by J. L. McCoy
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Retribution of Sins
(SMVS, #6)
By J.L. McCoy
Retribution of Sins
Copyright © 2017 by J.L. McCoy
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
Cover design by: Omar Rodriguez V [email protected]
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Retribution of Sin
Acknowledgements
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
About the Author
This book is dedicated to you...yes you!
Thank you for your patience these last few years. I’m forever grateful to you.
Acknowledgements
Thank you for your patience these last three years as I took some time off from writing to deal with personal issues. Finishing this book was honestly the best feeling in the world because I knew what it took for me personally to finish it. I want to thank each and every one of you for your unwavering support and all the well-wishes during my time off. As always, this book could not have been written without you.
My heartfelt thanks go out to my editor Virginia Cantrell, beta readers Nicole Carriere, Brandy Dorsch, Mandy Faktor, Ashley Hickey, Jax Flanders, and Melissa Carver, my formatter Katie Salidas, and my cover artist Omar V. Rodriguez.
Special thanks to Kellie Albanese for being the best damn cover model ever, and Randy Duke for the weapons knowledge and training...and for letting me borrow all his cool toys.
If I’ve left anyone out I sincerely apologize. Any mistakes herein are mine and mine alone.
Chapter One
*Kick, punch, slash, jump, stab*
*Slash, turn, stab*
Faster. Have to move faster.
*Duck, kick, slash, dodge*
Pain. Let it fuel your fury.
*Block, punch, pivot*
*Slash, stab, turn, duck*
*Stab, jump, rip*
Dead.
*Breathe*
They’re all dead.
*Exhale*
So much blood.
Thick.
*Rub*
So sticky.
*Wipe*
I can’t...
*Wipe, scrub*
I can’t get it off me.
*gasp*
It’s...it’s absorbing into my skin!
Get it off!
Get it—
“—off me!” I screamed, bolting upright in bed, my hands frantically attempting to wipe the blood from my arms. “Get it off!”
“It’s just a dream, Skye.”
Hands cupped my cheeks as I gasped for air, the nightmare slowly melting from my vision.
“Look at me,” Archer commanded, his worried eyes suddenly in front of mine. “It’s just a dream.”
Blinking, I nodded my head, swallowed hard, and worked on slowing my breathing as I gazed into my lover’s eyes. Arctic blue pools of warmth and concern gently eased me into the here and now.
I’d been dreaming about the part I played mere hours ago in rescuing Nikki from those demented and deranged Dark Ones. The things I’d done—had to do to keep my family and friends safe—were unspeakable. I had singlehandedly killed at least thirty men; their blood had coated almost every inch of my body by the time I’d finished doing what needed to be done. After it was all over, I was bothered by my actions. I’d slaughtered, nay, murdered them all in the name of justice, and it worried me to know how easily it came to me. Were these nightmares mere comeuppance for my sins?
Still smelling the phantom coppery life force in my pores, I brought my hand up, leaned away from Archer, and made sure I wasn’t still covered in blood. The dream had been so real, I could have sworn I was still in the middle of that airfield.
“Are you all right?” he asked worriedly. “Talk to me.”
“I-I’m okay.” I nodded quickly and looked away, embarrassed. “I’m fine.”
Archer frowned, bringing his face into my field of vision again. “The hell you are.”
Sighing, I closed my eyes momentarily in an attempt to my regain some semblance of composure, before meeting his imploring gaze again. “It was just a bad dream,” I said, putting on a small, reassuring smile. We’d all been through hell yesterday, each doing our part to rescue Nikki and eliminate the threats against us. We’d all been forced to kill a fellow vampire, and I’m sure we all were carrying the emotional baggage from our forced actions.
“It was more than just a bad dream, cion,” he said gently, his eyes softening considerably. “I was in your head. I saw it all.”
“You know I hate it when you do that.” I smirked tiredly.
“I couldn’t control it. As soon as I touched your shoulder, I was pulled in.”
“I’m sorry,” I apologized, bringing my hand up to cup his stubbled cheek. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m fine now, really.” Inside, my skin was secretly crawling. I could still feel the blood coating me, drying into a taut, flaky film. I couldn’t stop the shiver that traveled the length of my spine.
“You know you can talk to me, Skye,” he whispered tenderly, before turning his head to kiss the inside of the wrist of the hand that rested on his cheek, “about anything. I’m always here for you.”
Biting down on my top lip to keep the tears that threatened at bay, I nodded and offered him a tight smile. “What time is it?” I asked, desperate to remove the attention from myself.
Archer’s brow furrowed deeply as he searched my eyes. I knew from reading his thoughts that he wasn’t buying what I was trying to sell. “It’s seven in the morning,” he answered, dropping his hands from my face. “You’ve only been asleep for an hour at most.”
“Damn,” I breathed out on a sigh, running my hands through my hair. I was hoping
I’d managed more sleep than that. Dan had me scheduled to open Drop Kick Dan’s today, and my body was screaming for more rest. I knew there was no way in hell I was going back to sleep now, though; not after the nightmare I’d had.
Pushing back the covers, I leaned over to deliver a quick kiss to Archer’s lips before getting out of bed. “I think I’m going to go for a swim to clear my head. Why don’t you go back to sleep, honey. It’s still early.”
His hand shot out and gently grabbed my wrist, stopping me. “You did nothing wrong, you know that, right? It was kill or be killed last night. You were only doing what had to be done.”
“I know,” I said, trying to appease him, as I met his imploring gaze. No matter what he said or how he felt, right now I felt like a cold-blooded killer. I knew what the Dark had done, and I knew it was them or us last night, but I couldn’t change how I felt. “I’ll be all right. It was just a silly dream.”
“Whatever you say.” Archer sighed defeatedly and let go of my wrist. He wisely chose not to push the subject. “I’m always here if you need me. That will never change, Skye.”
“I know,” I whispered, looking down into his concerned eyes as I tried to reassure him with mine. “And I appreciate that more than you know.”
Giving him one last small smile, I grabbed my Speedo one-piece, threw my hair up, and headed for the pool in the backyard.
As I opened the French doors, I spotted Jameson. He was perched on the end of one of the loungers, his forearms on his knees, staring deeply into the shimmering water.
“What are you doing up?” I asked tiredly as I approached him. He was still in his pajama bottoms and looked as though he hadn’t gotten a wink of rest either.
“Can’t sleep,” he admitted, his eyes still focused on the water in front of him as his shoulder-length brown hair softly blew around his face.
“Me either.” I took a seat beside him and gave him a gentle shoulder bump in solidarity.
“Hell of a night last night.”
“Yeah,” I said quietly, staring into the water as well.
“Did you get any sleep at all?” he asked, finally looking over at me.
Shrugging my shoulders, I met his pale green gaze. He looked so tired, drained. All the healing he did yesterday had really taken a toll on him. “About an hour maybe. Better than nothing, I suppose. What about you?”
“Same.”
We were quiet for a time before he spoke again. “You all right, love?”
“I’m fine,” I lied. Truth was, I was anything but fine. My own father had betrayed me, my best friend in the entire world hated me, I’d killed countless men the night before, and to top it all off, I had to call Atticus later today and fill him in on everything that went down. He needed to know about my father, Stanus Octavius, and the potential coup my family and friends, the werewolves, prevented. “Do you think Nikki’s okay?”
Jameson hooked an arm around my neck and pulled me into his side. “Dean’s a good man,” he said comfortingly, “for a werewolf. He’s going to take real good care of your girl. I know he is.”
Sighing, I leaned my head back on his shoulder and gazed up at him. “I should have told her what I was. Maybe if I had, she wouldn’t hate me so much right now.”
“Doesn’t change the fact of what the Dark did to her,” he replied, shaking his head. “Give her time, love; she’ll come around. She’s your best friend... people don’t tend to forget that kind of stuff.”
“I hope not,” I whispered, tears stinging my eyes.
“Go have a swim. Get your mind off things for a bit.” He leaned over to kiss my forehead, before standing. “I’m heading in. There’s a bag of blood in the kitchen calling my name.”
I gave him a small, sad smile and watched him walk away, before tossing my towel and diving in the cool, chlorinated water.
Chapter Two
“Wow,” Dan drawled as I walked into his office a few hours later, “you look like hell, doll. What did you do last night?”
His statement stopped me cold in my six-inch pumps. After swimming laps, I’d showered, done my makeup, gotten dressed in a super cute outfit, and fed on two humans. My cheeks had more pink in them now than they did when I first awoke. I should have looked refreshed on the outside, even if I didn’t feel it.
Chuckling good-naturedly, I shook my head and resumed my walk to Nikki’s wall cubby. “I don’t look that bad, do I?” I asked, hanging up my bag and grabbing her bottle opener.
“Am I working you too hard?” he asked, concerned, as I turned to face him. “I mean, you open here and close at The Mausoleum. That’s a lot of hours you’re putting in a day. If you—”
“I’m fine, hon.” I held up a hand to stop him. “Really, I am. I just didn’t get much sleep last night.”
Dan took a few steps toward me, his hazel eyes studying me closely. “You’ll tell me if you need a day off, won’t you? As much as I appreciate you filling in for Nikki while she’s away, I don’t want you to work yourself to death, Skye.”
“Aww.” I managed a small smile while closing the space between us to briefly give him a side hug. “I think it’s sweet that you worry about me, but I’m all right. Really. Everything is okay.”
“What are you doing?” an angry voice demanded, and Dan and I both dropped our arms as we turned our heads toward the source. Fiona was standing in the doorway, her arms crossed over her chest as she furiously pursed her lips at us.
Sighing, Dan ran his fingers through his thick brown hair and took a step back from me. “Jesus, Fi. It was a hug, nothing more. What, I’m not allowed to hug my friends now?”
“It looked like a hell of a lot more than just a hug from where I’m standing,” she huffed unhappily, her jealous eyes flicking over to me and staring daggers.
“Are you serious?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Fiona knew Dan and I were friends, nothing more.
“What are you doing here?” Dan questioned, changing the subject as he moved between us. “You aren’t scheduled to come in until seven tonight.”
“You left your wallet on the nightstand.”
I watched as Dan felt his back pockets, obviously coming up empty-handed. “Oh, shit. I didn’t even realize.”
“Uh, I need to start prep.” I held my hands out in front of me as I stepped to the side. “I’ll leave you two to... whatever this is.”
I felt Fiona’s furious eyes on me all the way to the door and as I walked down the hall. Whatever they had going on, I wanted absolutely no part of. I’d done nothing wrong and wasn’t about to hang around while she acted like a complete psycho. She was Dan’s problem, not mine. The luck he has with women, I thought, shaking my head as I walked onto the floor. He’s always been attracted to the crazy ones.
Prepping the bar for the day turned into a nightmare. If I wasn’t cutting myself while I sliced fruit, I was dropping things—most I’d been able to catch again using vampire speed before they hit the floor, but I couldn’t always with my coworkers around. As the day wore on, my clumsiness only got worse.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Dan asked a few hours later as he watched me sweep up the shards of my second broken glass.
“Just tired,” I said for what felt like the millionth time. I made a mental note then to ask Archer for the night off from The Mausoleum. I desperately needed to rest and recharge. The fighting and healing last night had kicked my ass worse than I’d previously thought. To tell you the truth, I was a little disappointed. I thought being a vampire would automatically make me perfect. That wasn’t the case at the moment.
Dan squatted and lent me a hand. “Tori will be here in an hour. Why don’t you take a short break, and then you can leave for the day when she gets here.”
“But—” I started, wanting to argue, but he quickly cut me off.
“You’re no good to me in the condition you’re in,” he said gently, placing a hand on mine to stop me. “You need to go home and get a good night’s sleep. At the ver
y least, take a nap before you go into the club. You’re beat, doll; that much is obvious. I’d be a shitty friend if I didn’t make you go home.”
Meeting his eyes, I nodded. I knew he was right, but still felt bad about having to cut my shift short. “I’m really sorry, D. I promise I’ll be better tomorrow.”
“I know you will,” he replied with a small smile, his eyes understanding.
I handed off the hand broom and made my way back to his office. Nikki had been on my mind nonstop, and I wanted to check in with Dean to see how she was. I also needed to deliver come cash to him so Nikki could buy clothes and whatever else she needed for her stay with him. Since the fire at our house the morning before had completely destroyed everything, I knew she’d need to start replacing some things.
Sitting down on Dan’s leather couch with my cell phone in hand, I crossed my legs and dialed Dean. He answered on the second ring.
“Yeah?”
“Hey.” I leaned back into the couch and relaxed some.
“What’s going on, toots?” Dean asked, his voice perking up.
“Not much, just filling in at Drop Kick’s again. How’s Nikki?”
I heard him sigh, followed by the sound of a sliding door opening and closing. “She’s been better, but she’s hanging in there. Rough morning.”
“What happened?” I asked softly, concerned for my best friend.
“They drugged her, did you know that?”
His words were like a knife to the gut. I’d suspected as much, but had no concrete proof. “I had my suspicions,” I admitted before cringing. “How bad is it?”
“Heroin... straight to the vein,” he said gruffly.
“Those motherfuckers!” I hissed, rage coursing through me as I sat up on the couch. “If they weren’t already dead...”
“I’d beat you to it,” Dean rumbled, deadly serious. “She’s showing signs of withdrawal, vomiting and the junkie jitters.”
My hand flew up to my mouth in horror. The things they’d done to her... my soul sister. Guilt and shame washed over me as I closed my eyes tightly. I knew what this could potentially do to her. “Jesus,” I whispered in dismay. “This is going to fuck her up, Dean. Her mom—”