Dangerous Influence (The Harcourte Vampyre Society Book 5) Read online

  Dangerous Influence

  By Morgan Kelley

  Copyright © 2016-2017 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 technical 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

  ©Copyright 2016 cover by Celestia Abraham* for Morgan Kelley LLC

  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)

  Pledging to Die (Book 11)

  Slay Bells Ring (Book 12)

  Past will Haunt (Book 13)

  Choices will Destroy (Book 14)

  Blood shall Run (Book 15)

  Act of Blood (Book 16)

  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)

  Hell is Burning (6)

  Justice is Dead (7)

  Croft Family Mob Justice

  Dark Justice (Book 1)

  Littlemoon Investigations

  Blood Red Rage (Book 1)

  Lost & Broken (Book 2)

  Unthinkable Games (Book 3)

  Truth is Found (Book 4)

  Haven of Nightmares (Book 5)

  Forbidden Secrets (Book 6)

  The Carter Chronicles Trilogy

  Sinner Repent (1)

  Sinner Realized (2)

  Sinner Reborn (3)

  Oracle/The Phoenix Files

  Oracle Rising (book 1)

  Oracle Seeing (book 2)

  The Harcourte Vampyre Society series

  Dangerous Revelations (1)

  Dangerous Choices (2)

  Dangerous Misery (3)

  Dangerous Retaliation (4)

  Behind Closed Doors Anthology

  Illegal Fantasies ~ Behind Closed Doors (1)

  Romance Under Arrest~ Behind Closed Doors (2)

  Holiday Reinforcements ~ Behind Closed Doors (3)

  ~~~~ 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, 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), Redemption is Here (9), Dead Shall Speak (10), Pledging to Die (11), Slay Bells Ring (12), Past will Haunt (13), Blood Red Rage (1) Lost & Broken (2), Unthinkable Games (3), Truth is Found (4), Celestia is Falling (1), Vegas is Dying (2), Christmas is Killing (3), Love is Bleeding (4), Heaven is Weeping (5), Hell is Burning (6), Dangerous Revelations (1), Dangerous Choices (2), Dangerous Misery (3), Dangerous Retaliation (4), Sinner Repent (1), Sinner Realized (2), Sinner Reborn (3), Oracle Rising (1), Illegal Fantasies (Anthology 1), Romance Under Arrest (Anthology 2), and Holiday Reinforcements (Anthology 3)

  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.

  ∞ Prologue ∞

  Thursday

  In The Field

  Detectives Brogan and Gress stared down at the destroyed life lying at their feet, and they could do nothing but see the terrible waste of it all.

  It was beyond horrible.

  With each death, one would think it would become easier, but it didn’t. For Flynn, gazing upon the destroyed woman was incredibly difficult. Before Jolie and Jacques, it bothered him, but now it really struck a chord.

  She was human.

  He wasn’t.

  With each dead human, Flynn felt the whisper of mortality, trying to force him to acknowledge that he was no longer one of them.

  He was immortal.

  All that remained now was that sympathy for what he once was, and had now become. Flynn couldn’t help who he’d been born, just like he couldn’t help who he’d become.

  “She’s a child,” Tommy Gress admitted, pulling on his latex gloves.

  Sadly, that wasn’t far from the truth.

  Flynn crouched down beside the spent victim, and one thing was for sure. She had been ridden hard and put away wet. Someone didn't care that they were abusing her, and from the healing marks on her body, inflicted prior to her death, she must have been no stranger to it.

  She was beyond being a mess.

  Someone had used her body as a punching bag for their sick whims.

  That alone was sad.

  “She can’t be more than twenty,” Tommy admitted, touching her pale arm with his gentle fingers. “This is going to stir the media up.”

  Flynn didn't say anything. He was too busy sniffing the air as he tried to get his bearings. He was utilizing his gifts to track the killer. He was using the precious new skills born in him the day his humanity died.

  Tommy kept talking until he realized that his partner had zoned out. When he glanced up at the man, a few things went through his mind.

  The first was that he was glad to be working with him again. When Flynn had left Philadelphia, it had caused a hole in his life. Having him back was a lucky break.

  Then again, luck had nothing to do with it.

  Vampyres did.

  If it wasn’t for that murdering bitch, Zola, he’d be in Pennsylvania and oblivious to the world.

  The other thing he noticed was that his partner looked different. There were times when he forgot that Flynn was more undead than living. It always struck him at the oddest moments. Mostly when he saw his eyes, and they reflected the light like a cat’s.

  It was kind of creepy—especially since he knew what lurked beneath the surface.

  “Flynn,” he said, trying to get his attention.

  “Huh?” he asked, shaking his head to clear the fog. “What?”

  “Where did you go?”

  “I was having a conversation with Jacques and Jolie in my head. I was also trying to see if I could pick up anything from the scene,” h
e offered, keeping his voice low.

  “And?”

  “Nothing.”

  “I meant the sex talk with your lovers,” Gress teased. “I know there’s nothing here.”

  Flynn lifted a brow. “You know you don’t want to hear about what happens in our bed, Tommy. You get all homophobic on me.”

  Gress shuddered. “Seriously. Naked in bed with a man…Flynn, you’re nuts.”

  He really wasn’t.

  Flynn had made a vow to the two people he loved. He’d promised to let go of the human ties that held him between the worlds if they would catch him when he stumbled with it.

  It wasn’t easy.

  He was accustomed to trusting a partner with his life, but two neck sucking vampyres who could end his life with just a look?

  Yeah, not so much.

  Now their lives were all about trust. They were putting their faith in a human hybrid, and he was allowing them into his life.

  At that moment, he wished he was a full vampyre. They wouldn’t be struggling with that crime scene.

  Flynn was still learning the ropes.

  It hadn’t been easy.

  Flynn didn’t know what his issue was. After all, he had a new life, and that included the sexy Jolie Harcourte and the businessman Jacques Degaul.

  They were woven together, never to come apart, but still…he was stressed.

  Honestly, Flynn believed he wasn’t living up to their standard, not the other way around.

  “I’ve told you, Tommy,” he said, watching the techs take pictures of the scene so they could begin investigating. “We don’t have sex with each other. We have sex with Jolie.”

  One of the best things about his partner was that he had a few gifts of his own. Zola nearly killing him made that possible. Flynn was barely speaking above a whisper, and the only one who could hear him was his friend.

  “You still see his man-junk. It’s there for the world to see when you’re doing it. How do you not stare?”

  Flynn laughed. Everyone stared over at him like he’d lost his mind. He covered it with a cough.

  “Tommy, he sees mine too. Honestly, we’re a little too busy with the sexy, horny babe between us. When Jolie’s in the mood, it takes both of us to occupy her. I doubt he’s thinking about my dick.”

  There was laughter through his mind from both Jacques and Jolie.

  Well, now he would be, and that was really weird. Flynn was pretty sure someone was going to be busting his ass later about this.

  ‘You better believe it,’ whispered Jacques into his mind.

  Tommy thought about it.

  Yeah, his partner was probably right. Jolie would be a distraction. He just didn't know if it would be enough for him.

  The two men were sharing her.

  It was…weird.

  Then again, he was more human and less vamp than his partner.

  “Maybe we should focus on the dead girl and not my fiancée and Jacques.”

  “Well, at least you’re not calling him your fiancé.”

  Flynn grinned. “Yet.”

  Tommy stared at him with his mouth open. “I hope you’re busting my ass.”

  Again, he laughed, and again, he got looks.

  Still, Flynn loved stirring him up.

  Tommy had definite issues with his relationship, but Flynn didn't care. He was all about the love between them. If he didn't get bored easily, he’d be at home and wouldn’t have gone back to his job.

  He needed this to ground him.

  “Jesus, your mother…”

  “I know. She’s rolling in her grave. I heard you the first twenty times you said that. I personally think she’d like them. I think Jacques would have charmed her. He’s got that je ne sais quoi about him.”

  Again, he stared at his partner.

  “What did you just say? Was that French?”

  Flynn grinned. “Sorry, that was more them than me. I told you, the lines are blurry.”

  “You’re nuts.”

  Flynn grinned, and Tommy swore he saw the tips of his partner’s fangs. Fortunately for him, he didn't inherit that when they fed him blood to save his life.

  That would have been a downer.

  Tommy liked being human. Call him crazy, but sucking on someone’s neck had to be weird.

  “Scene’s cleared, Detectives,” a tech called, moving out of the two men’s way.

  Flynn rolled his neck, and there was an audible popping sound. He and Jacques had been working on training their guardian in the gym, and Flynn’s body was healing from the last round.

  The bad part was Jacques didn't pull any punches. The good part was Jolie liked to kiss his boo-boos—for that alone, he’d take on an army of Jacques.

  “Thanks,” he said, lifting the woman’s arm.

  “She’s pretty cold,” Tommy stated, making notes in his notebook. “She’s been dead a while.”

  “Ten hours,” Flynn replied.

  Tommy stared at him. “How did you know that? The ME hasn’t looked at her yet.”

  Flynn tapped the side of his nose. “I just know. I can pick it up. Dead smells differently as it begins to rot.”

  Tommy couldn’t think of a more useless gift.

  ‘I can hear you,’ Flynn admitted, speaking into the man’s head.

  His partner jumped. “I hate when you do that.”

  Flynn grinned.

  That was exactly why he did it.

  “What are your thoughts?” Gress asked.

  Flynn sighed. “That there’s way too much killing going on in my life.”

  “When you sleep with killers things like that happen…”

  Only, that wasn’t all the truth, and Flynn knew it. He was a killer too. This was just his day job. New Orleans was a hotbed of murder, mayhem, and the undead. It was his job to keep the vamps from crossing that line.

  Well, his and Jolie’s.

  When the undead went on a spree, the council always came a knocking. While they’d turn their nose up at Jolie and her harbinger gift, they wouldn’t hesitate to use her if they needed an executioner.

  After Zola, she’d become that.

  Jolie had gone soft, letting the vamps off easy. Well, that had changed. She was taking a stand, and since then…it had been quiet.

  They were either afraid, or the lesser vamps were plotting their demise.

  At this point, it could be either of those two options. While Flynn would hope for the former, he was pretty sure it was the latter.

  That was just their luck.

  On top of that, Jacques and Flynn were dealing with their own mystery. They had yet to figure out why the tueur was in New Orleans and targeting them.

  It was puzzling.

  “I don’t see any ID,” Tommy said, looking around the body for anything that might give them a clue to the woman’s identity.

  “It’s sad.”

  “Yeah, she’s someone’s kid,” added Detective Gress. “She should be home where it’s safe and not dead in the grass.”

  He agreed.

  That waste of life pissed him off.

  Flynn and Jacques had children growing in Jolie’s sexy body, and the last thing he wanted to picture was his son or daughter ending up this way.

  It made him sick.

  A tech wandered over. “The ME is backed up. He’s going to do his exam in-house. You can move her.”

  They didn't hesitate.

  Tommy knelt beside the woman and lifted her hand to look for ligature marks. There were pale pink abrasions around her wrists.

  Someone had struggled to get away.

  “It looks like whoever did this tied her up. She was someone’s prisoner at some point,” Tommy stated.

  Flynn crouched beside his partner and looked at the marks. They were wide and not made from rope or tape. In fact, they didn't look common at all. With his fingers, he touched the area. His latex gloves didn't stick.

  “Yeah, there’s no adhesive. She wasn’t taped up. The size is concerning,” h
e admitted.

  Both men inspected them.

  They looked to be the size of an extra wide belt.

  “It looks like she was restrained with a large band-like object. These are wider than the customary restraints. They almost look like...,”

  “Like what?” Tommy asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Flynn admitted, trying to place the abrasion with something that he had seen in his past. “Does she have any other wounds?”

  Gress moved her head and looked at her neck. Since moving into Jolie and Jacques’s home, after his last run in with Zola, the crazed Vampyre, he always made it a point to look at the neck first.

  It was now habit.

  Call him cautious.

  “Nothing on her throat or neck,” he said his eyes meeting his partners, as he conveyed without words that it was vamps. One look was all it took.. “If they had a drink, they didn't do it from up here.”

  That only left one place.

  Flynn knew where Jolie and Jacques liked to dine, and it wasn’t the customary place. He gently checked her inner thighs. Some vamps liked to use the femoral artery for a snack if there was sex involved.

  Yet, there were no bites there either.

  Was it possible that they had a non-vampyre related case on their hands?

  Well, shit!

  This was a shocker.

  “How about rape?” Tommy asked.

  Flynn could tell by the thigh bruising, and trace of semen, that she’d definitely had sex. It appeared to have been enthusiastic too.