Absolution of Fate (Fate Series Book 3) (10 page)

“Shh,” he whispered, pushing his hands into her blonde hair, “all is forgiven, my pet.” He fisted her hair and yanked her head back hard as his fangs, which had been out since he’d discovered her lifeless body in Chloe’s room, dropped even lower. He lowered his head and scraped one sharp point up the length of her neck. “How do you feel now?” he asked, placing both fangs against her artery without breaking the skin, applying just enough pressure for her to feel it and build the anticipation. He’d fed on her more times than he could count, but this was different. He could feel a new power coursing through her veins; Chloe’s power; a magnificent and unexpected gift.
 

“Strong, alive,” she husked, straining upwards against Lucias’s bite. She wanted it with a desire unlike any she’d ever known; but more than his bite, she wanted to taste his blood, to feel her fangs pierce his flesh and drink in the warmth moving through his body with every slow beat of his vampire heart.
 

Sensing her need, Lucias bit down, his eyes widening as her life’s essence flowed over his tongue. The power was undeniable and his first thought was of how it would taste if taken directly from the source. If Chloe’s blood could do this, if she could change an ordinary human into one of their kind, what effect would it have on him? Even as he continued to drink from Molly’s neck, his lips turned up in a devious smile at the thought.
 

He would have everything he had ever dreamed of and more. His wait for Chloe was over. He would take her and make her his, finally completing the bond and reaping all of the benefits of her awesome power.
 

Releasing Molly’s neck, he stood, his mind now focused on Chloe, but before he could take a step, Molly was on him and, using the full force of her new strength, pinned him to the wall next to their rack of toys. She held his arms at his sides with his hands up by his ears and looked at him with a challenging smirk and a question in her eyes as she pressed her hips against his erection.

I’ve waited this long, it can wait just a while longer
. he thought, giving Molly a slight nod before he turned his head and willingly exposed his neck to her. She bit down with a ferocious hunger and desire that only served to increase his own. He’d often wished to see Molly like this, as one of his kind, even though it had only been an impossible fantasy. She took several long pulls on his vein and his eyes drifted to the array of tools lining the wall, his cock hardening further as ideas for their use flashed through his mind. Chloe could definitely wait.

✧

After enduring several minutes under the scalding hot spray of her shower, Chloe accepted that no amount of water could wash away the pain and guilt of what she’d done. With a trembling hand, she turned off the water and stepped out into the steamy fog of the room. Wrapping a towel around her body, she lowered her mental shields slightly and said a prayer of thanks when she found that Lucias had gone. But as quickly as the relief had come, it was chased away by fear and regret. Molly’s lifeless body would still be there in her room. It was too much to hope that Lucias would have taken her away. No, indeed, he would like nothing more than for Chloe to be trapped there with the painful reminder of her own darkness until she could no longer stand it and was begging for him to save her from it.
 

Chloe swiped her hand across the clouded mirror and stared into her own eyes.
No. I can’t give in to him.
 

Her thoughts turned to Alexa and Ethan and she wondered if they were together as she had foreseen. She smiled even as her eyes welled up with tears, thinking of the joy she knew they would find in being together again. She saw flashes of Jared and Cami, and her grandparents, and all of the soldiers who had tried to protect her, and Asana and her daughter, and finally, she saw Kaleb as clearly as if he was standing right before her. For all of them, for everyone she loved, she couldn’t let Lucias win no matter what it cost her in the end. She just wished she knew what that cost would be. Try as she may, she still couldn’t see anything past her vision of Lucias bringing Anna there to punish Asana.
 

Standing up a little straighter with a renewed strength, she stepped out of the bathroom ready to face her demons, both imagined and tangible. Though the floor was stained with blood, hers and Molly’s alike, much to Chloe’s surprise there was no other sign of her or Lucias. She dressed quickly in a light-colored gown, like always. Despite his dark thoughts and intentions towards her, Lucias liked to dress Chloe like the proverbial virgin in some variation of a white gown that covered her body conservatively. Chloe knew from his thoughts that he liked seeing her as pure so that when he finally corrupted her as he desired, the victory would be that much sweeter.
 

Fully dressed, she took a deep breath and focused her mind, searching for Kaleb’s stream of consciousness. With the surveillance focused on her room, she would need to use every fiber of her supernatural power to move the distance to Kaleb’s quarters undetected and she needed for him to have the door open for her in order to avoid the camera in the corridor. They had often talked about sneaking to meet in such a fashion, but one of them was usually sensible enough to talk the other out of it.
 

Before she could zero in on Kaleb, Chloe stepped back from the door, surprised to hear the steady strum of two heartbeats approaching. Fearful it was Lucias returning, she sped to the other side of the room and concentrated on raising her other powers to the surface. During her time as Lucias’s captive, she had been practicing the controlling and calling of her abilities at will. She could now aim her mind blasts, which had once been controlled by her emotions and would impact anyone within range, zeroing in on a single target or group of them.

Her fear quickly melted into relief and then excitement when Asana stepped through the door, followed by Kaleb. Without hesitation, Chloe threw herself into his waiting arms with all the power of her love carrying her. Kaleb stumbled back a step, wrapping both arms around Chloe’s back as she slung her legs around his waist. Asana closed the door, trying to control her anxiety and giving the young couple at least one peaceful moment together before all hell broke loose. Though her mind was full of fear over the consequences of the choice she’d just made in coming to Chloe without Lucias, the sight of her and Kaleb together, of the love that was evident between them, increased the hope she’d only just found again, after centuries of despair, when she first met Chloe.

Seeing a single tear slip down Kaleb’s cheek as he continued to hold on to Chloe for dear life, Asana couldn’t hold back her own. Her thoughts turned to her daughter, to Anna, who Chloe reminded her of and she hadn’t seen for so very long. She often wondered if Anna knew any sort of happiness or love living under Lucias’s thumb, and if she was even really still alive.

“I’m so sorry,” Kaleb said against Chloe’s hair, as he loosened his grip on her and lowered her to the ground. “I’ve never been as afraid as I was, knowing what that evil bitch had planned. I had to see you, had to know you were okay. I don’t care what my father does to me so long as you’re safe.”

“Oh no, Kaleb; I, I killed her and Lucias will kill you!” Chloe said stepping back from him and shaking her head as the memory of what she’d done rushed back, accompanied by the fear of what Lucias would do to his son if he found him with her.

“She’s not dead, Chloe,” Asana said from where she sat on Chloe’s bed, her eyes fixed on the blood covering the floor. “You gave her your blood, yes?”

Chloe nodded when Asana looked up. “Then you have ended her life as a human, but you have given her another in its place.”

“I don’t understand; I didn’t think it was possible to turn a human.”

“It’s not; or at least it wasn’t, before you,” Kaleb responded, stroking Chloe’s cheek with his thumb as he stepped closer to her again. “But that’s why she’s not here; my father took her to feed, to complete her transformation. It’s strange; it was something he had promised her even though he knew it could not be done. Now it seems he has kept his word, thanks to you.”

“Do you know what this means?” Chloe said, her lip quivering slightly as the reality of what she could do began to sink in. “Lucias will have an unlimited supply of soldiers now.”

“It is a blessing, Chloe. I have seen it. So long as you are not mated, you will have this power,” Asana added.

“How is that a blessing? He’ll keep me locked up here turning humans for the rest of my life and if I don’t, he’ll kill everyone I care about!”

“But don’t you see? Now he can’t force you to be his mate.” Kaleb said, gripping her chin to turn her face to him as his eyes dropped to her lips. Chloe felt her stomach tighten under the intense gaze of his hooded eyes. She didn’t need to be a telepath to understand that it was desire clouding them.

“It means he won’t allow me to be anyone’s mate,” she whispered as he leaned closer, stopping just before their lips touched.
 

“But it gives us time,” he replied, his lips barely grazing hers with each word. Unable to stand it anymore, Chloe pushed up on her toes and pressed her lips against his. Kaleb let Chloe set the pace, so the kiss was gentle, tentative, as she explored the new sensation. Kaleb growled when her tongue darted out and swept across the seam of his lips, but he still held back, remaining conscious of Asana’s presence and not wanting to push Chloe. After years of serving his father, Kaleb was not well practiced in gentleness and restraint, but he would learn for Chloe.

Using more willpower than he realized he possessed, Kaleb broke the kiss, despite every cell in his body screaming for him to push it further. “We all knew you would be more powerful than any who came before you, that you would change the world; I just didn’t know how much you would change me,” he whispered, looking into Chloe’s hazy eyes.

She smiled demurely and her eyes fell to his lips again. She wanted more. More time, more kisses, more everything with Kaleb, but Asana’s thoughts came pushing in, reminding her of the danger looming over them all.

Lucias will return soon. Kaleb can’t be here when he does and I must go to him first, to tell him of my vision of how your mating will destroy your ability to turn humans into our kind. I will leave it to Kaleb to share what else I saw; he knows the story well, but you must not let him linger.

Chloe nodded, still wrapped in Kaleb’s arms and in a blur, Asana was gone. Chloe watched as the door closed and her eyes went to the camera mounted in the corner above it.

“Kaleb, what about the surveillance?” she asked in a panic as she tried to step out of his arms. “Lucias is bound to go back through the footage to see what happened with Molly. He’ll want to know everything about how it happened and then he’ll see you here.”

Kaleb held on to her and pulled her close again. “I took care of it. Before we came I disabled the feed to the cameras in this wing. Our kind has had to learn how to cover our tracks over the years through many changes in technology,” he responded, reaching up to twist a strand of her hair around his finger. Seeing the worried expression on her face, he continued, “Don’t worry; he won’t know it was me and I’m guessing he’ll be too distracted with his latest discovery to care. The footage he wants is still there.”

“You can’t stay,” she said, satisfied with his response, but still worried.
 

“I know. I just want to hold you for one more minute, okay?”
 

Chloe responded by laying her head on his chest and relaxing against him. They stayed that way, neither of them talking or thinking of anything except how good they felt in each other’s arms. When their time was up, Kaleb reluctantly released his hold on Chloe, pressed a chaste kiss to her forehead, and walked to the door.

“Wait; Asana said you would share something else she saw.”

“Another time,” he said, looking back with his eyes full of joy and a bit of sorrow. “Don’t worry; it is something very good and I will do everything I can to make sure it comes to pass.”

With that, he disappeared through the door before Chloe could so much as sneak a peek into his mind. She put her hands on her hips, frowning as she scanned for Kaleb’s stream of consciousness. It was easy enough to find him but, unlike normal, he was resisting her. She wanted to be cross, but they both knew she could gain access if she really wanted to, and she could sense his playfulness in keeping this little secret. It was a side of him she had seen very little of, but she wanted to see more. Having traversed the deepest corners of his mind, sharing his darkest memories, Chloe knew all too well the horrors of Kaleb’s life and she was utterly amazed by the good, the strong light of who he truly was, that he’d manage to hold on to in spite of the darkness that had surrounded him from the day he was born. It’s easy to be a good person, or at least to behave like one when you’ve known nothing but love and kindness in your life, but to have your character tested every single day, to fail more often than you’ve succeeded to fight the darkness, yet somehow keep trying to hold on to the light, that is true goodness, and that was why Chloe fell in love with a man she’d never even touched.

✧

“Asana, what a lovely surprise; though I can probably guess why you’re here,” Lucias said as he moved out of his playroom into the hallway where she was waiting. He ran a hand through his freshly-washed hair, the smell of soap mixing with the lingering traces of blood and sex to create his overall scent. Asana schooled her features to hide her disgust; a skill she’d mastered over the years. Lucias’s mood was more cheerful than she had ever seen, which made her all the more nervous about what she had to tell him.

“Thank you, Sire. As you instructed, I came as soon as I saw something. It’s about Chloe, and your human, Molly.”

“Yes; shall we continue this discussion in my office?” he said, gesturing in that direction. In a matter of seconds, Asana was seated in one of the chairs across from his desk. “Please continue.”