Eden's Charms (13 page)

“You, Beauty? Why?”

“She didn’t do this, my Prince. I did.” Donovan stepped out of his shadow and got between Raven and André.

“But she just said…”

Cutting Raven off, Donovan finished, “I had no choice. You’d have died otherwise. I asked her permission.”

“I’ve got a mammoth headache, and I feel like Grimmy—the real one, had his way with me.”

“He did.” Julian rubbed the newly formed lump on his head. “You think you’ve a headache. Look what you did to me.”

André turned toward Julian’s voice. “Grimmy, you tried to kill me.”

“Yes—I mean no, André,” Julian confessed. “I got you killed. You were shot four times by the locals.”

“So what constitutes you getting me killed? I remember you telling me you were attacked, and I started after you. This is not your fault, Jules.”

Donovan butt in, “Sire, I bit you to bring you over—to save you.” The lanky vamp dropped to his knees before André. “If you wish my life, take it now.” Donovan bowed his head.

Raven caught her breath.

“Breathe, Beauty,” André said as he ran his hands through his sister’s hair. “Odd way to go about saving people don’t you think? Doesn’t this constitute killing them with kindness? The twenty-first century does have hospitals and doctors, all though we’ve never had a real need for them. Get up, Donovan. I cannot kill a man who brought me back from the brink of death even in the most unorthodox manner.” Once he noticed Jonah and Payton still out cold he asked, “Is that my handy work?”

Julian nodded. “Jonah took the brunt end of the taser gun. He’s gonna be mad at you when he wakes up.”

André had the audacity to smile until he realized all the blood, tubing and needles were really for him. In a flash his smile vanished.

Savanah took one look at her father and burst out laughing. “Oh, Papa, you’re green. Well, honestly not green but grayish-blue.”

“Ands, we need to get you taken care of. Sit.” Lucian helped Serina set up the blood transfusion.

“Lucian, I’m sorry I hurt you. All of you. Can you forgive me?”

Jovan snuggled in to his other side and kissed his cheek. “You did nothing wrong, Bebé.”

“Oh, Cherié, but I did.” He took her wrist, and carefully inspected the damage.

When his lips met her flesh, she asked, “You sure you know what you’re doing?”

“We’ll have fun finding out, won’t we?” André kissed the length of her arm, his tongue soothing the wounds.

****

“Jovan?” Olivia’s voice rattled as she pushed the bedroom door open and stepped in.

Each and every member of the St. James household turned on her like a pack of starved wolves. “I—I—I’m going to go. Yes, right now. If you ever need anything, just call out to me.” Olivia back peddled to the door when a triad of ill-fated events went off more accurately than dominos tumbling.

Julian crossed the room and blocked the door before anyone saw him move. The bump on his head torn open and bleeding didn’t slow him down one iota.

“Olivia, come—” Jovan stopped and said to André, “You’ve gone white yet again for no apparent reason. He needs more blood.”

“Oh, I need blood all right! Hers!” André spat.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Julian shouted right in Olivia’s face. “You and I made a deal. Your heart for theirs, ring any bells?”

André ripped the tube from his arm spilling blood all over the carpet and headed for the strange woman.

She swung around to face him.

Head cocked to one side and eyes focused on Olivia as if no one else existed, André said, “I know you. You invaded my dreams for years. Your face—it tormented me and does so to this day.” He crossed the room with sure-footed steps. “For nearly twenty years.” He stopped one step from her. “Every night I lay awake afraid to go to sleep because I knew you would be there…waiting, in my closet, under my bed, in my head. You’re a dream snatcher. But instead of stealing away a young boy’s dream you stole me. Why? What did you want with me? Who are you and what are you doing here now? Answer me!” He grabbed her shirt collar.

“Stop it, André. You’ll scare the baby.” Serina said.

“You’re the one who should be scared, Serina. She’s the devil in disguise. Don’t let her near your child.” André closed the gap between them. “Tell me you are not Serina’s mother. Tell me that you did not touch my wife and children. Any of them!”

“Ands, you’re freaking everyone out. What’s going on?” Lucian asked.

“Do you want to tell them or shall I?” André poked Olivia in the chest.

“André, enough!” Serina pried her way between her mother and her brother-in-law, her back to Olivia. “What are you talking about?”

Julian tapped Serina on her shoulder. “I suggest for the time being you remove you and your daughter from what might very likely turn into a war zone.”

Serina spun to Julian landing squarely face to face with her mother. The two women locked their emerald eyes.

“Serina, he’s right. Get away before anything happens.”

One step short of hysterical, Serina pleaded, “Please just tell me. It can’t be that bad, Mum.”

“Don’t bet the house on that,” Julian chided.

“What the hell do you two know that I don’t?” Serina asked completely aggravated.

Olivia cleared her throat, and wiped beads of sweat from her forehead. “Please don’t make me do this. Not here—not like this.” She looked between both men. Neither looked sympathetic.

“Okay, can we focus on the good things she’s done? André, she saved Jovan. For the three days you were lost in space, she monitored your babies and kept Jovan alive, because she wouldn’t had made it other—”

Before Serina finished and anyone could stop lightning from striking, André ripped Olivia off her feet and hurled her body through the wall. Not into the wall, through it, clear into the hallway. The aftermath—a jagged hole in the plaster and broken beams to boot. Pandemonium followed Olivia out the door.

Savanah headed for Olivia, but her father grabbed her.

“No,” he said anxious. “Don’t touch her or allow her to touch you. Ever again.”

“Why, Papa? What could she have done? She saved Mum and the babies.”

Serina passed the baby to Lucian and ran to her mother’s aid.

André nudged Olivia with the tip of his shoe. When she moaned a grin spread across his face. “She’s a poisoned apple. Sweet on the outside and then you take a big, juicy bite and find you’ve bitten a lethal snake in half.”

Delirious, Olivia spilled a century worth of her secrets. “I didn’t mean to kill your mother, Julian, Jonah, Jovan. I swear it was an accident. André, I needed the money your aunt Chyna offered me. I’ve had a lifetime to regret stealing you away from your family, for ruining the relationship you should have had. I’m sorry I lost faith. Thomas has been the only man I ever allowed in my heart, in my bed. I’m sorry I ruined Oliver’s life as well. And I’m so sorry for not allowing either of you children. I’m just sorry.”

“No!” Serina backed away from her and tripped on the top step of the stairway. Inches before her head slammed into the stairs Serina froze, suspended midair like a flyer in a circus, minus the life supporting ropes and net below. As blood rushed to her head veins bulged in her temples. Gravity took over control of her skirt and shirt and left one very exposed upside down woman. No panties on and her breasts spilled free of her bra. No one said anything even though they all took the time to peek.

Reaching out for Serina, Olivia found André’s hands reaching at the same time for her neck, full throttle.

No longer able to control the beast screaming inside him for retribution, André’s temper exploded. His fingers burned white from pressure as he gripped and squeezed the life right out of the hag. “You ruined the relationship I should have had with my siblings, with my parents. What you did is inconceivable. They died without ever realizing I was their son. God will never forgive you for what you’ve done, and I sure as hell won’t.” Crouched over her, he enjoyed watching her struggle to breathe. “If you’ve marked my unborn children in any way I’ll come to hell to find you.”

In between gasping and choking, Olivia slipped in, “Get—in—line. Julian wants me…”

Ooh! Words were spoken. Too much air getting in. Tighten the grip!
André waited. Waited for her to stop bloody breathing once and for all. He felt nothing and that should have bothered him, but it didn’t. It bothered him that he
should
feel bad killing this woman, killing Serina’s mother in front of her and his family, but still, zero remorse. He tried to think up reasons that it should affect him that he was indeed killing someone, but still, deeper inside him sat a black, empty cave of nightmares and repugnancy that saturated his soul and would not wither away without revenge. So, he gripped her a little tighter and watched. Killing her might actually feel good. Just as she passed out, vice grips bore into him.

Donovan tugged and yanked, but André’s powers were a force to be reckoned with. He clung to Olivia’s neck more determined. Lucian joined Donovan, but together they were no match for the newly turned vamp.

“We need the Jaws of Life to get him off her,” Donovan yelled.

Lucian disagreed, “Right now, he is the jaws of the life.”

Frightened beyond words, Jovan had seen enough. She would not stand idly by and bear witness to her husband about to become a cold-blooded murderer. She grabbed Donovan’s gun and took aim. “I’m so sorry, Bebé.” Jovan squeezed the trigger on the gun.

Thunderous popping sounds echoed as garlic and Holy H2O bubbles peppered André. He jumped, shocked when he saw the woman responsible for sautéing him.

“Jovan? Son of a—! This stuff burns.” André stripped his clothes off in a matter of seconds, with the sole exception of his black silk boxers.

Jovan stepped toward Olivia to check on her, but André covered the distance, placing his body between his wife and Olivia’s.

Welts formed from the close range shots. He yelled, “You are not helping that crone. I mean it, Jovan.”

André followed the path of where Jovan rested her eyes.

Destination south, his black silky boxers with a subtle rise he couldn’t contain.

Yes! It still works! Happy dance later
.

He realized she was staring at him and somewhere in the midst of his trying to murder a woman and then getting almost naked, the two of them got excited.

Or he did.

“A little help please? Aunt Serina’s a little top heavy,” Savanah squeaked as she turned an aneurism shade of red. Veins in her neck jutted out like weight lifter’s trying to pick up a car with one hand tied behind his back.

Duncan bound up the stairs and snatched Serina midair. “Well here’s something you don’t see around here every day, even with the talented lot we’ve got. Bottom’s up, Doc! Literally. Savvy, nice job levitating, but you could have lowered her.” Duncan set Serina down next to her mother.

“I haven’t learned that yet, Duncan.” Savanah fanned her face. “I pick things up, just can’t put them down without breaking something.” She gave him a small, lopsided grin.

André slid away from Olivia, but Julian continued to hold the stun gun aimed at her heart. André pointed down the stairs to the front door. “I want you out of my home. Out of my life. Out of my families’ lives. Now.” He straightened his stance, turned to Julian hearing his voice.

His eyebrows arched and aimed, Julian said, “She’s not walking out of here on her own accord. Furthermore, she’s not walking out of here breathing. I’m not playing this time.” With his finger shaking in André’s face he said, “Notice I didn’t try to stop you from strangling the wench.”

André pushed the barrel of the gun down. “Okay, everyone out of what’s left of my room. No one will kill Olivia today. Sorry, Grimmy, not even you. Tomorrow? We’ll see. I want Payton and Jonah out of here too. Donovan, if you’d be so kind as to keep your distance from my sister until her men come around I’d appreciate it.” Glancing at the carnage of his room, André broke out in manic laughter like someone on the verge of leaping from the ledge into a bottomless pit. Quite possibly he already had.

“André?” Lucian’s concern weighted his words. He stepped toward him.

“I’m fine, Luce. Why wouldn’t I be? A few days ago we met a shifter, Ethan Kitt, who said Xanti and Xier Sinclair were back in town. He told us Raven had Xavier’s and Xanti’s child. Thank God this isn’t the case, but nonetheless Ethan’s out doing the blue light special for a baby. Then Donovan pops up out of the last century and takes a whopping chunk out of me. We send Ethan to the pound, but he never makes it there and I wake up a few hours ago, feeling like death warmed over. Found out I’d died three days ago, came back as a vamp, attacked my wife, you, and anyone else in close proximity. And the icing on this stale, fruit cake? I find out the one person on this planet I never wanted near my family is not only inside this house, but inside my wife doing only God knows what to her. You guys now know that she was the one responsible for my alternate life with you and our parents, and that she killed Jovan, Julian and Jonah’s mom. Nice lady. Everyone should have a mum like her. Not! Serina almost takes a dive down stairs and if weren’t for my Savvy doing that freeze-frame thing on her, she’d have broken her neck and died as well. It just doesn’t get any better than this!” André never came up for air.

Olivia got up slowly, and rubbed her neck. “Savanah, thank you for helping my daughter.” Olivia went to shake Savanah’s hand, but Julian wrapped his arms around his niece and held her, hostage-like.

“You don’t touch her, ever. Did you not hear her father?”

Olivia gave a sullen nod.

“Olivia, since my dear brother-in-law won’t allow your death, I have an alternate plan everyone can live with. Unfortunately, even you. Jovan, please bring me the
Bound Grimoire
? Olivia, Serina, Lucian, Savanah and I will be in the library waiting.”

Jovan shook her head a fast
no
. “Jules, you can’t be serious. Not the book.”

“Jovan, the woman just admitted killing our mother. Why would you seek to protect her now?”

“Because, dear brother, my babies and I would not be here this very instant if it weren’t for her. I owe her nothing, but to kill her would be pure evil, and I’m not inclined to believe that you or anyone else in this family could kill with complete disregard for someone’s life. An eye for an eye isn’t always the answer. What is it you’re planning?”