19. Nic

Chapter 19

émile approached me, his arrogant smile in place, his right eyebrow raised. "Yours is a heart I shall very much enjoy eating, boy. There's more than one way to derive the benefit of a true mate, and her blood pounds through your veins every bit as surely as it does through hers."

His words sent a spiral of rage to heat my blood, and I sprang forward, striking him in the face. His neck snapped backward, and his lips split open immediately, spilling blood down his chin.

He laughed again, the sound still a slight gurgle. "No matter. I'll replace this from you after I kill you."

émile looked different than when I'd last seen him. Not as crumbly. Certainly, pieces weren't about to fall off him, and his frame wasn't as emaciated.

But neither was he at full health. There was hesitation in his movements, and when he reached for me, his grip wasn't strong. My fist connected with his face again, only one thought in my head—make this world safe for my mate.

His laughter rang out once more. "Have you forgotten? I am very old." He sneered. "I survive stasis. You are young and weak."

I hit out at him again and again, landing many, watching as his face became little more than a bloody pulp. Still his laughter continued.

He was right. He was old enough to be ancient. The only vampire who'd matched him was my father, and he was gone. I needed to prove myself in this moment. I had Father's legacy to live up to, and the responsibility conferred by my role as king. I had to show my people that I would do anything for them and my mate.

I had to triumph in this war. There was no other way.

Panic flashed along the bond I shared with Leia, and my concentration wavered. émile lashed out, his long, diseased-looking claws slashing my skin, and my blood joined his on the grass, but my wounds began to close up almost as soon as he made them, my healing superior to his.

We traded blow after blow, my health and vitality an equal match to his age and experience. Pain radiated through me as émile thrust his hand into my chest but I dodged away before he could close his hand around my heart, my breathing heavy.

"Almost," he crowed. Then, "Next time."

The light of promise shone in his eyes. I couldn't let there be a next time, but I didn't speak. Monologues and trading verbal blows wouldn't help me win this fight. Conserving and using my strength wisely would.

But Leia screamed, and the noise pierced my heart, shattering my concentration. émile seized his moment, raking his claws from my shoulder to opposite hip, and I fell, the world spinning away before I landed on the slick grass, the blood-soaked lawn cushioning my fall.

I glanced toward Leia, regret seizing me. Fuck.

Then a growl sounded, and a blur of fur passed above me.

Conri's wolves.

I almost laughed. Talk about last minute. The pack had nearly missed all the action.

A large, black wolf barreled straight at émile before snapping its jaws around the vampire's neck and shaking him like an oversized chew toy. émile gurgled his screams as the wolf ripped his throat away, dragging his windpipe from his chest and sending blood in an arc through the air.

The smell of émile's newly released blood was foul, and I covered my nose against it. It was old and rotten and sour. The wolf looked at me as I struggled to sit, the injury émile had caused me already starting to heal. One wrong move could split me wide open again, though.

With one last glance at me, the wolf turned and raised its head, nose to the moon, to emit an eerie howl. An answering chorus carried across the night, and the atmosphere in the garden changed. I'd lost sight of my men during the fight with the old vampire king, but now I located each of them and their renewed bursts of energy now our back-up had arrived.

"Thank you." I addressed the wolf who'd saved me directly, and he blinked his wise eyes as he nodded a slow acknowledgment.

I didn't regret not making the killing blow myself. It didn't matter. émile was dead and wouldn't enact his plan to capture Leia.

Leia.

My chest became a cold hollow as I cast my gaze around the yard trying to locate her. The last spot I'd seen her with Francois was empty. She wasn't here.

Vampires around me fought each other until I wasn't sure which side they'd started on. My men made light work of their opponents, and wolves snapped necks and limbs, the sound of cracking bones ricocheting through the night like gunfire.

Satisfied things were under Baton Rouge control, I tugged on my bond with Leia, trying to locate her. Rain started to fall from the sky, further soaking the grass and getting in my eyes as I tried to move forward through the garden. I slipped as the lawn quickly became mud beneath my feet, and my healing wounds pulled and tugged at my uneven gait, some of them opening again and allowing more rivulets of blood to run down my rain-damp skin.

Skidding across the ground slowed me down as much as dodging the warring vampires and wolves, and my usual bursts of vampire speed didn't help, sending me careening out of control in the wrong direction if I skidded.

I slowed and focused, throwing out occasional punches as enemy vampires stumbled into my path.

émile was dead. I only had one focus now.

My mate.

And fucking Francois.

I growled as my fangs descended, ripping through my gums. He would meet his final death when I found him. He deserved no less.

I reached for the bond with Leia, fury claiming me when her fear met my probe. But I hadn't lied to her before. I would always know where she was.

Always be able to find her.

Our bond would lead me to her.

It pulled at me, and I half ran, half slid to the huge house I'd rescued Leia from before. The mansion trapped in a time warp. Emotions filtered through our bond—emotions Leia seemed to be trying to erase from herself.

I needed to talk to her about that. Becoming vampire wasn't about deliberately shrugging off our human selves. We kept the best parts of our previous selves intact.

I tried to send reassurance through the bond, let her know I was on my way. I'd found her. I'd reach her.

I entered the house through the same door as before, past the scullery area where we'd left the dead girl. That had eaten at Kyle for days. From there, I half relied on memory, half on the bond to draw me forward in the right direction.

It pulsed strongly inside me—my own guiding light. But more of Leia's emotion bled through. Fear gripped me.

Her fear.

Quickly followed by determination.

I almost allowed myself a smile as I quickened my steps. There could still be staff in here, though, and I hadn't fared so well last time around Francois's staff. I moved forward carefully.

For the first time, hope echoed down our bond. She knew I was coming. I took the stairs two at a time before stopping outside a closed door. This fucking room again. It was where Francois had held her the first time.

I wanted to race into the room but I held myself back, testing the door handle first. It turned easily and I swung the door slowly open.

Francois didn't see me, and for a moment, I didn't see Leia. But I could hear her and I could sense her. Then Francois shifted and my rage solidified into a burning pain in my head. Leia struggled beneath him, her clothes half hanging off, her wrists and ankles tied to the bed.

She wasn't strong enough to hold him off yet. She was still too young. A buzzing noise that blanked out all the sound in the room accompanied my rage. My fangs descended and my vision bled to red as my claws ripped through my skin.

"You fucking bastard. That's my mate." The words were a roar tearing from my throat as I pounced on of Francois and ripped him away from Leia.

He hit the wall behind me and drywall crumbled over him as he slid to the floor.

I met Leia's panicked expression as she struggled against her bindings, and I wanted to free her, but Francois was still a danger. He wasn't dead yet.

Leia recoiled from me the way she had when I'd fought Sebastian, but I couldn't comfort her this time. Francois wrapped his arm around my neck and yanked, but I wrestled free.

Francois grinned at me. "Nicolas," he said, my name a taunt on his lips as always.

"You fucking bastard." I pounded my fist against his face and then again, waiting for his grin to slip, but it didn't. "We killed your father, and now we're taking you."

Francois' face became a mass of blood, but the liquid was dark green and smelled rancid. He didn't put up any fight, instead relaxing into the rhythm of my punishment.

I raised my arm to swing again but caught myself midair. "What the fuck?" I looked at the blood staining my old enemy again. "What the fuck, Francois? How long have you been on dead man's blood?"

That shit rotted brains and drove men crazy. My arm shook as I lowered it, my rage still barely contained.

"What the actual fuck, Francois?" I bellowed each of the words. I couldn't kill a man under the influence of dead man's blood.

He couldn't be held accountable for his actions—he was completely mad.

Fuck. I cast a glance at Leia before returning my attention to Francois.

This wasn't something I'd wish on anyone—not even Francois Ricard. And now I had to remember my position, remember diplomacy, rather than punishment and ending his life. He needed to be processed correctly now.

I grunted my frustration and looked at Leia again. She wouldn't understand this.

"It was a witch." Francois's fangs glinted through the mass of blood on his face. I'd left nothing but pulp as evidence of my rage, and it glistened as he spoke his garbled words. "I thought…I thought she loved me." He gurgled a laugh that sounded like bubbles. "But she didn't. So I made a deal for power." The noise of bubbles came again. "Power. Look at my power, Nicolas. Don't you wish you had all this?"

He gestured loosely around a ruined room.

I left him on the floor and walked to Leia. She shook as I approached, but I held out my hand and she closed her eyes to receive my caress to her cheek. I began to unfasten her from the bed as Francois continued to talk.

"We were meant to be together. She was mine." Again that laugh. "At least I thought so."

I cut him a glance before focusing back on Leia. I looked at her and lowered my voice. "I'm not sure he's had a clear thought in years. Dead man's blood makes a man crazy."

Her eyes widened, and she shook her head. "He needs to die."

"I can't." My words were a plea. "I can't, Leia. I need to take him back to Baton Rouge to be dealt with by the council."

"What the hell is dead man's blood, and why does it give him a free pass?" She spat her sentence, and resentment flowed through our bond. "I'll kill him. I need to."

"You can't. Dead man's blood is exactly what it sounds like. Blood from dead people. Highly toxic to vampires in large doses, and in small doses it will just turn the vampire crazy."

"But why would he take it?" Her eyes widened as she focused on Francois where he lay on the floor.

"He probably didn't know when he first started." Hell, even I had pity for the guy now. Fucking stupid Francois. Forever under émile's thumb, and now look at him.

This was no way to meet his end. He was so addled, he just lay there laughing occasionally.

There was a movement in the corridor outside, and I covered Leia with the blanket from the bed, hiding her from whoever had arrived.

My nose twitched. Wolf.

Conri stepped through the door, his gaze immediately on Francois then me and Leia as I finished untying her. "Everything good here?"

"Not really." I secured the blanket around Leia as I helped her to stand. "Dead man's blood."

I nodded toward Francois, and Conri whistled through his teeth.

"Really? How long?"

I shrugged. "Hell if I know. Fucking long time, judging from the state of his blood."

Conri nodded, a grimace flashing his teeth. "I could smell it from outside." He paused. "We're about done out there. Just catching the last of the ones who believe in flight over fight, but my shifters have that handled. You need me to do anything else?"

I drew Leia to my side, focusing on our bond, trying to reassure her as I spoke. "Can you get him to Baton Rouge? The council will ensure that justice is served."

I squeezed Leia's hand.

It wasn't the news she wanted or the end she needed, but it was the best I could offer.

Leia sat quietly on the jet on the way home, but it wasn't the same shocked quiet as after the first battle at Conri's safehouse. There was something resigned and dignified about her silence now. Our bond told me I hadn't lost her. Her grip on my hand, even though she kept her face averted as she gazed out of the window, told me the same.

In time, she'd understand why I couldn't bring about Francois's final death. I'd explain it to her better when we got home, but I couldn't be sure how much she'd agree with.

My men were quiet, too. Even Kyle. Perhaps especially Kyle, but he often went somewhere darker after a battle. I met Jason's gaze. His eyes were a little too wide.

"You doing okay?" I checked in on my sireling, and he nodded.

"Yeah. I just…deposing a king, that's pretty big. Are you worried about the power vacuum we've created?"

I considered his question. "I have some plans." Then I chuckled ruefully. "And I know Conri has some plans. I think New Orleans will be okay."

He nodded thoughtfully but remained quiet for the rest of the flight.

Jenkins met us at the airport and drove us home, and Leia rested her head against my shoulder as we drove the familiar route.

Everything had changed, yet nothing had. We'd killed émile but Leia hadn't enacted her vengeance on Francois. Her father's killer had essentially walked away.

At home, I followed her up the stairs, unsure which way she'd turn, but she walked to the west wing without hesitation and got ready for bed. I offered up a small prayer of thanks to whichever force had listened to me earlier. My mate had returned with me, safe.

When I finally climbed into bed next to her, I gathered her into my arms and breathed in the smell of her freshly washed hair.

"I'm sorry," I murmured. "I know that wasn't the outcome you wanted."

She shrugged like she didn't care, but her voice was small. "I know you have your reasons."

I sighed. "They aren't my reasons. They're ancient ones. Ones I have to abide by or the council could demand my death. Francois isn't of sound mind, and he needs assessment and trial for his crimes. The council needs to determine how much responsibility he truly bears."

She sniffed softly, and I drew her against me.

"I'm sorry," I said again. "But please know I will always protect you above all else. I love you." My words were urgent. "You're my true mate, Leia. We'll be together forever. The threats against our happiness have been taken care of, and we can really start building our future now."

She turned her face toward me, and I captured her mouth beneath mine, touching against her tongue slightly when she parted her lips on a sigh. Desire zinged though me but I tamped it down.

Now was a time for tenderness more than passion.

But Leia had other ideas about the passion, pressing herself against me in the smallest of seductions. My body reacted right away, my cock hardening against the soft skin of her thigh.

I swallowed a groan, not wanting a moment of tenderness to be overtaken by my desire for my mate, but her fingertips grazed against my shaft and my resolve was swept away as I deepened our kiss, sweeping my tongue farther into her mouth and letting loose a muffled groan. I captured her against me, pressing our bodies together so her hardening nipples grazed my chest.

I wanted her.

I'd never stop wanting her.

She was mine.

She cupped my cheek like I was fragile, delicate and she captured every nuance of my importance to her in the gentle hold. I skimmed my hand from her shoulder to her waist, lingering over the curve of her breast, and she sighed against my mouth. I hardened further at the indication of her pleasure, wanting to be inside her.

I slipped my fingers between her thighs. "You're so wet," I couldn't help my quiet exclamation.

She grinned against my mouth. "Ready for you," she whispered. "Don't make me wait."

But I wanted to please her. I rolled her clit slowly under my fingertip, focusing on the slow, gentle motion she preferred at first, and she moved her hips to meet me, setting the rhythm she needed.

I kissed her as she struggled to control her breathing, absorbing her gasps and exhaled sighs, intensifying my touch on her body as I felt its changes. She grew wetter as she approached orgasm, and I focused my touches, pressing a little harder, rolling slightly faster until her breathing picked up into a series of staccato gasps she didn't seem to have control over.

She sucked in a last inhale, and then all breath movement ceased as her thighs trembled and she rode her moment. Her hand clutched my wrist when I didn't ease up, choosing to push her further, and she gasped again.

"No more," she whispered. "Too sensitive. Inside me."

I responded to her curt commands by positioning myself above her, my cock finding its own way forward, nudging carefully inside her body. I exhaled as I sank deeper, Leia offering no resistance at all to my intrusion.

"Yes." Her voice was a mere breath of approval and acceptance.

I withdrew a little before thrusting forward again. Then again and again until I built up the rhythm that offered the most pleasure to both of us. I nudged against her, angling to the spot inside her that brought her the most pleasure.

She rose to meet each of my thrusts, and I lost myself in the feel of her, not even thinking anymore—simply experiencing.

My cock thickened and my balls tightened, and I considered pulling back, holding off, but my release crashed over me, leaving me powerless.

I dropped my forehead to Leia's then kissed her cheek and rolled us carefully to the side, wrapping my arms around her to hold her close.

Passion and tenderness went hand in hand.