Absolution of Fate (Fate Series Book 3) (26 page)

In the chaos and confusion, the unit of turned humans who had no training or experience in battle moved away from the action to surround Lucias and the others near the building.
 

“Lucias, we should run,” Erikson said, taking his hand, “they will kill us all! Please, Lucias,” he begged, trying to pull him away.

“No! This isn’t over yet!” he yelled, yanking his hand away. “What are you doing?! Attack! Shoot back into the trees!” he screamed at the newest additions to his army as shots continued to come from the darkness. They looked at him with eyes full of fear and uncertainty. Lucias rushed forward and grabbed one of the men by the throat as he glared around at the others. “I said attack!” he roared, throwing the man into the crowd. The others moved to the sides, some raising their weapons toward the tangle of bodies and steel while others aimed for the tree lines where some of The Elite remained, carefully picking off infected with antiserum rounds.
 

“NO!” Chloe screamed, and every one of them stopped cold. Lucias swiveled to glare at her, his rage boiling over as he realized that the turned humans were bound to her, and everything he’d spent his life working for began crumbling down around him. Their loyalty to him had been a trick, no doubt a command she’d given them to help lure him into The Elite’s trap. A cruel smile appeared on his face at seeing Kaleb turn to Asana and Anna to carry out his last command. As quickly as it appeared, his smile evaporated when Chloe flicked her hands towards Kaleb and he fell to the ground.

“Lucias, please! Before it’s too late,” Erikson pleaded again, trying to take hold of him. But Lucias was deaf to his pleas, and he zeroed in on Chloe as she knelt beside an unconscious Kaleb. It was all because of her.

Chloe bit into her own wrist as she sat beside Kaleb.

Asana, grab Anna and hold her as long as you can,
Chloe sent before speeding over to the two women. She shoved her bloodied wrist against Anna’s mouth so fast the infected vampire barely had time to struggle before the first drops of blood wet her tongue. In a flash, Chloe was back beside Kaleb, and she cradled his head and pulled his chin down to let her blood drip into his mouth.

Take Anna and leave, get as far away as you can. The cure is in my blood; just like my mother. You will be safe if you leave.

Thank you, Chloe,
Asana sent, before rushing off into the trees with her daughter.

Kaleb began to stir and latched on to Chloe’s wrist, drawing hard on her vein before his red eyes popped open. Within seconds, the blue began to bleed back into his irises and Chloe smiled down at him.

CHAPTER 20 -
A Promise Kept

Ethan and Alexa fought against every instinct to obey Commander Claesson’s orders, waiting with their eyes locked on Chloe as The Elite attacked. And then they lost sight of her as the crowd of civilians swarmed toward her and Lucias.
 

“Just wait; there are too many of them!” Commander Claesson yelled, seeing what the pair intended before they made a move. “Lucias will not risk her; she’s too important.”

Finally the crowd shifted and she appeared again. They both let out heavy breaths of relief at seeing her, but their focus was pulled away when the civilians raised their weapons and aimed toward the trees where they were hiding. Claesson, Cami, and the rest of the family prepared to return fire, but they held, knowing that they were still concealed by the mist and had the cover of the trees; not wanting to injure the civilians if they could avoid it.
 

“NO!” Chloe’s scream reverberated through the night air and they all watched with wonder as hundreds of vampires stopped cold and lowered their weapons.
 

Still Ethan and Alexa watched and waited, while Chloe used her power on Kaleb before she disappeared from view again. “We can’t wait any longer!” Ethan yelled when Chloe reappeared. Though he saw his daughter go to his enemy’s son willingly, it didn’t stop Ethan from seeing red when he realized that Kaleb was biting her. Without a word to Alexa or any of his companions, Ethan flashed away, heading straight for them with every intention of removing Kaleb’s head for daring to touch Chloe.
 

No, Daddy,
Chloe sent straight into Ethan’s mind. He slowed at hearing her sweet voice for what felt like the very first time and then stopped completely when a flurry of images passed through his mind.
I love him.

Alexa, who’d immediately sped off after Ethan and sensing his anger and fear for Chloe, stopped when the same words and images passed through her mind. As she stood there, a band of infected cut through the civilians heading straight for Alexa, who was so focused on what she was seeing that she didn’t notice them coming. In an instant, Cami and Claesson were there and intercepted the group only a few yards from Alexa. The two Elite, while probably the best fighters in the entire force, were no match for five infected. Cami jumped back, swinging each of her twin blades up to block the blows of two infected, but they continued to press down, her arms trembling under the force of their power. She fell back when the two men went flying and quickly jumped back to her feet, seeing Jared and her father standing before the infected who’d nearly bested her. She pulled her sidearm and fired an antiserum round into each of them just as another shot rang out and one of the other attackers fell to the ground behind Claesson. She took aim again, sending her final round at the infected he was battling. He gave her an appreciative nod as the man hit the ground and the cure spread through his veins. Cami swiveled looking for Alexa and felt paralyzed when she realized that one of the men had managed to get by them. He was moving slowly, obviously injured, but she was out of ammo and too far away to reach Alexa in time. The man raised his blade and Cami cried out, the entire scene seeming to pass in slow- motion. Alexa turned just as the man flew back. Layla stood over him with her boot on his chest, pushing against the hole where a round of silver was still lodged, before she fired an antiserum round into his thigh.

Feeling Alexa’s fear, Ethan’s head snapped around just in time to see Layla take the infected down. He sped to Alexa’s side, pulling her into his arms as he scanned her with his eyes. “Are you all right, Amor?”

“I’m fine, thanks to Layla,” she said, sending the woman she’d once thought she hated an appreciative smile.
 

Satisfied that Cami and her family were safe for the time being, Claesson turned to the main battle, ready to join his men in the fight, when he caught sight of Captain Erikson heading for the trees. He was tempted to chase after him, but before he could decide, four members of William’s guard flashed out from the veil of mist and swarmed around the traitor. In an instant, Erikson was disarmed and on his knees while the men held him steady. Claesson smiled when William stepped out from the trees, sword in hand as he approached. As much as the Commander would have enjoyed what happened next, his men needed him, so he turned and sped into the heart of the action.

✧

Lucias dropped to his knees, as the image of Christopher’s head rolling across the ground burned into his brain. He’d sensed his mate’s fear and fled through the crowd of Chloe’s vampires to get to him, but he was too late. He stayed there, unable to move, not knowing what to do as the pain and rage seared his heart, turning it black and evaporating any tiny remnants of goodness that may have remained.
 

Having lost sight of William and his men, he stood and turned, his gaze zeroing in on Chloe as everything else fell away. Nothing else mattered but making her pay for what she’d taken from him.

His rage and focus were so intense that to Chloe it was like he was screaming right in her ear. She knew he was coming before he’d even taken the first step. He knew he was no match for her, but believed that he had the advantage of surprise since she kept her eyes on Kaleb as the curing power of her blood spread through his body and she gave no indication that she was aware of Lucias’s intentions.
 

She’d become quite skilled at focusing her mind blasts and could have easily disabled Lucias, but she remembered something she’d seen in her father’s mind the day she left the compound. It was a thought, far back in his mind, that seemed to be playing on repeat. A promise he’d made that haunted him. A promise she intended to help him keep.

She sought Ethan’s mind again and pushed into his consciousness. Ethan froze for a moment before his head snapped to Chloe. “Stay with Cami,” he said to Alexa and disappeared into the crowd of civilians before she could respond.
 

Chloe never even looked up, trusting completely in her father’s strength and his love.
 

Lucias was only a few yards from Chloe; his revenge so close he could taste it. But the only thing he tasted was his own blood as he found himself frozen in place. His gaze fell as he tried to understand why his feet weren’t carrying him forward. His heart would have stopped, if it wasn’t already stopped as Ethan gripped it firmly in the hand he’d plunged through Lucias’s back. Ethan yanked his arm back, pulling Lucias’s heart with it as Lucias dropped to his knees. Ethan jumped in front of him, satisfied to see that he hadn’t yet lost consciousness. He leaned down and hissed, “I warned you that if you touched my wife, I would rip your heart out, you piece of shit.”

Lucias started to fall forward as the last signs of life slipped away. Ethan let his heart fall to the ground and unsheathed his sword; spinning around, he swung it up in time with the descent of Lucias’s body, cleanly cutting off his head.

CHAPTER 21 -
Moving Forward

With Lucias’s death, all of the remaining infected were freed from the slavery of his bond, leaving all but a few who’d willingly submitted to Lucias’s cause confused and disoriented. Most stopped fighting, as the smell of blood surrounding them called to their bloodlust and they attacked the injured or unconscious around them. This made them easy targets for The Elite, and it wasn’t long before the entirety of Lucias’s army was disabled.
 

“What will we do with all of them?” Cami asked, walking up to Commander Claesson.

“Those who have been cured will be rounded up for questioning. We need to determine who they are, and where they came from. I would guess that most of them have families to go back to somewhere. We’ll take the remaining infected into custody and keep them contained until more antiserum is made to cure them.”

“How the hell are we going to take all of them into custody?” Cami asked, looking around at the hundreds of infected on the ground. Some of them who were unlucky enough to take a shot to the head were actually dead, but the bulk of them were simply unconscious as a result of the tranquilizers. “We can’t handle this many prisoners.”

“I already have it covered,” he replied with a smile, as he inclined his head. Cami looked to where he’d indicated to see lines of Hummers and large US Military trucks driving towards them. The Hummers came to a stop and hundreds of soldiers filed out, armed with silver-plated chains and handcuffs. An older gentleman with silver hair jumped down from one of the front vehicles and made his way over.

“Commander Claesson,” he said with a salute. “General,” the Commander reciprocated. “How much time do we have before these boys start waking up?” he asked, standing at ease.

“I’d say about four hours with the level of sedative we used. As discussed, our men will help with the transport and escort you to the holding facility, just as a precaution.”

“We’ll start loading them up then,” he replied, offering another salute before he walked back to his men.
 

Cami followed the Commander up to the abandoned factory, where most of her family was waiting with Chloe. “And what about all of them?” she asked as they passed the civilians.

“I don’t know what to make of them. We need to find out why they were here,” he replied.

“I can explain,” Chloe said, speeding over to wrap her arms around Cami, seeing her for the first time since the battle had ended. “Up until a couple of days ago, they were all human.”

Both Cami and the Commander looked at her as if she had two heads.

“It’s the most remarkable thing,” Elijah said, coming up behind his granddaughter. “You remember all of those humans Lucias abducted in the city? These are those people.”

“It can’t be,” the Commander said in disbelief.

“It’s my blood; if a human drinks it, they become like us.”

“Yes, an amazing and very dangerous ability,” William added as he approached. “It could make life rather difficult with the secret of our kind no longer being secret. Many humans would do anything to become one of us, making your blood a very valuable and rare commodity. Rare and valuable items almost always tend to bring out the very worst in people.”

“So what are you saying; what can we do?” Alexa asked, taking Chloe’s hand. “All of these people already know and they have families; friends who will eventually learn what happened to them. We can’t keep it a secret.”

“You!” Alexa jumped as Ethan yelled and sped across the grass. Chloe was right behind him when he grabbed Molly and pinned her to the ground. “Daddy, please; let her go. She saved me. I don’t know if I ever would have made it through these last days without her.” For good measure, she shared the images of all the things Molly had done to keep her protected from Lucias. “Once she became vampire, she changed. I don’t know how to explain it.”

“I do,” Molly added as Ethan loosened his grip. “It’s because of Chloe. Her goodness made me good. It’s in her blood. She’s the one who saved me, even though I didn’t deserve it.” Shame flashed in Molly’s blue eyes as they welled up with tears. “I’m so sorry for what I did to you,” she whispered.
 

“Let her up, Ethan,” Alexa said gently, as she came up behind him.

He moved away and Molly stood. “Thank you for helping our daughter,” Alexa said, taking Ethan and Chloe’s hands, and the three of them returned to their family.

“So what do we do about Chloe and the humans, or the new vampires; I’m not sure what to call them?” Cami asked, bringing the focus back to the problem at hand.