by S. K. Yule
Wilhemina glared at Aldin then raised a brow. His barely discernible nod confirmed what Lindsey said. Maybe Aldin hadn’t been a part of this from the start, but he sure was a damned part of it now. Her heart sank. She’d been wrong when she had told him nothing could change her feelings for him. She couldn’t turn her love for him off, but her stomach churned in anger and hurt at the horrible betrayal she felt.
“Why?” Wilhemina directed her question toward Marilena.
“My son told me that he’s informed you of what we are.”
“Oh. The ridiculous vampire thing again,” Wilhemina mumbled.
“As crazy as it sounds, it is the truth, Wilhemina,” Lindsey told her.
“They’ve brainwashed you too?”
“No. I’ve seen proof with my own eyes. She can show you if you wish.” Lindsey motioned toward Marilena.
Wilhemina leveled her gaze on the woman she was quickly developing a deep dislike for.
“Fine.” She crossed her arms over her middle. “Prove to me that you are a vampire.”
Marilena stood, and when Aldin took a step forward, she turned her head and leveled a determined gaze on him. “Let me do this, Aldin. I’ve done some foolish things, but I would never hurt your life mate.”
He stopped only when Wilhemina nodded at him.
Wilhemina turned her attention back to Marilena and gasped when she suddenly disappeared from in front of her and reappeared beside her.
“How did you do that?” She stood.
“It’s called shimmering. We can all do it any time we like unless we are too badly injured. We can also read minds, compel others, which we do often to our sources when we feed, and have superior strength, stealth, speed, sight, and hearing.”
“Sources? I suppose you mean humans?”
How could this be real? But hadn’t she just seen Marilena disappear and reappear with her own eyes? There was nothing logical she could come up with that would explain that one.
“Even if you are a vampire, that doesn’t explain why you kidnapped my sister.”
“Your sister is Uriah’s—and I’m deeply sorry he struck you—life mate.”
“That asshat hit my sister?” Lindsey stood beside Wilhemina examining her face. “That’s where these bruises came from?”
“It was an accident,” Wilhemina admitted.
“Regardless. He’s an asshat and I will never have anything to do with him. Even upon our short meeting earlier—before knowing he hit my sister—I thought him to be a pompous jerk. Never going to happen.”
“Wait. I don’t understand. Did you kidnap her to give her to Uriah?” Wilhemina asked as the horror of that scenario turned the blood in her veins to ice.
“No. I kidnapped her to keep her from meeting Uriah, to keep them apart,” Marilena answered.
Wilhemina rubbed at her temples. “You kidnapped my sister to keep her away from Uriah?”
“Yes. Even though I had Uriah under lock and key, I couldn’t risk them ever meeting. Fate has a funny way of getting her way even when the circumstances seem impossible.”
“Wait. How could you possibly know that my sister is Uriah’s life mate? And you had Uriah locked up too? How could they have possibly met, and what would have been the big freaking deal anyway?” Wilhemina’s brain was beginning to hurt.
Marilena sighed. “Ragnor has a gift of seeing things. Years ago—more than you can comprehend—he saw an uprising of the drifters. This uprising would be led by someone of great power and would be aimed toward my family. The prophecy could only be fulfilled once all of my children found their life mates and Ragnor could perform the ritual that would bring them into their true blood powers. The outcome of the battle was unclear.
“I could not bear the thought of any of my children dying. When I became pregnant with Uriah, I concealed the pregnancy from Aldin, Ashe, and Aiston. When he was born, I had him hidden away under lock and key. I foolishly thought that I could stop the prophecy if I could keep all the pieces of the puzzle from falling into place.”
“What the hell are drifters?” Wilhemina asked.
“Aldin can explain that to you later,” Marilena answered.
Wilhemina rubbed her temples. Had someone slipped her an elephant-sized hallucinogenic? None of this could be happening. But it was, and when things got tough in life, she’d always faced them head on. This time was no exception. She decided not to push the drifter issue at the moment and move on.
“You thought by keeping Uriah locked up it would stop the prophecy and keep all of your children safe?” Wilhemina might be able to understand the desperation Marilena felt to keep her sons safe, but it didn’t mean she condoned her actions.
“Yes.”
“But I still don’t understand why you think my sister is Uriah’s life mate or why you felt the need to kidnap her if you already had Uriah locked up.” Wilhemina’s head was beginning to throb.
“I told you of Ragnor’s gift. Being his mate, I have a connection to him. Sometimes I see what he sees when I’m dreaming. I don’t sleep often, but on one of those rare occasions when I decided to rest, I dreamed about one of Ragnor’s visions. It was only bits and pieces, but it showed me a girl kissing Uriah with strawberry-blonde hair, gray eyes, and a unique butterfly birthmark on the back of her hand. I knew instantly upon waking that she had to be Uriah’s life mate. Why else would Ragnor have a vision of a girl unless she was important to Uriah in some way?”
“So?” Wilhemina shrugged.
“I thought if I could find this girl, I had double insurance against the prophecy. Uriah grew more powerful with each passing day. That combined with his intelligence gave me enough worry that he might one day figure out how to escape. If that happened, I still had a card to play against Fate.”
“But how did you find my sister? There are millions and millions of people, and she could have been anywhere on Earth.”
“I know someone who is very good at finding people. All I needed was Uriah’s blood for my friend to find Lindsey. Since she is connected to him through Fate, she was easily pinpointed.”
“Mother!”
“Aldin, if I had Trinidad’s blood, I could possibly have him tracked as well, but I don’t.”
Wilhemina’s anger at the nerve of this woman grew by the second. This whole ordeal was becoming crazier and crazier with each passing minute. But suddenly, she realized something that made her blood run cold. “You aren’t going to let us leave. Are you?” She directed the question to Aldin, and prayed she was wrong about the answer.
Chapter Nineteen
Aldin could see the desperation in Wilhemina’s eyes, feel it in the air. The answer he gave to her question could tear an irreparable void between them.
She wasn’t just asking him if she and her sister were allowed to leave. She was saying that if they were, she would take her sister and run as fast and as far away from him as possible. A part of him wanted to let her go because it could be the only way that she might ever be able to forgive him for what his family had put her and Lindsey through. But he couldn’t lie to her.
“Please leave us, Mother.” Aldin tried not to let the pain edge into his tone.
Marilena looked at Wilhemina then Lindsey. “I know it doesn’t mean much to you right now, but I am sorry. I made a mistake. I was trying to save my family. Instead, I ruined it, and yours.” Marilena walked toward the door and briefly stopped beside him. She laid her palm on his shoulder. “I am deeply sorry, son. I hope one day you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”
“I will always love you, Mother. But my ability to forgive you no longer rests in my hands alone.”
With defeat shining in her eyes, Marilena glanced at Wilhemina one last time before nodding then exiting the room.
“Lindsey, I’m Aldin.” He walked toward Wilhemina and her sister. “I’m sorry about the circumstances under which we are meeting, but I am happy to make your acquaintance nonetheless.” He sat down across from them, noting how they hel
d onto each other’s hands as if they were scared deer trapped in headlights. “I hope you can both understand what I’m about to tell you.” He waited, but they simply sat silently staring at him.
His chest had a strange pang of pain nestled in the middle of it, and he was sure it had something to do with the way Wilhemina was eyeing him as if he were a complete stranger, a complete stranger she abhorred.
“If circumstances were different, I would allow you, both of you if you wished”—he looked at Wilhemina, hoping he was about to tell her the truth, but not sure if he could let her walk out of his life or not—”leave at this very moment.”
“But you won’t let us. Will you?” Anger vibrated through Wilhemina’s voice along with pain.
“You don’t understand. If I let you walk out that door, you would both be in danger. Simply by being linked to us, you are no longer safe. Until we remediate the danger, you must remain under our protection.”
“Take us to the police. Let them protect us. I don’t want to be here any longer.” Wilhemina stood, her eyes sparking with defiance.
“Wilhemina, as much as I’m pissed about being kidnapped, I don’t really want to be reunited with you only for us both to die. Don’t mistake my logic and think that I’m not harboring a grudge as big as a football stadium against these people. But I have to admit, I was treated like a princess while I was being held by Marilena. She made sure to keep me up-to-date about everything—how you searched for me, how you never gave up on finding me. She told me about Nana and about your journalism. Maybe I’m suffering a mental breakdown or something by being so agreeable. I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I just know that I want us both to be safe. I never want to take for granted another moment I have been given to spend with you.”
“I cannot take you to the police. We’ve been over that one already. Even though you’ve been shown proof that vampires exist, you are still refusing to believe it. But they—we—do exist. The police cannot protect you from my kind, or worse.”
“Worse? There is worse?” Wilhemina cried, and tossed her hands up in the air in defeat. She spun to Lindsey. “Are you telling me that you believe that vampires are real?”
Lindsey nodded. “Yes. But to be fair, I’ve had a much longer time to be convinced of and to get used to the idea.”
“Why would you be told at all about vampires?” Wilhemina looked from Lindsey to Aldin.
He frowned. “At this point, I cannot pretend to have any idea of how my mother’s mind works. I don’t know why Lindsey was told about us. If I had to make a guess, I would say that it was to enable her to protect herself better if something were to happen with the prophecy.”
Lindsey nodded. “I believe you are correct. I have been taught to defend myself well. If I have to, I can kick some serious ass.”
“Lindsey!” Wilhemina looked at her sister as if she were an alien.
“What?” She shrugged. “It’s true.”
He didn’t think it was possible for vampires to get headaches. He was pretty sure they couldn’t unless they were injured in the head, but he swore he was getting one. He was still in denial over his mother’s actions. How did he expect Wilhemina to wrap her mind around it all, accept it all, when he was having a hard time doing it himself?
“What about these drifters? What are they?” Wilhemina asked.
“Asssshhhhe! Alllldinn!”
The scream that suddenly cut through the house penetrated through his skin and into his bones like acid. He flew from his seat to the entryway to find Avril. He’d never seen his sister-in-law look as terrified as she did at this moment.
Ashe suddenly appeared beside him. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
Ashe went to Avril and she collapsed against him. Ebony sprinted down the stairs and stood beside Ashe and Avril.
“You have to help Aiston! He’s at Drake’s. We went to the back and we were ambushed. You have to get to him now. They are trying to kidnap him. He couldn’t shimmer after they tagged him with a dart. Please. I had to get help. I didn’t stand a chance against all of them.”
“We’ll get him,” Aldin said before nodding to Ashe.
They both shimmered to the back of Drake’s. Aiston was on his knees trying hard to keep the five drifters surrounding him at bay. The ends of his fingers smoked. That along with the huge burn mark on the wall behind him told Aldin that his brother had taken out at least a couple of the drifters with his fire ability.
Instincts made Aldin duck to the side as a dart zinged past his head and imbedded into the wall. Since they had both been caught off guard, neither had wasted time to retrieve their swords. They were going to have to take the drifters out the old-fashioned way. With their fists.
Aldin caught one of the bastards by the throat as it charged him, twisted, and slammed it to the floor on its back. It screamed in fury and tore at him with wicked, poisonous talons. He pinned the drifter’s shoulders to the floor with his knees, grabbed his head with both hands, and wrenched it from its body. The loud pop of bones crunching had never sounded more satisfying to his ears.
He glanced at Ashe then froze when he saw Aiston sink to the floor and a drifter go for his throat with a dagger. His stomach dropped. Even with his speed, he would not get to him in time. But just as he thought his brother would be lost to him, the drifter was caught in the face by a wicked kick.
When Aldin looked closer at who had delivered that kick, he was surprised to find it had been Grady. Grady gave Aldin a quick nod of the head, and they turned to fight back to back. Within moments, only one drifter was left. Unfortunately, before Ashe ripped its head off, he had an opportunity to fire a dart at Aldin. This one didn’t miss. This one embedded deep into his neck.
“I’m getting Aiston back to the house,” Aldin said to Ashe. “See you there.” He bent and placed his hand on Aiston’s shoulder. That was the first time he was able to assess the extent of his brother’s injuries. His leg was ripped open starting at the outer thigh and wrapping around high toward his groin. He was worried that his femoral artery had been severed. If that was the case, they had little time to save him.
He shimmered, but he could only manage to get them both as far as the entryway before the dizziness and weakness caused by the tranq washed through him. His stomach clenched, and he finally understood the meaning of needing to puke even though he wasn’t physically capable of doing so.
He reached up and yanked the dart from his neck and dropped it to the floor. Avril rushed to Aiston and cried out when she saw the amount of blood covering his body.
“You have to get him a source,” she sobbed as she pulled Aiston’s upper body onto her lap after sitting on the floor.
“Find him a source, Aldin,” Ebony begged.
“There’s not enough time, and I’m too weak to shimmer,” he whispered before dropping to his knees.
“No. Someone has to help him! Please, I can’t lose him.” She brushed the hair from his face and rocked back and forth while she cradled him to her like a baby.
* * * *
Wilhemina watched the horror unraveling in front of her. She was fairly certain her jaw was gaping, possibly enough to drag the ground. She’d seen so much violence throughout her journalism career, but even she hadn’t seen this much blood. She felt sick and prayed she wouldn’t pass out.
“I’ll help him.” Lindsey stepped forward.
Wilhemina clamped her hand around Lindsey’s arm. “No!”
The loud sound of knuckles cracking behind them made her jump. She turned around to find Uriah standing behind them.
“Absolutely not,” he said through clenched teeth.
“You have no say so. I will do as I please.” Lindsey glared at Uriah.
He started for her.
“Don’t doubt for one moment that I won’t make you swallow your balls if you think to manhandle me either.”
Lindsey’s threat stopped him cold in his tracks. Apparently, that was something vampire males and human males had in co
mmon. Neither could stomach a threat to the boys.
She couldn’t let her sister be a donor to a vampire.
“I’ll do it.” She stepped past Lindsey and sank to her knees next to Aiston and Avril.
“No!” Lindsey said.
“Quiet. I’ve made my decision. Now how do we do this?” She was trying to be brave, but she was scared half silly.
Ashe reappeared and sucked in a sharp breath. He’d obviously not known how badly Aiston was injured.
“Let her. I will make sure he doesn’t hurt her.” Ragnor suddenly appeared beside Wilhemina and she jumped again.
She was about to let Aiston bite her. Did they have to scare the shit out of her any more with their appearing and disappearing acts?
“How do we do this?”
Ragnor lifted her arm. “Are you positive you want to do this?”
She certainly wasn’t going to let her sister do it so that only left her. “Yes.”
He ran his fingernail over her wrist and a small line of blood beaded on her skin. He pulled her arm toward Aiston’s mouth. A split second later, his nostrils flared and his eyes flew wide. She thought she might faint when she saw the blackness that completely overtook the turquoise that should have been there. He hissed and fangs poked past his upper lip. She turned her head away, afraid she’d chicken out if she looked at his scary-assed face one second longer.
Her eyes found Aldin. He was still on his knees, and he was ghostly pale. She thought he’d only been exhausted from fighting, but now she wondered if he was injured too. He swayed a little as his eyes locked on hers.
“Are you okay, Aldin?” Ashe asked.
“Yes. They darted me. It’s on the floor over there. The effects are pretty strong, but it’s starting to wear off already.”
“Grady knew about the ambush ahead of time. He was going to warn us. Unfortunately, he was found and detained. He got away just before the attack at Drake’s. That’s why he was there to help. We’re going to have to give him some kind of protection.”