Impulsive Destiny

by Cassandra Lawson

Chapter Thirty-Nine

  “Do you think I can trust you not to hit your friend again?” Kyleigh asked, interrupting Ian’s brooding.

  He hesitated, not wanting to lie to Kyleigh. He was pretty sure he’d be lying if he told her he wasn’t going to punch Dalton in the face. “I’m going to try not to hit him.” That was the most honest answer he could give.

  Kyleigh laughed and laced her fingers through his. They were on their way to Dalton’s house to talk about Aubrey. While Dalton had wanted to wait longer, Ian was out of patience.

  “Why is this bothering you so much?” Kyleigh asked. “While I realize it must be a shock to find out you have a sister, this really seems unlike you.”

  Blowing out a frustrated breath, Ian gave the only answer he could come up with. “She looks like my mother.”

  “You’ve never really talked about her,” Kyleigh remarked. “All I know is that she died before you moved to Connor’s territory.”

  “She wasn’t cut out for life as a vampire,” he began. “Don’t think that made her weak—not in the beginning anyway. Despite how much she hated being a vampire, she fought to keep me safe and fed while I was growing up. That wasn’t the case with many parents. Some would even steal blood rations from their own children. Hell, Dalton’s mother let him take a beating for something she’d done when he was barely five years old. My mom tried to look after Dalton after that and make sure no one hurt him.”

  “It sounds like your mom was an amazing woman,” Kyleigh remarked.

  “Yeah, she was,” Ian agreed with a sad smile.

  “How did she die?” Kyleigh asked solemnly. Vampires didn’t grow old or catch viruses. They were killed, or they killed themselves.

  “After I was grown and able to take care of myself, she went out alone one day and never came back. They found her body a week later. She’d been killed, probably by turned vampires. Who knows if she even tried to defend herself?”

  Kyleigh squeezed his hand. “That must have been difficult.”

  “At the time, it was almost a relief,” he admitted. “No matter how much she tried to hide it, my mother was miserable, and there was this big part of me that was glad I didn’t have to watch her suffer anymore.”

  “Which made you feel guilty,” she finished for him.

  “Yeah,” he said. “When I first heard about Aubrey, I wasn’t even sure I wanted to go to her. I mean, she’s a stranger, so why should I feel some bond to her just because we’re related? Then Dalton told me she looks like my mom, and I suddenly felt like shit for wanting to leave her here.”

  Kyleigh laughed. “Something tells me he never had any intention of letting you take her away from here.”

  “I got the same impression earlier today,” Ian grumbled. “I think it’s time we find out what happened to my sister, and why Dalton really wants us here.”

  Walking up to the house, Ian knocked and waited until Dalton opened the door and motioned them inside without a word. Ian sat beside Kyleigh for a long moment, waiting for Dalton to speak.

  “Are you going to say anything?” Ian asked. “Just as a suggestion, let’s start with how Aubrey got pregnant, and then we can move on to why you really wanted me to come here.”

  “I’m working on it,” Dalton replied. “The memory of what happened to her is still too fresh, and it makes me want to kill the bastards all over again.”

  “So, whoever hurt Aubrey is dead?” Ian asked.

  “Very much so,” Dalton replied. “You know how I feel about that sort of thing.”

  Ian did know, and it’s why he felt like an ass for assuming Dalton had raped Aubrey. His friend might be an asshole at times, but he wasn’t a rapist. “Listen, you don’t need to tell me. I’m just glad they're dead. This is so strange. I don’t even know the woman, and I figured I wouldn’t feel any attachment to her.”

  “It’s because she looks so much like your mom,” Dalton accurately deduced.

  “That’s the only explanation I can come up with,” Ian agreed. “Maybe I should just head back home.” Ian was mostly talking to himself, and Dalton must have realized that because he didn’t comment.

  “You should talk to her before you leave,” Kyleigh insisted.

  Ian shrugged. It might be better to leave things the way they were. “Tell me why I’m here,” he prompted Dalton.

  “I’ll bet you’ve heard from at least one other settlement about the threats from some of the council members,” Dalton began. “In fact, I’d be shocked if Marie Therese hasn’t already warned you about what’s going on.”

  “I’ve heard that Carmen and Alistair are up to something,” Ian replied thoughtfully. “I’m still having trouble wrapping my mind around the idea of those two doing anything big. They’re both pretty low on the council pecking order, and neither is that smart. How long ago did they visit you?”

  “They came out here over a month ago, but they were back early this morning with Richard.” Dalton ran a hand through his hair, looking utterly frustrated. “Granted, they only stayed about an hour, but they were obviously here as a threat. We’re too close to Fangri La for them to ignore us. Things are going to get messy, and I’m not sure if Aubrey is going to be safer with me or if I should convince her to go back with you. Fuck! This is a mess.”

  “You’re expecting trouble?” Ian asked. Richard’s involvement made this a much touchier situation.

  “This shit with the council has everyone down here wondering who they can trust. The whole thing is insane. They came in here and claimed to have others on the council working with them. While I have no doubt they have some, I’m not sure who or how high-ranking their allies are. They also made it known that they’ve been monitoring our communications, so we can’t even call people we trust on the council. Our messaging system is completely down. Short of sending a team to Fangri La, I have no way of getting word to anyone. It’s tempting to send a team there, but I’m worried they’ll be killed as soon as they set foot near Fangri La.”

  “Fuck,” Ian hissed. “How are they managing this?”

  “You got me,” Dalton replied with a shrug. “I’m pretty sure that’s the part that has everyone afraid to make a move against them.”

  “Someone needs to talk to Eleanor,” Ian mused. “She’s the only one we can trust at this point, and she has enough pull to do something about this mess.”

  “Agreed, but how the hell do you plan to get to her?” Dalton asked. “If we call and say we need to meet with her, those assholes will know we’re trying to warn her, and they’ll likely find a way to stop the meeting—maybe even kill Eleanor.”

  “So, where do you stand on all of this?” Ian asked, genuinely curious. While he knew Dalton didn’t want to see a change in leadership in Fangri La, he had no idea if his friend would risk his position and the safety of his people to prevent it. A change in leadership in Fangri La could be bad for everyone, but Dalton would need to weigh the risks to his people carefully.

  “I’m not going to let those bastards stage their idiotic coupe,” Dalton stated without hesitation. “They’re dividing the territories and making it so we can’t trust our allies. This will likely end in civil wars if things continue. The council may be fucked up in a lot of ways, but they’ve offered some stability. Not all settlements have the luxury of ports, and a break-down in the council could mean the loss of necessary supplies. I don’t have any interest in returning to the days of fighting to survive.”

  Ian had to agree with him. Right after the initial rebellions, things had been a mess for the vampires. They’d fought each other for territory, and struggled to survive. Cut off from the rest of the world, they’d had no imports, and even basic transportation had been a nightmare. The council had opened up trade with some countries. Even though Ian hated their bureaucratic bullshit, he knew things could be worse.

  “So, we need to find a way to get word to Eleanor about what’s happening, and the only way to do that is to somehow get her away from Fangri La without getti
ng her killed,” Ian lamented.

  “Pretty much,” Dalton agreed with a nod. “Before you leave, we should come up with some codes to contact each other. We can use Aubrey as an excuse to talk.”

  “My sister should go back with me,” Ian insisted.

  “I don’t even know you,” came the soft voice of his sister from the entry to Dalton’s kitchen.

  Ian was amazed that he hadn’t heard her come in, and Dalton must have noticed his shock because his friend laughed before giving an explanation. “Aubrey moves like a ghost.”

  Ian decided not to ask why she was in Dalton’s house since he probably wouldn’t like the answer in his irrational state.

  “We were taught to be very quiet,” Aubrey explained without looking at Ian. Her inability to make eye-contact pissed Ian off. He wasn’t pissed at her, just the life that had made her so afraid.

  “He’s worried about you.” Kyleigh’s voice was soothing, and Aubrey actually gave her a shaky smile.

  “I’m not going to hurt you,” he assured his sister.

  “I know, but you’re not saved.” Her soft voice shuddered slightly. “The evil in you could taint me.”

  “What about Dalton’s evil?” Ian snapped, instantly regretting his tone when she flinched. Based on Kyleigh’s glare, she’d have a thing or two to say to him about his tone later.

  “She thinks I’m evil, too,” Dalton assured him.

  “I don’t think either of you are evil,” Aubrey insisted, finally looking at Ian. “You have both been exposed to so much evil that it’s tainted you, and you don’t understand the way back to the light.”

  “They weren’t exposed to evil by choice,” Kyleigh argued.

  “I’m sorry,” Aubrey murmured, meeting Ian’s eyes briefly. “This world is so violent. Things weren’t like this where I grew up.”

  Ian had a moment of heartache for the world his sister had lost. Maybe it hadn’t been perfect, but she’d felt safe there. “How are you and your friends settling in here?” he asked, because it seemed best to stop trying to decide what was best for Aubrey. She’d lost control of too much already, and he wasn’t about to take more from her.

  “It is nice to have blood when we need it,” Aubrey admitted.

  For the next hour, Ian managed to talk to his sister without sticking his foot in his mouth more than a couple of times, which was an improvement. While Aubrey seemed fragile, he could tell she was a survivor, and something told him this was where she belonged. Despite her concerns about being tainted by Dalton, she sat close to him and gave him shy smiles. His sister obviously liked the asshole.

  “We really should head back in the morning,” he told Dalton, trying to keep his voice even. “Aubrey is old enough to decide where she wants to stay, and she clearly wants to stay here.”

  “Thank you, Ian,” Aubrey replied softly. “I hope you can visit me again.”

  Ian grinned because it was so much more than he’d expected after meeting his sister earlier. “I’d like that,” he said with sincerity before guiding Kyleigh out of the house and back to their cottage.

  “Have I told you how much I love you today?” Kyleigh asked him.

  “No, but I figure you must love me quite a bit to put up with me,” Ian said with a laugh.

  “You are lucky to have me,” she told him, and Ian knew she was right.

  Chapter Forty

  Lexi wouldn’t say she’d been avoiding Zane this afternoon so much as avoiding everything—not an easy thing to do when they couldn’t leave the house. This was their third day here, and neither of them were handling confinement very well. Yesterday, Lexi had really enjoyed sparring with Zane, and then they’d spent the evening messing around on the computer. Okay, they’d also had a lot of really fantastic sex. It wasn’t until she’d started reading some of the history for the last hundred years that her mood had turned dismal, and she’d insisted that she needed time alone. Zane clearly doubted her, but he’d left her alone anyway after making her promise she’d tell him if she needed anything.

  For now, Zane was pacing around downstairs, while she stared out the upstairs window at the strange new world she’d found herself dropped into. Zane’s self-control was impressive, considering she could tell he didn’t like being away from her. If she was being honest with herself, she also hated being away from him. Of course, she wasn’t in any mood to be honest with herself, so she was pretending she enjoyed the solitude—which was normally true.

  The restless sound of Zane moving around made her feel a little guilty because he didn’t have to be cooped up in this house. No, he was only here because of her, and she honestly didn’t want him to leave. They were supposed to have a room in the training center later that day, but Connor had insisted he couldn’t arrange it for several hours. Deciding they both needed to get out, she walked down the stairs, not surprised to find him prowling around with his fists clenched at his sides. Actually, she wouldn’t have been surprised to see him prowling around in lynx form.

  When he noticed her, Zane visibly relaxed and grinned. “Hey there, angel.”

  “Why do you keep calling me angel?” she asked because it seemed like a strange nickname for someone like her.

  “Shortly before you were dropped into that creek, my father was trying to get me to couple with a female during her heat cycle. I’d even been forced to do an awkward meeting with her, where it was obvious she didn’t want to have my young any more than I wanted to get her pregnant,” Zane began, and she had no clue what any of this had to do with her question.

  “Your father must have been pretty upset when you both told him it wasn’t going to happen,” she deduced.

  Zane looked confused by what she’d said. “Why would we tell him that?”

  “Why would either of you start a relationship if you didn’t want to be together?” she asked. “That seems like a pretty big step with a woman you don’t know anyway, but even worse when you don’t like her. Wait! You don’t have arranged marriages, do you?”

  “Shifters don’t get married in the sense you’re thinking. We mate, which I guess is similar, but more permanent. In this case, we weren’t planning on more than sex when she was in heat,” he explained with a sigh. “An unmated male will often impregnate an unmated female to carry on our line.”

  “Meaning you just go around getting any woman who’ll spread her legs pregnant,” she muttered angrily.

  Zane laughed and pulled her against his chest for a quick hard kiss before releasing her. “I’m doing a really bad job of explaining all of this to you. First, I have no children, largely because my brothers have done a great deal to keep me away from any unmated female during her heat cycle. I’ve been known to lose my head and act impulsively, if you can believe that.”

  “You don’t say,” she replied dryly.

  Zane chuckled. “Yeah, I guess I don’t keep that fact hidden very well. We only go after unmated females. For some unknown reason, once a female is marked, none of us have the desire to pursue her. Well, that’s not entirely true, but it’s pretty damn rare for a mated pair to even think about being unfaithful.”

  “So, mating is a lot like marriage,” she said. “I still don’t get why you’d get this woman pregnant just because your father told you to. More than that, why would she agree to something like this if she didn’t want you?”

  “My father is the leader of our clan, and that means I have extra responsibilities. Admittedly, I always expected my brothers to be the responsible ones. Jase is the oldest, and he’s the one who does the right thing, not me, so I figured he’d find a mate, or at least have a kitten or two to make my father happy. Then my father came to me and said he needed me to do this for the good of our clan. At first, I thought he was joking, but it didn’t take me long to realize he was serious about the whole thing. The only way to get out of it without being the asshole who let our clan down was to find a mate. That was what my father said, and I made some sarcastic comment about her falling from the sky, whic
h is exactly what you did. You fell from the sky like some angel.”

  Lexi snorted. “Okay, that is a terrible line.”

  Zane laughed. “I know, and the fact that the story’s true makes it even worse.”

  “No, it just makes it sound more bizarre.”

  She wasn’t at all surprised when Zane moved forward and wrapped his arms around her before rubbing his cheek against hers. While Zane had exercised great restraint when she was out of the room, clearly, he couldn’t manage it while she was close to him, and she honestly didn’t want him to anyway.

  “Listen, I really need to get out of this house,” she said. It was an abrupt change of subject, but she figured Zane wouldn’t mind. “Do you think I could go for a run? I don’t have my running shoes, but they must have a grassy area where I could run barefoot.”

  “You have special shoes for running?” Zane asked, looking confused and intrigued. She’d already noticed Zane didn’t favor shoes, so she wasn’t exactly surprised by his question. He also didn’t wear shirts, something she really appreciated because his bare chest was very nice to look at.

  “If you keep looking at me like that, I’ll end up bending you over the arm of the sofa and fucking you,” Zane warned.

  “Sorry.” Her cheeks heated at being caught ogling Zane again. “What were we talking about?”

  “You were telling me about the shoes you wear just for running,” he prompted.

  “That’s right. They give me support and protection when I run,” she explained. “Since I’m normally on city streets, it’s better that way. God only knows what I’d step on if I ran barefoot in Hayward.”

  “How often do you need to run from things?” he asked, and it was then that she realized people might not jog in this time.

  “It’s exercise,” she clarified. “I like to get a good run in three to four times a week.”

  “I like to run,” Zane told her. “Usually, I only run in lynx form, but I could run with you in either form. I know you’ve been avoiding me this morning, but the vampires aren’t going to let you wander around unescorted. I mean, they have a guard outside, but I should probably go with you anyway.”