Redemption of Fate (Fate Series Book 2) (12 page)

After what felt like an eternity, Cami finally responded. “I’m a soldier; not some fragile little girl, Jared. I had Dante completely under control before you showed up. I can take a few licks. I’ve been fighting longer than you’ve been alive and I don’t need you or anyone else to protect me. Now if you don’t mind, can you leave me alone so I can take a shower?”
 

Shit!
Now she was thinking of being naked around Jared and had no doubt put a similar thought into his head. He hadn’t made much of attempt to mask his feelings for her and she didn’t know how much more she could take. The little cat and mouse game between them had been going on for far too long and the whole situation pissed her off. She was no mouse, but damned if she wasn’t always running from him.
 

Employing the only strategy she had to combat her feelings for Jared, she grasped a hold of her anger. Anger was so much easier to deal with than whatever it was he made her feel. Anger she understood; anger she could use.
 

Without waiting for his answer, she went into her private bathroom, shut the door and turned the shower on full blast; silently willing him to take the hint and leave her alone. But when she looked in the mirror and touched her lips again, her heart and body ached for something entirely different. Before she could stop herself, just for a moment, she wondered what it would have been like to feel Jared’s mouth there instead of Dante’s.

✧

“You seem to be in a good mood, my son,” William said as he looked up from the pile of papers he was reviewing.
 

Jared flopped down in the chair across the desk from his father, the shit-eating grin he’d gotten when he saw Cami’s vision of kissing him still plastered on his face. As irresistible as the temptation was, he blocked her stream of consciousness and walked away when she started to undress. It would have been too much of an invasion; one he guessed she would be unlikely to forgive and when he finally did see her, he wanted it to be her choice; a gift, not a stolen glance through her thoughts.
 

“I guess I am,” he replied simply as he replayed the image in his mind.

“I see; I suppose any young man would be happy about that,” William laughed, shaking his head in an attempt to clear the images from his mind. Having been concentrating on his work, William’s relaxed mental shields had allowed some of Jared’s thoughts to slip through.

“Is it fair to say you have made some progress with the lovely Ms. Kline?”

“Not exactly; but at least I know she was thinking about something other than being angry with me. I have a new problem though; another soldier, Dante or something,” Jared said, his jealously flaring as he said the name.

“Ms. Kline is a beautiful woman; you have to know you were not the first man to pursue her, nor will you be the last. All you can truly hope for is that you are the one she accepts,” William responded as he started signing papers again.

“Dad; you do realize what year it is, right? I know you’re old, but you don’t have to talk like it all the time.”

“Old habits, my son, very old habits, but I will do my best to speak with a more modern dialect. Is that cool?” William asked sounding rather awkward in his attempt.

“Yeah, Dad; it’s cool, and sure, I knew other guys would be interested, but it’s a whole different thing to see it happening. That bastard kissed her, but she only let him because she sensed me and got distracted.”

“And how did you respond?” William asked suspiciously.

“I know I shouldn’t have interfered. I’m sorry; I just lost it for a minute.”

“Jared, as a member of the High Family, you cannot afford to act so impulsively. Our people are entering very perilous times and we must set an appropriate example,” William responded firmly, though he fully understood his son’s impulse, possessing a rather jealous nature himself, when it came to Rebecca.

“I know; it was stupid and it just made her mad. She has feelings for me, I know it; I see glimpses of it whenever I’m around her, but she fights it so hard and I don’t know if it’s because she feels guilty or because she’s afraid. Maybe it’s both,” Jared said as he ran a hand through his hair. He definitely understood her guilt. Though his parents hadn’t told him about Alexa until he was nearly eight years old, he felt as though he had been waiting his whole life to find her. Yet when the time finally came, he couldn’t see anything but Cami. And now his only sister was missing, and still his thoughts were consumed by another.

“Anything truly worth having is worth fighting for, my son,” William said with sympathy. “I must admit that, while I am happy for you, I do envy you finding your mate at so young an age. Your mother makes me whole and I spent centuries feeling lost without her. If Ms. Kline is your true mate, I am confident you will find a way to convince her.”
 

Jared stood and made his way to the door. “Thanks, Dad,” he said receiving a knowing smile from his father before he sped off. As he passed through the corridor, his mind drifted back to Cami in the training center, remembering the fluid, graceful moves of her lithe body. He was thankful to arrive at his suite as the images sent his blood rushing south.
 

He flopped down on the bed, putting his arms behind his head as he laid back and let the images play, thoroughly enjoying the things she did to him until a vision he had hoped to forget jumped to the forefront of his mind. Jared felt the heat of anger rushing over his body as he relived the moment when Dante stole something which should have belonged to him; a moment which should have been his, and his alone. Cami’s first kiss.

Realizing that he was literally shaking, Jared sat up in an attempt to calm down. It was the same way he’d felt before he’d foolishly attacked Dante. As much as it injured his pride to admit, the much older vampire could have easily kicked his ass and then some. More than that, interfering made it look as if he thought Cami was too weak to protect herself. Though he knew he didn’t feel that way at all, his actions told her a different story; a story which made her more angry with him than ever.

The anger was a defense mechanism for Cami; that much was evident. It was her go-to emotion whenever her attraction to Jared overwhelmed her. Lying there thinking, Jared didn’t know what it was going to take to get Cami to stop fighting and let him in; but he was damn certain he would wait as long as it took.

CHAPTER 11 -
Deadly Discovery

Alexa’s ethereal form followed closely behind her mate as he was led into Lucias’s office. Despite the overt silence, Alexa could hear Lucias’s thoughts loud and clear. She wasn’t certain if the ability was something common to anyone who passed on or if it was a continuation and amplification of the power from when she was still alive. After all, vampire thoughts had been beyond the reach of her telepathy when she lived.
 

As they moved, she strained to keep her focus on Ethan; his stream of consciousness having remained curiously quiet since he’d wakened. It then dawned on her that she couldn’t hear him because he wasn’t thinking of anything; his mind functioning like a blank slate waiting to be written on by the one who held the chalk.
 

She was amazed by the ease with which she accepted this new state of being. Of course, before, she had expected to disappear entirely, to be forever lost in the black of nothingness while her body rotted in the ground or was reduced to ashes. Any form of continued existence felt like a gift. She rejoiced in the thought that she could stay close this way, see Chloe grow up, have a small piece of all the things she was resigned to lose. Yet somehow, deep down, she knew it could not last. The light would call upon her again and she would eventually become powerless to resist its pull.

When the door to Lucias’s office closed behind her, Alexa heard a familiar voice call out to her.

“Hello, sweet child.”
 

Alexa turned to see a rather hazy version of a familiar face.
 

“Barb!” she yelled out, though she wasn’t certain if the sound was only in her own mind or if Barb was really even there. Either way, if she had still been in a corporeal form, Alexa would have tried to throw her arms around the sweet woman.
 

“It is mighty good to see you, girl. Been a tough week,” the old woman said with a touch of sadness in her voice.

“Is this real?” Alexa asked, her voice full of wonder.

“As real as anything else,” Barb replied simply.

“What is this place? Where are we?” Alexa questioned; not sure if she meant in the spiritual sense or the actual location of the facility where Ethan was being held.
 

“You and I, we’re neither here nor there at the moment. We’re in the space between planes.”

“What does that mean? What planes?”

“There’s the plane of the living for when we’re in our bodies, and then there’s the plane of the dead for the soul. I’m simplifying; of course it’s a little more complicated, but that’s nothing for you to worry yourself with.”

“What’s on the other side, in the place for the dead? Why aren’t we there?” Alexa pressed further.

“I reckon you already know why you didn’t pass on; don’t you, child? You wouldn’t let him go, and you were right not to; there’s still work for you to do in that life.”

“But how can I go back? I died days ago and I’ve tried to talk to him, to touch him like this, but he can’t feel me. He can’t hear me.”

“Ah, don’t you fret about it; that’ll get worked out shortly. But before then, I want you to come with me; you need to see some things here.”

“I’m afraid to leave him; he’s barely hanging on in there. I still feel the bond, but it’s so faint. I’m not sure it can withstand any distance,” Alexa said, looking back to Ethan as he sat across from Lucias, in silence.

“Distance doesn’t mean anything here; you can move from one place to another with just a thought. So long as you don’t pass through the light to the other side, the bond will remain and grow stronger. That’s the way it is for true soul mates,” Barb assured her.

“I can go anywhere?”

“Any place you can hold in your mind.”

With that, Alexa’s thoughts immediately turned to Chloe. “Then I can go see Chloe now,” she said, her aura practically vibrating with anticipation.

“You’ll be back with our sweet baby soon enough, but I need you to stay here with me a bit longer. Don’t worry child, everything is going to turn out right as rain; just follow me,” Barb said before her form disappeared through the closed door. Alexa hesitantly followed, having to make multiple attempts before convincing herself that she could, in fact, pass through the solid door.
 

Barb led Alexa on through Lucias’s facility, passing by various rooms with observation windows. They paused momentarily to look in each one, revealing soldiers training with a multitude of weapons, before moving on to another wing which appeared to be a science lab. In those rooms, the views were far more disturbing.
 

“Take note of all of this,” Barb said as she led on. “The information will be important when you go back.”

“Go back? What do you mean?” Alexa asked just before she started to feel a strange tug. “Barb, what’s happening to me?”

“Don’t fight it, child. It’s time now and don’t you worry; I’ll keep an eye on our boy while you’re gone. Even in this form, I still have some power,” she replied as Alexa’s form slowly disappeared.

✧

Cami stepped out of the shower into the fog filling the room. She had practically scalded herself in an attempt at distraction after the fiasco in the training center. As she looked in the mirror across the bathroom, her skin resembled that of a lobster, but the angry pink glow was fading quickly as her body’s rapid healing kicked in.

She pulled a towel from the hook next to the shower and stepped up to the vanity for a closer look at her face. There was no denying how closely she resembled her mother, whose beauty was revered amongst their kind; but unlike her mother, Cami did nothing to accentuate it. With the exception of Ethan’s wedding, she always dressed in black fatigues, kept her hair up tight, and never wore any makeup. Her only feminine indulgences were the perfume she applied sparingly, and the skimpy lingerie she wore beneath her combat gear.
 

Looking at her full lips, her thoughts returned to Jared. Her eyelids drifted downward as she brushed her fingertips over her moth. Stopping short, she snapped her eyes open, silently chastising herself yet again for the indulgence.
 

For fuck’s sake; get a grip, Cami. He’s just a man; like every other man, so forget him and stop acting like an idiot.

She leaned in close and stared into her own eyes as she said aloud, “I have to find my brother; that’s all that matters.”
 

Standing up a bit straighter, feeling resolved and a little more clear-headed, Cami yanked open the drawer beneath the sink with more force than intended, sending its contents scattering across the tile floor. Ignoring the mess, she grabbed a brush and pulled it roughly through her mane of curly hair as she tried to formulate a plan to persuade the commander to send her out with the next security patrol.
 

She returned everything to the drawer and stepped out into her bedroom. The space was much like her; functional, efficient, and relatively cold. The walls were somewhat bare, the only decor in the form of strategically-placed racks and hooks which housed her collection of ancient weapons. Against one wall stood a cabinet filled with the weapons she armed herself with daily. In the closet, there was an array of black combat fatigues and accessories.
 

Cami dressed quickly in her usual ensemble, carefully sheathing a set of short swords across her back and securing matching Glocks at each of her hips. As she reached for the digital panel beside her door, a familiar tone sounded, pulling her eyes to the flashing light above the door; the commander’s signal summoning all The Elite on the grounds to the pit.

✧