Rafe cleared his throat. “Jessie, it will help if you focus on me.”
She turned back to face Rafe.
Ricard glared over her head. Not blinking he stared at Rafe.
“Good. Now, think back.” The smooth, accented allure of Rafe’s voice floated in the air.
Jessica visibly relaxed, her shoulders dropping a bit, her body swaying. She did exactly what every human did when a vampire worked his magic.
“What do you recall of…”
The sound of Rafe’s voice trailed away, replaced by Ricard’s own words. Who does he think he is? What gives him the right? They are all the same. Every one of those bastards is exactly the same.
Jessica jolted forward, fully awake. She turned to Ricard, a questioning look on her face.
He realized he had no idea what Rafe had asked, whether he’d probed a portion of Jessica’s psyche where he should not have gone.
He’d failed to protect her.
She touched his hands, and he realized he was squeezing her harder than he meant. He released her at once.
“Ricard, you worry for no reason. I feel it. Nothing happened the last time and you’re standing right here this time. So there should be no worry.” With arms crossed over her chest, she massaged her shoulders.
The sight of her soothing away any pain he caused her, made Ricard hate himself. Again he was failing his mate. Again the Barones were destroying his world.
“Do you want to try first?” Rafe asked.
“We know a vampire cannot compel his mate so there is no point,” Ricard growled. His heels clicked the linoleum as he stepped back from the chair, fearful he’d hurt her once more. “But I must admit I am not able to allow you to do it.”
“Is it Rafe or anyone?” Serge asked.
“It is him.” Ricard breathed deeply, breaths that sounded angry and feral.
In centuries he had not lost his temper. He’d worked hundreds of years to forgive and to not hold the sins of one against another. But here he felt the rage he’d bottled away rearing its head.
Only this time he did not believe he wanted to hold it back. He would not live through a recurrence of what happened all those years ago.
Rafe stood, pushing the chair back. He watched Ricard, not blinking.
“If I am honest, it is Rafe and Gabe more than any other. But there is no way I can allow anyone to touch my mate’s mind.” He shook his head. “She is my mate. I will kill to keep her safe.”
“But you are here. You said earlier you trusted these men with your own life.” Jessica stood and faced Ricard then stopped. “Your eyes.”
He knew what his eyes must look like. He’d seen it before, and the last time it had lasted for years. No longer would his eyes be the deep purple color. They were not alluring. Instead, now they lit with a red fire that screamed a warning of what would come next.
“I fight the beast within.” His voice dropped to a deep whisper as he fought not to roar his answer. “It is a battle I fear losing.”
“How much have you told her?” Rafe asked.
Jessica did not move. Her confusion was palpable, and Ricard was certain even Serge and Rafe felt it.
“We’ve had so little time together.” He stared past Jessica at Rafe, his mind’s eye focused on vengeance. His shoulders were wide, arms hanging at his side, hands opening and closing to fists. Over and over he flexed and curled his hands.
Rafe tossed his leather jacket aside. “It is time, brother, to clear the air once and for all.”
Ricard pulled Jessica behind him. “There is no clearing the air.”
Chapter Eighteen
Standing behind Ricard, Jessie curled her hands around his biceps, feeling the muscles taught beneath her palms. She knew in that moment with two vampires about to fight she should be terrified and probably run from the room, screaming for help.
But she could not leave Ricard. Something told her she needed to stay, that he needed her now more than she understood.
“I am sorry for what happened, Ricard, but you must move beyond,” Rafe said.
“You are blood of his blood. Twice created by him. I can no more forgive and move beyond than I can live on the sun.” Anger vibrated off Ricard with an intensity that nearly made it impossible to touch him.
“I am not my father. Nor is Gabe.”
“Apples and trees.”
Jessie peered around Ricard’s arm to see Serge leaning against the wall, arms folded over his chest. Rafe stood on the opposite side of the table. Like Ricard, he too, had clenched fists and fangs.
“You blame us, but we were not there that night.” Rafe tilted his head from one side to the other, cracking his neck and drawing attention to the pulsing tattoo on his skin. The sound made Jessie queasy. “We were not even vampires at that time.”
“History always repeats itself. But not this time. Not again. I will not allow you to take what matters most to me.” Hatred and anger flared around Ricard.
Rafe responded with a grunt and a flash of his fangs.
Then, as if traveling through some hidden tunnel between them, fear wove its way into Jessie’s heart. As clear as she was standing in this room she knew it was not her own. Logically, she should have been afraid, and she did feel a level of fear, but this was not her own. This new sensation was separate of her. It was apart from any personal feeling she had.
Pushing down deeper as though to get away, it grew stronger rather than subsiding. Jessie recognized it at once. Ricard’s deepest worry was laid bare between them, and no matter how he tried, he could not hide it from her.
The cold and lonely chill burrowed further, yet went nowhere.
“Ricard?” Jessie whispered, wanting to keep her voice soft and low so as not to fuel either man any further. “What happened?”
When Ricard turned to look at her, his eyes, redder than before, glistened. He opened his mouth but said nothing. Then shook his head.
“My father killed his mate,” Rafe said.
“He stole her, tortured, then killed her.” Ricard’s words were laced with hatred. “My world and all that I cherished died that night.”
Jessie’s heart broke for the man she loved. She knew it was not simply sympathy for his heartache that caused her tears to flow, but that they had been thrust into this situation.
“You have been given a gift,” Rafe said.
“A gift you dare to steal,” Ricard shouted.
“I have a mate, one I value above all else. Gabriele has a mate. Neither of us has any intention of hurting Jessie. We would protect her for you just as you would defend ours.”
“Words. Hollow words.” Ricard’s voice echoed in the lab.
“Hollow?” Rafe roared. “Do you not recall that I, too, am a victim of my father? He turned me. My father killed me and made me a vampire. He killed my mother. He caused me to kill my own fiancée. I am not my father.”
“So easy for the great Rafe to throw around words.” Ricard growled.
“You truly believe I would hurt Jessie?” Rafe said.
“His hideous bloodline lives on through you and Gabe, Aurelia, and whoever else.”
Rafe tossed the table aside. “There are no others.”
“We all know Tyrone has built serum from Gabe’s blood. Who knows how many revenants are from your bloodline? How many people have you to thank for their disastrous lives?” Ricard stepped toward Rafe. From his pocket he drew a dagger with such speed Jessie nearly missed the action. “If you think I’m taking any chance with Jessica’s life around you, you’re crazy. You’ll die first.”
From the corner of Jessie’s eye she saw two dogs scurry around a corner.
“I’ll have my vengeance on the Barones. I will not rest until you pay.”
“Ricard, you do not mean what you say.” Serge finally spoke, and his words served only to intensify Ricard’s anger.
“Don’t tell me what I mean. You’ve never—”
“Think before you speak further,” Serge said
.
Jessie reached for her mate, resting her hand on his shoulder. She wished they were alone so she could hold him and try to make him forget his pain. “Ricard, look at me.”
She turned his chin toward her, forcing him to focus on her. “Trust in me. Nothing will happen.”
“You do not understand,” he said as his eyes filled with tears. “You should never understand.”
Jessie held Ricard’s face in her palms. “You’re right. I don’t know all that’s happened, but I know with every part of me that nothing is going to happen. Nothing will take me from you.” Gently smoothing away the few tears to escape down Ricard’s cheeks, she continued. “Rafe has been nothing but kind, and his love for Maddie is so clear and true. He doesn’t have it in him to hurt another man’s love.”
Lines appeared in Ricard’s forehead and his breathing slowed. Jessie felt him work to calm the agitation coursing through his body. At that moment she knew she’d have done anything in her power to comfort this man.
If Raymond Tyrone had never turned to such devious behavior none of this would have happened. Joshua would still be alive. Her parents would probably both still be here. The entire city would never have suffered. There would be no reason for any vampire to try to use his influence to unlock secrets hidden in her mind.
Ricard dropped the dagger and cupped his hand against her head, slipping his fingers into the soft curls. “I cannot lose you.”
Chapter Nineteen
“You’ll never lose me,” Jessica said, leaning into Ricard’s chest and holding him tightly.
Ricard felt her perspective as plainly as if he were reading it on a board. She believed Rafe would not hurt her. Nothing about him made her nervous. This fact left Ricard more uneasy. Somehow the Barones had managed to blind his mate to true danger.
Jessica had no idea what the Barones were capable of. She was not aware of the drive that made the brothers deadly. They played it off as skill, fooling even Serge into believing they were needed to keep The Guard and Central City safe.
Ricard knew otherwise. He had seen first hand what their father did. He lived to tell what it was like to have his mate brutalized and murdered at the hand of a Barone.
Jessica’s desire to erase the hurt and anger he carried with him was so strong it practically existed on its own outside of her. But her wish was not to be. A vampire never forgot losing his mate and he never escaped the pain.
The lab door burst open. “Rafe!” Maddie screamed. The little nurse ran into the room, her face bright red, and her breathing ragged.
“I’m fine, love.” Rafe turned toward her, catching her in his arms and holding her in much the same way Ricard held Jessica.
Behind her two more Barones entered the room.
“I brought Gabe and Aurelia. I didn’t know what to do. I felt it. Your, that, whatever that is. I felt it.” Maddie clung to Rafe’s shirt, pulling him down to eye level. “You’re sure you’re all right?” She whipped a tiny flashlight from her pocket and flashed it into his eyes. “I just…”
Jessica turned to face the new arrivals. She did not release her hold on Ricard, a point he appreciated more than he could admit.
“There’s no change.” Maddie checked both eyes. “Ricard, what do you think?” Still holding the flashlight, she turned. “I don’t understand why they aren’t improving. It’s been weeks and it makes no sense for his eyes to still be dilated like this. I knew we should have had the scientist study you first.” She looked back at Rafe again. “Of course, I’m happy I was the one to take care of you, but still, a scientist as smart as Ricard could have easily…”
Ricard watched the brothers and their mates. Each couple seemed perfectly matched. The men moving with the women, always maintaining a close, protective stance, and never taking their attention from Ricard.
They were wise to be leery of him. A man does not keep control of pent-up rage forever. At some point he must release the pressure.
“What’s going on?” Gabe asked, positioning himself before Aurelia, Maddie, and Rafe. “Are we finally to pay for the sins of our father?”
The younger of the brothers was equally as protective of his family as Rafe. It was a trait Ricard had long admired. If he was honest, he had to admit it was a trait they did not get from their father.
“It seems history must be addressed in order for us to move forward, and forward we must go, if we are to serve Central City and stop Panthera.” Serge closed the door behind Aurelia. “This has long been coming, and I for one, would like the details put on the table and dealt with.”
“It’s easy for you to want that.” Ricard stepped back a few feet, pulling Jessica with him.
Here were the children of the man who destroyed his world. Together they sought to challenge him. How could Serge, a man he’d respected for longer than either of these devil spawn existed align himself with them? How could it be that fate would twice take the only thing he ever wanted? How could he twice lose love?
He would surely die this time. He would force them to kill him, too.
“Ricard?” Jessica whispered, her voice so soft he barely heard it. Her fear rippled across his body, which in turn caused him to hate himself for putting her in this position.
Why had they found each other? Why had he been put in this position again? It was as though he’d been fated to a destiny of continual torture and constant agony.
Ricard held her more tightly, trying to focus a calming sensation toward her, but he could not maintain the illusion. His desire to end the Barone line was far too strong. He glanced at Serge. If this man whom he once vowed to follow was so hypocritical and in allegiance with these vile men, Ricard would waste no time forcing this confrontation. “You have never lost—”
“I remind you again to watch your tongue.” Serge took a seat at the table.
“You were not vampire at the time of your loss. You were not bound to the woman.” Ricard stared down the leader, knowing Serge’s loss was catastrophic to him. But they had not been bound in the supernatural way a vampire binds himself to his mate.
Jessica’s breath caught.
“The vampire connection is closer, tighter than the human understanding of love. It is a combining of souls, a thing of absolute perfection. When that is broken, there is no greater loss,” Ricard explained.
“That may be so, but I, too, have lost all that I lived for. Not only my wife, but my son.” Serge’s eyes darkened. “And I remind you, I have no other vampire to blame for my loss but myself.”
Jessica squirmed in Ricard’s hold, turning around to face the group. She leaned back into Ricard’s body and held tight to his arm.
“Ricard, is it not best to begin this new relationship without the interference of hatred?” Serge pushed a chair back from the table. “Come. Let us discuss the loss of your mate. Let’s address the murder of your original mate.”
Chapter Twenty
A cold and hollow sensation swamped Jessie’s body, nearly buckling her knees, but she remained upright, holding onto Ricard.
The last few moments had been an overload of information and emotion. Learning that Ricard had loved before was not the most shocking discovery. Learning that he’d bound his heart to another who had been killed, and then lived with the tormented heart for who knew how long was a surprise.
The intensity of the feelings she already had for Ricard without the full consummation of the bond was awe-inspiring. Already she could not imagine her world without him. The thought of it was equally as horrifying as losing her family.
She could not truly comprehend how Ricard had remained sane all these years.
The anger coming from him was darker and far more potent than anything she had ever experienced herself. Even in these hours since Joshua’s death, after realizing her entire family had been one big Panthera experiment, her anger and wish to avenge the people she loved did not compare to what she felt from Ricard.
He hated these men. This hatred seemed to have feste
red for a long time, hidden away as though it did not exist. But it had been there all along, waiting and growing.
She tried to think of the love she felt for her family, of the new and special love she felt for Ricard, in hopes he would feel her intentions and find it soothing. There was nothing she wanted more than to soothe the pain her mate felt.
Serge nodded toward the brothers. “Let’s bring the tension down a notch. Please sit.”
“Our mates,” Rafe said. He stared over Jessie’s head at Ricard.
With their mates positioned behind them both brothers kept menacing glowers focused at Ricard.
“They should go. I will not risk Aurelia or Maddie. They had nothing to do with what our father did. They will not be made to suffer.” Gabe stepped back with his arms out, corralling both women back toward the door.
Jessie looked closely at Aurelia. There was something familiar about her, though at the moment she couldn’t put her finger on it.
Rafe jockeyed around him, positioning one brother at the forefront as the other ensured a safe exit of the mates.
Keeping Jessie held close to him, Ricard retreated farther from the group.
“I’m not leaving,” the female vampire said. “Oh, no. There is no way I’m leaving you here alone. Are you leaving?” She looked at Maddie.
“Uh, no. Honestly, this is the stuff I’m always talking about, the super macho weirdo vampire stuff. No insult intended, Aurelia.” Maddie ducked under Gabe’s arm and raced back to the center of the room where Serge had replaced the table. Rafe quickly ushered her behind him.
“None taken.” Aurelia darted around Gabe and came to stand beside Rafe so quickly Jessie nearly missed the move.
“Aurelia!” Gabe appeared at her side. “This is no time for—”
“For what? Disobeying my master?” She grinned.
“This is why they need to be made to leave.” Gabe tossed Aurelia over his shoulder, scooped Maddie under his arm, and attempted to back toward the door with very little success as both women did not go willingly. “They do not understand the danger of this situation. They mock us!”
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