Forbidden Love Series Book 4: From The Ashes

by Danielle James

“No,” she said.

  “You don’t understand,” Jessica told her. “There is no way this happened on accident. You have to be willing to give him everything. You have to give him everything, and he has to want to mark you.”

  “Brea didn’t,” she said.

  “No, when Brea mated to Angel, it was her choice. Angel mated himself to her without permission. That was his mistake, and he almost lost her. Brea loved him though, even in the beginning. Did Jacque mate to you?”

  “You mean does he have the same mark? I don’t think so.”

  “You would have to drink from him,” Jessica told her.

  “No,” Frankie said. It made her sadder than it should have. She had known she wasn’t the one for Jacque from the beginning and the fact that he had not wanted to mate himself to her was like having it written in stone for her.

  “Don’t go there,” Jessica warned her friend.

  “What are you talking about?” Frankie asked.

  “I know you and I know what you are thinking. It’s written all over your face. Just because Jacque didn’t mate to you yet doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to. He is afraid you will leave again. If he mates to you and then you leave, he will never recover. I don’t blame him for being careful.”

  “And if you’re wrong?” Frankie asked. “If he just wanted a good lay and now I am stuck? What the fuck am I supposed to do?”

  “Nothing,” Jessica answered. “If he truly doesn’t want you, you simply have a neat tattoo. And you won’t ever have to worry about another vampire hitting on you.”

  Frankie knew the mark sent a message to other vampires that said, “This is mine and you don’t touch it.” Frankie didn’t care about that. She didn’t want another vamp, hell, she didn’t want another man at all.

  “It will be fine,” Jessica said, taking Frankie’s hand. “Tell him. You’ll see.”

  “No,” Frankie answered. “I can’t.”

  Jessica sighed. There was no way she could convince Frankie, and she couldn’t break her promise. But that didn’t mean that Jacque couldn’t “accidentally” see it, now did it. She was already forming a plan in her mind as Frankie was tying the scarf back around her neck.

  ***

  “So, wanna tell me what’s up with you and Frankie?” Gage asked Jacque with a knowing grin.

  “Nothing,” Jacque said nonchalant. “There is nothing up with us.”

  “Yeah, cuz the girls just hauled ass upstairs to talk about what they’re gonna wear tonight?” Gage crossed his arms over his chest. Jacque knew exactly what he was talking about, but he wasn’t going to give him the chance to rile him about it.

  “I do not want to discuss Frankie right now,” Jacque warned him.

  “Oh, you don’t have to,” Gage said with a grin. “Jessica has become pretty good at shielding her thoughts around us, but Frankie needs more practice. A lot more.”

  Jacque knew exactly what he meant. He saw Frankie pull Jessica upstairs and wondered why. Her thoughts were loud and clear for the whole house to hear if they listened. But he wasn’t surprised. He had seen the mark on Frankie’s neck before she woke up. He had known the scarf was meant to hide it, what he didn’t understand was why. Why would she not want anyone to know that she belonged to him? Everyone already knew it anyway. It upset him that she may not want to shout it to the whole world, but he said nothing because they had been dealing with Antonio.

  So when the women went upstairs, he listened. He thought it was absurd that she thought he didn’t want her after all they had been through about it. He was going to have to find a way to convince her.

  “Why don’t you just do it the next time you get her in bed?” Gage asked.

  “What?” Jacque said.

  “Mate with her. Just do it.”

  “Now we all know that isn’t going to go well. I cannot just mate her, consequences be damned.” Jacque scratched his head. “I need to convince her.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” Leigh joined in. She had managed to sneak into the room without the men noticing.

  “Hello Leigh,” Jacque said with a smile. “How are you feeling now?” he asked. He brushed her hair out of her face and did a quick visual exam.

  “I feel fine,” she said, pushing his hand away.

  “I’m concerned,” he told her. “Your magic seems to have taken on a life of its own lately.”

  “I know,” she snapped. “I am controlling it. I just need to keep calm.”

  “Yeah, well I want to run some more tests ok?”

  “Whatever,” she said, waving his hand away again when he tried to touch her. “I came in here to talk to you about Frankie.”

  “What about her?” he asked.

  “I know she is mated to you. Before you go and mate yourself back, I want to know if you are sure that’s what you want to do.” She slowly lowered herself into a chair and leaned back. “I mean, she is kind of a flight risk. I don’t want to see you mated and alone.”

  “I understand,” Jacque told her, squatting down in front of her. “I do not think she will leave me again. I just have to make her understand what she means to me.”

  “Did you try telling her?” Leigh asked sarcastically.

  “Yeah I did that,” Jacque said with a roll of his eyes. “I think I need to convince her that it is the truth.”

  “What the fuck,” Leigh said, “Then convince her. Wine her and dine her. Give her the most romantic date in history.”

  “I’m not sure I know how to do that,” he answered. Jacque had never had to be romantic a day in his life. Women tended to just fall at his feet.

  “Are you fucking serious?” she asked. “You are from France. Paris. France.” She accented the words with her hands. “The city of Love! The romance capitol of the world. Surely you got something in your hound dog repertoire.” She leaned forward and tousled his spiky hair like he was a child.

  Jacque laughed out loud. No one could chastise a person and make them feel like a child the way Leigh could. She had a way of reminding them how simple it really could be. “Perhaps I do, Cherie, perhaps I do.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” Merrick said to himself as he inspected his neck in the bathroom mirror. He had just spent the better part of an hour talking to his Fae friend, Leo. Not that he was really a friend, but the man had stood by him before in the attempt to bring Leigh back where she belonged.

  Elizabeth had refused to entertain the idea that Merrick was calling her and told him he wasn’t funny just before she hung up on him. Leo had been more than surprised to hear from Merrick when he called. He rushed over to Merrick’s home the moment he hung up the phone to see the dragon. That is when he proceeded to tell Merrick that he was supposed to be dead, how it had happened, and ask a whole lot of damned questions. Merrick knew that the Fae had told the truth though, the proof was staring him in the face.

  There was a very fine line at the base of his neck where Leo had told him to find it. It was where his head had previously been removed. And didn’t that smack of frustration. It was just one more reason he felt that he needed to get even with that filthy blood sucker.

  Who the fuck went by only one name anyway? Rebel. Like Prince. No last name. Just like an idiot rock star. He thought that since he was mated to a dragon and stood by the California Clan Leader that he was untouchable.

  Rebel was going to find out just how wrong he really was on that count.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  “Good evening, Detective,” Angel said as Detective Samuel Corbin entered his office. He waved his hand toward an empty chair on the opposite side of his desk.

  “Please, we have been friends for a while now, call me Sam,” he replied as he took off his hat and sat in the offered chair. He was getting older, Angel noticed. His hair was thinning more on the top of his head and there were a few more lines around his eyes. Other than appearing to be tired, his old friend seemed in good health though.

  “
Not that you need a reason to visit,” Angel said, “but I have a feeling you are not here on a social call.”

  “As usual, my friend, you’re right. I gotta be honest, I’m a bit overwhelmed. I got vamps and psychics and every whacko out there banging on my door. They say your guards will allow no one in to see you. Is something going on?” He scratched his head. “I mean, something I should know about?”

  Angel smiled. Sam had been there for him as the human-vampire liaison for the last several years. When humans needed a reason to see Angel, they went through Sam. “We have been trying to work out what happened with Antonio,” he replied after a moment.

  “I am sure shit sorry about that man,” Sam said. “Are you guys still in mourning? I really don’t know how that works with vamps. Should I just make a list of people and their needs and email it to you?”

  “No, that won’t be necessary,” Angel said. “I feel there is much we need to discuss.” Angel told him about the sightings and trying to reach Antonio from the grave.

  “Does any of that shit even work?” Sam asked when he was finished.

  Angel smiled and did that thing with his face that he did when he was communicating with his family in his head. “I think you may be surprised,” he finally answered.

  The office door opened and Antonio walked in. “You rang boss?”

  “Holy fucking shit!” Samuel shouted, his feet shuffling backward and damned near falling out of his chair. “What, how, You,” he stammered, pointing at Antonio.

  “Yeah it’s me,” Antonio answered with a chuckle. “Look pretty good for a dead guy, huh?”

  “How is this even possible?” Sam asked. He was staring wide eyed and shaking his head slightly.

  “We have jumped through some pretty significant hoops lately.”

  Angel told Samuel everything. “And so you see, we are keeping a very low profile right now. This is something that we cannot allow to get out to the public. Imagine if the general public figured out how to bring back the dead? Poor Macy would never get a moments peace. I know we like our publicity, but even we do not want this kind.”

  “I can sure as hell understand that,” Samuel said, still poleaxed. He was absently scratching his head. “I guess what I need to do is come up with some lie to tell people.”

  “Just telling them that we are still in mourning will be sufficient,” Angel said.

  Samuel got out of his chair and went for the door. He was subconsciously rubbing his chest and still shaking his head. “Every time I think I have seen it all,” he muttered, “You go and surprise the hell out of me. You boys gotta remember, I am just a human. You’re gonna give me heart failure one day.”

  Samuel left without another word.

  “Should we be worried about him?” Antonio asked.

  “No,” Angel replied. “He is stronger than he thinks. He will handle this well.”

  “Well, anyhow, Frankie wants us all in the family room again. She’s gonna try a past life regression or some shit on me to help me remember why I came back.”

  “I will be there shortly,” Angel answered shutting down his computer and watching his friend leave the room. Something was bothering him about Antonio. He was certain he heard the slightest hiccup in his dear friend’s heartbeat. And, although it may just be his imagination mixed with worry playing tricks on him, Angel was almost sure that he detected the slightest change in Antonio’s color. Paler. He scratched his head and shook it off. He was just being silly.

  He got up from his chair and walked out of his office. It was time to find out what Antonio knew.

  In the family room, Frankie had pulled a recliner into the center of the room. She had someone place folding chairs in a circle around the recliner, and inside that circle was a ring of white candles. She was blessing each of them as she lit them one at a time.

  “Where have you been,” Brea said without breaking her tight smile. Angel knew his wife was irritated with him for taking so long.

  “Samuel was here,” he told her as he slipped his arm around her waist. “I’ll tell you about it later.” They watched silently after that and waited for Frankie to give them instructions. Angel didn’t have a clue about magic but he knew Frankie’s was real. Too many things happened because of it in the past and he knew just by the fact that Antonio was standing in the room with him that she was more powerful than she thought.

  He watched her spread a white sheet over the chair and when she lifted her arms, her hair moved aside just enough so that a hint of her mating mark showed. Angel smiled. She may not be ready to accept her and Jacque’s fate, but her heart was. He figured that was why she ran from him in the first place. Sometimes humans needed a little time for their brains to catch up to what their hearts already know. He also knew how hard it was for Jacque to go at her pace and not his own. He couldn’t resist sending his friend a mental “be patient.”

  Jacque turned his eyes to Angel and nodded in understanding.

  Antonio could feel his palms sweating. He resisted the urge to wipe them on his jeans and instead crossed his arms over his chest like the badass he was supposed to be. He really didn’t want to get in that chair. It wasn’t like he didn’t want to remember, because he did. He wanted to remember Macy. He wanted to know how he had spent so much time with her. He wanted to know how he came to have such strong feelings for a beautiful woman that he couldn’t recall a history with.

  He even sort of wanted to remember what it was that he needed to tell his family so badly that he would deny himself peace. But that was the problem. Even though his family showed nothing but happiness at his return outwardly, he could feel all their tension that they kept buried inside. He felt it too. He knew he was cheating death. He knew he had defied the laws of nature and he wondered just how long he could get away with it before it caught up to him.

  What if what he remembered cancelled out the spell that brought him back and he returned to the land of the dead? He didn’t want to die again and lose Macy when he had only just found her.

  “Helllooo?” Frankie said, snapping her fingers in front of his face and breaking his inner monologue. “You gonna join us or what?”

  Antonio snapped back and sucked in a deep breath. He was scared shitless, but he also knew this had to be done. He straightened his back and took one step toward the chair. He stopped when he felt a hand slip into his. He turned his head to see Macy standing beside him. She smiled up at him and urged him on. She was a necromancer, right? He decided that if he did, in fact, die from this, he was just going to have to spend eternity haunting her.

  And that was going to have to be enough for him.

  He bent his body into the chair and Frankie rolled her eyes. “You need to lean back and relax,” she said. He stuck his tongue out at her but did as she asked. There was no need for him to voice his fears because they all felt it too.

  “Everyone take a seat in one of the chairs,” Frankie said. “Except you, Macy. I want you to stay here and hold his hand.”

  “Of course,” Macy said. “Do you want me to stand anywhere in particular?”

  “No,” Frankie said. “Just beside him will be fine. I need you to act as his anchor. As long as he can feel you near him, he has something to come back to, ya know, just in case he gets a little lost.”

  Everyone did as they were told and held hands, effectively closing the circle around Antonio. Frankie began, “Our loving Goddess, we beseech you.” She lifted her head and looked toward the heavens, “We ask that you protect us here in our home, we ask that you lead us on the journey to find what has been lost.”

  She chanted something in a strange language and the fire on the candles flared for a moment before going back to normal. Then she turned her attention to Antonio.

  “Close your eyes,” Frankie told him in a soft voice. “I want you to focus on a place that brings you peace.”

  Antonio closed his eyes and imagined himself on the beach. It had always been a place he could go to and de-stress. He ima
gined the moon high in the sky and the waves lapping at his feet. The image was shaky and he had trouble holding it. He tightened his grip on Macy’s hand. He all of the sudden felt the urge to run. His legs twitched and he lost his mental image.

  “Relax,” Frankie coached him. But it wasn’t happening. He could feel his heart thundering in his chest. No, he couldn’t do this. He had to get up. He had to run.

  He started to sit up and was met with a hand on his chest. He jerked his eyes open. What he saw was a pair of intense blue eyes. Eyes that filled his vision and seemed to stare all the way down into his soul. Macy’s eyes. “It’s ok,” she said to him. Immediately his heart calmed and the sea of torment inside of him subsided. It would seem that his happy place was not the beach after all, but in his woman’s eyes. He allowed himself to stare into her sapphire gaze for a moment, memorizing the way they seemed bottomless in their depths, the way little darker and lighter flecks surrounded the pupils. He committed her gaze to memory and nodded once. Macy smiled at him as he closed his eyes again and sunk back down on the chair.

  “Hold that image in your mind,” Frankie said. “I want you to think for me, Antonio. Go back to the first thing you remember about today.”

  “Macy,” he said, as the memory of waking beside her jumped to the front of his mind.

  “Good,” Frankie said. “Now go back further.”

  They continued until Antonio hit a figurative brick wall. When he could not recall anymore, Frankie pulled some herbs from her bag. She mixed them in water and began sprinkling it all around, including on Antonio.

  “Go back, Antonio, imagine a magic carpet that will take you to your past. It lifts you up in the air and sails across time and space. You can feel the wind on your face; you can see the world turning back beneath you.”

  Antonio was surprised that he actually could see what Frankie described. Whatever those herbs were sure packed a punch. He felt his hair blowing in the wind. He imagined this is what Leigh must feel like when she flies. He looked down at his knees and saw that he was in fact kneeling on a carpet. It was red with gold swirls designed on it with fringes on the ends. It reminded him of something out of the Aladdin movies. He sat on his magic carpet in his mind and held his arms out to his sides. He kinda felt like that chic in the movie, Titanic, but he didn’t care. He felt so free. He even laughed out loud.