Lydia's Secret (The Secret Series Book 1) (18 page)

Max caught her against his chest, baring his teeth to the asshole fledgling. “I’m going to take great pleasure in ripping your throat out.”

Fear flashed in Calvin’s eyes before he locked the door and raced back up the steps.

Simon inched as close to the silver bars as he could without touching them. “Is she alive?”

Max laid his ear against her mouth. “She’s breathing, but barely.”

“You’re going to have to do it, Max.”

“You know she won’t survive it. She’s too weak.”

“She’s going to die if you don’t. It’s her only chance, damn it. You have to.” Simon closed his eyes and summoned Svetlana with everything he had inside him. His prison door suddenly opened as a voice whispered through his mind. “
Come
.”

Leaving his cell, Simon blurred his way to the steps, stopping at the top. “Do it, Max. It’s her only hope.” He opened the door and stepped into Svetlana’s waiting arms.

“Come. We have less than two hours before daylight, and I plan on using you every minute until then.” Svetlana guided him toward her bedroom.

“As you wish.”

Chapter Nineteen

Roman waited on the outskirts of town, pacing along the road leading to Svetlana’s abode. Two of his enemies had dared to breach his territory without being invited. He would make an example of their behavior by sending their heads back to their lairs in matching boxes.

“Can’t we go in now?” Lydia stomped a path next to him, chewing on her thumbnail.

“We wait for the troops. If we go in now, there is a chance that you and Jacie will both be hurt, or worse.”

“I don’t care about what happens to me as long as my daughter is safe.”

Roman stopped pacing and grabbed her by the wrist. “Don’t ever let me hear you say that again. You belong to me, Lydia. You’re my heart and soul. If something happens to you, I will spend eternity grieving.”

Tears sparkled in her eyes. “I feel the same about you, Roman…and the same goes for Jacie. Do you understand? She’s my baby.”

He did understand. The child had captured his heart as well. He could only imagine how deeply her mother loved her. “I will get her back. You have my word.”

“What if she’s—”

“She’s not.” He paused. “They’re here.”

A car came around the curve and pulled off the side of the road. Madison climbed out along with Sawyer, Niko, and Alex. The redhead wore black jeans, a black tank top, black boots, and a gun strapped to both hips. Her long hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail. “Any movement?” she asked, moving silently toward them.

“Nothing yet.” Roman eyed his team. “Sawyer? You go in through the back. Niko? Take the roof, and Alex? You cover the east side while Madeline covers the west. Lydia and I are going in through the front. And guys? Be mindful of Jacie.”

“Yes, sir,” Madison barked. “You heard him; let’s move out.” They disappeared faster than a human eye would be able to track.

Roman and Lydia approached the front door with caution. Movement could be heard inside the house along with Max’s voice coming from somewhere below grounds. “Stay by my side,” Roman demanded before kicking the door in.

Two fledglings flew at him the moment he breached the house. He gripped them both by the hair and removed their heads simultaneously.

Sawyer came crashing through the back with blood splatter across his shirt. “I’ll take the kitchen.”

“Niko,” Roman called as the vampire dropped from the attic. “You and Alex cover the basement.”

“Sir.” Niko confirmed with a nod.

“And Niko? Be careful. Max and Jacie are down there.”

“Jacie?” Lydia gasped, running toward the basement door.

Roman caught her before her hand touched the knob. “You stay with me.”

“She’s my daughter!” she shouted. “I am going with them.”

Something unseen passed between them, an understanding older than time. A mother would never leave her child. “Go, but do not leave Niko’s side.”

Roman blurred his way down the hall to the last room on the right. He kicked the door in and rushed inside. Simon lay naked on a giant canopy bed with both arms and legs restrained by silver chains, but there was no sign of Svetlana. “Where is she? Roman snarled coming to stand next to the bed.

Simon’s eyes slowly opened. “Jacie,” he moaned before a hiss escaped and his eyes slid shut once again.

“Whoa. Is that who I think it is?” Madison asked, stalking toward the bed.

“Yes. Simon Le Blanc, and it looks as if Svetlana has escaped.”

Madison stared down at Simon for a brief moment. “Shame he’s a bloodsucker. He’s got a nice package.”

Roman shook his head. “Kill him.”

A scream from below sent Roman’s heart racing. He ran with vampiric speed to the basement in time to see Lydia holding a limp Jacie and rocking her back and forth.

He dropped to his knees next to her. “Is she okay?”

The wail that came from his sweet Lydia killed a part of Roman’s soul. “She’s dead. Oh, God, my baby is dead.” She continued to sob, a sound of anguish that Roman would never forget.

“What is that on her wrist?” Roman lifted her arm, turning it to study the markings on her skin.

“I bit her.” Max sat in the corner of the cell, his arms propped on his knees and his head hanging between them.

Roman stilled. “You what?”

“I didn’t want to, but Simon said that I had to in order to save her life,” he whispered without lifting his head.

“You bit her because Simon ordered you to?” Roman spoke in a deadly soft tone.

That brought Max’s head up. “I bit her because she was dying!” he shouted, tears spilling from his eyes. “Simon said his blood would freeze her in time, but that mine would save her life, even if she became like me.”

A sound so soft it was barely audible came from Jacie’s chest.

“Jacie?” Lydia cried, pulling her back enough to see her face. “Jacie, honey, are you okay?”

The child’s eyes cracked open enough that Roman could see her irises. “It worked.”

“What?” Lydia breathed. “Are you sure?”

“Look at her eye color.”

Lydia’s hand shook as she lifted one of Jacie’s lids. Tears dripped from her eyes to drip onto her daughter’s cheeks. “One is blue and one is brown.”

“It really worked?” Max crawled across the cage floor, stopping next to Lydia. “May I see?”

Lydia lifted Jacie’s eyelids again. “You saved her life, Max.”

“No. Simon did. And this isn’t the life I would have wanted for her. She will hate me…” Max jumped to his feet and ran from the room.

Roman stood to go after him.

“Let him go. He needs time alone. He’ll come back once he calms down.”

“I want Simon,” Jacie whispered, turning in her mother’s arms.

Six shots suddenly rang out in rapid succession, stunning everyone in the room.

“Madison!” Roman shouted, blasting up the stairs and into the room where he’d left Simon chained to the bed. Blood poured from the gaping holes Madison had left in Simon’s chest. “What have you done?”

“You told me to take care of him; so I took care of him the Madison way.”

“He saved Jacie’s life and now she’s asking for him.”

“He what?”

Roman picked up a shirt from the floor and wrapped it around his hand as a barrier against the silver. Gripping the chains, he ripped them into, freeing Simon from their clutches. “Are the bullets silver?”

“Of course,” Madison shot back with a flippant tone. “We were coming to a vampire nest.”

“You are going to have to dig them out.”

Her mouth fell open. “Uh-uh. No way.”

“Yes way, and hurry before Jacie sees him like this.”

She holstered her gun. “Fine, but you owe me huge for this.”

“I always do.”

Epilogue

Six Months Later…

“Higher!” Jacie cried, chuckling as Lydia pushed her on the new swing set that Simon had bought her. He’d had it delivered earlier that day and now watched from a short distance as her laughter filled the night skies.

“Any sign of Svetlana?” Roman asked Simon, watching as Jacie’s cap blew off, revealing her light blonde, shoulder-length hair.

“None at all. What about Max? Has he returned yet?”

“No, and that worries more than threats of Svetlana. I hope he didn’t run into her in those woods the night he ran off.”

“Me too.”

“Uncle Simon? Will you push me?”

Simon grinned. “Sure thing, pumpkin,” he called before winking at Roman. “I’m an uncle.”

“You mean you’re an asshat,” Madison announced, coming to a stop next to them.

“Ah. The lovely Madison. Who let you out of the kennel?” Simon blew her a kiss.

“Very funny, shark tooth. I never realized a corpse had jokes.”

Roman held up a hand. “Okay, you two, enough with the insults. What’s up, Madison?”

“Sawyer got a letter from Max.” She handed the folded piece of paper to Roman.

He opened it and read it aloud.
I am writing to say that I won’t be returning for a while as I’m sure that Jacie will grow to resent me. I need to go back to my roots, find my people if there are any of them left. Tell Roman that I will forever be in his debt, and if he ever needs me, he can leave a message in the place I took him to on my fourteenth birthday. He’ll know the place. Tell Jacie I am sorry, and that I will cherish her always…Max.

Roman’s throat closed, forcing him to read it silently. Max thought Jacie resented him, when in truth, she was a happy, thriving six year old that missed Max something terrible. There wasn’t a day passed that she didn’t ask about him.

He refolded the letter and gave it back to Madison. “Tell Sawyer I thank him for allowing me read it. I’ll pass the information on to Lydia later tonight when Jacie isn’t around.”

More laughter interrupted Roman’s reflecting, and he turned in time to watch his new bride and daughter tumble to the ground in a fit of giggles. He loved that Lydia was such a good mother and hoped that one day she would give him a child just as precious as Jacie.

A shifter and a vampire.
Life couldn’t get any crazier, Roman thought with an inward smile…or perfect.

Coming Soon!

Book two in the Secret Series, Midnight Secrets. Simon and Madison’s story.

Titles by Ditter Kellen

The Seeker Series

Ember Burns

Ember Learns

Ember Yearns

Ember Discerns

Ember Turns

Scruples

Lydia’s Secret

Co-written with Dawn Montgomery

Thunder and Roses

FoxFire

Haunting Melody St. Claire

Ditter Kellen

A former 911 dispatcher turned author, Ditter Kellen has been in love with romance for over twenty years. To say she's addicted to reading is an understatement. Her eBook reader is an extension of her and holds many of her fantasies and secrets. It's filled with dragons, shifters, vampires, ghosts and many more jaw-dropping characters who keep her entertained on a daily basis. Ditter's love of paranormal and outrageous imagination have conspired together to bring her where she is today...sitting in front of her computer allowing them free rein. Writing is her passion, what she was born to do. I hope you will enjoy reading her stories as much as she loves spinning them. Ditter resides in Florida with her husband and many unique farm animals. She adores French fries and her phone is permanently attached to her ear. You can contact Ditter by email:
[email protected]