INTO THE FIRE (Forbidden Love)

by James, Danielle

  “Fuck you.”

  “Ah still spunky. I see your time with the vampires has not changed that. I do, however, have trouble believing that they convinced you that they actually care. I am truly shocked that you came with me willingly to save a bunch of blood suckers that are already dead.”

  “And I find it hard to believe that after all this time you are still dumber than a box of rocks.”

  “Ha ha. Somebody’s full of humor today,” he said with a sardonic smile. “But that’s ok. I brought you some breakfast.” He shoved a tray with bacon and eggs under the bars. “You should eat. You are going to need your strength for the full moon.”

  “What are you blathering about Merrick? What the fuck does the full moon have to do with anything?” She knew she would need her strength, but not for anything he had planned.

  “The full moon is in three days. That is when we will be mated. The faeries have spelled our rings and when we make love under the full moon, we will be mated by a force so strong even your vampire will not be able to break it.” He tossed his hair over his shoulder and lowered his face, looking at her from under his lashes. “It will be beautiful.”

  “So you are planning to rape me in three days?” she shot back.

  “Nonsense. By then you will be begging me to take you. And no teleporting back to those blood suckers. The terms of our agreement only stand as long as you remain here with me. You try to escape, I will kill them all.” He pivoted on his heel and walked away. “Eat up, love.”

  Leigh wondered just what force in heaven or earth could make her want him. No fucking way. There wasn’t enough X on the planet to make her want that son of a bitch. Then she looked at her food. Surely he wouldn’t…..

  The only way he could have her was to drug her and the only way to do that was in her food.

  Well, fuck. Looks like she wasn’t eating after all. All she could do was say in her mind, please Cowboy, hurry.

  Rebel’s head snapped up at the sound of his mate’s voice. He searched the room with his eyes, knowing she wasn’t there but just as certain that he had heard her.

  “What is it?” Brea asked.

  Rebel shook his head. “I must be hearing things,” he muttered.

  “I don’t understand,” she said. “What did you hear?”

  “I must be losing my mind. I could swear I heard Leigh telling me to hurry. I know it has to be my imagination because no way Merrick would have taken her anywhere close to here. Why would he when he can teleport to anywhere in the world with her with just a thought.”

  “How certain are you that you heard her?” Brea asked.

  “I don’t know,” he said. He scratched the top of his head with both hands.

  “I wouldn’t discount it just yet Rebel.” Brea moved so that she sat right in front of him. She gently put her hand under his chin and lifted his face so that he had to look at her. “We still don’t know enough about your relationship to cross out anything. We have to assume anything is possible. Hell, you can go out in the sun. You can damn near fly! You eat food. And you can already communicate telepathically when she is a dragon. And most mated vampires do as well. Who’s to say you didn’t hear her?”

  “What if she is talking to you? I think you better listen. Try to talk to her.”

  Rebel closed his eyes and concentrated hard. He sent her the thought over and over that he would come for her, to just be strong. And over and over again, he got no reply. “I don’t think it’s working,” he said with a sigh. “We are just too far away. I can at least feel that much in my bones. But on the same token, I can feel her life force, for lack of a better word. I know she is at least alive.”

  “Well see? That’s a start anyway. When we are ready, you can tell us which way to go,” Brea said.

  “Really.”

  “Trust me,” she said, “you will know when the time comes.”

  “What do you mean, WE? You ain’t going. You and Jess and the kid are staying here.”

  Brea scooted closer so that she was nose to nose with him and all up in his personal space. “I don’t believe I asked for your permission. Leigh is family now. My family. Just because I am not her mate does not mean that I don’t love her. I will be going. You will be accepting that. Understand?” Lightning flashed in her violet eyes and Rebel knew he had offended her. More than that, she was pissed.

  “You are only human,” he said. “Fragile. We might not be able to protect you.”

  “Human does not mean powerless,” she huffed and walked away. She turned before slipping out of sight and said, “Jade, keep his ass there.”

  “What exactly are you suggesting?” Angel asked the faery. They were sitting around the table watching Gage slowly breathe and hoping he would heal quickly.

  “I am saying that Merrick went to the clans. He went to mine and others, playing on their prejudices and morals. He told them, us, that you had Leigh under some kind of mind control and that she was his mate. Kidnapped by you, forced to live with vampires that she hated. I saw the marks, but I doubt anyone else did. We may not be the most popular species, but we do have some morals,” Serena said.

  “So you think that if we did the same, if we could convince other people that Merrick is a liar, that he in fact kidnapped Leigh, they might be willing to help us?” Angel asked.

  “That is exactly what I am saying. Merrick built an army against you with a lie. Let us build one with the truth.”

  “We could call on the other vampire clans as well,” Jessica offered. “You have a good rapport with the Boston clan leader. Why not call on them for help?”

  “It’s a good place to start,” Brea said as she entered the room.

  “How is he?” Jessica asked about Rebel.

  “Stubborn as hell and pissed off. Otherwise good.”

  “Ok then, we need to go. We need all the help we can get,” Jessica said standing up. “Brea and I will go to Boston. We will also call on Brea’s friend who knows the local were clan. Serena, go to your clan. Angel and Sebastian, go find anyone willing to help. Jacque you and Rebel stay here with Gage and Jade. Protect them.”

  “I cannot allow you to go alone,” Angel said.

  “Neither will I,” Sebastian said. “Don’t you remember the last time we let you girls go off on your own?”

  “That was a long time ago,” Jessica said. “And we don’t have the luxury of time, so get over it. We are going to help whether you like it or not. And if you forbid it, well…” she and Brea broke out in laughter.

  “So it is to be done then?” Rebel asked, waltzing into the kitchen.

  “How the..”

  “I always could get free. Don’t worry, I agree. I won’t go off on my own. But you need to hurry. Go.”

  “You keep trying to talk to her,” Brea added. “We got us a plane to catch.” The women shot out of the kitchen hell bent on their mission.

  Angel shook his head. He hated it. He also knew, it was the only way.

  TWENTY EIGHT

  Damn it she was cold, she was tired, and she was hungry. The baby squirmed inside her belly and Leigh wished her hands were free to rub it. She didn’t dare talk to the baby, though. She didn’t dare do anything that would give it away. Leigh knew that the baby was feeling her stress. But there was nothing she could do about that. She could only try and be calm.

  Merrick hadn’t come back and she was thankful for that. A vampire did come by to toss a bottle of water into her cell, but laughed when it hit the floor. He knew there was no way Leigh could get it. She would have to depend on others for food and drink. Not that she would dare consume anything provided by Merrick anyway. Just like that fucking bastard to try and drug her. She supposed he knew she wouldn’t eat or drink anything right away. No, he would wait until she had no other choice. He would wait until she was starving to death and withering away from thirst. She had no idea how long she could last but knew her baby couldn’t last half as long.

  Leigh had tried any number of times to reach
out to her family, first Rebel, then Angel and the rest of them. Again and again she heard nothing in response. All she could do was hold on and have faith that her family would get her back. They had to or she was in really deep shit.

  There wasn’t much time before the sun would rise and Angel and Sebastian would be forced indoors for the day. So far, they had talked to seventeen vampires and two werewolves. The wolves were on board and waiting for word to strike. Only two of the vampires were willing to help, and they were not the most respectable sort. Three were sympathetic to the situation, but had families of their own to see to and were not willing to risk their lives. And that was exactly what Angel was asking of them. To go into a war and possibly, no probably, die for them.

  He hoped his wife would have better luck with the Boston clan leader. They were day walkers, and that would be a huge asset, if they were on board. Merrick wouldn’t expect vampires during the day because they were so rare.

  He sent a mental “be careful” to his wife as he and his second in command checked into a hotel for the day.

  Brea and Jessica wasted no time getting to the airport and booking flights to Boston. It was amazing what you could get accomplished when you were married to the biggest rock star in the US and the most famous vampire in the world. It took the customer service rep a hot minute to find them flights, but here they were, twelve hours and three connection flights later, in Boston. It was ten in the morning and the airport was bustling with activity.

  Brea watched a bum out of the corner of her eye as she hefted her overnight bag over her shoulder. She and Jess had taken turns sleeping on the plane, while the other spent time shooting emails to basically everyone they knew. That list included a few politicians. While it was no secret that there would be bloodshed, and they were well within the boundaries of the law, they would need human support to keep the vampires and anyone who helped them seeming like monsters.

  “Do you think Victor is awake?” Jessica asked as they waited out front for a cab.

  “Yeah he’s up. And probably knows we’re coming,” Brea answered as she lifted her fingers to her lips. One blow and the most ear-piercing shrill noise escaped her little mouth. She may be small, but had one hell of a whistle. And what do you know? It worked. A yellow cab pulled up to the curb and stopped right in front of them.

  “I heard they have some special talents,” Jessica said as she opened the back door for Brea. “Wonder if it’s anything useful.”

  “I don’t know,” Brea said, “but the more respected vampires we can get, the better off we’ll be.” She tossed her bag down in the floor board of the cab and waited for Jessica to slam the door shut. “I know Merrick is gonna cause a stink. The last thing we need is for the general public to get on his side because we in sighted a war.”

  Jessica nodded and watched the scenery go by her window. She missed Sebastian already and was wondering if he fed enough before they separated. She wondered in the back of her mind if she would ever even see him again. She and Brea had wondered into dangerous territory before and almost didn’t survive it. But of course, here they were again. But this time, there was more at stake. It wasn’t just their family, and yes, Leigh was family as well as the child in her belly, but now it was for the good of all mated vampires and any other species that mated for life.

  If Merrick succeeded in forcing Leigh to be with him because of the endangered species act, then everyone whether they were vampire, human, dragon, or whatever, would essentially lose the freedom to mate with whomever they chose.

  She knew this was important. Like Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement was important. When would people realize that being human was more than being human? She felt like Joan of Arc. Or something equally monumental.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” Brea said. “I worry about it too.”

  “Since when do you read minds?” Jessica snarked at her friend with a smile.

  “I don’t have to; it’s written all over your face.” Brea settled back into her seat and smiled. “It will all work out for the best. You’ll see.”

  “I pray you’re right,” Jessica said as they pulled off the main road and onto the street that would end at the clan leader’s home.

  TWENTY NINE

  Everything hurt. From the top of his head to the bottom of his toes, Gage felt nothing but pain. Oh sure he had felt pain before. There was pain, and then there was PAIN. He wondered to himself what the fuck happened and who he was gonna have to kill for this. Of course, he would have to get up first. He took stock of his body assuring himself that he still, in fact, had all of his limbs. His legs felt like they had been run over by a Mac Truck, his arms felt like he had slept on them both, like a thousand tiny needles pricked every bit of surface area on them. Oh, and they just point-blank refused to cooperate with his command to move them.

  But what hurt the most was his torso. His back and chest felt like he had been chewed up and spit out. Kinda like he imagined it would feel like if he pissed Leigh off and she used him for her own personal chew toy.

  In fact, the only thing that seemed to be working correctly was his sense of smell. With all the pain he was feeling, Gage figured all he should smell would be rotting flesh and blood. But he didn’t smell anything like that. No antiseptics either. No, the only scent he registered was like a fresh bouquet of spring flowers. It was like standing in a field surrounded by every damned flower imaginable.

  And didn’t that perk up his curiosity.

  Well he was gonna have to open his eyes and look. There was no way he was talking right now. He could feel that there was a tube shoved down his throat. What it was for, Gage could only speculate. He knew he had been injured somehow and Jacque most likely stitched him up. The tube was likely breathing for him.

  Quick check. Breathe in, breathe out. Yep, the tube was doing all the work. Surely something was working correctly. He couldn’t move his limbs, but maybe he could at least open his eyes and take a quick look.

  It took a bit of effort, but he was able to peel his eyelids back from his eyeballs. At first, all he saw was blinding light and he had to fight the urge to close them again. But after a moment, his eyes adjusted and holy mother of the Creator. What he saw took his artificially supplied breath right away from him.

  “Oh, you’re awake,” Serena said, moving closer to the injured vampire on the bed. “Jacque said you might wake up but he said to tell you not to try to move or talk for a while.”

  She brushed the sandy hair back off his forehead and felt for a temperature like a mother would do for a sick child. His skin was so smooth. She lingered there longer than necessary to determine that his temperature was quite normal for a vampire. She didn’t understand why, but the fate of the injured man was important to her. Not that she had ever cared for vampires in her life, but this one was different. Even through the trauma and the blood, she could see that he was very beautiful… in a gross vampire sort of way.

  He had dark hair that was probably going to be a bit lighter when all the blood was washed from it, beautiful dark blue eyes that expressed so much fear and confidence at the same time. He had the tiniest wrinkles at the corner of each eye. Not from old age, she decided, but from years of laughter. Laugh lines. This was a happy soul indeed.

  She had watched him sleep after the vampire called Jacque finished putting him back together. She had remained strong and continued her fae prayers for his well-being. And for her safety as well, since Jacque had promised her own demise should any ill fall on his brother on her watch. And she knew he would keep that promise. It was in his tone as well as his eyes. The vampires had already lost the dragon and one of their own, and they really weren’t going to be happy to lose another.

  But what could she do that she had not already tried? Of course, her spells were aiding his healing time, but even her magic was no match for Death. Once Death decided to claim a soul, it would be hers. But perhaps they dodged a bullet this time. Perhaps the vampire would make it. />
  He opened his eyes, after all. In fact, those lovely eyes were the exact shade of the water in the ocean near her home. And those eyes were staring right at her. Questioning. Expectant.

  He wanted to know who she was.

  “I am Serena,” she told him. She leaned over him slightly so that he would be able to see her more clearly. “You were injured and I am supposed to watch over you until Jacque gets back.”

  He blinked at her and continued the stare. She had not answered his question.

  “I don’t think I am supposed to talk to you,” she said quietly. “He told me he would cut out my heart and I think I should like to keep it right where it is for now.”

  Gage laughed. Or, rather, he tried to laugh but the tube in his throat wouldn’t allow it so instead it came out as a wild shaking of his chest and garbled noise from his mouth.

  “What’s wrong? Do I need to get help?”

  Gage shook his head. He could almost hear Jacque making that very promise to her and in fact keeping it. He willed his hand to move and reached for her arm.

  She didn’t pull back from his touch. The look in his eyes was humorous and those little lines around them crinkled up. Serena thought that made him even more beautiful than before.

  “I will go and get someone to help you,” she said and hurried off into another room. Gage watched her go. Why oh why would Jacque leave him with a damned faery? It became obvious to Gage what she was the moment she spoke. Her voice was like hearing the gospel from the heavens. The most beautiful symphony ever created. That, combined with her complexion, lightly tanned and dusted with crushed diamonds, told Gage everything he needed to know.

  Everyone knew the Fae were tricksters. Why Jacque trusted this one was beyond understanding for him. She must have done something pretty amazing to even be allowed in the house, let alone left with an injured member of the family.

  Which reminded him again, he knew he was hurt, but the question still remained… What the fuck happened?