, his chest rising and falling rapidly. The shirt he wore when we put him inside is falling in tattered shreds from his muscled body. Blood smears his chest, hands, and nearly every bit of wall inside the room.

  When he looks up at me, it’s with eyes black as night.

  “Seal us in here,” the succubus orders.

  “What? Why?” Delaney questions, moving forward.

  “Just do it.”

  She looks to Fearghas, who nods, then back to me. “It’s okay, Del. Do it,” I tell her. “Wait—” Jack starts.

  “No. No one else comes in here,” she orders. “We can’t give him any more targets.” She turns to Fearghas. “When I call for you—” She glares at Jack, then back at Fearghas. “You alone come in, Fae.”

  Jack starts to argue, but Delaney steps forward, lips flattened, and presses on the keypad. The door slides shut, sealing us inside.

  “What are we supposed to do?”

  “Don’t move.” She steps toward him, and he growls, more animal than man. “Hey, beastie,” she coos. “Come to me.”

  He snarls and shakes his head.

  “Do you have a blade?”

  “Yes, why?”

  “Pull it out and slice your palm open.”

  I don’t question, just do as she says, ignoring the bite of the blade against my skin. The first droplet falls to the floor, and Elijah lunges for me. I move—barely in time to avoid being pummeled—and the succubus launches onto his back.

  He bucks, spinning to get her off, and I rush forward to grab him, attempting to hold him still.

  “Take this and smear it onto your palm. Fae! We could use you in here!” she calls out moments before Fearghas appears.

  “What can I do?”

  “Grab his other arm. We need to pin him.”

  I take the glass vial filled with a pale pink paste and do as she says, opening it and spreading some onto my palm while they wrestle Elijah into submission. “What now?”

  “Press it to his lips,” she grinds out as Elijah flings her around like a rag doll.

  I swallow hard and rush toward him, dropping my shoulder and hitting him in the gut. He slams back into the wall, and I take my hand, smacking him in the mouth with the paste-covered injury.

  The moment the contact is made, he stills before dropping to hi
s knees. Lowering my hand as he goes, I keep contact the entire time. He doesn’t fight it, just breathes deeply and reaches up with shaking hands to grip my forearm.

  I hold my breath, waiting for the moment I’m met with familiar blue eyes.

  “He will be fine now,” the succubus says.

  “What was in that paste?”

  She glances over at Fearghas. “It’s a blend of herbs we grow to curb the magic. At times, especially with the less experienced women, they put too much venom into their kiss. This is what we utilize to bring the man back to normal.”

  “I do not understand your kind.”

  “Nor do we, you. Now, please take me home. We are preparing to relocate, and there is much to do.”

  “Thank you,” I whisper.

  The succubus nods, and she and Fearghas disappear.

  “Elijah?” I whisper, and he groans against my hand, still kneeling before me.

  His shoulders shake, and I drop to my knees in front of him as he looks up at me. “Rainey.” My name is a hoarse whisper, and I lose it.

  Tears stream down my cheeks, and my shoulders shake as I all but jump into his lap and his arms come around me. “I thought I lost you too.”

  “I couldn’t—fuck, I remember all of it, Rainey. I’m so sorry.”

  I pull away and see his tear-filled blue eyes. “It wasn’t your fault.”

  “Jane,” he chokes out. “Your grandmother.”

  I try to swallow, but the lump is painful, and I drop my head as grief threatens to rip me apart all over again. I held it together for the last week, keeping my mind on saving Elijah, and now that he’s here, kneeling in front of me, it breaks through—water from a dam.

  His arms come around me again, and we rock, two broken souls clinging to each other because somehow, together, we make each other whole.

  38

  Elijah

  Two weeks have come and gone, a blur of making arrangements for our trip and doing what we can to avoid the Billings PD who, despite Paloma’s best efforts, are still gunning for Rainey.