“Please! Stop!” Jasmine yelled.
Jacques saw the intent as Mordechai approached. It was quite possible that losing his cool had just cost him his life.
Jolie couldn’t let Mordechai touch Jacques or Flynn. They were at a disadvantage.
She screamed, “STOP!” The voice that rolled through the room was partially hers and partially Death’s. “This is finished,” she said, as the tendrils crept from her.
Gratefully, it held Mordechai where he stood.
That didn't stop him from sputtering and cursing her name even as he fought to get to his son to rip him to shreds.
“Free me, Jolie, NOW!”
“No! I’ve had more than enough of this tonight.” Jolie glanced over at her wounded mates, and there was anger.
Flynn was back on his feet, only dazed. Without hesitation, he leaned over Jacques. “This is going to hurt,” he said, pulling the iron fireplace poker from his torso.
Jacques didn't even scream. Instead, he glared at his father, and then at Jolie for interfering.
“I’ll teach him respect, and you also if need be,” hissed Mordechai, pointing ominously at her.
Jolie turned to face her friend. “Check on your mother, Jasmine, he can’t get free.”
Jolie felt the icy glare from Jacques.
She knew what she needed to do.
“Release me and only Jacques suffers this insult.”
Jolie ignored him. She had bigger issues to worry about. Now she needed to make this right. Not with the pompous asshole, but with her mate.
Jacques was up and facing his sister. “We’ll leave now, Jasmine. I can’t, and won’t, be in his presence. It’s not fear I feel but disgust. I’ll be more than happy to give you away at your wedding. Contact me, and we’ll make arrangements.”
Jasmine crouched beside her mother. “I love you, Jacques,” she said, tears in her eyes, “and I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay, little one.” Then he touched Jolie’s arm, and she immediately released Mordechai, knowing that it was far from over. Both turned and followed the others from the room.
Jolie felt the energy before she saw the motion, so she braced herself, ready for the pain. All she could hope was Flynn would be okay.
A powerful wave of energy slammed into them, and then Mordechai launched himself at Jolie, knocking her aside. Her body hit the wall with a sickening sound of bones breaking like so many twigs. Flesh against plaster, then to the floor with a thud.
Time stood still for her. She knew that what she just did was going to anger one mate, and heal the other.
She was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Jolie heard her mate howl as he lunged for his father. Jolie reached for Flynn’s mind and she begged him.
‘Don’t let him kill his father,’ she whispered.
Flynn believed he was a good cop, ready for almost everything and able to read most situations, until now. What he didn’t see coming was Jolie releasing Mordechai and walking out of the room. He also didn’t see coming how hard he slammed into her, and the way she flew into the wall like a giant rag doll.
When her words whispered through his mind, he let go of the confusion and dove into the mêlée, fighting to pull his mate off the bleeding man.
“Jacques, please stop,” whispered Jolie, as she closed her eyes and concentrated on the bones trying to re-knit themselves back together again. He must have heard her plea through the blood red haze, since he allowed Flynn to pull him from the vampyre on the floor.
“Don’t you ever touch my mate again, Mordechai, or I’ll kill you without a thought. What you do to yours is your business, but she is MINE!” growled Jacques, going to Jolie’s side.
Without saying more, he swept her up in his arms. Flynn was at his back, guns out and hate in his eyes.
Flynn stared down at Mordechai lying on the floor. “You’re lucky she stopped him. I would have let him gut and kill you. If you think, for one moment, that he wouldn’t be able to, you may want to think again. When it comes to Jolie, we won’t let that ever happen again. I’ll put a silver bullet in your heart.”
William Bevier stood there, watching it all unfold, unsure what he’d gotten himself into.
Flynn glanced at the other cop. “Be at our home at eleven fifteen. I’ll go with you, so we can follow Jolie and Jacques to the meeting. Then we can tail Montclair to his afternoon rendezvous.”
William nodded.
“And William?” said Flynn, pausing. “If he touches anyone in the house after he heals, shoot him and ask questions later. That is rule one in the vampyre-mate handbook.”
The man stared, openmouthed.
With that, he followed his mates outside, making sure their vampyres were safe.
Both men loaded Jolie into the SUV, and Jacques held her on his lap as Flynn drove them home. The detective glanced into the mirror at his mates.
“What the hell was that?”
“You're mad,” Jolie whispered, her eyes never leaving Jacques.
“You think? That was totally vamp one-oh-one,” he stated. “You’re a trained guardian, Jacques, and you NEVER turn your back on anyone. In fact, you don’t ever even turn your back on me, and I’m not trying to kill you. Then there’s Jolie’s screw-up.” He stared accusingly at her in the mirror. He could hear the popping and crackling of her bones. Mordechai must have hit her with some big time energy if it was taking this long to heal.
Flynn wanted to vomit.
“You let him free while we were in the room, and that’s not the norm. You both screwed up on this one, but I’m not buying that it was a mistake, so spill it.”
Jacques kissed Jolie on the forehead and met Flynn’s eyes in the mirror. “She did it for me.” He would always feel the guilt that was growing in him. He only hoped their other mate would understand and not despise him for his weakness.
“What? None of this makes any sense.”
Jolie turned her head, bones still crunching as she moved. “I had to do it, Flynn.”
“Why? I don’t get it.”
Jacques sighed at the prospect of explaining to a human the innate vampyre intricacies. “Because she stopped my father from coming after me when I was impaled with that poker. She had to make amends. Her actions made me look weak in front of all the vampyres in the room. Jolie took his hit to save face for me. She gave me the opportunity to show everyone that I’m still the alpha in the relationship.”
“Ego? This was all about ego?” He nearly shouted it.
Neither spoke.
That told him everything.
“Flynn, my love, I told you, old world rules apply here.” Jolie tried to keep the pain from her voice.
“Well, holy shit! I’ve never heard anything more ass backward in my entire life. I can’t believe this, and I can’t believe you both did it.”
“It is our way, Flynn. I may be the primus, but it shows disrespect for our mates if we protect them against another male’s attack. It makes them feel less powerful--emasculated.”
Brogan said nothing, but his white knuckles on the wheel spoke volumes. Jolie understood his frustration. Neither man wanted to see her hurt. She only hoped that she could talk him out of his anger.
His eyes were still the dark blue.
He wasn’t happy.
“Flynn, what if I came into your police station, and while I was there, in walks some crazed madman with a gun. Instead of letting you handle it, I push you out of the way in front of your co-workers?”
“Jolie…”
“Flynn, how would you feel?”
He said nothing.
Finally, Jacques spoke, “I’m sorry, Flynn. You’re right. I let her get hurt. I’ll never forgive myself for that. I have to live with knowing that Jolie is broken because of me. She did this for my ego, and that makes me feel horrible.”
He glanced up.
“Please, forgive me for letting our mate risk herself for me. When I’m with my father, I have no control. I
t’s why I left. I couldn’t bear to let him break me again. I spent one hundred years being emotionally scarred. I’m asking that you forgive me.”
Jolie watched his face in the mirror. When Jacques touched his shoulder, Flynn placed his hand over his mate’s.
“No more, please. I understand, but I can’t go on if she gets hurt. I need you to both include me and think about my feelings too.”
Jacques relaxed. “Thank you. I will.”
Jolie loved her human mate so much. Where he could have made Jacques suffer, and her for that matter, he didn’t.
“I love you.”
“I love you both too,” he replied. “Let’s get home. I need a drink. This vacation has sucked big time. I actually miss Balzac.”
Jolie laughed. “I never thought I’d hear that. It’s the end of the world as we know it.”
Flynn agreed.
It had to be.
She missed him too.
CHAPTER twenty-three
When they returned home, Jacques carried Jolie to the bathroom to get her into a warm bubble filled tub. It was the least he could do, since he’d caused her so much physical pain. He wished he could turn back time, going back to stop his anger from winning. If anything, Jacques prided himself on being a calm, collected, and rational vampyre.
Years of training had taught him to stay in control.
Tonight, he’d lost it.
Flynn took Jolie from his mate and held her to his chest. He could feel her bones popping back together beneath her flesh. “Why is it taking so long?” he asked, nuzzling her cheek with his prickly chin.
“It took a lot of energy to hold Mordechai. I’m pretty empty,” she offered.
Without asking, Flynn began pushing his energy into her body. The warmth tingled around them. With each second, more bones healed.
Finally, he placed her on her feet to help her undress.
“Thank you,” she said, holding on to him. Jolie was still sore. Just because she was the undead, it didn't mean injuries didn't hurt.
Flynn continued undressing Jolie. When he had her shirt off, he hissed at the bruises that ran the length of her body. “My God,” he whispered, horrified at the ugly marks.
Again, he felt the anger rising. He forced it down for his mate’s sake.
“Jolie, are you ready for your bath?” Jacques asked.
She couldn’t wait to slide into the heat. It would cocoon her body and help her relax.
“Will you both join me?”
How could they say no to that?
The men immediately stripped.
Jolie kept her eyes closed as the water sloshed dangerously close to the lip of the large tub.
“I can tell you’re both worried about tomorrow.”
Flynn laughed. “Yeah, that’s an understatement. I don’t trust that asshole, and having him that close to you makes me want to puke.”
Jacques agreed. “I wish you weren’t going.”
There. He said it.
Jolie opened one eye. “I know, but we need to get this taken care of so we can return home.”
“We could just say ‘screw it’ and leave,” Flynn offered.
Jolie only wished that was possible. “We can’t.”
“Why?” he asked. “Why is it so damn important that we stay here and risk you?”
They both heard the anger in his voice.
“Flynn, when Jacques and I were just starting out, we didn't have anything. I mean absolutely nothing.”
Staring over at their mate, they watched Jacques’s face. There was so much emotion there. They’d experienced so much, and Flynn knew it wasn’t all good.
“We struggled. We hid in caves, abandoned cottages, and even monasteries. It wasn’t a good time to be alive.”
“Okay,” he said when she paused.
“We struggled to build this life from the ground up. I had a few jewels. It funded our existence until we lucked out.”
“Lucked out?” he repeated.
She opened her eyes. “In Paris, we tried to get into a council. We were weak, poor, and undesirable. Back then, if you had wealth, you controlled the societies. Jacques and I had each other, and that’s it. We stole energy and blood when we had to, and we made no apologies for being ruthless.”
“We killed for what we had.”
Flynn didn't speak.
“We went to the council and systematically killed off as many primuses as we could. We were ruthless.”
Jolie was waiting for Flynn to be appalled. When he didn't flinch, she continued, “After losing about six or seven of their primuses, the Paris society let us in. They gave us a shot at this life. If I didn't have them to give us an opportunity, I wouldn’t have gotten wealthy, gone to the United States, or met you. Because of them, we have this life. I owe them, so we stay and finish this.”
“You’re paying a debt.”
She nodded. “I am.”
Flynn sighed. “I’m in.”
Jacques was proud of their human. He didn't have words for it. While he expected Flynn to be disgusted with knowing the truth, once more the man had proved himself to be different.
“If you have a debt, I’ll help pay it off.”
Jolie leaned into him and shared a kiss. It was soft, loving, and showed her detective how treasured he was. “I love you.”
He grinned. “You better. I’m one hell of a catch. You won’t find many sissy men who’ll sit in a tub of bubbles…” And then he paused. “Oh, wait,” he stated, looking at Jacques. “Maybe you will.”
Jolie started laughing.
In fact, they all did. When the tension was eased, they dried off and headed to bed. Death was calling, and they needed to be ready for tomorrow.
Montclair was going to be a bitch to outmaneuver, and they knew it.
“Sweet dreams, my loves,” Jolie said, sinking into the duvet and softness of their bed.
The men moved closer, protectively closing around her. “See you on the other side,” Jacques said, kissing her goodnight.
Flynn ran his rough palm across her marred ribs. “I’ll keep you safe,” he promised. “I love you.”
With that, she was dead.
“I need to rest too, Flynn. I have to be on my game with that vile detective tomorrow.”
“You need to feed, Jacques. You lost a lot of blood tonight.”
“I’ll be fine until tomorrow,” he offered, but he had to admit that the idea made him hungry. It was hard to keep from reacting.
“Just drink,” he stated, leaning across Jolie’s body. “Here.” Flynn flipped his hair from his neck, and his heart skipped. “If Jolie finds out that you didn’t take care of yourself, she’ll be upset. I don’t mind.”
He really didn’t.
Jacques waited for Flynn to look him in the eyes. He could still feel some tension between them over what had happened.
“It’s the olive branch, Jacques. When we sleep, it’s over. I don’t go to bed mad at my mates.”
For that, Jacques was grateful. “Thank you, Flynn,” he said, letting his fangs slide into his mouth. Moving into his mate, he bit into his pulse.
The hunger began dissipating as he fed.
Flynn didn't move. He was trapped in the warmth of Jacques’s voracious feeding, and he loved it. When he felt the telltale signs that Jacques was finished, Flynn slowly pulled away.
The vampyre licked his lips.
“Are we better?” Jacques asked.
He nodded. “Always. We’re a family.”
Together, they slid back into position.
“See you in a few hours,” Jacques said, getting ready to call for death.
“I’ll keep you both safe.”
And he would.
Jacques took the leap into the darkness, trying to find his mate.
Flynn didn't rest, since he was still stirred up.
Now, all he could hope was nothing went wrong tomorrow. He couldn’t lose either of the people he loved.
It would kil
l him.
* * * H a r c o u r t e * * *
Sunday Early Morning
Flynn opened his eyes, feeling the fog of sleep lifting from his body. Immediately, he found comfort in the cool touch of Jolie’s body beside him. Over the last few months, like their blood, he’d become addicted to these moments together.
He craved them.
What he wanted even more was some time alone with her. While he always wanted Jolie, he wanted to discuss something that was bothering him.
Life.
He’d watched Jasmine and William so in love, and they were getting married.
Flynn wanted that connection. While he knew that they had a more unusual situation, he found himself wanting to be a little more human.
He laughed.
This situation was screwed up. First, he wanted to be more like them, and now he was holding on to the last few threads of humanity.
A wife.
Children.
Was it odd to feel these needs?
Jolie was the one. He knew it.
So, he wanted to talk to her--and alone. It wasn’t that he wanted to exclude Jacques, but he was a little embarrassed that he couldn’t let this go. Something was growing in him, and he needed to discuss it with her.
Jolie never mentioned anything more than being mates, but he was pretty sure that she saw it in his heart. After all, they could read his mind.
It was right there.
Staring down at her, he decided to steal a few minutes alone with her. Wasn’t he entitled for an impromptu date with his mate? It was early enough in the day that he could squeeze in some private moments, especially since she was heading out to deal with that sick bastard.
Sliding out of bed, he headed toward their closet. Inside, he quickly dressed. While he didn't mind nudity too much, he did want this to be a serious conversation.
Grabbing some clothes for Jolie, he rushed to their bed to slip her into them. Then he scooped her up into his arms before heading toward the den.
Inside, he found Mina and Chloe playing a board game.
Dangerous Misery (The Harcourte Vampyre Society Book 3) Page 38