Redemption of Fate (Fate Series Book 2)

by S. Simone Chavous

  Standing in the street outside, Rachel recalled the events as they’d happened up until the car turned out of sight. As she spoke, Dante’s eyes shot around looking for something, anything that could help. Just as he was about to give up and head back to base to wait for Jasmine to wake up, he spotted an ATM across the way.

  “Come on,” he said speeding over to the machine. Locating he camera, Dante leaned in and looked in the direction it was pointing. “Where’d you say the car was parked?”

  “Right over there; at the curb on the corner,” she replied pointing to the spot.

  “Think we might have just caught a break,” he said with relief as he pulled out the satellite phone Jester had given him to bypass the block that was in place on the compound. “Hey, Jester; I need you to pull footage from the First City Bank across the street from Blood Runners.”

  ✧

  “What is your name?” Lucias asked coldly from his seat, where he seemed perfectly comfortable in the dim light of the exam room.

  Layla spat loudly on the ground at his feet, but didn’t utter a word in response. Knowing the menacing man sitting across from her was Lucias, she was utterly terrified, but refused to let them see it.

  The kick Mason threw to the back of her legs sent her to her knees with a loud thud against the hard floor.

  “When the master asks you a question, you answer,” he hissed.

  “Fuck you,” she replied defiantly, earning a blow to the side of her face. Her cheek exploded with pain as she fell over sideways into the wall. With her hands tethered behind her back, she had no way to catch herself, but immediately sat back up when she regained her balance. The cut which had opened up over her cheekbone had almost completely healed by the time she was upright again.

  Mason raised his arm to strike her once more, since she had yet to offer her name, but Lucias lifted his hand signaling him to stop.

  “Her name is of little consequence,” he said quietly as he stood. “Place her on the table.”

  Mason grabbed Layla by her armpits and hoisted her up onto the cold steel slab. Between the handcuffs and the lingering effects of the tranquilizer, there was little she could do against his manhandling.

  She kept her eyes locked on Lucias; following him as he approached the small table and picked up the syringe. Lucias smirked as he saw the fear flash in her eyes as she realized what he intended to do to her.

  “Yes, my dear; in a short time you will tell me your name and anything else I want to know.”

  She opened her mouth to protest, trying desperately to stall for more time, praying her fellow soldiers would find her; but before a sound escaped her lips, Lucias covered the short distance between them and plunged the needle into her chest.

  Layla cried out in pain as he depressed the plunger and released the virus into her heart. The poisonous liquid spread like fire through her veins with each slow beat of her pulse, but she clenched her mouth shut, refusing to cry out further as she tried to accept her fate. As she struggled, a lone tear slid from the corner of her eye.

  Lucias reached out and stroked her cheek almost lovingly. Layla squeezed her eyes shut to hide her pain and fear as he collected her tear on his finger and placed the salty liquid on his tongue.

  “I want her fed immediately,” Lucias said, instructing Mason. “At least two humans, as I want her transformation to be swift. I have great plans for our lovely little soldier,” he continued before moving to the door. “Oh, and Mason; after she is fed you are to clean her and take her to my playroom to complete her transformation. Alert me the moment it is done,” he said and disappeared from view.

  CHAPTER 19 - Finding Cami

  “Here’s what we’ve got; picture quality wasn’t great, but I’ve cleaned it up as much as I can,” Jester said as he spun around in his chair and wheeled across the floor; back to his workstation in the room full of computers, monitors and all sorts of other gadgets neither Dante, Martinez or Rachel could accurately identify.

  They watched as the video started on screen with the dark SUV pulling up to the corner across the street facing away from the alley behind Blood Runners. Shortly after, four very large vampires exited and walked out of view.

  “Fuck; that doesn’t tell us anything we don’t already know,” Dante said; his disappointment apparent.

  “I’m not done,” Jester said with a smile. “We got lucky; the State of Massachusetts gives the option of plating vehicles on the front or the rear. Just so happens, our mystery guests chose the former.” He reached up and tapped the screen pointing to the plate which was too small to read. Punching a few keys, he blew up the image, clearly revealing the numbers.

  “I already ran it; comes back registered to a Sean Taylor. I cross- referenced the RMV records against ours and, as far as I can tell, the registrant’s human. Lives alone just outside of the city,” he said, handing Dante the address, “There haven’t been any reports filed for a missing person yet, though Taylor does has one hell of a long rap sheet; lots of violent offenses, mainly assaults, but nothing too major. I’m guessing these boys probably paid Taylor a visit right before they showed up at Blood Runners. Odds are the only thing you’re going to find out there is his body, but at least it’ll save us from the hassle of trying to get in a clean-up after humans show up on the scene. And who knows; we could get lucky.”

  “Thanks, Jester. Can you get us satellite images of the area around the address?” Dante asked.

  “On it,” Jester replied simply.

  “Rachel, head to the commander’s office and fill him in on what Jester found and tell him we’ll meet up with him in the pit. Martinez, you’re with me. We need to find Cami; I want her there to run her team in case we do need the clean-up.”

  “You mind if I swing by the medical wing and get Jasmine? The doctor said she’d be clear as soon as she fed, and I know she’s going to want to go. Layla is her best friend,” Rachel said, making her way out.

  Jasmine had woken up before they’d even gotten her back to the compound; but, unfortunately, she didn’t remember anything more than what they already knew with the exception of the vampire’s names, which they assumed were aliases.

  “Yeah, of course; just clear it with the commander.

  ✧

  Dante and Martinez flashed through the hallways from Jester’s cave to Cami’s room. Dante knocked hard several times before trying the handle and finding it locked.

  “Where the hell is she? In all these years, has she ever ignored a call?” Dante wondered.

  “Hell, no; not since I’ve been here. Did you notice the commander didn’t even ask where she was and, you know damn well, he noticed she didn’t respond to his signal. You think maybe he ordered her to hang back because of her family?” Martinez asked in response.

  Both men, knowing Cami fairly well, had expected her to show up on- scene, with or without permission, considering that Layla and Jasmine were both members of her team and she was the kind of leader who put her people and the job first.

  Besides, after working with her for so many years, everyone knew that her job was really all she cared about. She never took leave, and she damn sure never went out to feed. As far as anyone knew, she fed exclusively from the bag.

  “Who the fuck knows? One minute her whole family is on lockdown; the next she’s out on clean-up and hauling body bags back,” Dante replied. “If it was up to me I’d keep all of the females on lockdown until this whole mess is over with. Lucias is after the girl; he doesn’t know what she looks like, so they’re all potential targets. Besides, that whole scene tonight would have gone down a lot differently if it had been us instead of Layla and Jasmine.”

  Martinez laughed. “I would hope so; not sure about you, but I’ve never really been a fan of sitting on other guys’ laps. And really, I’m disappointed with your antiquated ideas about the softer sex. I always took you for more of a feminist,” he said sarcastically.

  In a blur, Dante had his hand around Martinez’s throat, pi
nning him to the wall and knocking down one of Van Gogh’s early works in the process. “You think this is fucking funny, Martinez?” Dante growled.

  “Jesus Christ, Dante; I was just kidding,” Martinez choked out, shoving his friend back.

  Dante didn’t respond as he took off for the training room. Martinez’s remark shouldn’t have bothered him. His best friend had always been a bit of a smart-ass; it was part of his charm, but it had been hard enough schooling his temper the first time he had to hear about Layla cuddling up on the lap of some stranger.

  With each passing minute, he drew closer and closer to the edge realizing that that same stranger and his cronies now had Layla and could be doing God-knows-what to her. The sting of his own nails cutting into his palms drew him out of his thoughts. Taking the opportunity before he sunk back into despair over the unknown, he shoved the darkness to the back of his mind as blood filled his hands.

  “Listen, man; we’re all worried about Layla and I know you’ve been feeling strung-out on Cami since that little workout thing you told me about earlier but, if you were asking me for advice, I’d tell you to dial it back a few notches. If you go at her, trying to tell her what to do and getting all alpha male on her, she’s going to put your nuts in a jar,” Martinez said as they reached the training room. “And the way it sounds, you’re going to have some serious competition from that kid.

  “You think this is about Cami?” Dante asked, stopping to face Martinez.

  “Well, yeah; you’ve seemed pretty amped up since this morning, and then with—” Martinez stopped, eyeing Dante as he started to pace. “Oh, shit; wait, is it Layla?”

  Dante stopped walking and ran his hand through his hair as he regarded his friend; his eyes revealing the answers his mouth didn’t seem able to say.

  “It’s about fucking time. You know, I think she’s been in love with you since her first day here,” Martinez responded, grabbing Dante by the shoulders.

  Dante pulled away, lowering his head; his voice barely above a whisper. “She wanted to tell me earlier. I think I knew what it was about. I think I’ve known for a long time; I saw it in her eyes, but I just did what I always do. I used another woman to push her away. I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with me; all these years, I just couldn’t, and now—”

  “Hey, Dante,” Martinez said stepping closer to his friend and looking him in the eyes. “We are going to find her. Layla is a good soldier, and she’s fucking stubborn. She has to be to keep putting up with your shit all this time. She never gave up on you, so don’t you give up on her.”

  Unable to speak, Dante nodded.

  “There’s no one here,” Martinez observed as he peered through the glass into the training room. “Let’s head back to the pit; Cami might already be there.”

  Silently, Dante turned and Martinez followed.

  Stopping suddenly, Dante inhaled deeply. “You smell that?” he asked looking behind his friend.

  Martinez took a breath. “Yeah; Cami’s close by, or she was.”

  Dante pointed at the door behind his friend. “No fucking way,” Martinez responded as he realized they were standing outside the guest quarters Jared had been occupying for the last week. “You really think she’s in there?”

  “Only one way to find out,” Dante replied as he pressed his finger to the button beside the door.

  ✧

  Having lost track of the number of times she and Jared had made love in the last few hours, Cami rolled away from his embrace, feeling deliciously sore.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Jared asked as he anchored his arm around her waist and dragged her naked body back against his.

  “Just coming up for some air. I need a shower and I should check in. Guest suites don’t have call signals, but I’m guessing just about everyone would know where to find me now.”

  “I’ll join you,” Jared said, sliding them both to the edge of the bed. Cami swung her legs over as Jared sat up behind her, putting his much larger feet down on the floor on the outside of hers so that she was snuggled between his thighs. He pushed her thick mane of hair to one side and nibbled softly at the tender flesh at the base of her neck; eliciting a low moan from the back of her throat.

  “That might be a bad idea. If you get in there with me, we may never make it back out,” Cami said, her tone half-teasing.

  Jared kissed her shoulder before moving back just a little and letting her hair fall back into place. “I’ll behave; scout’s honor,” he said making a cross over his heart with his hand as she stood and he flashed her that crooked grin of his.

  “You weren’t a boy scout,” she responded as more of a question than a statement. While many vampire families integrated with humans and participated in their activities, it seemed unlikely that the High Commander’s family would have done so, given the demanding nature of his position amongst their kind.

  “Actually, I was. My mom liked to get away as much as she could when I was younger, said she got sick of always being on display, being watched. Spending time around humans was an escape from the expectations that come with being a member of the High family. She liked to take classes, yoga, painting, dance, all kinds of stuff; so she had to find something to keep me occupied, too.”

  “A real-life boy scout. Is there a merit badge for what we just did? Because, if so, you would have my highest endorsement.” Cami said playfully, as she turned and sped into the bathroom.

  Jared was right on her heels, but he stopped and leaned against the doorjamb as he watched her move around the space.

  Cami threw two white towels on to the hook on the wall, slid open the glass door and moved her fingers over the digital touchscreen to set the temperature and turn on the shower. She looked over her shoulder at Jared, as she closed the door and smiled as he had to pull his eyes from her naked ass to meet her gaze. Turning to face him, her eyes moved over his chiseled form, drinking in his masculine perfection as she licked her lips.

  In a breath, Jared was up against her, pushing her back against the frosted glass. “You can’t look at me like that if you expect me to behave,” he whispered against her mouth, his lips barely brushing over hers as they moved.

  “Mmmm; I may have changed my mind about that,” she said before capturing his bottom lip between her teeth and sucking it into her mouth. She released it with a pop as she gripped his hard stalk and backed them into the warm streams of water.

  Jared cupped Cami’s tight ass with his hands and hoisted her up as he covered her mouth with his own. With a moan, Cami wrapped her long legs around his waist and slid her arms around his neck as the water cascaded over them. Taking advantage of the bench seat behind him, Jared sat back bringing Cami down with him, the contact between their mouths never breaking as she slid her wet body down over his hard length.

  As she rocked back and forth, Jared moved his hands up over the slick skin of her back and into her thick hair. He tugged just hard enough to pull her head back, getting her full attention as their mouths separated and she looked down at him with lust-filled eyes.

  Jared stared up into her eyes as she continued to move against him; the delicious friction between their bodies bringing her close to orgasm and making it difficult for her to maintain her rhythm. As the first waves of her climax started to crest and her eyes slid closed, Jared released her hair and cupped her face in his hands.

  “Look at me, Cami. I want to see your eyes when you come,” he commanded.

  With some difficulty, she obeyed and immediately came apart when her eyes found his again. Seeing the pleasure flood Cami’s eyes, and feeling her body tighten around him, sent Jared over the edge right behind her. He growled lowly and his hands shot down to the bench as he thrust upward with the surges of his orgasm while she gripped his shoulders to ride out her own release.