Impulsive Destiny

by Cassandra Lawson

  “When is her heat cycle,” Zane asked in utter defeat.

  “In three weeks,” his father told him, sounding shocked by Zane’s apparent acquiescence.

  “There’s nothing I can do to get out of this, is there?” Zane asked, forcing himself to meet his father’s eyes.

  “Not unless you can find a mate in that time,” Max answered honestly.

  Zane snorted. “Yeah, maybe one will fall from the sky.”

  Chapter Two

  The last visit with Eleanor, one of the main vampire council members, had been nearly two weeks ago, and Kyleigh was still having a hard time wrapping her mind around what Eleanor had revealed. No one, not even Ian, knew Eleanor had sought Kyleigh out during that visit, and they certainly didn’t know that seeing Kyleigh was her sole reason for coming to their territory. Everyone believed Eleanor was there to work on trade negotiations with Connor, the born vampire leader in this territory.

  In all honesty, Kyleigh hadn’t spoken much to Eleanor in the past, making it even more surprising when Eleanor sought her out. As one of the higher-ranking council members in Fangri La, Eleanor was a powerful woman. Always dressed in white, with her long brown hair pulled back to reveal the vicious scar on her forehead, Eleanor was a woman you didn’t forget—one who was more than a little intimidating. She’d been supportive of Connor’s break from the vampire council, unlike most of the others.

  Her heart went out to Eleanor, so she’d tried to help without putting herself or her unborn baby in jeopardy. Unfortunately, that hadn’t worked out, and she only had one other option for helping Eleanor now—an option that was more than a little scary. It was also something she would not do behind Ian’s back. He was her partner and the father of her baby.

  “Are you finally ready to tell me what’s bothering you?” Ian asked without turning toward her. He was drenched in sweat from working out. The others were already clearing out of the room, but Ian continued his workout. Shirtless, with his hands wrapped to avoid splitting his knuckles, he punched the heavy bag. Just looking at him made her want to lick the sweat from his toned body. His black hair was even longer than when she’d met him. Once she’d told him she liked it long, he’d stopped cutting it. Now, it was pulled back from his face and fell to the middle of his shoulder blades. She really did love this vampire—moodiness and all.

  “I’ve been thinking about the lengths I’d go to protect our daughter,” Kyleigh said softly, and it was true. Eleanor’s plight naturally made her think of the daughter she was carrying and how she’d feel in Eleanor’s position.

  Ian stopped working on the bag and turned toward her with sad eyes. “I want to promise you nothing bad will ever happen to her.”

  “But we both know that’s not possible,” Kyleigh finished for him. “The world is a dangerous place.” Kyleigh had been the one to release the souls of Ian’s first wife and daughter just before their brutal murders. Yes, Ian would understand why she was struggling with her conversation with Eleanor, and he was probably going to be mad that she’d kept this to herself rather than talking to him about it in the first place.

  “Eleanor came to me when she was here,” Kyleigh began slowly.

  “And you didn’t tell me this?” Ian asked, sounding more curious than annoyed. “What did she want?”

  “Somehow, she found out about me being part Fae,” Kyleigh explained.

  Ian cursed and turned to slam his fist into the bag again before moving toward her and wrapping her in his arms. “Don’t worry. I won’t let the council pressure you into going to Fangri La. Now that we’ve broken off from the council, they don’t have much authority over us, and Connor won’t let his people be dragged off to Fangri La.”

  “It’s not like that, Ian,” she insisted, stroking his back as he held her. “Eleanor promised she wouldn’t tell any of the council members what I am, regardless of my answer, and I trust her.”

  “Answer to what?” Ian asked, and Kyleigh felt the tension radiating from his body. Placing his hands on her shoulders, Ian pulled back slightly to meet her eyes. “Just tell me what she wanted, Kyleigh.”

  “Did you know Eleanor had a daughter?” Kyleigh asked.

  Ian nodded. “Her daughter died four days after the initial Moon virus outbreak. They were trying to get out of the area when they were attacked by turned vampires. Eleanor was strong enough to fight them off, but not strong enough to save her daughter. That’s how Eleanor got the scar on her forehead. I still don’t get what this has to do with you. You obviously weren’t the one to release her soul because you weren’t in this area yet. Plus, this happened more than a hundred years ago. It’s history.”

  “Eleanor’s daughter was half-Fae,” Kyleigh told him.

  Ian looked genuinely surprised.

  “I guess Eleanor didn’t figure out what her daughter was until much later,” Kyleigh added. “Her daughter was diagnosed with some sort of psychiatric disorder. If I had to guess, I’d say the medication she was taking suppressed her natural Fae abilities. From what I’ve heard, that was common with half-Fae for many years. Actually, it still is in other parts of the world. I guess Eleanor never got the chance to tell her daughter’s father she was pregnant before he disappeared, and he never showed up again, so her daughter somehow went completely unnoticed by the Fae, despite how powerful her father is.”

  “Still not seeing what this has to do with you,” Ian pushed.

  “Eleanor wants me to contact her daughter’s father,” Kyleigh admitted, and she wasn’t at all surprised by the rage in Ian’s catlike green eyes.

  “Fuck no!” he snapped. “There is no way in hell you are getting anywhere near the Fae. We’ve had enough of their shit, and we don’t need them fucking with us again. What does Eleanor even hope to accomplish by any of this? Her daughter is dead. Is she in love with the father? If so, that’s an even better reason for her to stay away from the Fae. Those fuckers can’t be trusted.”

  “It’s not like that, Ian. A very powerful Fae can not only walk across dimensions, they can walk across time,” Kyleigh explained. “Her daughter’s father is that powerful, and if he chooses to, he can pull her daughter from her time before her death. I have no idea how she got this information, but Eleanor knows this is possible. She must have met one of the more talkative Fae at some point, to have gained all the information she has.”

  The rage bled from Ian’s face. “Eleanor wants to save her daughter’s life.”

  Kyleigh nodded.

  “Does she think you can just locate this Fae?” Ian asked. “Being half-Fae doesn’t mean you know every Fae.”

  This was the part where Ian was probably going to freak out. Taking a deep breath, she started to explain why she was sure she’d be able contact this particular Fae. “I know him, and he is one of the few Fae who can do this. What I don’t know is if he’ll do anything to save his half-human daughter. Approaching him might be a complete waste of time. It would also bring me to the Fae’s attention again. While he agreed to leave me alone, I’m not sure if contacting him will put an end to that agreement.”

  “Oriel is her father?” Ian asked.

  Kyleigh laughed nervously. That would be much simpler. Oriel was the Fae responsible for the good souls who would move on to the next realm after death. He’d been the Fae she’d worked under for decades when it was her job to help souls pass to the next realm. The Fae she needed to approach was responsible for the destruction of darker souls. He was also the Fae who’d tried to destroy Ian and enslave her. “No it’s not Oriel, and before you ask, Oriel refused to pass a message on to the Fae I need to talk to.”

  Ian must have figured it out because he suddenly looked seriously pissed. “I don’t give a fuck about Eleanor’s problems. You are not going anywhere near that bastard, Arawn, especially not while you’re pregnant.”

  Just like that, Arawn appeared. “Already tired of your little vampire?” Arawn drawled. “Ready to beg me for some play time in my realm?”

  A
rawn was truly beautiful, like most Fae. With his silvery hair and eyes, he appeared to almost glow. That beauty often fooled people into trusting him. At the very least, they desired him, but Kyleigh had never been that foolish, which is why Arawn had been obsessed with her for decades. Her refusal was both a challenge and an insult that stung his pride.

  Arawn glided forward with a leer and an outstretched hand. “Shall we go play? I’ll admit that having his brat inside of you is a bit of a turnoff, but I’ll find a way to make things work.”

  “Stay the fuck away from her,” Ian growled. “That was the agreement.”

  “She called me here, vampire,” Arawn taunted. “I could never deny my sweet Kyleigh the pleasure of my company.”

  Kyleigh snorted. There was no heat in Arawn’s gaze like there had been the last time they’d met. Clearly, he’d already moved on from his obsession—no real surprise when it came to the Fae. “Enough with the games, Arawn. We both know you’re just trying to piss Ian off.”

  “Fine. Spoil my fun,” Arawn practically whined. “What exactly do you need? Don’t bother pretending you didn’t want to see me. I felt the pull. Admittedly, it was surprising to hear that you wanted me, but definitely a pleasant surprise.”

  “Do you remember a human by the name of Eleanor?” Kyleigh asked.

  Arawn gave a bored shrug. “Not really.”

  “She told me she met you in San Francisco, where you watched a band called Pearl Jelly play,” Kyleigh began. “According to her, it was near the end of September in 1991.”

  Arawn laughed, and it was the first genuine laugh Kyleigh had ever heard from him. “Pearl Jam,” he corrected her, and he smiled at the memory. “I remember Ellie. I was slumming in the human realm when I met her. Ellie was an unusual human, and I was actually tempted to visit her again after that night. I take it she’s a vampire now and looking for a favor?” All fondness left his voice. “Although, I’m not sure how she managed to figure out what I am.”

  “A favor,” Ian muttered after a quick bark of laughter. “Yeah, you could say she needs a favor.”

  “As fun as this little chat is, I’m bored.” Arawn no longer had that fond look on his face. “Tell me what the bitch wants so I can refuse her request and be on my way.”

  “Her daughter was killed four days after the Moon virus outbreak, and she wants you to pull her from that time before it happens,” Kyleigh explained.

  Arawn gave a mocking laugh. “You already know I can’t do that. Why didn’t you just tell her it was impossible up front? The only way I could save her daughter is if the girl was part Fae. However, simply having Fae blood wouldn’t be enough. She’d have to be fathered by someone as powerful as me to survive being pulled forward from her own time.” Arawn’s smile slipped and his face paled when Kyleigh said nothing. “No. That’s not possible.”

  “Congrats,” Ian drawled with a smirk. “It’s a girl.”

  “Fuck!” Arawn shouted before flashing out of the room.

  “Do you think he’ll save her?” Ian asked.

  Kyleigh let out a sigh. “It’s hard to say. I approached Oriel first, hoping he’d do it, but he turned me down.”

  “And Arawn is the biggest asshole Fae there is,” Ian finished for her, before gathering her against his chest. “You did your best,” he assured her.

  “I know.” Kyleigh snuggled closer, not caring that she was now covered in Ian’s sweat. “There’s this part of me that didn’t want to get involved at all because I know what kind of man Arawn is, but I had to try. Of course, I’m not sure I would have gotten up the nerve to summon him if he hadn’t just popped in here.”

  “Something tells me you would have convinced me to let you do it,” Ian told her, and she heard the smile in his voice.

  “You’re probably right,” she agreed. “You are just a big softy.”

  That earned her a snort from Ian. “After having you this close to me, there is nothing soft about me. How about if we lock the door to this room, and you help me out with another type of workout?”

  “How can I possibly turn down an offer like that?”

  Chapter Three

  After all these years of having Arawn watched, Talon had begun to give up hope of ever finding Arawn’s weakness. Now, he had the bastard.

  “Are you sure you heard them correctly?” he asked the sniveling Fae who was doing his bidding. The only reason Talon used this Fae was his uncanny ability to avoid detection from other Fae. It was a simple matter to remain hidden from most other species, but the Fae could generally tell when other Fae were near. In the human realm, no one could see, hear, or scent his spy. The downside was that, as one of the weaker Fae, he couldn’t stay in the human realm long before being sucked back here.

  A fine tremor ran through the spy’s frail body—frail in comparison to other Fae at least. Like most Fae, his spy was stronger than any human, but with his almost skeletal frame, sunken black eyes, and thin white hair, it seemed his bones would shatter under his own weight. There were times it was almost painful to look at him.

  “Yes,” the spy stammered nervously. “Everything I’ve told you is true. I heard every word of his conversation with Kyleigh.”

  Talon nodded, tempted to kill his spy so he wouldn’t let anything slip to Arawn, but in the end, he decided he might need him again. “Very good,” Talon praised. “I need you to stay out of sight for the time being.”

  Without waiting for a reply, Talon flashed back to his own realm and took a moment to consider what he’d just learned. He still had trouble believing Arawn had been foolish enough to go to the human realm for that bitch, Kyleigh. From what he could tell, Arawn was bored with Kyleigh now that she was out of his reach, yet he’d still taken off like a hound sniffing after a bitch in heat. At one point, Talon had thought Kyleigh might be the key to his revenge, but it hadn’t taken long to realize that Kyleigh was merely a toy Arawn wanted to play with. While Arawn might have been angry if Talon had taken that toy away, it wouldn’t have hurt him. It would also have risked angering Oriel, and that was something he preferred to avoid.

  Talon had always hated Arawn, even before Satyana’s death. Since the beginning of time as they knew it, he’d known Arawn was too weak to rule over the shadows that consumed dark souls. While many Fae were fooled into believing Arawn was the scariest of them all, Talon had always believed Arawn had weaknesses. Until now, he just hadn’t been able to exploit them. True, he’d had trouble finding them, but he’d known they were there.

  Discovering Arawn had a daughter was a pleasant surprise. While the spy had said Arawn didn’t seem to care if his own daughter lived or died, Talon wasn’t convinced, and that was why he needed all of his spies to remain vigilant and tell him when Arawn acted—something Talon had no doubt would happen soon.

  That’s when Talon would finally make his move. A daughter, he could work with. Even a mutt like this one would be powerful like his Satyana had been, and all Talon had to do was claim her. It was possible Arawn would bring his mutt daughter to the Fae realm, giving her more protection from Talon, but that seemed unlikely. Arawn would likely want to keep her existence a secret, considering his disdain for half-breeds. Knowing Arawn, he’d drop the little mutt near Kyleigh. Talon needed to cause enough chaos to keep everyone distracted so they wouldn’t be able to save Arawn’s daughter when he went after her. He’d also been behaving himself for far too long, and now, it was time to have a little fun.

  With a chuckle, Talon knew where to flash himself. Fangri La was one of his favorite places due to all the chaos that naturally occurred there. It wouldn’t take much to stir things up. In fact, he was sure there was at least one plot against Kyleigh’s friends already in the works.

  He’d need to be there before Arawn’s daughter to make his plan work. These things took time, after all. Luckily, as one of the more powerful Fae, he wasn’t limited by the constraints of time. Three months should be enough time to put his plan in motion. Creating a portal, Talon casually
walked through the tunnel of swirling red mist, ignoring the sensation of a thousand needles stabbing at his skin. The pain was meant to serve as a reminder that he’d been banned from crossing time barriers.

  The pain faded as he emerged in Fangri La just over three months before Arawn was to learn about his daughter. Staying close to the walls, he was barely a shadow as he sought out those who could best meet his needs. It was easy for him to find those with dark motives, so it wasn’t long before he was fading into the room with the most promise.

  “It’s not enough to send representatives to the territories,” a blonde vampire snapped angrily. “We need to be there to show our commitment or they’ll assume this is a trap to find those disloyal to the council. Even if they don’t think that, they might be afraid we’ll abandon the cause. You have to stop being such a sniveling coward, Alistair.”

  Talon thoroughly enjoyed watching these two vampires argue! His specialty was chaos, which made planning harder for him since his natural inclination was to jump in immediately. Still, he knew it was best to wait. There would be plenty of time for fun later.

  “Shut up, Carmen!” Alistair shouted at the blonde, clearly more nervous about their scheme. It was also blatantly obvious that the two did not like each other, making their plotting all the more entertaining.

  Talon had to admit a certain respect for their ability to put personal issues aside for the cause—not that he gave a fuck what the cause was after listening to them bicker for an hour. He had a rough idea and knew they wanted to move up in their council and destroy the vampires who sheltered Kyleigh.

  “Don’t tell me what to do, you annoying little coward,” Carmen ground out through clenched teeth. “You claim to want more power, yet you refuse to do what it takes to bring down Eleanor and the other council members. Are you going to act? Or, will you just continue to gripe about how unfair life has been to you?”