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

  He was, but only the vampyre half of him. Detective Flynn Brogan was going to be the big player in the oncoming war, and Death knew it. This was the sign she was waiting for all this time.

  This was her chosen vessel. He was the prophecy come to life.

  “The Tueur will stop at nothing.”

  Flynn leaned forward. “You’re Death. Can’t you stop them? Wipe them off the face of the map?”

  She laughed. “I can’t unbalance the universe. Fate gets bitchy when I intervene. I can’t help.” But she could bring back one hell of a power player.

  Rinnon.

  “Why is this so important?”

  She didn’t speak.

  “Please, Death. Help me understand.”

  “This is a unique situation. Someone carries a gift. We need everything to go as planned. She gives birth to your daughter—Jacques’s too.”

  Well, Flynn had planned to make sure that happened.

  He wanted Jolie to live.

  In fact, he’d sacrifice his own life.

  “What can I do?”

  “Be ready for anything. Trust your instincts.”

  This was like a fortune cookie, and Flynn needed more. “Tell me how to keep her safe.”

  “Trust no one but Vanth, Jolie, and Jacques. Use the gifts you have, and the ones Jolie has.”

  Flynn felt odd.

  The room began wavering like it had before. He could hear Jolie calling for him.

  She was desperate.

  “Death.”

  “We’ll talk later.”

  With that, she snapped her fingers, and he was gone.

  Death leaned back on her bed, thinking about everything that was unfolding.

  It had been prophesized many years ago.

  It was happening.

  There was a flash of light in the room. As Death sat up, she rolled her eyes.

  “Really, sister? It is unlike you to slum with me.”

  Fate took a seat across from her at the table. “You didn’t help him, did you?”

  She growled. “No. You know I can’t.”

  “Good. Let it unfold. It has to be done the way I’ve intended. HE stays dead.”

  Death began pacing.

  “I am well aware. Now, I think you should go, sister. I have nothing to say to you.”

  Fate laughed before snapping her fingers. “Goodbye, love. See you soon.”

  Then she was gone.

  Death roared in anger. She crossed to the table and flipped it over.

  “This isn’t over, Fate. It’s far from done!”

  Now, she had to plan. There was a God to set free.

  Her father.

  * * * H a r c o u r t e * * *

  He could hear his name being called.

  When he opened his eyes, Flynn was in full Vampyre mode. His eyes had bled black, and he could feel his fangs touching his lower lip.

  Above him, Jolie, Jacques, and Vanth knelt.

  As soon as he opened his eyes, they all looked relieved. They weren’t the only ones.

  “What happened?” Flynn asked.

  Jacques looked worried. “Flynn, I don’t know what happened to me. I couldn’t stop. I kept trying, but I couldn’t fight it.”

  Oh, he knew why it happened.

  “It’s okay, Jacques, I’m okay now.”

  Jolie had his head in her lap. “You scared us.”

  “Well, you should still be scared,” he said, sitting up.

  They looked worried.

  “Why?” Jolie asked.

  Oh, where to even begin this conversation?

  “Death wanted to see you, didn’t she?” Vanth asked. “She made Jacques drink you nearly dry so only I could save you.”

  “Yep. I had a meeting with her.”

  Jolie gasped. She remembered the first time she drank from Vanth. It had given her a way to communicate with their mistress.

  But Flynn…

  He was human.

  He couldn’t do that.

  Could he?

  Jolie got angry at what had just happened. She didn’t mind Death contacting her, using her, but her men?

  No.

  It wasn’t happening.

  “Death! You promised me you’d not touch them! Flynn and Jac ques are off limits!”

  There was laughter through the room.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  He shrugged. “Well, I’m more freaked out than anything.” Then he told them what she said.

  Vanth blinked repeatedly, the swirling vortexes nearly hypnotizing.

  “This isn’t good. Death doesn’t intervene. Despite what she told you, bringing you there was against the rules. You’re still human.”

  “Am I?” he asked.

  Vanth moved closer to him. She sniffed at his neck, and when her tongue shot out, flickering over his throat, she had her answer.

  “You’re not. It’s all gone. I can’t even find any of it.”

  Jolie stared at her mate. “We can’t turn a human into a vampyre. It’s not done. It can’t be done.”

  Vanth began pacing. “In theory, no one’s been able to do it. I don’t know if it’s never been done. I’ll need to research it more.”

  Flynn didn’t mind. While they were worried, he was glad. “If it’ll save us, I’m willing to sacrifice it.”

  Jolie wanted to weep. They’d taken so much from him. All that was left was the flicker of his soul. With that, he was human. They had to hold onto it at all costs.

  It mattered.

  “Baby, don’t look so worried. I’m okay.”

  Both vampyres stared at him, unsure.

  “Death!” Vanth called.

  She stopped moving, and when she blinked, she had her answer.

  “Death can’t help. She told me this is your journey.”

  “Fate won’t let her?” Jolie asked.

  Vanth shook her head. “To do so bends the laws of what is coming and has passed. Everything has to work in balance. Fate sets the path, Death waits at the end. It’s how it’s been for so very long.”

  Flynn sat up. When Jacques held out his hand, he took it. There was relief on his face.

  “Hey, it’s okay.”

  He pulled him into his embrace. “Flynn, I’m so sorry. I would never hurt you. I hope you believe me.”

  He did.

  This wasn’t Jacques fault, and Flynn knew it. Death was behind this, and she was a sneaky bitch.

  He didn’t trust her.

  “I’m good,” he said, forcing his fangs and eyes back to normal. “Tonight, Vanth is going with us. I think this was all a warning of sorts. I think that Death wanted to tell me more, but she couldn’t. We’re going to use this to make sure we stay safe.”

  Vanth grinned. “Can I eat anyone who tries to…?”

  He stopped her. “If you keep us safe, you can eat anyone you damn well want.”

  She bounced and clapped her hands.

  “Except family. You can’t eat family,” Jolie added, warning her mate. “She’ll start snacking. With Vanth, you have to be very literal.”

  “Yeah, ewww. Good idea. No family.”

  Flynn rolled his neck. Jacques was still staring at him.

  “What?”

  “You might need to get changed. You’re bloody.”

  Flynn tugged off his tie. “Yeah, good idea.”

  When he wandered away, Jacques’s eyes never left him. When Flynn was far enough away, he spoke, “We have a problem,” he said, glancing over at Jolie and Vanth.

  “What?”

  “I have no control around him. For some reason, when we’re near, I want to jump all over him.”

  Jolie opened her mouth.

  “As in feeding?” she asked. “You can’t keep drinking him dry. I don’t like that Vanth has fed him once. We don’t know what that’s done to him. He may not have any humanity left, but he’s something we’ve never seen before.”

  He was aware, and Jacques only wished it was about feeding.
/>   “I want to do more than feed from him.”

  Jolie stared at him. “As in jump on him like I want to jump on him?”

  He nodded. “We’re blending again, and this time, I think it’s going to be an issue.”

  Yeah, he had no idea.

  This was bad.

  Really bad.

  ∞ Chapter Twenty-Two∞

  Paris

  Tuesday Afternoon

  When their plane landed, Mathew was a mess. He missed his family and wished he could do anything to fix what he’d done to them. Unfortunately, he couldn’t.

  He’d betrayed his circle, and now he was ostracized.

  Clariel was trying to cheer him up, but he was struggling with what he did. To compound it, he’d taken her down with him. Clariel had been happy with the family. She’d finally found a place where she could thrive. Even after losing Trina, she found a comradery with the others there.

  Now, Mathew’s decision had stolen that away.

  As they headed toward their new home, Mathew was distraught.

  “I’m sorry.”

  Clariel looked over at him, her red locks bouncing as she turned her head. “Why?”

  “I cost you your family.”

  “You cost us our family, Mathew. You’re lucky Flynn is a good person, or your life would have been forfeited.”

  He was aware.

  “Why did you do it?” she asked.

  “I wanted her for my own. I was jealous. No one has ever loved me before, and I didn’t want to lose it. I became desperate to keep her.”

  Clariel took his hand in hers. “Mathew, she was yours. Jolie loved you. She would have died for us. She was like our mother.”

  “I wanted a mate.”

  She stared at him with sadness in her eyes. “We all do, Mathew, but sometimes, that doesn’t happen. I lost Trina, and I know I’ll never mate again. Maybe yours was out there, and now you won’t find her.”

  He was aware.

  He’d screwed up.

  Now they had no family to protect them. They were essentially dead. This was going to be a struggle. Because they had been sent away, there were no donors and no humans willing to share energy. They were going to have to take.

  This was going to be survival of the fittest.

  “They should have killed me.”

  “They spared you for me. Flynn knew I needed you, and he gave me a gift.”

  Mathew wished he’d taken his life. He’d lost his family, and that was a cold lesson to learn.

  “Where are we staying?” he asked.

  Clariel pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket. “I rented us a place. It’s not going to be big, but it’s in the art district of Paris. Jolie gave you that gift of an education, and they gave me one too for Christmas. We can go to school, and we can try to start over.”

  “You should go back,” he said, watching the scenery blowing by in the backseat of the taxi. “You didn’t have to leave.”

  Clariel leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “I did. I love you, Mathew, and we’re a family. You’re all I have left. You can’t leave me too.”

  He held her hand.

  Their fingers twined together.

  “I guess tonight we start the hunt. We’ll need to feed.”

  She’d chosen Paris for a reason. The time they spent there had given them peace, and she knew her way around. “I’ll help you. I can use compulsion. We’ll draw in some humans, feed, and set them free. We can’t kill them, no matter what.”

  He understood.

  They were in enough trouble.

  “Thank you, Clariel. I love you.”

  She rested her head on his shoulder, trying not to let the sun hurt her eyes.

  “I love you too, Mathew. We’ll be okay. We still have each other.”

  He hoped she was right.

  They had nowhere to go but up.

  * * * H a r c o u r t e * * *

  New Orleans

  Nathaniel woke to them standing over his bed. The one in charge was holding a blade to his throat. While he lay there, unmoving, he honestly thought this was the end of his life.

  “Who are you?” he asked.

  “We’re the Tueur. You’re not to help Jolie Harcourte. No matter what, she’s not to be assisted.”

  He swallowed.

  “Has she contacted you?”

  He nodded.

  “When?”

  “Yesterday. She wants to meet council tonight. She is petitioning us for help.”

  “Perfect. You will say nothing. If you tell her we’re going to be there waiting, we’ll kill you. As you can see, we have access to your home, and you won’t be the only one who dies.”

  They pointed at his still resting mate.

  “Are we clear?”

  He nodded.

  “You let them come, and we’ll handle her.”

  Nathaniel didn’t move. He’d yet to feed, and he was weak. “I’ll do what you say. Once you take her, I want you out of New Orleans. You know you’re not permitted to come here without first asking the council.”

  He grinned. “Yes, we broke the rules. You should report us to the boss. Oh, wait! Our leader is the boss, and our job is to make sure you’re not crossing the line. Jolie has. He’s called for her destruction. That’s not your business. It’s ours.”

  With that, they began leaving his room.

  Nathaniel was torn.

  The Tueur were a pain in the ass. They had free reign to kill and do whatever it took if a vampyre went rogue. They had been a part of their existence from the beginning.

  You couldn’t stop them.

  It wasn’t possible.

  “Jolie, I hope you’re ready,” he said, sending energy into his mate. What was coming was about to start a war.

  He could see it.

  Now he only hoped New Orleans would survive.

  * * * H a r c o u r t e * * *

  Tuesday Afternoon

  Flynn had been quiet all day.

  There was a lot on his mind. How could there not be? He was worried about what was coming.

  Jolie and Jacques mattered to him, and he couldn’t help but get that feeling in his gut that something bad was going to happen.

  It rattled him.

  As he worked all morning, he kept glancing up at the clock on the wall.

  Finally, his partner got his attention.

  “Flynn, go home.”

  He looked up.

  “What?”

  “You’re scattered and a mess. You should head to Jolie’s office, pick her up, and go home.”

  He wanted that more than anything.

  Truth be told, he was scared.

  For him.

  For her.

  For Jacques.

  “Maybe I’ll do that after I check in with the ME. I want to know if he found anything on the new body.”

  Tommy stood. “Let’s go. I want you to be with Jolie, keeping her safe. I’ll handle it here.”

  He was grateful for his partner.

  Clipping on his side arm, he headed with Tommy toward the elevator. As they rode it down, Flynn told him what had happened earlier.

  The man’s eyes got big.

  “You’re more them than us.”

  Yeah, he was.

  “I’m all them. The only thing that’s keeping me on this side of human is my soul.”

  Tommy patted him on the arm. “It’ll be okay, Flynn. One way or another, you’ll stop the Tueur. Percy and I have been watching the place. They can’t get in. Now that Mathew is gone, we’re safe.”

  Yeah, he actually missed Mathew.

  Okay, not really.

  He missed Clariel.

  Reaching for her, he checked to make sure she was okay. He could hear her and Mathew talking. So, he listened.

  “Flynn?”

  He glanced over. “Sorry, I was eavesdropping. What did you say?”

  Tommy pointed at the open door. “We’re here.”

  Flynn headed into the m
orgue. The ME was standing there, filling out paperwork.

  “Doctor, anything?”

  He laughed.

  That was a bad sign.

  “Nothing. We have no trace, no semen, nothing. Whoever is doing this is leaving nothing behind. I have nothing for you, Detectives.”

  Great.

  That wasn’t what he wanted to hear.

  “How did our victim die?” Flynn asked.

  “No clue. While she was severely abused, whipped, bound, and it looks like flogged, there’s no reason she should be dead. There was no life threatening injuries. While she lost blood, it wasn’t nearly enough to end her life.”

  Flynn took a deep breath. “Okay, Doctor. Send the chief the report. I’ll deal with the blowback after the fact.”

  Both detectives knew that this was a hot mess, and they couldn’t even begin to cover their asses. Once more, the killer had left no trace, and they didn’t have a clue.

  Flynn didn’t even want to think about Jolie going back to that club.

  It horrified him.

  “Let’s go, Tommy,” he stated, heading out of the morgue. In the elevator, he closed his eyes.

  “It’ll be okay,” Tommy promised.

  “I’m going to go pick up Jolie. Can you waylay the bosses? Tell them I’m with her working on the newest developments.”

  He patted him on the shoulder. “Can do, partner. Go protect your woman.”

  Flynn paused. “Oh, and about Camille.”

  “What?”

  “I’m happy for you. Marry the girl.”

  He stared at him. “Can you marry a vampyre?” he asked, just as the door opened.

  The two detectives standing on the other side stared at him as if he’d lost his mind.

  Flynn laughed.

  He needed that in the worst way.

  He had a feeling today was only going to get worse.

  * * * H a r c o u r t e * * *

  Doctor Harcourte’s

  Office

  She was done with patients for the day, and Jolie was grateful. It was hard to concentrate when you were thinking about what was coming.