by Lynsay Sands
“What?” Etienne asked with amazement, head jerking up at the mention of his mother’s name.
Jeanne Louise nodded firmly. “Paul was going to try to convince a coworker who would have been easier to get alone, but Marguerite told him to follow his heart, so he took me.”
“You were his heart’s desire,” Eshe said softly, her gaze concentrated on Jeanne Louise’s forehead. She was reading her mind, of course, Jeanne Louise thought with a sigh, but didn’t fight it. Seeing everything that had taken place could only help her cause. At least she hoped so.
Her gaze slid around the table at the silence suddenly surrounding her, and Jeanne Louise found everyone staring at her, concentration on their faces. They were all bloody reading her. It made her realize that some of her memories were somewhat personal and private and definitely X-rated. Not something she wanted her father and brother to see.
Standing abruptly, she said, “I love him. He’s my life mate. I wanted to turn him and have him turn Livy so that we could be a family. I can’t have that now, but if Uncle Lucian harms a hair on Paul’s head I will stop him, or die trying. If you love me, I suggest you figure out a way to convince him to leave Paul alone.” Gathering two sandwiches and two drinks, she added, “Now I’m going down to sit with Paul and Livy. Excuse me.”
Jeanne Louise turned and headed for the stairs then, pausing and stepping around Justin Bricker and Anders as they appeared at the top of the stairs.
“Jeanne Louise,” Bricker said, catching her arm as she passed. When she paused, he said, “I’m really sorry. I wish I could—” Sighing, he let go of her arm and said simply, “I’ll do what I can to help.”
Nodding, Jeanne Louise turned away and continued downstairs. She knew he felt bad and her silence wasn’t helping. And she didn’t want to blame Bricker for the way things had gone. Jeanne Louise knew he hadn’t intended for any of this to happen, that it hadn’t been deliberate on his part. But while her head was able to reason all this out, her heart wanted to lash out at someone with all the frustration and rage she was forcing down over the way things had turned out. Jeanne Louise was afraid if she said anything at all to the Enforcer, she would pour all that rage and frustration on his head. Maybe with some time . . .
Jeanne Louise grimaced to herself. She very much doubted time would help here. In fact, she wasn’t sure anything would.
Sighing as she stepped off the stairs, Jeanne Louise crossed the sitting area to the bedroom where Paul and Livy were . . . or where they were supposed to be. However, when she entered the room, a somewhat forced smile in place, she found the room empty.
Fourteen
Paul hurried around the side of the cottage, his heart in his throat. He’d sat down to watch over Livy as Eshe and Nicholas had left, but moments later had become aware of a terrible need to relieve himself. He’d decided that it wouldn’t hurt to step into the bathroom next door. Livy was resting peacefully now, and her blood bag had just been changed. Leaving her alone for one minute shouldn’t cause any problems . . . or so he’d thought. He hadn’t been gone long, just the amount of time it took to go to take care of the matter and then splash cold water on his face and dry it off. But he’d returned to the room to find Livy missing, the fresh bag of blood torn open and lying empty on the floor beside the bed.
He’d whirled and hurried out of the room then, pausing when he noticed the open screen door that faced onto the lake. While this was technically a basement, the cottage was on a slight incline. The basement was half above ground and a small area had been dug out and reinforced so that a door could be installed along with a short six-step stairwell up to the backyard.
Cursing, Paul had hurried to the door and out, desperate to find his daughter.
It had only taken a quick glance to realize she wasn’t in the backyard or on the beach. Now Paul was rushing around the side of the cottage, very aware that the sun was hot and strong and Livy shouldn’t be out in it.
A car was pulling into the driveway as Paul came around the front of the cottage, but he hardly paid it any attention. His sole focus was on the two girls by the edge of the road. Livy and Kirsten, standing by the dead bird that they’d thought was just sleeping. Only their focus wasn’t on the bird now. Instead the two girls seemed to be tussling, and as he hurried forward, Kirsten managed to push Livy away and ran for home shrieking, “She tried to bite me!”
Livy was off at once, rushing after her with hands extended and fingers clawed. Her fangs were out.
“Oh God,” Paul muttered and hurried forward to intervene. He managed to catch Livy around the waist just as she was lunging at Kirsten’s back. He immediately swung her up into his arms and held her in front of his face, and then froze at his first sight of her. Her eyes were glowing silver, her fangs were out, she was growling like a rabid dog and there was blood around her mouth, whether it was from chewing open the blood bag or biting Kirsten, he couldn’t tell.
“Livy?” he said with amazement, and cried out when she suddenly lunged at him. Paul didn’t react quickly enough, wouldn’t have been able to stop her. But he didn’t have to. She was plucked from his hold before she got to his throat.
Blinking, Paul stared at the man now holding his daughter—tall, fair-haired, blue eyes burning silver, and his body and stance radiating confidence and strength. He was impressive and intimidating.
The man took one look at Livy and she suddenly passed out in his hold. He then glanced briefly at Paul before looking past him and saying, “Handle the mortals, Anders.”
Paul glanced over his shoulder to see the Enforcer nod and turn to follow the path Kirsten had taken. He then peered back to his daughter as the blond man shifted her against his chest and eyed Paul.
“Not quite what you were expecting is it, mortal?” he asked grimly. “All you were thinking of was Livy healthy and well. A happy ever after. It didn’t occur to you that she’d change. That it might be a nightmare rather than a dream.”
“She—” Paul began, and then paused as a very pregnant brunette reached them and brushed her hand along the blond man’s arm.
“She’s his daughter, Lucian,” she said softly.
Paul stiffened at the name. So this was Jeanne Louise’s uncle, the man who would decide his fate. The guy was one scary dude.
“He loves her,” the brunette continued. “And Jeanne Louise too. What would you have done to save your daughters in Atlantis? And what would you do to save the child I carry now?”
Lucian Argeneau glanced to the woman, taking in her pleading expression, and then turned back to Paul. He wasn’t exactly softer, but he was more relaxed suddenly. His eyes no longer seemed on fire, and the power he radiated was now muted, still there, but not raging.
“Livy isn’t herself right now,” Lucian said quietly. “She’s still in the turn. What you just witnessed wasn’t really your daughter. She probably wasn’t even fully conscious. Once the turn is done and she’s recovered she’ll be the girl you remember. Mostly,” he added dryly, then shifted Livy against his chest so that he only needed one hand to hold her. It freed his other to clasp the brunette’s elbow and urge her toward the cottage. “Come.”
Paul released a shaky breath and followed. He’d now met Lucian Argeneau. And he was still alive. So far.
Jeanne Louise stared at the empty bed, and then scanned the room as if the father and daughter might be playing hide-and-seek with her, but knew they weren’t. They were gone. Both of them and the only thing that made sense was that Paul had grabbed Livy and run rather than risk Lucian’s wrath.
She could understand that. She was immortal and a relative and her uncle terrified her. Paul was mortal, presently looked on as Public Enemy Number One by her people, and in a heap of trouble. Jeanne Louise could understand his running. What she didn’t understand was why he hadn’t taken her.
Swallowing, she turned and moved out of the room, unable to bear being there alone anymore. Moving without thinking, she started upstairs, her mind sluggish an
d stunned. She had no intention of revealing that he was gone. She’d do what she could to help him make his escape and simply keep quiet, Jeanne Louise decided, but had barely stepped off the stairs onto the main floor when Anders and Bricker were on their feet and rushing past her.
It was then she realized just how stunned she had been at Paul’s abandoning her. She’d forgotten that new life mates were very easily read. She probably also looked rather stricken, Jeanne Louise supposed, and that everyone would have wondered why she was back so quickly. She supposed she probably would have helped Paul more by staying downstairs for a bit.
“The blood bag is mangled on the floor beside the bed and the screen door is open.”
Jeanne Louise glanced to Bricker at that announcement as he returned from downstairs.
“Anders went after them while I came to report,” Bricker added, as he crossed to the kitchen door. “I’m going to help him loo—”
Bricker paused abruptly, then pulled the door open and stepped out of the way as Leigh entered with Lucian behind her, a sleeping Livy in his arms. Paul was right behind them, Jeanne Louise saw. She was torn between being happy to see him and upset that he hadn’t managed to get away. There was also a little wanting to smack him silly for leaving her behind. Nice mix, she thought dryly, and had to clutch the back of the chair she’d stopped behind to keep from running to him.
Her gaze slid back to her uncle as he passed Livy to Bricker.
“Take her downstairs, hook her back up to the IV and give her more drugs,” Lucian ordered. “Take the father with you, and stay until someone replaces you.”
Bricker nodded and waited for Paul to lead the way, then followed without comment when he started across the room.
Paul’s eyes sought hers as he passed. He offered her a weak smile in passing, but she couldn’t respond in kind. Jeanne Louise turned and watched as the two men walked to the stairs and disappeared down into the basement.
Once they were gone, she turned back to find Lucian eyeing her. She could tell by the way his eyes were narrowed that he was reading her thoughts. Knowing she couldn’t stop him, Jeanne Louise simply waited for him to finish.
“He didn’t abandon you,” Lucian announced abruptly after a moment. “Livy woke up and went outside while he was in the bathroom and he went out after her. It was stupid. He should have shouted for help, but the man is used to being on his own and the only one responsible for Livy.”
Jeanne Louise’s eyes widened and she sagged briefly with relief at the knowledge that Paul hadn’t left her. But then she forced herself to straighten and eye her uncle warily. Lucian Argeneau was the true hard case among immortals, and he would be the one to decide Paul’s fate, which decided her own. She couldn’t afford to be weak now.
“I love Paul, Uncle,” Jeanne Louise said quietly when he didn’t speak. “He’s my life mate, and he loves me too, I think.”
“I know he does,” Lucian said calmly, not looking impressed by the knowledge.
Jeanne Louise bit her lip, and then added, “I know he shouldn’t have kidnapped me, but I was a willing victim the moment I realized I couldn’t read him. There were several points I could have left and didn’t. I even helped him evade the Enforcers when we returned from dinner and I spotted their SUVs on his street.” She straightened a little and added pleadingly, “Surely, as the supposed victim in this, if I don’t wish him punished, he shouldn’t be?”
When Lucian merely raised an eyebrow at the suggestion, she added unhappily, “I can’t turn him now, thanks to Bricker. We can never be proper life mates. Isn’t that punishment enough?”
“You can still be together, Jeanne Louise,” Lucian said quietly.
“Sure for ten, twenty, maybe even thirty or forty years if we’re lucky,” Jeanne Louise said bitterly. “A heartbeat out of my life. And during those few short decades I get to watch him wither and die the slow mortal death of aging.” Her mouth tightened at the thought, and she said, “In truth, that’s probably more punishing than anything you could come up with.”
She felt a hand on her shoulder and glanced around to see that her father had moved up behind her to offer his comfort and support. For some reason his offered strength suddenly made it hard to fight back her tears. Turning back to Lucian, she took a shaky breath and said, “Paul’s a good man, Uncle. What he did, he did out of desperation, for the love of his daughter. He didn’t know our laws, didn’t know what he would be asking of one of us and he never hurt me. In fact, he did everything he could to see to my comfort from the start. The only reason you even figured out it was him was because he was concerned with my comfort and refused to put me in the trunk of his car when he switched vehicles.”
Nicholas had admitted as much as they’d sat watching over Livy through the night. As she’d speculated, they’d checked traffic cameras around the parking lot where Paul had left her car and switched her to his own. They’d spotted her unconscious in the front seat of his car, got the license number and used that to get his name and address and particulars.
“Fine,” Lucian said abruptly, drawing her attention.
Jeanne Louise peered at him uncertainly. “Fine? What does that mean?”
“He lives and keeps his daughter as well as his memories,” Lucian said, and then added solemnly, “That’s punishment enough.”
Jeanne Louise felt her father squeeze her shoulder, but just stared at Lucian.
As expected he wasn’t done. “However, the minute, and I mean the very minute, that the girl is through the turn I want the three of you on a plane to Toronto. I’ll have someone pick you up and take you to Marguerite’s.”
“Aunt Marguerite’s?” Jeanne Louise said with surprise, aware that Etienne had gone still at mention of his mother. “Why?”
“Because she obviously knew what Paul was up to when she ran into him before he kidnapped you, and rather than tell me so that I could do anything about it, she merely gave him a nudge in your direction,” he said dryly.
Jeanne Louise’s eyebrows rose at these words. With everything else on her mind the memory of that conversation with Paul hadn’t been on the top of her memories. Her uncle had done a thorough search when he’d read her mind. That or the memory had been on the surface of Paul’s mind for some reason.
“Since Marguerite helped bring about all this,” Lucian continued dryly. “She can help with the fallout and at least start training Livy to be an immortal.”
Jeanne Louise bit her lip, but nodded in consent. She liked her aunt, and knew Paul did too. And she was sure Livy would love the woman, but . . . “How long do we have to stay with Aunt Marguerite?”
“Until I decide what to do with Livy,” he said bluntly.
“Do with her?” Jeanne Louise asked worriedly.
“Well she can’t go back to her normal life, can she?” he asked dryly. “She can’t go back to her school, can’t play all day outside in the sun with friends in her neighborhood, can’t live the same life she had before. But she needs an education.”
“Yes,” Jeanne Louise agreed with a frown. She hadn’t really considered that problem.
“And what I decide for Livy depends on whether you and Paul stay together or not,” Lucian added, bringing her eyes sharply back to his. Meeting her gaze he said, “I’m not entirely sure you will.”
“But he’s my life mate,” she said weakly.
“And he’s mortal,” Lucian said quietly. “We’re similar in many ways to mortals, but there are differences, Jeanne Louise, and every minute you spend with him will make those differences clearer to you. He’s weaker than you physically, more fragile. He’ll get ill, or he’ll hurt himself, and even if by some good luck he doesn’t, he’ll age and wither . . . I’m not entirely sure you can stand by and watch that. It will most likely tear you apart inside. And if he is injured and dying, I’m not positive that in that moment you will be able to resist saving him with a turn as you did Livy.” He paused and then added grimly, “And if you did that, you’d be f
orfeiting your own life. Until I’m sure you won’t do that, I want someone around to protect you from yourself.”
“I . . .” Jeanne Louise paused and frowned, unsure herself if she could stand by and watch Paul die.
“Of course, the two of you parting leads to other problems,” Lucian continued. “It’s difficult for a mortal to raise an immortal. Children pick up skills like reading and controlling mortals faster than adult turns, and faster than their conscience and sensibilities form. Paul trying to raise her on his own would be like a monkey trying to raise a child. Before this year is out, she’ll be running circles around him, controlling him and doing what she wants if an immortal isn’t there to stop her. I won’t allow that either. I have no desire to hunt down a child rogue my niece turned.”
Jeanne Louise bit her lip. She hadn’t considered any of this in that moment when she’d turned Livy. She hadn’t considered anything but saving the girl, for Paul, but also for herself, because she’d come to love the sweet little blond child.
“So,” Lucian said quietly, “The three of you will stay with Marguerite until I say otherwise. Or until you part and I make alternate arrangements for Paul and Livy . . . understood?”
Jeanne Louise gave a jerky nod, her mind reeling under the weight of all the problems he’d just made clear to her. She hadn’t thought of a single one of them before this, and wasn’t happy to have to contemplate them now.
“Good. As long as we’re clear,” Lucian said and then glanced to Anders as he arrived at the cottage door behind them. Urging Leigh out of the way for the man to enter, he asked, “Everything all right next door?”
Anders nodded. “Livy didn’t manage to bite the neighbor girl. I wiped her memory anyway and then checked around to be sure no one else had witnessed the attack.”
“Good,” Lucian said, and then announced, “I want you and Bricker to escort Jeanne Louise, Paul, and Livy to Marguerite’s after the girl’s done her turn. Call when it’s time and I’ll send a plane for the five of you.”