The demoness did as asked.
Flynn was barely able to stand, so Jacques supported his weight.
As Jolie left, the black tendrils followed close behind, licking at the other vampyres as they passed by.
When they arrived at the Hummer, Vanth loaded Mathew into the front seat and hopped in to drive.
Jolie settled between her mates.
“May I return to Chloe for now?” inquired Vanth, glancing over her shoulder.
“Yes, thank you.”
“Wait,” stated Flynn.
The demoness stared over at him. “Yes, Master?”
“Tastes like chicken? Where are you getting those chickens from? Hell?”
Vanth winked at him. “Don’t ask questions that you don’t want the answer to,” she teased.
It was the first break of humor they had all night.
When Chloe looked up, her eyes were normal again. “Why do I have a funny taste in my mouth?” she asked.
Jolie covered Flynn’s mouth with her hand. “Don’t do it.”
“Home, Mistress?”
“Yes, please.”
Flynn slid down into Jolie’s lap, closing his eyes. “We’re going to discuss this later.”
“I was safe. Vanth is pretty powerful.”
Yeah, they noticed. Thankfully, she was on their side.
“We’re still going to discuss this,” Flynn stated.
Jacques agreed.
“Yes, my loves,” she offered. Jolie was just glad she’d gotten them back. “Whatever you say.”
They stared at her.
Tonight was one shock after another. They never expected that.
∞ Chapter Nine ∞
The house seemed eerily silent as the five entered into their protected confines. Deep down, Jolie was still angry that their sanctuary was violated by the council’s guardians.
It wasn’t lost on her that this could have all ended very differently. Without Vanth, offering up her powers to Jolie, she would have had to battle into that council and shed blood to save her mates.
Tonight, they were lucky.
Damn lucky, in fact.
“Mistress,” Chloe said, getting Jolie’s attention. “Mathew needs blood and to be cleaned up.”
Since she was the only one who didn't get hurt, Jolie knew she’d be their best choice. They couldn’t weaken Chloe, since she was standing guard over them all night.
“I’ll handle it,” she said, taking a seat on Mathew’s bed. When she touched his arm, he was cool. “Wake for me,” she called, waiting for his eyes to open.
When they did, she knew he wasn’t too drained.
He was more scared.
Jolie could read it in his eyes. Someone had come into his space to take him away. That terrified the hell out of him.
“Are you going to be okay?”
“I think so.”
Jolie brushed a long strand of hair from his face. “Are you freaked out?” she asked.
“No.”
“Mathew?”
“Yes,” he whispered, so low that he barely heard himself say it. “Please don’t tell the masters. I don’t want them to stop training me.”
She understood.
“I’m sure they were scared too.”
He laughed. “I doubt it. Master Flynn was getting abused, and all he wanted was to kill them. I would have been too scared.”
Jolie took his hand in hers. “Flynn’s a special case, Mathew. He’s a cop. He spends all day facing down nightmares. He’s not going to flinch easily.”
She tried to make him feel better.
“I guess.”
“How about some blood?” she offered, knowing she needed to get back to her mates.
He nodded.
Jolie held out her wrist, and immediately she saw the disappointment.
Obviously, he’d been hoping for her throat.
Yeah, her mates wouldn’t like that--at all.
Delicately, he bit down into her flesh. She waited as the blood flowed into his mouth. Mathew gently drank from her, trying not to rush.
She was in his mind and could hear his thoughts.
It was best that Flynn and Jacques didn't go searching around in there.
When he finished, Mathew slowly lifted his aqua eyes to meet her violet ones. “I’m sorry I wasn’t much of a guardian today. I’ll try harder.”
“I know you will,” she stated. “Now, let Chloe help you get cleaned up, and I’ll see you after you wake.”
“Au revoir.”
That had her attention. “Are you learning French, Mathew?” she asked, touching his cheek.
He nodded. “It sounds amazing when you and Jacques speak it to each other. I just want to understand it.”
Jolie smiled down at him. “How are you learning?”
“I have a book I found in your library. I hope you don’t mind,” he said, lowering his eyes.
Jolie patted his cheek. “I tell you what…if you’d like, I’ll teach you. Toss out the book. There are too many conjugations, and it can be confusing.”
“Really? You’ll tutor me?”
“Yes, it’d be my pleasure,” she replied, kissing him on the forehead.
“Thank you, Mistress. I look forward to it.”
Jolie waved on her way out of the room. Now, she needed to check on the men in her life. She was well aware that Jacques would likely be fine. Her main concern was Flynn. They’d raked him over the coals.
In their room, she found him lying prone on the bed. With his eyes closed, he looked to be at peace. Jolie couldn’t help but admire his strong features, despite them being splattered with blood.
“You’re a mess, Detective,” she said.
Both men glanced over at her. Jacques grinned wickedly from his spot beside the man.
“I think he does it to get your attention. He just can’t compete with me.”
Flynn snorted. “There has to be a better way to get a pretty girl to notice me.”
Jolie crawled across the bed. “I always notice you,” she murmured. “How about I give you some more blood and you head to sleep?”
“Works for me,” he offered, rolling to his back. When Jolie moved up his body, he wiggled his eyebrows at her. “Nurse, I think I need some mouth to mouth, and fast.”
She laughed. “Okay, patient. Jacques, help him out.”
“Hey!” they both said together.
Her mates would be okay if they were joking around. Slowly, she kissed across his face before sinking into a warm welcoming kiss. When his body went hard beneath hers, Jolie knew she needed to take care of him. As her lips moved toward his throat, he immediately turned his head, offering her his blood. “Not tonight, Detective. I’m on the menu, not you. You’ve already given to the cause.”
Flynn willingly lapped across her pulse. “Mmmmm,” he murmured before letting his fangs find a home in her throat. When Jolie jerked, he slowly began to feed. She was rubbing against him, and immediately, Flynn was feeling a hell of a lot better.
This shared moment was amazing. There was no better feeling in the entire world, than to drink from your mate. Well, maybe it could be topped if she was naked and resting across his body.
Pulling away when he’d consumed enough, Flynn stared up into her eyes. “Thank you, but how are you feeling?”
She didn't think he meant what they’d just lived through.
“I’m perfect,” she offered. “I believe I should be asking you that, since you’re the one with holes in your body.”
When his eyes filled with concern, Jolie used some compulsion to send him to sleep. Already, she knew where he’d be taking this, and now wasn’t the time.
“Jolie,” he whispered, his eyelids closing against his wishes.
“I love you,” she said, giving him another kiss.
The second he was under, Jacques shook his head. “He’s going to hate that you did that.”
She laughed. “Yeah, but he’ll get over it.”
; “He did a damn good job tonight,” Jacques stated. “Before they took us, he killed one of those bastards.”
Jolie knew where this was heading. “Mathew’s shaken up, but then you knew that, didn't you?”
He suspected as much. “When Flynn was being abused, he still fought, Jolie. He’s guardian material. Mathew isn’t.”
“You can’t take this from him, Jacques. It’s all that’s keeping him intact. Flynn is a unique man. He wasn’t abused for years by some sick vampyre. Mathew just needs a chance. Please give it to him.”
He was aware, but some things had to come first.
“Your life matters more.”
She knew he’d say that. “Please? For me?”
He sighed. “Fine.”
It was a small victory for her. “How about we clean our detective up, and then I’ll feed you?”
That was his plan. “Okay. I’ll get some washcloths. We can get most of the blood from his body without waking him for a bath.”
Jolie waited for him to return. When he did, they started gently washing the dried streaks of blood from his torso and arms.
“You were worried,” he said, helping Jolie clean off their human.
She laughed. “Yes, I was. Flynn’s been through so much because of us, Jacques. He’s bled for us, nearly died to keep us safe, and gave up his humanity. I was scared shitless that I wasn’t going to be able to pull this off.”
He kissed her on the cheek. “He didn't waver once. I think he knew you’d come through. Each day, I’m astounded by his perseverance and character. You chose well for us, Jolie.”
His words touched her.
“Yeah, well, tonight was thanks to Vanth. If not…”
“I don’t want to think about it. I’ll have nightmares.” Jacques didn't doubt that without their demon, they would have lost Flynn.
“Which would be funny, since we both know that you don’t dream.”
He winked at her. “I’m aware.”
When Flynn was relatively clean, they tucked him under the blankets. Jolie kissed him on the lips, and Jacques touched his forehead with the palm of his hand.
“Your turn.”
He couldn’t wait. “Are you sure?”
Jolie flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Are you saying that you’re not hungry?”
Jacques tugged her forward. “I’m starving.”
With that, he sunk in.
Jacques loved the feel of warm blood as it flooded his mouth. It pulled so much from him. There was love, need, and even lust, as her familiar flavor overtook him.
And there was also fear.
Tonight, as he watched her arrive, there was one more worry on the horizon.
Their children.
If Jolie was indeed carrying life in her body, the last thing they needed was to risk it. This was his one and only chance at a child. No vampyre, to his knowledge, had ever been given such a gift.
He couldn’t risk it.
When he pulled away, his heart ached. This pregnancy would be hellish, and he knew it. Their kind didn't have many offspring for a reason. The gestation was wicked. Here, Jolie was going to carry two at once.
He had to hope that between Flynn and himself, they could keep her fed, protected, and safe.
If not, they were lost.
Touching his cheek with her palm, Jolie got his attention. Staring into his green emerald eyes, she saw the truth. There was no big surprise that between her mates, they were going to be incredibly overprotective.
She knew her men.
“You should rest,” she offered, never looking away from him.
“I think we need to discuss the whole ‘helping the other society’ thing first.”
Jolie glanced down at Flynn, as if contemplating what he’d say if he were awake.
“He’s going to say hell no. If anything, our detective is predictable.”
She didn't argue there.
“Okay, and you?”
Jacques hated even going there, but he knew that despite what he wanted to do--which was escape the city-- neither of his mates would go for that.
Flynn would want to find the missing detective.
Jolie would want justice and to kill Zola.
So, he let it go.
“We’ll take care of this mess.”
Jolie knew how much that cost him. After hearing his thoughts, there was no doubt what he preferred to do.
“Thank you for that, Jacques.”
“We can call Vlad tomorrow when he wakes and inform him that we’ll assist the society.
“When I find Zola, she’s dead. There’s no doubt in my mind that we received that picture, and then the council was notified. She ratted us out, and that pisses me off.”
He started laughing. “That’s the only thing? I have a laundry list of irritating BS.”
Jolie found him amusing. “I think you’re picking up Flynn’s sense of humor.”
He looked horrified.
“Don’t be insulting.”
Jolie laughed before giving him a kiss on the lips. “Why don’t you go to sleep too? I’ll stand watch.”
Now he laughed even more. “You will do no such thing,” he stated.
“Jacques.”
“No.”
So it began. The men were going to try and run roughshod over her. Jolie tried not to let it bother her. Instead, she’d have to play the game.
“I have a few things that I need to take care of before I can rest,” she admitted.
“I’ll wait for you.”
The frustration built. “You and Flynn need to heal.”
“You’re growing children, so you should rest too.” He slipped down into the bed, getting comfortable.
Jolie had to admit that his calm demeanor bugged the shit out of her. “Jacques, I do believe I know when I need to rest. Are you going to be a pain in my ass this entire pregnancy?”
He laughed. “Yes, and my mate will be too,” he said, motioning to Flynn. “Twice the babies mean twice the aggravation from us.”
“I think everyone who had silver driven through their bodies should sleep. Those who didn’t, they should stand guard.”
“Jolie, you need to take care of our children. That’s the main point.”
Jolie turned toward her mate and gave him a dirty look. “I think I know what’s best for me.”
He lifted her chin with his long elegant fingers. “Do it for your mates because you love us.”
That was playing dirty.
And he knew it.
Plus, it was new. That was something Flynn might throw out to get her to back down.
Damn him.
“Please just rest, Jolie. You know I won’t go to death until you do. By just giving in this once, it will save us all a great deal of time and energy,” said Jacques, reaching for her.
Jolie saw the worry in his eyes. “You win.”
He grinned boyishly. “Thank you, my love. It only took six hundred years, but finally a victory in my column.”
“Are you calling me a shrew?”
He laughed, pulling her into his body. “Not at all. I’ll call Chloe and give her our instructions.”
She stopped him. “I will. I need her to handle something related to Mathew.”
He nodded, holding her in his arms. “Very well, my love.”
Jacques waited. When Jolie was ready to slip off to death, he let her go first. “After you, my sweet.”
Jolie let the last breath go, knowing this battle was far from done.
When she was gone, he touched her pulse.
“Flynn, wake for me,” he whispered, breaking Jolie’s compulsion to keep the man under. He didn't trust Zola, and having Flynn out cold wasn’t going to help them.
“What happened?” he asked, opening his eyes.
“She put you to sleep.”
That pissed him off. “I’m going to put her over my knee and…”
“Can I watch? I’ve wanted to do that for a very long time.”
Flynn snorted, rolling to his side.
“Is she with death?” he asked, reaching into her and finding emptiness.
“Yes, but the reason I’m waking you is that she went way too easily. I suspect that she plans to have Chloe wake her as soon as I’m gone.”
He laughed. “That sounds about right. So, what are you going to do about it?”
“I’ll call Chloe and tell her not to wake us for a while.”
“She’s going to be pissed tomorrow morning.”
“Yes, she will, but that’s life. If Jolie is carrying our children, that is if Death isn’t yanking our chain, she’s going to have to take better care of herself.”
“Is it going to be hard?”
“Yes.” He didn't even lie. “She’s going to need blood, and more often. She’s not going to be able to feed us as much. We need to prepare for what’s coming.”
“How often is more often?”
“It varies, but I’ve seen mates have to supply up to three or four times a day. We can get another person to feed her…”
Flynn cut him off. “No. She’s our mate, and we’ll do it. I don’t care what it takes, but no one is supplying food for our woman and children but us.”
Jacques grinned. “I feel the same. Finally, I have a mate who is on my side.”
“Then it’s decided. We’ll feed our children--our blood, not some strangers.”
The words actually caused Jacques’s heart to skip. He couldn’t believe that he was going to have a little one to love, and he wasn’t alone. From the look on Flynn’s face, they were thinking the same thing.
“What else can we expect?” Flynn asked, curiously. “She doesn’t eat, so she won’t crave food or have morning sickness, right?” he asked.
“Our species doesn’t crave food, but she will have other needs.”
“Like?”
“We’re primal creatures, and thus we crave the basics like sex and blood,” Jacques answered, caressing Jolie’s cooling flesh. Silently he reached for Chloe to give her new directions. When she asked if Jolie was sure, he knew he’d been right.
“Make my millennium. Please tell me that we’re about to have a nympho vampyre on our hands.”
Jacques opened his mouth, and then closed it as he thought about a reply. “You’re lucky she’s out. That would have gotten you hurt.”
Dangerous Retaliation (The Harcourte Vampyre Society Book 4) Page 13