SEDUCTIVE SUPERNATURALS: 12 Tales of Shapeshifters, Vampires & Sexy Spirits (252 page)

The Vampire Bracelet: Chapter Eleven

Two days passed, and on the morning of the third and final day, Nicholas watched Marie sleep. She looked so soft and pretty, he couldn’t resist skimming his thumb along her cheek. He was thrilled about the future they were planning. He’d already told Anthony and Tessa. Marie told Darrin, too. Now all they had to do was wait for Nicholas to become mortal and rejoice with their loved ones.

Marie stirred and came awake. She sat up, her hair tumbling around her shoulders. Grateful for the gift he’d been given, he smiled.

She smiled, as well. “Is it too soon to ask if you’re mortal yet?”

“Yes. But the day isn’t over.” He leaned forward, and as they kissed, her lips warmed his. They had plenty of time.

But as the day wore on, nothing happened. Nicholas remained as he was. While holed up in the living room, with the late-day sun spilling in through the blinds, they went into fear mode.

“Are you sure you don’t feel any different?” she asked, cloaked in a ray of unhinged hope. The look in her eyes was far too desperate.

He probably had the same look. At this point, they both sensed a problem. “When it happened to my brother, he got weak and hungry for food, not blood, but normal food. That was the first sign. Then later, his fangs disappeared and his pulse returned. None of that is happening to me.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Neither do I.”

“Do you think it’s something we did? Or didn’t do?”

“Like what? One of us not really being in love?” He paused, primed to accuse. “Is it you, Marie? Are you causing it?”

“God, no. I love you, Nicholas. I absolutely do.” She turned the emotion-wracked tables on him. “Are you sure
your
feelings are genuine? That you wanting to be mortal didn’t confuse the issue?”

“My motives weren’t pure in the beginning, but they are now. I swear my life on it.”

“Then something else must be wrong. If we both feel the same way, then it can’t be coming from us.”

He panicked. “What if there isn’t a spell on the bracelet? What if it was only on my brother’s pendant?”

“Why would the fairy lie and say that she put a spell on all three pieces?”

“Maybe she thought she did, but the spell only worked on the pendant.”

Their gazes locked. Their fear intensified. In the heat of their turmoil, they agreed that they needed to see Darrin and enlist his help.

An hour later, they arrived at the Chakra Circle. Darrin ushered them inside and closed the shop.

“What should we do, Uncle?” Marie asked.

The older man stood beside the counter, surrounded by candles, crystals, and incense. “The only thing I can think of is to summon Mathieu. He’s the one who discovered there was a spell on the jewelry.”

Nicholas’ fear of doom got stronger, especially when he caught sight of a shelf filled with glass fairies, the painted figurines looking far too fragile. “We kept saying that Mathieu couldn’t intervene with the spell. But what if we were wrong? What if we underestimated him? What if his magic is stronger than the fairy’s?”

Darrin tapped his lip, worried, obviously. “We won’t know until we talk to him.”

Nicholas moved closer to Marie. She wasn’t a gen-vamp or a jewelry owner. She hadn’t been exposed to the genie king. “You should go outside and wait until this is over.”

“Why?” She followed his line of sight to the fairies. “Because you think I can’t handle being around Mathieu?”

“I just don’t want you caught in the middle of my mess.”

“It’s not your mess. It’s our life, our future, and I’m not walking away. Besides, we need to show a united front. If I’m not here, it won’t make as much of an impact. However this turns out, I want Mathieu to see how connected we are. And I want to be here with you.”

Protective, Nicholas reached for her hand. “He’s going to try to intimidate you.”

“I’ve known what a jerk he was since I was a kid.” A frown marred her pretty brow. “Are there any rules I should follow? Can I make eye contact with him? Do I have to curtsy? Call him sire? His Majesty?”

“You’re not one of his subjects or slaves, so you don’t have to do anything except withstand his demeanor. That’s all I have to do, too. But I’m used to it.”

“So am I,” Darrin added.

Marie stood as tall as her frame would allow. “Then I’ll get used to it, too.”

Nicholas despised the thought of her getting used to Mathieu. But he admired her poise and determination, loving her even more for it.

* * *

Marie squeezed Nicholas’ hand. Her palms were sweating, but she was doing her best to stay calm. Darrin used a magical device called a Jinn wand, a thin silver rod topped with a black diamond, to summon the genie king.

No one spoke. They waited in a silent anticipation. Agony, Marie thought. She’d forgotten to ask how long it would take for Mathieu to answer the call.

It took a matter of minutes. Loud, thundering minutes.

Mathieu appeared in a jolt, rattling the room with his regal presence and knocking things off the walls. Marie squeezed Nicholas’ hand even tighter.

The imposing ruler boasted a powerful physique, a shock of raven-colored hair, piercing blue eyes, and bronzed skin that caught the light. He actually had an angelic-type glow. Only he was far from celestial. Bared to the waist with jagged tattoos decorating his chest and attired in filmy pants studded with jewels, he possessed the air of a frighteningly handsome demon.

During the ruckus he created, one of the glass fairies fell from her perch and landed at his feet. He kicked the little statue aside, and it hit the baseboard and shattered into unrecognizable pieces. Marie held her breath, and he turned his sapphire gaze on her.

“What’s the meaning of this?” he asked the men, without taking his eyes off Marie. “Bringing a stranger to a summoning?”

Nicholas replied, “She belongs to me. She’s the woman I love.”

The king kept staring at Marie, purposely making her squirm before he said, “Love is a disgusting habit.”

Nicholas defended their position. “There’s nothing disgusting about the way we feel.”

Silence engulfed the room, until Mathieu replied, “To me, there is. But alas what do I know of love? I am said to have a rotten heart.” He reached into his chest and pulled out a blackened heart, dripping with blood and gunk. He extended it to Marie. “Would you care for a bite?”

She jumped back, and he laughed. Although she knew the heart was a magical hoax, it still affected her.

“Don’t taunt her,” Nicholas snapped.

Mathieu raised his eyebrows. “Listen to you, hybrid, giving me orders.”

“I have a right to protect the one I love.”

“If you love her, then doesn’t it make you curious why the spell hasn’t worked?”

Darrin interjected, “That’s why we summoned you.”

Mathieu put the magic-infested heart back in his chest, as if it actually belonged there. “Are you wondering if I found a way to thwart the spell?”

“Have you?” Nicholas asked.

“Of course I did. I wasn’t going to sit idly by and allow another of my gen-vamps to become mortal.” He flashed a self-serving smile. “But it was actually more of a case of twisting the spell, than thwarting it.”

Marie felt the color drain from her face. “What do you mean?”

“I was able to turn the spell into a mocking version of itself. Nicholas is now subject to being punished for falling in love. Instead of becoming mortal, he will be enslaved inside the bracelet, without ever leaving it again. He’ll grow increasingly weak from lack of sustenance, but he won’t perish.”

Because nothing could kill a genie or a gen-vamp except a Jinn dagger, she thought, her heart fisting in her chest. The thought of Nicholas spending eternity inside the bracelet was too much to bear. For him that was a fate worse than death. “Please,” she implored the king. “You can’t do this.”

“I most certainly can. He deserves it for doing something as foolish as trying to fall in love.” Mathieu glared at him. “You did try, didn’t you? You longed for it so desperately, you made it happen.”

Nicholas’ voice went rough. “Yes, I tried. But it happened because it was meant to.”

Mathieu studied him, like a beetle under a microscope. “If you stop loving her, you can save yourself.”

Nicholas refused. “I can’t stop. I can’t change how I feel.” He turned to Marie. “I can’t.”

She wouldn’t be able to stop loving him, either, if the situation were reversed. But she wanted him to try. She looked into his eyes, softly pleading. “Let go for me. Let go of what we have.”

“That’s not possible. You know it isn’t.” He folded her into his arms.

She put her head against his shoulder, tears welling in her eyes.

“Idiots,” she heard Mathieu say from behind them.

Darrin tried to reason with the genie. But it was useless. Already Marie could feel the twisted spell at work, the bracelet on her wrist swirling with energy.

“I love you,” Nicholas said to her one last time.

She loved him, too. But her love was destroying him. If she had it to do over, she wouldn’t have borrowed him from her uncle or made that stupid “Keith” wish. She wouldn’t have crossed paths with Nicholas.

“Don’t regret it,” he whispered, as if he sensed what she’d been thinking. “Don’t ever regret it.”

Before she could respond, before she could say another soul-wrenching word, she lost him. With malevolent force, he manifested into mist and was thrust into his emerald prison, gone from her sight, her touch. Marie sank to the floor, and Darrin knelt down beside her, struggling to give comfort.

The bracelet zoomed off her wrist and landed in Mathieu’s hand. Once it was secure in his grasp, he said, “I’ll keep this. The way one keeps a pet.” With that, he disappeared, taking Nicholas with him.

The Vampire Bracelet: Chapter Twelve

Darrin peeled Marie up off the floor. “Come on, Baby Girl, let me take you home.”

Home
. It had no meaning now. Nothing had meaning. She felt like an empty shell. “We have to do something to try to save him, Uncle. We can’t just leave him in the bracelet like that.”

“I know. But for now you need to rest.”

She didn’t see how that was possible. But she agreed that she needed to return to her house. She couldn’t stay in the shop where Nicholas had been ripped away from her. “I can get myself home.”

“Are you sure you’re strong enough to drive?”

“Yes.” She forced her legs to carry her when all she really wanted to do was curl up and cry. As she moved forward, she glanced at the figurine Mathieu had shattered. “Maybe the fairy who cast the original spell can tell us what to do.”

“Maybe. But I have no idea how to summon a fairy.”

“Do you think Anthony would know?”

“I hope so.” He sighed, his chest heaving with the effort. “He’s going to be devastated when I tell him about Nicholas.”

She nodded. Devastation was a word she knew well. “I’m going to head out now.”

He unlocked the door for her. “I’ll come by later.”

“Thank you.” She hugged him, fighting another bout of tears.

Upon her return, she went straight to her room, painfully aware of Nicholas’ lingering presence there. Fully clothed, she got into bed and held a pillow to her chest. She pressed her nose against its satin casing and inhaled, trying to pull Nicholas’ scent into her lungs. Drowning in sorrow, she rolled over and wrapped herself in the sheet that had been close to his body.

What if they couldn’t save him? How would she survive this? But worst of all, how would Nicholas bear it? She envisioned him, day after day, year after year, century after century, locked inside his bracelet, weak and alone.

Where would Mathieu store the bracelet? Inside a closed box so that Nicholas couldn’t see or hear anything that was going on around him? She ached so badly for him, and for herself, too.

Hours dredged by, and when the doorbell rang, she hoped it was Darrin. She pulled herself out of bed and answered the call. Thankfully, it was her uncle, and he had Anthony and Tessa with him. The hauntingly beautiful Simone was there, too. Their gazes met, and Marie noticed that her eyes were as blue as Mathieu’s. Her hair also rivaled his, with its thick, shiny blackness. Her complexion, however, was as pale as that of a porcelain doll.

Marie invited everyone inside, and Anthony and Tessa hugged her. Anthony looked beside himself with worry, and Tessa bordered on tears. Simone was devoid of outward emotion, and as the gathering got underway, she sat quietly, with her crimson lips and Gothic attire. Every so often, she angled her head, as if she were assessing the woman Nicholas loved. Clearly, Simone didn’t understand the concept of being in love. Another thing she appeared to have in common with Mathieu. Only she wasn’t the enemy.

Marie said to the entire group, “Can we summon the fairy? Is that a possibility?”

Anthony shook his head. “Fairies can only be summoned by unicorns, and unicorns only exist on realms like Mathieu’s.”

Marie shakily asked, “Then what are we going to do?”

“I believe that I can save him,” Simone replied in a faded French accent.

All eyes turned to her. Definitely not the enemy.

She continued by saying, “I can strike a bargain with Mathieu.”

“What bargaining tool would you use?” Anthony queried his former bedmate.

“Myself,” she told him. “Mathieu desires me. Enough, I think, to reverse the spell back to what it was. In exchange for Nicholas’ freedom and mortality, I’ll join the king’s harem.” She explained to Marie. “Genie rulers aren’t permitted to take gen-vamps as slaves, not unless the gen-vamps go willingly. And so far, none have.”

Marie’s heart beat triple time. “But you’d do that to save Nicholas? You’d join Mathieu’s harem?” Somehow that seemed impossible to fathom. The beautiful, temperamental Simone becoming a willing slave to the genie she despised.

“Yes, I would. But with an ulterior motive. To kill Mathieu while I’m there.”

Marie scooted to the edge of her chair. She was all ears, all pent-up emotion, all for the idea. “Do you have access to a Jinn dagger?”