No sooner than she came into view, three infected soldiers swooped in only to be sent flying back by the force of her mind. Realizing she was running out of time, Chloe sifted through the dozens of minds; searching for the one she needed.
I am the one you seek, she sent, standing up a little straighter as the rest of the infected vampires cautiously surrounded her.
✧
Kaleb, like the rest of the vampires moving across the lawn of The Elite’s compound, was surprised that, instead of a swarm of Elite soldiers, they were met by an unarmed, and breathtakingly beautiful, woman. Even more surprising was his father’s command to halt their attack.
His eyes darted all around, to the roof, the windows; yet he saw no evidence of The Elite. While his father’s plan had been to draw as many of them out of the compound as possible with the public attacks around the city, they never expected to find the facility so poorly guarded.
Using Layla to pass through the witches’ protective spells, a small team of their men had easily taken out the guards and opened the gates for the rest of them to pass through.
“I will give you what you desire. I will go with you now, but only if you agree to my terms,” Chloe said aloud, trying desperately to mask the tremble in her voice.
Kaleb felt his heart begin to pound when the delicate sound of her voice cut through the cool night air, and was suddenly overcome with a need unlike anything he’d ever felt before. When Lucias flashed across the distance and appeared only inches away from her, Kaleb struggled; using every ounce of his willpower to remain where he was, his fists clenched tightly at his sides as he watched Lucias caress a stray lock of her long hair.
“How very bold you are, though it would appear you have good cause to be so,” Lucias said; glancing to the three unconscious men laying on the steps before he let his eyes drift hungrily up Chloe’s body. “Tell me; how did you speak to me as you did before?” he asked; slowly circling her. “I am no telepath, yet I heard you in my mind as surely as if you spoke aloud.”
“I can share my thoughts with others as I see fit. As I told you, I am the one you came here for,” she replied; choking down the bile she felt rising in her throat as Lucias’s perverse thoughts entered her mind. She battled the instinct to push up her mental shields; knowing that she needed the advantage reading his mind gave her.
“How remarkable; I expected a child and instead I find you, very much a woman. I must admit I am pleasantly surprised,” he said in his best attempt to be charming, as he stopped in front of her and inclined his head. “I am Lucias,”
“I know who you are,” she replied quickly. “I have only two requests; grant them and I will go with you without protest.”
“Do tell,” he responded; raising his eyebrows with curiosity.
“My father and the soldier, Layla; allow them to remain here and we, you and I, and all of your men can leave immediately,” she said; cautiously taking his hand as she glanced at Ethan, whose eyes had remained locked on her since the moment she’d stepped through the door.
The instant he saw her he’d felt as if the earth was shifting beneath his feet and, for the briefest of moments, believed she was a ghost there to torment him for all his failures. With Chloe looking so much like Alexa, it wasn’t until she spoke that he realized she wasn’t what he’d thought.
Shocked by the voluntary contact, Lucias stared down at their joined hands as Chloe tentatively stroked his knuckles with her thumb. “You give yourself to me freely then? What of The Elite; why have they not come to fight for you?” he asked; placing his fingertips beneath her chin, feeling a sense of power the likes of which he had never known.
Knowing that her family and The Elite could wake at any moment and that the demonstration of her power would please Lucias, she showed him a brief glimpse of her memory from the minutes before she’d emerged from the mansion.
“You surprise me, Chloe. It is not a feeling I am accustomed to,” he said; looking to Ethan and Layla as he considered her proposal. As she’d expected, he was reluctant to relinquish the soldier who’d served as his key to the compound along with a vampire as powerful as her father; but like she’d hoped, he believed turning them over to The Elite could be used to his advantage. A slight smile turned up the corners of his mouth as he considered the possibilities of placing two of his infected within the walls of his enemy’s home, like his own personal Trojan horse.
“There isn’t much time. Do you agree to leave them, in exchange for my cooperation?” she asked; glancing again at her father. Though her eyes were filled with sadness at knowing that it could be the last time she would ever see him, she smiled and pushed into his mind.
Ethan’s body tensed imperceptibly as the images of her memory flashed before his eyes. Suddenly he was back in his father’s clinic, looking down into the greenish-gray eyes of his beautiful daughter for the first time, as she placed her tiny hand on his cheek and said one little word which would change him forever. Dadda.
Still under Lucias’s command, Ethan remained obediently silent and still; but in that moment, all of the blood bonds and orders in the world wouldn’t have been able to stop the lone tear that slid down his cheek.
“Very well,” Lucias finally responded; pulling Chloe’s attention back to him. “I will release your father and the woman. Consider it an early wedding present,” he said; watching her closely as he pulled her hand to his lips.
“Thank you, my lord” she said; bowing her head to him respectfully. Sensing the minds of her family beginning to revive, she knew she had only seconds to get Lucias and his men off of the compound. “We must go now; there will be hundreds of Elite arriving at any moment,” she said; embellishing the numbers to sufficiently motivate him to move quickly.
While he was curious to finally see his infected matched against The Elite in open battle, after spending centuries searching for her, he wouldn’t risk it with Chloe present.
No; there will be plenty of time for that, he thought triumphantly, his body practically vibrating with the excitement and satisfaction of fulfilling a lifelong pursuit.
“Ethan, Layla; consider this your new home,” he said; pulling Chloe across the short distance to stand directly in front of them. “Until you see me again, you may act freely. However, you will lay down your arms and wait for your new hosts to retrieve you and you will not speak a single word of me, my army, or my plans to anyone; nor will you ever raise a hand against my men,” he commanded the pair, wanting to ensure that The Elite wouldn’t be tempted to kill them on sight or try to use them in their fight against him. He turned to Chloe who, battling her true feelings, smiled, pushed up on her toes, and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
Satisfied, Lucias gave the command for the rest of his men to leave the grounds.
Standing just inside the protective mist of the outer gate, Chloe and Lucias were the last pair to pass through. Just before stepping across, they each looked back silently, one with eyes full of joy and triumph, the other with sadness and defeat.
The Fate Series
Choices of Fate - Book 1 - http://amzn.to/1CEcIK7
Redemption of Fate - Book 2 - http://amzn.to/1D7If5y
Absolution of Fate - Book 3 - http://amzn.to/1v7YlWA
The Complete Fate Series Box Set - http://amzn.to/1zIemqh
For more information on titles by S. Simone Chavous please visit
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Acknowledgements
First, I want to thank all of my readers, every single one of you who took a chance on an unknown author and read Choices of Fate, giving me the encouragement to push forward in this crazy, and often brutal, world of writing.
To my family and friends, none of this would be possible without you. I love you all.
To the amazing bloggers and reviewers who work tirelessly for authors with only the satisfaction of doing something they enjoy as their reward, we couldn’t make it without you.
And finally, to my fellow writers who have offer
ed advice and encouragement along the way, especially all of you who I got to know in WFD, thank you from the bottom of my heart!
About the Author
S. Simone Chavous spent seven years as a tax accountant before deciding to pursue her true passion as an author. She lives in northern Indiana with her boyfriend, two beautiful daughters, and their rambunctious vizsla, Lily.
To learn more about S. Simone, please visit:www.ssimonechavous.com
or connect with her on Facebook at
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Redemption of Fate (Fate Series Book 2) Page 28