Léopold's Wicked Embrace (Immortals of New Orleans) (38 page)

The ground began to shake as Ilsbeth chanted louder and louder. A crack in the earth formed slowly before them, opening to a fiery chasm below. Léopold gave no warning before he hurled himself off the edge into the deep abyss. Dimitri gave Ilsbeth a wink and jumped in after him.

Léopold landed on his feet, bracing himself with his hands. A gust of wind kicked up, and through it, he heard the cry of a baby in the distance. A hundred yards north, he caught a glimpse of Rylion dangling Ava like a carrot, his little rabbit stood lost in consternation. Léopold struggled to hear their conversation.
Laryssa, I’m here. We’re coming.
As soon as he’d thought her name, the ground began to swell with whirls of red dust. Slowly, the particles circulated upward into the air, escalating into an opaque wall of gritty earth.

“Follow me,” Léopold called to Dimitri, who tore off his clothes and transformed into his wolf. Stumbling through the gusty sheets of soil, they ran forward.

Laryssa felt Léopold in her mind, but kept her eyes on the infant. Forcing an impassive expression, she fought to conceal her shock.
Ava is Rylion’s daughter?
She quickly tried to make sense of the ambiguous relationship, but there was no reconciliation. As Léopold grew closer, she sought to distract Rylion with questions.

“How can Ava be your daughter? She was born of a wolf,” she challenged.

“Possession is a tricky business, especially seeing as I had little control over my access to freedom. But I was owed a soul… you were stolen from me, after all. The wolf was weak and I happened to get lucky, breaking through and possessing him. I’d had plans for the wolf, but that night with his mate changed everything for me. It was my seed that fertilized the bitch’s womb. A soul. A brand new soul…just for me.”

“You’re sick.” Laryssa coughed as Rylion brought forth clouds of debris. She shielded her face and took a step toward it. “So you killed her in the woods….”

“Oh no, I killed her mother with my own hands while she bore the child …a wolf’s hands. Ava died that night too. But that goddamned bitch who creates you water whores stole her from me. Like you, all she needed was the water to do it. Of course, the wolf…well, that didn’t turn out so well for him,” Rylion explained.

“He knew.” Laryssa wiped her eyes, aghast with the revelation.

“The beauty of possession is that they don’t know they’ve been possessed.” The demon laughed, and began to pace with Ava crying in its arms. “All Perry knew was that he’d killed his own mate. He left and killed himself.” Rylion stopped and paused. “What’s so perfect about this is that like the Aztecs, I’m willing to sacrifice my own child. Don’t you see, Laryssa? It’s always been about you.”

“Me?”

“I’ve watched you all these years and then you hid from me, keeping me from your home, your life. Even when I sent my ghosts to watch over you, you spurned me. Why, Laryssa? You’ve always known I’m there.”

“I don’t belong to you. You’re wrong,” she yelled through the wind.

“Even though you reek of the vampire, you’re still mine. And you’re going to come to me….willingly.”

“Are you fucking crazy?” As shock set in, Laryssa began to shake her head. Catching the sight of movement out of her left eye, she attempted to refocus on Rylion. She suspected that the demon had sensed that Léopold was in its world but she wouldn’t give it an inch of help.

“Ava’s soul for yours. I’ll hand over my only daughter to the vampire and his wolf. I know you’re here,” it called out into the storm. “All you have to do is say yes. Say the words. Accept your place at my side. Look at me now…I’m a man. I can satisfy your earthly cravings. Tell me…tell me that I’m your master. Give me your soul.”

“Put the baby down…over there!” she screamed through the din, pointing to the rock where it’d left the Tecpatl.

“Say it. Accept me as your master. Give me what is mine, Laryssa, and the vampire can have the baby. Reject me and I’ll murder her. It’ll be on your conscience forever.”

“Put her down first,” Laryssa insisted.

Slowly, she approached him. The Tecpatl rested only a few feet from her hands. If her abilities worked in the underworld, she could have called the knife to her hand. But no matter how hard she tried, the energy wouldn’t respond to her summons. She held her hands upward, exposing her palms to him.
Get the baby. Leo, get the baby.
She prayed like hell that throughout the chaos, Léopold could hear their discussion.

“You accept my conditions?”

“Yes,” she whispered, spying the knife.

Rylion moved quickly to set the child upon the dirt, never taking its eyes off of her. Once it’d surrendered the child to the earth, it strode toward Laryssa, a broad smile breaking across its face.

“Say it Laryssa. Say you’re mine,” it ordered.

Laryssa nodded, feigning submission to its will.
Move.
The command came strong, filling her chest with dread
. Move. Now, Laryssa.
Without thinking, she sensed Léopold was coming for her.

“I’ll say it…you are my mas…” Her words fell apart as she dropped to the ground and rolled out of the way. Léopold flew from behind her, smashing into the demon. Dimitri cut through the dust and scooped up the child into his arms, tearing back into the tornado of filth. On her knees, Laryssa crawled toward the rock, to the Tecpatl.

“You’re dead,” Léopold grunted, shoving his fist into Rylion’s face.

The demon’s human form disappeared at first contact, allowing it to dig its savage claws into Léopold’s arms. Léopold pinned it to the ground and hit it again, but Rylion just laughed, and rebounded out of the vampire’s grasp. Continuing his assault, Léopold extended his own claws, slicing a gash across the demon’s chest. Rylion stumbled backwards, but never faltered. With his fangs descended, Léopold charged at it, tearing his fangs into its flesh. As he bit into it, he curled his fingers into a point. Spearing his hand into the demon’s chest, he perforated its gut, clear through to the other side. Closing his fist, Léopold ripped out the demon’s entrails from its cavity.

Rylion careened backwards as Léopold released it. The demon’s laughter grew louder, even though its legs threatened to fail.

“You can’t kill me, you fool,” the demon boasted, its wounds healing before their eyes. “No one can kill me.”

“I can, fucker.” Laryssa screamed as she charged it from behind. “Go to hell!”

Using all her strength, she plunged the Tecpatl into Rylion’s back. The sound of its scales splitting open echoed into the air. The demon screamed and hissed, flailing its arms, but she continued to use every last ounce of her strength to ram the knife through its thick skin. She leveraged the knife to hoist herself upward and wrap her legs around its waist. Laryssa held tight and twisted the blade into its flesh. Rylion staggered back and forth as she plunged the blade up to its hilt. Rylion’s soulless warriors swirled into a vortex, returning to the demon’s body, but it wasn’t enough to save it from the destiny of the Tlalco Tecpatl. Blood gushed from its wound, splattering onto the cracked dirt. As the demon’s essence drained from its body, it was sucked back into the infernal netherworld from where it had come, its body toppling over, face-down onto the ground. No longer of this world, it had been sent to hell.

Laryssa screamed for it to die, over and over, obscured within her task. She felt Léopold’s hands on her shoulders, heard his voice calling her name, but continued to lie atop the scaly shell of the demon. Afraid to release the knife, she rejected Léopold’s touch, shoving a hand at him.

“It’s gone.” Léopold spoke softly to her, aware that she’d come unhinged. His little naiad was no killer…until now. The storm ceased, allowing him to nod over at Dimitri, who held the baby. The shimmering veil remained, but he needed to get Laryssa to move. “Come, ma chérie. You did it.”

“No, no, no,” she mumbled, terrified that the demon would return. Laryssa felt Léopold brush her mind and whispers of his soothing words caressed her heart, allowing her to open her eyes.

“That’s it. You’re okay. It’s me. It’s Leo.” For the first time in his life, he’d referred to himself by the shortened name his mother had called him as a child. Even though Dimitri also addressed him as such, it had been Laryssa, alone, who’d made him own it. The name represented the revolution she’d caused within his soul. Her love for him and his for her. “I’ve got you.”

Gently, he slid his hands under her arms, peeling her off the corpse. Through their bond he sent her all his strength and calm, communicating how incredibly proud he was of her. He almost had her extricated when she tensed. With her hands still frozen around the stone hilt, she refused to let go. Léopold reached around her, placing his hands over hers and jerked the Tecpatl from the crackling epidermis. Once released, she clutched the knife to her chest as if she was protecting a cherished treasure. Aware that she’d been traumatized, Léopold scooped her up into his arms, cradling her. His rabbit was a warrior. But now that the battle had been fought, she’d crumbled into his embrace.

A week had passed since they’d permanently banished the demon from their world. Laryssa had begun working again in her store, with Léopold insisting she take it easy. While she hadn’t told many people yet about her newly owned supernatural status as a naiad, she no longer hid it either. Working to train Mason to take over day to day operations so that she could travel with Léopold was going well and she looked forward to her future.

As Laryssa locked the door, she recalled how ecstatic Logan and Wynter had been when they’d returned Ava to their home. A wolf, the child needed to be raised by wolves, in a pack. A naiad, she needed the guidance to learn how to survive and thrive in the water and to hone her abilities. Hunter Livingston had given his blessing to the New Orleans’s Alpha and his mate, granting them rights to raise the child. Laryssa and Léopold had been designated godparents by Logan. Laryssa had been honored and humbled, grateful for the opportunity to be a presence in Ava’s life.

Laryssa contemplated the only unresolved matter, which had been Sydney’s recovery. While her soul had not been lost to the demon, Sydney would never be human again. It had been true that her injuries from the demon would have killed her if it hadn’t been for Kade’s vampiric blood. While it had gone unspoken on the night of the attack, Kade had turned her. Léopold had known it but hadn’t told Laryssa until a few days after she’d killed the demon. Sydney, although engaged to a vampire, had steadfastly wished to remain human. But what was done could not be undone. Despite Léopold’s repeated visits to Kade’s house, Sydney had reportedly not accepted her fate, remaining depressed and isolated in their home.

Since Laryssa’s terrifying experience in the underworld, she’d been working with Ilsbeth to locate information about how to return the Tecpatl to the water. Ilsbeth, still unsure of how to return it, promised she’d assist her. In the meantime, Laryssa had locked and buried it deep within the lake bed for safe keeping.

True to his promise, Léopold had moved most of Laryssa’s belongings to his French Quarter townhouse, where they spent the week. They planned on spending weekends at his home on the lake. In either location, she had open access to the life-giving waters she required for her existence. Earlier in the day, they’d made plans to meet for dinner at a quaint outdoor restaurant a few doors down from his home. As she walked along the sidewalk, she realized that she was no longer scared of seeing the eyeless warriors. They’d been a mirage all along, designed by Rylion to keep her under its watch. Even as the night fell, no longer would she fear darkness. No matter where she was, Léopold was with her, supporting her, loving her.

The only thing that concerned her was that despite the bond, they still hadn’t said they loved each other. Three little words seemed like a minute detail given their bond, yet it was becoming tremendously important to her. She loved Léopold. Not only did she want him to know, she wanted everybody to know. Whenever they made love, she could feel his love slice through her, and while he’d whisper sweet nothings in French, she wanted to hear that he loved her.

Bells rang overhead as she opened the door to the restaurant. The maître d’ motioned to her, gesturing with his hand for her to come to him. She giggled and looked over her shoulder, unsure of how he’d recognized her.
Léopold.
Rolling her eyes, she politely smiled at the man and walked toward him.

“Ms. Theriot?” he confirmed.

“Yes.”

“Mr. Devereoux is waiting for you. Please follow me.” He turned, and walked through the busy restaurant.

Laryssa followed him, complying with his wish. Lilac lights illuminated their path through the darkened restaurant. The host pushed through a glass door, holding it open so she could go first into the open courtyard. Ensconced in bowed branches above their heads, hundreds of tiny lights twinkled in the trees. The candlelit tables were decorated with small vases of fresh flowers. As she walked through the romantic dining garden, she spotted Léopold seated in a back corner.

Her stomach fluttered as Léopold gave her a sexy smile. The twinkle in his eye told her she was in for a surprise. As she approached the table, he stood, briefly touching his lips to hers. Waiting for her to sit down, he signaled for the waiter to pour her a glass.