by Unknown
She wouldn’t be able to fight it.
Genevieve was hers.
There was no turning back as she sent the power from her body, letting the darkness take over. This was no longer her show. They were now going to be players in Death’s little game.
“Come to me Genevieve,” she called, her voice not sounding like her own. There was no doubt that she was the vessel for something far more sinister.
And she was okay with that.
In her mind, Jolie could hear Death’s joyous revelry. Genevieve was on her way. There was nothing going to stop what was now coming.
Fate was playing out.
Death was going to feed.
One way or another, someone wasn’t leaving that space tonight. Jolie could only pray that she’d see her mates again.
The men nervously paced the house. They couldn’t contact Jolie or feel her. This was all beyond nerve-wracking. Each time they sent out a call, it bounced back without reply.
“I’m scared,” Brogan admitted.
Jacques stood beside him as they stared out the windows of the solarium. “You’re not alone,” he offered. “I can’t feel her. I’ve been able to feel her for over six hundred years, and now nothing. I really hate this.”
The feeling was mutual.
“Should we go down there?” he asked, hoping the man would say yes, giving them an excuse to race out of that building and to her side.
“Not yet.” It killed him to say that, especially when everything in him begged him to charge after his mate. He wanted to get to Jolie in the worst way.
“Are you sure?”
NO. He wasn’t.
“Yes, don’t worry, Flynn. I’m positive that it’ll all be fine.”
Brogan trusted his mate. After all, he wouldn’t risk Jolie’s life in a million years.
Jacques sent out a prayer, hoping he’d made the right choice.
Both their hearts depended on it.
Jolie sat on Louisa’s grave and could feel Death returning to her with Genevieve in its hold. She immediately stood and stepped to the opposite side of Louisa’s grave, clear of the spell and the danger. She needed to get Genevieve to cross the space in order to activate the spell.
That would be her only chance.
If Genevieve couldn’t be lured, then there was hell to pay to Death. It would mean a hand to hand battle, and Jolie wasn’t sure she could defeat her old friend.
It would be bloody and close.
Genevieve entered into the clearing. Once there, she saw who had drawn her there. “That was a pretty trick, Jolie,” she said through her irritation. “I should have known that you’d resort to slight of hand and silly games.”
Oh, she had no idea what she’d resort to.
This was no game.
“Yes, you know me.” Jolie walked backward another step, trying to get the woman to follow her. “I do have to say that’s a compliment coming from the queen of parlor tricks.”
Genevieve ignored her comment. “Now that you have me here, what will you do with me?”
“I’m going to kill you, Genevieve. You’ve hurt my family repeatedly. It ends here, tonight, and in the name of revenge that you started.”
Jolie took another step back.
“You’re right, mon ami. It’s going to end in revenge, but I fear that you’ll be disappointed in who will walk away.” Genevieve took a step toward the grave. “Such a pretty area you have here. Was this a gift from your besotted mates?”
“They do treat me well,” she offered, trying to distract her. Jolie watched Genevieve closely. The woman was known to strike without warning. It was only a matter of time before she calculated the right moment. She wasn’t a patient vampyre and was well known for her haste. Jolie, on the other hand, was like the spider in the web…
Watching.
Waiting.
Stalking.
“When I’m done with you, I’ll kill them all,” she warned, taking another step toward the grave.
Jolie watched with baited breath. All it would take is only two steps more. “No, they’ll slaughter you if, for some reason, you succeed in taking my life.”
She saw the telltale sign.
It was the glint in her eye.
Genevieve sent all her fury and hatred slamming into Jolie’s body. The force of the energy trapped her, and she was unable to move away from the assault. She held on, absorbing as much as possible.
Jolie screamed in pain and fury as she dropped to her knees, pleading silently with Death to get Genevieve to just take a few steps closer.
The evil laughter filled the air.
“Now, you die.”
The men froze as Jolie’s scream ripped through the night. Both ran to the door to go to her aid. When they tried to escape, energy pulsed around them.
The house was sealed.
“Shit!” yelled Brogan, trying to shoulder the invisible glass to get to Jolie. No matter how hard he hit it, there was no give.
Another scream ripped through the night, and both of their hearts.
Jacques fought with everything he had to get through the invisible wall. How was she doing this?
Then, he felt it.
“This isn't Jolie! It’s you, Chloe!”
The woman nodded. “The mistress instructed me that under no circumstance am I to let you leave the house. I’m sorry, Masters.”
Jacques howled in frustration.
Flynn joined him.
They had no choice but to wait.
Jolie took the second hit of energy and stopped breathing. It stole every ounce of breath from her lungs. The pain sizzled up her body, and she swore she could smell burning flesh.
How long could she last not breathing?
Or would she combust and not need to worry?
Motion caught her eye as Genevieve took a step closer. Her heart began to slow as energy sucked more life from her.
Then, she noticed that she was close.
Almost. There. Just. A. Few. More. Steps.
Jolie had to hang on. Her fists clenched, as did her teeth. In her mouth, she could taste her own blood as fangs pierced her lip.
Giving up wasn’t an option.
No matter how much it hurt.
“Chloe, let us out there!” pleaded Brogan softly. They couldn’t break through, but maybe they could convince the woman to help them.
“I can’t. The mistress made me promise.”
Jacques began throwing furniture against the glass in an attempt to shatter it and escape.
Something had to work.
It was then that he noticed he wasn’t alone. Mathew, Clariel, and Trina began pounding on the glass, also trying to get to their mistress.
“Please, Chloe! She’s going to die,” Flynn begged
“I know, but I can’t,” she whispered, as the tears began falling, “or you’ll all die too.”
∞ Chapter Thirty ∞
Genevieve laughed evilly as she watched Jolie squirm in pain. “Now, I finish this game.”
She took the final step onto the grave, and Jolie knew she finally had the prey in her reach. Standing slowly, she watched the horror cross Genevieve’s face as she realized she was trapped in the circle of the grave.
“What is this?” bellowed Genevieve.
“This is the end to the game. I believe it is called revenge.”
Jolie wiped the blood that was running from her nose with the back of her hand. “Your daughter killed Louisa, and that is what started all this. Then, you attacked my mates. It’s time I put an end to this.”
Jolie put her arms out and the mist swirled around her body in black tendrils. Genevieve gasped, trying to move as her energy began to feed Death’s hunger.
“You’ve died! You’re the harbinger!”
“I’m glad you noticed, but I prefer angel. It’s a prettier term for what I’ve now become.”
The tendrils crept from Jolie’s body, seeping into the ground at Genevieve’s feet. Jolie enjoyed the con
fusion and terror on her old friend’s face.
It was time she hurt for her sins.
“I don’t understand.”
Now was the time to share the true horror. “You’re standing on Louisa’s grave.”
Genevieve realized what was going to happen. “You wouldn’t! You couldn’t possibly!” she accused.
“I would and am!”
She sent her energy into Genevieve, enjoying as the vampyre fell to the ground. At the same time, her skin split in large gouges with blood oozing from the wounds. Jolie knew they would heal, but there only needed to be some blood spilled into the circle to begin the spell.
“Oh God!” Genevieve screamed, as the dirt began shifting beneath her feet.
Slowly, the ground broke open and skeletal remains, with decaying flesh clinging to them, clawed their way through the dirt to the open air.
Genevieve screamed again in terror, trying to back away.
The zombie was truly hideous. Death was unavoidable for humans, and it was never pretty when you had to look upon the aftereffects. The rotting corpse looked around the circle before moving hungrily toward Genevieve.
“Don’t touch me!” she wailed, trying to escape the horrible creature tracking her.
Jolie stepped into the zombie’s field of vision. “Louisa, my sweet, it’s Jolie.”
All movement stopped as she stared over with empty eye sockets. It was obvious that she recognized the voice.
Jolie continued, “I need you to help me, Louisa. She was partially responsible for your death, and she disturbed your remains. Feed from her and take our revenge.”
Louisa cocked her head to the side as if trying to understand.
“Kill her, Louisa.”
It was all it took.
Energy left her body, and Louisa’s decaying form devoured it as if starving. When she turned to Genevieve and dropped down beside her, the vampyre screamed, knowing that she had underestimated her enemy for the last time.
“I hate you!” she wailed, as Louisa began ripping and consuming the flesh from her body.
With every rip and tear, Genevieve screamed in horrible pain. Finally, to end it all, Louisa went for the kill. Her hand crashed through Genevieve’s ribs and found its prize.
The screaming ended and finally there was silence.
Jacques’s hands were bloody from trying to get through the barrier keeping him from his mate. He had broken every piece of furniture in the room, trying to escape. Once he had run out of things to use, he faced down Chloe. “Let me out, NOW!”
Before she could say no, another scream tore through the night. This one was the scream of death.
Chloe raised her head and stared into Jacques’s green eyes. Her own had bled black and swirled like vortexes in a storm. “It is over.”
Both men raced out the door. When they broke the clearing, the first thing they saw was the white night blooming flowers. They were sickly splashed and stained with blood.
They only hoped it wasn’t their mate’s.
“Jolie,” Jacques bellowed, as he entered the makeshift memorial. There, he saw her standing over Louisa’s grave and Genevieve’s remains.
“Stop!” She held up her hand and both men were trapped far enough from the circle. “I need to finish this before you touch me.”
Both men were relieved to see her alive, so they were more than willing to accommodate.
Jolie sat at the edge of the circle and took in the blood coated Louisa. She was terrifying as a decaying zombie, but coated in blood and fragments of freshly torn flesh, she was another step beyond terrifying.
“Louisa, thank you. You’ve ended this fight for revenge.”
The dead woman sat facing her in the same pose, staring blindly at her.
“Louisa, I just needed to tell you what I didn’t get to before. I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to save you.”
Louisa cocked her head, and then nodded, understanding what her mistress was saying. She reached out for Jolie’s face with her decaying hand, one missing a finger. Jolie leaned into the circle and allowed the corpse to touch her cheek.
It was done lovingly, and with nothing but respect.
Even in death, there was love.
“I have something for you,” Jolie offered, as she headed for the statue to remove the box with the cremated finger and hair. Returning, she crossed back into the circle, kicking Genevieve’s quickly decaying bones and dust out of her way. “Here are your missing remains. Take them back with you.”
Louisa nodded and reached out to touch Jolie’s hair.
“I love you, Louisa. I’ll guard you now. Please rest in peace.”
Louisa smiled a gory smile. Turning, she began digging back into the earth to return to her coffin and resting place. When the ground stopped shifting, Jolie raised her arms and called the black tendrils of Death back to her body. She closed her eyes and there was a sigh of satisfaction from the one who now owned her.
The promise was fulfilled.
Stepping from the circle, Jolie released her two mates. Jacques got to her first, sweeping her up in his arms, despite the mess coating her clothing.
“Jolie!” he muttered, dropping to his knees, as he held her.
“I’m fine,” she reassured.
Jacques spoke, “I’m not. I feel like I’ve aged a hundred years,” he admitted.
Brogan turned her face toward his. “Well then, old man, you won’t mind if I kiss her first.” His lips moved slowly over hers, expressing his love. “You scared us, and boy are we pissed.”
Jolie’s soft melodious laughter filled the clearing.
“I did what had to be done,” she admitted. “I’m sorry.”
Jacques still had his eyes closed and forehead on her shoulder. He reached for her mind.
“I should put you over my knee. If someone punished you as a child, I don’t doubt that this wouldn’t have happened.”
Her laughter caressed his body, helping to dissipate his fear.
“You think? Now that this over, we’ll discuss the possibilities of a good spanking.”
His expression gave away that they were conversing.
“What?” Brogan asked, curious about the look on his face.
Jacques shared the information.
“Oh man, I miss the best conversations! Is that even a possibility?” he added, grinning wickedly.
Jolie ignored them. “I love you both,” she said, laughing.
The men loved her with all their hearts.
Their dark angel was everything, and they couldn’t wait for eternity.
∞ Epilogue ∞
Jolie stood on the patio overlooking the hillside of Versailles. She was wary at first of returning to her home, but now she could feel its gentleness calling to her mind, body, and soul. The last couple of weeks had been hellish, but now they were safe and at peace.
A sigh escaped her lips as the men in her life came to her side.
“It’s beautiful,” said Brogan, wrapping one arm around her, as he left a loving kiss on her cheek.
“It certainly is.”
Jacques mimicked Brogan’s actions, taking his place beside her. “It’s been a while, mon amour. Are you glad to be back?”
“Yes, I think I am.”
Jolie reveled in the feel of the warmth and protection of their arms.
The three stood in silence, holding onto each other.
Brogan finally spoke. “What are we going to do first?”
“I was thinking that we could visit some of our old favorite places,” answered Jolie.
“Oui, that would be nice,” replied Jacques.
Jolie patted Flynn on the ass. “I’d also like to make a few new memories while we’re here.” When she glanced up at him, there was a grin on his face and joy in his eyes.
“As long as we manage to stay out of trouble,” Brogan added quickly.
Jacques threw back his head and laughed. “Like that is a possibility. Jolie got me into many a bad situation
in the three hundred years while we were here. We’re screwed.”
Jolie turned to face him, smiling seductively. “Perhaps, but I bet you’ll never forget a single moment of all the chaos we caused.”
“Chaos?” asked Brogan.
“Mon ami, there is no other word for what she is capable of when the spirit moves her.”
It was Jolie’s turn to laugh. “Let’s hope that I haven’t outgrown my wild nature.” She heard Jacques groan and Brogan laugh. “Now, I have two mates to assist in my many conquests.”
Brogan would follow her anywhere.
Even into hell and back. So much had changed in so little time. Here was his future, and he was blessed.
“Let’s check on the family,” she offered, holding out her hands to the men she loved more than anything.
Entering their home, they found that Clariel and Trina were reading on the couch in front of the fireplace. Their limbs were entwined and smiles graced their peaceful faces. Jolie walked to them first and sat beside Clariel.
“Are you enjoying France?”
“Oh, Mistress, we were shopping yesterday evening and there were so many beautiful things. I couldn’t decide on what to get.”
“France does have the quaintest of shops. Get whatever you want.”
“But Mistress…”
“Don’t worry, Clariel. If you like it, buy it. I can even recommend a few men to carry your purchases.”
“Hey, I object,” said Brogan, touching Jolie’s shoulder and smiling. “I’m no one’s pack mule.”
Jacques laughed. “Wait, mon ami. Jolie has yet to go shopping. I have a feeling that you, Mathew, and I will be carrying many pretty wrapped packages.”
The men felt her reach for their minds.
“I saw some rather interesting lingerie that you might not mind carrying.” She sent them both pictures of what she had seen.
It got their attention.
“Wow. I love France.”
“Mon Dieu! I take it back! I’ll carry whatever you want, wherever you want, if you wear that.”
Her laughter brushed intimate parts of their bodies, caressing them erotically. She made a mental note to return to that little boutique and buy the lacy concoction that she had seen among the many items on display.