Legacy of the Succubus Page 5

  “What about the return trip?” I asked. “How long will you need to rest to open it again and bring me back?”

  Amin cleared his throat. “A day, maybe two at the most.”

  I nodded. “When can you get to St. Ann?”

  “I’ll need a few days to get my affairs in order.”

  “Do it, and get here. There’s no telling what else is going to shoot from the sky.”

  “I will do so,” he answered before hanging up.

  “You can trust him?” my father asked, voicing Logan’s concerns pinging around in my head.

  “You have another option?” I asked, flicking my gaze to Logan to include him in my response.

  “We could wait,” Doyle offered.

  “Right, then how long would I be trapped in the red world until you would be strong enough to bring me back?”

  Doyle had no answer for that and looked to The Magician for help.

  “At least a week, and I wouldn’t be able to keep the portal open long if you missed the opportunity,” he finally admitted.

  I rubbed my forehead. I still had the fucking vampires to deal with, not to mention whoever the hell had called up that damn portal to drop the oversized tree.

  “Can you figure out a way to track the portal from tonight?” I asked my father.

  He shook his head and I groaned. “I guess I should have asked a few more questions of the talking tree.”

  Logan gave an annoyed huff, agreeing. I narrowed my eyes at him.

  “I need to eat and rest,” I said with a sigh, standing and turning to walk out.

  “Olivia,” my father called out, “what about your mother?”

  “What about her?” I asked, facing him.

  He rose. “You are going to leave her behind?” he pushed, his posture held stiff.

  “What would you prefer me to do? Kill her?” I’d have really liked to do that.

  “She may regain her senses if allowed to escape.”

  I groaned, rubbing the back of my neck. “Look, I don’t know what happened exactly to get everyone thrown into that hellhole of a dimension, but what I do know is that she and you sold me into slavery. So I don’t feel any lingering maternal attachment to the bitch.”

  He didn’t like that answer, but I wasn’t backing down. If I hadn’t needed him to escape from the red hell, I’m not sure I would have saved him, either. Even if he was growing on me, a little.

  His jaw ground out the usually unspoken words between us, “Will you ever forgive me for that?”

  I sighed, my shoulders slumping. “I don’t know. Some scars don’t ever heal, and all the ones inflicted by Selena never have.”

  “I did it to save you. Look around at all you have because of what I did.”

  I barked out a laugh, taking a step closer to him. “You are not responsible for any of this! I crawled my way out of Selena’s clutches, I built an empire, and you are riding my coattails. Do. Not. Forget. It.”

  With that I left. Logan’s emotions were calm compared to my own tornado of shit. He lingered and while I could have tapped in to see what he was saying, I decided not to. He knew how I felt about this situation and I felt his agreement in the mate bond.

  Tossing off my clothing onto the floor, I climbed into bed. Logan would take issue with me not showering, but I didn’t give a shit.

  Chapter 3

  I woke up to arguing. The voices were too far away for me to hear what was being yelled about. Another little voice yelled out. I turned to see Ginny sitting up in her crib, deadpan staring at the monitor. With a groan, I tossed on Logan’s shirt and went to pick up the princess.

  My back pulled, but it felt better—not perfect, but hopefully before Amin showed up I’d be back to normal. Whatever normal was for me.

  Padding down the stairs with a changed and clean baby, I heard Jerry yelling, “Why didn’t you call me?”

  “It wasn’t my decision,” Logan hollered back.

  “The djinn are not to be trusted!” Jerry yelled.

  “Enough,” I said softly, rounding into the kitchen. “I did what I had to, Jerry. We don’t know what was powerful enough to open a portal and bring over a massive killing tree. I’m not going to sit by when I need to access the rest of my power.”

  “Why didn’t you call me?” Jerry pleaded as I set Ginny in her highchair.

  “It’s not your decision to make,” I echoed Logan’s earlier words. “Do you have access to a coven I don’t know about?”

  Jerry’s mouth shut quickly before he shook his head.

  “I’m aware it’s a gamble. Worst case, I get stuck in the red hell for a week and I kill Amin on my return trip,” I told Jerry with a shrug.

  He shook his head, still not liking it.

  “I kill Amin,” Logan corrected.

  I laughed, “Fine, I’ll give you that one.”

  “How’s your back?” Logan asked.

  “Better, hopefully when Amin shows up I’ll be back to fighting shape.”

  Logan nodded and we passed the rest of breakfast in silence. Having nothing on the schedule, we settled on the couch while Ginny played with her toys.

  …

  I had fallen asleep in the nursery rocking chair with a warm, sleeping Ginny nestled on my chest. Logan’s potent concern cascaded through the mate bond and jerked me awake. Blinking to clear my exhausted gaze, I carefully eased Ginny down into her crib and headed to our office after grabbing her monitor.

  I found Logan staring intently at his computer.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked, rubbing sleep from my eyes, setting down the baby monitor on his desk.

  “Mal is at the gate,” he rumbled, his caramel gaze pinning me.

  I went to stand behind him, leaning over his shoulder and seeing her standing next to a dark vehicle. She had her left arm across her stomach, then shifted her weight and shoved both of her hands into her jacket pockets. Her shoulders arched forward before she finally settled, her arms crossed over her chest.

  “She’s nervous. Who else is in the car?” I asked.

  “She said friends,” Logan answered.

  “What did you tell her?”

  “That with the unrest with the vampires, we will meet them outside the gate.”

  I nodded. “Let’s not keep our guest waiting.”

  Logan hadn’t bothered to change out of his track pants. I had pulled on jeans, a bra, a black top, dual guns, a sword, and throwing knives—just your usual casual attire for quiet day at home. I still needed to call Myrtle about a damn flamethrower.

  Logan raised a caramel eyebrow at me as I stomped down the steps next to him to the front door. “Really?” He asked.

  “Really. Did you give Ali the baby monitor?” I had checked the office, but hadn’t seen it.

  He nodded.

  “Alright, let’s go greet our friends.” I rubbed my hands together, equal parts excited and nervous. We had extended Mal protection, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be used as bait to lure us out and kill us.

  Mal and I had met at Kitten. She worked security there part time, when not working her full-time security gig at the Centennial House, which no longer existed.

  Logan and I had granted her protection when she gave her blood to save Ginny. It was a complicated relationship, to say the least. Especially since Logan had killed Tate, who Mal had confessed to be in love with. Tate had known Zachariah’s plans to kidnap me and done nothing. His death was to be expected.

  Logan and I stopped in front of the guard gate, using the small door to the side. He held the door while I walked through, arms crossed, smile lacking.

  “Finally,” Mal complained, forcing a smile. “I tried explaining to this guy who I was.” She waved at the guard gate.

  “He knows who you are,” I told her, relaxing my arms. “Who’s in the car?” I tilted my chin at the black and expensive town car.

  “Friends, they want to meet you,” Mal said, her shifting gaze and wavering voice only confirming what I had
seen on the monitor.

  “Well, here I am.” I opened my arms, letting them fall with an irritated thud.

  “It’s a little exposed,” Mal tried, casting a look around. I could just feel her reaching for an excuse to get the unknown vampire into my house. Not going to happen.

  I sighed. “Look Mal, I get it. You have to do what they say, but I’m done playing games and since the assholes in the car can hear that, they have sixty seconds to show themselves or get off my lawn.” Alright, technically my driveway, well our driveway, but whatever.

  The driver’s door opened, and Mal moved quickly to get out of the way.

  A towering, thin vampire with aviator glasses and a skinny black tie and black suit stepped out, unfolding his body slowly from the town car. I was seriously wondering how he had fit.

  He closed the door silently, his face drawn. I was registering zero emotion from him. I took a step closer to Logan; this guy was creeping me the hell out.

  “This is Igor,” Mal said submissively, “Summoner of the Vampire High Council.”

  I felt Logan’s irritation and annoyance, or maybe that was my own?

  “Executioner, Alpha.” Igor slightly bowed. “I am here to collect you for the Vampire High Council,” he said, removing his glasses to reveal washed out blue eyes.

  “Sure, just let us get our car.” I started to back away.

  “No. I will take you,” Igor stated in the same inflectionless tone.

  “That’s not going to work,” I said, resting my hands on my hips.

  “This is the way it is done.”

  “Not on my turf, especially not after the shit we’ve gone through with vamps. I’ll agree to meeting on your terms, but no way in hell am I giving up my ability to leave.”

  Igor had no words. Apparently, people didn’t say no to him often.

  “I will need to make a call,” he finally came up with.

  “Feel free.” Logan and I shared a look, neither of us expecting this to end well.

  Mal came to stand with us. “Are you alright?” Logan asked.

  She nodded, casting a fearful glance over her shoulder. “Raphael assured me they wouldn’t harm me, and that going against their wishes would be far worse.”

  I nodded, “Good. We haven’t heard from him.”

  “He was ordered to stay out of it,” Mal shrugged.

  “Not unexpected,” Logan commented, watching the dark vehicle closely.

  I doubted Igor was actually stupid enough to call; he was probably texting.

  Are we doing this? Logan asked.

  I don’t know. We don’t owe them anything. It’s certainly a risk, but leaving them to stew is almost worse.

  Logan nodded and Igor opened his door.

  “They will allow you to follow us,” he announced. I rolled my eyes.

  “Wonderful,” I groaned. I turned, heading back through the iron gate and to the garage.

  “You need anything else?” Logan asked.

  I shrugged. “I never called Myrtle for my flamethrower.”

  Logan laughed, using the fingerprint scanner followed by the keypad to open the large garage door.

  “I didn’t think you were serious about that,” he said, heading to my SUV.

  “I was exceptionally serious. I actually wonder why I haven’t gotten one sooner.”

  I felt Logan’s gaze on me as I slipped into the passenger seat. “What?”

  “A flamethrower? Where are we going to keep that?” Logan asked logically.

  “The garage?”

  “Our insurance policy can’t handle that,” he complained, setting the car into drive after watching the garage door close firmly.

  I patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry, honey, I can afford it.”

  He laughed, waiting for the iron gates to open.

  “I guess I should let everyone know what’s going on,” I muttered, calling Ali.

  She answered immediately. “Are you going?” she demanded.

  I tilted my head, confused. “How did you know?”

  “Um, Tommy and I were listening.”

  I should have guessed. “Yes, we are going. Flood the gates with electricity once we leave. I don’t trust these fuckers.”

  “Then why are you going?” Tommy bit out. He was not doing well with this—Grams’s death, me leaving.

  “I’m hoping that dealing with them head on will eliminate problems down the road,” I told him honestly.

  “The vampires can’t be trusted,” he reminded me in an annoyed tone.

  “I’m aware, but we are all Supernaturals in the end. I’m taking the meeting.” End of discussion, kid.

  “Fine,” Tommy grunted. “I’ll be tracking you.”

  “I’d expect nothing less. And get Mal a ride back to Raphael, please,” I added. Normally, I’d have her go inside with the kids, but not right now. I hoped I could trust her again some day, but I knew the damage had been done. What if we hadn’t refused her entrance past the gate? Would she have brought Igor into my home with the children? I didn’t want to think about that.

  I terminated the call, sitting back with a sigh. “It’s possible he is still listening. He has pulled that trick on me more than once,” Logan warned warily.

  I laughed. “Ugh, sometimes I wonder if I fucked up bringing him into the Council’s business.”

  Logan adjusted his seat, and I knew he wondered the same thing. “You think he is too young,” I stated. It wasn’t a question.

  Logan sighed. “How did you meet Tommy?”

  “I didn’t meet him, I rescued him,” I answered, looking out the window. “It was shortly after I had taken over the Council. I had Grams handcuffed in the bathroom to get her to sober up.” The memory caused a painful cut across my heart; I pushed on, clearing my throat. “An anonymous tip came in that this woman posing as a foster parent was taking ‘gifted’ children and selling them off.”

  “Gifted?” Logan questioned.

  “Succubi, sirens, and a few diluted demigods.”

  “Powerless groups.”

  I grunted my annoyance and agreement. “Anyways, I needed a break from babysitting Grams, so I went to investigate.”

  I could still remember the stench from that rundown farm. There wasn’t a great way to approach it in secret. I opted for waiting until close to midnight—darkness would give me cover, and if I was caught, midnight wasn’t an unusual time to be out for a Supernatural. The farm was located almost two hours from the mansion, far outside the city. The simple, ranch-style home was well kept up, the front porch lit up by the powerful light above the front door.

  I stepped out of my black car and an old hound dog raised his head, looking over at me with disinterest before lying back down.

  My steps were loud against the crisp grass. The front steps groaned under my approach. I knocked on the powder blue screen door, the boom echoing loudly before I stepped back, flexing my hands. I really needed a good fight.

  Voices yelled inside. Amidst the scuffling, a small head peeked up, pushing the flowered curtain out of the way to look me over from the window.

  I should have scared the dark haired and dark skinned boy that looked over my dual swords, leather jacket, and throwing knives strapped to my thigh. His ebony eyes looked into my own, not with excitement as I thought a young kid should, but with knowledge far beyond his years.

  His head disappeared and there was a loud thump. My gaze jerked up to the dark haired, pale skinned woman who replaced him.

  “You ain’t got no business here,” she said through the window, not opening the door.

  “That assumes you know who I am,” I answered softly.

  “You with the city.”

  “Nope.”

  “I’m outside the city limits. These kids mine.”

  I tilted my head. “Open the door.”

  “Naw, you get out of here or I’ll call the cops.”

  I shrugged, “Go ahead.”

  The human police didn’t scare me, even if
they were annoying.

  She took another look over my clothing. “You ain’t with the foster department.”

  I smiled, “Nope.”

  She swallowed and I could scent her sweat and fear. “Who—who you with?”

  “My name is Olivia. I am head of the Supernatural Council. I’ve had a complaint that you have what is mine.”

  Her eyes widened. “The Council, I thought — I thought — a vampire runs them.”

  “A vampire ran it,” I corrected, leaning against the glass separating us.

  “I’m human,” she recovered, brushing back her oily hair. “You can’t touch me.”

  I gave her a soft laugh, straightening up before I punched through the glass and clamped down around her throat.

  “Gotcha,” I whispered to her purpling form…

  I cleared my throat and turned to Logan, pushing the rest of those memories away.

  “It turned out a human had in fact figured out a way to tell who was Supernatural, and was selling them for pay for play.”

  “How old was Tommy?” Logan asked, disgust and horror filtering through the mate bond.

  “Eight,” I answered. “He had never gone to school, never had anyone be kind to him. He wouldn’t even speak for the first year.”

  “How did you get him to come around?” Logan asked, seamlessly following the vampires in front of us.

  “Video games. I was picking up pizza and he became entranced with this arcade game. I must have spent a hundred dollars that night, eating the pizza as he played. As soon as I had enough money, I bought him every game system he ever wanted.”

  Logan nodded. “I didn’t realize.”

  I shrugged, watching the tail lights of the vampires at a red light.

  “I found Connie there, too, chained down to a bed in the basement,” I added.

  Logan sighed, “Do they all have such stories?”

  “Yes,” I answered. “Every last one of them has some horrific past. I suppose that’s why I’m drawn to them.”

  Logan reached over, pulling my hand into his as he made the left turn with one hand.

  “Your father seems intent on saving your mother.”

  I grunted in agreement. “I’m not saving her.”

  “I know,” Logan answered.

  “She sold me into slavery.”