by Unknown
Dangerous Revelations
By
Morgan Kelley
Copyright © 2015 Morgan Kelley LLC
All rights reserved. Without limiting rights under the copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, introduced into a retrieval system, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including without limitation photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. The scanning, uploading, and/or distribution of this document via the internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and is punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrightable materials.
For permission requests, email [email protected]
Content Advisory: This book is intended for mature audiences and contains graphic violence, explicit sexual activity and disturbing imagery
© PaperbackCover Copyright 2015 Morgan Kelley LLC Cover art and design by Laura Gordon www.thebookcovermachine.com
Copyright © 2015 Morgan Kelley LLC Ebook cover by Rachel Zellers
Other works by Morgan Kelley:
Standalone Thrillers
The Junction
Serial Sins
The Blood Betrayal
FBI Romance Series
The Killing Times (Book 1)
Sacred Burial Grounds (Book 2)
True Love Lost (Book 3)
Deep Dark Mire (Book 4)
Fire Burns Hot (Book 5)
Darkness of Truth (Book 6)
Devil Hath Come (Book 7)
Consumed by Wrath (Book 8)
Redemption is Here (Book 9)
Dead Shall Speak (Book 10)
Croft & Croft Romance Adventure Series
Celestia is Falling (1)
Vegas is Dying (2)
Christmas is Killing (3)
Love is Bleeding (4)
Heaven is Weeping (5)
Littlemoon Investigations
Blood Red Rage (Book 1)
Lost & Broken (Book 2)
Unthinkable Games (Book 3)
The Carter Chronicles Trilogy
Sinner Repent (Book 1)
Sinner Realized (Book 2)
The Harcourte Vampyre Society series
Dangerous Revelations (1)
Dangerous Choices (2)
Behind Closed Doors Anthology
Illegal Fantasies ~ Behind Closed Doors (1)
Romance Under Arrest ~ Behind Closed Doors (2)
∞∞∞∞ About the Author ∞∞∞∞
Morgan Kelley lives in the beautiful Pocono Mountains with her husband and two children. After attending college at Penn State University and studying Criminal Justice, Morgan knew her only true passion in life would be murder and books. She put them both together and began her career as a writer. Other than books and writing, you can find Morgan hanging out in her garden and digging in the dirt.
Her other works include: The Junction, Serial Sins, The Blood Betrayal, Dangerous Revelations (1), The Killing Times (1), Sacred Burial Grounds (2), True Love Lost (3), Deep Dark Mire (4), Fire Burns Hot (5), Darkness of Truth (6), Devil Hath Come (7), Consumed by Wrath (8) Celestia is Falling (1), Vegas is Dying (2) Christmas is Killing (3), Love is Bleeding (4), Sinner Repent (1), Blood Red Rage (1) and Lost & Broken (2)
Please feel free to visit Morgan at her website: www.morgankelley.com, email her [email protected], or visit her blog at www.morgankelley.blogspot.com.
Dedication:
To all of you who wanted to meet Jolie, Jacques, and Flynn once more. Here is their story redone, rewritten, and retold.
Always,
Morgan.
It’s been a long time coming. Here’s Jolie and Jacques’s love story……
∞ Prologue ∞
1800's
Paris, France
Harcourte Manor
“Mistress, there has been another slaying in the city,” the deep, rich voice whispered into the darkness of the room, waiting for her to offer instructions.
“Is it the same as the others, Jacques?” softly came the reply.
There was a rustling of silk gossamer, but still the mademoiselle remained in the darkened shadows of her sleeping quarters, hidden from even his eyes.
“Yes, my Mistress. The local authorities are in the process of questioning anyone, who may have seen or heard anything on the night that the killing occurred.”
Again, there was a pause and almost a moment of trepidation on her behalf.
“Jacques, please! I must know. Are all of our people accounted for on that evening?” she asked. “I don’t wish to have to come up with another alibi for our society. It’s getting increasingly difficult to not look like we have something to do with these murders.”
“Mistress Jolie, we have all been accounted for on the nights of the slayings. The authorities can’t drop this one into our laps. Surely, we will come across as being free of guilt.”
There was the soft tinkle of laughter. It spoke deeply of what neither of them were saying, but instead thinking.
Both knew that guilt didn't matter.
Not this time, and not ever.
It wouldn’t be the police who hunted them down like animals in the streets.
She continued, “Was all the blood taken from this victim too, Jacques?”
“Yes, my Mistress. There was none found near the victim, and it does appear that it was one of our kind who did it. Someone is feeding from the humans and leaving them for dead.”
That was the worst news that he could give her. If one of their species was making a meal of the humans, it was going to come back to haunt them.
It always did.
Jolie had lived a long time and seen many atrocities. There had been some to her people, and some to the humans. Either way, she had learned to never discount fate and what could, or would, happen.
They were all pawns in the game.
“This doesn’t make me happy, Jacques, not at all. We’re hunted to begin with. We don’t need to have a rogue vampyre drawing attention to us.” She paused, choosing her words cautiously before speaking them. The vampyre before her would do anything she asked, and as of late, it was imperative to keep her family safe, him included. “I need to know who it is Jacques, and I need it handled immediately, if you understand what I mean,” stated Jolie.
She had made her decision, hoping their carefully constructed façade would remain intact. If that crumbled, they would have to escape for their lives.
“Ask and it shall be yours, Mistress. You know I’ll handle anything that you require done.”
He spoke the vow which he had whispered so many times and centuries before. “I’m ready to serve you.”
Jolie pondered the ramifications, and she prayed that ultimately, they wouldn’t be the ones who suffered in the end.
It was now or never.
Making the decision, she set fate in motion. The man before her would undoubtedly handle it. “We must act now, before we are found out and eradicated by the hunters.”
Jacques knew what was required of him.
“Yes, my Mistress,” he replied, watching as she came into the candle light. Momentarily, he was astounded by her ethereal beauty. It always caught him off guard and made his dead heart quicken. “If it is your wish, it shall be done.”
“See to it, Jacques. I wish for the person doing this to be brought to me. I don’t care what society he or
she belongs to. I’m enacting my rights to put a stop to this. We must handle this personally, before the authorities start knocking on our door. I’ve not lived six centuries to have my life ended now, and so haphazardly.”
He understood and was willing to handle it, as he always did. After all, it was his job, his responsibility, and his duty.
Jacques knew his role, and it was to be her personal weapon.
“I shall work on it, Mistress.”
There was no doubt in her mind that he would make sure it was done right. If there was anyone who she could trust, it was the man before her. Jacques wouldn’t let her down.
For now, he was their only hope.
Mademoiselle Harcourt turned to her fireplace. Silence befell the room as she watched the flames burn and the wood spark bright colored embers. Her heart ached for a simpler time, where they would be safe.
It was all that she wanted for her people.
Yet, it was getting harder and harder to find it. As technology grew and time passed, their moments were counted like the ticks of a clock.
Jacques watched her with compassion. Desperately, he wanted to go to her and offer her some sort of reassurance that she was making the right decision.
He knew how heavily this was weighing on her heart, and now it weighed on his too.
“I’ll be fine,” she replied, catching the thoughts that flickered though his mind and into hers. Jolie appreciated how willing he was to offer her some peace.
It simply was his way.
But alas, she was the primus of the city, and it was her job to make sure the humans could co-inhabit with her kind. These atrocities must be stopped before their existences were further threatened. They didn’t need the hunters on their doorsteps.
That meant certain death.
If anything, Jolie Harcourte was a survivor, and she wouldn’t let someone else be her downfall.
It simply wasn’t happening.
“Jacques, call the society together. I don’t want anyone in our inner circle to not see what’s coming. I fear that we can’t wait any longer,” she said, moving toward the man standing in her room.
“Yes, Mistress. Right away.”
“Then, you may go to work and handle it.”
His eyes dilated, and he stared at her emotionlessly. The killer in him was begging to surface. The uncontrollable beast, just below the surface, was willing to comply to her every request. “As you wish, my Mistress.”
Jolie watched her trusted companion close the door. It was her greatest fear that her reign in Paris was coming to an end. She sighed, stepping back into the darkness to begin her evening energy ritual to prepare for what seemed to be the inevitable.
There was a war coming.
And she was helpless to stop it.
∞ Chapter One ∞
Present Day
Wednesday
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
It was never easy being in charge. One would think that she would have known that by now, and accepted it. In all honesty, Jolie believed that over time, it would have become easier. Yet once more, she was wrong.
That wasn’t the way it was happening. It seemed to be an uphill battle with the humans, her society, and everything in general.
It was getting… old.
What she really wanted was for once to have everything to go as planned. Was that really too much to ask?
Seriously?
How hard could it be for the family to grasp the concept that she was in charge? It was, after all, her job, and she was capable of doing what was best for them.
Instead, some of them believed that they needed to remind her and offer their opinion.
Repeatedly.
“Mistress Jolie, we have no choice but to help them,” said Balzac. “There is someone masquerading as one of us and it can’t be tolerated. We must act swiftly and now! It’s our duty!”
A frustrated sigh escaped her lips.
“I’m well aware, Balzac, of what should be done, but I’m not convinced it’s our duty to do so at this time. The last time we assisted with this mess, we were forced to leave our home, just as the hunters came and burned it to the ground,” answered Jolie, trying to remind the man of what had been a travesty.
Obviously, his memory was far shorter than hers.
“We aided the humans before, and they believed us to be killers. Without thinking twice, they turned on us, causing many of our kind to be lost.” This was the same old song and dance which had been going on for centuries between her kind, and the ones who they protectively watched over.
“That was only because they feared us then, Mistress. It was different during the eighteen hundreds. Now, it’s a far more progressive time. I honestly believe that the humans would be less intimidated if they knew the truth,” interjected Jacques, heatedly. “Surely by now they’ve adapted to a more open-minded way of thinking.”
Jolie’s soft laughter filled the air.
Granted, he was well aware of how scared the humans were of his kind back then. After all, he had been the one to neutralize the problems that popped up, hadn’t he?
Jolie turned from her pacing to glance at the man sitting at the table. He immediately adverted his eyes, as was proper for a minor member of the society. It was hard not to notice his body going ramrod straight when she walked to stand before him. Part of her wanted to be angry that they were even questioning her, but with this one man, she would bend and give. It was just how it had always been.
Jolie glanced around at the family sitting in the room. Her eyes passed over each of the members. Most had been her family and friends for the better part of six centuries. Yet, none had lived as long as she had.
It was her duty to protect, govern, and keep their society invisible.
She was primus. It had just always been this way, and it always would be. Jolie Harcourte had built this family from the ground up.
Alone.
Well, maybe not entirely alone.
Jacques had been there relatively early, and he was her partner in crime.
Jolie placed all her focus on her friend and close companion. Her elegant fingers went gracefully to his face to soothe his tension, almost lovingly.
“Jacques, I understand your feelings and concerns, my friend. I always look forward to your opinion. You’re freely allowed to give it, whenever you want,” she reassured. They had been through a great deal together, and Jolie owed him that, if nothing more.
Here sat her solider and warrior.
Staring up into her eyes, vivid green met serene violet as her words touched him, giving him the strength to say more.
“Mistress, we need to help them find the killer, so that we may continue to live in anonymity. I fear that we can’t run whenever trouble finds us.”
Jolie didn't disagree with him.
Her fingers on his cheek gave him courage. He decided to say it all, going for broke. “Sometimes, we must stand our ground and do battle for what is ours. I know that you don’t wish to have a repeat performance of Paris, but we’re stronger now, and ready for what may come.”
She understood and appreciated his words. Honestly, she completely trusted him. They had a union that was integral for their species. He was her loyal guardian and weapon when need be.
He said nothing more, keeping his eyes locked on hers, as he waited to see if his words would be welcomed or rebuked.
Jolie began weighing everything in her mind, including the man before her. Jacques had been with her as her confidante and constant companion for almost five hundred years, and still he referred to her with her title of mistress. Never would he dare call her by just her first name. He was ever the proper vampyre, and lately, it was beginning to bother her more than she liked to admit.
That also weighed on her shoulders as she struggled to make sense of that too.
The entire group watched her as she began to pace. Absently, she began twisting a strand of her long black hair around her fingers. They couldn’t re
member when they had seen her this agitated. Ultimately, it all came down to her and her skills as a leader. She was their primus, and the final decision was hers alone to make. They all knew that she would do it wisely, and in her own time.
“Jolie, mon amour. What is it that the police want from you?” asked Balzac. “Are you honestly able to give them the assistance that they need, without compromising our family? Tell us the story from the beginning, and maybe we can help you with your decision.”
Jolie was willing to let them carry some of the burden, temporarily, so she returned to the comfort of her chair to begin.
“I was in my office this afternoon, working with patients when there was a call from the police commissioner. He asked if I would meet with him, and a few of his detectives in charge of the vampyre murders. It seems that they want me to assist them in trying to get into the mind of the killer to possibly stop him,” Jolie said, turning toward the others at the table in front of her.
“We are with you so far, Mistress,” Jacques stated, urging her on.
“He informed me that they’re in need of dire help. It’s their hope that I would be able to give them an insight into the killer’s motives and plans.”
“Hmmm, so all they require is your brain?”
She nodded regally. “Yes.”
“Then what makes you hesitate?” Balzac inquired. “It’s not like you to not jump completely into a situation. You love games like this.”