Chosen by Sin

by Virna DePaul

  “Then I’ll go by myself.”

  It was a testament to Knox and his honor that he didn’t even hesitate when Dex explained the situation. “Meet me at the main entrance to Death Valley National Park. I’ll be there in about an hour.”

  Dex was so stunned and grateful he could barely choke out, “Thank you, Knox.”

  “You’re welcome, Dex. We’ll get you there. What you do next is up to you.”

  After Knox hung up, Knox’s parting salvo didn’t leave Dex’s mind from that moment on. In less than an hour, his friend teleported both him and Lucy thousands of miles to a location familiar to him, one just miles from Jes’s castle. “I’m sorry I can’t get you any closer, but since I’ve never been there…”

  “I understand. This is good.” A quick glance at Lucy confirmed she was still catching her breath after the painful teleportation. Dex held out his hand to Knox.

  Knox clasped it. “Good luck,” he said

  Dex turned away, but something made him look back. Knox was staring at him with an intense though unreadable expression.

  “What is it?” Dex asked.

  “You’ll remember your promise, won’t you?”

  His promise? The one Knox had extracted from him at the hospital? “Of course, Knox. You’ll never have to worry about Felicia while I’m around. I told you that.”

  “Thank you. I hope you know I’d do the same for you.”

  Dex swallowed hard. “You just did. But why are you—”

  “Go on,” Knox said. “Go to her. She needs you. I know you’ll be a good father, Dex. I believe in you.”

  O-kay. Now Dex was more confused than ever. It was great that Knox had faith in him, but why did the vampire sound like he was saying goodbye? Before he could question him, Knox vanished.

  Dex turned to Lucy, who appeared equally confused. But they’d have to figure out Knox later. “I’m going to shift. I’ll get there faster.”

  Lucy nodded. “I’ll be there as soon as I can. Go, Dex.”

  And he went. He didn’t even feel the pain as he shifted. He couldn’t feel anything but fear. While he’d gotten to France in record time, it might not have been fast enough to save them. Jes or the baby.

  When he arrived at Paladine, the grounds looked exactly as they had when he left. He shifted back into human form, then checked the surgery room that had access to the outside. It was empty, but he grabbed some surgical scrubs and threw them on.

  He ran inside. “Cy!” he yelled. “Jes! It’s Dex. Where are you?”

  He headed to the second surgery room, the one where Amanda had been cutting Jes.

  But it was empty, as well.

  He hadn’t seen anyone. Hadn’t heard anyone. Where the hell were they?

  He whirled and almost ran into Cy.

  The dragon-shifter looked exhausted, with dark grooves under his eyes. He shook his head. “You’re too late,” he said.

  Dex snarled and lunged at him, grabbing his shirt and shaking him. “No! Damn you, don’t say that! Don’t tell me they’re dead.”

  “Dex! Stop it.” Cy shouted. “I didn’t say they’re dead. You missed the birth, that’s all. They’re okay. It was touch and go there for awhile, but they’re both okay. You have a son. Congratulations.”

  Dex couldn’t tell if Cy was being sarcastic. He didn’t care. “Jes is okay?”

  “She’s exhausted. Asleep. She tore and lost a lot of blood, so Amanda gave her a sedative. I need to get some sleep. I’m going to crash in one of the recovery rooms. I’ve been up for almost forty-eight hours. I’m so out of it, I’m not even going to ask how you got here so fast.”

  “Shut up and tell me where she is, Cy.”

  “She’s in her bedroom. With the baby. Giselle’s been checking in on them.”

  “Can I—can I see her?”

  Cy laughed but there was no humor in the sound. “It’s your kid, Dex. And Jes? She belongs to you, too. The question is whether you’ll finally accept that, or if you’re going to prove me right and leave her again.”

  “Isn’t that what you want?” Dex growled.

  “All I want is for Jes to be happy. And to hope that maybe I can be happy again, too. I’m not sure either will ever happen. You hurt her, Dex. Bad. I knew you would.” He walked away, muttering, “I knew you would.”

  “Cy,” he called out one more time. “What of Bodin?”

  Cy shrugged. Shook his head. Then was gone.

  So his grandfather was dead. Why wasn’t he happy at the news? He’d wanted his grandfather dead most of his life, but now it didn’t even matter.

  Dex made his way to Jes’s room, trying not to feel like a prisoner being led to his execution.

  He remembered lying in bed with Jes, thinking about baby names and wondering what their baby would look like. If it would have silver hair. Even now he wondered if it would be as pale as Jes or more toasty like Knox.

  As he climbed the stairs and paused outside her bedroom door, he second-guessed whether he should go to them. After all, Cy had said they were okay. The dragon-shifter was watching over them, as was Giselle. Why should Dex bother seeing them if he was just going to leave again?

  But there was no way he was leaving without seeing his son. He pushed open the door and gasped.

  Jes lay in her queen bed, looking small and lost under the sheets. He walked toward her. She was beyond pale now, with dark shadows under her eyes and sunken cheekbones, evidence of the arduous trial she’d just undergone. As he peered down at her, he couldn’t help but remember the precious few times they’d bantered and touched and even laughed together. Was that really going to be gone from his life forever? Was she?

  Knox’s words echoed in his brain. What you do next is up to you…I know you’ll be a good father, Dex. I believe in you.

  Knox believed in him and Knox was the most honorable man Dex knew. He was, Dex admitted to himself, a true friend.

  Taking courage from his friend’s words, Dex turned toward the small bassinet he’d glimpsed when he’d walked into the room. When he peered inside, his blood froze.

  The baby was awake, staring up at him with eyes that weren’t black like his mother’s, but a golden, tawny brown. Just like Dex’s.

  His son was part vampire and part were. He should look like a vampire. But like Dex, he was an anomaly.

  The kind of anomaly that could prove a legend true.

  In that second, there was no doubt in Dex’s mind of what he had to do.

  All he could think of was protecting his son.

  ***

  When Lucy finally arrived at Paladine Abbey, she was breathing hard but patting herself on the back. Who knew she could run so fast for so long? Why, she’d bet Dex hadn’t beaten her by more than twenty minutes, she mused. She eyed the massiveness of Jes’s castle as she started to climb up the entryway steps.

  The front door swung open and suddenly Dex was there, a wild look in his eyes as he cradled a small cloth bundle to his chest. He was kind of holding it like a football, but if she wasn’t mistaken—

  “Dex?” she asked slowly. “Where are you going with the baby?”

  His gaze jerked to hers and she caught her breath at the terror reflected in their depths. “He’s a were, Lucy. He looks just like me.”

  Oh shit. What was wrong with him? “Poor kid,” she tried to joke. “But Jes found you attractive. I’m sure he’s not that bad off.”

  “No.” He shook his head fiercely as he stared down at his son. “You don’t understand. He’s like me. He’s part of the legend. The one Jes told Mahone about. The child of a vampire and a were that doesn’t look like a vampire. Which means he’s just like me. Why does he have to be just like me?”

  His question sounded so tortured that Lucy almost cried out. “Dex, stop it. Why shouldn’t he be just like you? You’re wonderful. Brave. Strong. A good friend.”

  “I’m a coward,” he shouted. “A fucking joke. A whipped dog.”

  “No! That’s what others have calle
d you, Dex, but it’s not true.”

  “It is,” he said. “It is. I didn’t help him. Elliott. When he came to me at the orphanage, I didn’t help him and because of me he got hurt. He died.”

  “Oh Dex.” Lucy felt lost. She didn’t know what to say. She knew he’d suffered abuse. It had been so obvious. But she’d had no idea that he blamed himself for the abuse another had suffered. No wonder he’d been so protective of her. She was the most youthful looking of the Para-Ops team. The most innocent. He’d have seen her as his second chance to help the child he hadn’t been able to save. “Dex, you’ve helped so many people. You. Me. The Para-Ops team. We’re all doing good. We’re making the world a better place for your baby. You and Jes will be wonderful parents.”

  He scowled at her when she mentioned the baby, pulling the bundle closer to his chest. “No. She can’t have the baby. She’ll use it for her experiments. I won’t have him suffer like that. Not even for her.”

  “Okay,” Lucy said, moving toward him. He wasn’t himself. He was distraught and wouldn’t listen to reason right now. She just needed to get the baby from him.

  To her surprise, he held the baby out to her. “You take him.”

  “Uh, what?” But the next thing she knew, she was cradling the baby, gazing into the cherubic face of an adorable werebeast baby that had Dex’s eyes and Jes’s nose and mouth. “Dex, he’s beautiful. But what do you want me to do with him?”

  “Take him. Meet me at the airport. We’ll leave together.”

  “Dex, no! Are you crazy? Where’s Jes?”

  “They gave her a sedative. She’s asleep upstairs.”

  “Are you kidding me?” she yelled, jiggling the baby when he startled and began to fuss. “Dex, you can’t take him. She’ll never forgive you.”

  “It doesn’t matter. He’ll be safe. That’s all that matters.”

  “Dex—”

  “Lucy.” He spoke firmly, his gaze suddenly clear. He seemed cognizant now, completely aware of what he was doing and why. “Trust me. I have to do this. Are you going to side with Jes or me?”

  She didn’t even hesitate. “You. You know that, Dex. But this is wrong.”

  “I’ll meet you at the airport.”

  “But where are you going?”

  “Once you’re far enough away and can get a ride to the airport, call me. At that point, I’ll tell Cy, Jes’s brother, what I’ve done. You’ll be too far away for them to stop you, but they’ll know the baby is safe. I—I owe them that much.”

  “I hope you know what you’re doing, Dex.”

  Dex placed his hand on the baby’s forehead, the first sign of affection he’d shown his son since she’d arrived. “I’m doing what I have to do, Lucy. I promise.”

  ***

  Dex waited in the iron gazebo. About an hour after Lucy left, she called him on his cell phone and told him she’d caught a train and was on the way to the airport. They’d be there in a little over three hours.

  After thanking her and disconnecting the call, Dex went inside to find Cy. He was headed toward the recovery rooms when he heard a scream coming from upstairs.

  He winced. It was Jes.

  There was another scream. A low agonized howl of pain. And then another.

  Shouts. Unintelligible for the most part except for two distinct words.

  My baby. My baby.

  He couldn’t do it. No matter what she’d done, he couldn’t let her wonder what had happened to her baby. She wouldn’t understand that Dex had taken him to protect him. But he’d explain and—

  He caught movement out of the corner of his eye and whirled.

  “You bastard,” Cy roared, coming at him with fists swinging. “What have you done?”

  “Cy, wait!” Dex yelled

  But the dragon-shifter was incensed and punched Dex in the face so hard Dex wondered if he’d shifted into marble first. He hadn’t done it the first time they’d fought, but this time—Dex hit the ground and skidded several feet before crashing into a wall. He blinked and regained his feet in time to see Cy running in the direction of Jes’s screams.

  Dex followed on his heels.

  “I’ll kill you!” Cy yelled over his shoulder.

  “I had to take the baby away. He looks like a were. She would have hurt him. Experimented on him.”

  Cy careened to a stop, whirled, and punched Dex in the face again. At least he tried to. Dex dodged and blocked the punch with his arm. They strained against one another, Cy’s face inches from Dex’s. “You idiot. Jes would die for that baby. She’d die for you. Hell, she’d fucking die for me. And you really think she’d do anything to hurt a child? Let alone hers?” Cy shoved Dex away. “You don’t fucking deserve her.”

  He whirled, leaving Dex to stand there, stunned, too paralyzed to move as words rained down on him.

  Cy’s words.

  Jes would die for that baby. She’d die for you. Hell, she’d fucking die for me.

  Jes’s words.

  If it was that easy…I’d have turned a whole bunch of others into vampires. But you’re right, considering I’d have been risking my life, I didn’t make the offer to anyone. Anyone but Bodin, that is. But he refused and I already told you, I don’t make people do things against their will.

  Even Mahone’s words.

  I’m sorry about Jes. I don’t think she meant any harm, which is why I didn’t say anything.

  As soon as the words faded, he was bombarded by other memories.

  Lucy trying to play matchmaker between them. Ella trusting Jes to take care of her. Bodin going to Jes when he knew the end was near.

  The signs had been everywhere and he’d chosen to ignore them.

  Jes loved. She was loved. Everyone who met her, no matter the circumstances, respected her and believed in her innate goodness.

  Dex had been the only one to ever doubt that.

  Of course Jes wouldn’t hurt their baby.

  She’d done a lot of things that could be classified as mistakes, all with good intentions, but she’d never intentionally hurt another living thing. All she’d done was try to heal and help others. And what had Dex done in return?

  Taken the one thing she wanted most in the entire world. A love that would never leave her.

  Her baby.

  Suddenly, he was moving again. But when he heard the next high-pitched scream, he knew it was over.

  ***

  When Dex made it to the foyer, Cy was kneeling at the bottom of the stairs next to Jes’s crumpled body. The look on Cy’s face was pure horror.

  “No!” Dex shouted, fear pulsing through him. He ran to them, wincing when he saw a trickle of blood on Jes’s temple.

  Cy looked at Dex, his eyes shimmering with tears.

  “What happened?” Dex demanded.

  “I—I don’t know,” Cy said shakily. “One minute she was standing at the top of the stairs, screaming. I shouted for her to calm down. That the baby was all right. But she wouldn’t listen. When I reached her, she—” Cy closed his eyes as if trying to block out some kind of horror.

  “What, damn it? What did she do?”

  Cy’s eyes popped back open. “She—she looked at me as if she didn’t know who I was. She said she was going to kill me. And she—she tried to rip my throat out. Literally. She came at me with her fangs. I’d never even seen them before! I struggled with her, tried to restrain her, but she was so fucking strong. She pulled me down the stairs with her and now—now she won’t wake up.”

  The sound of a baby crying interrupted them. Their heads snapped up.

  Lucy stood in the doorway holding the baby. Her gaze moved from Dex to Jes. “I couldn’t do it. I lied, Dex. I never went to the airport. I thought you’d be gone by now and I could give the baby back to Jes. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay, Lucy,” Dex said, trying to keep everyone, including himself, calm. “She’s hurt. We need to help her. Jes is hurt.”

  “I can see its aura,” Lucy said. “It’s inside her.”
>
  “What is, Lucy?” Dex asked, even though he knew.

  She raised her terrified gaze to his. “A dark spirit has possessed her.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  It was funny how Jes could see and hear what was happening even though she shouldn’t have been able to. After all, her eyes and ears no longer belonged to her anymore, but to the power that had claimed possession of her body and even now was trying to overtake her mind.

  For a moment, she ceased her frantic struggles.

  She’d been struggling, she realized. Fighting.

  Why?

  She couldn’t even remember.

  She remembered pain as her baby had tried to slip from her body.

  Pain as she’d held her baby and felt only the loss of his father.

  Pain when she’d awoken and found her baby missing. Taken from her.

  Pain when her chest had caught on fire.

  Pain when she’d seen Cy and realized he’d been the one responsible.

  Pain upon pain upon pain.

  She was a doctor, wasn’t she? Why couldn’t she stop the pain?

  But she had, she realized. She’d stopped the pain.

  She was dead. She could see her body lying on the floor. Dex was there. So was Cy. Even Lucy. And Lucy—

  Whatever was left of Jes’s spirit cried out at the sight of Lucy holding her baby. Why did she have him? Had Dex given him to her? But no, Lucy handed her baby to Cy and told Cy to watch him. “Watch him for Jes,” Lucy whispered.

  She calmed and turned her attention back to Dex. His face was contorted in anguish. He looked so sad, as if he couldn’t bear the thought that she was dead. For a moment, Jes ached to comfort him, but of course she couldn’t. She wasn’t even here anymore.

  “The other mage,” he said to Lucy. “She said a diabol could only possess a living person temporarily. That it’s only in dreams that a possession can become permanent.”

  “But she’s unconscious,” Lucy countered. “How do we know she’s not dreaming right now?”

  Huh, Jes thought. That made sense. She’d always known Lucy was a smart one.

  The baby started to fuss in Cy’s arms and Jes frowned. Why was he holding her baby? She wanted to comfort her baby. Sing to him. Take care of him with Dex’s help. Only Dex didn’t want them. He’d taken the baby away from her…