Léopold's Wicked Embrace (Immortals of New Orleans) (34 page)

“No, Leo, I won’t. Please…for me. Just stop.” Laryssa’s voice went soft, trying to reach into his soul.

“This doesn’t concern you.” Léopold pinned Luca with his eyes, letting a renewed rush of rage flow through him. “What say you, Luca? Would you like to die today? Or would you do the right fucking thing and try to save this child?”

“Ssss…orry,” Luca hissed, but still Léopold refused to release him.

“Look at me, Leo. Luca could kill me right now, but he’s not even trying.” Laryssa glanced over her shoulder at Luca. He may not have been able to bite her but he could have snapped her neck. “Don’t do this. He’s got a family…he’s having a baby. His friend’s hurt. He’s just upset…like you. Let it go. Please don’t let the demon win.”

“Merde,” Léopold huffed, tossing the vampire to the floor.

Luca stumbled over to Samantha, who caught him in her arms. The tension in the room simmered to a slow boil.

Léopold grabbed Laryssa by the waist and pulled her against him, whispering in her ear. “Tu es folle.”

“I don’t know what you just said, but thank you for letting him go,” Laryssa replied. Her forehead fell to Léopold’s chest, relieved he hadn’t killed Luca.

“Don’t ever do that again,” Léopold demanded.

“Someone’s gotta make you see reason,” she responded. The low dominant tone of Léopold’s voice registered in her mind. He wasn’t making a suggestion, rather he was ordering her.

Léopold grasped the back of her hair, and tugged her head backward. He loved her bravery, yet it would get them both killed if she didn’t listen to him. Looking into her eyes, he felt her shiver against his body. Retracting his fangs, he observed the slight waver of her lips as they parted just for him.

“Never again, Laryssa,” he told her. Giving her no time to argue, he kissed her. Deepening his hold on her, his lips took hers, in a show of passion and possession. Satisfied he’d made his point, he reluctantly pulled away. Leaving her breathless, he gave her a smug smile before releasing her from his embrace.

Laryssa panted quietly, trying to catch her breath. Unsure of how Léopold had so quickly turned the tables on her, she tried to slow her heartbeat, which felt as if it was pounding through her chest. Her face flamed and she wished she could run out of the room.

“We’re going upstairs to see Kade,” Léopold announced as he nodded at Luca.

“Maybe you should go with them,” Wynter suggested to Logan. Kade had been despondent, sitting at Sydney’s bedside and refusing to talk to anyone. They all knew his blood should have cured her, but her pulse remained erratic. “Laryssa, why don’t you stay down here with us?”

Laryssa nodded, feeling as if she needed space from Léopold. The man had a way of compelling her, paralyzing her thoughts and turning her body into fire. As if she couldn’t get enough of the drug she was addicted to, she stopped him before he left to go upstairs, and lovingly touched her palm to his cheek. She gave him a sad smile, and then briefly touched her lips to his face. With nothing else to be said, he tugged on a lock of her hair before turning back to Dimitri, disappearing down the hallway and up the stairs.

“Go ahead, Laryssa, sit down. I forgot the coffee,” Wynter said.

“No, really, I can get it. You want some?” Laryssa asked.

“Thanks, I’d love a cup.” Wynter sat carefully into a recliner and held Ava against her chest, patting her on the back.

“None for me. My little one, here, doesn’t do well with the caffeine.” Samantha took a deep breath. “Laryssa, thank you…for stopping Léopold just now. I would never recommend getting between two vampires, but if Léopold had…you know, had hurt Luca…” She rubbed her stomach with tears in her eyes. “I just…I know Luca can be difficult, but we’re close to Sydney. And he and Léopold have never gotten along well. I’m not trying to make excuses. Well, maybe I am. He’s just upset.”

“I get that Luca’s not my biggest fan, Samantha. Ya’ll hardly know me. I can’t blame him. But I’d never stand by and let Léopold kill him without trying to stop it.” Laryssa picked up two mugs of coffee, set one in front of Wynter and then sat down.

“True. We don’t know you. And that’s why it means even more that you stopped him. Wynter and I both know Léopold and he’s…” Samantha looked away, unsure of what to say.

“You don’t have to say anything. Really. Léopold is lots of things, but he cares and he’s helping me. He saved that little baby girl right there. He didn’t have to but he did. And now the demon. He won’t stop until we find the knife.”

“The demon. I know Ilsbeth doesn’t mind speaking of it but maybe we shouldn’t,” Samantha suggested. “The wards are strong but it knows where we are.”

“I have to kill it.” Laryssa took a sip and swallowed. When she looked up, both Samantha and Wynter were looking at her as if she’d sprouted an elephant’s trunk. “What?”

“How can you say something like that and be so calm about it?” Wynter asked while she played with Ava’s toes.

“Léopold’s not going to let you go after a demon,” Samantha asserted.

“Léopold doesn’t have a choice. Neither do I.” Laryssa took another drink then continued. “Not sure if Dimitri mentioned it but that thing…that creature…it came after me the other night. It, uh, it scratched me up pretty bad. Somehow, with me dying all those years ago, it thinks I belong to it. The knife that it wants…it’s the only thing that’ll kill it. Unfortunately I have to be the one to do it, because only a naiad can kill it. Léopold knows. I don’t think he wants to face the fact that I may die, but deep down, he knows that it has to be me.”

“Speaking of Léopold, I guess that chat we had the other day didn’t make any difference,” Wynter commented with a small smile.

“I saw it too,” Samantha added. “Never thought I’d see the day.”

“Me either. The way he looks at her…” Wynter began.

“What?” Laryssa had an idea of what they were talking about but she couldn’t bring herself to discuss her feelings for Léopold when Sydney was upstairs fighting for her life and her own life could very well be gone by tomorrow night.

“Like an ice cream sundae with whipped cream on top?” Samantha smiled.

“You really are preggo, girl. No, he looks at her like…you know, like a lion who’s about to find his mate. Leo the lion finds his lioness.” Wynter’s voice became sultry as if she were trying to really sell her story.

“Yeah, I guess that does sound better. You’d think with me being mated to a vampire, I’d know a bit about what he really wants…and I can tell you it’s not ice cream.”

“I know you warned me about him, Wynter, but we…I’m…let’s just say that I care about him a lot. But none of it really matters…I could be dead tomorrow. It’s not fair to him.” Laryssa set the cup of coffee on the table and raked her hair up into a ponytail, nervously twisting it into a bun. “We probably shouldn’t be talking about this when the detective is so sick.”

“You’ve been feeding him,” Samantha noted quietly. Her eyes darted over to Wynter and then back to Laryssa. “Have you bonded?”

“Léopold? Bonded? No way,” Wynter blurted out, shaking her head. Even though Léopold seemed smitten with his nymph, she found it hard to believe that he’d commit to anyone, given his proclivity for solitude. One glance to Laryssa told her that she’d made the wrong assumption. “Hey, I’m sorry. It’s just that Léopold…I never thought he’d bond with anyone. It’s nothing personal, it’s just that he’s, pardon the pun, a lone wolf….vampire.”

“He’s not how you see him. He’s had his reasons. But to answer your question, I have been…feeding him, that is. He said that we’ve started the bonding. I don’t know what to say about it. It’s complicated.” Laryssa rose to defend Léopold. Her fingers absentmindedly flittered over the bite mark on her neck. With Sydney nearly dead, the realization that she soon would have to face her own mortality was not lost on her. She smiled at Wynter and Samantha who waited for her to finish her thoughts. Her eyes began to brim with moisture, and she pressed a fingertip to her bottom eyelid, in an effort to catch a tear. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I don’t want to hurt him.”

“You? Hurt Léopold? Sweetie, I really don’t see how you could do that. Not sure if you noticed but he’s usually the one who does the hurting…” Wynter’s words trailed off, as she realized how upset Laryssa had grown.

“Listen, I know he’s arrogant. Bossy. He’s really bossy.” Laryssa gave a small laugh. She stood and walked over to the kitchen sink, placing her cup inside it. “But he’s caring and he doesn’t deserve to lose someone else. Look at what just happened to Sydney. Let’s face it, there’s a very real possibility that I may die tomorrow. The bond…for his sake, I have to try to stop it.”

“A bond with a vampire cannot be broken.” Samantha felt Laryssa’s pain. Having bonded with Luca, she knew how it felt to have that intense connection with a vampire.

“No it cannot,” Léopold asserted, having walked in on their conversation.

Laryssa’s face flashed to his, and an overwhelming barrage of guilt surrounded her, knowing what she planned to do. With the bond already set in, it was as if she could feel him touching her soul, reading her innermost thoughts. She attempted to think of something unrelated, altogether pleasant, like how she enjoyed reading a book at the outdoor café while listening to live music. As she did so, the guilt worsened.
Liar.
The word rang in her mind. No, she wasn’t really lying, she told herself. Masking private thoughts was her right. Yet as he strode over to her and caressed her cheek, her stomach clenched in shame. She averted her gaze, unable to look him in the eye. They’d talk soon enough, she reasoned.

Stupidly, she’d mentioned her concerns to Wynter and Samantha. Blaming it on her naivety, she’d take responsibility if the conversation went further. Pasting on a passive expression, she glanced to the women who cautiously eyed them from the sofa. She wished she didn’t care what any of them thought, yet they’d known her secret and hadn’t rejected her. Talking with a wolf and a witch had felt natural, as if she’d finally found other women who were like her. Even though she’d always felt that way with Avery, their hushed conversations were intended to eradicate the evidence of her naiad origins. No longer in the shadows, she could finally openly engage with others.

“How’s Sydney? Kade?” Laryssa changed the subject. “That was fast.”

“Not much to be said. Sydney’s resting. Kade is stronger than people give him credit for. He’ll be her rock while we do what we need to do. What he doesn’t need is people fussing over him. He can handle this.” Léopold crossed the room to Wynter, who stood with the baby. “Ava? She’s doing well?”

“Yes. She’s adorable. Just the sweetest little girl,” Wynter gushed.

“Oui. She’s loved here. I never doubt my actions,” Léopold observed. “Sometimes the best things in our lives are unexpected, no?”

“True. I swear Logan and I will do everything we can to keep her safe. Promise me, Léopold that you’ll get rid of this beast that’s after her. Please,” Wynter pleaded.

“We,” he looked to Laryssa, “will do our very best.” He ran his fingers over Ava’s back and then turned to Laryssa. “We need to get going.”

“Is Dimitri coming with us?” Laryssa asked.

“No, I’ve asked him to stay here. Where we’re going, we’ll be safe until we meet up tomorrow. Ladies,” Léopold nodded at the women, and walked to the sliding door, opening it, “Good evening.”

“Thanks for the coffee,” Laryssa said with a small knowing smile, appreciative that Wynter and Samantha hadn’t pursued the discussion about her breaking the bond with Léopold.

As Léopold ushered her out the door, she purposefully jammed her hands into her pockets, resisting the urge to touch him. Like a magnet to steel, her body and heart was drawn to him, but if she was ever going to break the bond, she’d need to stay strong, keep herself at a distance. She caught Léopold’s eyes roaming over her posture, and suspected that he’d detected her deception. Laryssa had never been in love, really loved another person with all of her soul, enough that she’d sacrifice everything to make him happy. It was in that moment that her heart crushed with the reality that she’d fallen for Léopold. She’d never be able to take away the agony he’d suffered watching his wife and children die, but she’d be damned if she’d torture him all over again. If she could break the bond, he’d survive her death with little consequence.

She looked down to her phone for the time. In less than twenty-four hours, her life would most likely be over. Even if she somehow managed to find the knife, she didn’t trust the demon not to take her anyway. Closing her eyes, she shuddered, recalling its tongue on her skin. No, it’d never be satisfied with some little trinket that promised it a free pass to the other side. It wanted what it had tried to take once, what belonged to it. Her body. Her mind. Her soul.

“Where’re we going?” Laryssa asked. The sign to the Lake Ponchartrain marina alerted her that they weren’t returning to his home.

“We’re getting off the land, ma chérie. This demon. It’s grounded to the earth. The water. Now that’s where we’ll find a bit of peace.” Léopold pulled into the yacht club and drove up to the valet parking. Shifting the car into park, he opened his door as the attendant arrived.

Laryssa fumbled the fish puzzle in her fingers. She ran her thumb over the cool metal fins, and tugged, hoping that for once, something would just magically happen…that it would open, revealing its secrets. As she expected, nothing happened. Swirling clouds of worry passed through her mind as she stared mindlessly at the rows of boats. The door hinge clicked, jarring her contemplation, and she jumped in her seat.

Léopold towered above Laryssa, studying her. Before he had a chance to reach for her, she leapt out of the car and wrapped her arms around her waist. She’d been acting strangely ever since he’d returned downstairs to find her talking with Wynter and Samantha. Whispers of broken bonds were all he’d heard, but it was enough to tell him that his little rabbit was readying to flee.

He thought it interesting that although he’d never bonded to another person in his life, how naturally he’d taken to the experience. With her blood in him, he could sense both her thoughts and feelings. Reading Laryssa was becoming as simple as reading a menu. She’d deliberately tried to deceive him, shielding her true emotions with false ones, but he’d known all the while what she’d been doing.