Redemption of Fate (Fate Series Book 2) (18 page)

She tossed her head back and let out a low moan as he stretched and filled her completely, her long dark curls spilling down her back, swaying back and forth as he rocked into her over and again. Seeing her hair moving like that, he wondered what Cami would look like with her hair all loose and wild, having only ever seen it pulled back tightly away from her face.
 

Just one thought of Cami and he was right on the edge. Sensing that the stranger in his arms was getting close as well, he increased the pace, pushing into her even deeper as her body started to tremble around him. He put his mouth to her neck, once again sliding his tongue over her vein, preparing it while he waited. When she found her release and cried out, he struck, hard and deep, making her climax exponentially more intense as her essence spilled into his mouth and down his throat, setting off his own orgasm.
 

When her body finally stilled and he had drunk his fill, he swiped his tongue over the puncture marks in her neck, capturing a few stray drops of blood and setting the rapid healing process in motion. He set her down on unsteady legs and kneeled down to look into her eyes as she opened her mouth to speak, no doubt to say something about seeing him again, or how amazing everything had been. Nothing he was interested in hearing, nor would he. Before a sound escaped her lips, he pushed into her mind extracting her memories of him and what they’d done.
 

“Go grab a car and head home for the night, take a nice long bath, watch a movie or something,” he instructed as he moved away, not that he cared, but the memory wipe left most humans feeling disoriented and giving them simple suggestions seemed to help. With the sizable tip he’d tucked into her bra, she wouldn’t need to work for the next week if she didn’t want to.
 

Without a word, she bent down, picked up her purse from the floor and walked straight for the exit. A few steps around the corner, there were several cars lined up which Winslow kept on retainer to transport his girls and the occasional patron who overindulged in his bar.

Dante wasn’t far behind, walking back to his booth only to leave a tip on the table, before slipping out the back. Right as he reached for the door, his supernatural ears perked up so to speak when he heard his name. Turning his head, he focused in on the conversation occurring on the other side of the curtain, which someone was obviously holding open slightly for him to be able to hear.
 

“Is Dante in there?” Layla asked the woman at the door.
 

“Sorry, hon; couldn’t tell you. I haven’t been posted here long, but haven’t seen him,” she lied.
 

One of Blood Runners’ most appealing features was the discretion Winslow required from his staff.
 

“There’s a lot of first-timers in here tonight. You in the mood for anything in particular? I’m sure we could arrange anything you have in mind, boy, girl, both,” the bouncer continued, distracting Layla as Dante disappeared into the night.

CHAPTER 15 -
Hope Renewed

Kaleb leaned against the wall outside his father’s “playroom” staring across the hallway at Ethan. The newest addition to his father’s army of infected soldiers stood as straight as a board with his eyes closed. He never spoke unless spoken to, even when others were talking around him and, when he did speak, his responses were short and to the point. He ate, slept, and trained according to the schedule set for him. The perfect soldier like all newly-infected vampires, but Kaleb knew better.
 

While Ethan was by far the best fighter, easily defeating as many as ten vampires at once during his training sessions, one look in his eyes revealed something more. Even with his irises burning red like all of the others, Kaleb recognized a sadness in them which was utterly familiar to him. It was the look of unyielding grief. Kaleb had seen the same sadness every time he looked in the mirror, the source of it having once been the loss of his brother. But over the years, the wound had slowly healed without him realizing and had been replaced with a longing for something he knew he could never have, and he grieved for the unattainable future. Luckily, his father was incapable of recognizing that type of pain. He would see it as a sign of weakness and Kaleb didn’t care to imagine the punishment which would befall them if Lucias ever noticed.

Kaleb was drawn out of his thoughts by the sounds emanating from behind the closed door and his stomach lurched. He wanted to leave, to go wait for his father in his office where eventually end up anyway, but he knew it wouldn’t be worth the reprimand he’d endure for not being present when expected.
 

Indeed, he suspected that Lucias ordered them to wait there simply because he enjoyed having an audience. While Kaleb had once felt somewhat grateful after his father found his pet human, Molly, her presence and participation in some of his unsavory activities seeming to satisfy his most repulsive urges, he realized the gratitude had been premature.
 

Not only did the woman no longer prevent his father’s killing of innocent humans, she had become his accomplice and Lucias’s appetite for murder paled in comparison to Molly’s. She went out daily, hunting for new victims, like the unfortunate young woman who was currently locked in the room with them, and would lure them to their deaths with promises of any number of things. Her small stature, beautiful face, and charming accent made her seem harmless; the perfect bait.

A final bloodcurdling scream rang out, though the sound was muffled by the thick walls, signaling that playtime was coming to an end as Ethan opened his eyes and moved to stand beside Kaleb.

Several minutes later, the door swung open, the smell of fresh blood filling the air as Lucias stepped out into the hallway, naked from the waist up with exception of the blood streaking down his chin and chest. Kaleb wisely masked his disgust and remained impassive, waiting for his father to speak.

“Ah, yes; I nearly forgot I summoned you,” Lucias said with a smile. The ancient vampire always seemed to be in the best of moods after one of his sessions in that room.
 

Molly sauntered up behind him, completely nude, and handed him a towel.
 

“Here you go, darlin’,” she drawled sweetly as if she and Lucias were just a normal, happy couple.
 

Lucias took it and began wiping the blood from his face, while Molly eyed Ethan and Kaleb hungrily.
 

“I’m gonna go hop in the shower before I fetch a couple of boys to clean up in there. That girl put up a quite a fight; good thing I took these off of her first,” she said holding up a pair of cream and black pumps. “Made sure we were the same size before I brought her home,” she added winking at Kaleb as she slipped on the shoes, stood up on her toes and licked a stray drop of blood from the side of Lucias’s face. Then she headed down the hallway, humming a tune none of them recognized, her naked hips swaying seductively with each click of her newly-acquired heels. Lucias stared after until she was out of sight.

“She truly is exquisite,” he said in a tone akin to admiration to no one in particular.

✧

Back in Lucias’s office, Kaleb and Ethan stood in front of his desk, waiting where he’d left them while he took his time showering. That was his father’s way, always making ridiculous demands to demonstrate his control.

Finally, almost an hour after they’d first started waiting, Lucias emerged, neatly dressed in a fresh gray suit and took a seat in the large wingback chair behind the desk.
 

“Sit,” he commanded, gesturing to the two chairs across from him.
 

The two did as ordered, finding themselves needing to look up at Lucias from their new positions. Another demonstration of power; Lucias had built the platform for his sitting area several inches off the ground while the already short chairs in front remained at ground level, always making him the highest in the room, literally.
 

“Ethan, tell me what you know of the abilities of The Elite. Is there some way they could have escaped from directly under my son’s nose without detection which I am as of yet unaware of, or is it more likely his failure is due to his own competence, or disobedience?” Lucias questioned turning to glare at Kaleb.
 

Ethan cringed inwardly, screaming in his mind not to reveal any more than he already had, but his mouth opened obediently and he began to speak.
 

“There are many powerful vampires amongst them, Sire. I have heard of one who has the ability to shield objects from view,” Ethan replied, his voice in monotone.

Ignoring the fact that this new information relieved Kaleb from responsibility for the mission’s failure, Lucias continued. “Tell me, Ethan; what other powers are amongst them?”

“Forgive me, Sire; I do not know of the others. My sister only recently started speaking to me again and the information came to me by mistake when I overheard her talking to someone else the night I met with your men in Fishers.”

“You are referring to the night you slaughtered three of my soldiers.”

“Yes, Sire,” Ethan responded with no emotion.
 

“No mind,” Lucias said as he stood. “I have given the matter a great deal of thought since our last discussion and it occurred to me that the only way to gain access to their compound is for one of them to let us in. So tell me, Ethan; where can we find one of these so-called soldiers? Your sister, perhaps; but any one will do. They can’t possibly spend all of their time locked away behind the protection of their precious witches. They must go out to feed, at the very least.”

“Blood Runners,” Ethan replied over the blaring in his head. “It’s a nightclub downtown.”

“Ah, yes; I believe I have heard the name before,” Lucias stated as he stepped down from his platform. “Kaleb, go and find Mason. I believe it is time for some of my men to partake in some of the pleasures of Boston’s nightlife.”

Before Kaleb reached the door, Ethan let out a loud groan and fell forward onto his knees as he gripped his head.
 

Kaleb’s eyes shot to Lucias, assuming that his cruel father was simply using the bond to further torment Ethan for his own amusement; but he saw only confusion and interest in his eyes.

“Ethan, what is it? Do you require blood?” Lucias questioned in a tone that could almost be mistaken for concern.

“No,” he replied simply as he struggled to regain control. Inside his mind, one word kept repeating over and again.

Alexa.

“Tell me what is afflicting you, then,” Lucias demanded.

Powerless to deny Lucias’s commands, Ethan responded.
 

“Alexa; my mate.” In one small moment, the tiny remnant of connection he still felt to her blared to life again. “I still feel her.”

Lucias laughed cruelly. “Your mate is dead; do you not recall ripping out her throat?”

In the days that had passed since Ethan awoke, he’d remembered more and more about the time he’d spent as Lucias’s prisoner before his transformation was complete; the most painful piece being what he’d done to his own wife, his one true love, his soul mate. As he stood, though the feeling of it initially warmed his heart, Ethan pushed back from the connection he realized could only be meant to torture him; to remind him of what he’d lost, what he had destroyed with his own hands.
 

Despising the weakness he saw in his highly-prized soldier, Lucias devised a plan to free Ethan from his pointless sense of connection to his dead wife.
 

“Do not despair; I know precisely what you need. For now, go with Kaleb and continue your training until I call for you again

CHAPTER 16 -
A Mother Returned

There was a blaring in her head; the swirling of a variety of voices, which, though familiar, were indistinguishable and unclear. Until one broke through, as clear and crisp as the sound of a newborn baby’s first cry falling upon her anxious mother’s ears.

Open your eyes, Mommy. We are waiting for you.

As if obeying the gentle command, Alexa’s eyelids lifted and she found herself staring into the somewhat blurry face of a beautiful young girl. Alexa blinked rapidly, trying to focus her eyes which were already filling with tears as she struggled desperately to see the most precious sight imaginable; that of the child she had never dared to hope she’d see again.
 

“Your contact lenses; you won’t need them anymore, my darling girl.” she heard her father say from somewhere across the room.
 

Alexa struggled to sit upright, having existed outside her body for so long that it seemed unfamiliar, almost foreign. Attempting to raise a hand to her face, she overestimated the amount of effort the movement required, resulting in an audible thump from the self-inflicted blow to her forehead.

It appears the repression spell has been broken,
William sent telepathically; the fact that she could clearly hear him and Chloe was further testament to the accuracy of his statement.

Moving with slower, more controlled motions, Alexa carefully plucked the lenses from each of her eyes.

“My God,” she whispered in awe as she looked at the world for the first time as a vampire. Her breath hitched as her eyes again fell on Chloe.

Taking in the sight of her daughter with soft chestnut curls cascading over her shoulders, framing a flawless face with pouty pink lips, high cheekbones and, the only feature Alexa truly recognized, large eyes the color of a stormy sea and shaded by an awning of thick lashes, she began to sob. Instead of the bouncing toddler Alexa remembered, Chloe walked into her mother’s waiting arms as a beautiful young woman.

Unable to speak, Alexa continued to weep, clinging to her tightly as Chloe whispered soft words of comfort into her mind.

You’re safe now; you don’t have to be afraid.

It’s not that; it’s just that you’re so grown up and I missed it. I’m so sorry we ever left,
Alexa responded, her sobbing increasing as her guilt took hold.