Léopold's Wicked Embrace (Immortals of New Orleans) (33 page)

“She’s good. It’s amazing to me how she sleeps so well after her bottle. She’s just so adorable,” Sydney said. She got up from the chair, and walked to the crib. Carefully laying Ava on her back, she pulled the baby blanket over her.

“She really is, isn’t she? You know, I never thought I’d want pups so quickly. But having Ava here…it’ll be really hard to let her go.” Wynter’s eyes teared up as she spoke. She turned back to the mirror and toweled at her hair, attempting to hide her emotion.

“Have you given any thought to what might happen if they can’t find her father? I know the priority’s been on killing this demon and keeping everyone safe, but at some point, we’re gonna have to have the conversation.”

“Logan’s said he’s put out feelers to his contacts…to packs around the country. Léopold. Well, you know him. He immediately hired an investigator. But they’ve turned up nothing.”

“And what happens if that’s the answer? There’s a chance the guy may have offed himself, ya know. I see it happen all the time.”

“The only thing I know is that she’ll be raised as pack. Ilsbeth said that Ava’s naiad. Even if she’s a hybrid wolf, she’ll go through the change. She’ll shift. She needs to be with pack,” Wynter insisted.

“Hey, you’ll get no argument from me. I just wondered if you’d thought about maybe adopt…” Sydney went quiet as the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

“What was that noise?” Wynter whispered loudly. “Did you hear that? It was something…I don’t know…It sounded like a wind chime maybe.”

Sydney caught Wynter’s gaze and held her finger to her lips to shush her.

Wynter nodded as Sydney went to the dresser. She slipped on her holster and gun she’d removed earlier so that she could hold baby. Wynter quickly crossed the bedroom, scooping Ava up into her arms. Sydney looked out the window, noticing a few people walking down the street. Nothing appeared unusual, but she knew better than to believe what her eyes told her. The noise sounded again and she knew something was wrong. She looked over to Wynter and silently mouthed, “Stay here.”

Sydney heard Wynter click the lock on as she shut the door. She quietly padded down the stairs, bumping into Jake, who was running toward his Alpha’s bedroom.

“Where’s Logan?” Sydney asked, her voice barely audible.

“Logan and Dimitri are on their way here. I just texted them. Did you see anything?”

“Nothin’, just a few tourists. I’m goin’ to go outside and see what’s going on…make sure things are still locked up. Cover me?”

“I’ll take the second floor and spot you,” Jake told her.

“Come lock the door behind me,” she responded. “Don’t let anyone in this house.”

“No one gets in,” he agreed, taking out his gun.

“Seriously, no matter what happens, do not leave Wynter and the baby.”

Sydney watched as he bolted it shut then went through the archway toward the gate. Even as she walked toward the exit, everything appeared exceedingly calm. The fresh night breeze blew through her hair, and she wondered if maybe one of Logan’s neighbors had installed a wind chime. When she reached the gate, she peered through the wrought iron. Seeing nothing, she pushed the handle and guardedly exited the property to check the gate’s lock from the exterior. Looking up the street to her left, she caught sight of a pedicab traveling away from her and reasoned that maybe the noise they’d heard could have been caused by it. Glancing to the right, she noticed a well-dressed man standing on the corner, checking his watch. Even though he looked harmless, she kept sight of him in her peripheral vision as she double checked the gate. Then without warning, he turned to walk in her direction.

“Excuse me,” she called out using her professional tone of voice, and lifted her badge from the chain around her neck, so that she could easily identify herself as a police officer as he approached. The stranger appeared not to hear her, looking the other way.

“Sir,” she said loudly.

Her second attempt caught his attention and he turned to her with a smile. Although the man looked exceptionally handsome, something about him seemed off, not quite right. His smile was too friendly, as if he’d recognized her as a long lost friend. A flash of creepiness clutched at her chest, the kind she’d get when arresting sex offenders. While his looks appeared benign, her instincts told her otherwise.

“Sir, stay right there,” Sydney ordered. She reached for her gun and raised it. He deliberately approached her with his arms outstretched. Bracing the weapon with both hands, she held the barrel upward, looking around her to make sure there weren’t any bystanders.

“Sir, if you don’t stop right there, I may be forced to shoot,” she told him. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Jake standing behind an open second story window with his gun aimed downward.

“Sydney,” the man trilled. His voice sounded freakishly low, as if he’d been using an electronic device to disguise his identity.

She watched in astonishment as his body flickered, revealing an unearthly form.
Scales. Horns.
Without hesitation, Sydney fired into the night. The bullets hit its chest, but sailed through its body without injuring it.

“What are you?” she whispered as it came toward her. By the time it had reached her feet, it had transformed into its true hellish form. Its long talons snapped together on the pavement, the stench of its breath saturating the air.

“I’m your worst nightmare. And I want you to deliver a message,” it hissed.

“A message?”

“A message for the naiad. For the wolves. Tell them I was here and I’ll be back for the baby if she doesn’t return the Tlalco Tecpatl to me by midnight tomorrow. I’ll find her.”

“Yeah, okay. Well, here’s my message…” Sydney unloaded an entire clip into the demon, praying to God it would take him down. When the dust settled, she gasped as it lurched for her, laughing as it did so.

Grabbing her by the throat, it lifted her off the ground. Sydney could hear Jake firing off his weapon yet the creature held tight. Extending its claws, it sliced its entire fist into Sydney’s abdomen. Like a red hot poker, its nails pierced clear through from her belly to her back. She released a horrific scream as her organs burst apart at its touch. Blood spewed onto the street as it threw her to the ground. Gasping, her throat filled with fluid. The demon leaned over her wound and spat its acidic saliva into her before dissipating into the night. As the circle of darkness surrounded her, thoughts of Kade danced in her mind. Although she tried to fight, the sweet sensation of death called to her, lulling her to sleep.

Laryssa’s stomach lurched with the news that Sydney had been attacked. By the time Dimitri had called Léopold, they’d already driven to the lake. Laryssa had remained silent the entire trip back to the Quarter, her thoughts spinning with dread. Even though it was good news that the demon hadn’t breached the wards, it had viciously assaulted the detective.

Laryssa couldn’t fathom why they hadn’t taken her to a hospital. Léopold insisted that there were no human doctors who would have been able to save her. Her organs had endured systemic trauma and the resulting injuries were catastrophic‎. No human should have survived. The gash to her abdomen had sliced her open clear through to the other side. Dimitri had relayed that Kade had arrived within minutes of her being slain on the street. Kade’s blood had been the only hope, keeping her alive. It should have healed her completely, but she hadn’t fully recovered. Still unconscious, she clung to life.

As Laryssa and Léopold slid open Logan’s back door, they were met with somber faces. The Alpha’s eyes met Léopold’s, but he made no move to release his mate from his arms. Samantha sat, holding the baby and glanced up to Léopold with reddened eyes. Rather than engaging in conversation, Léopold merely nodded and waited as Dimitri approached him.

“Hey man,” the beta said, putting his hand on Léopold’s shoulder. “Laryssa. How’s it goin’?”

“We found something. It’s some kind of a lock, maybe a puzzle,” Laryssa offered. Earlier, they’d filled Dimitri in about the book and how they’d discovered the hidden writing. “We were on our way back to see if we could get it open. We think it’ll tell us the location of the knife.”

Dimitri nodded. “You’d better not stay long then.”

“How is she?” Léopold asked. “Kade?”

“She’s alive. But something’s not right,” Samantha answered from the sofa. She kept her voice quiet as she brushed her fingers through the baby’s hair. “The vampire blood should’ve healed her.”

“Jake saw the whole thing. He covered her from the window. Shot it several times…I mean over and over. Nothin’ worked.” Wynter paused, shaking her head and considering her words. “After it gutted her, it…well, Jake said it spat into her. Blood or something. I don’t know. I was in the room with the baby and didn’t get close to the window.”

“Why would it do that?” Laryssa wrapped her hands around her midriff, recalling the burn of its claws. “There must be a reason.”

“Kade thinks the demon did it to tie her to it somehow. It said something about taking her and the baby if it didn’t get that knife.” Wynter broke free of Logan’s arms and nervously walked into the kitchen. She pulled several cups out of the cabinet and checked the pot of coffee she’d brewed earlier. In an effort to keep busy, she arranged the mugs in a row. “Can I get ya’ll some coffee? Cream? Sugar?”

“Yeah, thanks.” Laryssa felt as if she’d been sucked into an alternate reality.
Would you like cream and sugar with that demon?
Here they all were calmly and politely discussing Sydney’s attack as if it was completely normal, a day in the park. Having lived her whole life away from the supernatural world, it was like immersion therapy gone wild.

“You know, it, uh, talked to her before it attacked,” Dimitri added. Noticing that Wynter’s hands were shaking, he took the pot of coffee from her with an understanding smile and finished pouring.

“Oh God,” Laryssa said. She pushed her fingers through her hair in worry.

“It talked? What did it say?” Léopold approached Samantha and ran his hand over the baby’s forehead. Ava smiled up at him and cooed in response.

“Same ole with a dash of more. It wants the Tlalco Tecpatl…by tomorrow night. Said it’s comin’ to you. You’re running out of time, Leo.” Dimitri’s eyes fell on Laryssa. They all knew the consequences if they didn’t find it, and they had less than twenty-four hours to do so. “There’s one other thing I forgot to mention. This time, Jake said it looked like a man. A human. It didn’t last long, but that’s how it appeared at first. I don’t remember Ilsbeth sayin’ anything about that.”

“It needs Laryssa to be whole, to cross over to our world whenever it wishes. It’s possible that since it attacked her, maybe her blood did something to augment its power,” Léopold surmised.

“Gave it extra mojo,” Dimitri guessed.

“Oui, made it stronger. Or it may have been able to do it to begin with, no? It’s not like a demon’s going to tell us its abilities. No, it’s going to lie, conceal. It’ll do what it needs to do to get the Tecpatl, but it wants Laryssa. That night at the lake…it’s more than just her soul. It wants her.”

“I agree with Leo. That night…the way it looked at me. This won’t end until I kill it or it takes me.” Laryssa’s voice was shaky as she spoke the words aloud.

“I’ll never let it have you,” Léopold told her, his eyes meeting hers and then falling to Dimitri.

“Hey, maybe you should go see Kade? We didn’t want to move Sydney too far so we kept her here…took her upstairs. Figured the wards on the house are workin’ since the demon couldn’t get in. But I gotta warn you that Kade doesn’t seem to be takin’ this so well.”

Léopold opened his mouth to tell Dimitri that he would visit, when he heard Luca trample down the stairs and into the great room. With his fangs protruded, Luca rushed toward them. Instinctively, Léopold moved in front of Laryssa, protecting her from an attack. Already aware that Luca disliked her, Laryssa kept quiet and clutched the back of Léopold’s jacket out of fear. While she knew that Sydney’s mate, Kade, would be devastated by her attack, she hadn’t anticipated the ill-tempered vampire’s violent reaction.

“Goddamn you, Léopold. This is your fault. You brought that baby here. You knew Sydney would try to protect the child. If she dies, it’s her blood on your hands. Yours and that nymph you’re fucking,” Luca roared. “If you’d just given her over to the demon, none of us would be in this mess.”

Before Laryssa or Dimitri had a chance to stop him, Léopold lunged at Luca. Shoving him against the wall, Léopold seized Luca by his throat with one hand. Luca struggled to get free, but his effort to dislodge Léopold’s grip was futile. Everyone in the room froze at the sight of the two vampires engaged in battle, one nearly killing the other. Neither Dimitri nor Logan made a move to interfere, as they knew it wasn’t their place as wolves to get involved in the dispute.

“Stop it!” Samantha screamed. The baby began to cry, and she quickly handed Ava to Wynter. Despite wanting to break up the fight, she, too, knew not to get close to the vampires. She was pregnant and wouldn’t risk the life of her own child.

“This…this…is what separates us from animals, “Léopold seethed, his fangs descending in anger. “If we cannot protect a child, then we are no better than the demons. The detective knew what she was doing. She accepts her oath.”

Dimitri caught Laryssa’s gaze. He shook his head at her, warning her not to interfere with their argument. Ignoring him, she surged forward. Dimitri caught her hand but she shook him off, running to intervene.

“You will submit, son of Kade. Do it,” Léopold growled as Luca choked for air.

“Léopold, stop. You’re going to kill him!” Laryssa cried, pushing her way in between the two vampires. She trembled in fear as she did so. They’d both gone feral yet she couldn’t let Léopold kill the vampire. She knew that Luca disliked her, but she couldn’t imagine that a man expecting a child would be callous enough to kill her in cold blood in front of everyone. Squeezing in so that her back was to Luca, she placed her palms on Léopold’s chest. “Please. Stop.”

“Get out of the way, Laryssa.” Léopold’s eyes fell to her, and the sight of her face weakened his fury.