“I’m not sure Antonio is faking,” Angel said back. “Look at him. His color is all wrong.”
“Of course it is!” Antonio shouted, having heard what they were saying. “He replaced my body wash with blue dye!”
Angel and Jacque approached Antonio cautiously. The closer they got, the more they were sure that Antonio was really gasping for air. Jacque could hear his brother’s heart racing in his chest. “Are you ok?” he asked.
“I’m fine,” Antonio snapped. “What the fuck am I supposed to do about this now?” He waved his hand in front of his body.
Angel chuckled. “It will fade in a day or two,” he said.
“If not,” Jacque offered, “You could always join the Blue Man Group.”
Antonio snarled at him, daring him to say something else. “I gotta see Macy when they get back. I seriously doubt she wants to get freaky with a fucking smurf!”
From down the beach, they heard Gage singing, “La la la la la, lala la.”
“I’m going to kill him,” Antonio growled.
“Um,” Jacque started, stifling a laugh, but Angel interrupted, “Go and see Sebastian. Maybe he can think of a way to fix this. In the meantime, we will continue to prepare for the ladies to return. Jacque, call Jessica and tell her it is safe to bring Frankie back.”
Antonio went back inside to get scrubbed down and Jacque dialed his phone. When Jessica’s voice mail picked up, he left a cryptic message that he was sure she would understand. “Hey Jess, we were just wondering when you ladies might get home. The guys are waiting for their mates to come home and join them.” He ended the call there and sat down to wait for their return.
And waited.
And waited some more.
Leigh came in and sat down beside him. “I wonder if they went clubbing,” she said more to herself than to Jacque.
“I don’t know,” Jacque answered, clearly irritated.
“I wouldn’t be too upset,” Leigh said. “If I wasn’t as big as a house, that’s what I would be doing. They have been really stressed out lately. And poor Macy! We just dragged her into this life and didn’t even ask her if she wanted to be here. I think they deserve to blow off some steam.”
“As always, my wife is right,” Rebel said, taking a seat beside her. He squeezed her knee gently and she leaned into his body.
“I guess there is nothing left to do but wait,” Brea said, sitting on the couch across from them. “Kinda wish I had gone with them now. I haven’t been out dancing in forever!”
The others joined one by one, except Antonio who was still trying to wash the blue off his skin.
“I can’t believe he let me get away with that,” Gage said with a twisted grin.
“I am not so sure he did,” Angel said. “He was truly winded when he stopped. I am worried.” He told his family about the subtle changes he had been noticing in Antonio. “He was dead. We brought him back but we cannot be sure of the consequences of our actions. We are in uncharted territory with this now. I only hope we figure it out before we lose him again.” The others nodded their agreement.
Leigh’s phone chimed, breaking the silence and she jumped. She fetched her phone out of her pocket and looked at it. “Oh thank God,” she said, tapping the screen. “It’s only three in the morning, it’s about time,” she said, trailing off as she read the text message she had received from Jessica.
All the color drained from her face as she looked at the screen. “What is it?” Rebel asked. Leigh gave the phone to her husband. He took one look at the screen and dropped the phone to the floor.
“Oh my God what is it?” Brea demanded.
Sebastian leaned over and picked up the phone. He stared at it for a moment, and then a growl left his chest that would have scared away a bear. He read the text message out loud. “Greetings from Hell, it says. Let’s make a deal.” He passed the phone around so that everyone could see the picture that came with the words. It was Jessica, Frankie, and Macy, all bound and gagged, with Merrick grinning behind them like they were best buds.
When Jacque saw the picture, his vision turned red. His woman was being held prisoner. Again. He would not stand for this. He began to arm himself with every intention of finding and killing the bastard holding her against her will. That is, until Angel stopped him.
“We can’t go off half-cocked,” Angel said. “We have to know what it is he wants and where he is.”
“That explains why I felt his magic that day,” Leigh said. “And since he texted me, I can tell you what he wants.”
“He isn’t getting you,” Rebel snapped.
“I can’t let him kill them!” Leigh shouted. Antonio chose that moment to come down stairs. His hair was wet, and it was still blue, and his color was a little off but at least he didn’t look like a smurf anymore. The beautiful mark on his neck that declared him mated to Macy was even more visible with the dye.
“Well he isn’t going to kill you and my child!” Rebel shouted back.
“No one is going but me,” Sebastian said. “I will bring my mate back.”
“He’s got my mate too!” Jacque bellowed. “She is mine and I will protect her.”
“We must make a plan,” Angel tried to say, but the shouting was only getting louder.
Antonio listened to his family argue, knowing it was bad, but not actually knowing what was going on. He saw Leigh’s phone on the floor. It was lit up and vibrating. He picked it up and answered the call.
“Hello?” he said loud enough that his family heard him. They saw him with the phone in his ear and got quiet all at once.
“I can assume you received my picture?” a man’s voice said.
“Who is this?” Antonio growled into the phone.
“I am offended,” he answered. “It is really quite unfair that you blood suckers steal my mate, but you don’t even have the courtesy to recognize the dragon you brought back with your own dead vamp. Tsk, tsk. Tell me, which blood sucker do I have the distinct displeasure of speaking with this evening?”
“Merrick,” Antonio growled. The color in his face changed from slightly bluish to absolutely grey.
He laughed. “No, that is my name, not yours. I know it must be difficult to think straight knowing I have your mate, but you must concentrate. Is Jessica yours? Or Frankie? Or is it the black haired beauty that hasn’t been kind of enough to tell me her name?”
“Macy,” Antonio whispered. “What have you done!”
“Ah so she is yours. Again I ask, what is your name.”
“Antonio,” he replied. “I want her back.”
“And I shall give her back. Just as soon as you cut off the head of the vampire who stole my mate from me. I will exchange all of the women for his head. On a platter. I mean this literally. You kill him and I will spare the women. You have thirty minutes.” The line went dead after that, but Antonio still held it to his ear. He couldn’t believe what he had just heard.
The other vampires in the room had heard it as well as Leigh. Only Brea had to be filled in on the call, and Angel did it in his mind instead of out loud. Her reaction was to cry softly.
Leigh’s face was a mirror image of everyone else’s. Horrified. “We can’t do that.”
“I don’t think we have much of a choice,” Rebel told her. “I cannot let them die.”
“There has to be another way.”
“We will find another way,” Angel said. “Sebastian, call to Jessica’s mind.”
“What do you think I’ve been doing since that damned picture showed up?” he snapped. “I can’t get through to her and I can’t sense her. It’s like she’s already dead. Maybe they all are!” A single tear escaped his eye.
“Same here,” Jacque said. “If Sebastian’s link to Jessica is down, then mine with Frankie won’t work either. It’s not completed and not strong enough.” He cursed himself for not completing the mating when he had the chance. He should’ve done it whether she agreed or not. If he had, perhaps he could find her now.
�
��This is no time to beat yourselves up,” Angel said not only to Jacque but to Sebastian and Antonio who were doing the same thing.
“They must be cloaked in magic,” Leigh said softly. “He wouldn’t kill them before having proof Rebel is dead. It isn’t his style.”
“Can dragon magic turn off the mating connection?” Brea asked.
“I don’t know,” Leigh replied. “I don’t think so, but a week ago we thought he was dead too.”
“Dragon magic may not be able to,” Gage said, “But I know a magic that can. Fae magic.”
The others nodded in agreement. “Call her,” Angel said. “We don’t have much time.” Gage fished his phone out and dialed Serena’s number. Angel did the same, but instead of Serena, he called Detective Corbin.
He explained to the detective what was going on and Sam assured him he would have the full backing of the police department, just tell him what he needed.
“Ok I’m going to pick up Serena,” Gage said. “We’re gonna go check out Merrick’s old house. Maybe that’s where he is and the girls too. You guys get on a plan once we get there.”
“I’m coming with you,” Sebastian announced, grabbing two blades and stashing them in his belt. He also palmed his sig and extra rounds.
“Let’s go.”
The others continued to bounce one idea after another off, but none of them seemed likely to work. At exactly thirty minutes later, Leigh’s phone rang.
“Look, there has to be some way we can make everyone happy here,” Rebel said when he answered it.
“Rebel,” Merrick said cheerfully. “I am assuming that since you answered the phone, no one has cut off your head yet.”
“Wouldn’t you rather do it yourself?” he asked.
“Yes, I would,” Merrick said, “But we all know that wouldn’t work out very well. Therefore I wish for one of your own family to do it. Choose, and choose now. Who will be your ax man?”
“You are one sick fuck,” Rebel growled into the phone.
“Yes I am,” Merrick said. Rebel could hear the smile in his words. “And you are out of time.” The line went dead and Rebel screamed out in frustration as he threw the phone into the wall. It shattered into a million pieces.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Frankie watched helplessly as Merrick taunted her family over the phone. She had tried again and again to say a spell that would free them, but Merrick was smarter than that. Even though his Fae friend had given up on the spell that made them compliant, he had replaced it with a cloaking spell. No one would be able to find them as long as his spell held strong, and they had gagged Frankie to keep her from speaking her spells. Without her voice, she couldn’t call her powers.
She had tried sending mental messages to Jacque, but if he got them, he wasn’t replying. She knew by the look in Jessica’s eyes that she was doing the same thing and having the same bad luck with it. Macy was terrified to say the least. They were all tied up like Christmas turkeys and they were all gagged to keep them quiet.
Her heart jumped into her throat when she heard Merrick tell her family they were out of time. He gently placed Jessica’s phone on a table and turned to his captives. “Perhaps I was mistaken,” he said to them. “I thought mates had the strongest bond with vampires. I thought for certain they would sacrifice one of their own to save you ladies.” He shook his head. “Perhaps it is that they think I am not serious. What shall we do about that?”
Frankie sent him her best “Fuck you,” glare and knew without a shadow of a doubt the other two women were doing the same thing.
“I think we shall have to show them just how serious I am,” he pondered aloud while pacing in front of the girls. “But who do I choose?” He stopped in front of Frankie. “You must be newly mated. If he were to lose you, it would be nearly unbearable, but your mate would live.” He shook his head.
“And you,” he said to Jessica, “Have been mated a long time. If your mate lost you, he would be no more willing to sacrifice another of his family.” He moved to Macy. “Now you,” he pushed her hair away from her neck, “You bear a mating mark, and the blood sucker on the phone claims you. He was dead, the same as I, and therefore he could have only just made you his within the last few days. Yes I think you will send just the message I wish to send.”
He stood tall and yanked Macy up with him. She tried to scream around her gag, but was no use. Frankie tried to get up, but she was tied up tight. Frankie and Jessica watched in horror as Merrick forcefully dragged Macy away, knowing they could do nothing to stop him.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Hours passed and Angel and Brea were still talking in the sitting room. Antonio had gone from pacing to cursing and back to pacing again. There had been no word from Merrick or from Sebastian and Gage. Things weren’t getting out of hand; they had gone way past that.
No word from Gage and Sebastian, and daylight was literally minutes away.
When Rebel had all but decided to go out after them, they heard the garage door opening.
“Thank fuck they’re back!” Antonio growled, leaping toward the door. He had hoped they would be bringing the women home, but instead, only Sebastian, Gage and Serena entered.
“We looked everywhere we could think of,” Gage said, shaking his head. The look of defeat in his eyes was painful. “They aren’t at Merrick’s old place, or anywhere else we went. We wanted to stay out longer but the sun is coming up now.”
“The sun doesn’t bother me,” Rebel said. “I’ll go.”
“No, you won’t,” Leigh informed him. “It’s you he wants and you are staying here.” She had her hands on her hips and the look on her face said she wasn’t prepared to argue her point.
“I have to,” he said. “I’m the only one who can.”
“No you’re not,” Brea answered. “I have been a night owl for a while now, but last time I checked me and the sun still have a pretty good relationship.”
“I will not allow you to go alone,” Angel told her sternly.
“I can call Brandon. He’ll go with me.” Brea already had her phone poised to dial when the intercom buzzer rang out.
“We are not finished discussing this,” Angel told her as he walked to the little box on the wall. “What is it?” he barked as he jammed in the button to answer it.
“I am sorry Sir,” Cody, the main gate security guard replied, “But I have a rather large package out here that was couriered here just now. It was sent here overnight and the return address says from your friend the dragon.”
“Shit,” he cursed. “Bring it in. You do it. Tell someone to watch the gate, no one gets in or out until further notice.”
“What do you think it is?” Brea asked quietly.
“I’m not sure I want to know,” Leigh answered her. “Whatever it is, you can bet your ass it isn’t flowers or a fruit basket. Merrick’s an evil bastard, and only God knows what he is really capable of.”
It was only a matter of minutes before Angel was opening the door to allow Cody inside. He was carrying a large box in his arms. Outwardly, it appeared nothing more than a plain cardboard box, three feet by three feet. Everyone knew it was anything but that.
Cody walked in and gently sat the box on the floor. “I just want to say before you open this that I work for you and I only brought it in. Please don’t kill me for what’s inside.”
“What do you mean?” Antonio asked. He could already smell what Cody smelled. He was a wolf and had a super keen sense of smell. He had known what he was bringing into the house without opening it.
“Just, please, send the women out of the room first please.”
“No fucking way,” Leigh snarled at him. “I ain’t going nowhere.”
Rebel wrapped his arms around his mate. He could smell it too. It was blood and death. In his mind, he prayed it was some sort of road kill inside the box.
“I can handle it,” Serena said.
“I’m staying too,” Brea said but she held Angel’s hand tight in h
er own.
“Well, we can’t sit here and look at it all day,” Gage said. “Who’s going to open it?”
No one wanted to open the box for fear of who or what was inside. “I guess I will,” Gage continued as he bent down on one knee and gently pulled the tape off the top of the box. He could feel the tension in the room get thicker and it squeezed his heart. He knew what he had to do, but that didn’t mean it was any easier convincing himself to do it. He lifted one flap only enough so that he alone could see into the box.
What he saw had him closing the box and sitting back on his ass fast. He fisted his hair in his hands and forcefully took several breaths to attempt to steady himself.
“What is it?” Brea demanded.
Gage raised his head. There were tears in his eyes as he met each of his family’s stares. When his eyes met Antonio’s, all he could say was, “I am so sorry brother.”
Antonio took three long strides to the box. “Wait,” Gage tried to stop him, but Antonio had already shoved him away and yanked the box open. He fell to his knees in front of it, not wanting what he was seeing to be true and at the same time knowing it was.
Inside the box, Macy lay in a fetal position. Her knees were drawn up to her chest and her lovely hair was stained with blood. Her throat had been cut, all of her life blood drained from her body. This was Merrick’s way of showing just how badly he wanted Rebel’s head. Antonio reached into the box to stroke her hair. It was tangled but soft as ever. In her fist, wound up tight was a piece of paper. Antonio gently pulled it out of her fist and tossed it at Angel. Then, he gently lifted Macy’s lifeless body from the box.
Brea gasped when she saw her newest friend in Antonio’s arms. Leigh said nothing, but turned her head and vomited violently in the trash can. Antonio could feel his family’s pain amplifying his own as he carried his woman out of the room.
The entire family stood around the now empty box, stunned into silence, unable to process what had happened. From Antonio’s room they heard him scream out in agony, a mournful roar that shook the entire house as the pain of losing his mate became more than he could contain any longer.
Forbidden Love Series Book 4: From The Ashes Page 14