Impulsive Destiny

by Cassandra Lawson

Sprinting down the street, Lexi wasn’t sure if she saw one of the bodies stir, or if it was just her imagination. If she was lucky, she’d get out of this area before the vampires started to rise, or at least get some weapons first.

  Luck was on her side; the doors to the martial arts studio were unlocked, and they had a good variety of weapons in the display case. Apparently, she was the only person who’d considered looting this place. She found a sword she could handle and grabbed it. While she wasn’t great with a sword, her choices were limited. Emptying an abandoned duffle bag, she filled it with some weapons, just as three newly risen vampires rushed into the studio, scenting the air and staring at her with wild, hungry eyes.

  Dropping the duffle, Lexi went into a defensive stance, holding the sword. The first of the vampires made a clumsy attack, and the others followed on his heels. Lexi slammed the sword into the heart of the first, and he immediately dropped while she kicked out at another one of her attackers, throwing the vampire off balance. She was feeling pretty good about the fight until five more vampires entered the studio, all rushing toward her. Not barricading the door had been her dumbest move of the day.

  What happened next shocked the hell out of her. Zane rushed in and tossed one of the vampires across the room. It was only Lexi’s years of training that kept her knees from buckling. With Zane’s help, they managed to take out all the vampires in the room. Then, she gave in to her desire to throw herself into his arms.

  “How did you get here?” she asked, inhaling his sexy, musky scent.

  “Your father sent me,” he told her. “Thankfully, I was still able to pick up your scent with all those bodies out there. Unfortunately, your father can’t bring us back.”

  “I don’t care now that you’re with me,” she assured him. “I know that’s selfish, because I’m taking you away from the people who love you, but I felt completely lost without you.”

  Zane grinned at her. “We’ll live long enough to see them again. For now, I think we’d better get out of this area fast. We’re both good fighters, but there are too many vampires for us to handle.”

  “You’re right,” she agreed. “We’ll only live long enough if we avoid getting killed. From what I hear, this is not a very nice time. Let’s barricade this door so we don’t have more vampires in here to deal with.”

  Zane nodded and reluctantly moved away from her as they worked to secure the doors to the building. When they were both satisfied that they were safe for a short time, Zane pulled her into his arms again.

  “I can’t believe I’m finally with you,” Zane murmured in a choked voice. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen you.”

  “Not even two weeks, but I know how you feel,” she said, giving in to the temptation to reach out and stroke his cheek. “I’ve missed you.”

  “Two weeks?” he asked, before a thought seemed to occur to him. “That’s right. Time is different when you’re in the Fae realm. For me, it’s been three months, so you’re going to have to forgive me if I keep touching you to prove to myself that you’re really here.”

  Tears burned the backs of her eyes. They might be totally fucked, but she couldn’t help being relieved that Zane was finally with her. Dressed in nothing but pants and a pair of worn boots, he was sexy as hell, and her body reacted to his proximity.

  Zane’s smile was somewhat shaky. “We don’t have time for that, angel.” He rested his forehead against hers. “There are a lot of vampires out there ready to kill us. We need to go somewhere more secure. I think it would be safest to get away from anywhere they gave those tainted vaccines. That is, if we can find a place like that.”

  “We need a car.” Lexi began thinking out loud. “Too bad I never learned to hot-wire one.”

  “Hot-wire?” Zane’s brow furrowed in confusion.

  “I’ll explain later,” she assured him. “For now, try to find keys.”

  Zane nodded and started searching drawers and bags. They found keys, but nothing that looked like it belonged to a car.

  “Damn!” she shouted. “I should have checked the cars I passed on the way here. There were some with the doors wide open, so I assume keys were left in at least one of them.”

  “Why would people just leave cars in the streets with the doors open?” Zane asked.

  “I’m not sure,” she admitted. “It looks like someone was looting in this area, so I can only assume people who weren’t exposed to the virus were causing problems in the neighborhood at some point. I’m sure there were people who refused to get the shot. Based on the bodies that have been left in the street for days, I’d say the authorities are overwhelmed. Hell, it’s possible most of the police are dead, or undead.”

  “From what the older vampires told me, there were too many bodies to deal with, and people had no idea what to do,” Zane explained as he rooted through the pockets of the dead vampires.

  Zane’s hand lifted with a set of keys, one of which had a Honda emblem on it.

  “Great!” Lexi couldn’t contain her excitement. “Keep checking the others since it may be hard to find the Honda those belong to. We’ll also see if we pass a car with the keys in the ignition. Hopefully, there’s enough gas to get us out of the area before we’re torn apart by vampires.”

  “Where are we headed?” Zane asked.

  That’s when Lexi froze because she had no clue where they were headed. “I’d say somewhere with no vampires, but something tells me that won’t be easy to find.”

  “We just need to stay alive until things settle down,” Zane told her. “The humans get the upper hand with the turned vampires eventually. They will continue to be a problem, but nothing like they are now.”

  “And the abuse of the born vampires will start shortly after that,” she said helplessly. “We shouldn’t be here, Zane. We know too much about what’s going to happen.”

  “Yet, we are here, and now, we just need to figure out how to survive and find a safe place where I can bury myself in your body to prove to both of us that you’re really safe.”

  Lexi swallowed hard, and her body tightened with lust. “That certainly sounds like a good incentive to survive. I guess my apartment is as good a place as any to head. It’s in a crappy neighborhood, but the gate might be a deterrent. It’s also not too close to any shot clinics or hospitals.”

  “That certainly sounds better than staying here. Let’s get ourselves armed and fight our way to a car,” Zane said before giving her one quick kiss on the mouth and reaching back to let his fingers brush across the mark on her neck.

  Chapter Eighty-Four

  When Lexi had first been taken, Cam had come out to check on Zane daily, but he’d soon cut that back to every couple of days. Now, he came out once a week. Zane had refused to leave the born vampire settlement until his mate was returned to him, and Cam couldn’t blame him. He might feel like an ass for only checking up on Zane weekly if it weren’t for the fact that Jase, Layla, and Quinn were also keeping an eye on him. Most of the vampires were watching out for Zane. Cam had forced himself to stop coming because, for the first time in Zane’s life, he wanted to be alone, and Cam couldn’t really blame his brother for needing solitude.

  Expecting to find Zane in the field with Kyleigh, he was shocked to see Mitchell, lying in the grass alone.

  “Hey, Mitchell!” he called out.

  Mitchell sat up slowly and blinked twice, looking dazed. “Hi, Cam.” His voice was somewhat distant.

  “Where are Kyleigh and Zane?” Cam asked.

  “Kyleigh had to take over watching Bridget,” Mitchell explained, still visibly working through the haze of his daydream. “Even though Ian’s off rotation, he’s still helping with training.”

  “Zane gave up early?” Cam asked, surprised by that news. Normally, Zane kept Kyleigh at the field for several hours. Even after Kyleigh left, Zane generally laid in the field until someone pressured him to go eat something. If no one came by, Zane often stayed in the field all night and only left to wait on Kyleigh
’s front porch the next morning.

  Mitchell opened his mouth to answer, but closed it when he saw something over Cam’s shoulder. Cam had been around Kyleigh enough to recognize her scent, so he knew what Mitchell was looking at, and his gut tightened in apprehension, even though he had no idea why he suddenly felt like something was terribly wrong.

  “What happened to my brother?” he asked without turning around.

  “Arawn showed up this morning,” Kyleigh replied softly. “Long story short, he came up with a plan for Zane to get Lexi back and took him to the Fae realm.”

  That should fill Cam with relief, but Kyleigh’s tone said this was not good news. “But things didn’t go well,” he finished for her, finally turning to take in her somber expression.

  Kyleigh shook her head. “Talon dropped Lexi back in her original time, and Arawn put Zane there with her.”

  “He did what?” Cam shouted. “How the fuck is that even possible?”

  “Few Fae could manage something like this, and it’s amazing that Zane survived the trip since I’ve never heard of anyone who didn’t have Fae blood crossing the dimensions of time,” Kyleigh admitted.

  “It’s probably not attempted often,” Mitchell added.

  “You’re right,” Kyleigh agreed. “Anyway, I don’t know what happened from there. Arawn said he couldn’t stay to watch, but I have no idea how true that is. For all I know, he just didn’t want to stick around and watch.”

  “So, we have no idea if either of them are still alive,” Cam ground out.

  “Zane asked Arawn to tell you and your family what happened so you wouldn’t worry,” Kyleigh told him.

  “Not worry?” Cam let out a humorless bark of laughter. “How can I not worry when my brother was dropped into a hostile time with no back up?”

  “Lexi’s not exactly helpless,” Kyleigh reminded him. “Besides, what would you have done if Claire was in danger?”

  That was a low blow, but it was enough to make Cam see things more clearly. Letting out a frustrated sigh, he raked his hands through his hair. He’d been looking out for Zane for the last fifty years, and during these last three months, he’d watched as his brother had changed and drifted away. Now, his brother was in danger, and there was nothing he could do to help him. “I know you’re right, but I just feel helpless and angry. I should be there to help my brother, but there’s no way to get to him. Isn’t there another Fae who can bring them back to this time?”

  “I don’t understand the Fae laws regarding this, but from what Arawn said, it’s unlikely,” Kyleigh explained. “There are a lot of rules when it comes to the Fae, and this is one they can’t just break without serious consequences. Arawn risked a lot to save Lexi the first time, and then more to bring Zane to Lexi’s time, which is really bizarre considering what an arse he is. From what he said, he could only bring Lexi to this time once. While I’d normally doubt him, he seemed upset about having to leave Lexi there.”

  Cam let out a startled bark of laughter. “I guess even assholes give a fuck about something occasionally.”

  Kyleigh shrugged.

  “I just wish there was a way to know if they’re okay,” Cam uttered, staring at his clenched fists.

  “They’re fine,” Mitchell assured him out of the blue. “I guess fine isn’t quite the right word. They’re both handling things okay, though.”

  Cam couldn’t do more than stare at Mitchell in stunned silence for a moment. While he’d noticed that Mitchell saw things, it still caught him off-guard sometimes.

  “What did you see?” Cam asked.

  “Lexi was driving,” Mitchell explained. “The dashboard looked really strange, and it didn’t even have a computer screen. They were listening to news about the vampires attacking people.”

  Cam nodded. That meant they were in an older car, and it was after the first turned vampires rose. “Did you see anything else?”

  Mitchell hesitated.

  “What is it?” Cam pushed.

  “Nothing important, just personal stuff between them,” Mitchell explained. “Then I heard something really strange, but I’m not sure how to explain it.”

  “What did you hear?” Kyleigh asked.

  “It was a voice telling me they were going to be back in this time soon,” Mitchell replied, and he looked downright confused.

  “Did you recognize the voice?” Cam’s question seemed to make Mitchell even more nervous. “Mitchell, we’re not going to doubt you. Who told you they were going to be back soon?”

  “I did,” Mitchell replied before shaking his head and laughing. “It was my voice telling me they were coming back soon. That part must have been a dream. Sometimes, I slip from one dream to the next.”

  Cam nodded, but he wasn’t so sure about that. Maybe he was just looking for hope that his brother wouldn’t be killed.

  Chapter Eighty-Five

  “I hope we don’t run out of gas before we make it to my apartment,” Lexi said as she looked down at the gauge of their stolen car. With no credit cards or cash, she wasn’t sure how they’d get gas if they needed to stop somewhere. She hadn’t even considered stealing wallets from the dead vampires. Then again, she’d never looted the dead before, so she didn’t have a lot of experience to work with.

  Without knowing where exactly she was supposed to be killed, she had no idea if her apartment was even the safest place, but it was all she could think of. She’d been tempted to try to make it to her mom’s house, but she knew they didn’t have enough gas for that. Plus, she wasn’t quite sure how she was supposed to handle things regarding her mom. Should she avoid her mom since she was supposed to die?

  “What are you thinking so hard about?” Zane asked, giving her thigh a gentle squeeze.

  “I’m just wondering if I should call my mom when we get to my place to let her know I’m okay. For her, it will seem like I just disappeared for three days, so it makes sense that I’d need to call her. Then again, she thinks I died in the future. This whole thing is too fucking confusing.”

  “I think it would be smart for us to get out of this area as soon as possible. Where the hell are we?” he asked as he looked around at their surroundings, which were vastly different from the way they’d looked during his time.

  “We just passed the bridge heading to Treasure Island about ten minutes ago,” she replied. “I’m not really sure where we are in relation to your time. I didn’t do too much traveling around there. Even if I had, I probably wouldn’t be able to tell you since everything looks so different.”

  “I guess it doesn’t matter,” Zane said. “My clan isn’t in this area yet anyway.”

  “That’s probably good since it might be a bad idea for you to show up and introduce yourself to your dad before you’re supposed to be born.”

  Zane laughed at the idea of trying to explain that one to his father. “This means we have to find something to do for the next century.”

  “Things are going to get pretty ugly around here. I’m not sure what we’re going to do.” There was no way to keep the sadness from her voice. Then she realized it could be worse and smiled.

  “What brought that pretty smile to your face?” Zane reached across to stroke her cheek.

  “I was just thinking that, even though it totally sucks in this time, it’s still a hell of a lot better than being locked in Talon’s room with nothing to do all day.”

  “Did he hurt you?” There was no missing the fear in Zane’s voice.

  “He didn’t hurt me,” she assured him, glad that was the truth. “Actually, he barely spoke to me the entire time I was there. No one did, and that made it worse.”

  “I can’t even imagine being locked up in a room for that long,” Zane said.

  “Then I should warn you that my apartment isn’t very big, and I’m not sure when we’ll be able to head out again. I wonder how long it will take them to get things under control.”

  “I guess I should have asked more about vampire history,” Zane rem
arked.

  “Did you ever think you’d need it?” she asked him. “Did you even once think you might be dropped back into the middle of the original Moon virus outbreak?”

  “I can honestly say that thought never crossed my mind.” There was silence for a few minutes before Zane spoke again. “I can’t believe I’m here with you. Fuck, Lexi, I never thought I’d see you again.”

  Tears burned the backs of Lexi’s eyes. “Neither did I, and that’s one of the reasons I’d almost hoped Talon would kill me. As it turns out, I’m much too stubborn to just die.”

  Zane gave a genuine laugh that warmed her all the way to her toes. “For that, I am eternally grateful.”

  Chapter Eighty-Six

  Lexi hadn’t been lying about her apartment being small. Zane had felt closed in when he was staying at the house in the born vampire settlement, but this was smaller than the upper-level. Her apartment consisted of a front room that was attached to a kitchen, a bathroom, and a bedroom. Still, he couldn’t complain because he was sharing this space with his mate.

  After much muttering to herself, Lexi had decided not to call her mom, and Zane honestly wasn’t sure if it was the right decision or not. Arawn hadn’t exactly given him any advice on how to act while they were here.

  Luckily, Lexi had a lot of food in her kitchen, so they wouldn’t starve, even if they were stuck here for a few weeks. She even had canned meat, which she’d said she kept in her emergency supplies in case her mom ended up with her after an earthquake. They’d started out with the leftover pizza. That was something Zane had never tried before, and he’d been a little skeptical at first since he didn’t care for the texture of cheese. The copious amounts of vegetables on top of the pizza also didn’t look very appetizing. Still, he had to admit that pizza was good—even with the vegetables.

  “Zane, if you keep eating we’ll run out of food,” she warned.

  “Sorry, I haven’t tried a lot of this stuff,” he explained, deciding to leave out the part about how he’d barely eaten in the last three months.