Absolution of Fate (Fate Series Book 3) (15 page)

“I just hope it works,” Alexa replied, looking to the Commander who was about to open the main door. “I think I need to go in alone,” she said, looking through the small window to the cell where Dante was being held. She couldn’t see him, but she could sense his tormented mind. “Just for a few moments to see if I can still reach him; if we all go in, his bloodlust will surely take over.”

“Fine, Alexa, but under no circumstances are you to open that cell. We installed a key code panel after your stunt earlier, but don’t try to tell me you don’t know the code; I know you’ve been poking around in my head.”

She didn’t bother trying to deny it; she had pushed into his mind when his shields had been relaxed just enough while she was trying to sell him on the idea of bringing her down to the containment unit. Knowing a person’s thoughts can be quite helpful in the art of persuasion. She had no intention of opening the cell; she knew it was too great a risk even though she was probably immune.

She nodded in response. “So we’re clear,” he continued, removing his sidearm from the holster and pulling the slide, “if you free either of them, as much as I’ll hate it, I’ll put them down. I can’t risk the other lives on this compound, and you shouldn’t be willing to, either.”

“I understand,” Alexa replied.

With that, he stood clear as the door opened and Alexa moved through.

✧

Alexa barely breathed as she moved towards Dante’s cell. Though she knew they wouldn’t be able to hear her even if she screamed, she crept across the room quietly until she was directly in front of the enclosure. Only the security lights were on in the lab, so the cell was dark, but she could see Dante and Layla perfectly with her preternatural night vision. She reached for the button to make contact with Dante, but jumped back when he suddenly appeared on the other side of the glass; completely naked and only inches away from her with his red eyes glowing bright in the darkness.

There was a fierce hunger and pain in them, but also something else. Recognition.
 

Alexa she placed her palm against the glass, careful to keep her gaze upwards. Dante’s red eyes shot to it, their bright glow reflecting off the glass. He looked back at Alexa, inching closer as he raised his own palm to rest on the barrier directly over hers. A single tear slid down her cheek. Dante was still in there and he still knew her. They were connected.

Their connection was broken when the room practically vibrated from a roar just outside the room. Alexa cringed as the anger swept over her despite the barrier she’d placed to lessen the mate bond. Ethan. He was awake, right outside the door, and a long way beyond pissed off.

Alexa looked over her shoulder, her palm still over Dante’s as she saw Ethan’s green-gray eyes glowing back at her through the tiny window of the door. She snatched her hand away and sped to the entrance as it slid open. Before words could even register in her mind, Ethan had her in his arms, squeezing her so tightly that she could barely breathe. She was surprised at the sense of relief she felt passing through their connection, but it was short lived as he finally released her and his anger began to seep back in.

“Two things,” he began, staring at her with eyes full of intensity, “I’m sorry, I know it’s brutish of me, or whatever you want to call it, but you can’t leave my sight without telling me where you’re going, at least for a while. Second of all, we’re leaving. The Commander filled me in on your little plan. No. Fucking. Way.” he said, punctuating each word.
 

“Ethan,” Alexa began, putting her hand on his cheek, “if I can help, if my blood can cure him, I have to try.”

“Don’t you mean them?” Ethan asked, his tone harsh, almost accusing as his eyes moved to Dante’s naked form.

Guilt flashed in Alexa’s eyes and Ethan didn’t miss it; that was the trouble with the mate bond. “What is it about him?” he asked, his voice growing louder as he grabbed her wrist and pulled the hand he’d seen pressed again the glass to his own cheek. “Do you have feelings for this male?” he pressed.

“Ethan, no,” she started, but then stopped. “Well, yes, but not like that,” she insisted, seeing the flames of anger flare higher in Ethan’s eyes. “He’s my friend; he was there for me when you couldn’t be, Ethan.” She regretted her choice of words the instant they left her lips and Ethan’s anger took a backseat to the pain he felt at hearing a reminder of what he considered his failing the woman he loved.

“My love, I don’t blame you; you know that. I just needed comfort, needed a friend,” she said, but her mind betrayed her in the worst way, bringing the kiss she shared with Dante to the front of her mind and sending her guilt to new heights.

Ethan looked at her hard, the question in his eyes. Alexa knew she couldn’t avoid it, and she couldn’t lie to him. Not after everything they’d been through. She took one deep breath, then another, terrified of how Ethan would respond. “We kissed, just once,” she whispered.

His jaw clenched so hard she could hear his teeth grating together as his glare shot to Dante, who was watching the entire exchange, the primal hunger of infection again glowing in his eyes. The way he looked, Alexa was afraid Ethan would burst through the glass of the cell just to get to Dante on the other side.

“Ethan, it was innocent. I swear to you, we just understood each other; we were going through the exact same hell. Like I told you earlier, he’s in love with Layla,” she said, not even sure if Ethan knew the other infected vampire’s name. They hadn’t talked about her or anything to do with the time he was infected since Ethan had tried to apologize earlier. It had been Alexa who’d stopped him and insisted they leave it in the past and move on, but based on the knot in her stomach, that was about to change.

Ethan’s heart started pounding. He’d been so happy just to see and be with Alexa again that he didn’t want anything to take away from that, especially after he found out Alexa already knew about and forgave his time with another woman. He wasn’t sure if Alexa knew it was Layla or not, but he wasn’t going to push his luck by asking.

Based on the way she was acting, he realized that Alexa knew what happened, but she didn’t know it was Layla. Before he could stop it, memories of his time with her flashed in his mind. Sensing the dramatic change, and before she could think better of it, Alexa pushed into Ethan’s mind.

“I think I’m going to be sick,” she groaned, stepping out of Ethan’s reach and approaching the cell again where Dante was still standing, staring, and now joined by Layla. “It was her? She’s the woman you fucked?!” she screamed, already knowing the answer. The rational part of her mind knew it shouldn’t matter, knew it didn’t change anything, but when it comes to love, rationale typically flies out the window. It wasn’t any different for Alexa as the need to vomit was quickly replaced by a deep unreasonable desire to rip out Layla’s throat.

✧

Though he’d tried to stay out of it as long as he could, Commander Claesson decided that it was time to intervene before things got out of hand. He’d only let Ethan into the containment unit because he saw and understood the pain he was feeling and he knew Alexa would be able to calm him down. Besides, if he didn’t let him pass he was pretty sure his earlier prediction about losing limbs would have come true. And he hadn’t known anything about the dynamic between the foursome inside at the time, but based on the way Alexa had just yelled, the entire compound and most of Boston knew about it now.

“Alexa, maybe it’s best we wait on this whole thing for a while. Maybe give you two a little time to talk things over, cool down a bit,” Claesson said, trying to diffuse the situation. The emotional temperature of the room was about as intense as any battle or crisis situation he’d ever experienced.

“No. We will do this now,” she said, her voice suddenly calm again as she turned and pinned Ethan with her stare, daring him to try to stop her after what she’d just discovered. Ethan clenched his fists at his sides so tightly that his nails cut into his palms, but he remained quiet.

The Commander looked toward Ethan, then back at Alexa and sighed before he opened the door and signal for Dr. Jones and the others to come in.
 

“Ethan, maybe you should step out for a few minutes,” he said gently, knowing it was going to be damn near impossible for Ethan to watch what was about to happen.
 

“I’m not going anywhere,” he growled.

“Suit yourself,” Alexa tossed over her shoulder as she moved closer to the cell and stood in front of Dante. Layla eyed her hungrily while Alexa resisted the urge to flip her off. Again, she knew that what had happened was beyond Ethan and Layla’s control, but it didn’t make it hurt any less and, somehow, the fact that Dante loved Layla made it hurt just a little bit more. That was one bit of information she was sure it was best to keep quiet no matter how angry with Ethan she was.
 

Pressing the intercom, she began to speak. “Dante, I need for you to let me take your blood,” she said quietly. His expression remained virtually unchanged, but the glow in Layla’s eyes flared.
 

Good.
Alexa thought to herself, feeling some small, and admittedly petty, sense of satisfaction in getting a rise out of the infected female.

“I can help you and Layla,” she continued, pushing into his mind. His thoughts were flooded with bloodlust, but there was a tiny sliver focused on her words. “If you let me feed from you, I will feed you in return.”

With lightning speed, he moved to the small opening in the cell used for collecting blood samples. Ethan growled from somewhere behind her, but Alexa ignored him and followed Dante. He pushed his arm through and one of the scientists approached to operate the restraints for Alexa.
 

“It’s safe now; he can’t move until we release him,” the man said, stepping back to make room for her. She moved closer and started to bend down to Dante’s arm, but froze and spun around at seeing his erection. Seeing Ethan’s face and the blood running from his clenched fists, she felt guilty for it, but was glad for the ability to block their connection. She couldn’t imagine how she would feel if the situation was reversed. Then in her peripheral vision she caught a glimpse of Layla, who was also completely nude, and realized that she knew exactly how he was feeling since she’d essentially witnessed the entire scene when he was with Layla. Still, she loved Ethan too much to take pleasure from his pain; none of this was about them. It was about saving her friend and, ultimately, their daughter.

“Ethan, come here,” she whispered, holding out her hand. He looked at her, confused, then relieved, before he made his way across the room to entwine his fingers with hers. She stood up on her tiptoes and pressed a soft kiss on his lips. “I love you, Ethan. Only you, forever,” she whispered against his lips.

He pulled back and nodded, squeezing her hand. Keeping her eyes on Ethan, Alexa lowered her mouth to Dante’s arm. She smiled up at him with her fangs flashing before she bit down on Dante’s wrist. As much as he wanted to close his eyes to avoid seeing it, Ethan held Alexa’s gaze. If it had to happen, he was going to be there with her for every second of it. Alexa took two long pulls from Dante’s vein and immediately released him.
 

“Now we’ll just take a few vials,” Dr. Jones said, stepping over with a needle to draw Alexa’s blood. He filled the first vial and passed it to one of the other scientists. The other man immediately transferred Alexa’s blood to a syringe and shot it into Dante’s forearm which was still restrained. Dr. Jones filled two more vials before flashing to one of the microscopes. “Now we’ll just mix this sample with one from patient two, and see what happens.”

Everyone in the room seemed to be holding their breath, looking back and forth between Dante and Dr. Jones, waiting for some sort of result.

“Absolutely remarkable,” Dr. Jones whispered to himself.
 

“What is it?” Commander Claesson asked anxiously.
 

“She was absolutely right; the new samples of Alexa’s blood are working. See for yourself,” he said, stepping away from the microscope to make room for the Commander.
 

“Oh, my God,” he said at seeing the tiny cells waging war beneath the lens. Within seconds, all evidence of Lucias’s virus was gone.

They all looked toward Dante who had sunk to his knees with his hands against the glass and his head bowed. After what felt like an eternity, he looked up at Alexa with familiar and very clear blue eyes.

Alexa squealed and wrapped her arms around Ethan. “We’re going to get her back,” she whispered, “we’re going to get our Chloe back.”

✧

Ethan carried an exhausted Alexa back to their room. He kicked the door open and stepped inside while she smiled up at him.
 

“You know, I can still walk just fine,” she teased.

“I know, but you should not have to after what you just did.”

“Ha, I just sat there, snacked on some red cells and watched my blood flowing through a tube. I’m more tired from lack of sleep than donating blood; they gave me plenty to replace what they took.”
 

He sat her on the bed, dropped to his knees, and pulled off her shoes. “Then you will rest, but I want to feed you first.”

“Ethan, I don’t think I can stand the sight of another drop of bagged blood right now,” she said, scrunching up her nose. In order to collect her blood while the antiserum was present, the doctor had to continually feed her Layla’s infected blood to trigger her immunity.
 

“I don’t want you to drink from a bag,” he said pulling his shirt over his head. “I want you to drink from here,” he continued, running his finger above his collarbone.

Looking at Ethan’s golden skin, Alexa suddenly felt hungry for something, just not blood.

“Maybe if you help me work up an appetite first,” she said, licking her lips.

He moved between her legs, his expression serious before he pressed his head against her chest. “Amor, I had to watch you feed from another male. I need for you to take my blood. Please.”