by CT Nicholson
She knew there had to be Guardians inside. The crushed SUV looked almost as small as Anya’s Porsche. Injuries would've been unavoidable, even to vampires.
“Use your nose.” Anya lifted her face out the convertible like a dog. Gasping, her eyes went wide when she looked at Elle.
“Who?” Elle didn’t wait for Anya's answer as she lifted her own nose in the air. At first all she could smell was burned tires and gas. Next, she smelled the rogues surrounding the crushed SUV. Then Nicolas. She threw her hand to her mouth to hold back her cry. Aiden was in the vehicle and she smelled a lot of blood.
Jumping out of the car, she started to run head first into the crowding rogues. Anya jerked her to a stop.
“No! I have to help him.” She swiped the tears from her eyes. “We need to get help.”
Living without him would kill her, but to lose Aiden would destroy her.
“I’ve already called Ethan. The others are fifteen minutes away.” Anya pulled Elle back toward the car. “He wasn't happy to know we were here.”
Elle didn't even see Anya use the phone. “That’s too long. We have to do something.”
The rogues dragged Nicolas from the vehicle first, blood covering his clothes and face.
He fought them and managed to escape the grasp of the two holding him before four more joined in.
“Well, well, well. Isn’t this the perfect moment. Nicolas and Aiden at the same time. A fantasy come true.” Luciana sashayed toward Nicolas.
Elle saw red and her fangs exploded from her gums. When she looked over, she found Anya in the same situation.
“That bitch better stop before I rip her throat out.” Anya started to growl low in her throat.
“I think we should just go ahead and try.”
Nicolas spit blood onto the ground before looking up into Luciana’s eyes. “I thought you liked me?”
The idiot actually poked his bottom lip out in a pout. “Maybe that’s why you turned rogue, because I turned you down when you offered yourself to me.”
Luciana screamed in a rage before slapping Nicolas across the face. More blood exploded from his mouth but Nicolas just laughed.
“You’re nothing but a whore, Lucy. I wouldn’t have touched you if doing so saved my life. I cared for Aiden, unlike you.” The look Nicolas gave Luciana actually caused Elle to shiver.
Elle couldn’t stop her cry out when Aiden stumbled from the SUV. Blood covered him from head to toe and she didn’t think all the red came from the wreck. He looked tortured and extremely pissed as his cold eyes glared at Luciana. One arm looked barely attached as he held it with the other. Every step brought a wince to his face.
“Why didn’t you tell me, Nicolas?” Cold eyes shot to Nicolas before moving back to Luciana.
Nicolas kept his eyes averted. “You loved her and I couldn’t hurt you that way. If she wanted, she would've told you. I thought maybe it was just because she wasn’t used to the heightened sense of being a vampire.”
Elle knew what he meant and she couldn't lie that her hormones were out of control but she didn't want anyone else. Only Aiden, and with the vampire blood in her system, she wanted him so much more. Out of the corner of her eye she saw movement. She jumped back when she saw the vampire coming toward them.
Nothing about him seemed familiar and he sent a chill down her spine. He stood almost as tall as Julian or maybe even the same height. He smiled at her with normal white teeth. Not a rogue then. Elle didn’t know who he could be but every movement and look seemed dangerous in every way possible.
Just as Julian, this vampire had to be some kind of royalty. He oozed authority. Elle reached behind her and gripped the handle of the gun. She didn’t think he came there to help. Stepping back, she nudged Anya to catch her attention.
She heard Anya gasp and could see her reaching for one of her many weapons.
“Who are you?” Anya demanded with her usual confidence.
He tilted his head and his gaze zeroed in on Anya. Angelic blonde hair fell around his face in just the perfect position. Elle wondered what kind of hair product he used to keep the strands so tame. His eyes turned back to her and she realized something different about him.
Steel blue eyes lit with amusement until he looked at her. His gaze narrowed and his brows pulled together in confusion.
“I can’t tell you my name now.” His accent came out in a sexy southern drawl.
As sexy as he was with his accent, Elle didn’t feel anything toward him except fear and revulsion. “Why?”
“It's a secret.” He avoided the answer with the teasing note still in his voice.
“Fine. If you’re a vampire, why are your eyes still blue?” This time Anya spoke up.
He pursed his lips as if thinking of the right answer.
“Okay, I’ll give you that one then I need to stop the fight about to break out.” Leaning in close to them, the stranger cupped his hand across his mouth as if keeping the rogues from hearing.
“Contacts. Makes them different from the others and they listen because they think I'm special.” He shrugged and gestured toward the rogues.
Elle knew her eyes looked as wide as two golf balls. This man was the leader of the rogues. They both were newly turned and no matter how many weapons, neither of them was equipped to fight someone so powerful. She looked over to check on Aiden and started forward without a care when she saw Luciana stab something into his gut.
Before she made her way to the crowd of rogues, someone jerked her to a halt. She looked up to find the hand gripping her arm was the blue-eyed vampire. He didn’t look like he planned on hurting her. If anything, she swore she saw sadness in his eyes. She was seeing things.
“Stop!” The rogue leader’s voice lost the sexy southern drawl and he showed his power and anger. “Luciana, you’ve disobeyed your orders and used the soldiers I put you over for your own good.”
Elle could only stand there open mouthed as Luciana watched her leader with utter shock.
“I –I needed—” Luciana stuttered.
“No. You needed to follow my orders and you failed. You’ve brought attention down on us and for that I sentence your death.” He stalked slowly toward Luciana.
Before he neared her, Luciana turned back to Aiden with pure evil seeping from her gaze. “You did this to me!” She lifted her arm and stabbed a sword through Aiden’s heart.
“No!” Elle took off running before the stranger had Luciana pinned to the ground. The pain from seeing Aiden's body fall limply to the ground tore through her. Running to him seemed like a lifetime, though it only took a few seconds to get to his side.
Elle glanced up at the rogue leader. Luciana’s death came quick as the stranger took her head in a fit of rage.
Elle turned back to Aiden. He wouldn’t wake up no matter how hard she cried or how loud she yelled at him for him to. She watched everything happen in slow motion around her.
“All of you leave, now!” The leader’s voice drowned out her crying. He turned and walked away without another word.
Rogues dropped Nicolas to the ground without care. Nicolas stumbled over to Aiden.
She grabbed Nicolas’s hand desperately. “He’s a vampire. He has to live, right?” They told her the only way to die would be by taking a head or burning the body. She placed her hand over Aiden’s heart and held her breath. The weak but still beat had her releasing her breath.
He shook his head and she caught sight of the small tear escaping down his cheek before he casually swiped the drop away. “If he’s lost enough blood...” His words trailed off as he started to bite into his own wrist.
“No.” Elle wasn’t injured and she needed to save him. Letting every emotion roll through her, Elle forced her teeth to extend and she bit into her wrist, not caring about how much the stab would hurt. She forced her wrist into Aiden’s mouth and waited as she prayed.
Seeing him broken made her realize how he must've felt when she almost died. If he felt half as much for he
r as she did him, then maybe she could understand why he left. She loved him so much. If he died, she didn’t think she’d survive it. She wouldn’t kill herself but she finally understood what people meant by dying from heartbreak.
“Please drink. I don’t care if you want to run away from me but damn you, drink!” She yelled, needing him to hear her and listen to her for once.
Screeching tires caused her to look around to see another SUV carrying Drake, Collin, Lena, Gregory and Julian speeding toward them.
“Fuck.” Drake spoke first before muttering an apology.
“We need to get him back to the house and run a transfusion.” Nicolas jumped up without a sign of his recent injuries and went to pick up Aiden.
Elle growled deep in her throat and slapped her free hand to her mouth in shock. “Sorry.”
“It’s ok, he’ll be fine. He has to be.” Nicolas picked Aiden up and hurried to the still running SUV.
With Anya and Julian on her heels, Elle followed while the others stayed to clean up the scene.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
He loomed on a rooftop and waited as the Guardians left. Something about the dark-headed newbie captured him. She reminded him of someone.
Forgetting about her, he started to see red again just thinking about Luciana. He thought she’d follow him whenever and wherever he wanted. Yet she disobeyed him in the worst possible way.
The Guardians were now aware of the small rogue army he controlled and worst of all, they knew about him. He should've seen how obsessed Luciana had become and took care of the situation earlier but he had other things that seemed more important. Now all of that changed.
Like how he ended up in his line of work. He hated to kill unless the person deserved the punishment. Like Luciana. Killing her brought memories of his past back to the present.
Leaving the alley to the Guardians to clean, he headed home to his underground dungeon.
Twenty minutes later he walked through the doors and went in search of his sister. The kitchen and living room was empty. The playroom and even the pool showed no sign of her even being there recently.
With his stomach tightening into knots, he ran to the last place she should've been but he already knew what he’d find. She wouldn't be there. She wanted nothing to do with their father’s doings. She also didn’t want him involved but she didn’t want to listen to him whine that changing his life was too late.
He wanted to be selfish and keep her close. She didn’t. When she threatened to leave, he told her to go.
Her closet was empty and her dresser had been rummaged through, a good bit of its contents gone as well. Then he saw the letter on the bed waiting for him.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Aiden awoke with a jerk and bolted out of bed ready to take on the world. Looking around, he found himself in his room. Alive and not alone. Elle slept in the bed beside him. He couldn't believe she didn’t awake when he did, but he imagined she was exhausted.
An IV still stuck in his arm, though the remaining blood in the tube dripped on the floor where he disconnected the tube from the bag. He pulled the IV out and looked down at his body and grimaced. Blood still covered him. He glanced back at Elle and wondered why she stayed there and why she’d sleep beside him with blood covering his body.
Moving to the bathroom, he turned the faucet on and stepped into the large shower. Hot water and soap washed the blood away to show smooth skin. His wounds were healed and he knew they should've been bad enough to take a few days. How many days?
He finished the shower with haste and pulled on a pair of sweatpants before stepping out of the bathroom. Any other time he would've savored the shower after a long battle but with Elle in his bed, he didn’t waste any time. He sauntered over to the bed to find sheets in disarray and no Elle.
Aiden didn’t want to be an idiot anymore. Now, he knew exactly what he wanted and he planned on fighting for her. Pulling a t-shirt over his head, Aiden stalked out his room and went on the prowl for Elle.
Ethan’s workroom came first before looking anywhere else. Inside, Ethan whipped around in surprise and Jodi nearly tackled Aiden to the ground.
“I’m so glad you’re okay.” Jodi beamed up at him with joy.
“Yep, sure is nice to have you awake so the women will quit fretting over you.” Ethan stood up and gave him the man’s one arm hug.
Jodi slapped Ethan playfully. “Oh, he’s just jealous because he didn’t have all of my attention.”
“Thanks. Where’s Elle? I woke up with her in my bed and when I came back from a shower she was nowhere to be found.” He moved over to the monitors and checked each for a sign of Elle.
“I think she left. She got in her car and left. Don’t know why she didn’t say something.” Ethan shrugged.
“Ugh! Men are idiots sometimes. She thinks you don’t want her. When she woke from the turn, you were gone. I had to tell her you told Julian this was your last job for this quadrant. She thought what any woman would think.” Jodi shook her head and shoved Aiden out the door. “You’re selfish. We all know you pushed her away because you don’t want to be hurt and yet you hurt her in the process. My suggestion to you is to hurry before you’re too late to change things.”
Aiden stood frozen in place. Even indoors, he felt the prickling sensation that told him the sun still hung high in the sky.
“Another four hours until nightfall. I suggest you figure out what you want to do exactly.” Jodi motioned with her hands for him to leave.
Out in the hall, Aiden let her words truly hit him. Idiot and selfish described him to the point. Everything he done was for him, not Elle. He loved her and he did exactly to her what he didn’t want to happen to himself.
He stomped down to the training room to let off some steam before the sun went down. Jodi spoke the truth and he needed to think about what he wanted. Well, he knew he wanted her but would she take him back?
In the training room, Nicolas practiced his Qigong. Something Nicolas did when he needed to clear his mind. “Can I join?”
Nicolas grunted and moved further down the mat. He opened his legs slightly apart and parallel to each other. “Do it like this.”
Standing behind Nicolas, Aiden brought his arms up slowly to follow the fluid movements of Nicolas. In moments, he felt his rage being replaced with tranquility and his mind felt free and relaxed.
“You need to talk to your son.” Nicolas spoke calmly as he added some movements with his legs.
The tranquility disappeared. Aiden knew he did, but what would he say? Last time he spoke to Lucian, his son slammed him against the wall. “I know.”
He stopped moving and started to pace the floor. Pacing seemed to work better for him.
“You need to talk to Elle too.” More advice came from Nicolas as he kept with his Qigong.
“Are you really one to tell me what I need to do? You only do this shit when something’s bothering you and I guarantee whatever problem you have, it has nothing to do with me.” Not wanting to be told again what he needed to do, Aiden started to leave.
“There’s a lot of shit bothering me but your problems can be fixed. I suggest you get over your pride and take some damn advice.” Nicolas stood toe to toe with Aiden. “I’m sick of you feeling sorry for yourself when you have a mate and a son. Yeah, it sucks that your first mate didn’t work and it fucking sucks that you missed out on your son’s life but you can change things now.”
“I thought—”
“That’s your damn problem. You think too much. Quit trying to protect yourself from being hurt and get your son back. And get the girl.” Nicolas’s breathing came faster and he fisted his hands.
Aiden knew Nicolas held back to keep from punching him. “I was going to get her anyways. Jodi already called me a selfish ass. As for Lucian, I don’t know what to say to him.”
After a second or two, Nicolas finally cracked a smile. “Jodi didn’t say ass.”
Laughter leaked out for the first
time since he was with Elle. “No, she didn’t.”
“I’m glad you’re going for it, cousin. As for Lucian, I’m there with you. I have no clue what you should do there. With Luciana raising him, I don’t know how long or if we can get him to trust us.” He slapped Aiden’s shoulder as he walked out. “Good luck.”
With still three hours until he could go to Elle, Aiden decided to speak with Lucian. He walked bare-foot on the elegant tiles, until coming up to the locked steel door. Some buzzing and a click sounded, letting him know Ethan had opened the lock for him. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door to find the room empty.
“Shit!” His feet slapped across the tiles, until he reached the control room. Wrenching the door wide open, he was surprised he didn’t rip the door off the hinges. “He’s not in there Ethan.”
Ethan’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped. “There’s no fucking way. He’s been locked up tight the whole time.”
“Damn it, I feel like I’ve had to come to you a lot lately because of someone missing. Look at the video and find out where the hell my son went.” A million things ran through his head. The first thing made his stomach twist. What if his son knew about Elle being alive? No one, that he knew about, has spoken to his son about the event three nights ago or that his mother had been killed.
“He just walked out.” Ethan sat back in his chair and watched the screen with confusion. “I don’t understand. I’ve been here the whole time... well I was away for a few hours with Jodi but no one here would've let him free.”
“Has anyone else gone to see him?” Aiden watched on the screen as his son walked right out of the unlocked door and then the front door of Sanctuary. If he didn’t get to his son and make him understand the truth, he shook his head in denial. He needed to worry about getting his son back and not the consequences if he didn’t.
“No. I wouldn’t have let anyone but you and Julian in there. I’m not an idiot.” Ethan bristled in defense.
“I didn’t say you were.” Aiden shoved his fingers into his hair to get it out of his eyes. Maybe after everything he’s been through in barely over a week, his hair would just fall out. One less thing to worry about.