Soul Catcher (21 page)

Chapter Thirty

Jacque barreled out the lobby doors. He felt her pain before he heard her cries. Her anguish ripped holes inside his heart. He fought his way to Angel, slashing down anyone who stood in his way.

She sat with her dress sprawled on the ground, covered in blood. She held Faith in her arms, crying and rocking softly. Angel leaned her head into the crook of Marie’s neck, as the woman hugged her close.

The battle ensued around them. It was a picture of calm serenity in the fury of madness. A large blond ghoul fell into Jacque. He kicked him in the small of his back, propelling him forward. Laurent caught the ghoul, ran his blade through him, and severed his head. Jacque spotted Etienne farther down the drive trying to detain a thrashing female vamp. He reached Angel’s side as a young vamp lunged for them. He seized his neck, snapping it clean. He threw his remains by the potted palms.

Jacque crouched down next to Angel. “Babe, we have to leave.”

“I won’t leave her.” She latched onto Faith’s dead body

“I know you’re hurting. I feel your pain. We’ve got to haul ass. You have to let her go.” He pried her arms loose and scooped her off the ground. “Marie, come on. I’ll make sure Faith gets back.”

Marie reluctantly complied when Jacque nudged her with his foot. He carried Angel to a waiting car. The driver jumped when he shoved Marie into the back seat.

“We’re going to Etienne’s house on St. Charles Ave,” Jacque barked. “But I’m suppose to wait for—”

“You have new passengers now. Drive!” he directed the driver, slapping the back of the seat.

The driver stepped on the gas. They reared back into the seat as the car took off. Jacque laid Angel’s head in his lap, trailing his fingers down her face. Her body quivered with her silent tears. Marie stared out the window, lost to the darkness.

Halfway to Etienne’s, Jacque asked, “Where’s Elise and the girls?” In the rush to get Angel to safety, he forgot about them.

“The car took them back to the house. We got them out safely once the fight started,” Marie mutter, her forehead resting on the window.

“Okay, at least they got out with no problems.”

When they arrived at the house, Jacque carried Angel upstairs and laid her on the bed. He removed her dress and wiped the blood off her arms and face.

“Sorry,” she whispered.

“For what, babe?”

She was fixated on the dress, her voice flat and distant. “For ruining the beautiful dress you got me.”

“What dress? I didn’t get you a dress.” Jacque thought the conversation odd, figured her grief confused her.

“I assumed it was from you when the maid brought it earlier.” Her empty eyes focused on him.

“Don’t worry about the dress right now. You get some rest. I’ma check on everyone and be back.”

He kissed her, lingering close for a while longer. As he left the room, a pang of jealousy washed over him, wondering who sent the dress. Downstairs in the parlor, panic kicked in when he saw the expression on Marie’s face.

“What’s wrong?” he inquired, taking a seat next to her on the sofa.

Nervously, she fidgeted with the silky fabric of her gown. “I can’t find the girls or Elise.”

“I thought you said the car brought them back here.”

“We put them in the car. I assumed they were brought back here.” Big brown eyes, reminding him of Angel’s, met his gaze. Water welled in them, catching the light from the chandelier.

“Where else would they go?”

“I don’t know? Home, maybe?”

He dreaded bearing more bad news. “I’ll get Angel to call and find out.”

“I don’t have a good feeling about this.” Marie twisted the fabric of her gown.

“I don’t either. Who was around when you got to Le Pavillon?”

“I don’t know. Your brother tried to take Angel when the fight broke out. She shot at him. He disappeared before we could figure out what happened to him.”

Jacque jumped from his seat. “Xavier was there?”

“Who’d you think was behind this?”

“I haven’t slowed down enough to think. Fuck!” he shouted, slamming his fist into the wall, cracking the plaster.

Marie waved him off. “Go get Angel.”

Jacque hurried up stairs. Angel sat on the floor, in her bra and panties, with her head in her hands, her eyes red and puffy. When he stepped into the room, she pushed her hair back and wiped the tears with the back of her hand.

“Babe?” He crouched down in front of her, gently caressing her arms.

“Yeah, what’s up?” she asked in a raspy voice.

“I need your help. I’ma get you some clothes and we’re gonna head downstairs. Okay?”

“Yeah. What’s wrong?” Angel’s questioning eyes looked up at him.

He dug through her suitcase and found some sweats and a T-shirt. “We’ll discuss it downstairs. Here. Put these on.” He lifted her off the floor. She held on to him as she put on her clothes, her body weak, limbs uncoordinated. The fragility of her mental state was a concern. He wasn’t sure how much more bad news she could handle before she broke. Jacque picked her up and carried her downstairs.

“I can walk,” she protested.

He gave her a quick kiss on the lips. “I want you close to me.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and eased against him. He inhaled the lingering bouquet of her perfume tainted with the hint of blood.

Etienne, Laurent, and Damon leaned with their backs to the bar. They passed a bottle of Dewar’s from one hand to the other. It must have been bad when Etienne—Mr. Etiquette—drank straight from the bottle. Isabella slumped on the sofa in her tattered gown. Her blonde hair, torn from its pins, straggled loosely about her head. The two younger Boudreaux brothers slouched back-to-back on an ottoman.

“Hey, glad to see everyone made it back.” Jacque placed Angel on the sofa next to Marie. “How many did we lose?”

“It’s hard to tell. I’m not sure exactly who was with us or against us. I fought anyone who fought me.” Etienne tilted the bottle to his lips, grimacing as it poured down his throat.

“Yeah, everyone was fighting, even the hotel staff. Which apparently wasn’t the staff. I knew they weren’t human. I thought it was something special for the meeting.” Laurent liberated the bottle from Etienne.

“It was Xavier,” Angel piped up.

He sat on the arm of the sofa, drawing her into him, waiting to absorb the impact of the news. “Marie told us. But we got another problem.”

“What kind of problem?”

“Can you call your friends?”

She rotated, breaking his hold on her. “They aren’t here?”

“They never made it back,” Marie uttered.

“Gimme a phone!” Angel straightened in the seat. Damon tossed her his cell. She dialed number after number with no success, tears streamed down her face. “He took everything! First my sister and now my friends and my mother.”

“We’ll find them Ang,” Laurent promised.

Bell went to the bar to fix another drink. “Jacque, your brother has always been a pain in the ass.”

“I’ve lost enough shit in my life. I’m getting my friends back. I even want my mother back. I don’t care how fucked up she is.” The anger boiled inside of her. The intensity of her emotions played every muscle in Jacque’s body like the tense strings of a guitar.

“We got to find out where Xavier is hiding them and what he wants.” Jacque massaged her back, his muscles loosening as she relaxed.

Angel stiffened. “Simple. He wants me.”

“You’re not his only target. He could’ve just taken you if he wanted to.”

“Maybe I actually hit him and he’s hurt.”

Jacque pressed his fingers deep into Angel’s shoulders. “I don’t think he’s hurt. If he’s hurt, it’s not bad enough for him to leave his target behind. We would’ve found his body back at the hotel. He wants something else.”

“Angel and I will work a locate spell and see if we can find the girls.” Marie’s dress fell in a rustle of taffeta as she rose to her feet, the beautiful royal-blue marred by the crimson of Faith’s blood.

“I’ll go round up anyone left from the meeting.” Etienne hit the bottle one more time.

“Can we be of assistance?” a voice called from the doorway.

Jacque was elated to see his parents. His father was a great strategist and his mother gave him reassurance. Her confidence was contagious. “We need to find out where Xavier might be hiding out.”

“I hear your brother’s behind this?” Jacque’s father inquired.

“Luc contracted him.” He kissed his mother on both cheeks. “Things don’t make sense. He could’ve taken Angel at the hotel. He didn’t.”

“He’s here for us, not Angel. He wants to hurt the family.” His mother’s hand rested in the bend of his elbow. “He’s waited a long time for a way to take us without retribution. As long as we side with Angel, he has every right to hunt us.”

“I don’t care. I’m with Angel. You two don’t have to get involved. I don’t want to give him a reason to hurt you.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything different from my son. You would never desert the one you love. As such, we would never desert you.” She honored him with a rare smile. There wasn’t a lot of warm and fuzzies growing up with a goddess.

Jacque seemed to be the only one in the family affected by Xavier’s hatred. His mother thought Xavier’s mother beneath her, therefore he fell into the same category. Jacque’s father wrote Xavier off when he put his hands on Isis. As children, Xavier used every opportunity to make Jacque’s life miserable, always getting the best of him. This time would be different.

Jacque wasn’t a rash teenager, trying to protect his mommy. He was a seasoned soldier, a veteran of many battles. Jacque refused to let Xavier hurt any more people he loved. He vowed to take him down.

Chapter Thirty-One

Overwhelming envy choked her each time she witness Jacque and his mother together. One couldn’t call Angel’s mother a nurturer. Shit, you could barely call her a mother. With Faith killed and Marie technically dead, too, her mother was the only family Angel had left. Since she didn’t know her father, he didn’t count. No matter how bad the relationship, Angel was determined to get her mother back.

“We’re going to go see what we can find out.” She looped her arm in Marie’s. “It was nice seeing you again, Goddess.”

Isis’s expression softened, showing compassion. “We’ll be seeing a lot of each other. I also bring a message from your sister. She said do not forget what she told you.”

Angel halted mid-stride, shocked at the news of her sister. “You saw her?”

“Yes. The deities can walk in all worlds. It’s one of the perks.”

Angel’s heart raced. “Can you take a message back to her?”

“She can hear you if you speak to her. They can see into this world.”

Angel ran to her and threw her arms around Isis, causing her to go rigid. “Thank you.”

Slowly, Isis brought her arms around Angel and the warmth of the goddess’s embrace engulfed her in happiness. She expected a more standoffish reaction. Jacque’s mother held her close, ending with a tight squeeze. Her own mother’s touch never met her with such enthusiasm.

***

Angel and Marie scanned through the books, searching for the right spell. They originally tried the conjure spell, figuring it was safer to bring the girls to them instead of going to fight Xavier on his home court. It would’ve been a great idea if it worked. All it got them was one smoky room.

Jacque’s face weighed heavy with concern. “Any luck yet?”

“Yeah. We used a locator spell. They’re somewhere on St. John Bayou. It’s an old white and green Creole colonial house. Sorry we couldn’t get more.” Angel rubbed her temples, trying to circumvent the forming headache.

“Better than nothing. How many green and white colonial houses could there be on the St. John? I’ll have Laurent look online to see if he can narrow it down some more.”

“Where’re all the others?”

“Etienne is gathering everyone out at Le Fleur. Once you’re done, we’ll head out to meet the others.”

“Let me change, grab my weapons, and I’ll be down.” She and Marie blew out the candles and swept up the powders.

***

The ballroom was packed with strangers. It was both a surprised and relief to see the amount of people willing to fight with them. Jacque shifted his eyes through the crowd, ready to pounce. The taut line of his lips and the tick in his jaw drew attention to his alarm. Angel sensed his distress as she clung to his arm, weaving through the crowd. Jacque’s brother threw him off balance, making him question himself. The confident male she learned to love over the past few weeks was crumbling and it concerned her.

Laurent met them in the middle of the room, dragging them to the side.

“Hey, I found a place. The Ranier House fits the description. It’s used as a museum now.”

Jacque pushed through the crowd, holding Angel close behind him.

“Great, let’s find the others.”

Etienne and Damon chatted with several devastatingly beautiful women, the kind that would make Naomi Campbell jealous. The guys held on to their every word as if under a spell.

“How are you ladies tonight?” Angel flashed a smile at them, which they returned. Their smiles were like heaven.

“Much better than you, we fear. Sorry to hear about your loss,” the one closest to Etienne answered. Her bronze skin and raven hair glistened in the candlelight.

“Thank you. I’m sorry. I don’t know your names.”

“I’m Arielle. And these are my sisters. We’re the sirens.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize. Never mind. It doesn’t matter. It’s nice to meet you. We need to steal Etienne and Damon.” She stood in front of the guys to get their attention. “If I can break them from your spell.”

“Of course.” Arielle turned her attention to Jacque. “It’s good to see you again, Jacque. It’s been a long time.” Her words escaped like lyrical notes played by a saxophone, low and sexy.

He quickly diverted his gaze from the dark beauty when Angel flashed him a disapproving glare. Jacque seemed to be acquainted with every woman in the Underworld. She pushed the air from her lungs slowly and steered him away from Arielle.

Etienne’s trance faded as they walked away from the sirens. “Do we have any more information about the girls?”

“The girls are at the Ranier House. I downloaded the floor plan from the Internet. Is there somewhere we can talk?” Laurent asked Etienne.

“Yes, we can use the small meeting room in the back.”

In the back room, Laurent laid out the plans on the small conference table. The house was two stories with six rooms on the second floor and eight on the main level.

“He probably has them in the back servant rooms on the main level,” Damon offered as studied the drawings.

“Makes sense. It’s the most secure place,” Laurent chimed in.

Jacque’s hold on Angel’s hand crushed her like a vise grip. “Xavier isn’t predictable. We have to watch our every move. If something doesn’t feel right, get the hell out.” Jacque’s voice came out weak. The others watched him, questioningly, as he spoke.

“How many do you think he has guarding them?” Angel twisted her hand, trying to loosen his grip.

“There’s no telling. He can’t fit too many into the house with us seeing them. We’ll have to case the house to see what we can find out first,” Jacque answered.

“Me and my brothers can go. It shouldn’t take us more than a couple of hours to get back,” Damon offered.

Jacque ran a hand through his dark curls, his green eyes focused on the drawing. “Thanks, while you’re gone, we can determine who’ll be the best people to take with us.”

Angel walked around the table to gaze out the window as the guys discussed the rest of the layout and best lookout points from the bayou. Damon touched her arm, causing her to jump. “Oh, sorry, Damon. I zoned for a minute.”

“You’ve had a hard day.” He embraced her. His familiar smell comforted her. “I wanted to say sorry about your sister. I know she was important to you.”

“Thanks, it’s going to be hard not to have her close to me anymore.” The stars twinkled in the sky, and Angel wondered if Faith was watching her.

“She’ll always be close to you.”

It was too soon, the wound too fresh. All Angel felt was empty. “Everyone keeps saying the same thing. I’ll be glad when I start feeling it.”

“I know it’s probably ruined. I hope you liked my gift.”

“What gift?”

“The dress. I sent you a dress.” He inched closer, his body creating a shadow over her, shielding her from the others.

“Oh. You sent the dress?”

“Yes, I hope you don’t mind. I knew you weren’t happy with the one you bought when we were out. I found the one I sent and thought it was made for you.”

“Thank you, Damon. The dress was beautiful. I loved it.”

His smile beamed brighter than rays of sunlight. “All I need to know then.”

“Damon. I have to be honest with you. I really like you. You’re a nice guy. But I love Jacque. I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression.” She cringed from the disappointment in Damon’s face.

“I understand. Demons make bad mates. One day he’ll mess up, and I’ll be waiting. If you give me a chance, I’ll make you happy.”

“I’m sure you’ll make some girl very happy. Right now, my heart belongs to Jacque. It’s not fair to you to let you think anything else.”

“If you change your mind, you know where to find me.”

Angel kissed him lightly on the cheek. “Thanks, Damon.”

Jacque cocked his head and gave her a look. She winked at him, walked back to his side, and laid her head on his arm. He brought his arm across her shoulder and planted a kiss on the top of her head. Angel’s heart went out to Damon as he walked out the room.

***

Damon and his brothers returned as promised. They counted about fifty guards. Jacque created five teams, consisting of mostly vamps, shifters, and demons. All of them male.

“I’m with you, right?” Angel asked.

“No, you’re staying here,” Jacque ordered.

“Wrong answer.”

“Angel, this is not debatable. I can’t risk anything happening to you.”

She poked a finger in his chest, his pecs flexing as his anger grew. Angel didn’t care. She poked him again. “I don’t give a shit what you say. Those are my friends and my mother. I’m going.”

“You don’t know what Xavier will do if he catches you. He knows you’re important to me.”

“I guess I’ll have to not get caught then.” Angel grabbed her extra clips and the sword off the table. She was amazed at the amount of weapons they amassed in such a short time.

His eyes pleaded with her as he clutched her hand. She refused to bend. It was time she defended herself for a change. She spent weeks learning how to fight and it was time for her to use it. In addition, she needed to be near Jacque. There was a void in him tonight. He needed her strength.

“It’s going to be all right. You can beat him.” She trailed a finger down his cheek.

Fear welled in the emerald-green pools of his eyes. “I’m not sure I can.”

“I’m sure. I know you’ll never let him hurt me. You’re better than him.”

“Why do you believe in me?”

She paused before answering. “Because I love you.”

“I love you, too.” He folded her in his embrace and slanted his lips over hers. She ran her tongue along his lips, inviting him to let her in. She explored his mouth with an intense hunger, hoping to release his doubt. She would lend him her strength tonight, giving him the power to do what needed to be done.