“I want the snipers positioned at these vantage points,” he began, pointing to several markers, “Cami, your—
“Sorry to interrupt, Commander,” Jester said, bursting in, “but we just got the call you were expecting.”
“And?”
“A black SUV with two passengers drove within range and took photographs of the area. The passenger was a blonde woman and the driver who took the shots, fucking Erickson.”
“You’re sure?” Claesson asked.
“One-hundred percent; the scout team took some photos of their own,” Jester replied, turning his laptop around to show the Commander.
“Well, damn. Looks like we’re on for tonight as planned. I knew that son of a bitch was up to something! Cami, take over for me here for a few minutes. I need to report to the High Commander. I don’t want him hearing this from someone else. This is going to be hard on him; Erikson has been with him for as long as I can remember.”
“Yes, sir. Does this mean we can fill our men in on what’s going down tonight?”
“Absolutely; when we’re finished here we need to start rounding everyone up to administer the antiserum. We can tell them then.”
“And what about the civilians on the compound?” Cami pressed, knowing it was going to be impossible to continue to keep it a secret from Jared for much longer. Completing the blood bond made it that much easier for him to read her, which is why she’d slipped out of bed for the meeting without waking him.
“After we tell the men.”
✧
“Then this will be where The Elite will make their final stand,” Lucias said, as he looked over the pictures Captain Erikson and Molly had presented, “and it will be the last time they resist me.” Lucias moved to the chair behind his desk. “My civilian resources have informed me that the first round of human soldiers will be arriving tomorrow; too late to do The Elite much good, but excellent timing for us. Christopher, you are certain about the number of soldiers The Elite have in Boston?”
“Yes, Lucias, I’m absolutely certain. I was able to get a count of Elite stationed at the compound from Claesson’s office and I have been diligent in tracking the new soldiers arriving each day. Just a little over three-hundred-and-fifty have come from the other compounds. That brings their total to around six-hundred men.”
Lucias smiled. “It is going to be a short battle. My army of infected alone is nearly double that number and that is saying nothing of the turned humans. Of course, they are not yet trained, but being newly infected, their bloodlust will make up for the lack of skill in battle. Molly, I want you to go see to Chloe. Give her a little incentive to finish the transformations quickly.”
“What kind of incentive?” Molly asked with a devious smile. She was an excellent actress.
“Inform her that if every one of the humans is not ready for infection within the hour, she’ll have the pleasure of watching Kaleb tear the throats out of any who remain human.”
Molly gave a slow nod and disappeared through the door.
“Come, Christopher; let us go and see the new additions to my army. It has been so very long since you’ve seen my virus in action. I have made some rather entertaining modifications over the years. It is truly a magnificent sight to behold.” Lucias offered his arm, which the other vampire happily accepted, and the pair sped off.
✧
“What do you mean it’s not working?” Lucias hissed, inches away from Mason’s face.
“Sire, I don’t know what’s wrong,” Mason replied anxiously. “I’ve given each of them three shots and nothing has happened.”
Lucias sped over to one of the new vampires and grabbed the dark-haired man by the throat. “How do you feel?” he asked, eyeing the man carefully.
“Amazing. What did you do to me?” There was fear in his eyes, but something else as well; gratitude, admiration.
Lucias released his hold and thought for a moment before responding. “I have given you a gift. Lifted you far above all of those you once knew. Before, where you were just a man, now you will be a god. In return for this gift, you must pledge your allegiance to me and earn your place. Will you do this?”
“Yes, anything,” the man replied without hesitation. Lucias looked back at Christopher, who was watching with curiosity before he turned to address the nine other vampires who’d been silently observing. “And what of the rest of you; do you accept this gift and pledge your allegiance to me?” Like the first, every one of them agreed without hesitation. Lucias watched them all carefully; he listened to their hearts beating, but detected no lie. Apparently, humans were far more pliable than he’d realized.
“Mason, take our new guests,” he said gesturing to the turned, “and gather the others in the main hall to await my arrival. I will be there shortly to speak with all of them.”
“Yes, Sire,” he responded and, before he even asked, the other vampires filed in behind him.
“How marvelous,” Lucias said, turning to Christopher after they left the room. “It seems these turned are as obedient and loyal as the infected.”
“Are you sure they will be able to fight?” Christopher asked.
“It matters not. They increase my forces by three-hundred, even if only to occupy The Elite, forcing them to waste whatever antiserum they possess while we destroy the lab. And they can easily be replaced. Now, my dear Christopher; I think it’s time for you to get reacquainted with an old friend.”
✧
“Here, you must drink,” Molly said, passing a bag of blood to Chloe who was slumped on the floor. The last of the humans had been carted off to complete transformation several minutes before. Completing the task in such a short time had left Chloe drained, especially since she hadn’t drunk nearly as much blood as she should have during the process.
Chloe looked up at her with tears on her lashes. “He’s never going to stop; he’ll never let me stop. Maybe it would be better if I died; then The Elite would still have a chance.”
“Don’t talk like that, Chloe. Without you, we would be lost,” she said, kneeling down to comfort her maker. “We need you, and your family needs you now more than ever. I have something to show you, but you must drink first.”
Reluctantly, Chloe bit through the plastic and drank down its contents before she pushed into Molly’s mind. There she saw Captain Erikson with Lucias and Molly, and then in the car with Molly, and finally outside The Elite camp at the factory.
The Elite have found a cure and Lucias plans to attack them tonight. This man, Christopher, says nearly all of The Elite are guarding the lab we saw this morning. They will be slaughtered; Lucias has so many more men.
Chloe’s eyes widened then rolled back into her head as she fell limp in Molly’s arms. Molly fought off the panic that threatened to overtake her and gently lowered Chloe to the floor. She rushed to retrieve more blood from a cooler on the other side of the room, assuming that her maker’s need for it was the cause of her current state. But before she even made it back, Chloe sat up.
“Oh, my God; are you all right? You scared the shit out of me!” Molly said, her southern accent thicker than ever under the stress of the moment.
“I’m better than all right,” Chloe said, taking the two bags from Molly’s hands. She was drinking down the last few swallows of red liquid when Lucias, followed closely by Captain Erikson, entered the room.
“Ahh, there you are,” Lucias said rather cheerfully at seeing the two women.
“I was just about to come find you,” Molly said with a smile, speeding over to him.
“I take it your young charge managed to complete the task as requested.” Lucias asked.
“They took the last one outta here about fifteen minutes ago,” Molly replied as Chloe, fully recharged, stood up behind her.
“Excellent. Chloe, you remember Christopher, or rather Captain Erikson as you would have known him?”
“Of course; it’s a pleasure to see you again, Captain,” she replied, schooling her fe
atures to hide her disgust. She’d always had a bad feeling around Captain Erikson; now she knew why, but she didn’t understand how he could have hidden his betrayal for so long. Her grandfather was an incredibly powerful telepath; surely at some point over all the years Captain Erikson had served him he would have detected something of his true intentions in his thoughts.
As if he’d read her mind, Lucias provided the answer.
“I suppose you must be curious how Christopher managed to elude your grandfather’s ability all these years. I must say, it was one of my better ideas, genius really. You see, Christopher is my blood-bound mate,” he said, taking the other man’s hand.
Neither she nor Molly could quite conceal their shock at that statement or action. Though she found both men utterly repugnant, Chloe caught the tiniest glimmer of goodness in them both through their shared affection.
“Don’t look so surprised,” Lucias continued. “Through that bond, I was able to command Christopher, to help him repress any thoughts that could jeopardize his mission. Thus, there was nothing for William to detect but his commitment to his duty. But now, thanks in part to you, dear Chloe, there is no longer a need for us to hide.”
“I’m happy for you then,” Chloe replied and it was, in fact, the truth. The Captain’s presence provided yet another distraction to keep Lucias’s mind off of her, and with the vision she’d just had, she was fairly certain holding Lucias at bay wouldn’t be a concern for much longer.
“Retire to your quarters and rest,” Lucias commanded Chloe. “You will need your strength for tonight,” he continued, moving with Captain Erikson to take her hand as well. “Come, I think it is time for the two of you to get better acquainted,” Lucias murmured as his eyes darkened with desire.
CHAPTER 18 - Worth Fighting For
“So that’s everything,” Cami said with the eyes of her entire family locked on her.
“Oh, my God!” Alexa said, looking to Ethan. “It’s really happening.”
She turned to her father and the smile melted from her face at seeing his expression.
What is it? Aren’t you happy? she sent.
Of course I am, darling. It’s just, the Captain. I don’t understand how he could do this, after all our years together.
I’m sorry, Father; truly, I am.
He replied with a weak smile.
“We’re going to start moving out at noon. That will give us about six hours to get everything in place before the sun starts to go down.”
Ethan’s glance moved to Alexa and she sighed, knowing what was coming. “I want to go out with you,” he said to his sister.
“Ethan, we’ve already discussed this. You and my daughter have been through enough already, I won’t see her hurt again if something happens to you,” William replied.
“It’s okay, Father,” Alexa chimed in. “Josephine, you believe this meeting of the armies is what you saw in your vision, right?” she asked of her mother-in-law while keeping her eyes on Ethan. He watched her curiously.
“Yes, I am now certain it was at this factory.”
“Then that means Chloe will be there during the battle. I can’t ask Ethan, as a father, to stay behind, knowing that,” she continued. Ethan smiled and pulled her into his arms. “But, with that being said, I am Chloe’s mother, so he can’t ask it of me either.”
“Alexa, no!” he said, stepping back from her and grabbing her shoulders.
“Ethan, if you go, my whole world will be out on that field. You can’t expect me to stay back here while my fate is decided without me. And I’ve given it a lot of thought; I want you to go, I want us to go. All of the soldiers, they are going to have their hands full fighting the infected. I know they will do what they can, but they don’t love her. She’s our daughter and we will protect her more fiercely than anyone else possibly could.”
“Alexa’s right,” Jared added, stepping closer. “I’m going, too, and don’t you dare try to stop me,” he said when Cami opened her mouth to protest. “My mate is going, my sister is going, and it’s my niece out there.”
Everyone, apart from Cami, looked at Jared with shocked expressions. “Oh, yeah,” Jared said, running a hand through his hair and flashing a lopsided grin, “we didn’t mean to tell you all like this,” he started, grabbing Cami’s hand and pulling her in front of him, “but we completed the mate bond. It’s official. Well, almost official.”
Sorry, Father. he sent immediately knowing they’d broken with tradition and the regulations of The Agency by not getting approval first.
“We’d like to complete the ceremony with all of you there when all of this is over,” Cami added quickly.
William stepped forward, his face serious as he looked at his son, then Cami, before a bright smile lit his face and he yanked them into a warm embrace. “I couldn’t be happier!” he said aloud. The rest of The Agency doesn’t need to know about the timing. he added silently.
“I think you may have gotten the order of things backwards, son,” Elijah joked, shaking Jared’s hand. “I did warn you that my daughter doesn’t exactly like to follow tradition.”
“Congratulations to you both,” Rebecca said, taking each of their hands before she turned to her husband. “William, I agree with Alexa and Jared. I think we should all go, for Chloe.” William began to shake his head, but his wife was having none of it. “Not only that, but it seems the fate of our people may very well rest upon the outcome of this one night. I refuse to stay behind and do nothing. You are our leader and Chloe is our granddaughter.”
“She’s right,” Josephine chimed in. “I’m going, too.”
Elijah looked at Ethan, then William, and shrugged. “It appears we have been out-voted.”
William sighed up at the ceiling, knowing this was one battle he couldn’t win. As the High Commander, he could, of course, force all of them to stay within the safety of the compound, but they would never forgive him, especially if something happened to Chloe.
“Fine,” he said, finally relenting, “but we will stay near the Commander and you will all give me your word that you will follow his orders no matter what occurs.”
Alexa threw her arms around her mother. A moment later the buzzer at the door sounded.
William opened it and Alexa’s face lit up even further at seeing Dante and Layla standing just outside. “I’m sorry to disturb you, my lord,” Dante began. “We realize you are incredibly busy, but this will only take a moment. We’ve come to request permission to be wed, to complete the mate bond. In light of what’s happening we want to do it today, right now really. The Commander has already given his blessing and an officer from one of the other compounds has agreed to perform the ceremony,” he said and smiled down at Layla proudly.
Alexa squealed and rushed forward, throwing her arms around the couple as her father stepped back to let them into the suite.
“There must be something in the water,” Elijah said, nudging Jared.
“I’m sorry, Dante, but that plan isn’t going to work,” William replied seriously. Dante’s smile melted. “I’ll only allow it if you grant me the honor of performing the ceremony myself, and if we can make it a joint celebration.”
Relief and confusion swam in Dante’s eyes. “You see, my son and Cami have just told us they would like to be married today as well.”
Dante and Layla both looked more than surprised as their gazes shot to Cami and Jared.
“Well, now. Come on, dears,” Rebecca said, rushing to Layla while Josephine grabbed Cami, “it seems we have a wedding to plan.”
Absolution of Fate (Fate Series Book 3) Page 20