“What do you want?”
“I want to control death. You have it, and I’m not leaving without it.”
“It’s not going to happen.”
“Even if I kill your family, one by one, while you’re forced to watch?”
Flynn’s throat closed up.
He struggled to breathe. When he dropped to his knees, staring up at Jolie, he prayed the end would be fast. ‘Don’t give her what she wants. No matter what, don’t do it!” he whispered into her mind.
Jolie wanted to be sick. “Stop! Please, stop! Don’t hurt him!”
God!
How she wished she hadn’t fed both mates, been injured, or ever came to Paris.
Flynn gasped for air.
“I’m starting with him if you screw with me, Jolie. I’ll take out the mate you love so dearly, and I’ll enjoy it.”
She dropped to her knees to hold him in her arms. “Flynn, my love, are you okay?”
He nodded as the color returned to his skin.
‘Can you defeat her?’
“Without Jacques’s power added to mine, I doubt it. She’s going to be ready for a fight, and we’re not.’
Belladonna moved closer. “I think you’ll do exactly as I ask, Jolie, or they’ll go first, and then you. Now, get up.”
She did what Belladonna asked, keeping her body in front of Flynn’s. He was the one in the most danger. Belladonna knew she loved him, and that made him the best way to break her.
“Now, let’s get down to business.”
The guardians pulled silver blades, making sure they all saw them.
“They’re tipped in Mercury, Jolie, so that means I really have to insist you come with me.”
Flynn wanted to be sick. There was no doubt she’d do it too. He knew his mate
“You for them.”
“Deal,” she had no choice.
“Jolie! No! You can’t go with her,” objected Flynn. If she went, there was no doubt she’d be dead.
Here was the sacrifice to keep Vanth with them, and he couldn’t stop it.
“I have no choice, Flynn. If I don’t you’re all dead.”
“Exactly,” Belladonna added.
“She won’t kill me. If she does, then she can’t use Death.” Now, Jolie had to pray that Vanth remained hidden. If she didn’t, this was a whole different game--one where they all died.
“How noble of you, Mistress Jolie. Now come here.”
Jolie turned and kissed him. She knew this was it.
“I love you, Flynn. Tell Jacques.” From the look of horror on his face, Jolie knew he got her meaning. This was goodbye.
Belladonna summoned two of the guardians to physically remove Jolie from her mate’s grasp.
Both Mathew and Flynn hissed before stepping forward.
“If you want to watch my guardians repeatedly violate her, try it. I’m not messing around. I want my gift back!”
Flynn needed help. He was weak, and without his gun. His body was still healing, and he knew he couldn’t take on four guardians without a weapon. He didn't expect another ambush, not in their home. Reaching for Jacques, he sent out a plea.
‘Come home quick. It’s Belladonna!’
Jolie hated having their hands on her body, but she was trapped. Just as she was about to look away from Flynn, she saw it.
Death had sent her messenger.
The mop haired cherub was staring at Flynn and Mathew.
There was no time.
‘Move! You’re both going to die.’
Timing was everything, and the guardians were just off the mark. Both men managed to avoid the silver knives that were flung their way.
Unfortunately, they weren’t the only ones to be a target. Chloe and Clariel wouldn’t be as lucky.
The screams of pain filled the room.
Jolie had to do something. Pulling away from the guardian, she tried to cross the room, only they were ready for her.
Two silver blades found her back, and it burned like hell.
“Jolie!” Flynn shouted, moving to catch her falling form. Only, he wouldn’t get the chance.
There was a searing pain in her body, and the ground rose up to meet her. Jolie’s body jarred from the impact.
Belladonna sent out enough energy to stun Mathew and Flynn, taking them to the ground too.
Time stopped as the Mercury began to take its toll.
Jolie was being poisoned from the inside out, and the blood was trickling from her back wounds.
There was no doubt.
She was going to die.
She tried to focus on the family. Clariel was up and had ripped the knife from Chloe’s body. She placed herself in front of the woman.
Jolie wanted to scream and warn her. Four guardians would tear her to pieces, but then again, maybe that was her plan. Then, she could be with Trina.
Belladonna moved toward her, but then she stopped. “Wait! Is that you, Vanth?”
The swirly vortexes gave her away.
Slowly, she got to her feet.
“Yes, Belladonna, it’s me.”
The vampyre screamed in anger. “You were here all along?” She spun, directing all her anger at Jolie. “You took her from me almost two hundred years ago?”
Jolie was helpless to defend herself as Belladonna began kicking her in the ribs. She kept going until Jolie heard them shatter apart.
Flynn tried to get to her, but he was still stunned.
Jolie said nothing, and not a sound of pain escaped her lips. Her eyes stayed locked on her mate’s. If this was it, she wanted him to be her last sight.
“Belladonna, you’re wrong. I hid my identity from Jolie all these years. She only recently found out the truth.” All she hoped was that Belladonna believed her. She didn’t want Jolie to suffer more.
The crazed vampyre shrugged. “Well, it’s not important. I have you back now, so I don’t need her anymore.” With the heel of her boot, she slammed it down on the hilt of the knife, burying it in her back.
The first one.
Then the second.
Jolie whimpered as the pain filled her. She was paralyzed and unable to pull them free.
Even though she could hear Jacques reaching for her in her mind, begging her to stay alive, Jolie knew it would be too late.
Flynn reached for her. When their fingertips touched, he used all he had to pull her toward him.
At least they’d go in each other’s arms.
“Kill them, Vanth!”
“No! They’re my family! I won’t obey you.” Ultimately, she knew there was no choice. Death was already ordering her do as she was commanded, but now she had to hold off as long as she could.
“You have no choice!” Belladonna sent energy at Clariel, slamming her into the wall. Her body slid sickly to the ground, bones breaking as the music box skittered across the floor. The little vial of Trina’s ashes rolled into Jolie’s pooling blood.
Vanth stood protectively in front of her family, wishing she could defy Belladonna.
“Do it, or I’ll have my guardians torture them while you watch.”
Vanth looked down at her as she lay paralyzed and bleeding. “I’m so sorry, Jolie. I love you, but she controls me now.”
Jolie used what was left in her body to reach for their minds. ‘Close your eyes and don’t open them until it’s over. Flynn, please…’
He understood her plan. “Vanth, before you kill us, I want to finally see what you look like.”
He prayed she understood, since it was their only chance.
Vanth smiled an evil smile. “Yes, Flynn, I can give you that one last request.” She faced Belladonna and smiled sweetly. “May I, Mistress?”
She sighed. “Fine, and then they die.”
Jolie closed her eyes just as Belladonna, her human donor, and her guardians’ screams filled the room. Flynn held her in her arms, but it was too late.
Right before the odd fluttering in her body, Jolie fell into the darkness…
Jacques had never been so scared in his life. The second she slipped away, he felt it.
It made his bowels turn to ice.
As he charged into the room, only carnage remained.
There were burn marks on the rugs from the incinerated guardians and Belladonna. The human donor was still there, but smoldering.
Behind him, William followed with gun drawn as if that would help. In the family room, they found Chloe standing motionless in the center of the group as if frozen.
Jolie lay in Flynn’s arms, the silver daggers beside him. Mathew and Clariel were out cold.
“What the hell happened in here?” asked William, moving to Jolie’s side.
“Belladonna brought the party to us,” Flynn whispered hoarsely through the pain.
“Is she dead?” asked William, watching Jacques kneel in the blood as he touched her face.
“No, but I think she’s slipping away.”
He agreed. “Vanth, we need you.”
“Yes, Jacques?”
“Save her.” It wasn’t a request, but a demand.
“I can give her blood, but the rest is up to our mistress,” she replied honestly.
Jacques didn't care. “Just do it!”
Vanth slit her wrist open with a wicked looking nail and held it over Jolie’s lips. Everyone watched as the black murk dripped into Jolie’s mouth and absorb into her body like some black parasite.
That didn't bode well.
Her body bowed the minute the blood became part of her. Everyone around her panicked, not sure how to help her.
“What’s happening, Vanth?” growled Flynn, as he struggled to get to his feet.
“The mistress wishes to see her.”
“DEATH?” both men said in unison. That was exactly what they had been trying to avoid.
“Gee, thanks a bunch, Vanth. What would we do without you?” asked Flynn sarcastically.
“Don’t thank me yet. No one’s ever tasted my blood and remained the same.”
They stopped moving.
“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?” Flynn glanced over at Jacques. “No one’s ever taught her the difference between sarcasm and being serious?”
Now was no time to discuss it.
Flynn wasn’t letting it go. “Shouldn’t you have told us that first before we allowed you to pour that tar into her mouth?”
Vanth ignore his hostility and faced Jacques. “We should take her to her bed. Jolie would want to be comfortable.”
“How long is she going to be gone?”
Vanth shrugged. “A few minutes to eternity.”
That didn't please anyone.
Jacques took her body from Flynn’s arms and carried her to their room. They placed Jolie delicately on their bed before beginning to strip.
“What are you doing?” Vanth asked, carrying in the two vampyres who were out cold.
“Shut up,” muttered Flynn, as they crawled into the bed.
“What’s going to happen to her now?” Jacques asked Vanth, as they curled protectively around her.
“I honestly don’t know, but I do know she’s going to live. Death isn’t calling for her anymore.”
“What will happen to you?”
“I’ll be going home too, but not to the same one as you. I’m free from Belladonna and back with my mistress.”
“Can we save you?” asked Jacques.
“It would take one hell of a sacrifice. Death would have to consider it a prize.”
Flynn looked up. “A harbinger is a prize, isn’t she?”
Jacques wanted to be sick.
“Vanth! Call her back!”
Only, it was too late.
Jolie had a date with Death, and it was one she’d never forget.
* * * H a r c o u r t e * * *
The blackness shimmered around her, and Jolie found herself sitting at a large food filled table. The room was done in gold and red. It looked garish.
Before she could get her bearings, there was a familiar voice. It was one she’d heard before when she’d died.
“Welcome, Jolie Harcourte,” said the woman in black.
“Death?”
The woman took a seat.
Jolie couldn’t help but stare. Death wasn’t ugly.
“Thank you.”
“I’m sorry, but I actually bought into that skeleton hand and black cloak imagery.”
Death laughed and the sound was like water tinkling into fine crystal. “Thank you for that, Jolie. I rarely get an honest laugh anymore.”
“Why am I here, Death? Is that what I’m supposed to call you, or do you have a name?”
“First, when someone drinks from one of my demons, they have a direct line to me. You’re here because you have questions.”
“And your name?”
“You can call me Death, Mistress, or Mother. I answer to all of them.”
Jolie sat still. “Can I leave?”
“Soon. I do believe we have some unfinished business.”
Well, it looked like they were cutting to the chase.
“I want to keep Vanth. How do I do it?”
“You have to give me something that I want in exchange for her. Belladonna gave me her own infant’s life. What do you have to bargain with?”
“I’m your harbinger, and I feed you the bloodiest deaths.”
She looked unimpressed.
“And?”
“I’ve given you plenty of sacrifices, Death,” said Jolie desperately. “You took Trina this morning, and she was loved by all of us. You squat in my body, taking whatever deaths you wish, and I don’t stop you.”
“You can’t, or I get the feeling you would.”
Good point.
“I just gave you Belladonna, her four guardians, and one human. What more can I give you?”
Death’s laughter filled the room. “You’re a fiery one, Jolie. I like that in a Harbinger, but for the record, the last six were Vanth’s kills--not yours.”
“Come on!”
“Okay, okay, I’ll admit that you were devious, and that entertains me. You and Flynn outsmarted her rather easily.”
Jolie tried not to think about Flynn. She wouldn’t let her have him.
Not now.
Not ever.
“Yes, I could take him, but I happen to like you Jolie. My last harbinger didn’t have your…spunk.”
Jolie waited.
“We have a deal.”
Jolie opened her mouth but had no idea what to say. “Thank you, Death,” said Jolie. “I think.”
“You’re welcome.”
“May I return to my mates?”
“Yes, and give Vanth my regards. Remember what you have learned from Belladonna. Don’t abuse Vanth’s gifts.”
Death snapped her fingers, and Jolie was propelled back into the darkness. The energy around her swirled almost like Vanth’s eyes.
When she woke, she was resting in bed with everyone practically on top of her.
“It is probably a good thing that I’m not claustrophobic.”
The men went wild, pulling her back and forth into each other’s arms as they covered her face with kisses.
Jacques found his voice first. “I thought we lost you.”
“I’m fine,” admitted Jolie. She focused on the demoness. “Thank you for saving us, Vanth.”
“No, Jolie, thank you. I was glad to be able to save you. You’ve protected me for years.” Vanth crossed toward Jolie and hugged her. “I assume Death will be calling me home soon.”
“No, I bartered for you.”
The room went dead silent.
“What?”
No one spoke.
“Hey! I didn't sell my life to her. Don’t panic!”
Vanth looked nervous. “You didn’t eat or drink anything that she gave you, did you?”
“No, I didn’t, but there was a lot of food there. Come to think of it, I found it odd.”
Vanth smiled. “You’
re lucky. One bite, and Death would have owned your soul.”
Jolie shrugged. “I don’t have one to own, and she can’t steal Flynn’s, right?”
Suddenly, they all heard it.
Death’s wicked laughter floated through the room, and everyone stopped moving as the tendrils crept from Jolie’s body.
“Oh, shit!” stated Flynn.
‘Yes you do have one now, Jolie,’ Death whispered for them all to hear. ‘Belladonna’s human…’
Jolie looked panicked.
“What the hell?”
epilogue
One Week Later
Everything was unpacked, put away, and the family was home. The house was full and bustling, and Jolie realized that she missed the chaos of it all. There was a time when she wouldn’t admit that, but it didn't make it less true. Home was where her heart was. It was where the loves of her life were too.
Standing in the center of her quarters, she could hear the children running down the hall. There were voices of familiar family, and then the others she’d come to love.
This was home.
It definitely felt good being back. Collapsing on her bed, Jolie let out a deep sigh, finally relaxing for the night. The sheets still smelled like her mates and herself, and it was indeed cathartic to have this time alone.
She wanted to reflect on the last three weeks. Just as she was about to close her eyes, there was a knock to the door.
Well, so it began.
When the door opened, Chloe was there holding a box. “Jolie, a package came for you today,” she stated, carrying it to her mistress.
Jacques followed her in and dropped beside Jolie on the bed.
“It’s from France. Did we leave something behind?”
He laughed. “We nearly burned down a house, destroyed it with blood, and other bodily functions. Trust me. The only thing coming in the mail will be a big bill. Next time, we buy our own place. We can’t go anywhere without destroying something.”
She laughed.
Pulling open the package, Jolie dug out a note and amulet. It was her mothers.
She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.
A part of her wanted to keep it, but there was a piece of her that wanted it gone forever.
That was her past.
Now was her future.
“Read it,” he urged.
Dangerous Misery (The Harcourte Vampyre Society Book 3) Page 50