Aiden's Betrayal (21 page)

Like how he ended up in his line of work. He hated to kill unless the person deserved the punishment. Like Luciana. Killing her brought memories of his past back to the present.

Leaving the alley to the Guardians to clean, he headed home to his underground dungeon.

Twenty minutes later he walked through the doors and went in search of his sister. The kitchen and living room
was empty. The playroom and even the pool showed no sign of her even being there recently.

With his stomach tightening into knots, he ran to the last place she
should've been but he already knew what he’d find. She wouldn't be there. She wanted nothing to do with their father’s doings. She also didn’t want him involved but she didn’t want to listen to him whine that changing his life was too late.

He wanted to be selfish and keep her close.
She didn’t. When she threatened to leave, he told her to go.

Her closet was empty and her dresser had been rummaged through, a good bit of its contents gone as well.  Then he saw the
letter on the bed waiting for him.

Chapter Twenty
-Nine

Aiden awoke with a jerk and bolted out of bed ready to take on the world. Looking around, he found himself in his room. Alive and not alone. Elle slept in the bed beside him. He couldn't believe she didn’t awake when he did, but he imagined she was exhausted.

An IV still stuck in his arm, though the remaining blood in the tube dripped on the floor where he disconnected the tube from the bag. He pulled the IV out and looked down at his body and grimaced. Blood still covered him. He glanced back at Elle and wondered why she stayed there and why she’d sleep beside him with blood covering his body.

Moving to the bathroom, he turned the faucet on and stepped into the large shower. Hot water and soap washed the blood away to show smooth skin. His wounds were healed and he knew they should've been bad enough to take a few days.
How many days?

He finished the shower with haste
and pulled on a pair of sweatpants before stepping out of the bathroom. Any other time he would've savored the shower after a long battle but with Elle in his bed, he didn’t waste any time. He sauntered over to the bed to find sheets in disarray and no Elle.

Aiden didn’t want to be an idiot anymore. Now, he knew exactly what he wanted and he planned on fighting for her. Pulling a t-shirt over his head, Aiden stalked out his room and went on the prowl for Elle.

Ethan’s workroom came first before looking anywhere else. Inside, Ethan whipped around in surprise and Jodi nearly tackled Aiden to the ground.

“
I’m so glad you’re okay.” Jodi beamed up at him with joy.

“
Yep, sure is nice to have you awake so the women will quit fretting over you.” Ethan stood up and gave him the man’s one arm hug.

Jodi slapped Ethan playfully.
“Oh, he’s just jealous because he didn’t have all of my attention.”

“
Thanks. Where’s Elle? I woke up with her in my bed and when I came back from a shower she was nowhere to be found.” He moved over to the monitors and checked each for a sign of Elle.

“
I think she left. She got in her car and left. Don’t know why she didn’t say something.” Ethan shrugged.

“
Ugh! Men are idiots sometimes. She thinks you don’t want her. When she woke from the turn, you were gone. I had to tell her you told Julian this was your last job for this quadrant. She thought what any woman would think.” Jodi shook her head and shoved Aiden out the door. “You’re selfish. We all know you pushed her away because you don’t want to be hurt and yet you hurt her in the process. My suggestion to you is to hurry before you’re too late to change things.”

Aiden stood frozen in place. Even indoors, he felt the prickling sensation that told him the sun still hung high in the sky.

“Another four hours until nightfall. I suggest you figure out what you want to do exactly.” Jodi motioned with her hands for him to leave.

Out in the hall, Aiden let her words truly hit him. Idiot and selfish described him to the point. Everything he done
was for him, not Elle. He loved her and he did exactly to her what he didn’t want to happen to himself.

He stomped down to the training room to let off some steam before the sun went down. Jodi spoke the truth and he needed to think about what he wanted. Well, he knew he wanted her but would she take him back
?

In the training room, Nicolas practiced his Qigong. Something Nicolas did when he needed to clear his mind.
“Can I join?”

Nicolas grunted and moved further down the mat. He opened his legs slightly apart and parallel to each other.
“Do it like this.”

Standing behind Nicolas, Aiden brought his arms up slowly to follow the fluid movements of Nicolas. In moments, he felt his rage being replaced with tranquility and his mind felt free and relaxed.

“You need to talk to your son.” Nicolas spoke calmly as he added some movements with his legs.

The tranquility disappeared.
Aiden knew he did, but what would he say? Last time he spoke to Lucian, his son slammed him against the wall. “I know.”

He stopped moving and started to pace the floor. Pacing seemed to work better for him.

“You need to talk to Elle too.” More advice came from Nicolas as he kept with his Qigong.

“
Are you really one to tell me what I need to do? You only do this shit when something’s bothering you and I guarantee whatever problem you have, it has nothing to do with me.” Not wanting to be told again what he needed to do, Aiden started to leave.

“
There’s a lot of shit bothering me but your problems can be fixed. I suggest you get over your pride and take some damn advice.” Nicolas stood toe to toe with Aiden. “I’m sick of you feeling sorry for yourself when you have a mate and a son. Yeah, it sucks that your first mate didn’t work and it fucking sucks that you missed out on your son’s life but you can change things now.”

“
I thought—”

“
That’s your damn problem. You think too much. Quit trying to protect yourself from being hurt and get your son back. And get the girl.” Nicolas’s breathing came faster and he fisted his hands.

Aiden knew Nicolas held back to keep from punching him.
“I was going to get her anyways. Jodi already called me a selfish ass. As for Lucian, I don’t know what to say to him.”

After a second or two, Nicolas finally cracked a smile.
“Jodi didn’t say ass.”

Laughter leaked out for the first time since he
was with Elle. “No, she didn’t.”

“
I’m glad you’re going for it, cousin. As for Lucian, I’m there with you. I have no clue what you should do there. With Luciana raising him, I don’t know how long or if we can get him to trust us.” He slapped Aiden’s shoulder as he walked out. “Good luck.”

With still three hours until he could go to Elle, Aiden decided to speak with Lucian. He walked bare-foot on the elegant tiles, until coming up to the locked steel door. Some buzzing and a click sounded, letting him know Ethan had opened the lock for him. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door to find the room empty.

“Shit!” His feet slapped across the tiles, until he reached the control room. Wrenching the door wide open, he was surprised he didn’t rip the door off the hinges. “He’s not in there Ethan.”

Ethan’s eyes widened
and his mouth dropped. “There’s no fucking way. He’s been locked up tight the whole time.”

“
Damn it, I feel like I’ve had to come to you a lot lately because of someone missing. Look at the video and find out where the hell my son went.” A million things ran through his head. The first thing made his stomach twist. What if his son knew about Elle being alive? No one, that he knew about, has spoken to his son about the event three nights ago or that his mother had been killed.

“
He just walked out.” Ethan sat back in his chair and watched the screen with confusion. “I don’t understand. I’ve been here the whole time... well I was away for a few hours with Jodi but no one here would've let him free.”

“
Has anyone else gone to see him?” Aiden watched on the screen as his son walked right out of the unlocked door and then the front door of Sanctuary. If he didn’t get to his son and make him understand the truth, he shook his head in denial. He needed to worry about getting his son back and not the consequences if he didn’t.

“
No. I wouldn’t have let anyone but you and Julian in there. I’m not an idiot.” Ethan bristled in defense.

“
I didn’t say you were.” Aiden shoved his fingers into his hair to get it out of his eyes. Maybe after everything he’s been through in barely over a week, his hair would just fall out. One less thing to worry about.

Ethan shook his head.
“You were the last one in there and I was only gone that one time. I just don’t—Shit!” The chair flipped as Ethan jumped up and started typing across the keyboards. “Anya.”

“
She went into the room?” Nothing made sense to him anymore.

“
No. When I got back, she was in here.” He shrugged his shoulders and kept his gaze averted. “She said she was looking for Jodi and I believed her. I don’t understand why she would let Lucian out after he kidnapped her and turned her into a vampire.”

“
I don’t either but I’m about to find out. Is she still here or did she leave with Elle?” His blood seemed to be boiling in his body, just waiting to erupt. Everything around him looked red.

Ethan typed a few things and changed the screens to different areas of the house.
“I don’t think she left,”—he typed some more—”there! She hasn’t left her guest room.”

Aiden couldn’t believe her. How could she let Lucian go
and then just stay like they wouldn’t find out? On the way to her room, Aiden attempted to calm himself before he did something stupid. Maybe she had an explanation.

At her door, he
pounded his fist against the door until she appeared with a frown and her hair all over the place, showing he’d woke her up but he didn’t give a damn and shoved his way into her room.

“
Now look! My best friend loves you and you’re not going to come stomping in here and expect me to give you something, because you’ve got another thing coming if you think that will happen.” She poked her tiny finger into his chest and kept her chin up high.

He couldn’t stop feeling relief that Elle did love him. Pushing his other problems to the side, Aiden stepped closer to her and let his fangs show.
“I don’t want you. What I want is to know why you let Lucian out?”

Her mouth opened and closed before she actually attempted to speak.
“But... I...  What the hell are you talking about?”

“
You
were the only one who had the chance, other than Ethan and I know he didn’t let him out. I know how you did it but what I don’t get is why.” He lowered until they stood face to face. “So, my question is why?”

“
I don’t know what you’re talking about.” With her gaze still glued on his fangs, she stepped back until she bumped into the wall.

“
Shit, Anya! I know you and Lucian fucked but I didn't ask if it was consensual. I guess I know the answer now.” He threw his hands into the air. “I don’t have time for this! I’ve got to find Lucian and then get Elle back.

Small hands grabbed his arm before he made his way out the door. He glanced down at Anya’s wide eyes.

“I promise I didn’t do it.” She shook her head. “I know I can be a bitch and all but I’ve been asleep since one this morning. When did he go missing?”

“
At three. It happened while I was still asleep and most the others were gone. Also, when Ethan decided to take a break for once. He saw you in there.” Anger rolled through him, causing his whole body to shake.

She tilted her head and narrowed her gaze at him.
“I haven’t been in there since, Elle and I went to find you. You were out for three days and I’ve been visiting with Elle while she stayed by your side. Last time I checked on her was at twelve before I went to sleep and I found her sleeping beside you.”

“
Fine, we’ll look at the footage and see if you were in the control room at the same time as the door was opened for Lucian.” He marched back down the hall and didn’t give a damn if she followed.

“
Fine!”

Inside the control room, Aiden stood behind Ethan.
“I want to see if Anya left her room around three and when he escaped.”

Ethan looked behind him at Anya and then nodded.
“I’ve already been looking at them. Here’s Anya going to bed right before one and then here,” he pointed at another screen—”she’s coming out of her room at two fifty-four. After which she comes in here and at the same time, Lucian's let out.”

Anya gasped.
“I don’t understand. I know I didn’t do that. I was asleep, all I remember is going to bed and sleeping until you started banging on my door.”