Blue (Darkness Falls #3) (9 page)

It had almost been too easy. She had come to him in that horrible place, like a fallen angel amidst the scum of the earth. He’d looked into the madness of her eyes and somehow managed to convince her that he still loved her and that he wanted them to be together. She’d taken him to her lair, where he’d dialled Cal from the mobile in his pocket and then he’d taken her to bed.

Just thinking about it made him sick. He’d fucked her like he had in the old days and by the time
Cal had traced the GPS on his phone and called the Police to his location, she’d been blissed out and asleep and he was bleeding from wounds that might have scabbed over but would never disappear. They’d taken her into custody and Blue had gone back to his only true family, the people that would never judge him for what he’d done. They’d regarded his injuries with solemn faces, treated them in silence and then let him heal in his own way, without interference. When he’d asked them not to be present at that part of her trial, they’d agreed without question. They’d seen him at his darkest, but he couldn’t bear for them to know the things he’d volunteered for, even if it was for a good reason. He couldn’t stand the pity he knew he’d have received.

“You can’t do that again.” Cal
spoke the obvious when Blue had finished relaying the sorry tale.

“I know. Although she’s probably crazy enough to fall for it
twice.”

“She may have chosen the same lair.” Cal suggested. “Perhaps we should go there tonight and check it out while Noelle and her camera crew are away.
”

Blue didn’t even hesitate. “I’ll get my coat.”

It didn’t take them long to get to the apartment Alexandra had used before she went to jail. It was down in the ferry, the rough part of town where the unemployed, alcoholics and drug-addled made their homes.

“There are lights on.” Blue looked up at the windows, ignoring the drunken shouts from the pub down the street and a chorus of dogs barking in the distance.

“Someone else might have rented it.” Storm ran her hands over the hilts of the daggers tucked in her belt. She’d insisted on coming with them, armed for a world war, and neither Cal nor Blue had had the heart to stop her.

Cal didn’t bother with speculation. He went to the front of the block and just started pressing random buttons until some
one got irritated enough to buzz them in. Blue went up the stairs first; he was the biggest and if there were any surprises waiting for them, he’d rather take it before it hit the others. Someone swore at them from the top floor, cursing their entry tactics, but they all ignored them, focusing on the door they’d arrived at on the fourth floor.

“How are we going in?” Storm asked the obvious question. “If she doesn’t live there
any more and it’s some new family, they’re going to call the cops.”

“People don’t call the cops around here.” Blue disagreed. Getting the nod from Cal, he barrelled towards the door and crashed through it. The flimsy frame didn’t even take much effort to splinter and fold.
A high-pitched shriek of terror sounded from the room to their left and Blue stepped in there while the others spread out to search the rest of the flat.

A young girl, maybe thirteen years of age, stood in front of the couch, screaming at the intrusion.

“We’re not here to hurt you.” Blue tried to gentle his voice, holding his hands up to show he wasn’t carrying any weapons. “We’re looking for someone called Alexandra. Do you know where she is?”

The girl’s screaming trailed off. “You’re looking for mum?” She sniffled, wiping her tear-streaked face.
Mum
? Blue felt like he’d been socked in the gut. Alexandra had a daughter? A horrible sinking sensation swarmed his chest as he took in the girl’s height, her eyes and her shining black hair.

“How old are you?” He croaked, his heart racing in his chest.

“Old enough to call the Police.” Her chin jutted out pugnaciously, but he could see she was shaking.

“Answer the goddamn question!” He roared and she burst into tears again.

“I’m fourteen!”

“Oh my G
od.” Blue staggered backwards, stumbling into the door of the living room.

“Blue?” Storm pushed past him into the room, her eyes taking in the girl with a shocked stare. She clued it all in faster than Blue had. “Holy fuck!” She gaped at the child. “Are you…?” She turned to Blue. “Is she…?”

“It looks like it.”

“We may have a problem.” Cal
called, coming down the stairs from the upper floor with a young girl sleeping in his arms. Blue looked at the shining fall of black hair tumbling over Cal’s bicep and didn’t need to look at her face to know the girl would be five years old. Nausea churned in his gut and he raced for the nearest sink before the contents of his stomach made a reappearance there in the hallway.

“Who are you?” The older girl was still holding her ground. “What do you think I am?”

“It’s not what, it’s who.” Storm tried to recover her composure. “Sweetie, has your mother ever told you who your father is?”

“Only his name.”

“Sebastien Delacroix.” Blue returned, wiping his mouth, his face pale. Reaching into his pocket, he dragged out his wallet and searched it for his old driving license.

“That’s right.” The girl frowned, backing up as he approached with the
photocard extended in his large hand.

“Take the card please.” He stopped, just holding his card out and the girl took it gingerly, stepping back from him to glance at it. When she did, her face paled to match his and her legs just folded out from underneath her.

“I…” Her eyes were wild as she looked from the photograph on the card to the man in front of her. “You’re him. You’re Sebastien Delacroix.”

“Which makes you my daughter.”

“Child, where is your mother?” Cal was still cradling the sleeping girl.

“I don’t know.” Still shaken, she didn’t put up any more resistance. “She’s gone for hours at a time. Since she came out of prison she’s been going crazy. There’s no food in the house or anything.”

“You’re not safe here.” Storm took charge of the situation. “Pack a bag for both of you. You’re coming with us.”

“I don’t know.” The rug had been pulled from under the poor girl’s feet and she didn’t know what to do with herself.
“I can’t…we can’t…mum will hurt us. She comes back covered in blood…”

“Child, you’ll have a warm bed, as much food as you can eat, whatever possessions you desire and a stable home life if you come with us.” Cal promised her, and the authority in his tone succeeded where nothing else had. As she got up to leave the room, Blue reached out in a daze and touched her arm.

“What’s your name?” He asked and she flinched like she’d been slapped.

“You really didn’t know, did you?” She asked and he shook his head.

“If I’d known I had a child…children, I’d have come for you years ago. I’m so sorry. Can you forgive me?”

“For what?” Bitterness laced the toss of her head. “I always wondered if mum
had told you. Now I know she’s a lying bitch as well as crazy.” She strode for the exit, pausing in the doorway. “My name’s Lisette.”

“And this one?”
Cal gestured to the girl in his arms.

“Amelie. She’s five.”

“I can’t breathe.” Blue collapsed onto the sofa when she’d gone, lowering his head between his knees as the world spun. “I’ve got kids.” The thoughts of that morning with Noelle resurfaced like some kind of horrible joke. Oh fuck…Noelle. She was going to freak. How the hell were they going to explain this to the camera crew? What a fucking disaster.

“We’ll deal with it.” He felt Storm’s hand on the back of his neck, cool and comforting, and his panic abruptly turned to emotional rage.

“How could she do this?” He burst out, tears pricking his eyes. “How could she not tell me I had two beautiful daughters?” Unable to sit, he surged upright and started pacing around. “Where were they while she was in jail?”

“Keep your voice down.” Cal snapped. “This will be easier on all of us if Amelie doesn’t wake.”

“I need some air.” He made for the front door but Storm grabbed his arm and spun him around, her strength surprising for one so small. The sharp, stinging slap she delivered to his face startled him into stillness.

“I get that this is a total shock for you, but you need to pull yourself together.” She folded her arms, glaring at him. “Your daughters are relying on you to get them somewhere safe. You can freak the fuck out later.”

Lisette came rushing down the stairs with two bags stuffed full of what looked like clothes. “We don’t have much.” She shrugged when Cal looked askance at her.

“I swear, you’ll never want for anything again.” Storm’s slap had leached the rage from Blue and all that was left was emotion. “I’m so sorry, Lisette. I didn’t know you existed or I’d have rescued you much earlier.”

“We can have this conversation on the road.” Storm hurried them all towards the door, aware that Alexandra could return at any moment. Thank god they’d brought one of the SUVs.

The hallway was jam-packed with curious neighbours
, roused by the door being kicked in, but the group ignored them as they rushed down the stairs and out into the night. They’d left the car two streets away but reached it without incident. Blue’s sheer size was intimidating enough, never minding Cal’s magnetic presence, so no-one dared intercept them. Amelie was stirring as they opened the passenger doors and bundled her in, but Lisette hushed her as she looked around with fearful eyes. Blue couldn’t imagine what her life had been like. A certifiably insane single mother who then went to jail, presumably leaving her children in the care of Social Services…it didn’t bear thinking about. The rage swamped him anew. How could she not have told him? What sort of mother would rather abandon her children to Social Services than let their father know they existed?

They hit the road with no further incident and Cal silenced Storm’s attempt to speak with a warning glance in the
rearview mirror. They’d get the girls fed and into a safe, warm bed and then decide what the hell to do next.

At The Manor, Lisette ate half the contents of the kitchen before she was finally sated enough to relax in front of the TV in the den. Blue, Cal and Storm sat at the other end of the room, talking quietly.

“This is going to send Alexandra off the deep end.” Storm actually looked worried for the first time in as long as Blue could remember.

“And it’s not like we can keep them here.” Cal grimaced. “This is no place for a child. They’ll be fine for tonight, but we need to find a safe-house somewhere.”

“Would Noelle take them for a few days until we can figure this out?” Storm looked to Blue.

“I can’t ask her that.” He still felt dazed. This was completely surreal and he was sure that at any moment he’d wake up and discover that it was all a horrible nightmare.

“It would be the safest place.” Cal thought it over. “There is the problem of the cameras though.”

“Are you going to claim them as your daughters?” Storm asked bluntly.

“What do you mean ‘claim them’?” Blue pointed to Lisette, dozing on the sofa. “Look at her! Is there any doubt that she’s my child?” Even if he felt like disputing her skin tone or eye colour, there was no doubt that she’d inherited that fabulous midnight shimmer in her hair from him. It was enough of a rarity that seeing any other child with it in the right age range would have been one in a million, let alone two children with the same hair.

“I think she was asking if you’re ready for the world to know that you have children.” Cal’s tone was dry. “It would be a simple thing to explain to the camera crew that your daughters are visiting and staying with Noelle rather than here at The Manor. No-one would question that. I
don’t think anyone would expect children to stay at a BDSM club.”

“Again with Noelle!” Blue ran his hands through his hair. “She’s not even here! How can I ask her to do this right when her life is under a microscope?”

“She was a teacher for a long time.” Cal reminded him. “She loves kids.”

“But they’re my kids and she and I…” Blue shook his head. “This is such a fucking
clusterfuck.” Storm socked him in the arm with a vicious right hook.

“Little ears in the room!” She hissed.

“Since when did you become a fu…dging saint?” He stumbled over the oath. “It’s not just that. Thomas will be there too. How the hell do I explain that to two young girls?”

“Blue, these are your children.” Cal said, his tone calm, even and reassuring. “They’re going to find out what you are, if they don’t know already. It wouldn’t surprise me if they’ve seen Alexandra in action at some point. What Noelle and Thomas have is a warm and loving relationship. It might be confusing to them at first, but I couldn
’t think of better role models, especially with you balancing them out.”

“Good luck with that conversation.” Storm snorted and Blue fisted his hands so he didn’t give into the urge to punch her.

“But what if they get attached to her and she…” He trailed off.

“Turns you down?” Storm snorted. “Not going to happen. She’s crazy about you. It’s just…you know what she’s like. She’s always the last person to figure out she’s in love with someone.”

“I can’t believe I’m a father.” Blue shook his head in disbelief, wondering if it would ever sink in. “I feel like I just stepped into a crazy circus.”

“Speaking of being a father, I think you should go and put your daughter to bed.” Cal checked his watch. “It’s getting late and Noelle will be home any minute. You and she have some serious talking to do.”