Forbidden Love Series Book 4: From The Ashes

by Danielle James

  Macy wanted to sink into the cushy seat and disappear. Here it comes. The laughing. The teasing. And what was worse, they were taking her to the famous Knight Estate to do it.

  “So you can talk to the dead,” Frankie said, turning around in her seat.

  Macy waited for the mockery to come, but as far as she could tell, the woman was serious. She watched her with an expectant look on her pretty face. “Yeah, I guess I can,” Macy said.

  “Glad I’m not you,” she replied and turned back around in the seat. Of course she was glad. She wasn’t the one who was getting ready to be thrown in jail for public slander or something. She felt like she was walking the green mile to the electric chair. Hell, she was in a car with a crazy woman and a dragon, on their way to a house full of pissed off vampires. Macy could just feel the confines of the car growing smaller and smaller around her. Her lungs wouldn’t drag enough air in to feed her brain. She had to get out, had to escape. Now.

  She reached for the door handle and pulled. The locks clicked into place and the door wouldn’t budge. “Come on now,” Leigh said from the front seat, “Don’t go freaking out on us now. Just try to stay calm, that’s what I do.”

  Stay calm? The vampires were probably gonna eat her for dinner! And that crazy dragon was gonna provide the bar-b-que pit! Macy knew she was breathing too fast, but her lungs wouldn’t calm down. Her brain was desperately trying to form an escape plan, but she couldn’t gather up any coherent thoughts.

  “I think we’re losing her,” Frankie said from somewhere far away. And then all Macy saw was sweet nothing.

  CHAPTER NINE

  “So this is the necromancer,” a man said.

  “She’s a pretty little thing,” a female voice said.

  “I guess, if you like that sort of thing,” a man replied.

  “You don’t like pretty?” the female asked.

  “I like you,” he said. “No one is prettier than you are.”

  What the hell kind of dream was Macy having anyway? But she knew she wasn’t dreaming. She must have blacked out in the car because the last thing she remembered was trying to escape and not succeeding.

  She took mental stock of her surroundings. She was laying down on something very comfortable, a couch or a bed maybe, and there were several people around her. She could hear their quiet voices and could just feel them all looking at her.

  Maybe if she pretended to stay asleep they would go into another room and then she could escape. She could sneak out quietly and find the nearest exit and beat feet back to her house.

  “I know you are not sleeping, Cher,” a man with a lovely French accent said. “It is alright. You can rest safe here.”

  “Stop that,” another woman said, “You’re gonna scare her.”

  Macy opened her eyes and the first face she saw took her breath away. He was gorgeous. Black as night hair surrounded a regal face with emerald green eyes. Shit! She knew who he was! The man was Angel Knight, famous rock god and politician. And didn’t those two statements go so well together.

  She looked around and saw a guy with more jewelry in his face than she even owned and dark spiked hair. Jacque, she assumed. She recognized all of them. They were famous, after all, and she wasn’t living in a cave. Gage with his dark hair and boyish grin, Rebel not only by his good looks and the Stetson hat on his head, but also by the way the dragon, Leigh, leaned into him. Frankie was there too, along with a blonde woman and Sebastian. His hair really did almost look blue, it was so black, and his eyes were just as creepy pale as they were on TV.

  Next to Angel was a woman with the reddest hair Macy had ever seen. His wife, she assumed. “Welcome to our home,” she said to Macy. “I’m Brea, Angel’s wife,” she confirmed. Then she elbowed Angel.

  “Yes, welcome,” he said.

  “Um, thank you,” Macy croaked out. Was it just her or did her voice sound like she had been gargling rocks?

  “Would you like some water?” Frankie asked her. Yep. Rocks.

  “Yes please,” Macy said.

  “Ok, that’s enough of this shit,” Leigh said. “I’m Leigh, this is Rebel, Jessica, Frankie, Gage, Jacque, Sebastian, and you are you,” she said, pointing to each person.

  “Leigh,” Rebel warned.

  “What?” Leigh asked. She turned her attention back to Macy. “Look lady, let’s get the preliminaries over with. No, the guys are not gonna eat you, no one is gonna kill you, you are safe here, yadda yadda yadda. No one is gonna hurt you here. Except for maybe me because lately my patience has been nonexistent and we have been dealing with this shit for months. So if you know something about Antonio, we would appreciate it if you would just spit it out.”

  And who exactly was gonna argue with the most powerful creature in the room? The one who was very, very pregnant and battling hormones and a bad temper? Macy was just about that brand of stupid.

  She took the offered water bottle and took a long drink. “I didn’t ask to come here,” she snapped. “You basically kidnapped me from my employer.”

  “You announced on TV you wanted to talk to us!” Leigh yelled. Man, it was getting hot in the room. Macy was even pretty sure she smelled something like sulfur. It reminded her of the hot springs in the mountains she visited once.

  “That’s right,” Macy yelled back. “Talk. I didn’t ask to be hijacked and treated like a criminal!”

  “Uhhggggh!” Leigh screamed out. Smoke trailed off her head and Macy was starting to get genuinely scared. But Leigh didn’t stop there. “You are so fucking annoying!” She stomped out of the room and the drapes caught fire as she walked by.

  “Shit,” Rebel cursed and ran to the next room. He returned almost instantly with a fire extinguisher that he used to put out the fire.

  “Could ya just humor her?” he accused Macy after putting the fire out.

  “Fuck off,” she said. “I want to go home. I will not be treated this way for trying to help you. My career is over because your damned friend wouldn’t leave me alone. I didn’t ask for any of this and I’m not putting up with it. You should control your wife.”

  A round of chuckles filled the room. “Not likely,” Rebel resigned, dropping into a chair. “No one controls her. Not even herself lately.”

  “I’m sorry,” Angel said to Macy. “We are very appreciative for your sacrifices and your help. Please excuse Leigh, she is having a hard time recently.”

  Macy shook her head. “Why should I help you?”

  Jessica moved toward her. “Because I dreamed of you,” she said. “And because when we prayed for help, we saw you on the TV.”

  “Because you may be the only one who can help,” Frankie said. “You’re a necromancer. Not too many of those floating around.”

  “What the hell is a necromancer?” Macy asked. “That’s twice now I’ve heard that, and if you ask me it sounds perverted in a way I don’t want to be associated with.”

  Angel laughed. “A necromancer is someone who can communicate with the dead.”

  “See? I knew you would just laugh at me,” Macy said. “I’m outta here.”

  “No, wait!” Brea grabbed her elbow. The glare Macy sent her caused her to drop her arm just as quickly. “Please, just try. We are not making fun of you. We have been through I don’t even want to think about how many fakers. Angel knows you believe what you say. Please try.”

  Macy turned back around to look her in her violet eyes. “How does he know?” she asked.

  “I can see things like that,” Angel explained. “I can see inside people’s minds and hear if their thoughts are true or not.”

  “Stay out of my head,” Macy grumbled. “There’s hardly enough room for me in there.”

  “Just one try,” Frankie said, “and if it doesn’t work, we will let you go and never bother you again.”

  “As well as compensate you for your time,” Angel offered.

  “I don’t want your money,” Macy snapped. “I didn’t want to be here in the first place.”

>   Jessica was smiling and Brea’s eyes were twinkling. “You’re the first one to refuse money,” she said.

  Macy shook her head. What had these people been through? She didn’t even want to think about how many people had tried to scam this family. “What do you want me to do?” she asked with a heavy sigh. It was obvious they weren’t going to let her leave peacefully until she helped them and a part of her really wanted to anyway. She was worried about Antonio and she felt like on some level she owed it to him, which was completely absurd. She didn’t owe him a damn thing, but something about him just got under her skin.

  “Is he here?” Jacque asked, finally jumping into the conversation.

  “No,” Macy said. She even looked around to be sure, but she could feel it in her bones that he was somewhere else. She noticed from the first time she saw him that she could feel his presence, even when she couldn’t see him.

  “What did he tell you?” he asked her.

  “Well, after he sang to me for weeks on end,” she started, “He begged me to get you on the phone or something. He asked me to send an email, which I sent, but I am not even sure I sent it to the right address. He said he needed to tell you something, but didn’t say what. Only said it was important. Like, life and death important. I haven’t seen him since today at the station.” She proceeded to tell them all about her new “friendship” with Antonio.

  “That definitely sounds like something Antonio would do,” Gage said to no one in particular and to everyone at the same time.

  “When do you think he might be back,” Jacque asked her.

  “Hell if I know,” she replied. “He comes and goes as he pleases. Sometimes I don’t see him for three or four days at a time. I really don’t know what I can do when he isn’t here.”

  “Oh for God’s sake, cast a fucking spell,” Leigh chimed in. She pushed her excessively long hair over her shoulder.

  “That’s a great idea,” Brea agreed.

  “I don’t know any spells.” Macy searched the faces of the others in the room in hopes that someone had a more plausible answer.

  “Frankie does,” Jacque said and turned and looked expectantly at Frankie. She may not be ready to accept him as her mate, but he knew for a fact that her magic was as real as the ground beneath his feet.

  “We would need everybody’s energy,” Frankie said, trying to shake off the tingles Jacque’s stare caused. “No way I got that kind of power myself.”

  “But she’s a necromancer,” Brea reminded her.

  “That’s right,” Angel said. “And necromancers are powerful creatures.”

  “I’m not a creature,” Macy said under her breath.

  “What do you need,” Jessica asked her best friend.

  “I need to visit the herb store on Fifty Second Street,” she said. “You boys go to bed. I’ll get the shopping done and we will do this tonight.”

  There was some protesting, but Frankie was getting tired of being pushed around. Calling on a lost soul took a lot of energy and a lot of magic. If she was going to do this, it was going to be on her terms, and that meant she was going shopping and she was going to take a nap. Damn it.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Antonio had no idea where he was. All he could see was black and all he could feel was the tiny hands that gripped and clawed at his flesh, or whatever it was that ghosts had. It sure as hell felt like flesh tearing. He pushed against them and ran. He ran so hard that if he had lungs they would have been burning. But he didn’t have lungs and he just kept running. He had no idea how long or far he had gone.

  He hoped that Macy got his last message. Just before the darkness overtook him, he had given her the message for his family. And he was glad of it too. He was stuck in this nothing going nowhere no matter how fast he ran.

  He could feel the sweat pouring off his face; he could feel the ground under his feet. He could feel the pain snaking its way up his legs every time he took a step, but he couldn’t stop himself from running.

  He imagined that this was his personal hell. He had seen all the movies. He knew what happened when a soul refused its light. And that was just what he had done, wasn’t it. He saw the most beautiful white light. It beckoned him and called to him. He knew that in that light, he would find peace. His spirit would rest.

  But he didn’t do that, did he. No, he turned his back on the light and sought out his family. He knew he was their only chance and was willing to risk an eternity of unrest to help them. And here he was, in a blackness that went on forever and a silence that was so thick it pressed on his body like a mac truck backing over him.

  One of those invisible hands grabbed at his ankle and he reached down and ripped it off. He felt his flesh tear and he cried out in pain. Only, his voice disappeared into the blackness as well.

  He thought about Macy. If only he had met her when he was alive, he would have made her his own. He would have found his mate. He knew who she was to him immediately by the way his body or whatever it was he had, reacted to her. He envisioned her lovely face in his mind’s eye as his feet pounded harder in the darkness. Her image in his mind helped to dull the pain and gave him the strength to keep running. He didn’t know why it was important that he keep moving; only that he must do it. He prayed that his message got through and if it did, then this was all worth it.

  ***

  Serena clicked off her television. That woman predicting the weather was having a bad day to say the least. She wondered what that girl could have to say to Angel Knight that was so important that she would broadcast it out for the general public to hear. And what could be worth making a fool of herself like that?

  She stared at the phone on her desk for a long minute. Should she call them? Her mother, Anora, had been quite clear on the no talking to the vampires rule, and since she was the queen of the fae, her rules were pretty much law. But one little phone call to make sure everything was alright surely wouldn’t hurt would it?

  Of course, her mother had nothing against the vampires as a whole, but just one instead. Gage. Her mother was no fool, and she could plainly see the way Serena was fascinated by him. But of course Serena had taken an interest in Gage; she had helped save his life. She used her magic to help pull his spirit back from the brink of death while the other vampire, Jacque, had stitched up his wounds with lightning speed.

  It had nothing at all to do with his handsome face or his compelling personality. She most certainly didn’t spend hours wondering if those lips were as soft as they looked or if his body was as strong and hard as it seemed. She definitely did not think about touching him, or running her hands through that dark brown hair.

  Right.

  Besides, it wasn’t just Gage that she had taken an interest in. It was all of them. She had fought side by side with Rebel and Gage to save the life of the dragon Rebel now called his mate. By now the woman must be very round with pregnancy.

  What if the woman on TV meant harm to the unborn child? The Fae took infants very seriously. Children were not a blessing they received often and pregnancy was often life threatening to the fae. It was for that fact and the unrelenting reverence for children that her mother even allowed her to assist the vampires at all.

  But her mother was squarely against Serena having any kind of relationship with a vampire, friend or otherwise. She had long ago promised her daughter to some fae prince on the other side of the world. Serena was none too happy about that. Why would she want to be married to someone she never met? Serena wanted passion. She wanted romance. She wanted love, not some prearranged agreement to stand by the side of a man she may not even like.

  She had heard stories of the prince. Prince Adeer of Reemlock. He was heir to the throne of Reemlock, a fae community in the desert. Serena looked at herself in the mirror. Sure, she could use the sand on her feet, but what good was sand without the ocean? None. She had no interest in moving to the dry, hot desert for any man, even if he was going to be king. Not for all the money in Reemlock; which was exactly w
hat she had been promised. It was supposed to be a union that would ensure peace between the tribes. But they were already at peace. She didn’t see how a marriage would re-enforce that. No, her mother’s heavy hand ensured it just fine. Money and titles meant nothing to Serena. Now, if she could only make her mother understand that.

  She looked at the phone once again. Just one call to make sure the unborn baby was safe. She would surely face her mother’s wrath for it, but it was worth the cost. She picked up the phone and dialed the private number Gage had given her months earlier.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Six p.m. came even faster than seven a.m. as far as Frankie was concerned. She had spent most of the day shopping for supplies and trying to take a short nap. The supplies were a success, the nap was not. She had lain on the bed in the guest bedroom for two solid hours, tossing and turning, but unable to catch a nap. All she could think about was Jacque sleeping down the hall. She could hear him snoring, and while she wanted to be irritated by that, she found that instead it made her miss him all the more.

  Why oh why did she have to make that phone call? Why couldn’t she just get in her car and go home? That would have been the easy thing to do, but noooo, she just couldn’t do that. No, she had to go and make her own life difficult. She wanted to believe that she came to help her friends and to help Antonio, but deep down she knew the truth. She wanted to see Jacque.

  She just had to have her dose of heartbreak and misery. He was like a poison to her, like a drug habit she couldn’t break and couldn’t get enough of. She was certain that if she approached him with the offer for sex he would absolutely take her up on it. She knew that it would be the most explosive sex she had ever had and she would remember it for the rest of her life. She also knew that if she did sleep with him, he would own her heart completely and when he found his true mate, she would be devastated.