Chapter 19 Francois
Francois
Merde. The sound of chatting and laughter drifted toward the bedrooms from the common area of the basement home—one of the moments of levity that interspersed more serious moments when everyone considered the threat of the Ancients. The Duponts’ relief at the return of Ciara was still palpable.
I didn’t want to take part in happy, family life. How had Nicolas created this dynasty out of vampires who almost seemed to be misfits? How the hell could I avoid it?
Except I didn’t know what I wanted anymore. I could see the benefits of family—of protection and strength and safety in numbers—but I didn’t know how to be myself in this environment.
I was used to being only myself.
This many people… This many people who all cared about each other… It was alien. My own father hadn’t even seemed to care about me. I reached out to Maeve, the gesture almost reflexive as I considered being alone for so long.
I was no longer alone.
As with the previous evening, the table was set, and everyone was sitting there, sharing conversation and jokes.
Each mated pair sat together, and my gaze flicked to the two chairs they’d left for Maeve and me.
Although each person had a plate in front of them, no one had any food, so it was clear they were only playing this out to ensure Maeve’s comfort.
That lifted my spirits a bit—at least they cared about my human, my mate.
Maeve grinned as we walked farther into the room, and it was as though the sun had emerged on a rainy day. She lit the room. “Good morning!”
When I would have held back, she grabbed my hand and kept me at her side. The talking stopped as each person here surveyed us quickly.
“I assume the two of you have had a talk?” Leia had never been one to keep her thoughts in her head, but I was lucky we’d reached some degree of understanding, given that the king’s mate could very well have ended up as one of my failed attempts to discover my mate.
Every time I saw her, fresh guilt gnawed at my gut, even though everything had worked out for her after Nicolas regained her from me.
“Yes.” I kept the word terse, not wanting to go into detail about the things Maeve and I had discussed in the privacy of my bedroom. Those weren’t things for everyone here to know.
They could turn everything around and dissuade her from being with me.
Leia lifted a goblet toward me, and I almost laughed at the picture it painted. An ancient cup for a royal long past his use-by date.
“This might make you feel a little better, Francois,” she said, and in Pavlovian response, my fangs burst through my gums.
I shook my head, though. I knew what she was offering. Virgin’s blood with some degree of whatever they were using to keep my dead man’s blood curse under control. But I didn’t want it.
I wanted only Maeve.
“Francois.” Nicolas’s voice was like a whip crack across the room, and I looked at him, watching as his hard eyes gentled. “You need this today. It’s going to be long and busy and possibly fraught. Take the assistance we offer you. How long has it been?”
I shrugged. I didn’t know. Maeve had helped curb some of my cravings, my madness, but how long could I rely on that? How long before I lost control of myself and bled someone dry?
It could even be Maeve. I’d never forgive myself.
“And Maeve,” Nicolas continued. “We have some beignets here for your breakfast.”
The women at the table laughed.
“Mmm…beignets.” Leia sighed as she looked at the plate. “I remember the days when I could have existed on Chef’s beignets.”
Kayla nodded in agreement. “He’s a genius indeed.” She patted the empty seat next to her. “Come and sit down, Maeve. You must be hungry.”
Maeve glanced at me as though sensing my remnants of hesitation and shook her head. “No,” she started but the gurgling of her stomach gave her away, and everyone laughed.
“Yes,” Sam said. “So come and sit down, and convince that man of yours to take what’s offered to him, too.”
Maeve squeezed my hand. “Come on.” She looked into my eyes and there was a plea there.
She didn’t mind being with these people. Maybe she even felt at home here, and I owed her that much—a home. It was my duty to provide it for her.
Leia lifted the goblet in my direction again and nodded to the last empty chair at the table as Maeve took the one next to Kayla. As she sat down, Kyle craned his neck to look at her, and I growled.
He switched his attention and shrugged, but his obvious focus on Maeve’s neck hadn’t escaped my attention.
“Non. I didn’t drink from her.” I bit that words out, not caring how they sounded. Whether Maeve and I were now mated was no one else’s business, but everyone else at this damn table seemed to think they had skin in that particular game.
One day, my life would be my own again.
“Just checking.” Kyle wasn’t even apologetic, but the knowledge he felt he needed to somehow protect Maeve from me tightened my chest.
“I get my position here is precarious. I am not a Dupont. In fact, I have wronged Nicolas greatly in the past.” I emphasized every word. “But I would never hurt my mate.”
Nicolas nodded but didn’t confirm or deny my words. Instead, he leaned forward. “Would it help at all if Leia spoke with Maeve at some point and explained things as someone who has been through the process? She can tell Maeve what’s on the line and what to expect.”
“Oh, I don’t think that’s necessary.” Maeve started to shake her head but I spoke as well.
“Oui. Don. I think that’s a good idea.” Although Maeve seemed to have made her mind up to become my mate, a conversation with Leia wouldn’t hurt.
Or I hoped it wouldn’t hurt. Leia would have been in the perfect place to sabotage me and she would have had every reason to, but for some reason I didn’t think she’d do that.
I’d wronged her in so many ways, but she and Nicolas had only met all my previous sins with a kindness that I truly didn’t deserve.
I owed it to them to trust them now and welcome and accept this newest offer.
Maeve nodded. “Okay, then. That would be nice. Thank you.” She gave a little bob of her head, like she might have curtseyed, had she been standing.
Then she bit into a beignet and a perfect cloud of powdered sugar burst into the air in front her. “Mmm…”
My cock twitched at her noise of pleasure before I finally took the offered goblet of blood from Leia. I didn’t want to drink this. I couldn’t think of anything worse than not drinking from my mate, but Leia simply shrugged like she knew my thoughts.
“Needs must,” she murmured.
I nodded briskly—a bare agreement before drinking deeply. Despite my aversion to it, the blood was good.
Nicolas stood up and touched Leia’s hand as he did. She smiled up at him, the look in her eyes one I wanted to see in Maeve’s for me.
“I know we all have a busy day ahead of us today,” he said, “but before we go to our separate tasks, I wanted to pass on some good news for a change.”
“What’s that?” Sebastian narrowed his eyes thoughtfully as he watched his brother.
Sebastian was made where Nicolas was born, which made him… less, although Nicolas never treated him as such. My father would never have made a child and treated them as an equal like the Duponts had.
I no longer knew if that made them stronger or weaker than the Ricards. I’d always believed them weaker, but my doubts mounted day by day.
“Leia and I are going to have a baby. She’s pregnant.” Nicolas beamed as he finished delivering his news.
Or dropping his bombshell.
As the others in the room cheered and clapped, a small knot of jealousy rested in my gut. I clapped and smiled with the others—any vampire baby was a cause for celebration.
But I wanted exactly this life for Maeve and me.
When the celebration died down, Nicolas addressed the group again. “We needed to tell all of you, firstly because you’re family, and secondly, because I want Leia extra protected in whatever comes up.”
“Nic…” she glanced up at him. “There’s really no need—”
Sebastian snorted. “There’s every need. A new royal heir? We all need to protect that child.” He turned his attention to Nic. “I’m at your service, brother.”
Nicolas thanked him than looked at me. “Now, would you like to escort Maeve as Kayla shows her where the two of them are going to work?”
His generosity humbled me. He obviously remembered what it was like to be separated from a mate before they’d been claimed. It was like living constantly with the most fragile egg, always afraid that my future would shatter in my hand, no matter how delicately I cared for it.
“It’s this way.” Kayla led us down a corridor away from the bedrooms. “I think they’ve deliberately put me away from where everyone else should be in case I start a thunderstorm or blow something up.” She laughed. “Although I guess conjuring a demon would be more likely.”
She opened a door and a smell of sulfur leaked out from the room.
“Oops.” She grinned as she spoke and pinched her thumb and forefinger together. “One of my spells went a tiny bit wrong yesterday. Looks like I didn’t quite clean the clean up right, either.”
My eyes widened as we entered her room. It was huge. All the way at the back, there were work benches and what looked like a cauldron, and so many dried and drying herbs and plants hanging from hooks in the ceiling.
Closer to the door, bookcases lined the walls and there were a couple of old, dark wood desks with a book or two lying open on each.
“Sorry.” But Kayla sounded far from sorry. “I’m a messy spellcaster. But welcome to my domain.”
“Very impressive.” I nodded as I continued to look around.
Nicolas had certainly spared no expense when he took over The Neutral Zone and turned it into Nightfall.
A very powerful witch had created these spaces beneath the club—and they were a far cry from the dingy little holes I’d used to detain those who displeased Father.