Chapter 23 Francois
Francois
“Are you sure this is all Kayla said for us to do?” Kyle cracked his knuckles as he glared at all of us and around the bar in general.
His stress was contagious, and I fidgeted with the beer coaster in front of me, tearing at the thin cardboard layers and ignoring the stale smell of the beer that had soaked into it.
“Yes.” Sebastian’s tone invited no argument. “We’re only here as a safety measure. We’re going to see how many Ancients come, and if it looks like too many, we split them up. Between us, we should get the blood of at least one.”
At least Kayla had conceded to being helped. I didn’t think any of us could have stayed in the apartment under The Neutral… I cut my thought off. It was no longer The Neutral Zone. It was now Nightfall. Sebastian’s club.
Not mine.
The only thing truly mine now was Maeve.
And my senses swam with her. I could still feel my mouth on her pussy, and her scent filled the air. Whatever Kayla had given her to amplify it had worked.
Far too well, in my opinion.
She was a true beacon. There was no way the Ancients wouldn’t come. Her scent was the sweetest perfume. A siren call. I’d wanted to do so much more than taste her, but to have done anything else would have put Kayla’s whole plan in jeopardy.
Maeve needed to remain unmated and a virgin for her scent to be the one that attracted the Ancients here. That wasn’t my only consideration, though.
“What if…” I stopped speaking. I almost didn’t want to put my thought into words.
It was the fear I kept squashing down so I didn’t have to acknowledge it.
But Sebastian looked at me. “What if what?” He was rarely truly friendly, and this occasion was no exception.
“What if what, Francois?” Jason was friendlier. But then we’d been living together when the Ancients abducted me.
Technically, he’d been my babysitter or my jailer, but part of me hoped he’d also been a friend. I didn’t have very many.
“What if they have too much power?”
Sebastian raised an eyebrow. “What do you know?”
I shrugged. I shouldn’t have started this, really. I didn’t know anything, and I couldn’t give them anything new. I only had my fears.
“I’m worried about Maeve,” I said. “And here’s something none of us has considered. What if they did something to me while I was with them and now they can somehow use me now to further their cause?”
Sebastian opened his mouth but Jason spoke first. “Some sort of sleeper agent? Do you really think so?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I…I don’t feel any different. And I know all that I owe to Nicolas…” I looked at Sebastian as I spoke.
I didn’t want him thinking that I’d be in any way disloyal.
This evening was already fraught enough, with every mate on the line.
Each of the men here was operating on a hair trigger, so perhaps it had been a silly time—a fucking stupid time—to mention my worry that I could be some sort of sleeper agent for the Ancients, but I owed it to the Duponts to always be honest.
What if something the Ancients had done to me forced me to turn on Nicolas and his family? My blood ran cold, chilling me. Father had always controlled me. Mostly by coercion. Sometimes by force.
But the rest of his family, the remaining Ancients, they were capable of so much more. They’d taken my blood and they’d fed me. They could have done anything to me, and we would all be na?ve to at least not consider it.
I never wanted to go back to being controlled by anyone. Initially, I’d expected Nicolas to do the same. I’d been the enemy. He should have kept me close. He wouldn’t have been wrong to just lock me up and walk away.
But he’d given me freedom, or he’d been trying. If rehabilitation was the same thing. And it certainly felt that way.
“Jason?” Sebastian spoke again. “You got this clown when we split up?” He jerked his chin in my direction.
Jason nodded. “Yep.”
“Like the good old days, oui, mon ami?” I beamed a wide grin just for Jason’s benefit, and he chuckled in response.
“Still not really your friend.”
But I knew different. Out of any of these guys, Jason was the closest one to a friend I had.
“Okay. We can’t keep sitting here. We’re too obvious.
And I think I need to move Kyle away from the door—he’s genuinely scaring away customers now.
” Sebastian half smiled as he spoke, but I’d just watched a second pair of women enter then immediately leave after catching sight of Kyle’s glowering, hulked form half in the shadows.
Sebastian was right to split us up and move us farther into the club, even if we didn’t have immediate sight of everyone entering.
“Come on.” Jason stood. “Maybe I can stretch to buying you a drink to look at while we wait.”
I chuckled. “Anything to fit in.”
We moved to a different table, and I sat down, still aware of Maeve. Every time I took a breath, her scent assaulted me afresh, keeping me on edge, sparking my worry. Kayla’s laugh rang out across the bar, and Jason craned his neck, trying to look around the people in the crowd.
“I hope Ciara’s okay,” he muttered. “I mean, of course Ciara’s okay.”
“She’s a hybrid.” It was neither agreement nor denial on my part. Simply comment.
Jason nodded and smiled. “Isn’t she?” Pride shone from him. Then he sobered a little. “I’m glad you’ve found your mate, too.”
“Oh?” I tilted my head. “Now the killing might stop, you mean?”
His cheeks colored. “No, not that. I…”
I chuckled. “I know what you meant. She just isn’t truly mine yet, is she?”
He shook his head then nodded as though not sure what response to give. “She is, though. She’s more delicate right now—looking after a human will never be easy—but she’s yours in every way that matters.”
I coughed to clear my suddenly tight throat at his earnest words, and I swiped my finger over my eyes. “Damn New Orleans heat,” I murmured.
But since when had any of the Duponts really been bothered about my future? Even Jason. I hadn’t expected him to be so earnest and positive about Maeve. I hadn’t expected him to care. At least not enough to say anything.
“Thank you.” I chuckled again. “I feel like I’ve tried this part a lot.” Regret seeped through me at the thought of the ghosts I’d left in my wake. “And I still don’t know what I’m doing. Maeve doesn’t…” I breathed her scent in again and the regret deepened. “She doesn’t know what she wants.”
He laughed. “I think that might be normal.” I met his gaze. “Firstly—” He waved a hand. “Women, you know? And secondly, what woman ever expected her life journey to include being a vampire? We’re kind of a lot to take in, right?”
I nodded. “I expect so. But how did Ciara find it?”
“Oh, she had extra baggage. But better than I expected. But it was a total culture change for her really. Maeve hasn’t got a pack in the same way, but it must be similar?
Humans live in bonded families, they have friends.
What Ciara saw herself as giving up to be with me—her pack, her way of life—Maeve must have some of that, too? ”
I nodded. “I’d forgotten.” Then I sighed. “It’s been so long, oui?”
Jason nodded too. “It’s hard to remember the bonds of humans. But we bond, too. It’s not so dissimilar.”
“But it is for me. I had only Father left, and his kingdom. What you have with Nicolas is something entirely different, something other. The promises you make to your mate include family.”
“As do yours now,” Jason said, and I wiped my eyes again.
Damn this New Orleans climate. Vampires weren’t supposed to get allergies, surely.
We chatted back and forth, occasionally sipping our beers but mostly nursing them.
Then the atmosphere in the bar changed. The temperature dropped and the chatter of the humans lowered as if someone had turned the volume down. Everything became a little more distant and a little more hushed.
“Over there.” Jason nodded toward the doors as two Ancients walked in.
“That’s Aleron and Nisha,” I said. I didn’t like either of them, and they weren’t exactly doing a very good job of trying to blend in.
I glanced at my own frilled cuffs. Perhaps this was also my cue to update my look. It wasn’t as if I had a reputation to maintain in town anymore.
As they moved farther into the bar, Jason and I wound our way to position ourselves behind them, and I glanced around, catching sight of Sebastian and Kyle going the other way.
Nic was somewhere out the back, hidden out of sight—the only part of the plan Kayla didn’t know about because he was ready to swoop in and remove all of the women if things went south.
Temple was somewhere too, but any one of these shadows could have had his name on it.
Aleron raised his hand and pointed, spotting Sebastian and picking up his pace, but I stepped into the light, considering whistling in his direction. In the end, though, I simply called his name.
“Aleron.” He turned. “Oh, Aleron, of all the bars in New Orleans, fancy us meeting each other in this one.” I bowed. “How lovely to see you again, mon ami. Last time really was too short.”
Aleron growled, the low rumbling sound carrying across the bar, and his face contorted, his eyes grew red, and his hair started to drift in a nonexistent breeze.
“Damn Ancient magic,” I muttered.
He and Nisha exchanged a quick glance and then they began to move, Aleron towards Jason and me, and Nisha in Sebastian’s direction.
This was our cue.
“Game on,” Jason muttered and we ran, charging through the door and out into the steady stream of tourists walking down the street.
All we needed to do was keep Aleron busy and out of the way.
Or capture him and take his blood. But if the others were able to capture Nisha inside the bar, that would be easier.
The women were already there, ready to do their part.
I threw a glance over my shoulder. “Where is he?” There were people in the way now, chattering and laughing and swaying with too much drink as they made their way to the next location for even more.