A low murmur of groans filled the room. “I don’t like it any more than you do, but we can’t take any chances. One more thing; reinforcements are going to be arriving over the next few days, so those of you in suites need to be prepared for company.”
“But sir, there are enough single rooms for at least a hundred and fifty,” Dante interjected, knowing the size of the entire Elite force and that no outlying base would send so many men as to leave their homes unprotected.
“I am aware how much room we have. It won’t be enough. Unmated soldiers in double rooms and suites are going to have to share. You can choose to bunk with your local brothers and sisters, or you can wait and be assigned roommates from among the new arrivals; your choice, but figure it out soon,” he said, eyeing the soldiers seated around the long table.
“Dante,” he said to the soldier, who stood and followed the commander to the door. “you run into any problems out there tonight, you call me directly on the satellite phone. Regular cell service on the compound is going to be down indefinitely. I’m sending two other teams to the city to pick up rations, so they won’t be far off if you need back-up.”
Dante nodded as the commander clapped him on the shoulder and disappeared through the door.
“So, what’s with the communication blackout? Any idea what’s really going down?” Jackson asked as Dante stepped over to the large flat screen which covered the back wall of the pit.
“Your guess is as good as mine, but I don’t give a shit at the moment. When we get Layla back, I’ll start worrying about when you’ll get a chance to call your mommy,” Dante retorted. Speaking Layla’s name was like throwing gasoline on the fire that was the ache in his heart; so while other soldiers burst into laughter and Jackson flipped him off, Dante couldn’t even muster a half-smile.
Swallowing the pain that threatened to engulf him, Dante turned his focus to the only hope he had of finding Layla.
“All right, I want four vehicles rolling in from the south side, here,” he said pointing to a long stretch of road about half a mile from the house on the satellite image which covered the screen. “You two will bring up the rear in the fourth vehicle with the medical supplies,” he said, pointing to a couple of mid-level soldiers on his team who were trained for medical detail. “I don’t know what we’re going to find, but I want to be prepared for anything and, with any luck, we’ll need the room to transport at least three back with us. Seeing as how the two civilians were grabbed around the same time as Layla, it’s likely they’re being kept together. Cami, your team will fall in third, and mine will split between the front two vehicles. From there, all of you will continue on foot and I’ll drive the lead vehicle up to the house with Martinez, so he can work his magic and lay down our cover. Is everyone clear?”
After getting affirmation from everyone, Dante continued. “Chances are we won’t find much out there, but remember what we’re up against. These vampires are confirmed infected, which means they’re faster and stronger than all of us so no one take any chances. Stay in pairs at all times and remember: your guns are your best friends. You do not want to go head-to-head with one of these guys with blades and, for God’s sake, don’t let one of those fuckers bite you.” Dante pulled his side arm, popped the magazine out and held it up.
“This new silver ammunition is tipped with a tranquilizer, courtesy of the boys down in the lab; so no matter where you hit, the targets will go down.” He replaced the magazine and slid the gun back into its holster. “Let’s move out.”
✧
Jared hung back in the shadows a good distance away from the entrance to the garage where The Elite soldiers were filing through and loading into their black SUVs. Dante had instructed him to stay out far enough to keep anyone from detecting his scent, especially Cami. With all of the other bodies milling around and the adrenaline of the impending mission coursing through her veins, he felt pretty confident that she wouldn’t notice him. He watched in silent admiration as she climbed into one of the trucks and closed the door.
“We’re going to have to walk back,” Martinez said, appearing out of nowhere.
“Fuck; you scared the shit out of me!” Jared exclaimed in a loud whisper, having been so focused on Cami that he didn’t see Martinez approach.
“Sorry, my man; but we’ve got to go now. I’ll have to concentrate to keep the mist down over you once we start moving. It will cover everything; your scent, heartbeat, breathing, so even I won’t be able to see or hear you when you’re inside. Since I won’t be in there with you, you have to stay directly on my right and keep pace with me. I’ll make it big enough that you’ll have some room, but don’t push it or someone might see you. We’re riding in the first vehicle. Dante left the door open, so when we get up to it, I’m going to toss this bag in,” Martinez said, raising the bag in his left hand, “and you need to jump in right behind it and lay down on the seat. The windows are heavily tinted; but just to be safe, stay down until we’re out of the building.”
“Ok, I’ve got it. I’m ready when you are,” Jared replied feeling unexpectedly excited. After a lifetime living under his father’s overprotective thumb, going out on a mission with The Elite was empowering.
The two covered the distance as quickly as Martinez could walk without breaking his concentration, and Jared leapt in after the bag just as the other vehicles started to pull away.
“We all good?” Dante asked as Martinez slammed his door shut.
“Piece of cake,” Martinez replied. “That was a hell of a lot easier than trying to cover a moving vehicle.”
“So, kid; uh, Jared,” Dante said shifting his eyes to the rearview mirror as he adjusted it to see Jared lying across the seat. “When we get to the location, you’re going to hang back in here with Martinez. He’s going to throw mist over the whole house, so none of the other soldiers will approach unless it’s absolutely necessary, which means life or death; in which case, if they see you, we’ll deal with it. No matter what goes down, you stay in this car. Are we clear?”
“Yeah, man. I’ve got it,” Jared said awkwardly from his supine position, as he met Dante’s eyes in the mirror.
“I’m serious; no matter what you see or hear, especially when it comes to Cami, you’ve got to keep your shit reined in. She can take care of herself, trust me; but you being out there would distract her, like it did in the training room with me.”
Jared felt the heat of anger and jealously skating over his body as he recalled the sight of Dante lying over Cami and pressing his lips to hers. The anger was compounded as he lost focus and his shields weakened, allowing Dante’s remembrance of the event to leak through in infuriating detail. He couldn’t stop the growl that burst from his throat and it was all he could do to stay down on the seat as they drove through the garage.
“If you expect me to be helpful out there, it would be best if you don’t think about kissing my mate again. When I drop my shields completely, I’m going to be getting the thoughts of everyone within range and that will distract me from anything useful,” Jared said through gritted teeth.
“My mistake; won’t happen again,” Dante responded, feeling guilty for even thinking about the moment he’d had with Cami.
Jared relaxed as the brief image of Cami was replaced with flurry of Dante’s memories of Layla. The reason for Dante’s sudden change of heart became abundantly clear as Jared sensed the love and pain that followed in the wake of the images.
“Martinez, get the radio ready,” Dante said pulling himself back into the present.
Martinez reached for the bag he’d tossed in the backseat. Quickly unzipping it, he pulled out a handset radio and two earpieces.
“We’re good now; you can sit up,” Martinez said passing the radio and an earpiece back to Jared.
“This radio is set to feed only to Dante’s second earpiece,” he explained, as Dante popped the tiny electronic device into his ear. “You’ll be able to tell him if you pick up anything, and if he needs to respo
nd he can do it on the same channel which only feeds to you. Everyone else will be on another frequency.”
Jared silently inserted the earpiece and leaned back against the seat. He took a deep breath and thought over the last few hours he’d spent with Cami, trying to distract himself from the nerves that were bundling into a tight knot in the pit of his stomach. As the son of the High Commander, he’d been formally trained in combat and self-defense starting at young age, but he’d never once had to apply those skills living his life under the constant protection of the High Commander’s guard. As he pictured Cami lying next to him, with her wild hair falling over the flawless skin of her shoulders, he realized his fear wasn’t for himself; not at all. The only thing he truly feared was losing her.
CHAPTER 21 - A Sudden Change
“Ethan!” Alexa shouted as she shot up in bed, waking suddenly from the deep sleep her body needed as it attempted to adjust to her rapid transition. She gripped her chest, trying to calm the pounding of her heart as the effects of her nightmare dissipated. Her vampire eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness surrounding her, as she struggled to remember where she was. A wave of relief washed over her as her gaze landed on Chloe curled up next to her on the bed.
Feeling abnormally warm, she kicked the covers off and swung her feet over to the edge of the bed seeking the cool relief of the wood floor. After a brief reprieve, she still felt as if there was a fire burning behind her.
She turned and reached for Chloe’s hand, finding her daughter’s skin so hot she nearly dropped the appendage the instant she made contact.
“Chloe! Oh, my God; Chloe, wake up!” Alexa yelled, shaking Chloe furiously.
Alexa closed her eyes, reaching desperately for Chloe’s stream of consciousness as she stroked her daughter’s sweat-soaked hair, but she was met with an impenetrable barrier much like what she had encountered when Chloe first began her transition.
Her body moving on autopilot, Alexa sped across the hallway to Elijah and Josephine’s suite. She pressed the buzzer several times in rapid succession, her motions so fast she was pounding on the door before the sound even registered inside.
The door swung open and Alexa grabbed a rather groggy Elijah’s arm, dragging him the short distance back to her room so fast there was no time or need for an explanation.
“My God; Chloe,” Elijah whispered, suddenly fully alert, as he kneeled beside Chloe’s unconscious form.
“What happened to her?” Josephine asked appearing next to Alexa.
“I, I don’t know. I woke up and she was like this,” Alexa choked out as she swiped at the tears pouring down her cheeks.
I can’t lose her again. Please, God; don’t take my baby from me, Alexa prayed as she moved to the bed and took Chloe’s burning hand.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Elijah said with his hand on Chloe’s forehead. “Our people are not susceptible to fever or illness in this way.”
“What can we do? Tell me what to do,” Alexa pleaded.
“We must get her to the lab so I can draw blood,” Elijah replied, scooping Chloe up into his arms and flashing from the room.
Alexa and Josephine were right behind him as they reached the door to the medical wing. Luckily, most of the soldiers were either sleeping or away from the compound, so there was no one around to see Alexa. The family and the few members of The Elite who knew of her miraculous return had agreed to keep the event secret for the time being.
Josephine entered the security code to access the restricted area. The door slid open and Elijah carried Chloe across the threshold to the area where she had brought Alexa back from the dead only hours before.
Inside the laboratory, Elijah moved about the space with familiarity as he drew several samples of Chloe’s blood and began the process of analyzing them for the source of her rampant fever. While the samples were spinning in the centrifuge, Elijah returned to Chloe’s side and began adhering sensors to several areas of her body. Though vampires didn’t typically suffer from fever or illness, the fully-stocked lab contained a digital thermometer which was indicating that Chloe’s temperature had reached nearly one hundred and twenty degrees.
Alexa gasped when her eyes landed on the high reading.
“Remember Alexa; she is not human, so this will not affect her the same way. Our bodies can withstand extreme heat and cold in comparison,” Elijah said calmly as he continued to attend to Chloe. “Her heart rate and breathing are still normal, so just try to stay calm.”
As Alexa nodded, an alarm sounded indicating the completion of the cycle on the centrifuge.
The breeze from Elijah’s swift movements sent some unsecured papers flying off of a countertop and onto the floor. In a matter of seconds, he was placing a slide of Chloe’s blood beneath the lens of a microscope. Before he even took a glimpse, Josephine exclaimed, “Dios mío!”
Elijah’s eyes shot to his wife, whose gaze was locked on Chloe; her mouth agape as she inched forward towards their granddaughter. In a blink, Elijah was beside her. All three watched in stunned silence as Chloe transformed before their eyes.
Her once-loose nightgown began to mold to emerging curves, the hem sliding up slowly from below her knees as her feet inched closer to the end of the table. Everything was changing; her hair, her face, her body, all morphing like a movie on fast forward.
So mesmerized was she by what was happening, Alexa didn’t realize how hard she was clutching the edge of her chair until the crack of the hard plastic breaking resounded throughout the room. The sudden sound startled them all, finally snapping them out of the trance they’d been in as they watched Chloe in amazement.
Alexa regarded Elijah and Josephine, opening her mouth to speak, but stopped as she heard movement behind her.
“I’m all right, Mom,” Chloe said, placing her hand on Alexa’s shoulder, the sound of her voice as different as the rest of her.
Alexa closed her eyes and let out a sigh of relief as she placed her hand over Chloe’s. Turning to face her, Alexa’s eyes took in the fully- mature vampire who was her daughter.
“Oh, Chloe; I was so worried,” she whispered as she wrapped her arms around Chloe, who was suddenly taller than her.
“Corazón,” Josephine said as she held out a robe to Chloe. Alexa couldn’t help but laugh as she looked down at the cartoon character nightgown which barely covered Chloe’s now rather womanly curves. Chloe’s cheeks heated, realizing how exposed her new body was as her eyes shot to Elijah who, thankfully, had already averted his gaze.
“I suppose this finally answers the question of when your growth would be complete,” Elijah said, sitting down in the chair behind the microscope he’d already prepared to confirm in Chloe’s blood what was already obvious in her physical appearance.
“How do you feel?” he asked, approaching Chloe as she fastened the belt on the robe.
“Great; amazing really, but thirsty,” she replied brightly with a smile, which revealed fully-extended fangs behind her plump pink lips.
“Of course,” Elijah said nodding to Josephine who, understanding her husband’s silent request, disappeared through the door only to return a few moments later with several bags of stored blood.
“Perhaps it would be best if we returned to our rooms now that we know that Chloe is safe,” Josephine said, passing the bags to Alexa and Chloe. Given the small amount of sleep required by advanced vampire metabolisms, she knew that, despite the hour, many of the compounds residents would be moving throughout the hallways at any moment.
“Yes; that would be wise until William and Commander Claesson determine how to proceed,” Elijah agreed gesturing towards the door.
“We’ll see you in a few hours,” Josephine said as she released Chloe from a hug and moved to follow Elijah across the hallway to their suite.
Redemption of Fate (Fate Series Book 2) Page 22