Aiden's Betrayal (17 page)

The room had a TV, bathroom, and kitchen, much like Aiden’s, but no Aiden.
Why wasn't she in his room?
Her chest tightened. Maybe he didn’t want to be here after she turned from his kiss. She saw the hurt on his face but when she saw Anya on the floor. Elle could think of little else. Elle needed to let him know she never meant to turn from his kiss. No matter what happened, she didn't want to lose him.

The anger she felt
at him for not telling her about the redheaded vampire vanished once she saw him. She knew Aiden didn’t have anything with the crazy woman any longer and Elle really wished he stood over her with those adorable worry lines creasing his forehead so she could kiss him.

Someone must have
been cooking nearby because she smelled some really good bacon and could even smell eggs and toast. Hmm, Elle never realized eggs or toast had a smell. Standing, she knew something was wrong.

She felt
light as she walked across the room. Looking down at her body, she gasped. Running a hand across her stomach showed evidence of her weight loss. Maybe she’d slept a lot longer than she realized. No wonder her stomach growled loud enough to wake a hibernating bear. She needed to find Aiden. After that, she was going for the bacon.

“
Elle?” Jodi said her name and followed it with a big yawn.

Elle walked over to her, still confused on how fluid her movements felt.
“You didn’t have to sleep there.”

“
We didn’t want you to awake alone and panic.” Jodi stood up and hugged her. “We were so worried about you.”

Elle sniffed.
“You smell good. What kind of perfume do you use?”

Jodi laughed before her face turned to stone.
“Maybe you should sit down.”

Even as she suggested,
Jodi pushed Elle down to sit on the bed.

“
What’s wrong? Where’s Aiden?” Jodi averted her gaze but not before Elle saw sadness and regret. Like wings of a mockingbird, her heart started to beat faster and faster. Hairs prickled on the back of her neck and arms. Breathing became nearly impossible.

“
Elle? Elle, stop! Aiden’s okay.” Jodi grabbed her shoulders and forced Elle to look at her. “I’m sorry I frightened you. Aiden’s alive.”

Her heart and breathing started to slow but her body still shook.
“Then what’s wrong?”

Different scenarios spun in circles around her head
, none of them pleasant.

“
Maybe you should calm down before I tell you.” Jodi handed her a glass of water.

Taking one sip, she handed t
he glass back. “I’m not going to calm down until I know what’s going on.” Her stomach started to turn as the water flowed down her throat. Water wasn’t what she needed. The bacon sounded like a better option.

“
Aiden’s out looking for Luciana.” Jodi admitted as she picked at her pants. She was hiding something.

“
Who’s Luciana?” Maybe the redheaded bitch. The thought of that vampire touching him caused her blood to boil and her gums started to ache right before... “Oh no!” Her words came out in a mumble and she slapped her hand over her mouth.

“
And you’re a vampire.” Jodi spoke as if Elle’s world hadn’t just done a complete one-eighty.

A vampire.
A for real vampire. The same species that killed her parents and sister? No! Fear grabbed her in a fierce grasp. “Will I turn into a rogue?”

Jodi laughed
. “You’re the last vampire who'd ever turn. I just don’t see you doing anything bad. Even if we tried I doubt we could turn you into one of us blood sucking demons.”

Elle tilted her head.
Vampire?
The last thing she remembered was seeing Anya sprawled in the floor and her new silver eyes glaring as she watched Elle. She gasped. “Anya did this.”

“
Elle, she was in the middle of a change and didn’t know what was happening. She feels awful for what she did. When you almost died, Aiden decided to change you.” Jodi stepped to the door. “It was that or let you go, which he couldn’t bear.  I’ll go get you some food.”

“
Blood?” Drinking blood didn’t sound good to her. Not even the smallest bit.

“
You’ll be fine for a few more hours so I’ll just bring you some bacon, eggs, and toast.” Jodi opened the door and started out before Elle grabbed her arm.

She moved across the room in a blur compared to her normal speed.
“Please allow Anya to come see me.”

Jodi gave a quick nod and smiled.
“You’ll get used to it. It took me a while to understand the strength and heightened senses.”

Once Jodi left, Elle ran to the mirror and looked closer at her mouth. Normal.

“How do you make them come out?” Remembering the others seemed to have trouble controlling their fangs when they got angry, Elle thought about the redhead touching Aiden and they popped out.

In the mirror she looked normal except for the large canine teeth sticking out of her mouth. Her normally dull brown hair seemed to shine, making her wonder what
else the turn had done to her body. Looking down her body, she noticed even without a bra her breasts seemed perkier. Unfortunately, they didn't look any bigger.

Her
slightly rounded belly had flattened some, not super-model thin but she didn’t feel like she should get in the floor and do crunches anymore. Apparently the change didn't make you taller. She looked much the same as she studied her reflection.

The door opened slowly to reveal Anya in all her normal glory
though the dark circles under her eyes showed her true emotions. Anya ran to her and wrapped her arms around Elle.

“
I’m so sorry, Elle. I didn’t mean to. I didn’t even realize what I’d done before Lena had me against the wall.” Sob’s wracked Anya’s body.

In the five years they'd known each other, Elle
had never heard Anya cry. “It’s ok. None of this is your fault. It’s that man and Luciana.” She didn’t regret the malice lacing the redhead's name. Everything that happened was Luciana’s fault.

“
Aiden’s mate really is a conniving bitch and her son... What an ass!” Anya pulled away and studied Elle. “You’re beautiful. Not that you weren’t before. I’ve always envied you.”

Elle might
've been shocked by Anya’s last confession if not still stuck on the fact of Aiden had a mate. “M-mate?”

“
Yeah, all of this happened because she plotted to get Aiden back.  And kill whoever stood in the way, namely you. No one’s quite sure what her exact plan is and Lucian won’t talk.” Anya’s brows knitted together with concern as she looked at Elle.

Lucian. Luciana. When she’d first seen
the young man, Elle thought he looked just like Aiden. And now she felt like someone stabbed her in the heart. The man she loved already had a mate. A son.

“
Oh, Elle. You love him.” Anya stated more than questioned. “You didn’t know.  They aren’t together now. He believed, everyone did really, she died over a hundred years ago.”

“
How do you know all of this?” Anya seemed to know more about the man Elle loved than she did.

“
Nicolas. He feels responsible for everything because when Luciana turned rogue, it was his responsibility to kill her and he failed. Now she’s killed who knows how many people and is the cause of us being changed.” Anya dropped her gaze to the floor.

Elle knew something
was bothering Anya but she’d wait until Anya felt ready to talk.

Jodi came in with a plate filled with bacon, eggs, toast, and even some fruit. Sitting the plate on the coffee table, she looked up at Elle with a sympathetic smile.

“Why didn’t Aiden stay until I woke up?”

The sympathetic smile dropped.
“He has to find Luciana.”

“
There are others who could’ve done that.” If he cared, wouldn’t he have stayed?

Nodding her head
, Jodi looked her straight in the eyes. “He feels responsible for what happened to you and thinks you’ll hate him for turning you into one of us.”

Hate him?
“He saved my life and he thinks I’ll hate him? Why does everyone feel responsible? The only person who’s at fault is Luciana and her son.”

With her excellent hearing
, she caught Anya’s intake of breath.

“
You’re right. They're the only ones responsible but he changed Luciana and she turned rogue. He doesn’t want the same thing to happen to you. He’s decided to hunt Luciana down and then he’s transferring to another Guardian team.” Jodi grabbed Elle’s shoulder and gave a comforting squeeze. “I just found out he was leaving. He informed Julian before he left for the hunt.”

“
I need to get home.” Looking around for things to pack, she realized she didn’t have anything of her own there. “I need to go now.”

If Aiden cared for her like she did him, then he would
've stayed with her. Instead, he was out searching for his long lost mate instead and planned on leaving Sanctuary and people he loved just to stay away from Elle. Work and Princess would take her mind off the fact that her heart had been shattered into a million pieces. Maybe some ice cream would help, too.

“
You can’t go home, at least not yet. Luciana is still out there.”

“
I’m a vampire now, too. I can’t stand being here anymore. You can put someone in front of my home but I’m leaving either way.” Elle walked out the door with both women on her heels.

Anya grabbed her hand and walked beside her.
“Nicolas came back early. He'll take us and stay to make sure nothing happens to us.”

Elle nodded and followed Anya to find Nicolas.

Chapter Twenty-Three

A grin played on Luciana’s red lips as she watched the Guardians go in separate directions. Finally. She’d ran from them all night and even had her last two rogue followers smear her blood in different places to throw the trail in multiple directions.

Now
Aiden headed alone on his hunt to find her and she couldn’t wait to throw her plan into motion. Killing Aiden had been her goal for so long and the time grew so close now she could taste his blood on her lips. Even her stomach started to growl, craving his blood to fill her.

She followed behind him and waited for him to realize she stalked him, instead of the other way around.

Within a few minutes he reached slowly, almost invisibly, for his weapon.

Ahh
, his favorite daggers
. Aiden took longer than she thought he would to realize she was following him. Maybe his whore dying distracted him from his task.

“
You should really pay more attention, Aiden. Never know what kind of danger could be lurking around the next corner.” She let his name roll off her tongue, just the way he used to beg her to say his name over and over in her ‘sexy’ drawl.

She didn’t miss the pain and regret he tried hiding.

“Luciana.”

She loved hearing hi
m strain as he said her name. Even after all this time, he still cared for her. Torturing him would be much more exciting than she thought.

“
Oh, Aiden, how I've missed you.” She moved close enough to feel his heat seep through her clothes. With his focus on her, her favorite rogue moved in from behind. “Now that your new play thing is dead, I’m interested to start where we left off before you tried to have me killed.”

Aiden turned a second too late as the knife her comrade raised
went into his chest. The rogue would die sooner than planned if the knife hit Aiden’s heart. She wasn’t ready for him to die yet. She had so much planned for him.

His eyes rounded with shock before squeezing closed with pain. With blood pouring down his chest, he fell with a crack to the ground.
“Goodnight my love, until tomorrow.” She kissed his lips then laughed aloud.

Chapter
Twenty-Four

Elle still wouldn't open the Bed & Breakfast until she knew Luciana wasn't a threat so cleaning turned out to be the next best thing. Gloves covered her hands and forearms as she scrubbed the second bathtub and dreaded the next obstacle--the toilet. It had never been her favorite thing but someone had to do the dirty work and she appreciated the distraction.

When they finally arrived back at her home, she
was slammed with the memory of Aiden holding her against the wall. The passionate kiss they shared lasted for less than a minute, yet she couldn’t get the feel of his lips off her brain.

Then the memory of the attack
took hold and she was swamped with the smell of the rotting corpse on her floor. Aiden made sure no evidence remained but he couldn’t exactly erase her memory. Could he?

“
Are you wanting a hole in the tub?” Anya leaned against the doorway, studying her nails as she spoke.