by Melody Raven
“Why was I destined to be alone?” Marcus needed to know why fate would damn him to an eternity of emptiness.
“Destiny is a strange thing. There is always a point of beginning and a point of ending. Sometimes on the way from one point to another, things do not go as planned. There was never meant to be a vampire war. Kirill was always meant to win. No matter what, destiny would see to it that he would emerge the victor. If you never met Mary, you would’ve fought against Kirill and died.
“Instead of fighting against destiny, you switched sides and fought for it. There was no need for you to die after the switch. However, though you remained alive, there was no other soul that was marked for you. You were always destined to be alone. Because Gena and Mary were never supposed to exist, they also do not have a soul paired for them. Somehow you were drawn to her. I think, even though there is no destiny at play, you’re meant for each other.”
Anael abruptly jerked her head to the left, as if listening to someone he couldn’t see or hear. “I am being called back. I was not supposed to talk to you about any of this. I’ll not be able to come back.” Anael walked up to Marcus and grabbed his hands in hers. He felt the strangest sort of electrical current shoot through him.
“I have been watching you two since the beginning. At first I tried to protect her from you, but now I see I never needed to. Instead, I should have relied on you to protect her. Please watch over my daughter in a way I never could.”
He could see the pure sadness and helplessness behind her eyes. He wanted to comfort her but didn’t know whether he could promise to look after Gena. How could he even start to comprehend that his Mary and Gena were one and the same, let alone half angel?
He never had a chance to answer Anael. She gasped as she suddenly disappeared from his sight, and his hands closed in where they had just been holding her hands.
He could not promise to spend the rest of his life protecting Gena. He just couldn’t.
However, he wasn’t averse to trying.
Gena looked at her packed bags once again. She’d contemplated leaving all night. Well, ever since Marcus had stormed out.
Was he expecting her to leave while he was gone? Was he hoping that he’d never have to see her again?
Tough shit for him, thought Gena. He told her he would help her and he had answers for her still. Besides that, he still hadn’t paid her.
Mia was long gone by now. She’d offered to wait for Marcus to return, but Gena refused. The psychic had already done more than enough. Gena could tell Mia was concerned for her safety, but, despite his violent outburst, Gena did not believe Marcus would hurt her. At least not physically.
Mia had described what she’d seen in Gena’s head. The interrogation and how the woman in the vision had been murdered. She also explained that the vampires seen in the vision were searching for Marcus.
It was a fascinating story, but Gena still didn’t know what it had to do with her. Mia had believed Gena and the woman in the vision were somehow the same person, but that made no sense.
Even Mia said she didn’t believe in reincarnation, but she believed that the same soul could inhabit two bodies during different lifetimes. Which sounded a lot like reincarnation to Gena, but she was too freaked to pry any further.
So now Gena was left with more questions than answers and a missing vampire. She had no phone to track him down with and no way to contact anyone else who could help her.
She wasn’t completely stuck. She did have her car downstairs and a bit of cash left. She could always just find another place to stay for the rest of the night. She’d leave Marcus a note about where to find her. Screw him if he thought she’d just twiddle her thumbs while he was off having some sort of crisis.
Resolved to get the hell out of the apartment, she figured she should find her car first. She’d been a bit overwhelmed during the trip to the penthouse and hadn’t been paying close attention to where the vehicle was parked.
She knew it was in the parking garage below the building and she knew it was a short distance from the elevator; she just couldn’t remember what level it was on. She left her bags and Lady in the penthouse. She’d come back for them after she found the car. She did make sure she took her purse, complete with keys, silver dagger, and gun. A girl had to be safe.
About twenty minutes later, Gena pumped a happy fist in the air. Success! Of course the car was on the last level possible, but she was just happy she found it. Even with her car, she couldn’t go too far, considering she no longer had legal insurance and the car was registered to a dead woman, but it would have to do.
Gena wasn’t sure what made her do it, but she had the strangest urge to open the back door, as though an invisible force pulled her hand to the handle, and the door opened. The inside of the car looked as she remembered. She leaned forward and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.
As she was about to turn to collect her things and Lady, something caught her eye. At first she thought she saw her phone, but she remembered she’d tossed it when she realized that having the phone of a dead woman was pointless.
She reached down and picked up the cell phone. It was a newer phone that probably cost a lot of money, but it sure as hell wasn’t hers. She hit a button on the side and the screen lit up. There was no password, so she had free access to everything on the phone. The battery was low, but there was still power.
After going through a few of the contacts, things made a lot more sense. The phone belonged to Ryan. This must’ve been how he found her at Hope’s apartment, and he followed her to Fang.
An uneasiness filled her as she realized Ryan could know where she was even now. He could’ve traced his phone straight to the penthouse.
Gena glanced cautiously over her shoulder, feeling like a wimp for even being afraid now after wandering alone in the parking garage for the past half an hour.
At the sight of a male figure behind her, she let out a small scream and the phone fell out of her hand. Her fear was short-lived as she realized it was only Marcus standing behind her. Only now he had a huge grin on his face after seeing her jump.
As her heart struggled to get back to its normal rhythm, a scowl covered her face. “You’d better not make it a habit to sneak up on women in parking garages, or your balls are going to get up close and personal with a Taser.”
He raised a brow. “Oh really? When did you get a Taser?”
“Well, maybe not a Taser. I do have a purse full of silver,” she pointed out.
“For all the good it was doing you.”
“My lightning-fast instincts saw you and out of the goodness of my heart, I didn’t stab you. You’re welcome.” She grinned.
Marcus smiled back at her.
“Don’t give me that smile,” she told him. “I’m pissed at you.”
Marcus looked to her car. “Pissed enough to leave?”
She shrugged. “You left. Why shouldn’t I be able to?”
To her surprise, Marcus agreed with her. “You are free to leave whenever you choose. You’re no prisoner. However, the vampire world is in a great state of unrest and it’s dangerous out after dark. I think you’d be safer with me.”
Gena felt the urge to argue with him, purely because she was still pissed, but he made a lot of sense. Besides, she was aiming to go an entire week without getting killed again. “Why did you run out?”
“Did it really look like I was running?”
“You were definitely running from something.”
Marcus winced. “I guess I’m not helping my badass image,” he said, jokingly.
“You’re changing the subject.”
“Yes, I was,” he agreed as he took a step closer. “You weren’t supposed to notice.”
She remained silent and waited to hear what he’d say next.
“I agree we need to talk, but I have something to take care of first. I want you to come with me. I want to show you something and we can talk then.”
Somehow he seemed to g
et even closer as he spoke, and Gena had to keep herself from moving away. She took a steadying breath. “As long as you promise to answer all my questions.”
“I promise,” he said. Before she was aware of what was happening, his mouth was on hers. This kiss was different than the one they had shared the night before. His mouth was soft and his hands gently cupped her face.
She stood still but didn’t fight him. His soft tongue gently nudged her lips as she opened for him. She moved her hips toward his and felt the satisfying bulge of his erection against her and let out a soft moan.
Before she could go any further, he pulled away. She wanted to ask why, but stopped herself. She was the one who set boundaries. He might be taking that first step over the line, but she was the one who was dragging him past that line and toward the closest bed available.
One look at the harsh planes of his face told her just how little he wanted to stop. He wanted her to be sure before they went too far. Just the fact he was waiting for her made her want to throw him in the back of her car, strip him naked and have her wicked way with him.
Forcing her hormones under control, she took another calming breath.
“We can head out now,” he said as he bent down.
She held her breath as he knelt at her feet and picked up the phone she’d dropped as he startled her just moments before. He held it up to her. “You dropped this.”
For a moment, she was lost as she stared at the beautiful man kneeling before her. Then she snapped back to reality. “It’s not mine. I found it in my car, though. That’s Ryan’s cell phone. I think he used it to track me to Hope’s and then followed me to Fang. He could know I’m with you now.”
Marcus’s grin was positively wicked. “I sincerely hope he tries to find you now. I would enjoy a few minutes alone with the man.”
Although Gena didn’t particularly wish ill to Ryan, it made her feel better that Marcus had her back. She hesitantly smiled back at Marcus as he took her hand and they left together.
The drive to wherever Marcus was taking her was a quiet one. He drove her car, apparently not worried about the fact that her insurance and registration were no longer legal. She was okay with the silence for the moment. He’d promised he’d tell her anything she wanted to know as soon as they got there, so at least his secrets had a time limit.
The drive wasn’t too bad, considering it was almost three in the morning, but there was still more traffic than Gena would have expected. She wasn’t familiar with all the boroughs of the city yet, but she could tell they were in downtown Manhattan.
She wished it was lighter out so she could get a better view of the buildings, but she knew that could always wait for another day. Soon, Hope would be back in the city and she could show Gena around.
When the car stopped, Gena hopped out and looked up at one of the biggest buildings she’d ever seen.
“Welcome to Sonin Tower,” said Marcus.
“What is this place?”
“This is bringing vampires into the future.” Marcus put one hand at the small of her back and guided her into the building.
There seemed to be plenty of guards, but they all moved aside for Marcus. “I thought you were in exile.”
“Politics is one thing, but money is another. Aleksander and I are equal investors in this building. I need to stop by every once in a while to look over the progress and budgets.”
They walked into the lobby and Gena was shocked by the grandeur of it all. The entire middle of the building was an atrium that went up what appeared to be sixty stories. Two glass elevators scaled up all sixty stories, and the black-and-white color scheme of the building’s interior only added to the opulent atmosphere.
“This is amazing,” she whispered. “You own this?”
“Part of it. This will be a safe haven for vampires all over the world to see and stay. We will have permanent residents and temporary accommodations for anyone who needs them.”
“Like a vampire only club?” she asked.
“Not necessarily. Humans are allowed to stay, and there will not be any signs saying ‘vampires only’ or anything. It’s a place for us to be ourselves and feel safe. There will be plenty of blood supplied here, so all vampires will know where they can get food without hurting anyone. Best of all, all the windows are a special design that allows light to come in, but it will not burn our skin.”
Gena looked behind her at the glass doors they had just entered. They looked slightly tinted, but nothing out of the ordinary. “That’s amazing,” she murmured.
“It gets better.” He took her hand and led her to the elevator.
The atrium stretched all sixty stories up, and at the top of the building was a skylight to let in the sunlight during the day hours. He led her inside the glass elevator and pressed the button that appeared to be the top floor.
As they began their ascent, she turned around to see the aerial view of the lobby, once again shocked by the beauty. “It looks finished already.”
“It basically is,” he replied. “The grand opening gala is the night after tomorrow.”
Gena imagined how glamorous the building would look filled with men and women dressed to the nines. “Do you get to go?”
Marcus gave her a solemn look as the doors opened. “Even though I helped finance the project, I probably wouldn’t be welcome here.” Seeing her frown, he continued, “It’s nothing to be sad about. I’ve been around politics for so long that I’ve attended enough parties for many, many lifetimes.”
Gena scoffed. “There are never enough glamorous parties.”
Marcus smiled. “You’d be surprised.”
When they left the elevator, they were met by a set of ten-foot-high double doors. Gena stood back while Marcus fished out the key to open the doors. Though she should’ve been used to the many amazing sights so far, she still gasped in amazement as the doors opened.
The top floor was a restaurant, but it was no normal restaurant. All the walls and ceilings were made of the special glass that would allow vampires to sit in the sunlight. The tables already were covered by elegant white linens with simple candles for the centerpieces. Though the candles were not lit, Gena could imagine how pretty they would look once the restaurant was open for business.
The lights of the city made it too bright to see stars, but the lights of all the surrounding buildings were just as beautiful. “This is amazing,” she said again. Marcus smiled silently as she gazed in awe out the window. “I can’t believe this is your life.”
His grin dimmed a little. “It’s not just my life. This is your life now too.”
She shot him a surprised look. “I don’t think I could ever belong here.”
“When the vampire war started, I was against the idea of following anyone’s orders. I loved the freedom of going wherever I wanted and eating whoever I wanted.” He paused to see whether that would horrify her, but she kept her expression blank as she waited for him to continue.
“During one of the fights against Kirill’s men, I was severely wounded. I thought I was going to die. The sun came up and I was stuck in a cave that gave me precious little shade. In dire situations, I would’ve dug a hole in the earth to shade myself, but I didn’t even have the strength to complete the task.
“But through some strange luck, a woman came across me. I was able to feed from her and regain strength, but before she died, and I’m sure I would have killed her if I had continued, she was able to push me off her and escape.
“This girl was very brave. Thinking I was a demon, she came back to finish me off and protect the only family she’d ever known. We made a bargain that I would feed from her to regain strength and leave without hurting any of her family.”
Gena hung on his every word as he told his story. She was certain this somehow related to her but she couldn’t guess how.
“By the end of the day, I was entranced by her. I did not know why at the time, but I had this strange compulsion to be with her and I knew I could
never leave her behind. To my amazement, she agreed to run away with me. It might have been the happiest day of all my existence.”
A chill came over Gena. Something had gone horribly wrong for Marcus to end up alone.
“Before we could leave together, I had to remove myself from the war. I left to find Kirill’s men to assure them I was no threat and that I was leaving. I did not return to the girl in time. She was living at a convent. The vampires I was with came searching for me.”
The chill that Gena had been feeling settled like a stone in her stomach. “My dream,” she said.
“Your nightmare,” corrected Marcus.
“Your men killed her and everyone at her convent,” Gena said as a statement and not a question.
“Kirill’s son, Nicolas, told me a convent had been attacked, but I didn’t get there in time. When I reached the convent, Mary had been dead for hours.”
Gena felt a tear roll down her cheek. So much needless destruction of life. Her heart also ached for Marcus. He’d found his greatest love, only to have her murdered just days after first meeting. As sad as it was, she still didn’t understand why she was seeing it in her sleep. “What does this have to do with me?”
“I never knew this until tonight, but Mary wasn’t fully mortal. Her mother was what you know of as an angel.”
Gena scoffed. “Angel?”
Marcus nodded. “They’re agents of an all-powerful being. He has many names, but the most common now is God. Their job is to make sure destiny unfolds as it’s supposed to, but they are limited to what they can do. People have free will that cannot be tampered with, so all they can do is influence.
“This angel met a mortal she felt was so worthy, she decided to bear his child so his line would live on, even though this was forbidden. When the child was born, the child could be raised with mortals, having no memory of its true parentage, or she could be raised among the angels, never knowing the love mortals could give. Angels feel emotions, but they are much more muted than a human’s or even a vampire’s, for that matter.”
