Bloodshed (The BlackGuard Society Book 2)

by SF Benson

  Hell, I’d spent plenty of nights imagining the absurd while pleasuring myself. Deianira and Julien would have welcomed me into their home. If they didn’t open their doors to me, I’d bend them to my will. Never would I have put a woman like Morgan in a one-bedroom apartment in the heart of the city. She would have had a fucking palace.

  But she never wanted me. The bitch was crazy about my wretched brother. When we confronted her about Colby, Morgan tried to say she didn’t know I existed. How the fuck did she not know?

  In the end, everything would work for my good. I’d have my son back with me, and Morgan would be out in the cold. By the time I finished, her whole family and the BlackGuard agents would be exposed. Supernaturals wouldn’t trust the fuckers to carry a bucket of water. I made that vow to my mother before she lost her head. Something else I blamed on Morgan.

  Turnabout was fair play, but I had never been accused of being impartial in my life. My revenge would come swiftly and sweep a wide path. I always kept my promises.

  27

  Something Brewing

  Colby

  * * *

  I was a little surprised to hear from Father so soon. He had wanted me to lay low and wait for him to put things into motion. A small part of me hoped he hadn’t put two and two together. My betrayal might earn me a one-way ticket to Hell, and that was one place not on my bucket list.

  I was more shocked when no one stopped me from leaving the mansion. Father wanted me to meet him in the cemetery. He said it would give me a plausible explanation, visiting the Mercier tomb, if anyone asked why I was there.

  “It took you long enough.” The voice came from behind a crypt. Seconds later, my well-dressed father trudged from the side of the vault.

  “Sorry, but I had to be sure I wouldn’t be detained or followed.”

  His eyebrows knitted together. “Why? Has something happened?”

  “No. Mom and my grandparents aren’t getting along. Basically, they’ve disowned Mom.”

  “Really?” Father sank his hands into his pockets. “That’s encouraging. I summoned you for a status report.”

  “From me?” I didn’t recall him asking me to do anything.

  “No, son. As luck would have it, the latest BlackGuard problem will provide a boon for both of us.”

  “How so?”

  Father gestured for me to follow him down a broken path. The cemetery was in need of maintenance. Technically, the burial grounds were closed to the public, but city officials wouldn’t have bothered trying to convince a Mercier to stay out of the graveyard. The family paid most of the municipal leaders handsome bonuses to look the other way.

  As we wove our way over the cracked pavement and uneven ground, Father filled me in about Tabitha. The foolish vampiress would participate in her own demise while helping his cause. I wished I could have warned her, but if I did, I’d end up in Hell so fast I might lose my head. Besides, she wasn’t family. It was more important I passed the intel to Mom and Ace.

  “Colby, are you still on speaking terms with Clint?”

  I shrugged. “Things didn’t end well with us. I haven’t even bothered calling him.”

  “Well, I need you to do your part. Reach out to the dhampir. Let him think you’re sorry about what happened.”

  It wouldn’t be a lie. I hated how things went down between us. Although I regretted it, I doubted I could speak to him again. When Rodrigo and Etienne suggested I was better off forgetting about Clint Bonaparte, I wholeheartedly agreed.

  But my father didn’t need to know that.

  “What else?”

  “You’ll need to convince Clint to meet you.” Father removed a slip of paper from his pocket and held it out to me.

  It was for an address in the Irish Channel—a place he’d always forbidden me to go. I committed the digits to memory. Holding the note in my palm, I concentrated on the object until it burst into flames.

  When I looked up, my father smiled. “You’re getting good at that. Are you practicing daily?”

  “Yeah. Grandmother allows me to study her grimoires too.”

  “Excellent.” He clapped my shoulder. “You make me proud. Your Uncle Cade wasn’t nearly as resourceful.”

  I missed Uncle C. Before the acceleration spell, I had a lot of fun with him. He took me all over New Orleans, teaching me valuable history. After Grandmother Tavi’s intervention, the lessons stopped. Father told me Uncle C’s teachings weren’t important. I begged to differ.

  Honestly, I loved my father, but I didn’t like him very much. He had wicked tendencies, and only saw the sinister side of people. He was also an obsessive personality. When he latched onto something, Father didn’t know how to drop the matter.

  I glanced up and noticed him staring at me. Most likely, waiting for me to express my gratitude for the compliment.

  I cleared my throat. “Sorry, I was thinking of the right lie for Clint. He needs to believe I’ve changed. That I’m not following in his shadow. I’ll tell him I want to check out a possible house to rent.”

  “Good, Colby. You’ll have to do your best to sell it. Tell the dhampir your cousin Melisande contacted you. Turns out there’s a trust fund in your name. On your next birthday, the money is yours.”

  My birthday is next month.

  My father always forgot the date. Not Uncle C. He always bought me an Irish Mocha Doberge cake, my favorite, from the Bakery Bar.

  “I know it’s a ruse, but do you want me to show up?” I asked.

  “No need. Just get Clint to come to that address. I’ll call you with the time.” When I gave him a wide-eyed stare, Father added, “I have to wait for Tabitha to contact me. Soon, all of this nonsense will be over. Then your mother will pay for her wickedness, and the BlackGuard will fall.”

  “I’m looking forward to it,” I lied.

  * * *

  Later, when I climbed the steps of the mansion, Mom and Ace were waiting for me. I knew we had to talk, but not in public and not anywhere in the district. Father was close by and would know if we spoke about him.

  “Hey, Mom. Why are you two out here?”

  She smiled. “I didn’t want to upset your grandparents. We need you to move out of the house.”

  Ace added, “Our place is ready. We’ll move in over the weekend. In the meantime, we’ll just be one big happy family at the apartment.”

  I thought about it for a moment. “You know, I can come back for my belongings. Did you drive?”

  “Yeah,” said Mom.

  “Then let’s go.”

  She nodded and walked past me. Ace and I followed her to the curb. She gave him the key fob, and we piled into the red Porsche. As soon as he drove off, I wrapped a privacy barrier around the car.

  Sitting in the cramped backseat, I leaned forward and asked, “Mom, can you secure it with your own spell?”

  Her brow wrinkled. Slowly, she lifted her hand. After a second or two, she added her own incantation.

  “What’s with all the privacy, Colby?” she asked.

  “Bishop.” I blew air through my cheeks. “We have a problem.”

  Ace said, “Tabitha?”

  “Yeah. Somehow, she found him.”

  “Fuck,” muttered Mom.

  “Exactly. They’ve cooked up a scheme. I suspect he didn’t tell me everything, possibly hoping I’d spread the wrong info.”

  Mom said, “What does Bishop have in mind?”

  “He’s using the vampiress. Basically, she’ll attempt to rip out St. John’s heart, but he’ll pick up on her intentions and return the favor. Father wants me to lure Clint to a house in the Irish Channel. I’m guessing my father will frame Clint for the act, which would violate the BlackGuard’s rules.”

  “Kragen will be forced to enact his own punishment on his son,” said Ace.

  “If Council gets wind of any of it…” Mom didn’t finish her thought.

  She didn’t have to. Council would have all the proof they needed to disband the BlackGuard.
>
  “I sensed Father had something more in mind, but he didn’t say what it was. He’s good at hiding whatever he doesn’t want someone to know.”

  Vampires used virtual walls to secure their thoughts. Bishop Mercier upped the ante. He constructed a vault around his mind. No one could penetrate it. He tried to teach me, but I rejected the notion. In order to succeed, I’d have to shut myself off from the world. Emotions like love had no place within the construct. Father said hatred and anger kept the structure impervious.

  Maybe that’s why he seemed so bitter all the time?

  “Thanks for sharing what you learned,” said Mom. “I realize how much of a risk you’re taking.”

  It was my turn to be curious.

  “Mom, why does Father hate you?”

  She exchanged a glance with Ace. “Because of what happened with your grandmother and uncle.”

  “Uh-uh. It’s deeper than that. Father and Grandmother understood there could be fatalities. You should have seen his face. He was actually beaming when he spoke about taking down the BlackGuard and you. Why was that?”

  I was shocked when Ace spoke up. “Your father has never been a fan of the BGS. Just like your grandmother, Bishop assumed the Merciers should have run the organization. The two of them figured their family was unstoppable and all powerful. It’s not true, Colby. Anyone can meet their match.”

  “Like with the Red Witch?”

  “She’s probably the exception,” Ace stated. “She’s been around for a long, long time.”

  “But what has any of that to do with Mom?”

  Finally, she said, “Bishop was always jealous of Cade. Before you were born, I thought I was in love with your uncle. There was nothing I wouldn’t do for that male. I believed he felt the same about me.”

  I sat back. “I think I get it now. It’s why my father took Uncle C’s place in your bed. Father wanted that moment with you. Now, he probably thinks you should have chosen him instead of marrying Ace.”

  “Yeah,” she said. “Something like that.”

  If Bishop Mercier had been a fan of history, he would’ve realized that men fought wars because of jealousy and hate. They were doomed to lose because negative emotions only took a person so far. Eventually, the gloom and doom ate them alive. Even if they won the war, they lost the battle.

  “Mom, you remember my birthday’s next month?”

  “Yeah. You told me.”

  “I want cake. Doberge cake.”

  Ace asked, “What flavor?”

  “It has to be Irish Mocha. That’s my favorite.”

  For a fleeting moment, I felt like a little kid making a request for treasured treats. Sadly, I missed out on my childhood. If I hated anyone, it should have been my father and my grandmother Tavi. They took from me something that couldn’t be replaced. Still… I loved them. Would always love them. But I had to find a way to send my father back to Hell. He had no place in my life. And he definitely shouldn’t be upsetting the lives of anyone else.

  * * *

  Later that night, while Mom and Ace were out patrolling the Quarter, I contacted Clint. Not because of Dad, but in spite of him.

  Surprise colored the dhampir’s voice when he answered. “I didn’t expect to hear from you.”

  “Yeah… Well… Trust me, I didn’t want to call.”

  “So why did you?”

  “My father. He’s setting you up to fall.”

  “H-how?”

  “We should meet. I’d rather not take the chance the wrong person hears this.”

  “Where are you?”

  “My parents’ apartment.”

  “Be there in ten.”

  Clint was true to his word. I’d barely had time to get in and out of the shower before he knocked on the door. A quick wave of my hand, and I was dressed in dark-blue slacks and a jade-green sweater. I glanced in the mirror. With each passing day, I looked more and more like my father. If I could only develop his arsenal of tricks and spells, no one would know the difference.

  Clint knocked again, and I rushed to the door.

  “Hey,” he muttered.

  For a minute, I was taken aback. My heart skipped a beat, but then I remembered how rough the dhampir treated me. How he ravaged me while thinking about Tabitha. Why the hell did I feel sorry for him? If anything, Clint deserved whatever my father did to him. Fortunate for the male, I only looked like Bishop Mercier.

  “Come on in,” I said, closing the door behind him. “This won’t take long.”

  When I turned around, Clint was already on the sofa. “I’m really sorry about how things went with us. I was wrong.”

  “Yeah, you were.”

  I plopped down on Ace’s favorite chair. Sitting too close to Clint would have been a bad move. While my father could easily squash his emotions, mine flared with intensity. My fingertips stung with the energy pulsing beneath the skin.

  “I said I’m sorry,” Clint reiterated.

  “And I heard you.” I swallowed hard and pushed back my anger. “The vampiress is a backstabber. She’s working with my father to bring down the BlackGuard Society.”

  “How?”

  “She thinks Bishop will protect her from St. John.”

  Clint exhaled and sat forward. “Tabitha’s going to try to exterminate St. John?”

  “Yes. Thing is, Bishop told the vampire what Tabitha’s up to. Both of them will be ended. Tabitha will lose her heart. St. John will lose his head.” My eyes met Clint’s. “You’ll lose too.”

  His jaw dropped. “I’m going to die?”

  “No. But you’ll wish for death. All I know is Bishop has something nefarious in mind for you. Whatever it is will bring about drastic change to the BlackGuard.”

  “Does anyone else know this?”

  “Mom and Ace know a slightly altered version. I couldn’t tell them anything about you because I don’t know much.” With how Clint had mistreated me, he was lucky I told him anything.

  “What should I do?”

  I crossed my ankle over my knee. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “No.”

  “Why should I tell you anything else?” He must have thought I was an idiot. Only a fool would share more info with the one who hurt them. “Here’s some advice. Dump Tabitha. If she contacts you, hang up. You’ll be happier without her.”

  Clint shook his head. “So this is about us? Or should I say you? I admitted I was wrong. I should have never invited you into my bed.”

  “So why did you?”

  He chuckled. “Because I liked you. Just because I didn’t want a fucking relationship with you—”

  “Oh, but you wanted the fucking.”

  Clint flinched and then stood. “I should go. Coming here was a mistake.”

  I shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. I did my part and told you what was in your future. Tabitha is going to meet up with St. John. Once she does, Bishop will contact me. I’ll send you a text. You’re supposed to go to St. John’s house in the Irish Channel. If you get there in time, you might save her.”

  “I guess I should thank you for that.”

  “Whatever.”

  Clint stalked across the floor, opened the door, and slammed it behind him.

  I held out my palm and imagined a champagne flute filled with a Soixante Quinze, also known as a French 75 cocktail. The gin, lemon juice, champagne, and simple syrup was an acquired taste. It was good to be twenty-one and not seven. My experiences would quickly overwhelm and traumatize a child. Thank the Siren I wasn’t one.

  My stomach growled, and I envisioned a spinach soufflé in the oven. Soon the delectable smell filled the small apartment. On the kitchen counter, I pictured a bowl with a simple tossed salad—mixed baby lettuces, chopped vintage tomatoes, chopped English cucumbers, and Artisan croutons. A cruet of creamy balsamic dressing sat beside the concoction.

  Sipping my beverage, I thought about what I’d told Clint. I didn’t lie to him even though he didn’t deserve the truth. My father had som
ething hateful planned for the dhampir. And if I had known what it was?

  I probably would have told Clint.

  Why? I truly wanted to wipe the slate clean. I wasn’t looking for friendship or anything else from the dhampir. My ass still hurt every time I thought about the male. Did I want vengeance? No. I wasn’t my father. I just wanted Clint to know how wrong he was.

  He thought hooking up with Tabitha, the harbinger of evil deeds, was a good idea. As Etienne told me, some men just can’t see the wrong in a person when he or she is too attractive. They became blinded by the beauty.

  Sometimes, sightlessness led to death.

  28

  Escalation

  Morgan

  * * *

  Colby’s news troubled me. We had enough on our plate without having to look out for Tabitha and Alexander. As we walked up Bourbon Street, we crossed paths with someone else we should have avoided.

  Clint took a second to catch his breath and then said, “Good. I found you.”

  Ace and I exchanged a look before my husband asked, “What’s up?”

  “Did you speak to Colby? Do you know what Tabitha intends?” Clint’s gaze darted to me. “Can we trust your son is telling the truth?”

  I didn’t appreciate the implication.

  Thankfully, Ace saved me from having to give the dhampir hell. “We’re aware.”

  “And your intentions?”

  Enough was enough. Standing in the middle of a main thoroughfare wasn’t the place to air BGS business. Clint knew he was going against protocol. Left with no choice, I constructed a privacy wall around us. Once in place, I confronted the idiot.

  “Listen up, Clint, and listen good. Whatever Colby told us doesn’t concern you,” I lied. “We’re in charge.”

  “Like hell! I’m directly involved. Colby said his father had something planned for me. How did I get in his fucking crosshairs?”