by Virna DePaul
Amanda seemed to be making positive changes due to Dex’s influence. Still, the situation with the weres posed the biggest concern. With Bodin gone, several factions were vying to replace him, and no one was certain what role Dex would play in things. However, Dex would serve as Mahone’s liaison with the werewolves, and the FBI was keeping a close eye on matters. The FBI was also going to continue funding Jes’s research, including her research into the Legend of Wolves. But Jes’s research would be Top Secret classified and she had Dex to keep her avocation from becoming an obsession again.
Jes still struggled with balancing her personal and professional lives. She’d hired several scientists, some of them vampires, to help her with her research. But questions about life and death still plagued her. Why had she lived when her parents had died? Why was she immortal when the Draci lifespan was so short? Wasn’t it cosmically unfair for the world’s creatures to have such differing life spans, and why shouldn’t she try to even the playing field? Of course, that meant Dex continued to worry about her. In turn, she worried he’d remember how she’d begun their relationship by deceiving him and would change his mind about wanting to be with her.
But for now, for today, none of that mattered.
Today was a celebration of their formal union and Dex’s greatest victories. He had a son. Someday, Jes knew he’d forgive Bodin. But her greatest joy was knowing that Dex had given his heart to others and opened himself to love. Love from the Para-Ops team, of course. But most of all, from Jes.
***
As soon as the wedding ceremony was over, Ella ran to Dex and held her arms out for Eli, not caring a fig when the baby’s slobber stained her pretty pink flower girl dress. As she jiggled him, Ella scanned the massive hall that had been transformed into someplace magical.
She could tell Cy was feeling a little sad. Mostly, however, he seemed distracted by the pretty feline mage named Lucy. Ella liked Lucy, even if she did tend to glare at Cy a lot. Which Ella didn’t really understand since Lucy didn’t glare at anyone else.
Ella still needed to learn more about Dex’s other teammates. She liked that Knox, the vampire, was so protective of his human wife, Felicia. Felicia was beautiful, with red hair and blue eyes, and she laughed as she talked with the pretty man named Caleb and his girlfriend, Wraith. Despite Wraith’s name, she didn’t look at all scary. They looked like fun and she’d gather up the courage to talk to them soon. For the most part, Knox looked as happy as the rest of them, but sometimes he stared at Felicia with a desperate, mournful expression. Like he was about to lose her or something. She’d have to cheer him up, but first…
She turned back to Dex. “I want to show Eli that spot outside. Is that okay?” She wasn’t asking him permission, not for her anyway, but Eli was his baby, so she figured it was only right.
Dex frowned in that protective way of his and Ella’s shoulders sagged. She supposed she’d understand if he said no. Everyone was busy and he’d be worried about the baby and—
“Hey, Mahone,” Dex called. “Come here.”
As Ella watched, Dex waved over a human male with light brown hair. He wasn’t overly large, but he looked strong and healthy, and his gray eyes didn’t seem to miss a thing. Slowly, he made his way to Dex. Or rather, he made his way to Jes, who stood at Dex’s side.
He held out his hand to the vampire doctor. “Congratulations,” he said simply. Jes smiled, took his hand, and to everyone’s apparent surprise, leaned in and kissed Mahone on the cheek. Mahone flushed, scowling when Dex laughed.
“Listen, Mahone. Ella here needs to show Eli something outside. Would you be a sport and accompany them?” Despite his casual tone, Dex stared intensely at Mahone, as if communicating something important to him.
Mahone gave a beleaguered sigh that immediately made Ella mad. What was up with the human? He seemed okay, but he kept himself apart from everyone else even when people surrounded him. Maybe he was just shy, she decided. She felt shy sometimes, though she rarely let that stop her from doing what she wanted.
The human male looked down at her. “Let’s go, kid.”
Kid? Ella scowled but obligingly followed Mahone outside, bouncing Eli as they walked. She reminded herself he’d made a common mistake. Most people viewed her as a kid. Sometimes even Dex still did. They’d figure it out eventually.
Soon, they were outside and standing in the same spot where Ella had first met Dex. “This is it, Eli,” she crooned. “It’s the perfect spot for running and sword fighting and doing cartwheels. Don’t worry if you don’t get the hang of cartwheels at first. Even Jes still has trouble with them. But I’m a pro. I’ll be able to teach you in no time.”
After giving Eli the time to properly appreciate the spot, Ella turned to Mahone. He watched her intently.
A figure appeared behind him and Ella gasped. It was a woman surrounded by light, her long hair floating around her. Ella thought Jes was beautiful. She thought the same about Lucy, Wraith, and Felicia. But this woman…she looked like a queen. She looked like beauty in its most basic form, one that would never fade or tarnish. By her very presence, she made everything around her shine with the same glory.
“Mahone,” Ella began, but he’d already turned toward the castle, seemingly unaware of the Goddess standing beside him.
“Let’s go, kid.” To her surprise, he held out his hand.
Ella took Mahone’s hand, curling her fingers around his while at the same time cradling Eli’s sturdy body in her other arm. Together they walked back inside. At the last minute, Ella turned back to the Goddess, who appeared to be gazing at Mahone in the same manner Jes often gazed at Dex.
A musical voice whispered in her mind. “Isn’t the human handsome?”
Ella smiled and glanced at Mahone.
“Yes,” she said, answering the Goddess’s question out loud. “He is.”
Mahone frowned down at her. “What? He’s what?”
“Handsome,” Ella clarified.
“Uh, yeah,” Mahone said before escorting her to Dex and Jes.
At the doorway, though, he turned back to look at the iron gazebo surrounded by the green grass, a wistful expression on his face. The warm light shone on him, glimmering like it was alive, and a small smile formed on his face. The expression smoothed out the worry lines and tension that normally made him appear aloof. He looked almost relaxed. Not quite happy, but different. Hopeful, maybe.
And Ella felt hopeful, too.
THE END
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Virna DePaul is a former criminal prosecutor and now National Bestselling Author for Berkley (paranormal romantic suspense), HQN (single title romantic suspense) and HRS (category romantic suspense).
CONTACT VIRNA HERE
Website:www.virnadepaul.com (Sign up for my monthly newsletter for updates and contests!)
Twitter: @virnadepaul
Email:[email protected]
Facebook Fan Page:http://www.facebook.com/booksthatrock
ADDITIONAL TITLES
Paranormal Romantic Suspense:
Chosen By Blood (A Para-Ops Novel, Book 1, Berkley)
Chosen By Fate (A Para-Ops Novel, Book 2, Berkley)
Contemporary Romantic Suspense:
Dangerous To Her (Harlequin Romantic Suspense)
It Started That Night (HRS – May 2012)
Shades Of Desire (HQN: Special Investigations Group, Book 1 – June 2012)
Shades Of Temptation (HQN: Special Investigations Group, Book 2 – September 2012)
Contemporary Romance:
This Magic Moment (A Dalton Brothers Novel, Book 1)
Novellas:
A Vampire’s Salvation (A Beyond Human Novella)
Wild For Him
Erotic Novellas (Writing as Ava Meyers):
Copping To It (Red-Hot Cops Series Novella 1)
Cop Appeal (Red-Hot Cops Series Novella 2)
Copping Attitude (Red-Hot Cops Series Novella 3)
EXCERPT OF CHOSEN BY BLOOD
“I came as soon as I—”
It didn’t matter that he was in Mahone’s office, that Mahone was watching him, or that he and Mahone had just been discussing something as important as his clan. He hadn’t been in the same room with her in years, but his body’s reaction to her presence was the same as it always was: instantaneous. Her scent hit him like a sledgehammer and was followed by a wave of longing so intense it almost felled him. His skin prickled and his fangs ached as he fought to keep them sheathed. He couldn’t stop the hardening of his dick, however, or the urge he had to grab her and transport her to the Dome. To his bed. To someplace where duty and time dissolved, and he could just be with her.
She didn’t gasp or take a breath. Her words simply stopped. Something rare crystallized inside him.
Had she gotten over him? Had she found someone else? Another emotion—pure, undiluted rage—filled him at the thought of her with another. It made everything else, every other emotion he’d ever felt, seem innocuous. Made him want to rip off his clothes—the luxurious symbols of civility that he normally loved—and make her see him as he truly was—primal, lethal, and fucking ready to prove to her that she was his, once and for all. Instead, he took a deep breath and willed himself to calm. He opened his mind. Just a hair. Just enough to sense the desire buried beneath her resolve. Enough to dismiss that foreign emotion of fear and tamp down his rage.
When he was assured of his control, Knox slowly turned and faced the human female he’d wanted to bite from the moment he’d seen her. She was dressed conservatively in a white oxford shirt and navy blue pants, her auburn hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. Taller than most females, she was neither delicate nor bulky. While most would consider her average in looks and sex appeal, Knox saw what most didn’t.
He saw the strength in her supple body.
He saw her courage, her compassion, and her integrity.
And at that moment, he saw the fiery sensuality that flared in her eyes before she banked it and stared at him with a practiced look of mild curiosity.
Felicia had always tried to hide her attraction to him, but she’d always failed. Nevertheless, he’d abided by her wishes and kept his distance. But not anymore.
Not-the-fuck-anymore.
He didn’t speak the words, but given the way her eyes widened, she’d guessed at his thoughts. Knox dipped his head in a courtly bow. “Hello, Felicia. Imagine running into you here.”
EXCERPT OF CHOSEN BY FATE
AN ABANDONED WAREHOUSE WASHINGTON, D.C.
Caleb’s hands moved swiftly and efficiently as he set up the mobile radar equipment he’d spread out on the roof. The building below his feet had been swept and a perimeter established. Now all Caleb had to do was determine who was in the room with Mahone and whether Mahone was still alive.
Briefly, he glanced at Ethan Riley, leader of Hope Restored Team Blue and the four men, skilled in entry and perimeter surveillance, who’d accompanied them here. “Did you get in touch with the Para-Ops team?”
Riley looked up from checking his rifle. “They’ve detained the vampire Dante Prime. Devereux said he tried to teleport here, but he’d depleted his powers in Korea . . .”
Caleb snorted. “No shit.” Although vamps could teleport to and from anywhere in the world, provided they’d been there before, that kind of travel drained them. Before he and the rest of the team had interrupted the Vamp Council to question Dante Prime for treason and conspiracy to commit murder, Knox had spent several hours teleporting between North Korea and the United States. Each time, he’d carried a wounded Other or one of his team members back with him. It was a wonder the vamp was even capable of talking at this point...
His fingers moved faster. Almost there. Glancing at his watch, Caleb clenched his teeth and felt a bead of sweat trickle down his temple. He knew they couldn’t go in blind but—
“What about your wraith? Was she what you expected her to be?”
Caleb paused for only a fraction of a second before continuing his task. “She’s not my wraith. She’s a wraith who decided to keep the name Wraith, just to be ornery. And she’s exactly what I expected her to be.” What he didn’t say was that she was also far more than he’d expected. A heinous bitch, yes, but one whose attitude and mouth was designed to hide something textured and complex and . . .
Disgusted with himself, Caleb pressed his lips together and pushed thoughts of Wraith out of his head.
Get Mahone out. That’s all he could think about right now.
“Finally!” Snapping the last wire in place, Caleb flipped on the power and adjusted the radar settings, then scanned the building’s interior until the radar picked up body heat. “Bingo.”
Caleb immediately zoomed the camera in and got a good look at Mahone.
Dear Essenia, he thought, automatically invoking the name of the Earth Goddess to give him strength—strength he was clearly going to need to help Mahone. Although humans believed Essenia was an Otherborn deity, few knew Earth People—like the Native American tribe to which Caleb belonged—had prayed to the same deity for centuries.
With his wrists shackled to chains hanging from the ceiling, Mahone looked like he’d gotten into a fight with a chipper machine and lost. His face and body were covered in blood, and what was left of his clothes hung on his battered body in shreds. From his position on the rooftop above, Caleb once again adjusted the settings on the mobile radar equipment. The image on the screen zoomed out, losing detail and focus until it shaped the entire room, and provided grainy outlines of Mahone, a desk, a table, and one other individual, whose silver hair, height, and slim build proclaimed him to be a vampire.
When Caleb and the five members of Hope Restored Team Blue had arrived at the isolated warehouse twenty minutes earlier, Caleb had figured Knox, leader of the Para-Ops team, had made a mistake by not sending any Others with him. That, or Knox simply had faith in Caleb’s ability to take down anything that got in their way, human or not. Either way, Caleb was getting Mahone out and he planned on both of them to be breathing when he did it.
Caleb thought of the first time he’d met Mahone and the vision he’d had. He’d had the same vision several times since and the moment he’d met Wraith, he’d become convinced that the black-and-white aura that hovered near his own had to be hers. Upon their meeting, he’d felt a sizzling arc of connection that had only intensified with time. Apparently she hadn’t. In fact, she seemed to have no use for him and spent most of her time pushing him away. Maybe the aura belonged to Mahone, instead, and the vision had been a premonition of this very moment, Mahone straddling the line between life and death, waiting to see whether Caleb could save him.
Luckily for both of them, Caleb had come prepared. He looked at Riley. The man might be a little more chatty than Caleb liked, but he’d had no problem taking Caleb’s lead on the current mission. He was smart and he was a clean shot. That’s all that mattered right now. “Mahone’s in bad shape. We need to get in there fast. I’m hoping the vamp will teleport as soon as he knows he has company, but I need you and your team to cover me in case he decides to stick around. Are your shooters set up around the perimeter of the room?”
“They’ve all checked in and are in the crawl space, with their weapons ready.”
“Obviously your bullets won’t kill him but, along with the Hyperion gas, they may buy me enough time to get to Mahone and extract him.”
“How long does it take for the Hyperion to immobilize a vampire?”
The Hyperion was something Caleb had developed toward the end of the War. The government hadn’t known about it and he’d only used it a few times before peace had been declared. The testing he’d conducted had been limited, but he felt fairly confident it would work.
At this point, he figured his odds of getting out with Mahone were only slightly below average.
“Usually about sixty seconds, but that’s with a vamp who’s been weakened by the effects of the vampire vaccine. From the looks of this one, he’s had pure blood recently. Still, he might not be at full strength.”
“If the vamp’s immobilized by the Hyperion, how do we keep him contained while we take him in?”
“We don’t. That’s not what we’re here for. Our sole objective is to rescue Mahone.”
Riley nodded, but looked troubled. “You said he’s doing bad . . .”
Caleb tried to keep his expression blank. “Doing bad” was an understatement. Mahone probably had less than five minutes of life left in his broken body. “Just get me to him. I’ll take care of it from there. You ready?”
Riley communicated with his men, then nodded. “It’s a go.” Slipping the small gas pellet from his pocket, Caleb held it up. “Remember, you have to stay back. Help me hold back the vamp, then get your men out. You’re maintaining the perimeter, not going in. This gas immobilizes vamps and weres, but it does far worse to humans once enough of it is absorbed in your blood stream.”
“What about you?”
“I’ve built up a resistance. It’s not extensive, but it’ll give me the five minutes I need. If we don’t make it out, it’ll take two hours for the gas to dissipate. Don’t come into the room until that much time has passed. Understood?”
Riley nodded and held out his hand. O’Flare shook it, then strode to the door that would lead him from the roof to the room below. He moved quietly, his breathing low and shallow, his gun held at the ready with the gas pellet in his other hand. He’d activate it as soon as he got close enough and it could work its magic on the vampire.