Redemption of Fate (Fate Series Book 2) (22 page)

“If Cami says nothing is going on, then nothing is going on,” Rachel responded. “In all the years I’ve known her, she’s never once talked about any man, or woman, for that matter, romantically. She cares about her duty, about the war. Look at everything that’s happened to her family. And that poor girl we found tonight; I’ve never seen her so shaken up. You know as well as I do that finding a mate is the last thing on her mind.”

Rachel was right. She knew Cami wasn’t interested in Dante, but it didn’t change the fact that Dante was interested in Cami. And she knew him; he was a stubborn, persistent man. When he really wanted something, he didn’t give up easily. Cami might not be looking for a mate, but she couldn’t imagine anyone resisting Dante’s overwhelming charm forever.
 

Even after seeing Dante with other women for decades, watching him disappear into the dark to take their veins and their bodies, there was one thing she knew she couldn’t bear to watch. She couldn’t watch him fall in love with someone else.
 

And if it was Cami, there would be no escaping it. Living on the compound, she’d have to see them together every day. Layla swallowed hard as she tried to choke back the bile that was rising in her throat at the thought.

“Layla; hey, earth to Layla,” Jasmine said waving her hand in front of her friend’s face.
 

Layla blinked a couple of times and looked at Jasmine. “What’s up, Jas?” she asked.

“Where the hell were you just now? I asked you if you wanted to head back into the other room with us to find a little, uh, entertainment,” she said winking. “It will help you take your mind off of things.”

“A little later; I’m going to grab a drink first,” Layla said as they started walking away.

“Suit yourself, but be warned; if I find anything particularly delicious I’m going to bring him back here for you. You could use the distraction,” Jasmine teased giving Layla a sympathetic smile.

“Yeah; all right,” Layla said as she watched her friends disappear through the entrance.

Catching a waitress’s eye, she waved her over and ordered a double shot of tequila and a tequila sunrise. When the waitress returned, Layla held up a one-hundred-dollar-bill.

“This is yours as long as I don’t see the bottom of this glass tonight,” she said pointing to the colorful drink in front of her.
 

“Sure thing,” the cute young vampire said with a smile.

Without hesitation, Layla tossed back the shot and immediately started in on the mixed drink, knowing it would take at least one more round before her supernatural body would start to feel the effects, and she
definitely
wanted to feel it.
 

After polishing off a second round, and feeling sufficiently buzzed, Layla’s eyes wandered toward the back where the private rooms were located. Feeling a flare of jealousy as she imagined what Dante had been doing there, she realized Jasmine was right. She needed to get her mind off of him. She needed a distraction. Downing the rest of her third drink as the waitress brought her a fourth, Layla decided she was going to go find someone to drink, maybe more if she didn’t slow down with the alcohol.

Standing, she looked towards the door and had to sit back down as her mouth practically fell open. She watched with rapt attention as four male vampires strolled into the room. To say they were impressive would have been an understatement.

Her eyes followed the four men as they made their way to a booth directly across the room, giving her a perfect view. So intent on watching the newcomers, Layla didn’t notice Jasmine and Rachel approach.

“Holy shit, Layla. I was going to ask if you saw them, but clearly you’ve already gotten a better look at them than we have,” Jasmine whispered though the other patrons were far enough away and the music loud enough to keep anyone from overhearing their conversation.

“Commander Claesson must be calling in the other bases after what happened today,” Rachel added assuming the four men were Elite, based on their size and apparel.

“Text Martinez and see if he’s heard anything on base about the new arrivals,” Jasmine said sliding in next to Layla to enjoy the view. “They have to be from up north; look at how pale they are, and what’s with the sunglasses?”

Rachel pulled the cell from her pocket and quickly sent off the requested message.

“They’re probably just trying to fit in with the human crowd in the other room. Half of them have shades on even though they can barely see in the dark as it is,” Layla added as she finished her fourth drink.

“Hmm; that’s strange. My text doesn’t seem to be going through,” Rachel said as she hit the first number in her speed dial.
 

After several rings, she gave up and slipped the phone back into her pocket. “He’s probably asleep; throwing camouflage wears him out.”
 

“Oh, yeah; I bet that’s not all he’s recovering from right now,” Jasmine teased as she signaled their waitress. “I could smell him all over you as soon as you got in the car.”

“It wasn’t like that,” Rachel replied as her cheeks flushed. Even after being married and bonded for nearly a year, she still got shy when her friends talked about, or even hinted at, sex. Lucky for Martinez, behind closed doors was a whole different story. “He just wanted me to feed before we went out.”

“I’m surprised he lets you come here at all anymore; you know how possessive bonded men get. I’m guessing that’s why he made you feed first; he wanted to make sure you weren’t hungry enough to be tempted.”

Rachel and Martinez had been pretty much inseparable for the last ten years since he joined The Elite, but only as friends until about a year ago when they finally realized they were in love with each other. Since then, Rachel filled the bulk of her blood needs with her mate; but as with any vampire couple, they needed to feed from humans occasionally to keep their blood strong.
 

Rachel had never been able to stomach the taste of bagged blood, so she had to drink it straight from the source. To keep Martinez from going absolutely crazy with jealousy, she promised to feed only from women, and since it had only been a couple of months since she’d last had human blood, this particular night out was only about unwinding after the mess they’d dealt with on their last mission. Still, with her going to a club where fresh blood would be flowing all around, Martinez insisted she go on a full stomach.

“Well, looking at those four, I don’t need to be all that hungry to be tempted,” Layla said with a mischievous grin.

“Damn, Layla; how many drinks did you suck down already?” Jasmine asked just as the waitress reached their table. “Never mind; you still need at least one more,” she added gesturing to their empty glasses.
 

When the young vampire returned with their drinks, Jasmine pushed Layla’s glass forward in encouragement. “Drink this fast; you’re going to need it in a minute.”

Layla eyeballed her suspiciously for a moment, but then shrugged her shoulders and drained her glass.

“All right; let’s go,” Jasmine said pulling Layla up from her seat. “We need to go welcome our new guests to Boston.”

“Good luck with that,” Rachel responded watching her friends make their way across the room while she nursed her drink.

Even in her intoxicated state, and being dragged by Jasmine, Layla glided effortlessly across the room, her blonde hair swaying across her back in sharp contrast to the black tank top she was wearing, drawing the eyes of the four mystery men and every other being in the room with a pulse.
 

“Good evening, fellas,” Jasmine purred, sauntering up the edge of the table and placing her hands on the smooth surface. “I was hoping you could settle something for me and my friends,” she said cutting her eyes to Layla, who though she was smiling and a little drunk, looked uncomfortable. “We were wondering which compound you boys were in town from?”

“Compound? Not sure what you mean,” responded one of the men on her left. She drank him in as he smiled up at her with shaded eyes and neatly-trimmed, honey-blonde hair. Peeking out from the collar of his fitted black t-shirt was the top of what had the potential to be a pretty badass tattoo which she definitely wanted to see more of.
 

“Oh, come on; it’s cool. You’re Elite, from out of town, right? My friends and I are stationed here in Boston.”

“So you’re Elite?” a black-haired soldier sitting next to the wall asked casually as all four men eyed them carefully, though it was difficult to tell through their dark shades.

Jasmine nodded, never taking her eyes off the blonde vampire who’d initially caught her eye.

“Well, why don’t you let us buy you a drink then,” he asked moving his legs from under the table to stand. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Jasmine slipped onto his lap before he could get up, flashing him a bright smile.

“A drink sounds perfect,” she responded simply as she looked at Layla and gave her a hard stare as she inclined her head towards the two men on the other side of the table.
 

Layla shrugged and dropped down into the lap of the dark-haired man closest to her. Between all the alcohol she’d basically chugged and her frustrations over Dante, she felt like doing something crazy. All she had to do was follow Jasmine’s lead. The visitors would no doubt be staying on the compound, so a little voice in her head even whispered something about using them to make Dante jealous. That voice was quickly followed by another which reminded her he had to care to get jealous. She’d been with other men before and he hadn’t seemed to notice.

“So, guess we should introduce ourselves. I’m Layla,” she said trying to relax as the muscular vampire slid his hands around her waist. Jasmine would have been fine skipping the names, but Layla hadn’t mastered the art of casual sex as well as her friend. “I’m Vic,” he replied with a smile which revealed his fangs. “That’s Dillon, Tony, and your friend is with Mason,” he said pointing to each of the other men in turn.

Across the table, Jasmine leaned into Mason’s neck and inhaled deeply, her fangs elongating as she took in his scent and zeroed in on the steady beat of his pulse. She kissed him softly on the thin skin covering his vein, then grazed one sharp fang over the surface gently. Mason pushed his hand into her thick hair roughly, turning her head and capturing her mouth in a rough and demanding kiss.

Jasmine tried to pull back, wanting to tell him to take it easy, but he held her tightly as she struggled. Suddenly feeling a sharp pinch in her upper thigh, her hand shot down to the source of the pain and met with the syringe jammed into her leg as she finally broke away from Mason’s mouth. “What the fuck,” she tried to yell, but it only came out as a whisper.
 

Already feeling as if her hand weighed a thousand pounds, she yanked the needle free and reached for the silver blade strapped to her inner thigh. As her fingertips grasped the handle, Mason’s strong hand wrapped around her wrist, holding it in place.

“There’ll be none of that, lovely,” he whispered as she used her free hand in an attempt to strike his face, but as the tranquilizer took effect she only managed a weak swipe which knocked his shades down revealing his glowing, blood-red irises.
 

Hearing the eerie tone of Mason’s voice, Layla turned her head to see Jasmine slumping down in his arms and reached for her dagger, but was met with Vic’s strong grasp as he jammed a needle into her arm. Unable to pull it out, she received the full dose and went out immediately.

Observing from across the room, Rachel noticed Jasmine struggling and jumped up from her seat, yanking her trusty Glock from the holster hidden under her jacket as she moved forward and took aim. Somewhat shy in all other areas of life, Rachel excelled as a soldier; moving with grace and surety as she sped across the space separating her from her friends.
 

The four men stood, rushing for the door with Layla and Jasmine in tow, unaware of Rachel’s fast approach. Uncertain of what was happening, Rachel aimed low with her first shot, clipping Mason’s thigh. He fell forward to his knees, dropping an unconscious Jasmine to the ground with a loud thud. He roared out as the path left by the silver bullet seared with pain. The loud pop of the gunshot had already sent civilians and humans alike screaming with panic as they scattered towards the exits and away from the danger.
 

Vic jumped over Mason and Jasmine, making his escape with Layla slung over his shoulder as Rachel took aim again, but the other two men fired back, forcing her to roll to the ground as she squeezed the trigger, sending her second shot wide while Vic disappeared down the dark hallway. Rachel’s third bullet found its mark, hitting Dillon in the chest and sending him flying into the wall. While the shot wasn’t enough to kill him, he was out cold and the silver would keep his infected body from healing until the bullet was removed. A rush of terrified patrons passed, blocking her shot and her view. She leapt up as they passed, prepared to fire again only to find that the four men and Layla were gone.
 

In an instant, she passed Jasmine lying prone on the dirty floor; assured by her acute senses that her friend was alive as she sped down the hallway to the backdoor and kicked it open. Cautiously stepping out into the alley, she focused her senses, drowning out the chaos inside the club as she zeroed in on her targets. Hearing a car door slam, she rushed down the alley to the street as the dark-blue SUV peeled away. She fired several rounds at the driver’s window, each bouncing ineffectually off the bulletproof glass.

Rachel took off after the fleeing vehicle on foot, gaining ground until the back window slid open and bullets sprayed out at her, the light from each shot like the flash of a firework in the dark. Unable to effectively return fire running at that speed, she ducked behind a parked car and took aim, hoping to blow out one of the tires, but the vehicle took a hard right and disappeared from view.
 

Heart pounding in her chest, she slid her cell from her pocket and tried to dial the compound but, like before, the call wouldn’t go through.