by Zoe Forward
“Dominic would never agree to that. Do you have independent confirmation from Carol?”
“Carol called and confirmed, but…” Trace scrubbed his face. “I never trust Dominic. The duplicitous asshole would kill anyone, if it helps him.”
“I’m worried about her.” She chewed on her lip. Carol might be well connected, which was why Dominic had left her alone until now, but since Dominic aligned himself with the DiFalcos he thought himself untouchable. That alignment depended on her marrying Ambrose. He’d do anything to make sure his new alliance remained intact.
“I think she waded into a shitfest of trouble and might get herself killed.” He sat up straight. “That’s unacceptable. We don’t randomly kill our own, especially our ancient ones.”
“You want to go rescue Carol? By yourself?”
“I’ll get Carol back. She and you are the only family that matters.”
At least Trace had some scruples, even if reckless. “Why would Dominic text you after you’d been taken by wolves? It assumes he knows they won’t hurt me or you. That’s dangerous and means this can only end in him killing us.”
“Dominic thinks we both escaped the wolves and I took you somewhere he can’t find. He knows I don’t trust his intent with you.”
“Do you mind stepping out while I get dressed and then we’ll talk more about this?” She raised her eyebrows and gestured a leave-now. “I’m not discussing anything else undressed.”
He held up his hands. “Fine. Three minutes. If you’re not ready, I’m coming back in.”
She didn’t breathe as he stalked out, expecting a what-the-hell explosion when he noticed the exposed bite scar on her shoulder. Her breath shot out as he closed the door behind him. Typical Trace. He rarely noticed details when focused on a problem.
She glanced around, disappointed it’d been Trace and not Lexan. All that flowery shit about them being right together and he was just letting her walk away? The female deep inside her wanted him to fight for her and for them. She wanted him to compromise. A start would be to discuss him not locking her up like a princess in a tower, relegated to waiting at home for Mr. Alpha.
She couldn’t run south to rescue Carol either alone or with Trace. By this point, Dominic would be livid with embarrassed fury, enough to kill her on sight, matrimony plans or not. And Ambrose. She shuddered. After their last encounter he’d also be murderous.
Carol would only negotiate with Dominic if she thought the vamps still had her, and she would consider Vee to be at risk being with Trace. Dominic agreeing to the proposition had to be a double cross. Classic Dominic tactic.
Lexan should’ve let her contact Carol.
With a deep breath, she pulled it together. What was she supposed to wear? Her old clothes were dirty, and she’d lost her underwear. Even if she did agree to travel with Trace, she wasn’t going on a trip without underwear.
A used sweater and jeans, and new underwear still with tags rested on the counter. This wasn’t Trace. She loved her brother, but considering another’s needs wasn’t one of his strong points. Who snuck in here during her shower and left clothes? Lexan? Her bio-dad? Although thankful, a wave of fury swept through her. All she’d wanted was a few minutes of privacy. A few fricking minutes alone. Yet, she’d been visited by more than one male while in the shower.
The used jeans and sweater were years out of style and hung off her body like she’d run through Goodwill, selecting the first oversized items in reach. To keep the high-waisted flare-bottom jeans from slipping, she rolled them down once at the top. She brushed her hair and exited.
Blay pushed from his wall lean to a stand, tense and imposing.
Great. A father confrontation to top the night off. This sucked. “Where’s Trace?”
“I asked him to be busy for a few minutes. He’s hellbent on talking you into leaving. Trace wants to get you on a flight to Europe or Africa or anywhere far away from us and Dominic. You can’t go. It’s not safe. You need to stay with us.”
Blay didn’t know about Carol’s predicament. She crossed her arms. “You used some sort of mental trick on Trace?”
He didn’t offer an apology. “How did it go? The shift?”
“Really? You want a play-by-play.” She glared.
“The first time is never good.” He cleared his throat. “Had I known what Dominic did to you, I would’ve destroyed him and brought you into my world sooner.” Strength and violence swirled around him, suffocating her with its power. “I assumed because Dominic thought he was your father he’d care for you. Fathers are supposed to protect their children. I shouldn’t have assumed.”
His words warmed her, but didn’t change the past. She shrugged. With deceptive calm, she asked, “Why would it have taken such extremes for you to consider pulling me from that life? You could’ve at least introduced yourself to me, like you did to Trace.”
Emotion flickered across his face. “I wanted to. But your mother made me vow to stay out of your life well before you were born. She thought you’d be safer if no one knew your parentage, most of all you. We fought about it. I think she planned to tell you when you got older and let you decide what you wanted to do.”
“So why didn’t you do that? Tell me. Let me make a decision. Leaving me there… I would’ve been killed, and not in a gentle way.”
“I made a vow, and however bad it was, I had to stick to my word.”
“Yet, you’re here now. A wolf breaking his vow?”
“You were about to shift. All would’ve gone smoothly with Lexan evacuating you to Europe, but you and Lexan decided to double suicide yourselves on silver toxicity.” He shook his head. “Someone had to save you from his idiocy.”
“Am I supposed to be forever thankful?”
“I like the sarcasm.” He grinned. “I can see why Dominic resorted to violence when he couldn’t intimidate you. That’ll keep you alive.” His eyes crinkled with the depth of his smile.
“Why’re you here now? What’s your motive?”
“I want what’s best for you.”
“Right,” she drawled sarcastically. Her eyes narrowed. She gave mind reading her best effort, coming up with zilch. “You want what’s best for the mutant? If we weren’t related, even you might be reluctant to trust me or care about my fate.”
“You’re not a mutant. You are a legitimate mixture of two great species. I’ve met many demisangs. They’re survivors.”
A non-answer. “I belong nowhere.”
He wiped his hand across his face and took a deep breath. “You’re so young. In time, you’ll figure out where you fit. That sounds so bloody condescending, I know. But even a pureblood wolf or vamp takes centuries to be comfortable in his own skin. You might take longer. I’m making a shitpie of this. I can’t do heart-to-heart crap.” He blew out an agitated snort. “I won’t lie and say I won’t continue to worry about you and follow you, especially with the virus that’s floating around. When Dominic finds out about you from Trace, he may use you as a guinea pig to play with the virus. So, I’ll be around. Should you need help—”
“I would contact you how?” she interrupted.
“I’ll be around.”
“Well, that makes me feel so much better to be stalked by my bio-dad. Besides, what of Lexan’s mark? Doesn’t that make my future a done deal?”
“Lexan’s mark is only complete when you bite him back.” He advanced on her and lowered his voice. “You take this mark lightly, but this is unexpected and species-shocking news. As far as I know, he’s the oldest of our kind. He remembers that which none of the rest of us do. He understands the intricacies of the old ways of our species and that of vamps. He—”
“He’s old fashioned. I get that.”
“Don’t interrupt. He remembers traditions even I barely comprehend. He’s our loner king. The one who has never chosen a female.”
“He was married.”
“An arranged affair. Both of our people still follow the archaic custom, especially
among the older families, as you are well aware. Lexan thought it a necessary and useful way to quiet unrest in an old family always at odds with him. He met Rachel on the day they married. As far as I heard he never marked her and was never possessive of her, not like he is of you. Lexan threatened me when I tried to take you from him.”
“Oh.” Was that her heart exploding because Lexan got possessive? Even if so, it didn’t resolve her dilemma over his plans for her. She needed the freedom to live her life and use the skills she’d studied long and hard to develop, primarily her love for medicine.
“I probably should let him reveal all this to you. Perhaps, this may help you understand the incomprehensibility of this situation. Lexan was nervous about allowing a vampire to drink from him. Given his past, I understood well. While enslaved, Mercutio and other aristo vamps tortured Lexan. I won’t go into details, but it was a dark time. I, too, was a slave and know well the resentment that level of torture leaves behind. He may play cordial with vamps, but deep down that kind of hate doesn’t disappear. The fury comes in waves and plagues the mind. He—”
“How could he ever really move beyond my being half vampire with that level of simmering hate?”
Blay scowled, clearly not used to anyone continuously interrupting him.
She bit her lip against a smile. Annoying ancient males, whether it be vamps or werewolves, entertained her. Someone needed to knock these guys off their all-powerful high of being the big cheese.
Blay inhaled a deep, aggravated breath and blew it out. “Let me finish. Lexan helped you at my request. I had no motive for the two of you to…be mated. I simply wanted the most ancient werewolf blood in your body to facilitate the transition. To give you, the only surviving child of the two descendants of the originals for our species, the best advantage possible. My blood is old, but Lexan’s is at least a century older. Then Lexan lost his mind to bonding enthrallment. That only happens when the stars align. I do not jest.”
“We decided it wasn’t going to work. It was a fluke.”
“Lexan, the man, may let you go for now, and convince himself it’s some sort of altruistic move. But the wolf in him will hunt you. That’s what the bite means. He will respect your ultimate decision, should you decide to be apart from him. However, his inner wolf made its decision. He chose you. This is forever, not a fleeting fancy.”
“He said that in so many words.”
Blay shot her another displeased glare. He really didn’t like being interrupted when he was on a roll. “You and he must determine if there is more than chemistry. Can you can create a life as partners, or is it smarter to part ways, even if both of you will suffer?”
She liked the thought of Lexan following her. Of him needing her. “What do you think is smart?”
“This is your life, not mine. Sometimes following what your heart says can be the scariest. Trust me, I know. I fell for a married vampire, which was against my code on many levels. Yet, I loved your mother with every fiber in my being for every second of her existence. I must find her murderer, or I’ll never have peace. You are all that is left of her. You are my only living blood…” He glanced at the doorway and stepped into the shadows in a corner of the room.
“It’s over between Lexan and me. Done. We’re incompatible.”
Blay nodded. She couldn’t interpret what exactly the nod meant. She waited for his argument in Lexan’s favor, but he remained mute.
Trace strode in and glanced around, his gaze passing over Blay as if he didn’t exist. He frowned as he met her gaze. He suspected something wrong. “You ready?”
Vee shot a questioning glance at Blay.
Blay said, “If I don’t want him to see me or hear me, he won’t. You might be able to do this, too. Mind manipulation.”
“Let’s go somewhere private to talk for a few minutes. Not here.” She grabbed Trace’s arm and tugged him out of the room and downstairs. Thanks to her new ultrasensitive hearing, she could hear wolves moving everywhere in the house. She led him outside. He started to speak, but she put her finger to her lips and motioned him to follow to a large tree.
For a moment, she listened, picking up the crackle of dead leaves fluttering in the wind and a bird moving on the tree above them, but no wolves nearby. “Tell me your plan and what you think is going on.”
“Out here? It’s freezing.” He hugged his arms tight to his body.
“In there everyone’s listening, especially in the bedroom.” She glanced up at the moon, losing her focus on Trace for a few seconds as the orb called to her again. A run might be nice. No.
Trace scanned through a message on his phone. “I think Carol is in big trouble, whether she’s aware of it or not. If we want to see her alive again, we’ve got to help her.”
“You want me to go back to North Carolina with you? That’s a bad idea. There’s got to be another way.”
“I’m not leaving you with wolves. Maybe I can drop you off somewhere else to wait while I go get Carol.”
“I’m not going near North Carolina. Let me ask Lexan to help.”
“Sure, let’s ask our father’s arch enemy to give us a ride to his front gate. That’s got death sentence written all over it. We’ll need to steal a car and head for the border. No problem to cross.” He could mesmerize any human into letting them pass.
“No.” She crossed her arms.
“You’d let Carol die?”
“I don’t want her to die, but I don’t see how sacrificing all our lives in a suicidal heroic gesture makes sense.”
“It’s our only option. I’ve got a place out of town where we can lie low and figure out where Carol is.”
“I’m sure she’s in the heart of Dominic’s house. Are we going to play superspy and sneak in there in the middle of the day and steal her out?”
“Not a bad plan.”
“What’s wrong with you? I was kidding.” She waved a dismissive hand. “I’m going inside to ask for help on this.”
He caught her arm. “Don’t. Damn it. Please don’t make me do this.”
“Do what?” Her gaze dropped to his free hand where he held a small device she recognized as a modified syringe the size of a pen. It contained a potent sedative capable of knocking her out for hours. Squad vamps used it on wolves. She’d never seen it used on a vamp. “You wouldn’t.”
He jabbed it into her thigh. “I’m sorry. This is about saving Carol and you. I’m going to save both of you. These wolves have brainwashed you into thinking you’re some sort of mix.”
Everything went woozy. “I don’t want to leave here. I need Lexan.” It came out slurred.
He caught her when her knees buckled. “I promise I won’t let anyone harm you.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
The round chambered into Lexan’s nine-millimeter Glock with a comforting click as he racked the slide. He tucked the gun into his waistband holster next to the six-inch serrated knife and backup magazine. The routine didn’t calm him like it usually did. Hell, a jab of heroin straight into his heart wouldn’t soothe him. He was jacked up on need to hunt Vee and establish she belonged with him. That meant together as in now, tonight, tomorrow, and every other moment from now to forever.
He pushed his fingers into his temple and massaged, but his headache pounded on.
She’d needed space. One hour and twenty-four minutes of space was going to be enough. He couldn’t handle one second longer.
The door to the guest room flew open. “She’s gone,” Eric announced.
“Gone? What the hell does that mean?” She left?
“As in I couldn’t find her or Trace anywhere. TC noticed a car leaving about forty-five minutes ago and followed it. Thank God for his suspicious nature, because it turned out to be Trace driving.”
“Where are they headed?”
“To the border.”
“South? Shit.” Lexan stalked out of the guest room in search of Blay, finding him downstairs in the kitchen.
“What did you say to
her that sent her running away?” Lexan fingered the handle of the knife on his belt.
“She left?” Blay paused with a glass of orange juice halfway to his mouth.
“She’s not here. Neither is Trace.”
“Damn it.” Blay set down his glass of orange juice so hard it sloshed over the edge. “I specifically told her to stay put and for Trace to forget trying to remove her. It’s not safe for her away from us.”
Lexan pulled out his ringing cell. “You have her?”
TC said, “I followed the car to the border. I didn’t see her but assume she’s sleeping or something in the car. I had them—”
“You still have them, right?” Lexan gripped the phone tight to his ear.
“Trace is a wily driver. I lost them just after the border crossing. Got caught in traffic. But I’ll find them.”
“Damned right you will. Inform me in fifteen minutes.” He disconnected the call.
Blay stared at him, both eyebrows almost touching his hairline. “My plane is ready to leave. I know that stupid kid is going to Charlotte. Carol sent me an email yesterday to one of my old accounts that I don’t check a lot. She wanted to negotiate with Dominic to get Vee away from them and asked me to take Vee out of the country afterward. She thought the vamps had her or at least Trace.”
“If Dominic has Carol, then she’s…it’s probably not good for her,” Lexan mused out loud.
“Trace may be Dominic’s genetic son, but he’s also Arie’s, and that means he values family. Carol practically raised him from a teenager. If he’s anything like his mother, he’ll go after her.”
“I’m going to kill him when we find him for taking Vee with him.” Lexan slapped the refrigerator.
“We should beat them to Charlotte by several hours. If they drive straight through it’s about ten hours.”
“Let’s do it.” Lexan stalked to the door and turned back. “Why aren’t you moving?”