Haven 3: Forgotten Sins (2 page)

“This is going to sound hokey, but no spell can interfere with true love. If you can make Nicholas McCarthy remember his love for you, it will break the curse.”

Jonas’s hopes died a painful death with that. “Only one problem with that. He doesn’t love me. This whole mess started because he refused to accept that we were mates. I’m not saying it’s his fault. I alone am responsible for my actions, but he doesn’t love me. So, there is nothing for him to remember.”

“Did he say he doesn’t love you?”

“No, but it doesn’t matter. Why else would he deny our mating?” Nicholas might never have said it forthright, but his actions spoke louder than any words.

“Maybe he did it to protect you,” Stavion offered. “With him being the leader of his own coven, he’s bound to have more than a few enemies. I went through the same thing when I first met Jory, but in the end, I realized the safest place for him was by my side. Maybe McCarthy just didn’t have enough time to realize the same.” Jonas laughed, but it lacked any humor. “I’ve known Nicholas for over two hundred years. Yeah, he was really hurting for time.”

“I’m sure there’s a reason,” Layke said kindly, but without much conviction. “I’m sorry, but unfortunately, we don’t have any other options. The Council has deemed Nicholas a threat to our world and the preternaturals in it. If you can’t break the spell, he’ll be executed with Miss Halstead at the end of the month.” Sighing in defeat, Jonas dropped his head and willed his heart not to shatter. It was a stupid plan, and it would never work. Nicholas felt nothing for him beyond friendship. Hell, he may not even feel that much. What other options did he have, though—sit back and watch the man he loved executed?

“I’ll try.” Normally, spending time with Nicholas was no hardship, but with the man’s overwhelming obsession with all things Malakai, it was slowly killing a little piece of Jonas every day. “What is today anyway?”

“September 17,” Stavion answered immediately.

“Two weeks?” Jonas felt sick all over again. How was he supposed to make Nicholas love him in two weeks? “What do I do?” Layke smiled and held his hands out, palms up. “Be unrelenting in your pursuit.”

* * * *

This was bullshit of the highest caliber. He hadn’t done anything wrong, so why was he locked inside a cabin in the middle of nowhere? Jonas was supposed to be his friend, so why would he do this to him? Why was he keeping Nicholas away from his mate?

Jealousy.
It was the only thing that made sense. Jonas was jealous of what Nicholas and Malakai had. They were all jealous.

Nicholas paused in his pacing when the deadbolt slid back and the front door of the cabin opened. “Where is my mate?” He asked the same question every time Jonas returned from wherever he went, and every time he received the same answer.

“With
his
mates where you can’t get to him.” Jonas sounded exasperated as he pushed his dark hair back from his face and sighed.

“He belongs to me, though.” Nicholas had lost his anger over the situation, and now he just felt hurt and betrayed. “We have been friends for centuries. Why are you doing this to me?” Jonas closed his eyes and breathed deeply several times before turning to relock the door. “I’m trying to help you, Nicholas.”

“Then help me get my mate back. They took him. They took the man I love, and no one will help me get him back.” Jonas was tall, broad in the shoulders, and had muscles to spare. If anyone could help, it was the vampire standing across the room from him. Even the stubborn set of his square jaw said he was a force to be reckoned with.

“You don’t love him.” Jonas slid off his jacket and hung it on the hook by the door. “You met him one time. Everything you’re feeling is because of the curse the witch placed on you. We’ve talked about this.”

Yes, they’d talked about it, but Nicholas didn’t believe a word of it. They were lying to him—trying to trick him because they wanted Malakai for themselves. “What about my coven? What are they doing without me?”

“Elder Cortez is taking responsibility for the Olympia Coven until you are better.” Jonas removed two bags of blood from the fridge, poured them into cups, and placed them in the microwave.

“I don’t need to get
better.
There is nothing wrong with me besides the fact that everyone is trying to keep Malakai away from me.”

The microwave dinged, and Jonas turned back to remove the cups.

“I’m not going to argue with you anymore. Malakai is not your mate. You barely even know him.”

Setting the cups down on the kitchen table, Jonas plopped down in one of the seats and sighed. “Do you remember when we used to go skinny-dipping in the summer?” Nicholas frowned at the subject change. Jonas was trying to distract him, but it wouldn’t work. “We never did anything like that.” Jonas mirrored his frown and cocked his head to the side. “What about that time we went to Vegas, and you got so drunk you puked in that woman’s handbag?”

“What? Jonas, why are you making these things up?” Rising from his chair, Jonas stalked toward him slowly. “The time I was stabbed with a gold blade? I almost died, and you sat with me the entire time.”

Nicholas shook his head. While garlic, holy water, crucifixes, and silver were purely Hollywood fiction of how to kill a vampire, there were other things that proved quite lethal to them. Silver, steel, or whatever—being stabbed hurt like hell, but they could heal from it.

Gold, however, was toxic to their systems.

A stake through the heart would kill anyone, whether it be human, shifter, or vampire. It didn’t even have to be through the heart.

Vampires could bleed to death if the wound didn’t heal quickly enough.

Nicholas couldn’t remember Jonas ever being stabbed with gold, though. What kind of game was he playing? “This isn’t funny anymore, Jonas.”

“I don’t find it very humorous, either. You said we’re friends, right? Tell me what you remember. We’ve known each other for hundreds of years. Tell me what you remember about us.”

“You’re my guard. We’re friends. You want to make me unhappy by keeping me away from my mate.” Nicholas closed his mouth as his eyebrows drew together. “Why did I just say that?” It was true, but that hadn’t been what he’d wanted to say, and it didn’t answer Jonas’s question at all. Strangely, he couldn’t remember anything else about Jonas or any time spent with him. “What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I remember?”

Jonas smiled sadly and shook his head as he fisted his hands on his hips. “I’ve been trying to tell you for months now. That fucking bitch, Natalie Halstead, cast a spell so that you’d become infatuated with the first person you saw. That person was Malakai.”

“No.” Nicholas took a step back and waved a hand in front of him.

“You’re lying. You’re trying to trick me and make me doubt my feelings for Malakai. She said you would do this.” Jonas arched both eyebrows. “Who said that?”

“I…” Nicholas’s brow furrowed as he concentrated. “I don’t know.”

“Then let me help you remember.” Jonas sounded almost pleading as he advanced toward Nicholas again. “Let me help you.” Stumbling backward, Nicholas shook his head frantically. “This is wrong. Something’s wrong.”

“I know, Nicky,” Jonas cooed. “You don’t have to be scared. We can fix this.” He paused in his steps and held his hand out. “Trust me.”

“W–What did you call me?” The name stirred something inside of him and made his heart flutter, though not uncomfortably. No one ever called him anything but Nicholas or Leader McCarthy. So, why did the nickname sound so familiar coming from Jonas?

“Please, Nicky.” Jonas took a step closer with his hand still outstretched. “Trust me.”

Something tickled at the fringes of his memory, but it disappeared before Nicholas could grasp it. Just a moment ago, he’d been so sure that he knew exactly what was going on, but now he felt confused and…afraid. He didn’t much care for either feeling. “Jonas?”

“We’re going to make this right, but I need your help. Don’t make me beg.”

Tentatively, Nicholas reached out and placed his hand in Jonas’s.

What choice did he have? He had questions, and Jonas was the only one who could give him answers. That didn’t mean he implicitly trusted the man, though. That stupid nickname was making him weak.

“I’m in.” He squeezed Jonas’s hand before releasing it. “But don’t call me Nicky.”

“No, absolutely not.” Stavion shook his head in finality as he shuffled through the papers on his desk. “I can’t have you gallivanting Nicholas McCarthy all over the damn country in his condition.”

“Gallivanting? Who the hell uses that word?” Jonas threw his hands in the air as he paced the floor of Stavion’s office. “He’s starting to realize that something’s wrong. He doesn’t know exactly what, but there are parts of his memory missing, and he knows it. Stavion, I’ve known that man for most of my life, and he can’t remember a single moment of us being together. He’s scared, not dangerous.”

Stavion pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed before looking up at Jonas. “I get that, and I’m sorry. He can’t leave Haven.”

“How the hell am I supposed to save his goddamn life if you won’t let me do what I need to do? You put this on me, and I’m not just going to sit around with my thumb up my ass and hope he remembers on his own.” Jonas could hear the desperation in his voice.

Recreating some of their memories was the only way he could think of to help Nicholas. Haven held none of those memories. To Nicholas, it was just a prison.

“You asked to come here because you couldn’t handle him on your own. You needed extra eyes, ears, and hands to keep him from hurting himself or someone else.” Stavion stood from his chair, rested his palms flat on the desktop, and leaned forward. “He’s not leaving.”

Before Jonas could explode on the coven leader, the office door opened, and Jory walked in with a big smile on his face. “Hey, guys. Why so growly?”

Jonas dipped his head, and Stavion gave his mate a curt greeting.

“We’re just having a little disagreement. Did you need something?” Jory nodded, still smiling brightly. “I need you to stop being such a dick.”

Stavion closed his eyes and groaned before addressing Jory once again. “I’m not being a dick. I’m trying to keep people from getting hurt. Nicholas McCarthy is unstable. I can’t allow him to leave Haven with only Jonas to watch after him.”

“Then send someone with them.” Jory shrugged as he glided across the room to stand beside Jonas. “Jonas is doing everything he can to save his mate’s life. I think the least we can do is help.”

“I knew there was a reason I liked you.” Jonas looked down at Jory and winked. With the little man on his side, he might just win this one, and the knowledge went a long way in lifting his spirits.

Jory winked back and bumped their hips together before returning his attention to his grouchy mate. “Send Raven and Demos with them. Raven will love it, and Demos needs to get his unsocial ass out of the house.”

Stavion glared at them both for a full minute before sighing and dipping his head. “I’m going to regret this,” he mumbled under his breath. “Okay, fine, I’ll send Raven and one of the shifters. I want someone watching McCarthy day and night.”

“He’s a vampire,” Jory said sweetly. “He can’t go out in the day.” Stavion wasn’t appeased, though. “It doesn’t matter. If he wants to badly enough, he’ll find a way, and I want someone able to retrieve him if necessary.”

“He’s not a fucking newspaper.” Jonas growled. Then he took a deep breath and let it out slowly, reining in his emotions. “Okay. Thank you.”

“Don’t fuck this up,” Stavion responded. “Natalie spent some time with the witches in Nevada, so I’m going to send Bannon. I’d rather send Cassius to talk with the covens, but with the new baby and all, it just doesn’t seem fair to ask him to go. Bannon’s the best Tracker I know, but he’s also got a silver tongue when it comes to wheedling information from people.”

“Thank you,” Jonas repeated as he hurried out of the office before Stavion could change his mind. Maybe trying to recreate some of Nicholas’s past wasn’t the best plan in the world, but it was the only one he had. It probably wouldn’t make Nicholas love him, but again, it was all he had.

“Whoa, where’s the fire?” Raven asked as he jumped out of the way to avoid a collision with Jonas.

“Pack your bags. We’re going to Vegas.”

“Really?” A huge grin spread over Raven’s face. “Not that I care, but why are we going to Nevada?”

“I’m going to try to get Nicholas’s memories back, and you’re going to help babysit him.”

Raven’s smile slipped a notch. “Well, that doesn’t sound like nearly as much fun. We’re still going to the casinos, right?” Jonas laughed and clapped the Enforcer on the shoulder. “Yes, we’re going to the casinos, and we’re going to have the time of our lives. I just need an extra set of eyes to make sure that Nicholas doesn’t get himself into too much trouble. Well, no trouble that would land his head on the chopping block with The Council, anyway.”

“Then count me in. Who else is coming with us and when do we leave?”

“Stavion is going to talk to Bannon Murphy, and we leave tomorrow night.”

“How long are we going to be gone?”

Jonas resisted the urge to growl. Raven’s questions were valid, but Jonas had more important things to do. “I’m not exactly sure. We need to make a detour to Washington before we hit Vegas.”

“That’s a hell of a detour, man.”

“We’ll be back before the end of the month. That’s all I can tell you.” He probably should have let Stavion in on that little part of the plan, but he’d been too afraid that the leader would refuse him. It was going to take more than one night and a couple of drinks to open Nicholas’s eyes to what he’d forgotten, though.

Jonas tried to sidestep Raven and continue on his way, but the vampire stopped him again. “Do you think we should take that witch with us?”

“Natalie?” Jonas couldn’t hide his growl this time. “I don’t want that bitch anywhere near Nicholas.”

“No, not the whore in the basement,” Raven said with amusement.

“I meant the new guy. What’s his name?”