17. Nic

Chapter 17

Something was different. I woke with that certainty. A disturbance in the wards and a familiar presence. I climbed from the bed and drew some pants on, careful not to wake Leia. Last night had been an emotional one for her, and the conflict inside her as she both began to reject humans and clung to the ones she loved best resonated through our bond.

She needed to sleep and not be bothered by whatever this morning brought to pass.

I met Baldwin hurrying along the hallway toward my bedroom. "What is it?" I asked him.

"Kyle is waiting for you in your office." His tone was neutral, but his posture was tense, like even Baldwin knew this could be important. He probably did know. Not much happened in my home without Baldwin being aware of it.

I nodded like I'd expected his visit but a thread of worry wove through my mind. I clamped down on it before I gave anything away to Leia via our bond. I was still unused to being so completely connected to another.

She was still asleep, though—I could feel it. The vibration she emitted wasn't emptiness like she wasn't there, though. It was comfort and warmth. I held my awareness of her closer and went to my unexpected meeting with Kyle.

He stood from a chair when I entered the room, and he held his hand out in greeting, but I pulled him into a brief hug and clapped his back.

"Good to see you." I meant every word. No matter his confidence that he'd survive a trip to New Orleans, I hadn't been so sure. I'd let him make this trip against my better judgment, and was relieved to see him in the flesh in front of me.

He grimaced. "It's good to be back, Nic. Things are volatile in New Orleans. émile is like a man possessed, although no one seems to see him or Francois. Messages filter through the growing number of vampires, but I'm never sure of the source."

"Oh?" Then what news had he brought back? I gestured to the seat he'd stood from. "I assume you've brought back news?"

He nodded but remained standing, his hands clasped behind his back, his feet in the at ease stance. But Kyle never looked truly at ease. His instincts and reactions were the finest honed I knew, and he could go from relaxed to holding the head of an enemy in mere moments.

"Temple's worried." Kyle made the declaration like what Temple chose to worry about was significant.

I didn't say anything immediately, so Kyle continued.

"Look, if something about the New Orleans situation is making Temple anxious then we need to pay attention. He doesn't panic, and he doesn't worry lightly. He's been working this situation from the inside for a long time, and he says things are changing."

I nodded. Temple had been key when we rescued Leia. His information had been exactly right, so he obviously knew the things he was talking about. But I had to be sure.

"You still trust him?" Informants and allies could be turned for the right price.

But Kyle nodded. "Yes, and his sister. Both Temple and Chesca are actively working against House Ricard like it's their own personal mission to bring it down. émile doesn't enjoy the full support of New Orleans, by any means."

I sat behind my desk. "The people of New Orleans need our help and numbers. I've spoken to Conri again."

Kyle finally sat down again. "I'm not sure how much time we have to make our plans." He leaned forward as he spoke, fresh urgency entering his tone. "Temple is worried that things are very unstable right now, and any more agitation will mean émile will give the order to bring the battle straight to Baton Rouge."

I looked up from the maps of New Orleans that Jason had spread over my desk yesterday. Fighting in Baton Rouge wasn't what any of us had planned. I couldn't allow my city to become overrun by enemy vampires. It would weaken my position regardless of having turned my mate if I couldn't protect my people.

"Unthinkable," I said. "That's the one thing we can't allow. We need to contain émile and his army to New Orleans."

Kyle made a murmur of agreement but didn't go as far as to offer a suggestion.

I watched him. "It's unlike you not to have a plan."

He shrugged. "Is there any point in me telling you the things I think you already know?"

I laughed, the sound slightly bitter. "Heavy is the head that wears the crown, is that it?" Maybe it truly was lonely at the top because I had to make these decisions alone. The burden of responsibility was mine. I couldn't put it off any longer. "The time to act is now, then."

I reached along my bond to Leia, but she was still asleep. Good. I needed to be the first one to tell her this news.

"Gather Kyle and Sebastian. My brother is currently spending some time with our mother." I grimaced a little at the idea that I'd need to soon enact Sebastian's exile. But I needed him for this, and I trusted him to remain loyal to me. "I need to go tell Leia that the time for war has come."

Kyle stood, already reaching for his cell phone, and I hurried from the room. By the time I returned, Kyle would have assembled everyone I needed.

I crept back into my bedroom, my gaze roaming over my mate as she lay in bed, the dark sheets tangled around her sleeping form. We'd tangled them last night. My cock twitched even now at the thought.

I sat in a chair in the small sitting area, the same one I'd made my call to Conri from, and waited. As if she was aware of my close presence, she stirred a little. Then her eyes blinked open and she was awake and fully alert immediately.

"Good morning." I smiled as I spoke. It was always a pleasure to see her.

She glanced toward the curtains and the faint daylight glowing from behind them. "I slept late."

I shrugged. "Then you needed it."

She glanced. "So are you just lurking in the bedroom to watch me sleep? Some would call that creepy…"

I laughed briefly. "I could watch you sleep all night long." Then I shook my head. "But that's not why I came back. I just met with Kyle."

"He's in Baton Rouge?" Leia climbed out of bed and walked naked across the bedroom to grab my robe. Every line of her body moved with grace, and I watched her like I'd never seen her move before.

"He's in my office." I grinned ruefully as Leia spun around.

"He's in the house? Does he have news of Francois's location? Is everything okay?"

I nodded. "Yes, he's in the house. We haven't talked about Francois—"

Leia's eyes blazed a fierce red for a moment. "Then why is he here? Finding Francois is the number one priority."

I shook my head as I stretched my legs out. "This isn't Francois's war anymore. And his father has…other ideas. Kyle has brought the news that things are reaching boiling point in New Orleans. The time for war is now."

Leia froze, her body entering that eerie state of stillness all vampires could attain. It was still a novelty to see it on her—I'd grown used to her near-constant fidgeting while human. Even while still, her body had never been truly at rest.

"Now?" She spoke only one word.

"Yes. Our only current option is to go to New Orleans to bring an end to this." I inhaled, drawing the combined scents of Leia and me into my chest. It calmed me. "I can't allow them to reach Baton Rouge, to endanger my family and my people."

"I'm coming." Leia's words were still clipped.

I sighed. I'd expected this.

Her eyes glowed red again. "Of course I'm coming. You can't leave me here in Baton Rouge like a big red target while you go charging off, and you've known all along that I want to be the one who finishes this."

She disappeared into the bathroom but soon reappeared and stalked to the closet. Her irritation transmitted itself in her every movement and zinged between us.

"I don't plan to stop you," I said. She didn't reply, but she'd heard me because she stilled again. "You aren't the same delicate human anymore. You're a strong vampire now. You've been training with Jason. I know you can take care of yourself."

Besides, I'd be at her side the whole time, minimizing any risk. And she's been right—I couldn't leave her sitting here in Baton Rouge. She had to be with me. It was the only way to keep her truly safe.

"So I'm coming to New Orleans to fight with you? You agree with me?" She slipped a T-shirt on.

"Yes." I stood and crossed to her side. "I wouldn't have it any other way. There is so much you're capable of now, Leia. You're amazing. I was trying to protect you before, but now I need never stand in your way again. I want you beside me, not behind me. We can end this battle together, and you can have your revenge."

I swept some of the loose hair from her forehead as I met her gaze, needing her to see how earnest I was.

"I might love you a little more now you've said that." She grinned at me as she lifted onto her tiptoes for a kiss.

We were unusually somber on the plane as we approached New Orleans. Sebastian was at the other end, studiously avoiding even looking at Leia. She'd greeted him as we walked by when we boarded, but that had been the extent of their interaction. Sebastian knew better than to cross me again.

"What's the plan?" I looked at Kyle. He was taking lead on this mission again because he had the New Orleans contacts and he'd spent time there himself. He knew the situation better than any of us.

He answered me with a question of his own. "Are Conri's men on standby?"

"Yes, they are," Jason jumped in and answered. He was handling the finer details of their involvement now that Conri and I had agreed terms.

"Okay." Kyle nodded and returned his attention to me.

I glanced at Leia. She was looking out of the window at her right, but her left hand was tense around mine, and lines of her face were taut.

"When we land in NOLA," Kyle continued, "we'll proceed straight to the Ricard mausoleum. It's empty now, and it's the quickest way onto their property undetected."

"You don't think they'll have locked that own after last time?" It didn't seem believable that émile wouldn't tighten security after we'd used his portal to trespass on his property once before.

Still, if he hadn't, it was no different than him just opening a portal directly onto my fucking lawn. Sudden anger heated my blood, and Leia's hand gently tightened around mine as she offered me comfort without even changing her position. Secret comfort no one else even knew about. I valued our bond even more.

"I've let Temple know to meet us at the airport. He'll have a witch with him—one who can open the portal and get us onto Ricard land."

I nodded as Kyle spoke. I didn't like being beholden to another witch, but it was our only way.

As we fell silent, I closed my eyes and rested my head back against the seat to wait the rest of the journey out.

The flight was a calm one. Not even a hint of turbulence—the only disturbance was in my fast-moving thoughts, which wouldn't quiet, no matter how much I attempted to relax. I remained antsy the whole time, leaning forward as we made our final descent.

I scanned the area around the runway, and Kyle was true to his word. Temple stood in the shadows as we disembarked, and alongside him was a woman I'd seen before.

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

She was one of the women I'd seen before on my fucking lawn. She'd narrowly escaped being émile's next snack.

She drew back a little and looked away submissively. "The king killed my sister."

"Fuck." I spat the word as I looked at Temple, and I pointed at the witch. "I can't work with her."

"I can vouch for her." He spoke immediately, something protective about the way he defended the witch. "Besides, she's our only shot. The only one who was willing to help."

"I knew Lettie." The words tumbled from the witch in a rush. "I knew Lettie and I know what they did to her." She stopped speaking and jerked her head toward Leia, who'd come to stand beside me. "And I know about her from when she was human and the first time she came to New Orleans. I know what Lettie did for her."

Without warning, she leaned forward and grazed her fingers over Leia's pendant.

I caught her hand in mine, ready to rip it right off, but Leia stopped me through our bond.

"Don't," she said. "Don't. Whatever she's done to the pendant, it feels good. It's helping me."

"What did you do?" I demanded, while Temple continued to glare at me, and my men shuffled their feet impatiently behind me. The sun was setting fast, and we needed to make our move.

"Small protection spell. Nothing fancy." She looked at Leia again, speaking directly to her. "But you'll be able to evade most black magic now."

"Nic." Jason spoke from behind me. "We should get going."

"We need the witch," Kyle added like I might try to prevent her from helping—although maybe he was right. The urge to send her away still burned through me.

"We need to move fast. I've got Ciara." Temple grabbed the witch and swung her into his arms before speeding away across the tarmac.

After a moment's hesitation, we followed him, blurs in the night that no human would see as we headed to end a war we didn't even want them to know about.

I slowed as we approached the old Ricard mausoleum, stopping everyone while I listened. But only crickets chirped. The dead were quiet, and there were no guards.

"Really, no guards?" I couldn't hide my disbelief.

"Nope." Temple grinned. "émile seems to exist on a mixture of confidence and arrogance. And I'm not sure how much Francois even shared with him about how Leia was stolen away from him. A confession like that would have cost Francois dearly."

I nodded. That much was true. émile seemed to have no respect for his son. But no… That sounded too easy.

"Surely there's someone here." I looked around again, my vision slicing through the gloom and shadows.

"No." The witch shook her head. "There's really no one here. I'd know because I'd sense them, especially if they had magic. We're alone."

I ground my teeth a little, the noise loud in the quiet. I still didn't trust her, but she wasn't lying about us being alone.

"Can we proceed?" Temple had been a little shit the last time we met, too, with no respect for my position at all.

I made a show of checking my watch. "I think it's time to conjure the portal," I announced.

Temple glanced at Ciara before she stepped forward and positioned himself in front of her, making sure he entered the mausoleum before anyone else. He looked out a moment later. "It's empty," he announced before stepping back to allow us into the small space.

It was exactly as I remembered it, except that raised table where émile had lain in his stasis was now empty. I shook my head. He was an evil bastard.

Fucking émile.

We shuffled farther into the room, taking up most of the space before Temple closed the door, plunging us into darkness. The candles that had been alight before to hold vigil over émile no longer burned, and I reached for Leia's hand, drawing her closer to me. My vision cleared and I could see again, as we probably all could except the witch.

"It's time for the portal," I bit out, and I'd barely finished speaking when she lifted her arms and intoned a rapid chant.

A blazing purple portal appeared on the wall behind her, and it spat purple and turquoise sparks.

Beside me, Leia gasped. "What's that?"

Perhaps she didn't remember the portal we'd brought her through when we rescued her. It was possible—she'd been very traumatized. "You doing okay?"

She turned to look at me and nodded. "Better when those fuckers are dead," she muttered. Then she looked at the portal again. "And we just walk through that?"

I looked at it too. "Yep." Something still didn't sit right about this. It was still too easy.

"Are we going, then?" Leia stepped forward, and I held her back before stepping ahead of her. My mate wasn't passing through a portal first.

I looked at Temple's witch. "Can you sense anything on the other side?"

She shook her head.

"Okay." I looked at my men. "Are we ready?"

They nodded their faces grim.

I offered a small, silent prayer to anyone who might be listening to help me keep Leia safe, and I stepped into the center of the purple fire.