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Forbidden Love Series Book 4: From The Ashes

Page 16

by Danielle James


  “Are you sure?” he asked. “She may not survive it.”

  “She will die if I don’t,” Jacque growled back at him. Angel nodded and stepped away just as Jacque plunged the needle into his own arm. Blood began to flow from Jacque and into the vein in Frankie’s arm. “Keep her blood moving,” he told Serena.

  She nodded and kept doing compressions on Frankie’s chest. Brea had come and took over the bagging from Serena who was very exhausted and grateful for the assistance. Jacque stood so that his blood would flow faster. He knew she needed every drop he could spare and she needed it yesterday.

  After a few minutes, Frankie’s heart leapt back to life and began beating furiously on its own. Serena moved off of her and Brea pulled the tube from her throat. Frankie dragged a hoarse breath into her lungs, held it for a long second, and then let it out with a scream.

  The change had begun.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  Frankie was kicking and screaming out in pain, but she was alive for now. She bucked her back against the small bed and every now and then she seized up completely. Everyone knew she was in pain and there was no way to stop it. The pain would eventually subside, if she survived. The key was to keep enough blood in her system until the change completed, and then hope she wasn’t driven to insanity by it.

  “That’s enough,” Gage told Jacque as he attempted to remove the IV line from Jacque’s arm.

  “No!” Jacque shouted back at him. “She needs more. I can still give her more.”

  “No, you can’t,” Gage retorted. “We have blood here. We can give her that.”

  “I’m not trusting my mate to bottled blood!”

  “You will die, Mon Ami, if you do not let us handle it now. As we speak, Brea and Serena have left to get as much O negative as they can. We will take turns donating until they return.”

  Jacque didn’t want to be disconnected from Frankie, but he was already feeling weak and light headed. He searched the faces of his brothers in the room. All of them, even Sebastian, were nodding and agreeing to help save Frankie’s life. Reluctantly, he nodded and Gage pulled the needle from Jacque’s arm and shoved it into his own. He took a seat next to Frankie and settled in for a wait.

  Jacque stumbled backward and someone shoved a chair under his ass so that he wouldn’t hit the floor. He wanted to thank his brothers for helping him and Frankie, but he no longer possessed the strength to speak. But they heard him just the same.

  “It is our honor to protect your mate,” Sebastian said as he took the chair to relieve Gage. “You would do no less for any of us.”

  Jacque nodded and relaxed a little. Well, as much as he could, knowing that Frankie was in real danger of dying and in a tremendous amount of pain. Hell, he didn’t even know how she would feel about being a vampire if she survived the change at all. But that wasn’t even the worst case scenario.

  She could die, yes, but what if she lived? What if she lived and hated being a vampire? She would leave him again. At least, she would live. No, the worst possible outcome would be if she lived and the change drove her insane. If she couldn’t be taught to be a civil vampire, she would have to be put down because she would be a danger not only to Jacque’s family, but to the rest of the world as well.

  He prayed it wouldn’t come to that.

  In a perfect world, Frankie would come out a powerful, beautiful vampire that would be proud to stand by Jacque’s side as his mate. That was what he was going to have to hold on to if he was going to come out the other side with her.

  The phone rang then, causing Jacque to jump slightly. Everyone looked at Rebel’s phone, but no one wanted to pick it up. It was Jessica’s number. Sebastian finally answered it.

  “What?” he barked into the speaker. He pressed the button so that everyone could hear. They all walked out of the room where Frankie was writhing and whimpering for a quieter space they could all hear in.

  “The sun is setting,” Merrick said. “You have lost two of your women and still I see no head on my doorstep. I suppose the sayings about vampire mates are just myths.”

  “You son of a bitch,” Sebastian snarled. “Give me back my wife!”

  “No head, no wife,” Merrick said sweetly.

  “We don’t even know where you are you stupid asshole!”

  “That is no matter,” Merrick replied. “I have given you ample time and you have obviously made your decision since the vampire still lives.” Merrick pulled the phone away from his mouth and yelled for someone to bring Jessica to him.

  Sebastian listened in horror as he heard the sounds of feet moving and then he heard something that gave him hope. He heard her voice.

  “Not today asshole,” Jessica shouted as soon as Leo removed her gag. She knew what they intended for her and no way was she going to let them kill her so her husband could hear it. She tightened her resolve. They were not going to kill her without a fight. Her hands were bound behind her back but her legs were free, if not a little stiff from sitting in the position they had put her in for so long. She brought her knee up fast and jammed it into Leo’s balls as hard as she could. When he doubled over from the pain, she used the opportunity to deliver a round house kick to his jaw. He went over like a stack of bricks. She mentally thanked Sebastian for all the self-defense lessons he had insisted on because now they were gonna pay off.

  “Damn it,” Merrick muttered, dropping the phone. The call was still connected and she knew it because it was still lit up. “What the hell!” Merrick continued. “Good help is so hard to find these days. If you want something done, you must do it yourself.” He ran toward Jessica but she wasn’t having it. She had already slipped her hands under her body so that they were now tied in front of her instead of behind her back.

  She was bouncing on the balls of her feet, waiting for Merrick. “We gonna do this then?” she asked him. “Do you really think you can take me on without your damned fairy and his spells to hide us?”

  Her words gave Merrick pause. She was right. Leo couldn’t hold the cloaking spell while he was unconscious. Without the spell, her family would be able to locate her. The thought distracted him for only a second, but it was a precious second that Jessica took advantage of. Instead of running from him as he expected she would, she ran full force toward him. She angled her shoulder down at the last possible moment and slammed her body into his, delivering a football-style tackle.

  Merrick was not only taken off guard, but taken down as well. Jessica went down too, but she had the advantage of surprise on her side and leapt up to her feet before Merrick had processed what had happened. She grabbed the first thing she saw within reach, a stone statue of a dragon, and held it tight in both hands. It was heavy and awkward but she managed to raise it high and brought the statue down hard, connecting with the side of Merrick’s head as he tried to stand up.

  The force of her swing sent her off balance and she stumbled into the wall but was able to keep her footing. Merrick, on the other hand, was not so fortunate. The blow landed hard and knocked him right back down to the floor.

  Jessica cautiously took a few steps toward him, holding her breath. One look and she knew he was unconscious as well. She let her breath out and snatched up her phone from the floor where Merrick had dropped it.

  Sebastian was still on the line. “Jessica!” he was screaming into the phone. “Are you ok? Talk to me!”

  “I’m ok,” she breathed out.

  “Oh thank fuck you’re alive!” he hollered. “Where are you?”

  “I’m not sure,” she said, “But I am getting the fuck out of here.”

  “Go on, get out. Keep your phone on. Tell us what you see and we’ll come for you. We are already getting in the car.”

  “Ok,” she answered, finding the front door and unlocking it. She wrenched it open and ran out into the night.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  “I can feel her!” Sebastian exclaimed to anyone who was listening. “I can find her. She is that way.” He point
ed with his entire arm out the truck window. Jessica was still on the phone with him, and now he could clearly hear her thoughts as well.

  Don’t worry Baby, we’re coming.

  What if they wake up? She thought back to him. She was running for all she was worth and it was evident even in her thoughts. She had stopped talking on the phone to save her breath, but kept the call active just in case.

  Hang on, Angel is gonna call Serena for help, he told her.

  Angel didn’t call Serena, exactly, but sent a mental message to his wife instead who was with her. Tell Serena to try to cast a protection spell on Jessica to keep her safe from Merrick, he told her.

  Is she ok? Brea asked back.

  She has escaped, Angel said, But we do not know how long until they find her.

  As Jessica ran, she could feel the burn in her lungs, the numbness in her legs, and the stitch that was steadily growing in her side, but she wasn’t about to slow down. Her heart pounded against her ribcage like a wild horse, but still she ran. She had to get to safety. She knew it was sheer luck that had set her free from Merrick and Leo and they would wake up eventually.

  She had been prepared to die. There was no way she was going to go quietly though and her quick thinking had allowed her to get the drop on Merrick. But even with the element of surprise, she still shouldn’t have been able to get the better of him on her best day, much less with her hands tied.

  The thought bothered her quite a bit and she had to wonder if it had all been some kind of trap. She feared he was following her back to her family so that he could exact his crazy assed revenge on them. She wanted to run away from her family, but that would end in certain death and her survival instinct was pretty damned strong as it turned out.

  She began to calm though when she heard words forming in her head. They were not spoken into her mind like Sebastian did, but she heard them all the same. It was a beautiful female voice. It was saying, “What you seek, you shall not find, not in body and not in mind. Safe from you, she will stay, you will not take her on this day,” over and over. Serena. She knew that voice belonged to Serena. She was keeping Jessica hidden from Merrick just as they had done to her.

  She slowed her pace as she heard the squealing of tires around the corner. A black SUV hauled ass around the bend and barreled in her direction.

  Jessica would have been scared if she had not recognized the truck. She stopped where she was and waited as the truck came to a screeching halt on the curb in front of her. The passenger door opened and Sebastian leapt out.

  He moved so fast that all Jessica saw was a blur as she was scooped up into his arms and thrown into the SUV. She heard the door slam and the driver, she didn’t see who it was, punched the gas hard. Tires squealed and the truck lurched forward, pitching Jessica off the backseat and into the floorboard.

  “No you don’t,” Sebastian’s voice said and she was lifted right back up. “Thank God,” he said and he crushed her mouth beneath his. Jessica grabbed onto him anywhere she could. Her hands were fisted in his shirt and in his hair and his arms made a steel cage around her. Finally she felt safe. The emotions she had been keeping buried inside burst free of her defenses and the tears began to fall.

  Sebastian broke the kiss, but continued to shower her face with light kisses. “I was so afraid,” he told her. He lifted her face and inspected her for signs of injury. “Are you hurt?” he demanded.

  She shook her head and tried to wipe the tears from her eyes. Sebastian’s heart broke for her as he brushed away a tear. “Macy,” she whispered, “He made us watch. And Frankie.” Her tears broke into full blown sobs at that point and all Sebastian could do was hold her tight to his body and let her cry. That bastard had made them watch as he murdered Macy. She had been so sweet, so innocent about the paranormal world. She had given up everything to help his family, and in the end, she paid the ultimate price. Her life.

  He didn’t know exactly what had happened with Frankie. He kept getting flashes of images from Jessica’s mind, but it was jumbled and raw. All he could definitely be sure of was that it had been harsh and Jessica had been forced to watch her best friend being beaten to the brink of death. His own logic suggested that since the authorities claimed she fell from the sky, Merrick had to have flown her to town and just dropped her. He was amazed that she still lived, if only for now. Hell, it would be a miracle if she survived at all.

  Jessica’s head jerked up from Sebastian’s chest. She met his eyes with her own. “She’s alive?” she asked with desperation. “Tell me she’s alive!” Jessica shifted and threw one leg over Sebastian’s in the confines of the back seat so that she was face to face with him. She fisted his shirt in her hands and shook him.

  “Jess,” he said quietly. He wanted to soften the blow about Frankie and what had happened, but the bond they shared through their mating had already allowed Jessica to hear his every thought and see for herself what he had seen.

  She dropped her head to his shoulder. “Oh God!” she wailed into the side of his neck. He wrapped his arms tighter around her and gently moved his fingers back and forth on her back in an attempt to comfort her. “Please,” she begged, “Please let her live!”

  Violent sobs shook her body as he held her tight. Angel had slowed his speed and now the truck was moving at a more normal pace as they approached their home. He wiped a tear from his eye and tried to trample down the pain in his heart. He knew everything Sebastian was thinking to be true and he felt his sister in law’s pain as well as his own.

  He was thankful that his own daughter wasn’t present for this mess. Frieda had taken her to see family and thanks to a strategic phone call, their little vacation had been extended at the last minute. At first, they had done it because they didn’t know how to explain to a five year old how her uncle was alive again. Now, the horror that had unfolded over the course of one day was too much for the adults who had lived for centuries and had seen everything.

  He shuddered. He remembered what it was like to fear for Brea’s life. He could empathize with his brothers. He felt Antonio’s pain even from a distance and knew there would be no coming back for him. It was only a matter of time before the grief became more than he could bear. Angel was happy for Sebastian for the return of Jessica, not just for his brother, but because his whole family loved her and considered her a sister. He only hoped that the outcome for Frankie would be the same. He had kept in constant mental contact with Brea while they were separated. He couldn’t take the chance that Merrick would find her too, even if she was protected by Serena. He knew the women had gotten a supply of blood for Frankie and had already returned to the house.

  He pulled the truck into the secret garage they kept at the edge of their property and waited patiently while the doors closed and the elevator took them into the underground tunnel. He shifted the truck into drive and navigated the dark tunnel in silence. Jessica had calmed a little and her sobs had retreated, only to be replaced by sniffling and she was whimpering softly in Sebastian’s arms.

  When they finally reached the house, the truck was lifted on the elevator to the main garage and the doors opened for them. Jessica straightened her clothes after she got out of the truck. Angel smiled. That was such a Jessica thing to do, and he knew in that moment that even though she had been through hell, she was going to be ok.

  She walked into the house and directly into Brea’s waiting arms. “Thank God,” Brea murmured as she squeezed Jessica tight. “I thought we had lost you too.”

  Jessica pulled back from the embrace and searched Brea’s face. Her violet eyes were darker than normal and reminded Jessica of storm on the brink of the ocean. “Frankie?” she asked.

  Brea nodded and took her by the hand. “She seems to be doing better,” Brea told her, leading her into the house. “At least, the screaming has stopped.”

  When Brea stood in front of the door and held her arm out to allow Jessica to go in first, Jessica’s feet grew roots right where she was. It was as if the
y just crept right up out of the floor and twisted and knotted around her ankles. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to go in because she did. She was afraid of what she was going to see once she got inside. She had seen what Merrick and Leo had done to Frankie. She had witnessed one blow after another as they took turns kicking and punching her friend. She had seen the blood. Frankie had put up a fight at first, trying to block the blows and kicking back at them. And then when Frankie could fight no more, they continued. When her body was lying on the floor, limp and broken, they had taken her away.

  It was then that Jessica swore Merrick would pay for his crimes, even if it meant she had to die to deliver it.

  “It’s ok,” Brea told her with a hand on her shoulder and magically the roots that had wrapped around Jessica’s feet fell away and she was able to take a step forward. Then another and another until she was standing by Frankie’s bedside.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  “How is she?” Jacque asked Sebastian as he stood next to the chair Jacque had claimed as his post by his mate. He had dozed off from exhaustion and lack of blood. He had given Frankie a lot more than he should have, but it had been worth it to him.

  “She looks better,” Sebastian answered.

  “Jessica,” Jacque corrected him. He knew his brother thought he had been talking about Frankie.

  Sebastian drew in a long breath before letting it out on a sigh. “She has been through hell,” he told him. “They made them watch.”

  “Zut alors!” Jacque cursed. “Baize moi, what a monster.”

  “Yeah,” Sebastian agreed.

  “We are going to send him right back to hell.”

  “Yep,” Sebastian said, matter of fact. And it was. When his family was healed enough to do so, Merrick was going to die a second time. And this time, it was going to be one he wouldn’t be able to come back from.

  Jessica hadn’t said anything since she took a spot next to Frankie. She had taken her hand and was holding it softly. She watched the expression on Frankie’s face twist in pain and she was restless on the bed, but she didn’t cry out. The bruises on her face were evident, but were also yellowing and fading. Jessica could only imagine what her friend must have looked like before Jacque’s healing blood had been introduced.

 

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