From Fear to Eternity: An Immortality Bites Mystery (24 page)

I nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, absolutely. The badassiest.”

Sebastien had taken a seat on the unstained sofa and put his head in his hands.

“That was a dangerous move,” Jack said to me as I met his gaze. “Did you know what you were doing?”

“Honestly?” I grimaced. “No, not even slightly.”

“She stole all of the Jacquerra Amulet’s magic from me.” He looked down at his arms, now bare of any tattoos. “It’s all gone.”

My chest clenched at the thought that, in a weird way, Tasha had won. “I’m so sorry.”

A grin spread over his face. “Don’t be. That magic was a curse from a vengeful coven of witches that’s been a heavy burden for well over a thousand years. I’m finally free, thanks to you.”

Then it was good news. Hooray, magic-stealing evil actress! “So what are you now? Mortal?”

“Well, no.” His grin widened. “I’ve always been more than that.”

“Remember, Sarah, djinn are a form of demon,” Thierry explained. “A group of troublemakers imprisoned by that original coven of witches.”

Jack nodded. “You know what they say—Hell hath no fury like a coven of witches scorned. But that was a long time ago.”

“I hope so.” I poked him in his bare chest. “You better behave yourself, mister. And here’s a question for you. What exactly does ‘a form of demon’ mean?”

“Nothing worth worrying about. I mean, unless you’re a witch. We don’t get along with witches.”

“You’re not going to turn evil, are you?”

“I was never evil. Just misunderstood, kind of like a vampire.” Jack grabbed me and gave me a tight hug. “Thank you. Thank you so much for saving me. I won’t forget it.”

“You’re very welcome.” He released me and I looked at him quizzically. “By the way, what’s your real name?”

He waved his hand. “It’s kind of long and complicated. I think ‘Jack’ works for the next phase of my existence. I like it.”

“It suits you.” I glanced toward Sebastien, who looked up at me sheepishly through his fingers.

“I don’t know what to do now,” he said. “It was my fault. Everything. Everybody nearly died because . . . because . . .”

I sat down next to him. “Because you trusted someone who didn’t deserve your trust. That doesn’t make you the bad guy, Sebastien. It makes you someone who has hope in his heart, even after everything you’ve been through.”

He let out a long, shaky sigh. “I thought she loved me.”

“Tasha only loved herself.”

“I’m such a fool.” He stood up, raking his hands through his hair. Thierry drew closer and Sebastien flinched away from him. “And I don’t even know what to say to you.”

Thierry shook his head. “You don’t have to say anything.”

“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry I—”

“No. Don’t. Let’s put the past behind us. The future lies ahead and it’s a clean slate for us both.” Thierry extended his hand.

Sebastien looked at Thierry’s hand for a long moment before he finally clasped it in his. He nodded. “That sounds good to me.”

“This is so wonderful.” Veronique came up to them, smiling broadly. “How it always should have been between you. We’re a family again.”

Marcellus stood by, watching Veronique very carefully. “I still don’t understand my place in any of this.”

That made two of us. And by the looks on Thierry’s and Sebastien’s faces, four of us.

“Who am I?” Marcellus continued. “I believed I was Marcellus Rousseau, as I have been all of my life, but this strange place makes no sense to me. The way you are all dressed is very odd. And I can’t figure it out.”

Veronique’s expression was pinched. “Oh, darling . . .”

I heard a loud noise. Someone was yelling and banging on something. Hard.

“What the hell is that?” Melanie exclaimed.

“Some sort of warning signal that all Hell is about to break loose?” Sebastien said.

I grimaced. “Um, no. Actually, that would be Atticus.”

Time to face the most powerful vampire on the vampire council.

Maybe Jack wouldn’t be the only one to lose his head tonight.

B
oth Thierry and Veronique accompanied me to the room in which Atticus was trapped. I fished the key out of my bra and inserted it into the lock of the chest.

“Atticus, you need to stay calm,” I told him.

“And you need to let me out of here,” he snarled. “Immediately!”

“Since you asked so nicely, okay.” I turned the key.

He shoved the lid of the chest up and sprang out like a jack-in-the-box. His black hair was matted and sweaty, his face red, and his eyes wild.

“You!” He wheeled around to face me. “I warned you what I’d do to you when I got out.”

The man who’d threatened my life to get Thierry to work for the Ring again was an intimidating creep at the best of times. At the moment, I would allow it since I myself would have hated to be locked in a tiny chest for a couple of hours. “Yeah, well, you’ll feel better in a minute. I hope.”

“De Bennicoeur, this woman is a detriment to your position with the Ring. She cannot continue to travel with you.”

“Wrong.” Thierry stood solidly next to me, his arms crossed over his chest. “She most certainly will.”

“She is a troublemaker and a liability.”

“She is an asset and my wife, today and always. And you will speak to her with respect. I swear, Atticus, if you ever, ever threaten her in any way again or even look at her with anything less than respect, you will regret it.”

“Is that a threat?”

“You can take it however you like. You may have had me sign your contract, and I will hold true to that promise, but Sarah is now a part of that deal. A non-negotiable part.”

Atticus continued to look outraged. “She trapped me in a chest!”

“She saved your life.”

Atticus blustered for a while longer, but finally calmed down enough to see logic. All this time he’d believed it was Thierry who’d killed the other elders. But earlier he’d heard Tasha’s confession with his own ears and couldn’t deny it.

She was deceitful, wily, and completely sociopathic. And now she’d been magically contained within the Jacquerra Amulet.

Thierry pulled the amulet out of his jacket pocket. “Take it.”

He quickly explained what had happened with Tasha.

Atticus eyed it skeptically. “You’re giving it to me without my having to take it.”

“If you’d tried to take it, you would have failed,” Thierry said simply. “However, I acquired it on behalf of the Ring. Despite any personal issues with you, I’ve come to believe that you are fully committed to the goals of the council, even if your methods have often been questionable. I’m giving you this as an act of faith.”

“You have faith in me?”

“I didn’t. But Sarah believes in you.”

Atticus looked at me with shock. “You do?”

Believe in
might be a bit of an overstatement, but I didn’t correct him. “I believe down deep that you want to help people, not hurt them. But you need to stop being a bully. Asking for what you want instead of making threats and intimidating people works much better and makes fewer enemies. Just a friendly observation.”

Frowning deeply, he fell silent before he finally took the amulet from Thierry.

“Very good. Well done, de Bennicoeur. And . . . Sarah. I will store Tasha somewhere she won’t be able to cause trouble again.” He glanced at Veronique as if noticing her standing there for the first time. “Do you have anything to add?”

She shook her head. “Not really.”

“Then what are you doing here?”

“I was here to offer additional protection in case you chose the wrong path, Atticus.”

“Additional protection? You would have, what, killed me?”

That earned him the edge of a smile on her beautiful face. “Oh, darling, no. Violence has never been my style. But I would have helped to get you back into that rather uncomfortable-looking chest.”

“Mmm.” Atticus pursed his lips. “That won’t be necessary. But now I must make some phone calls and figure out how best to go about explaining the disappearance of Tasha Evans to the world, as well as Jacob Nelson. They were two very high-profile people. Not to mention the other casualties tonight.”

“It’s been an eventful night,” I said. “Thanks for handling the paperwork.”

He swept his gaze over me, as if appraising my current worth. “Perhaps I was wrong about you. Tasha wanted me dead and your actions may have thwarted that.”

“You’re welcome.”

That reply got me another studious look. It wasn’t with the interest of earlier in the evening; this one held much more distaste. Which was all right with me. Just because I didn’t think he was totally evil didn’t mean I wanted to invite him out to a celebratory dinner.

“So you two are happy together,” Atticus said after a moment, still with disbelief coating his words. “What you told me earlier was only a lie, Thierry.”

Thierry and I shared a glance. “Yes, that’s right,” he replied.

“Happy
.
”
He frowned as if the concept of this escaped him. “With a
fledgling
. Who would have guessed it?”

Leaving us with that canny observation, he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and began making calls now that there was reception again.

“I can’t believe you gave him the amulet,” Veronique said with disapproval as we moved away from Atticus’s presence.

“I don’t want it anywhere near me,” Thierry replied. “And I know Atticus won’t risk summoning Tasha out of it for fear she’ll escape. I have faith that he will put it somewhere very safe for the indefinite future.”

“And what about Frederic’s dagger?” I asked.

“That is a more delicate matter. We saw for ourselves that it can bestow true immortality. That is a dangerous goal that many might want to achieve. I will have it destroyed.”

His words surprised me. “Dangerous? But wouldn’t that be a good thing? Living forever and not fearing death?”

“We already live forever, darling, if we’re very careful,” Veronique said. “But true immortality is a curse. Not just hundreds or thousands of years, but millions. Trillions. Forever is far too much to contemplate, even for someone like me.”

She had an excellent point. The idea of forever was kind of mind-blowing. I think I’ll stick with the indefinite ending of a normal, run-of-the-mill vampire, thanks.

Suddenly I felt rather sorry for Tasha.

Be careful what you wish for, indeed.

We headed back downstairs and found Melanie consoling Sebastien. He seemed open to her attention, and she’d even coaxed a smile back to his face.

Maybe they wouldn’t need my matchmaking skills at all.

Jack gave me another hug. “It’s time for me to leave.”

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“I have absolutely no idea.” But he grinned as if that wasn’t a bad thing. I noticed that the red line around his throat had disappeared. He was whole again, the damage Tasha had done now healed. “But I figure Los Angeles is a great place to start. Remember, though, I owe you one. You saved me when I didn’t think it was possible to be saved.”

“You were worth it. Have fun—but not too much fun, okay? I still don’t totally understand the ‘a sort of demon’ thing.”

I watched as he departed through the front doors. He didn’t ask for any money or any help, but he practically glowed with hope as he waved good-bye to us.

Actually . . . yeah, I think he
was
glowing a little bit in the early-morning light. Definitely not just a mortal, that was for sure.

When I returned to the parlor, the first thing I saw was Veronique standing at the doorway with her hand over her mouth, her eyes wide. I followed her line of sight to Marcellus, who’d sat down on a large chair and was currently reading her memoir, quickly flicking through the pages.

“What is he doing?” She closed the distance between them and snatched the book away from him.

Marcellus looked up at her, his face a mask of confusion. “Is this all true?”

“Oh, darling, you shouldn’t be reading that.”

“Did I die like it says? But—if I died, how am I here? How is this possible?”

She wrung her hands. “I didn’t want to have to tell you. I’ve been waiting all this time, not sure what would happen next. I thought you might disappear, but you haven’t. You’re still here. You’re different from what you once were, but you’re also completely the same. You are my Marcellus from that book brought to life.”

“From this book?” He frowned. “What you’re saying . . . how is this possible?”

“Magic made it possible.”

Marcellus shook his head. “I’m not even real, then. I’m a figment of your imagination given breath.”

He pushed the book aside and stormed out of the room.

She didn’t chase after him. I exchanged a worried look with Thierry and he turned to follow after Marcellus. I drew Veronique into a corner of the large parlor.

Her expression remained calm, her chin raised. She didn’t look upset at all; she looked resigned.

“It’s expected,” she said with a nod. “I’m sure it’s quite a shock to him.”

I had no idea what to say to help, but I had to try. “Of course. I mean, it’s not every day you realize you’re nothing but a fictional character.”

“He is different from the Marcellus I knew in real life, of course. I took certain liberties with his less savory characteristics.” She sighed. “For example, I deleted the part where he was constantly unfaithful to me.”

“The delete key does wonders,” I agreed.

“This Marcellus is wholly devoted to me and only me. He’d never even want to look at another woman.”

“It’s a perfectly respectable edit.”

She met my eyes and reached down to clutch my hand in hers. “I have no time for a relationship, especially one with an updated version of someone I loved a long time ago. I have far too much else to do.” She nodded as if she’d managed to convince herself that this was the right response. “But, Sarah, I did want to tell you that I am so very happy for you.”

“For me?”

“All this time, I’ll admit, I belittled your relationship with my hus—” She paused as if to correct herself. “With Thierry. But to see you together, to see how you believe in him no matter what happens. You love him so much—as much as he loves you.” She smiled, and her eyes had become shiny. “It warms my heart. I’m glad he found you. He deserves to be happy after all these years.”

I swear, I’d never have thought I’d see the day that Veronique admitted that she believed in Thierry and me like this.

“I appreciate that more than you know.” I hugged her, my own heart warm from her words. Veronique didn’t lie about stuff like this. She saw the truth.

Although, perhaps not her own truth.

“Your own soul mate just walked back into your life,” I told her. “And he’s a damn miracle looking you directly in the face. Do not even try to tell me you’re going to let him walk away.”

“Soul mate?” She shook her head. “I don’t believe in such nonsense. Marcellus was my first love, but that was a long time ago. This—this manifestation isn’t even him.”

“I don’t think you really believe that. Look, I know you’re jaded. At your age, no offense, it would be hard not to be. You’re a survivor and you don’t believe in love anymore. Well, get over it. A little while after I first met Thierry you told me that when the world’s gone mad and you’re feeling really lost, that’s when you have to trust your heart to lead you where you need to go.”

Her brows went up. “I said that?”

“Yes. And at the time, I thought it was kind of lame. But you know what? It’s also completely true. Trust your heart, Veronique. Take it from me—it never lies.”

She stared at me as if I was speaking a different language. And then a smile touched her lips. She grabbed me and planted a kiss on both of my cheeks.

“Thank you, my darling. You are not nearly as silly and naive as I always thought you were.”

She ran out of the parlor.

“Gee . . . thanks?” I laughed and followed her.

Marcellus stood at the open door next to Thierry, who was talking to him. Marcellus had his arms crossed over his chest, his face a mask of despair. He looked up as Veronique appeared.

“I may not be the man you once fell in love with,” he said, his voice hollow. “But I stand before you with my heart on my sleeve. If I’m not real, then what I feel can’t be possible, because
it
is real. I love you, Veronique. You are my other half. Please give me a chance to show you that we were destined to be together again.”

Tears now streamed down her cheeks. Had I ever seen Veronique cry before? I honestly didn’t think so.

“You’re real, my darling. I didn’t want to believe it, but you are. And I love you, too.”

They embraced and he kissed her. Seriously, it was like something out of a movie.

“Where shall we go, my love?” Veronique asked him.

“It doesn’t matter,” he told her, “as long as you’re by my side.”

“You know . . .” Thierry drew up next to me and took my hand in his. “I couldn’t have said it better myself.”

I looked up at him, so relieved that we’d made it through this night even stronger than we’d been when we arrived. Funny how a few hours can change so much. “You and me, what do we have . . . forty-nine years and eleven months of servitude to the Ring left? And I have a funny feeling Atticus isn’t going to be in the mood to promote you anytime soon.”

“You never know what the future will hold.”

“No, you really don’t. Except I know one thing yours will hold, if I can make a wild guess.”

“What’s that?”

“Me.” I grinned.

He smiled and drew me closer to him. “Even if that future will have more vampires, witches, werewolves, ghosts, and other sundry creatures giving us a difficult time whenever possible?”

“Things like that keep an immortal life interesting, Mr. de Bennicoeur.”

“Indeed, they do, Mrs. de Bennicoeur.”

I didn’t know where life would take us next, or what adventures lay ahead, but I wasn’t lying about where I wanted to be. Wherever I went I’d be perfectly happy, as long as we were together.

Call me a hopeless romantic, but I considered that the best ending, ever.