Chapter Sixteen
Harcourte Manor
Monday Late
Afternoon
Time: Less Than Nine Hours remaining…
F lynn knew that this was going to be the hardest thing he’d ever done in his life. Just when he thought watching his mother die in a hospital bed, and finding his father dead at their home was bad enough, there was this.
He was going to have to do it all over again.
Deep down, his heart was breaking, and this whole day was one continual loop of devastation for him.
He’d been having wine with his mates last night, and found them.
Now, he was finding them to say goodbye.
It was clear that the universe hated him. Honestly, he wasn’t sure how much stronger he could possibly be. He was broken in all the ways that would make a normal human crumble.
But you aren’t human.
I’m aware, Rinnon. Can I just be spared of the comments from you? Isn’t this enough to break me?
I’d never break you, Mate. I feel things for you that I never understood. I want to hug you and tell you that it’s going to be okay.
I appreciate that, but if you love me, you’ll make this easy for me. You’ll not make me kill them.
He understood.
The idea of having to kill his mates…it was a hard pill to swallow for Rinnon, and he wasn’t sure he could do it.
You don’t have to kill them. Jacques is waiting to take them.
Goodie .
With that, he closed off all the communication, blocking out Rinnon. While he understood that the demon God was trying his best, honestly, he wanted to be alone.
Once at the doorway that opened to Rinnon’s lair, he opened the door. Standing inside was the family. It was late afternoon, and clear that Mina had awoken everyone.
“Is it safe, Master Flynn?” she asked. “When we came back in, it was hell keeping that door closed.”
Yeah, he’d have to work on something later when it came to securing the door that Jacques said was unopenable.
Clearly, Black Magick could do it.
“I need the family to go back to their rooms for a little while,” he said, speaking to the vampyres. “It’s not safe outside the house. He knows where we live from when he stayed with us, and he’ll be back.”
There were murmurs.
Flynn could feel Jolie and Jacques behind him. When he glanced over, his mates were standing there.
“Alex took Kiera up to rest. He’s adjusting to the change in her.”
He simply nodded, not speaking to anyone.
Well, not to them.
As the family filed out of Rinnon’s realm, they moved off to go find their personal spaces. When he saw his mother and father, he pointed.
“Can I speak to you in the kitchen?” he asked.
His mother took his hand in hers, and held it.
That one action nearly broke him. This was going to kill a piece of him for a very long time. He wished it didn’t, but it did.
“Sure, Son. What’s going on? Did you get hurt? Do you need some dinner? I see that your wife isn’t cooking.”
Jolie said nothing.
Why?
How could she?
She was going to miss them, even if Flynn’s mother kept taking shots at her. Maybe she should be making him dinner .
She never thought to try to connect to his humanity. All she knew was that Flynn sacrificed everything for this family.
His job.
His humanity.
His life.
Now, this.
There was a part of her that believed she didn’t deserve the man he was.
You do, Mon Amour. He’s just hurting. We’ll give him some time, and then, we regroup. Flynn is tenacious.
Jacques, he won’t forget this. He won’t forgive it either. I feel the void. Can’t we please…
Jolie…
She gave up.
“How about some cookies?” he asked. “I hear you make a mean cookie,” he added, his voice breaking mid-sentence.
His father heard it.
“You need to talk, huh?”
He simply nodded.
“Yeah, Dad. I need to talk something out with both you and mom.”
They headed toward the kitchen. Jacques and Jolie stayed back, but they could hear everything.
Once in the kitchen, Flynn made a cup of coffee for himself, and one for his father.
Yes, it could kill him, but then again…this was it. His time was up.
When he put it down on the table, his father stared at him.
“Well, this is going to be bad,” he admitted.
Flynn didn’t say shit.
“What’s on your mind, Son?” his mother asked.
Flynn sat, and he ate a cookie. He tried to celebrate that moment, having them back, and her making him cookies again, but it was so hard.
“Good cookie, Mom. It’s just like always.”
She beamed .
“We got to see the babies,” she admitted. “Your daughter is going to be so beautiful. She’s going to look like her mother, but with your soul.”
Oh, the irony.
He didn’t have a soul anymore. That was gone a long time ago. It felt like eons.
“I think so. I’m glad you got to meet her. I hope she remembers it forever,” he said, feeling incredibly emotional.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. “You look like you’re going to cry.”
Oh, he was.
When he lifted his head, a tear dripped down his cheek.
His father immediately got it.
“We have to go, don’t we?” John asked, sipping the coffee. “This is our goodbye moment.”
Never let it be said his father wasn’t smart, and that he couldn’t read a room.
Flynn nodded.
“But I don’t want to go,” Barb admitted. “I feel healthy, and I’m strong. I don’t have cancer anymore, and I got to see your little one. Please don’t make me go.”
He had no choice.
“When you were brought back, Mom, it unbalanced the universe. Jacques has to keep everything in check. He has to make sure things balance.”
“But I just got here. Can’t I have a week? A month? Maybe another day?”
He shook his head.
“The reaper is waiting. It’s his job, and I’m sorry. I wish you could stay.”
His father put his hand over his.
“If we go, will you be okay?”
He laughed sardonically.
“What choice do I have, Dad? This is the path I took, and I have to keep moving. So much is on the line. I can honestly say though that I wish I could go with you. I’m tired.”
His mother touched his cheek .
“So you’re going to have to survive this without us again?”
He nodded.
“Yes.”
Barb’s heart broke.
“My poor boy.”
He was honest.
“This wasn’t a snap decision, and I need both of you to know that. I really wanted you both to stay. I was scared at first, but now I see I shouldn’t have been.”
His father was curious.
“What brought it on?”
He shared.
“Kiera died, and I had to make the sacrifice. I had to make the choice, Mom, and Dad. I’m sorry. I’ve lived without you once, and I can do it again. Alex can’t survive without Kiera. He began dying, and…”
His father stopped him.
“We don’t have souls, so it won’t hurt, right?” he asked. “It will be painless?”
He put his head down on the table and the gates opened. The pain came pouring out, and Flynn was so overwhelmed by the burden on his shoulders.
There were days it was easy to carry.
Today was not one of those days.
His mother and father both touched him, and they tried to reassure him.
“We’ll see you again.”
Only, he knew the truth.
He was immortal.
There was no way he’d ever see them again. They were back to being just out of his reach, and just memories. As long as Rinnon lived, he lived.
A God didn’t die easily.
“Thank you for letting us meet your wife and child,” his mother said. “When she gets older, tell her that we loved her the second we held her. She’s an angel.”
He nodded .
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Mom and Dad. This is exactly what I feared would happen. I’m sorry I didn’t spend the whole day with you instead of…”
She kissed him on the cheek.
“Flynn, remember when you were a little boy, and you were sad?”
He nodded.
“What did I tell you?”
“That pain is how you know you’re alive and there was nothing better than feeling.”
She held his hand.
“This pain will fade, but you must feel again. You got to see us, and we got to see you. We’re going some place safe. You just take care of yourself, my sweet boy. I love you.”
He touched her cheek.
“I love you, too, Mom, and if I could keep you here, I would.”
She hugged him.
When he set her free, he stared at his father.
“You became the man I thought you would be, Flynn. For a while, I thought you’d only love your job, but you found out that there was more. I’m proud of you, and I love you.”
“I love you, too, Dad. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. This was a good day. Your mother and I got to be together again, and we saw your daughter. Can we be together?” he asked, holding his wife’s hand. “Can your God make that happen?”
I wish I could, Mate. That’s not my decision. That’s Death’s.
Well, that said it all.
“I have no control of that, but maybe you’ll get lucky,” he added.
“Son, we don’t believe in luck. It’s called hard work,” John said.
He tried to smile, but that’s when they heard the familiar voice.
“I do have control of where you end up,” Jacques said. “You’re both going to be together.”
Well, Death .
Flynn looked over, and he knew it was time.
“I can’t be here for this,” he whispered. “I can’t watch this happen again. I need to go,” he said, his heart skipping in his chest at the anguish he was feeling.
“I will ferry them to the other side,” Jacques said. “Flynn, I’m sorry.”
He stood but said nothing to his mate.
“Goodbye, Mom, and Dad. I’m…so sorry.”
He hugged them both, and then, he walked past Jacques and Jolie without saying another word to either of them.
“I’ll go,” she said, planning on following her mate.
“Wait,” Flynn’s mother said.
Jolie paused.
She moved closer, and stared into Jolie’s eyes.
“Thank you for letting us have this moment with you. Please take care of him. He seems strong, but he’s not. He’s fragile underneath it all, and this will damage him for a long time.”
Oh, she was aware.
“I will, Mrs. Brogan.”
“Mom. You married my boy, and gave me a grandbaby. You get to call me mom. Fight hard, and keep him safe,” she said. “Good luck with your next child.”
Jolie had tears in her eyes.
Poor Flynn.
When his father approached her, she wiped her eyes.
“Love him for us. When he begins to heal, tell him he’s a good dad, and that I can see him. He won’t believe you, but he’ll need to hear it.”
She nodded.
“Go,” Jacques said. “Take care of Flynn.”
She nodded, and headed away.
“This won’t hurt, will it?” Flynn’s mother asked.
Jacques held out his hands.
“Never. Flynn is my mate, and I wouldn’t do anything to hurt him. I love him more than myself. I’d do anything to protect him. ”
“You’ll make sure he survives all of this, right?” Flynn’s dad asked.
Jacques nodded.
“I will.”
They each took his hand.
“Please can we be together?”
Jacques nodded.
“You may. What wouldn’t I do for Flynn?” he asked, and with that, they both disappeared.
They were gone.
Deep in his mind, he heard the wail of grief, as they disappeared, and he knew Flynn was hurting.
Flynn…
I can’t right now. I can’t bear it.
And the door was slammed shut between their minds, and Death knew he’d not get past Rinnon’s wall.
When he heard the noise, Jacques began heading toward the doorway. When he got there, Jolie was banging on the door.
She couldn’t get in.
“He locked it. Aren’t I supposed to be able to access the lair?” she asked.
Yeah, well, not when Rinnon was protecting his vessel.
“He doesn’t want us there right now, and Rinnon is likely taking care of our mate by keeping the lair locked down for Flynn.”
Mate, do you need us?
There was no reply. Only, Jacques could feel his deep, dark grief.
Can you unlock the door?
Again, nothing.
Flynn, I’m worried about you.
Finally, he opted to speak.
Please leave me alone for a bit. I’ll be okay. I just need to regroup and work through this.
I understand. I’ll take Jolie with me to my realm. She’ll be safe there. Then, we need to head to that location. It’s only a matter of time before Mathew figures out where that relic is, and gets it.
I need time.
Jacques understood.
He focused on his mate to share what they needed to do next.
“Let’s go to my dimension. Flynn has asked for some time. We’ll regroup later.”
She needed to know.
“Is he going to be okay?”
He nodded.
“Yeah, he just needs to work through this, and speak to me. I’ll make him feel better.”
Jolie wasn’t sure if he’d be okay or not. This was a rough one, and she knew it.
“He’ll forgive me, right?”
Jacques kissed her on the tip of the nose.
“He will.”
Only, for the first time in a long time, she was pretty sure that Jacques just lied to her.
Yeah, this was going to suck.
* * * T u e u r A n t i q u i t i e s * * *
Upstairs
Private Room
Logan couldn’t help but stare at Cerise. She was sitting on the bed, and he was right beside her. They’d come upstairs, and found a space to lay low until Rinnon called for them .
Now, he was thinking about her and them having sex.
It was clear she knew what he was thinking because it made her laugh.
“What?” he asked.
Cerise smiled at him.
“We’re going to have to discuss some of the things we share now, because I am in your mind, and I can hear everything you’re thinking.”
Immediately, he blushed.
“Oh.”
She leaned over and found his mouth with hers. The kiss was sweet, and it made him sigh with contentment.
This was nice.
When she broke the kiss, she grinned.
“I’m not sure I’d say nice. Nice is a walk in the park. Maybe more than nice.”
He was so happy.
Well, now, since he wasn’t in intense pain and feeling like shit from drinking her blood.
Honestly, he was shocked he’d been able to do it. If someone told him he’d be drinking his mate’s blood, let alone tasting it…
He’d have told them they were nutty.
“Well, aren’t we all nutty?” she asked.
Yeah, she’d been right, and he knew they needed to talk. Logan was pretty sure there was a lot to learn, and he wanted to do just that.
“What’s going to happen between us?” he asked.
She lifted a brow.
“What do you mean?”
He was struggling to find the words.
“I mean, this. What is this? The thing between us, Cerise.”
“We’re mates.”
He stared at her.
Going into his mind, she could see that he was genuinely confused by all of this. She took pity on him, since he’d just found out about her today, and already, they were mated .
“We’re bound together for the rest of our lives. We’re not able to be separated.”
He blinked.
She tried to find a way to explain it.
“I guess to put it in terms you might understand better, we’re married. Does that make it clearer?”
He stared at her.
His face said it all.
“And you don’t want to be?” she asked.
Logan stopped her.
“Uh, I didn’t say that.”
She was honest.
“I’m in your mind. I felt that wave of uneasiness,” she warned, “and your face…”
“It wasn’t uneasiness about us, but I have so many questions.”
Cerise faced him.
“Okay, start asking. Normally, mates discuss this first, but you couldn’t stay away, even when I told you to leave the grotto, and now, we’re mated.”
He grinned.
“I mean, you’re sexy, so that’s kind of your fault—not mine.”
She laughed.
Honestly, Cerise was so incredibly happy. That hole in her heart was filled, and she found the man she’d love for the rest of her life.
And he could die.
So, she was going to have to go to Rinnon and beg for mercy. If she was lucky, he’d mark him so they could be together forever.
“Blaming the victim. Nice.”
He actually laughed.
“Okay, I’ll be serious. Can you live at my place? Or do I have to find a new one?”
“I live in the lair.”
He thought about it.
“Can I live with you? Or do we date first?”
She was honest .
“Any time apart is going to be difficult. We’re kind of stuck together now. Had you not tasted my blood, you’d have a better chance, but we’re fully mated, and that means you’ll feel empty if I’m not with you.”
He didn’t want that.
“Can I still work? I love my job, but if it’s that or you, I’ll pick you.”
She touched his face with her palm, and he kissed the inside of her hand.
“You can still work, Logan. We’ll figure out a way to make it work.”
He believed her.
“I don’t understand any of this, but I know in my heart that we’re meant to be together,” he admitted. “I’ve never felt like this. It’s overwhelming.”
“I feel the same. Our shared gifts will get stronger.”
He was curious.
“What are they? You mentioned them before, but I’m a little cloudy on what you said. I was too focused on you and sex.”
Cerise began telling him about them.
“You’ll hear better than you ever have before. We’re talking like a pin dropping in the next room. At night, you’ll have better vision. I can see in the dark, and you’ll be able to use that to your advantage.”
He was curious.
“What else?”
“You’re immortal like me. I won’t die unless killed, and I carry Rinnon’s mark, so that’s almost impossible to do. We’ll have to get you marked by him since we don’t want any surprises.”
She pulled her shirt aside, and the mark glowed when she touched it.
He’d seen it when they were making love.
“So I won’t ever die?”
She shook her head, and then paused.
“Well, that’s not entirely true. You’ll live as long as I do, but this mark makes me really hard to kill or reap. If I die in four hundred years, you’ll die because you’ll also be four hundred years older.”
“That’s crazy,” he admitted.
“You’re also stronger.”
He lifted a brow.
“I am?”
“You can fight harder to survive. Our gifts evolved over the years. Look at Jolie. She’s over eight hundred years old. She’s one of the last oldest vamps—or was before she became a demon.”
He laughed.
“What?” Cerise asked.
“It seems I get all the benefits of this. What do you get out of it?”
She hesitated.
He lifted a brow.
“What aren’t you telling me? I felt a curtain come down in your mind.”
She was honest.
“Our males are sterile. They can’t procreate. With a human, I can have children. I can’t otherwise.”
He stared at her.
“Do you want children?” he asked, never thinking about that before.
Actually, that was a lie. He did think about it—when he decided not to do it.
The world was fucked enough, and the last thing it needed was more chaos.
“I mean, I never thought about it. The man I was with before you…”
When she paused, he touched her hand.
“Hey. You can talk about him. What happened before isn’t what will happen now, right? He’s not coming back to claim you and I have to fight a duel, do I?”
She stared at him like he was crazy.
“Uh, I’m only one hundred. We didn’t do duels back then. We had guns, gangsters, and prohibition when I was a child.”
He smiled .
“You don’t say, Bonnie. Can I be your Clyde?”
She grinned.
“No way, Copper. You’re too shiny like a freshly minted penny.”
He actually laughed.
“It shows, huh?”
She nodded.
“But it’s sexy.”
When she gave him a kiss, his mind wandered, and he was thinking about sex again.
And babies.
And work.
When Cerise broke the kiss, she stared into his eyes. In them, she saw love.
It made her heart skip.
“You really do love me, don’t you?” she asked, feeling so overwhelmed that she finally found him.
When he smiled, there was that sexy dimple in his cheek that made her heart race.
“How can I prove it?” he asked, not sure why he was, but he knew what he was feeling. If this was a dream, he didn’t want to wake up.
This was perfect.
“You don’t have to.”
Then, it hit him.
Standing up, he reached into his pants pockets, and pulled out a paperclip. Sitting back down, he straightened it, and then twisted it into a loop.
Taking her finger, he slipped it on.
She stared at it.
It was a metal paper clip, and now, it was a ring around her finger.
“I think that should say it all. We’re a couple.”
Her heart skipped.
She’d never feel like this about anyone but him, and it was amazing.
“Thank you.”
“I’ll get you a new ring, once we have this whole mess cleaned up. You know…since we’re married. ”
That sounded so amazing.
“You can ask me anything about my past, Cerise,” he said, hearing her curiosity while he was practicing hanging out in her head.
“Are you sure?”
He nodded.
Well, then, she would. Yes, she could look, but she wanted to have a relationship where they talked, not peeked.
“What was it like with the woman you just dumped for me?” she asked.
Not because she was worried. True mates couldn’t cheat, but because she needed a comparison.
Of how she felt for Tobias.
“I loved her, but not like this,” he said. “We would have sex, but it felt like something was missing. There was a piece of me not involved. Now I know it was my heart.”
She felt the same.
“The sex was sex, and we had a decent thing going. She wanted to get married, but I just couldn’t.”
Oh, she knew why.
“Because you knew here,” she said, touching his chest over his heart.
He nodded.
“I feel horrible for breaking up with her. She’s going to make my life hell.”
Cerise lifted a brow.
“What do you mean?”
Logan shrugged and then explained.
“She’s an ER nurse. Cops are in and out of the ER all of the time. She’ll be telling my coworkers I’m a dog, and that I’m a horrible human being.”
Cerise didn’t like that.
“What’s her name?” she inquired.
“Laurie Benoit.”
Cerise kept asking questions.
“Where does she work?” she questioned.
“Tulane.”
Then, it hit him .
“What are you going to do?” he asked, as he saw her intent in her mind.
Oh, well, she’d decide when she saw her, but for the time being, that was simple.
“I’m going to talk to her about what happens if she besmirches your reputation.”
He tried to minimize it.
“Cerise, Baby, she’s vicious. She’ll cut a bitch. She slapped me twice in anger...”
The second it was out of his mouth, he realized telling his new girl about the breakup was probably a mistake.
A huge one.
“I mean…”
She stopped him right there.
“She put her hands on you?” she asked. “She slapped my mate? Well, now, I definitely need to do something about that bullshit.”
She was up, and walking toward the door.
Logan began panicking.
“Where are you…?”
But it was too late.
She was gone.
Cerise walked out, and headed down the hall. At one of the doors, she stopped to knock.
When the door opened, and Vanth had blood on her lips, she knew why.
“Uh, sorry to bother you and Lucian,” she said. “But I need to go to a hospital.”
Vanth looked confused.
“Why? You’re not able to die. Did you eat something that made you sick? You’ll just puke it up…”
Oh, well, this was something that had to be handled.
“Some bitch slapped my man in the face, and I’m about to go make her life hell. If I drive, Flynn, Jolie, and Jacques are going to be bitchy, since we’re in danger. I need you to zap my ass there.”
When another door opened, Clariel peeked her head out with Seth behind her .
“I’ll go,” said the pregnant vampyre. “I’ll hold her down. People shouldn’t put their hands on anyone.”
Seth stopped that.
“While you are perfectly capable of tearing a human limb from limb, I’d rather not have to picture my pregnant mate having a brawl with some woman. Let Cerise do what she needs to do.”
Clariel sighed.
“Spoilsport. I love a good chick fight,” Clariel joked. “It’s been too long. Jolie used to have them all the time, and man…there was blood everywhere—not hers.”
From where he stood, Logan was horrified.
“You don’t have to do this.”
Vanth laughed.
“Oh, silly mate. She absolutely has to do this. Mates protect each other. If a woman has crossed a line, and put their hands on you…can I eat her?” Vanth suddenly asked, losing her train of thought.
Cerise didn’t flinch.
“Sure.”
“CERISE!” Logan said, horrified. “I really hope you don’t mean eat, eat, and it’s more a kink kind of a thing.”
From inside the room, Lucian laughed.
“She meant eat,” he said, coming out with his hair a mess, blood on his collar, and a look of absolute calm on his face. His pants were open, and he looked disheveled.
There had been some hardcore mating going on.
“For the record, she’s into me. I’m her mate. So she’s not going down on a lady,” he said, his British accent slurred from the energy he was feeling.
“Oh, Jesus.”
“You can’t eat her,” Cerise said, “but you can be my ride or die.”
Again, Clariel sighed.
“I want to be someone’s ride or die. Please Seth? I promise to just stand there and look pretty.”
He shook his head.
“Nope. There is no way you’re going to just stand there. I wasn’t born yesterday, my love. ”
She sighed.
“Drats,” she muttered.
Cerise didn’t know her well, but already, she liked the vampyres here. They were good and kind.
“Maybe next time? I’m sure my sexy mate will have other women cross a line.”
“Promise?” Clariel asked.
Cerise nodded.
“Promise. Vanth?”
That was all it took. Vanth snapped her fingers, and she was cleaned up.
She even put panties on.
It seemed like one of those moments where you needed britches.
“My love,” she said, kissing Lucian. “Can you babysit the detective, so he doesn’t leave the house? He’s newly mated, and it’s going to be rough on him.”
The man they were talking about protested.
Heavily.
“Hi. I’m a cop who doesn’t need babysitting,” Logan said.
And they ignored him.
“Sure, my love. Come in, mate,” he said, smiling at the man. “We can play cards as we get you through the distance you’re going to feel.”
Logan stared at Cerise, and he was only thinking about one thing, and one thing alone.
“Are you going to kill her?” he asked.
“Nope. We’re going to talk woman-to-vampyre.”
Before he could say anything else, Vanth snapped, and the two females were gone.
“Oh, Jesus. How the hell could this go absolutely wrong?” Logan asked, as Lucian led him into the room they were using.
Seth and Clariel headed his way, to help keep them company. Clariel was bored, and she loved a good, juicy story. There was no way she was missing out on this.
“Don’t worry about it. Just focus in your mind, and if she wants you to see it, you will. Stay still, and just watch. ”
Logan was horrified.
This was going to get out of hand.
He’d bet on it.