Jolie laughed.
No, it really wasn’t.
As they entered the clearing, there was no doubt they were waiting for her. Jolie was ready too, until she saw her mates.
Flynn was a bloody mess. Because they continued to abuse him, they’d weakened him enough that he couldn’t heal fast enough. His face was battered and bruised, his bare chest had slashes across it, and his boxers were covered in blood.
It broke her heart. She’d seen him like this once before, again at the hands of a vampyre.
Her eyes flickered to the other men.
Mathew appeared to still be out cold, and maybe that was for the best. Her focus was Flynn. This wasn’t her first sentencing. She’d been on the other side a few times. What was coming was Flynn’s death.
Yeah, over her death filled body.
Jacques was struggling to get free from the silver chains. She could see him trying to protect their other mate as best he could, but it wasn’t going well.
With each kick to Flynn’s body, she knew he was hurting.
Then, before she could say anything, the guardians moved in tandem. Fat metal rods were shoved through all three men’s arms, staking them to the ground.
“Welcome, Mistress,” stated Vlad.
“WHO DARES,” she whispered into the night, only to have it boom like lightning and crash around the council.
Everyone jumped.
Well, well, this must be one of Vanth’s tricks. It pleased her that Vlad and his cronies were shocked.
When going into a fight, bring your biggest, baddest weapon.
“So, you came,” Vlad stated, his voice showing the nerves.
“Did you think I wouldn’t? You entered into my home, you’ve touched my mates, and you’re abusing them.”
She glanced over at the men on the ground. Flynn was writhing in pain. That infuriated her.
“Why?” she asked.
“You re-entered our city unwelcomed, Jolie,” stated Master Vlad, stepping forward with his two guardians at his side.
It wasn’t lost on her that each one held a silver knife in their hand, ready to kill her at any moment.
“I came back to save a friend, Vlad. I’m the least of your problems. I’m only here to find the missing human. You have a vampyre killing people in your city.”
“You still broke our law.”
“I would have bartered for our time had you come to me.”
He was outraged. “It’s not my job to find you, Jolie Harcourte. We’re the alphas here. You no longer have a place on our council. How dare you try and show your power in front of us. You should be bowing at our feet!”
The guardians took a step toward her mates.
“If they touch them again, I’ll kill everyone here.”
He laughed. “You always did think yourself better than us, Jolie.”
She accepted the insult of him dropping her title. That meant nothing. Getting Flynn home was paramount.
“I see that you’re going to make this hard,” Vlad stated. “Your life is forfeited. Kill the human mate first. He was supposed to have died in that fire, and yet, here he is. Lies, Jolie. They always catch up.”
Flynn struggled weakly to get free.
It was true she lied to keep him safe, and Jolie would do it all over again.
“STOP,” she whispered, lifting one hand. Again, her voice projected around the clearing. It wasn’t lost on her that everyone obeyed, including her struggling mates. Jolie was astounded by this kind of power. Vanth was strong.
Very strong.
“What’s this?” Vlad asked, struggling to move a pinky finger.
“Fire,” she hissed, and within second both guardians, who were heading toward Flynn, burst into flames.
Their horror filled screams filled the night.
There was a gasp of fear from the council, but that didn't stop the next wave from coming. From the woods, poured more guardians.
“Stop!” she ordered, and once more, they did.
Vlad looked scared.
Good. He’d made a mess of her mate. He was going to pay, if it was the last thing she did.
“What are you? We warded against black magick. You can’t use it here!”
She laughed, her voice echoing around them. “It’s not magick, you fool.”
It occurred to him, “You’re not the same primus who was asked to leave our city! You reek of death!”
“Things change, Vlad,” she offered, moving toward her mates. “I’m not the same because of what started here with this council. You sent me away, and Genevieve hunted us down. I’m the new and improved Jolie, and trust me…you won’t like her. She kills without a conscience.”
To prove her point, she snapped her fingers and one more guardian caught fire.
Everyone stared in horror.
As she approached her mates, she gently knelt between them. “My loves,” she crooned. Gone was the scary sound of her voice, and in its place was one filled with love. She was getting the hang of Vanth’s power.
“Set me free, Jolie, and I’ll help Mathew and Flynn,” Jacques offered.
She leaned down to touch her lips to his. Without warning, both silver stakes popped from his flesh.
“I’m sorry they hurt you,” she whispered, as he sat up.
“Thank you, my love,” he replied, touching her cheek with his bloody palm. “I’ll heal. Thank you for coming for us.”
The gentleness between them wasn’t lost on the council. They watched as the darkness didn't touch the men she loved.
“Help Mathew. I’ll deal with Flynn,” she said, focusing on their mate’s wounds.
He obeyed.
“Flynn, my love,” she called.
His eyes flickered open. “You shouldn’t be risking your life,” he stated. “We’re going to discuss this when we get home.”
Jolie smiled at him. “My hero.”
Bringing her lips to his, Jolie pumped energy into his body. At the same time, she used her mind to yank the stakes from him body.
Flynn bowed in pain, but didn't break their kiss.
A guardian screamed as the silver stakes flew across the clearing and embedded themselves into his body.
There was a gasp from the council.
Jolie stroked Flynn’s cheek. “You’re a mess, Detective,” she stated. “I can’t leave you alone for a single second. You’re a trouble magnet.”
He laughed. “Yeah, well, the vamps can’t keep a good man down.”
Jolie knew that Mathew was now free too. Both men took their place behind her.
“Jolie,” Vlad began.
“Mistress Jolie,” she corrected. “You’ve hurt my mates, and one of my vampyres. I can’t let that go unnoticed. In fact, I would have been less angry had you hurt me. They’re off limits, and I guess I have to prove that.”
She held Flynn against her body.
“Vanth, have a snack.”
The demon grinned wickedly.
She headed for a vampyre. He was a pretty one with blonde hair and scared blue eyes.
“You may not want to watch this,” Jolie warned.
Of course, saying that did the exact opposite. Everyone stared as the pretty little blonde woman did her damage. Then they gasped when she showed her row after row of fangs.
The carnage began.
Vanth began feasting. There was the tearing of limbs, the scent of blood, and the screams from the still living vampyre guardian.
Even Flynn flinched. “Shit! That’s…gross.”
Death floated from her, seeking the offering. “Feed,” she whispered, and like before, her voice wasn’t her own. This time, it caressed like silk across her mates’ bodies, and like jagged shards of glass across the enemy.
There were howls of pain as they were forced to watch Vanth devour an entire vampyre before he could decay.
Bone and all.
“What are you?” Vlad hissed in horror, directing it not at the demon eating one of their own, but at
her mistress.
“I’m your worst nightmare,” she replied, still cradling Flynn against her body.
“The blame for this is on council,” she stated. “You didn't need to take this so far. You chained them like animals to the ground. These are my mates and our vampyre. They matter to me. They’re my heart and soul, and you damaged them.”
“Please,” whispered one of the vampyres as she was forced to watch her guardian being eaten.
“Oh, there will be no mercy. Not now.”
When she raised her hand, three more vampyre guardians screamed in pain. Their bodies split open, much like they’d done to Flynn. Their blood poured to the ground.
“Death, I offer you a gift,” she called, offering up the vampyres.
There was an unholy howl from the wind in the trees. Then the darkness came--this time not from only Jolie--but also Vanth. It slithered among them, feasting on the gift.
Jolie heard the pleasure in her mistress’s whispers.
“Again, I ask,” Vlad began, “what are you?”
Jolie stared at him, her eyes bleeding black. “I’m the harbinger, and I have a message from my family to yours,” she said.
At the word ‘harbinger’ there was fear.
Jolie could taste it.
“Your laws don’t apply to me. My mission supersedes yours. If this wasn’t proof enough, let me offer you more.”
With that, Jolie gently switched places with Jacques. He cradled their wounded mate as she stalked toward them.
“Whose guardian is this?” she asked, approaching one of the largest men.
“Mine,” Vlad stated.
“You know what amuses me, Vlad?” she asked.
“What?”
“Long ago, we used to take one guardian and were required to protect ourselves. You have what? Six?”
He nodded.
With a snap of her fingers, the vampyre’s head twisted off his shoulders.
There were more gasps and some weeping.
“Five.”
Vlad looked horrified. It was time to save all of the families, but mostly his.
“Jolie.”
“Tsk tsk. Flynn,” she called over her shoulder.
“Yeah, baby?” he replied, glancing over.
“Did they hurt you?”
He laughed. “You know how much vamps love humans. We’re nothing but playthings to them.”
It was all that needed to be said.
“Truth,” she whispered. “Who belongs to Vlad?”
The guardians, who did, raised their hands.
Jolie laughed in enjoyment. “You, you, you, and you,” she said, pointing at them. “Die.”
They dropped over without her even having to touch them.
“Can I eat them too?” Vanth asked, her mouth full of vampyre meat.
Now there was full blown panic.
“Maybe,” she replied.
Vlad went into spin mode. “You came into the city,” he tried again.
“Actually, Vlad, you very bad boy. I didn’t. If you think about where my home is, you invaded without permission. I’m on the outskirts of Philly. See, that’s a technicality, and if I was taking you before a council for pulling a stunt like this, you’d be the one who had to…”
“Please don’t say it.”
Jolie saw the fear.
She laughed.
“Vanth,” she said, calling to her demoness.
The woman approached, a bloody mess. “Yes, Mistress?” she asked.
“I want to give him a reason to remember me. So, it looks like you’ll get more vampyre to snack on.”
He looked horrified.
“Give me your hand,” she said, and Vlad was unable to fight it. When it was held out for her, she pointed at his fingers. “I think the pinky is best.”
Vlad struggled to pull away, but it was useless.
“Wait, Mistress,” he begged. “We didn't kill them for a reason. I suspected this was a set up.”
“Speak,” Jolie stated, moving back to her mates. “If you don’t make me happy, my pet is going to eat your fingers one by one until you do.”
He was horrified.
“That’s torture, Vlad. Learn it, and remember not to screw with me.”
“The messenger came from Genevieve’s old family. I found it odd that we were getting information about you. We didn't kill your mates for that reason.”
She sat on the ground, pulling Flynn to her body. “Yet, look what you did to one of them. You hurt my mate. That’s unforgivable. What if I did that to yours, Vlad?”
She pointed at the redheaded woman off to the side. She was slowly dragged toward them.
“Please.”
Jolie pointed at her, and she dropped to her knees, then her back, and before she could protest, or Vlad, for that matter, the silver stakes they’d used found her limbs.
She screamed in pain.
Vlad couldn’t reach her.
Jolie ignored both of them. She had to worry about her mate. He was weak. “Flynn, my love, feed from me.”
He was so hungry, that he didn't even have to call his fangs out. They slipped into place right before he pulled her throat to his mouth.
Everyone watched as he drank from her body.
“He smells like a human, but he’s not!” Vlad hissed. “What are all of you?” he asked again.
Jolie was focused on the sensation of her mate’s mouth moving over her flesh. It made her warm and tingly inside, and out. Jolie hated hurting her kind, but what wouldn’t she do for her mates?
The answer was nothing.
When he pulled away, she shared a kiss. “Better?”
He grinned. “A little.”
“Vanth, have a small snack.”
The demoness bit down into Vlad’s finger, severing it from his hand. Then, she happily munched.
“It tastes like chicken.”
The man screamed in pain.
All the vampyres surrounding him looked freaked out, like they were next on the menu.
“She’s a bottomless pit. She could devour you all, and not fill up. So, if any of you come near my family again, I’ll feed you to Vanth. Don’t challenge me.”
“Yes, Mistress,” stated Vlad, dropping to his knees as his hand healed, missing one finger.”
“Don’t bow to her! She’s not our leader!” shouted another vampyre.
Jolie released her mate to find the belligerent vampyre. “Didn’t I make myself clear?”
Lydia grimaced. “You were to leave our city for good and not return. You broke the rules of your excommunication!”
“Good point, and until this moment, I obeyed that. You see, we’re at a stalemate. Your leader attacked my home and family. We both broke the rules. So, we’ll call it even.”
Vlad was still staring down at his hand in horror. “Mistress, can’t we forgive all this? If I were to agree to allow you back in the city, what would it get us?”
She found that funny.
Jolie crossed toward Vlad’s redheaded mate. “I think I’ll take her as my price.”
He stared. “Please.”
“Oh, you don’t mind taking my mate, but you don’t like it yourself. Then maybe you shouldn’t be such an asshole.”
Flynn snorted. “That’s our girl.”
“What’s your name?” she asked the woman, who was staked to the ground.
“Valerie.”
Jolie kneeled beside her. Leaning down, her lips moved softly over the trapped woman’s. A blue haze of energy was sucked from her body and into Jolie’s. When she broke free, she stared into her eyes. “Maybe I’ll drain her dry.”
Jacques and Flynn stared at each other. That little trick was new. They weren’t sure if it was a byproduct of Vanth, or something else.
The woman pinned to the ground looked scared.
Vlad tried to bargain with her to save his mate’s life. “What if we revoked the terms of your punishment? Would you be willing to aid us?”
Sh
e was amused. “What do you want, Vlad?”
“Mistress Jolie, there’s a serial killer in the city, and it’s again one of us. We just can’t find the culprit. Would you be willing to hunt and destroy the individual behind this?”
She laughed. “Like last time?”
“Yes.”
Jolie couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You want my help when you ordered my excommunication? Why should I help you after what you’ve done to the men I love?” she asked, staring at him.
“Jolie, please.”
“Why?” Again, her voice boomed and the council jumped at the crashing sound.
“She’s one of your vampyres, isn’t she?”
Well, he had her there.
“If you hunt her, we’ll leave you alone.”
Flynn started laughing from the ground. “That’s priceless since you’ve lost a bunch of guardians, your mate is about to be Jolie’s snack, and our little hungry elf ate your finger.”
“He has a point,” Jolie said, smiling. “I hold all the cards.”
“Please. She’s your mess to clean up, and we won’t get in your way. You can take her down, destroy her, or do whatever comes to mind.”
Jolie appreciated the man’s honesty, and Zola was her problem. She should have killed her earlier.
“I’ll discuss it with my mates and let you know.”
Mistress Lydia was the first to speak up. “Why must you consult with them? Are you not the primus? One is merely a human and the other was once your guardian. They shouldn’t be involved in this. It’s a matter for the strong.”
Jolie stopped in front of the woman and glared at her. She was almost as tall as Jacques and just as big. While Lydia made Jolie look like a small woman, she wasn’t afraid.
“My mates and I are equals, Lydia. If they have to risk their lives, then they have equal say in all our decisions.”
Vlad interrupted. “We’ll await your call.”
Jolie was calm now. Flynn was better, Mathew didn't look as scared, and Jacques was watching her back.
“Come, my loves. We’ll return to our home,” she said, facing Vlad. “I’m assuming that I’ve killed all the guardians who have been in my home?”
“Yes.”
“If you come there again, bad things will happen. Mark my words, Vlad.”
He nodded. “Yes, Mistress.”
“I’ll call you tonight or tomorrow with my decision,” she said, pointing at Vanth. “Please carry Mathew.”
Dangerous Retaliation (The Harcourte Vampyre Society Book 4) Page 12