RAFE'S LAIR (23 page)

                                 CHAPTER 35

      Rafe pulled up at the address the woman had given him and threw down his kickstand as fast as he could. He jumped off his bike and went running for the door. He was about to go straight in and to hell with what was waiting for him on the other side when Michael grabbed his arm. Rafe immediately turned on him.

    "Rafe stop! Think about this.
You’re no good to Ava dead." Michael told him blocking his punch.

    "Let me go Michael Ava needs me." Rafe grated out.

    "Yeah I know she needs you man, but she needs you alive. So let's do this smart so you walk out of here with her instead of being carried out dead."

    "And what exactl
y do you suggest?"

Michael looked up at the roof. "There's a sky light up there. Let me get up there and cover you. The others are on their way. Try to stall until the Calvary gets here okay?"

    "Fine for now, but if it looks like Ava is in danger, all bets are off."

Michael nodded his agreement. "Understood." He turned and started making his way to the roof while he dialed Marcus and had him get everyone here ASAP.

Rafe slowly walked into the warehouse keeping all his senses on high alert. He spotted Ava immediately. She was tied to a chair towards the back. He looked up; she would be out of view of the sky lights, so Michael would be of no help unless he could get her out of the chair. Ava was struggling against her bonds trying to say something, but he couldn't tell what because of the tape across her mouth. Rafe wasted no more time. He went straight to his mate, to hell with the consequences.

    "Easy beautiful I have you now; let me get you out of these ropes."

Rafe started working the knots talking softly to Ava. She was struggling more now and trying to talk louder shaking her head up and down. Just as Rafe looked back up into his mates face, he realized the fatal error he'd just made. He was so focused on Ava; he wasn't paying attention on the vampire coming up behind him. He felt the barrel of her gun press into his head as he looked at the tears running down his mate’s cheeks.

    "I'm so sorry baby." Rafe said to Ava reaching up and wiping the tears off her beautiful face. Ava leaned her face into
Rafe's hand closing her eyes. He stroked his thumb across her tape covered lips.

    "Hands out where I can see them." The vampire said to him.

Rafe did as he was told never taking his eyes off Ava. "I love you beautiful. No matter what happens always remember that baby." Rafe told his mate just in case he didn't make it out of this alive with her. No matter what Ava would live through this. He silently made that promise to himself and to her as well.

    "That's so sweet." the vamp threw a set of chains a
t Rafe. "Cuff your right hand and put them back where I can see them."

Rafe looked down at the chains lying next to him. Damn they actually looked like they might be able to hold him. The vampire laughed behind him and he saw his Ava look up at her and gro
wl. Rafe had to smile at his brave little mate. Rafe picked up the cuffs and cuffed his hand, then brought them back up beside his head.

    "Very good. Now cuff the other hand behind your back."

Once again Rafe did as he was told. The vampire moved in and keeping the gun pressed to his head, she tightened the restraints. So much for leaving them loose to get leverage to break them. She then quickly chained his feet so he couldn't walk.

Great now t
hey were royally fucked
Ava thought. Rafe was still looking at her and regret burned in his emerald eyes. That's when it hit her. She looked back up at the woman, then back down at Rafe. They had the same eyes! Their hair was the same blue black as well. She kept looking between the two noticing all the similarities they shared.

Rachel started laughing at Rafe's mate. "It seems your mate has made a connection Rafael." Rachel said as she walked around behind the girl. The moment she got in Rafe's line of sig
ht, she saw the recognition in his eyes as well. "Hello big brother. Have you missed me?" Rachel ask.

    "It can't be." Rafe said shaking his head not believing what he saw. "You died in the plane crash. You left with our parents. I watched you board the
plane with them."

Rafe was trying to process what he was seeing. His little sister Rachel was the vampire following him? It made perfect sense now though. That was why he and Sloan recognized part of the scent, but couldn't figure out why. Rachel was his s
ister; she was of Rafe's blood line. Their familial scent was close because they came from the same genes. The part of the scent that they recognized was the same part of his scent that came from their parents. It was just slightly different than his own and that's the part they were able to pick up. But because Rachel and Rafe were so close genetically, neither one of them were able to dissect it enough to identify it.

    "You did watch me board that plane. The plane crashed on landing and killed the last
of my family all because of you Rafe." Rachel told him.

    "Because of me? How? Rachel I was devastated when mom and dad left for Italy."

    "They left because of you Rafe!" She yelled at him. "Because you chose your precious League over your own blood. You never gave Roman a fair trial."

Rafe couldn
’t believe what Rachel was accusing him of. Rafe shook his head at the sister he once doted on, that he once sang to sleep every morning and chased away the monsters when they woke her in the middle of the day. She would always wake him up by tip toeing into his room and crawl into his bed. She would curl up against him and pet his cheek to fall back to sleep. She was the apple of his eye and he lived to make her happy. She had Rafe and Roman wrapped around her little finger. They had always given her everything she ever wanted and would do absolutely anything for her.

    "I did what I had to do Rachel!" He yelled back at her. "Roman was a killer. I watched him kill a woman. Do you get that? What I found wasn'
t our brother anymore. What would you have me do? Let him continue killing until another League who didn't love him as I did caught him? Do you think he would have gotten a fair trial then? Do you think they would have tried to ease the loss to our parents as I did?"

    "You could have brought him to daddy." Rachel yelled back. "Daddy would have taken him home to the villa to cure him. Momma and daddy would have taken care of him, they would have made him better again and you didn't even let them try. You
killed him without even caring! All because you cared what your League thought instead of what your family needed. What we deserved!"

    "Rachel listen to yourself. Roman killed a woman and that's the one we know about. He had
to have been killing for a while from what I saw of him. He was a monster Rachel. When Roman first saw me, he didn't even know who I was. There's no way we could have saved him no mat..."

Rachel cut Rafe off. "You didn't even try!" She shouted at him wavi
ng the gun at him then swinging it back to Ava.

Rafe kept his eyes trained on the gun. "Rachel." he breathed when she swung it back to Ava. Ave closed her eyes and tried to curl up into a tiny little ball when she felt it back to her head. She squeaked tha
t little squeak he now loved when Rachel actually pressed it back into her head. Dear Fates she was killing him. He needed to hold his mate and take away her fear.

    "It's okay baby. I'm right here just look at me beautiful." He whispered to his mate. Wh
en she opened her eyes again, he smiled at her. "That's my good girl. Don't take your eyes off me Ava, just focus on me okay."

Ava nodded her head at him as another tear slipped down her cheek. Fuck, his head was going to explode before he ever got her out
of here, and once he did, he wasn't going to let her out of his sight ever again. Seeing her so scared was breaking his heart and he didn't know how much more he could take.

    "He was our brother and you turned your back on him." Rachel continued yellin
g at him not even noticing.

    "Like you and mom and dad turned your backs on me?" Rafe yelled back at her. "Tell me Rachel did I make Roman turn into a monster? I was training him to be a member of my team. I was proud to call him little brother, and I f
ind a monster in my brother's body instead. Do you think it was easy for me to take him to trial? Do you think I don't regret every damned day what I did? Do you think I don't question myself every fucking day the decision I made? Do you think he doesn't haunt me every fucking day in my dreams?"

    "You ruined our family Rafe. They loved you and you destroyed our family!"

    "If they loved me so much they should have stood beside me when I needed them the most Rachel. I have suffered
every
waking night knowing I've lost the only people that have mattered to me!
Every
damn night I have grieved for you!
All
of you!"

Ava was listening to Rafe and apparently, his sister go back and forth, and her heart broke for both of them. So much pain caused to so many peo
ple because of one man who was apparently very ill. She couldn't even imagine the loss they all must feel. Especially the pain and guilt Rafe felt. She wanted to hold Rafe and take his pain away. He'd lost his entire family all because of his brother and he blamed himself for their deaths.

Rafe was practically begging his sister for forgiveness for a crime he didn't even commit and still she blamed him. Ava needed to do something to make him better, but she didn't know what. She promised herself that if the
y ever got out of this, she was never going to run from him again. She would tell him exactly how she felt about him no matter what his reaction might be. She would tell him that she loved him and that she always would. She prayed that he wouldn't reject her then and that her love would be enough to ease some of his turmoil.

Rafe looked at Ava and saw tears pouring down her face and his heart broke. She shouldn't be here. He didn't want her knowing of his failure. He needed to get her out of here and then h
e would deal with his sister. A sister he thought died long ago with the rest of his family. He looked back up at his sister and pleaded with her.

    "Rachel listen to me. Don't do this. Don't hurt her. Let Ava go she doesn't know anything about this. Rac
hel don't let another innocent life be ruined because you want revenge against me. I promise you I won't fight you. You want to kill me, I'll let you, but you let her go first."

Rafe looked back down at his mate and saw her frantically shaking her head. Sh
e was trying to yell at him and he fell in love with her even more. His brave little mate didn't want to let him go either. He smiled at her when she stomped her feet to get his attention and make him listen to her. He mouthed that he loved her one more time and that made her growl at him louder. Damn he didn't know how he had ever lived without her.

    "That's where your wrong brother. She knows that you
’re not human."

Ava watched Rafe's eyes go wide while he sucked in a breath like he'd been hit. She gro
wled at him to get his attention so he could assure her that his sister really was crazy. He wouldn't look at her and the psycho laughed and continued talking.

    "Oh yes dear Rafael she knows exactly what you are, and you just confirmed it for her. She knows that she's your mate because the Fates have cursed you for killing our brother and destroying our family. And that's the only reason you want her."

Ava growled at Rafe again to get his attention, and he still ignored her.

No. No his sister couldn't be doing this. Ava can't find out what he is like this.
Rafe thought. There was no doubt he would lose his beautiful now. He couldn't look at her even though he knew she was trying to get his attention. Shame, fear, and anger burned inside him, but most of all regret. He hadn't had enough time with her yet.

He hadn't gotten to learn all the cute little things about her that he knew he would fall in love with. He ha
dn't been able to show her who he was and that he would always love her. He would always cherish her.  Forever wouldn't have been enough time, but now he didn't think he had a chance in hell for that. It really did seem he was cursed to suffer for his failure to those he loved.

    "No please don't do this Rachel! Rach, my little sis do whatever you want to me, but please I'm begging you, let her go."

    "It's too late. She'll go to her grave knowing you’re the one who killed her."

Rafe felt his heart stop
. He couldn't breathe, his chest was so tight. For the first time in his life, Rafe felt true fear and it took his mate's life being threatened to do it. He started praying with everything he had to everything he knew. He wouldn't lose his Ava like this no matter what he had to do. Marcus was right there was no way he could survive the death of his mate. Not now, not ever. He would not let it happen! Rafe looked back at his Ava and silently begged her to forgive him while Rachel talked to him. He wouldn't lose her, he couldn't lose her.