Fate Forgotten (29 page)

Fishing his phone out of his pocket, he dialed.

“Yellow,” Benjamin chuckled. His standard hello.

Jacob wondered for the millionth time why Benjamin found it funny. “Hey, I need a favor.”

“Sure, what up?”

“Do you mind watching Annie for a sec?”

Silence.

What would he do if Benjamin didn’t agree? He could call Ashley, but he didn’t need to get into it with Clyde then. He didn’t have time for it.

“Ah, maybe you should ask one of the females. I don’t know a thing about kids. You know.”

“She’s sleeping.”

“Oh, then why do you need me to watch her?”

He had to be joking. You didn’t leave kids alone, period. Even before he’d been granted custody of Annie he knew that, which made him think he asked the wrong person for help.

Running his hands through his hair in frustration, he snapped, “You don’t leave children alone—ever.”

“Really? Why? She’s asleep.”

Would Benjamin argue the point? Didn’t he understand this was urgent?

“If she wakes up and I’m not here, she’ll be terrified. She’ll go looking for me or she could get hurt or—”

“Oh, I guess, but—”

“Just get your ass here now.”

Benjamin materialized in front of him. “Are you sure you want me to do this? I don’t know anything about kids.”

“It’s just for a couple of minutes, and she’s asleep.”

“Yeah, okay, but what if she wakes up?”

“You tell her I’ll be right back.”

“But what if she wakes up and starts crying or something?”

Befuddling. The warrior who’d battled evil for centuries by his side fearlessly looked terrified.

“She’s four. What the hell are you so afraid of?”

“Not all of us are naturals at the parenting thing.”

A natural?
He wasn’t a natural. He just…It wasn’t like it was hard. A set schedule and follow through. Make sure they had everything they needed, take time to play with them, and watch them, constantly.

“I’m not—”

“Jesus, Jacob, take the damned compliment even if you don’t believe it.”

“You’ll be okay, then?”

Benjamin shrugged. “I hope so.”

He hesitated. What if she woke up? What if she was terrified? What if…

“Go, I’ll be fine. I’ll find you if anything happens.”

Assuring himself he wouldn’t be gone for long, he dematerialized.

Reappearing in Lucas’s apartment, he spotted her, and the breath rushed out of him. Her hair, her skin, her voice.
Beautiful
. He wanted to hold her, feel the warmth of her body. Right then, he needed her, soothing him, his body, his heart, and his soul.

His eyes caught movement and snapped toward the male standing too close.

Heart thundering, his jaw went hard.

The warlock.

Jesus. Proof, as if he needed more. She wanted nothing to do with him. Had she imagined the warlock when she’d made love to him?

A debilitating pain engulfed his heart and flowed out in waves until it seared every part of him. Red flooded his eyes, his blood boiling beneath his flesh. His muscles twitched involuntarily, tensing and jerking as rage and wrath pulsed through every cell in his body.

His demon battled for release.

Relief, he needed it now. He’d neglected his baser needs—turning, and now, no way to control it.

Fisting his palms, he grinded his teeth. He didn’t know why he bothered. It wouldn’t stop the unavoidable. His body shifted, tearing his shirt. His horns pierced his scalp, fangs lengthening.

Too late.

Chapter 30

Jake
. Like a caress, she felt the familiarity of his anger flaring around her.

She quickly scanned the room, spotting him instantly. But his gaze, deadlocked on Glen and spitting fire, never met hers. His body morphed, grew a foot in height, above his already towering frame. Sharp black horns extended from his scalp over the length of his dark hair.

She’d never seen anything like it. Finally, she knew the stories she heard about demons were true. Terrifying, so big, so angry…She should’ve been scared, but she wasn’t. Not even a tiny bit. She loved him so much she wasn’t afraid of him at his worst. He didn’t know it, but he had all of her.

Materializing inches from Glen, Jake snarled. In a flash, Glen grasped her arm and dragged her behind him, so he stood between them.

Jake growled, loud, menacing. “Don’t fucking touch her!” He sounded different, not just inhuman and crazed, but deeper and almost slurred.

Before she could say or do anything, Lucas and Nathan, who’d also given into their demons, grabbed Jake and tugged him away.

“Control,” Lucas warned.

“They were just talking,” Nathan said.

The warlocks surrounded her and Glen. She pushed her way through. The need to comfort Jake gave her courage to move forward to face not one, but three turned demons.

Before she could move past Glen, he grabbed her elbow, drawing her back. “Are you insane?”

Jake fought Lucas and Nathan, trying to reach her. “Don’t touch her!”

“He won’t hurt me.”

Glen reluctantly released her.

She closed the distance between them, her gaze riveted to Jake’s mouth, fangs protruding, his breaths coming out heavily in spurts. Lucas and Nathan made way for her but didn’t let him go. They held each of his arms. She placed her hand on his chest, over his heart.

A memory assailed. She watched herself from afar.

Glen leaned in and kissed her. Jake shook his head. Clyde’s arm shot out in front of him. His blue stare filled with sympathy locked on his.

Jake frozen, immobile. Anguish marring his handsome face. His eyes tinted crimson. Still, he didn’t speak or move.

“Calm down,” Clyde demanded. “It’s broad daylight. Listen, she doesn’t love him. She’s never loved him.”

Jake’s gaze never left them, watching in horror when Glen caressed the side of her face. Jake gasped. The searing ache in his chest compounded, then finally Glen walked away.

“She’s mine. My mate. Mine,” he whispered. “I need…”

His eyes welled with tears.

She gulped, placing her hand over her chest, and took several steps away. Tears flooded her eyes.

She saw it and felt it. His pain, his anguish, all of it. He’d watched Glen kiss her—
his mate
.

Why hadn’t he told her? Why?

Glen took several steps in her direction.

“Don’t touch her. Don’t make it worse,” Lucas warned.

He halted feet from her. “Val, are you okay?”

Her heart beating so fast in her chest, she couldn’t think, couldn’t move. Her gaze met Jake’s. She read his eyes, as only she could—pain, anguish, fear, longing, and love.

All the pieces fell into place. She was his, the reason he wanted her named guardian of Annie, too, why Nathan had defended him. Nathan knew. The others knew too, the reason everyone urged her to go to him. Thinking on it then, even Annie knew. She’d told her how Jake felt.

How could she have been so dense? So possessive and attentive, constantly worried about her, her attraction, her ability to read him, how easily she’d fallen, a man she’d once feared. And she held back in fear of falling for him, in fear of losing him, thinking she didn’t belong to him. No doubt now, a connection existed between them, profound, unremitting, and incomprehensible, a connection fated long before he or she existed.

Don’t live afraid, Val. Take chances. Live, fully and completely. And love…You’ll never regret it.

Valerie had let her fear control her. She’d let her gift of psyche sight influence her, and she’d held back from him—her mate.

But why hadn’t he told her? And he’d known her for weeks. How had he held back his need to mark her?

She shook her head, thinking it didn’t make sense. Her logical mind couldn’t understand how she’d found him so young. Immortals waited centuries for their mates. Her sisters had been centuries older than her, and none had ever found their fated.

Glen took another step in her direction.

Jake growled.

“Val, what did you see?”

She opened her mouth to speak and relived the memory and Jake’s misery anew. A shudder went through her, tears spilling from her eyes, she couldn’t speak.

Jake groaned, fighting against his captors. His head angled to the sky, his face contorted in anguish—anguish brought on by her tears. It was written on his face, in his eyes as he fought to get to her. It shredded her from the inside out.

The seconds turned to minutes. No one spoke. No one moved.

Suddenly, Jake shifted, returning to his normal form. “Release me.”

Lucas and Nathan exchanged a somber glance. “You can’t attack,” Lucas warned.

“You have my word.”

They released him simultaneously, ridding themselves of their demons. Jake took a step in her direction then another, a hopeless look in his eyes. “Are you okay?”

She wanted him to hold her, craved the comfort only he could give her. “Jake, I’m sorry…I didn’t realize—”

“Don’t apologize, Valerie. We can’t help what we feel or when we feel it.”

He’d said those same words to her before. The memory of the day resurfaced in her mind. The first night she watched Annie. Letting her grief get the better of her, she’d thought he’d fire her. Instead, he comforted her, and she easily confided in him. He’d said:
I should have been the one to save you. I should’ve been there. I’ll never forgive myself for that.
Of course now, it, too, made perfect sense.

The circumstances they found themselves in could only end one way. He’d close the distance between them and kiss her: what she wanted, craved, and so desperately
needed
.

But that didn’t happen.

He disappeared right before her very eyes. He
left
her. One moment, he was there, and the next, gone.

She was left standing there, staring at where he’d been,
knowing
it was over.

“He’s yours.”

She didn’t bother meeting Glen’s gaze. She nodded.

So obvious to Glen who had just met Jake, why hadn’t it been to her?

“Congratulations are in order.”

Lucas and Nathan lingered. Their eyes locked on them.

“Come on, cheer up. What’s the problem? Is it the vision you saw?”

She nodded.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really.”

“He’s angry, but don’t fret. You’re his.”

She shook her head. “You don’t understand. I didn’t…I didn’t realize it until…the—”

“The vision.” He sighed, but didn’t move closer. “Val, he’s your mate. That means he’ll forgive you for whatever awful thing you think you’ve done.”

“No.” A fresh wave of tears watered her vision. “He won’t.” He hadn’t. He
left
her.

“Yes, he will. You aren’t just his mate. He’s in love with you, so in love he was willing to sever an allegiance because I was standing too close.”

“He saw us,” she choked out.

Glen stilled. “When?”

“He saw us in the park that day. He saw us kiss.”

“That was your vision?”

She nodded.

Glen’s eyes widened. “Jesus, Val. I’m sorry. If I had known you were involved, I would’ve never—”

“We weren’t, not then.”

He nodded.

Finally, she met his gaze. “It doesn’t change the fact, he saw us. I saw it through his eyes, felt everything he did. I…” She meant to say broke, but no, he wasn’t broken. He’d been broken. Now, he was destroyed. She couldn’t say it aloud though. “And I was too stupid to realize he was mine until I saw it. I don’t deserve him.” As she said it, tears slid down her cheeks.

“Of course, you do. After all you’ve lost, you deserve happiness more than anyone I know, and he’ll give it to you.”

“It’s too late. I saw the look in his eyes. He’s…”
Destroyed.
“Lost hope.”

“You can’t believe that.”

“I should go,” she mumbled, then walked past him.

“Valerie,” Glen called.

She turned slightly.

“Don’t deny yourself a chance at true happiness. Go to him.”

Holding his gaze, she whispered a spell she knew he heard. Right before she disappeared, his eyes widened. He yelled for her.

Too late.

She was gone.

****

What had he been thinking? It couldn’t have been more clear from the moment she’d told him she wanted to join the Guardians. Jacob
knew
she gave into him for Annie. The truth staring him in the face, and he’d gone after her because he was weak, and she, his weakness. Surprise, surprise. He found her with her warlock.

As if he’d needed more proof.

As if he could change how she felt.

As if it mattered.

He didn’t know a damned thing about her. She had the gift of sight. He hadn’t known. After all the nights, they spent talking, laughing, exploring each other, she never confided in him. Those beautiful moments when he thought his life couldn’t get better had all been a horrible, life-shattering lie that tore his heart and soul to pieces.

Why had Clyde told him she never loved the warlock? Pity? Yeah, probably.

Damned fate! He couldn’t change it. Not that it mattered, if he could, he wouldn’t want anyone but her. He couldn’t help the way he felt. Despite everything, he loved her so deeply it hurt. Not because she was his, but because he
loved
her. The waves in her deep auburn hair, the angelic features of her face, the beguiling color of her eyes, the sleek allure when her body moved, and that smile…damn, that blinding smile. And he loved that streak of stubbornness, loved when she held her ground, loved the way she teased, loved the way she loved, cared, and fought for Annie. He loved all of her, every cell, every hair, every damned thing.

Her scent alone had the power to soothe the deepest, most troubled parts of his soul. Her presence eased his aches, his sorrows. She made him forget the past and live.

She was his magic, and he’d lost her.

No, he hadn’t. He couldn’t lose something he never had.

“Fuck!” Tears choking him threatened to spill. His fist connected with the wall in the gymnasium. The concrete crumbed, but it didn’t dull his pain.

Shutting his eyes, her tear-streaked face came to mind. A reminder of what hurt the most, having to walk away when all he wanted to do—heal her. Her tears, the only thing he hated. It had taken more will than he thought he possessed not to hold her. Only his sneering conscience reminding him she wanted the warlock, not him, had held him still.