“Oh shit! Is she insane?’
Chloe had tried to stop her, but she’d told her she’d be fine. ‘You’ll have to take that up with her, but Master Jacques wants you to drop everything and get there fast.’
He would.
Already, Flynn was heading through the precinct with his keys in hand.
‘I’m on my way now,’ he said breaking off the connection.
Outside, the sun nearly blinded him.
There was one thing for sure.
He was going to either die from the stress, or teach his mate one hell of a lesson.
* * * H a r c o u r t e * * *
Jolie Harcourte’s
Office
It was a slow morning for her.
Her office manager was off for the day, and she was holding down the fort. There was something cathartic about seeing her patients.
Some were insane.
Others, they just needed someone to listen to them. Helping them always gave her a great sense of satisfaction. It was her calling in life, and she loved it.
There were only two ‘things’ she loved more.
Her mates.
Jolie knew they were going to be irate that she didn’t have an escort to work, but she couldn’t wait to get into the office. Flynn had been awoken by a call, and she felt him leave. It was getting easier now that she didn’t sink as deeply into death’s grips.
When he was gone, Jacques looked so peaceful, and he was still healing.
Yes, she should have awoken him, but he needed to heal. If she took Chloe, their home would be unprotected. The Tueur was tricky, and she stood a better chance going on her own. They wouldn’t expect it.
So, when she arrived at her office, she parked in a spot beside the elevator, used her mind to open the doors, and made a break for it.
The Tueur wouldn’t attack in her office.
There would be too many people around, so she was safe. In a little while, she’d call Flynn and have him stop by for lunch.
That was code for hot sex in her office.
As she ran her hand over the baby bump, she could feel them fluttering around. Even though it was day, they still moved.
Jolie loved it.
Being a mom was going to be a beautiful thing.
She couldn’t wait.
Now, she had one more appointment that had to be handled, and she could coast through the day. Flynn had asked her to close the office, and she’d found a doctor to take over for her. Doctor Tomes had graciously agreed to meet with her and talk shop. When Flynn heard that she was done in the office until the babies were born, he was going to be ecstatic.
Now that he was taking on hunting down the Tueur, they would be leaving the country soon.
There was no way in hell that she was letting him do it alone.
It wasn’t happening.
They were a unit.
When this was all over, and the leader of the Tueur was dead, they would be by his side as he controlled the Tueur. If Flynn, or Death, thought that they’d let him go off alone, it was never happening.
They were one.
A unit.
A family.
Jacques and Jolie would give up their home in order to be by his side. After all, look what Flynn had given up.
Jolie made a mental note to tell Jacques what had happened while he was with death the previous night.
He needed to know in order to make plans.
They might have to disband their family.
It all came down to Flynn and the hunt for the man trying to kill her children.
As the door to her office opened, Jolie smiled at the doctor. He was wearing his round spectacles, his hound’s-tooth jacket, and a smile on his face.
She was sure he was enjoying it. This was one more reason she opted to come to work alone.
Flynn would de-spine the man for looking at her.
Jacques would feast on his blood.
It was just easier this way, and she knew it. At least the man would survive another day.
“Good morning Doctor,” she said sweetly. “Thank you for meeting with me this morning.”
“No problem, Jolie. I am more than happy to help you out, and any day a beautiful woman wants to have me in her presence, I can’t say no.”
Yeah, that was the stuff that would get him killed.
She’d been right.
“Would you care for a cup of tea?” she asked, standing from behind her office manager’s desk to pour the tea into a delicate china cup.
“Thank you,” he said nervously looking around.
She wasn’t paying attention to him, and that was going to work to his advantage. Doctor Tomes had made sure Jolie’s assistant was off that day before he entered the room.
This was the perfect time for them to be alone.
Jolie started toward him with the tea. All he needed was for her to get closer.
When she was three feet from him, he was ready.
Jolie balanced the files under her arm and the china cup in her hand. Before she could reach him, she saw a flash behind the doctor.
It took seconds to recognize it.
Only, she didn’t have time.
It was Death’s messenger.
She was pointing at her.
In the daylight, Jolie didn’t have the cat like reflexes. Now, she was merely human-esque.
She didn’t feed after sex, so she couldn’t call for death. This was going to be a mistake that she paid for with blood.
Before she could move away from the doctor she saw the glint of the silver.
He moved so quickly.
Pain ripped through her throat as she stepped back. Jolie’s blood exploded from her throat in a spray.
She stumbled, her hand going to the gaping wound. She didn’t have much choice.
She needed to go to death.
Only, if she did, she was dead.
He was holding the blade menacingly, and she knew he wasn’t finished with her.
“I’m sorry, Jolie, but the Tueur is right. These babies have to die,” he said, moving toward her as she hit the floor. “I’m a donor, in case you didn’t know, and I wish I didn’t have to do this,” he said.
She blinked rapidly, using what energy was left to call for her mates.
There was hope.
She prayed.
“You should have just ended the pregnancy like they asked. Had you, then you wouldn’t have to die.”
Jolie couldn’t speak. The wound in her throat was too deep. She placed her one hand protectively over her stomach as she felt death screaming for her to leave.
He began his assault on her.
Jolie watched the blade slice into her body over and over again. At his first strike, she noticed the blackness clouding her vision.
It was over.
She was over.
He was using silver, and she’d never heal.
Jolie wept in her mind, knowing that she’d never see the men she loved again, or the birth of their children.
Her choice hurt them all.
Jolie had accepted her fate.
And she mourned it.
* * * H a r c o u r t e * * *
They both heard the plea.
Neither mate could get to her fast enough. As they both pulled into the parking lot, Jacques raced for the stairs, Flynn behind him.
Neither man spoke.
When they approached the locked door, Flynn used his bulk to open it. The door shattered in the frame, splinters of wood going everywhere.
As they entered, they found Doctor Tomes above Jolie’s body, bloody, holding a blade as he tried to eviscerate her.
Flynn moved, leaving their mate to Jacques.
He roared in anger with his fangs descending, claws out, and eyes black as night. The man began backing away, but it didn’t matter.
Flynn could smell his mate’s spilled blood.
All he could think about was their woman and children. The rage overtook him. He crashed in
to the doctor, taking him to the floor. They slid into Jolie’s assistant’s desk, and it too splintered apart.
Bones popped and snapped as Flynn tore the man to pieces. His claws destroyed flesh, and in that minute, he was glad the filthy human couldn’t heal.
He wanted him to suffer.
When the doctor screamed, Flynn buried his claws in the soft tissue of the man’s belly.
He ripped him open like a present on Christmas morning.
Then, he began drinking from him in gulps.
He consumed more blood than he thought possible because he knew they needed to save their mate.
When he was done, he glanced over at Jacques. He was cradling Jolie in his arms.
His face said it all.
Their mate was bad.
Crossing the room, he forced his fangs back into his mouth.
The sight of her battered and broken body made him irate.
“He abused her.”
Flynn howled in rage.
The windows actually shook.
“We need to get out of here,” Jacques stated. “She’s with death, so she’s not bleeding. If we wake her to feed, she’s going to leach blood.”
“You drive. I’ll hold her,” Flynn said, as they headed downstairs.
They had a mess to contain. Later, Jacques was going to have to come back and clean up the remains. They didn’t need a bloody crime scene in her office.
In the vehicle, Flynn sat. Jacques placed her on his lap, and he cradled her. With his hand, he sent energy into the little lives living in her body.
He also prayed.
For them.
For her.
For everyone.
To lose Jolie, or the babies, would be a crushing blow. There was no way they’d recover. Jacques would be crushed.
Flynn knew they needed to do something.
He called for Vanth.
‘Contact Death. We need her. We’ll be home in five minutes. Have her there and ready to bargain.’
‘Yes, Master.’
“Flynn, don’t do it,” Jacques warned. He could hear his mate’s thoughts, and he knew what he was planning. “If you offer your life for hers, we’re still in the same boat.”
He didn’t care.
Flynn couldn’t go on without either of them. If one of them had to go down, it should be him. After all, this was his fault. Work had called, and he raced out not even thinking twice about the ramifications.
He should have been more worried about his pregnant woman instead of the case.
“Let me do what I have to do,” he said.
Jacques tried to do what he could to save Flynn. “You won’t do this,” he said, staring him in the eyes in the mirror. Jacques had enough energy to try to sway the man’s mind with compulsion.
Flynn’s eyes bled black.
“Don’t try it, Jacques. You don’t want to make me angry. I’m not a child.”
Shit!
Flynn was stronger than he thought.
He pulled into the garage and followed his mate. Flynn kicked in each door, trying to get Jolie to their quarters. There were thick plops of her blood hitting the floor as he walked, and they sounded like bombs going off in his head.
Flynn was on the edge.
Inside the room, Death was lounging on their bed.
“Are they dead?” Flynn asked, forcing himself to go back to his more human state. Death preferred him that way, and he was willing to be the offering on her sick altar to save the woman he loved.
Death simply patted the bed beside her. Jacques placed his hand on Flynn’s arm to stop him, but the man was too strong. If he survived this, they were going to talk.
Flynn carried Jolie there, gently placing her on the bed beside Death.
He watched as her hand went to Jolie’s midsection.
“They aren’t dead yet, but they’re close.”
“Can you save them?” he asked.
“You know it costs a price.”
Yeah, he was well aware.
Slowly, Death moved from the bed and toward him. She licked her blood red lips, and he wanted to weep. He’d kissed Death once, and he hated it.
He was pretty sure she was going to want more than a simple kiss to save Jolie.
“You’ll join me for a little while,” she said.
Flynn’s body went ramrod stiff. “How long is a little while?”
“A millennium.”
Flynn hated the idea of losing them for a thousand years. He didn’t know if he could do it, but what choice did he have?
Jacques went to object, but Death waved her hand. His mouth sealed shut.
Literally.
He couldn’t open it.
“What do you say, Detective?”
“Fix them and heal her. I’ll give you what you ask to know they’re safe.”
“Deal.”
She snapped her fingers.
Jolie’s wounds were gone.
“I want to say goodbye.”
She laughed. “To him, yes. To her, no. She will wake shortly.”
Flynn crossed to his mate. “Unseal his lips.”
Death snapped.
Flynn knew he didn’t have long.
“Tell her I love her. Make sure you keep my daughter safe, and you tell her that I’ll see her again. I swear I’ll be back. Wait for me, Jacques. Tell Jolie and our children that I will only survive this thinking about you four.”
Jacques hugged him. “Flynn, don’t do it. Please don’t do it. We’ll find a way. We’ll call Mambo. We’ll save them without losing one of us.”
“It’s only a thousand years,” he said, horrified by the magnitude of that.
“We’ll wait for you and never give up,” Jacques promised. “We’ll find a way to fix this.”
He hoped they did.
“I love you, Jacques,” he said, holding him. “Goodbye.”
He regretfully set him free to slip out of his suit jacket and gun harness. Where he was going, he wouldn’t need it. Flynn dropped them on the floor. Then he kissed Jolie. He ran shaking fingers over her cheek.
“I love you more than my life. Raise my daughter to be just like you,” he said. A tear slipped down his cheek. “Tell her that I loved her before I even met her, and that I’d do anything to make sure she had a shot at life. She’ll always be my little girl.”
He touched his ring on her motionless finger. He memorized her face for the next thousand years of unimaginable hell.
“Je’taime, mon amour. I’ll be back.”
Then he faced Death. “I’m ready. Let’s get this millennium over with.”
She touched his arm, and they vanished.
“Vanth! Wake her! We have to save Flynn!” Jacques said, rushing toward the bed.
Vanth did as he asked, knowing this was going to be bad.
When Jolie found out…
He touched her cheek. As she opened her eyes, she sat up gasping in that first breath.
“Am I dead?” she asked.
Jacques had tears in his eyes. “Flynn saved you.”
She stared down at his bloodied suit jacket and gun holster. It was coated in gore but he was nowhere to be found.
“Where is he?”
He didn’t know how to tell her.
“Jacques! Where is he?”
“He’s gone.”
“Where?”
Vanth took over. “He bartered with Death to save you and the children.”
Jolie started to panic.
She couldn’t feel him. When she reached for him, there was nothing but dead space.
“Where is he, Jacques?”
He couldn’t speak.
“He’s gone, Jolie. I’m sorry.”
She stared at Vanth. “What? Gone?”
“He’s given Death his life for the next millennium. He’s in servitude for your life.”
Jolie had to have heard her wrong.
It couldn’t be true.
There was no way.
Wh
en Jacques began crying, she knew what she had done. Jolie had cost the man she loved his life. He was now nothing more than Death’s slave. She thought back to the men who had served her.
Her poor Flynn.
What had she done to him?
How could he ever forgive her?
∞ Chapter Twenty-Six ∞
Flynn didn’t put up a fight. When he opened his eyes in the garish room, he didn’t even flinch. If he was going to save the woman he loved and their children, he’d keep his word.
Yes, it sucked.
Yes, he hated it.
To be honest, he wasn’t sure how he was going to survive. The only thing he had was the hope that when the thousand years were up, they’d be waiting for him.
And that they’d both survive without him.
Flynn stoically stood in Death’s chamber without saying a word. Gone were his clothes and in their place were leather pants and a black leather collar.
Great.
He was going to play chew toy for Death.
This really sucked.
“I need to feed every day. I think I’ll enjoy having you,” Death said, crossing her long legs.”
“That’s fine.”
“That’s fine, what?”
“That’s fine, Mistress.”
“You’re well trained. Jolie should be proud of her pet.”
Flynn didn’t speak. One, he didn’t really care to talk to Death. While he had to be her blood supply for the millennium, he didn’t have to like it. Two, he hated her for pulling him away from Jolie and his family. Had Death really wanted to see the babies born, she wouldn’t have jacked with them.
Right?
Suddenly, the wheels in his head began turning. He needed to figure a way out of this mess, and that might be it.
Death moved toward him, gliding effortlessly across the floor. She was now wearing something that Flynn assumed was to seduce him.
It wasn't working.
At all.
He would serve, but he wouldn’t enjoy it. Death may hold all the power, but she didn’t hold the most important thing.
His heart.
“You will come here and be my feast. If you’re good, you’ll enjoy it.”
He didn’t care.
He would mark off the days in his own blood before he ever enjoyed another woman’s—Death’s—touch.
Dangerous Influence (The Harcourte Vampyre Society Book 5) Page 31