Redemption of Fate (Fate Series Book 2) (15 page)

Taking his cue, Martinez slipped his ear buds in and cranked up the classical music he used to focus as he thought about the area he wanted to conceal.

“Beckett, get us the hell out of here.” Cami ordered as she watched the hazy mist slide to the ground around them.

✧

Sitting Indian-style on the bed in Chloe’s room, Jared peered at her over his pair of aces. She grinned and laid down a pair of twos. “Sorry; I won again,” she declared not sounding remotely sorry.
 

Jared glanced at the three cards between them, another pair of twos, and the ace of spades.
 

“Tell me, exactly how would you know you won without seeing my cards? You’re supposed to be practicing keeping your shields up, little one, not using your ability to cheat.” He chided playfully.

They’d been playing Texas hold ’em for over an hour. Like hide and seek, it was a simple way to help Chloe learn to control her telepathy, but it served another purpose providing Jared a much-needed distraction. He had been driving himself crazy worrying about his sister and everything with Cami.

“Do you love Aunt Cami?” Chloe asked innocently as she picked up the new set of cards he had dealt.
 

“Why do you ask that?” he responded, reinforcing his mental shields again, already knowing the answer. Chloe was getting stronger by the day and it was getting harder and harder to block her out of his mind.
 

“You think about her like Grandpa Elijah thinks about Grandma, and they’re married. So I figured that must mean you love her.”

“Love is a complicated emotion; besides, you’re not supposed to be listening to my thoughts, remember?” Jared said in an attempt to change the subject.

“I know; but it’s hard sometimes and I get bored. All of the soldiers avoid me; they’re afraid of me. Grandpa William is always busy, and Grandma Jo is always so sad and worried about…” her voice trailed off as she looked down at her hands.

“Worried about what?” Jared asked as he strained to hear her thoughts, finding it impossible to penetrate her powerful shields.

“Lucias,” she said in a whisper. “I’m sorry; I know none of you wanted me to know about him, but he wants to take me away, doesn’t he? Like my parents?” Chloe looked up at Jared with tears coating her long lashes.

Jared pulled Chloe across the bed, putting a comforting arm around her shoulders. “It doesn’t matter what he wants; you are safe here. He can’t find you. I won’t let him find you. I promise I will always protect you and I know everyone here will do whatever it takes to keep you safe.” He whispered as he stroked her wavy chestnut hair.

“I know; but that’s why I’m scared, Uncle Jared. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt because of me.”

Jared squeezed her tighter and sighed, searching for the right words to ease her fears as sounds of motion from outside drew his attention.

“You stay right here, okay? I’ll come back and tuck you in a bit later,” Jared said firmly as he moved towards the door.
 

Jared stopped as he reached the door, surprised to find Chloe smiling, considering their conversation, but he suddenly felt too anxious to ask her why.

Outside the door, Jared focused his senses searching for Cami’s stream of consciousness. The instant he found it his heart hit the floor. She was frightened and sad and, though her thoughts didn’t reveal the reason, he could feel the emotions as surely as if they were his own.

✧

Cami paced the length of the pit while she waited for Commander Claesson to return. He was in the medical wing with the High Commander, Alexa’s father, identifying her body. She’d split before William Ryan was summoned, in no way wanting to be present to witness the unimaginable grief he was about to experience. As it was, she was a hair’s breadth from a total breakdown herself. She’d barely gotten through the team’s debriefing a few minutes before and had been relieved that the commander kept it succinct. They were playing it very close to the chest, keeping the details of their mission strictly confidential. With the exception of immediate family, no one was to know of Alexa’s death.

Growing increasingly anxious, Cami felt compelled to visit her mother; hoping the powerful seer could pick up something on Ethan. Finding Alexa the way she had, something inside Cami broke. She felt the wall around her heart beginning to crumble as she recognized how many years she’d wasted clinging to self-righteous anger, hiding behind her duty and need for independence, convincing herself that she didn’t need anyone. But where had that gotten her? She was alone and afraid, desperate to find her brother before it was too late.
 

I can’t lose him; he has to be alive.
 

Flinging the door open, Cami swayed on unsteady legs as she met with Jared’s smoldering gray eyes.

“What happened, Cami? Are you hurt?” he questioned, steadying her with his hands and strong arms.

For the first time, she didn’t have the will to fight her feelings for him. He’d caught her off-guard, vulnerable, afraid, and before she knew what was happening, she fell into the vortex of the two deep pools which seemed to see into her very soul. In that moment, everything changed. Outwardly, it was an almost imperceptible shift in body language, but Cami felt as if the entire earth had moved beneath her wobbly knees. Seeing the genuine concern in his eyes, and something else which, as impossible as it seemed, she could only describe as love, shattered what little remained of the wall around her heart.

And then she did something that shocked them both. Pushing up on her toes, Cami closed her eyes and tentatively pressed her lips to his. His mouth parted slightly in surprise at the unexpected contact, but the reaction was fleeting. Fearing it was all just an elaborate dream he would wake from far too quickly, Jared seized the moment. Closing his eyes, he slid his hands down Cami’s arms, grabbing her waist and pulling her body flush with his own, eliciting a low moan from the back of her throat.
 

Cami slipped her arms around his neck and leaned into him further as she parted her lips a little, not knowing fully what she was doing or what she wanted. All she knew was that she needed to get closer to him.

Jared didn’t need any more of an invitation. He dipped his tongue into her mouth, lightly stroking, teaching her, encouraging her. She was a quick study and immediately joined in moving her tongue in a similar rhythm as she pushed her hands into his hair and pulled him even closer. Her instincts took over and had her rocking her hips against him as the kiss grew hungrier; more needy. Jared couldn’t help the low growl which vibrated through his chest as she pushed against his hard length.
 

Through sheer force of will, he reined in his desire, putting a small fraction of space between them as he slowed the pace of their kiss. Though he had never wanted anything as much as he wanted Cami, and he was beyond grateful to finally have her in his arms, he knew it wouldn’t be right to take things any further. Her thoughts before she’d seen him had been full of fear and anxiety. She was vulnerable and he wouldn’t take advantage of her.

Pulling back a bit further, Jared ran his tongue gently along her top lip, followed by the bottom. He pulled her bottom lip between his teeth, sucking it lightly before letting it go with a little pop. Opening his eyes, he looked down at Cami as she let out a whimper in protest to his ending the kiss.

“Now
that
should have been your first kiss,” he whispered against her ear, his warm breath sending a shiver skittering across her skin.

“Mmm.” Was the only response she could manage. Two hundred years of celibacy and she’d just kissed two men in one day.

Jared placed his fingertips under her chin, lifting her face slightly, but Cami kept her eyes closed, suddenly feeling embarrassed by her bold display.

Forgetting himself, Jared chuckled at her thoughts. She was such a strong woman, yet standing there in his arms, she almost looked fragile as she grew more and more self-conscious about how forward she’d been in kissing him. As far as he was concerned, she had nothing to feel bad about. He’d never experienced anything more erotic than having Cami, a woman who was always so in control, come undone beneath his touch.
 

“Open your eyes, babe. You have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. That was fucking incredible,” he rasped, pulling her close again, letting her feel exactly what she’d just done to him.

Biting her lip at the feel of Jared’s hardness pushing against her, she slowly peeled open her eyes, meeting his lust-filled gaze. It was as it was before; penetrating, so full of emotion, and all she could think about was devouring every inch of him. Jared groaned aloud, his cock straining insistently against the denim of his jeans as he saw the images passing through her mind.
 

Calling upon every ounce of his restraint, Jared took a step back into the hallway as he ran a hand through his light brown hair. With the action, he realized they’d been kissing in the open doorway, so caught up in the moment that neither of them had had the presence of mind to move somewhere more private.
 

As the haze of the moment they’d just shared began to lift, the reality of the day’s events came crashing down, seeming to fill the space between them.

With the image of Alexa’s lifeless face entering her mind, Cami felt the sting of tears as she opened her mouth to speak, struggling to find the words to tell Jared that his sister, the sister he had been waiting nearly his entire life to know, was gone.
 

Before a word passed her lips, Jared took her hand and squeezed it gently.

“Where is she?” he asked softly.

✧

As soon as she was certain her uncle was gone, Chloe quietly opened the door and slipped into the hallway. Knowing Jared had gone to find Cami in the pit, she turned in the opposite direction and began making her way to the medical wing.

She crept along quickly, pushing up an invisible wall in her mind to block the cacophony of stray thoughts pouring in from all around her. Jared had once suggested singing, or concentrating on something visually to help her control the ability. Since her objective was to pass by undetected, she chose the latter, letting her eyes drift over the array of beautiful artwork and tapestries which lined the walls. There were pieces dating back hundreds, even thousands, of years, from all around the world spread throughout the hallway, a stark contrast to the other wings with their bare white walls and plain tile floors.
 

Rounding the corner, she jumped and let out a little scream, nearly crashing into the unexpected vampire standing there.

“Whoa; easy there, little one,” Captain Erikson said, eyeing Chloe intently.

She took a step back, keeping her eyes locked on the leader of her grandfather’s guard, whose presence made her feel increasingly uneasy as the days passed. He was always watching her with strange thoughts moving through his mind.
 

“I, I’m sorry,” she muttered, stepping around him.

“Where are you running off to in such a hurry?” he asked, turning to follow.

“I was just looking for Grandpa William,” she lied. The image of the High Commander standing over Alexa’s body flashed through her mind as Erikson thought of William.
 

Chloe reinforced her shields, pushing Erikson’s mental presence out of her mind. She didn’t need to see his thoughts of her mother. She already knew what had happened, and what was to come. Every night since arriving on the compound, she’d had the same dreams and visions of her parents; glimpses of the future she hadn’t mentioned to another soul.
 

The visions had started when her parents went missing and had given her a much-needed sense of hope. But they also terrified her. Aside from her mother’s return, she’d seen only one other event. A night which always began with her father’s return, yet never ended the same way. She wasn’t sure how she knew, but Chloe was certain the outcome depended on her; on the choice she had to make. It was within her power to save everyone she loved, but it would come at a high cost. Standing there in all her uncertainty, the name they all feared invaded her mind.

Lucias.
 

Just thinking his name sent a shiver down her spine but, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t see anything beyond his appearance in her vision. It was as if the decision she had to make was preventing her from viewing the future beyond it. Or perhaps there was no future to see until she made the choice; a proverbial fork in the road.
 

With all her heart, she wanted to choose the path which saved her family, but she feared what would happen once Lucias had her in his control. Though no one spoke of the prophecy in her presence, she had gleaned enough from their thoughts to understand why he wanted her; why everyone feared her and her power. What if she sacrificed herself to save her family, only to be used to hurt them, and everyone else?
 

“The High Commander is indisposed at the moment,” Erikson said reaching for her arm. “Perhaps you should let me escort you to your room and I will bring him to you when he is finished.”
 

Chloe moved in a flash, putting several feet between them. “No, I need to see him now,” she insisted, rushing away, using every ounce of her preternatural speed. Even having not yet reached maturity, Chloe was much faster than the adult vampire, easily leaving him behind as she approached the entrance to the medical wing.

Knowing Erikson was only seconds behind her, she hurriedly entered the security code and slipped through the door, closing it behind her as he appeared on the other side. In a blur of movement, she was standing just outside the room containing her mother’s broken body and her grandparents’ broken hearts. The thoughts of her family slammed against her, full of grief and despair so potent that tears welled up in her eyes.
 

Not having the code for the high-security room, Chloe swiped at the wetness flowing down her cheeks and reached for William’s mind.