Forbidden Love Series Book 4: From The Ashes

by Danielle James

  Knowing that didn’t stop Frankie from putting on her good-butt jeans and a low cut t-shirt, though. And it didn’t stop her from going in the bathroom and putting on her makeup. She looked like death warmed over, she told herself, and that was why she needed to look better. Not at all because she wanted Jacque to notice her. Not. At. All.

  “You look yummy,” Jessica said softly from behind her. Shit, when had she come in?

  “I look like shit,” Frankie replied, attempting to make her mascara look presentable.

  “How long has it been since you wore makeup?” Jessica asked with a smile.

  “Too long,” Frankie admitted.

  “Here,” Jessica said, “Let me help you.” She took the tube away from Frankie and pointed at the toilet seat. Frankie sat while Jessica wiped off the mess she had made and applied a new layer of makeup to her friends face.

  After she had poked, stretched, brushed and curled everything she could get her hands on, Jessica stepped back and grinned. “Now that’s better,” she said. “Have a look.”

  Frankie almost didn’t recognize herself in the mirror. Her hair had been brushed until it was smooth and lying on her shoulders in loose curls, her face was brighter, and her eyes were bigger and browner. Jessica always could work magic with makeup.

  “Now,” she continued, “The guys are waiting downstairs. We gotta get this thing going. I hope you said a prayer today for some luck?”

  “You have no idea,” Frankie muttered. Yeah she had prayed. For luck, for strength, for the ability to be in the same room as Jacque and keep her cool… she had prayed for everyone and everything. “Let’s do this,” she said, walking for the door.

  “He loves you,” Jessica said.

  “No,” Frankie corrected her, “he doesn’t.” Jessica shook her head and followed Frankie down the master staircase to where everyone else was already waiting.

  ***

  Jacque studied his bottled blood. He tilted the bottle and watched as the liquid sloshed up and back down again, leaving a film on the glass. He turned it again and thought it looked a little like the sea, waves and motion, serene but never really at rest. He thought that was a lot like he was. On the outside, he appeared calm and collected, but on the inside, he was turbulent and on edge.

  He thought once Frankie returned, they would pick up where they left off. She would realize what a silly idea it had been to leave him in the first place. In his mind, he always imagined that she would run into his arms and he would pick her up and spend hours making love to her. He would mark her so that everyone would know that she belonged to him.

  But that wasn’t what happened, was it. She came back alright. But instead of running to him, she did everything she could to pull further away. Jacque was not used to being turned down. Hell, he had never had to ask a woman twice in his entire life. The fact that Frankie wasn’t coming to him willingly stung. It burned his ego in a way that he had never felt before and it broke his heart. But he would not force her. If she didn’t want to be with him, he couldn’t change her mind. He would survive though. He would be doomed to drink bottled blood for the rest of his life because once a vampire met his mate, no one else would do.

  Drinking from anyone else would just be sickening, as far as he was concerned. He looked at the bottle in his hand again. Yeah, cuz this was better. Not.

  But she was still here, wasn’t she. There was still time. He would have to make her understand his feelings for her before she split town again. The only problem was, he wasn’t the asshole who would demand her attention when it was obviously needed to help Antonio. He felt like a douche for even thinking about it when his brother needed help. The kind of help only Frankie could provide. He had no business distracting her while this was going on.

  But as soon as Antonio was safe and whatever message he had was delivered….

  Jacque didn’t allow himself to finish the thought. Instead, he brought the bottle to his lips and tried to savor the warm liquid as it coated his tongue and slid down his throat. He tipped the bottle up, intending to drain it, when his eyes caught an angel coming down the stairs.

  His throat decided that was an excellent time to forget how to work and the blood went down his windpipe instead. He dropped the bottle and began coughing and spitting blood everywhere. It was coming out of his nose, for God’s sake!

  “You ok there brother?” Sebastian asked, giving him a solid whack on the back. Jacque nodded and wiped the blood from his chin, but he never took his eyes off what caused the damn fit in the first place. Sebastian followed his gaze and said, “Oh.”

  Frankie was gliding down the stairs, like an angel, Jessica at her side. Her hair was shiny and smooth, her face like a porcelain doll. Jacque’s body screamed at him to stand up and go to her. It demanded it. Jacque stomped the urge down and just watched her. He knew he was gawking like a school boy with his mouth hanging open and he was pretty sure he was drooling as well. He could hear his brothers snickering around him, but he didn’t care. She was the most beautiful creature he had ever had the privilege of laying his eyes on.

  And then she was at the bottom of the steps and he could see her whole body. She was wearing jeans that hugged her curves in all the right places, and a shirt that should have been illegal. Her breasts where barely covered by the material and a whole lot of cleavage was showing. He could easily see her unmarred skin on her chest and it was sending out a silent call to him to run his tongue over it. Silent to everyone but him. To Jacque, it was a banshee call. His head was ringing and his feet were itching to move. Every breath she took caused her chest to rise and it punched him in the groin hard.

  He didn’t know how he managed to stay planted in his chair, but by some miracle he did. Was she trying to drive him insane? He was beginning to think so.

  “Hey Frankie,” Gage said, “You look nice. Better than nice. You look beautiful.”

  Jacque didn’t see or hear anything after that. A viscous roar filled the room and the next thing he knew Gage was pinned against the wall with Jacque’s hands around his throat. There were hands all over Jacque, voices begging him to let Gage go. Hell no. No one looked at his woman. No one. He would die for his crime. Everything he saw was tinted in red. Jacque tightened his grip and snarled, baring his razor sharp fangs. He would rip this motherfucker’s head off.

  Then there was the sweetest sound Jacque had ever heard. A voice like the angels singing. A touch so soft he wondered if he really felt it at all. “Jacque,” was all she said. Slowly, the rage began to fade and rational thought did a, hey what the fuck are you doing? The red faded from his vision and he turned his head toward that voice. Frankie was standing next to him, her hand lightly on his bicep. “Let him go,” she said softly. Jacque turned back to Gage, who was struggling to breathe but still managed to have a smirk on his face. Jacque snapped his teeth at him, but released him from his grip.

  “We already have one lost brother to find,” she continued, “we don’t need another. Could you please not kill Gage?”

  Jacque turned to Gage who was now being tended to by Angel and said, “Jamais plus.” Frankie didn’t speak a lot of French, but she knew what that meant. Never again. The threat was clear in just those two words. Gage nodded.

  Macy was sitting in a corner watching the drama unfold. If the look in her eyes was any indication, she was terrified. Brea was talking softly to her, likely explaining that there was nothing to fear from these men, never mind that one of them had just gone all psycho killer on one of his own.

  Frankie saw Jessica smiling. “What is so damned funny?” she asked.

  “He looks like Sebastian did before we mated,” she said. “When he thought I was gonna let Jacque feed from me.” Frankie remembered that day. Sebastian would not accept that Jessica was his mate, and Jessica did everything she could to make him crazy until one day he snapped. Now they were happily married.

  Frankie shoved any other thoughts from her mind. “I think maybe we should get on with it be
fore anything else happens,” she said.

  Jacque sulked back to his chair, doing his best to hide the raging hard on he was packing. He failed. Frankie noticed. Oh did she notice. Somewhere inside her, a little part of her smiled.

  She gave herself a mental slap and told the guys to move all the furniture to the outside of the room. She set up her candles in a wide circle, lighting them one at a time. As she lit the first, she said, “Dearest Goddess, Mother of the Earth, we call on you.” She lit the second and said, “Dearest Goddess, Mother of the Heavens, we call on you.” She lit the third, “Dearest Goddess, Mother of the Seas, we call on you.” She lit the fourth, “Dearest Goddess, Mother of the Afterlife, we call on you.” She repeated the process until all twenty-eight candles were lit.

  “Everyone sit around the outside of the circle,” she said. Everyone did as she asked. Rebel had to help Leigh, and Frankie wondered if the dragon was going to be able to get back up again. “Now, hold the hand of the person next to you.”

  Macy sat immediately beside Frankie. “Mother Goddess, we ask that you protect us and guide us on our journey tonight. Bless this circle and fortify it with your protection and love.”

  “Why are you doing that?” Macy whispered.

  “We have to fortify the circle because when calling the dead, you never know who might turn up. The circle keeps any spirit that answers contained,” Frankie explained loud enough for everyone to hear. “I need everyone’s concentration. I need everyone’s thoughts to be with mine.”

  The group nodded almost in unison and Frankie continued. “Bring to us the lost soul we seek,” she said. “Bring to us the soul of our lost brethren. Bring us Antonio.”

  Frankie repeated the chant over and over again. The others began to chant with her. Macy kept quiet, but she envisioned seeing Antonio in front of her. His straight black hair. His black as night eyes, his tall form and his broad shoulders. She wished he would come. She wished with all her heart. Then, she started speaking the words with Frankie.

  A collective gasp filled the room. Macy opened her eyes and saw Antonio standing in the middle of the circle. He didn’t look like the man who taunted her for weeks though. He was sweaty and ragged looking. Pale. Bloody.

  “What,” he started.

  “Antonio,” Angel said.

  “How?” he asked. Then he started to fade in and out like an old TV screen. “Help,” he said before he winked out completely.

  “No!” Macy shouted, leaping to her feet. Frankie yanked her back down before she could break the circle.

  “You can’t break the circle!” Frankie yelled. “Antonio, come back to us!” He did, but only for a second. He was trying to speak, but it looked like he was fighting off something no one could see. And then he was gone again.

  “We need more magic,” Frankie said.

  She quickly said a prayer that closed the circle and stood up. “I’m sorry,” she told them. I don’t have enough magic.”

  “Frankie,” Jacque said, coming to her side, “You are powerful.”

  “No,” she cut him off. “I’m not good enough. I will never be good enough.” She turned from him and ran back to her room. He called after her but she pretended not to hear him. She couldn’t let him see the tears that had formed in her eyes.

  She started packing her things. How could she have been so confident? She knew she wasn’t strong enough, but yet she tried anyway. She had failed. Now, everyone was even more worried than before, and there was nothing more she could do. She wasn’t strong enough to help Antonio, and she wasn’t strong enough to be Jacque’s mate. She would never be good enough for either.

  She was slamming things into her bag when Jessica and Leigh entered her room. “Where are you going?” Leigh demanded.

  “Home,” Frankie said.

  “Why?” Jessica asked.

  “Because I am not helping,” she said. “If anything, I’m making things worse!”

  “No you’re not,” Leigh said. “So what if this time didn’t work. Try again.”

  “No, I have to go.”

  “You can’t just abandon us like that,” Jessica said.

  Frankie snapped. She yelled about how she felt, about not being good enough. Jessica listened with empathy but Leigh did something totally different.

  “What the fuck is wrong with you?” Leigh demanded, getting right up in her face. “Just because it didn’t work like you wanted the first time you’re just gonna give up?” She shook her head. “What a pussy thing to do. And Jacque! Jacque adores you and is nothing but nice to you! How do you repay that kindness? By being a total bitch to him!” She threw her hands in the air and twisted around so that her back was to Frankie. When she put her hands on her hips all Frankie could really see what the corners of her elbows outlining that thick mane of black hair. Hell, she didn’t even look pregnant from behind. “And Lord knows what that man sees in you,” Leigh continued, slightly quieter and still not looking at Frankie. “He’s a good man. He is loyal and kind, and he helped me when I didn’t think there was help for me. He always puts others’ needs above his own and you know it. What’s worse, you exploit it!”

  Leigh spun around and her hair landed in swirls around her arms and face. She shoved the errant strands away from her eyes. Oh good. Frankie could see the brilliant yellow sunshine color and the narrow black slits. She jabbed her finger at Frankie’s face. “You are most definitely not his mate. His mate will be someone who is as kind as he is with a fucking backbone made of steel. Not some pansy-assed pussy who runs at the first sign of trouble. I don’t know why you ran before, and I don’t care. But I’m glad you did. In fact, I wish you had never come back.”

  A thin trail of smoke hovered above Leigh’s head and the room smelled like matches. Frankie was pretty sure it was getting hot too. “Leigh,” Jessica said gently, “Please calm down, you don’t want to upset the baby.”

  “Keeping my mouth shut upsets the baby!” she shouted. “It doesn’t matter. I’ve said what I needed to say.” She turned back to face Frankie. “Jacque was at least kind of normal before you strolled up in here with your damn spells and magic. You won’t speak to him and you avoid him at every turn. Now he just walks around like an empty shell. You are hurting him, and I won’t stand for it. You do what you came here to do, and then you leave. You leave and don’t ever come back. You don’t deserve him.” Leigh placed her forearm under her swollen belly and stomped off in the direction of the kitchen.

  “Wow,” Frankie said, watching Leigh leave.

  “Yeah,” Jessica agreed. “You gotta remember, she’s very hormonal right now. I’m sure she didn’t mean all that.”

  “Fuck yes I did!” Leigh yelled from the kitchen.

  “It’s ok,” Frankie told her. “She’s right. I don’t deserve him. That’s why I stay away from him. I don’t want this to be any more difficult than it already is and I know if I spend time with him, I won’t leave him alone again.”

  “Would it be so bad to be his mate?” she asked her friend.

  “No, but I’m not. It’s like Leigh said, his mate will be someone strong and brave. Not me,” Frankie said, “I would appreciate it if we could just drop the subject now.”

  “Please, stay,” Jessica begged. “Let us try and find more magic. Let us try one more time.”

  “I agree,” Gage said from the open door. When the hell did he get there? Damned vampires moved like shadows and just as quiet. “One more time. If it doesn’t work, we’ll let you go.”

  Seeing Gage reminded her, “Oh, I forgot to tell you,” she said, “Someone named Serena called for you today. You were asleep. She said to tell you she called.”

  Gage’s face split into a wide grin that bared his fangs. “I think I know just where to find that magic we need,” he said before disappearing into the hallway.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Jacque paced his bedroom. Just who did she think she was anyway? He could put up with her inability to see that he was perfect for her. He
could put up with her parading around the house looking like sex incarnate. He could even put up with her weird witchy shit. But no way could he fathom that she thought she wasn’t good enough for anything.

  She was good enough for his family and she was damned well good enough for him. The problem was, why didn’t she see that? He never said or did anything to make her feel inadequate, at least not that he could think of.

  She was in the next room. He could feel her as well as smell her. Jessica was in there with her. He could hear the muted conversation between the two women. He listened intently as Jessica did the soft I’m your best friend routine, and he smiled as Leigh did the grow the fuck up routine. He listened as Gage talked to them and Jacque stomped down the urge to beat the piss out of the guy not only for talking to her but he was still miffed about the comment he made earlier. Of course, he knew Gage didn’t mean anything by it, but Jacque couldn’t help himself. He would feel much calmer once Frankie was properly mated to him.

  No, going psycho wasn’t going to win him any points with Frankie. But sitting around, letting her feel sorry for herself wasn’t either. Hell, what good would that do? He was never the sort to sit back and watch the scenery unfold in front of him, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to watch the woman he was meant to be with run from him again.

  He didn’t make a conscious decision to move his feet, and yet they moved anyway. They took him out of his bedroom and into the guest room Frankie was using. He had no idea what he was going to say or what he was going to do, but damn it, she needed him whether she knew it or not. And he was exactly what she was going to get. Up in her face and personal, if that’s what it took.

  Jacque didn’t bother to knock when he reached her door. Instead he barged right on in like he owned the place. Never mind that he sort of did. They all owned the estate equally, and one day Frankie would too. She just didn’t know it yet.

  Jessica turned and looked at him quizzically. “What’s up?” she asked.

  “Can I have a minute alone with the witch?” he asked. There was a low rumble to his voice and he reined in his growl so not to scare her.