by Cat Miller
“What’s going on here?” a new voice entered the conversation.
Lindsay’s eyes shifted to the goddess who’d just walked into their midst. She was tall and blonde, like Lindsay. She wore a sleeveless wrap dress, shimmering jewels around her neck and dangling from her ears, and a hat with plumes that made her look like she’d just left tea with the queen. She had the regal bearing Lindsay’s governesses had drilled into Lindsay. If Lindsay hadn’t already known the woman was a vampire the sudden shifting of her eyes from whiskey gold to black would have given it away.
“What’s wrong, Uncle David?” The woman’s eyes turned to David, who was apparently her kin.
“I need to apologize,” David said, but he never moved his eyes from Lindsay.
“This female has been assaulted and brutalized! His apology is useless!” Dr. Fitz shouted. “He’s terrifying my patient! She can’t even move!”
The goddess glanced at Lindsay and back to David. Her eyes shifted from black to gold and back to black again, like she was struggling for control. Her slender hands balled into fists.
“David, let’s go before we make this any worse. This is my fault. I wasn’t watching the time. I knew nobody was supposed to be wandering around at this hour,” Dr. Stevens encouraged David to follow him back to his office.
“Are you afraid of my uncle?” the goddess asked Lindsay.
Lindsay looked back to the beyond gorgeous woman because she was the first person to ask her how she felt instead of telling her how she should be feeling.
“No, I’m not afraid of him. I don’t think he would hurt me, and if he tried I think I could defend myself,” Lindsay said honestly.
“Ms. Vaughn, this has nothing to do with you. My patient is fragile,” Dr. Fitz snapped.
The goddess, Ms. Vaughn—the last name that was familiar to Lindsay from Brandi and Dani Vaughn—glared daggers at Dr. Fitz. “Have you asked her if she wants to speak to my uncle? Shouldn’t it be her choice?”
“Don’t be absurd—” Dr. Fitz was cut off by Lindsay’s response.
“I want to hear what he has to say. I’m not afraid.” Lindsay’s voice was stronger than she felt, but someone had finally given her the chance to speak the truth and was listening. “I was just a little stunned for a minute. That’s all.”
“Samantha, this is a delicate matter. Maybe it’s not the best time to do what you’re doing,” Dr. Stevens said to Samantha.
Now Lindsay knew the goddess. Samantha Vaughn was Brandi’s twin sister. This was the half-sister who’d been Dani’s rival for Chase’s affection. Dani had won Chase’s heart. Samantha and her mother were now estranged from most of their family, according to Brandi.
“I say we let them talk if they want to talk. It might do her some good to hear him out,” Samantha suggested.
“I said, I want to hear what he has to say,” Lindsay repeated.
Dr. Fitz sputtered angrily, but she clammed up when Samantha shot her a black look. It was literally black with those freaky pupils.
Dr. Stevens released David and he stepped forward. Lindsay didn’t flinch. Samantha watched her closely. Dr. Fitz vibrated with anger behind Lindsay.
“I know that I have no right to expect your forgiveness, but I’d like to apologize for the harm I’ve caused you, Lindsay. Nothing could ever excuse my crimes against you, but I would at least offer you the only explanation I have for my behavior,” David implored.
“I know you weren’t in control of yourself,” Lindsay said.
“That’s true, but there’s more to it. Sheena did not want me seeing you. She tried to prevent it, but I was obsessed,” David answered.
Obsession was a good way to explain the way David had fixated on Lindsay, but if Sheena wasn’t the cause, what was?
“Why should he get the chance to unburden himself at the expense of my patient?” Dr. Fitz seethed.
Lindsay spun around to face Dr. Fitz. “I’m so sick of you telling me how I’m supposed to feel! Shut the hell up and let him finish!”
Dr. Fitz’s eyes widened. She raised her hands in defeat. Lindsay turned back to David, who looked relieved to have the chance to explain himself. Maybe Lindsay would get her answer after all.
“I’m sorry. Those words are so minuscule in comparison to the pain I’ve caused you, I know, but they’re sincere.” A tear ran down David’s cheek, and he quickly wiped it away. Samantha stepped up and wrapped her arm around David’s waist. She was lending her support and David seemed to actually stand a little taller. He took a bracing breath and looked Lindsay in the eyes.
“I had a mate that was murdered by Sheena,” he said, and his voice cracked. “Her name was Leann, and she’s dead because I loved her. She was my whole world, my forever. Sheena took her away from me so I wouldn’t have any distractions. My bond to my mate was interfering with Sheena’s ability to control me completely.”
Lindsay tried not to feel sorry for David, but it was difficult when he was so clearly broken by the loss of his mate.
“I didn’t know my mate was dead. I was too far under Sheena’s control to know much of anything other than what she implanted in my brain. When you were brought to me, I think maybe I woke up just a little. When I was with you … well, I thought you were Leann. I thought my mate had returned to me. You resemble her in many ways.”
Samantha gasped. “I see it,” she seemed to say to herself, and she tilted her head to look at Lindsay a little more closely.
“I did this to you; I changed you because I was confused. I recall not understanding why you smelled so human. You were my mate, and you should have been a vampire. I think I was trying to fix you … her somehow. I know I did so many other horrible things, starting with having you taken from the club that night to punish Abel. That was Sheena’s doing. Abel is our son, mine and Sheena’s. She wanted him to be a puppet as well, just like me, but she couldn’t control Abel’s mind. So she punished him whenever he stepped out of line. I have no excuses for any of that, but after I had you with me, I truly did believe I loved you. I thought you loved me, too. But it wasn’t really you I was seeing. I owe you everything … my life if you want it. I will not fight an execution if you demand it of me.”
Samantha gasped again, “Don’t say that.”
“David, please don’t do this. You were not in your right mind,” Dr. Stevens inserted and came to David’s other side.
“He ruins her life, and he’s the one they pity,” Dr. Fitz grumbled from behind Lindsay, but they all ignored her.
Everything came into focus for Lindsay. Her life had indeed been shredded. She couldn’t say that she would ever be able to forgive him, but at least she had the why she wanted. David thought he was with his mate. Lindsay could at least understand his behavior now. And the odd comments he’d made about her being human, his insistence that she drink his blood, his passion, and even his rage. Dani and Brandi explained the meaning of mates to Lindsay in great detail. David had never really been with Lindsay. Not mentally. He’d been with his mate. It was sad, heartbreaking for them all, but it couldn’t be undone.
She couldn’t forgive him, but she did understand what had driven David. Lindsay felt like her heart was being crushed by a mortar and pestle every minute she spent away from Kayden and Kayden would never be her mate.
“I understand.” That’s all Lindsay could give David. “I acknowledge your apology, and I recognize the mental duress you were under. I wish you no harm. I don’t want to see you dead. I just want to be able to find a life of my own now. I think I deserve a life that doesn’t include being held in yet another cell against my will with doctors picking at me day after day.” Lindsay choked on that last bit. “I didn’t ask for this.”
Squaring her shoulders, she tried to stiffen her upper lip. “I may have caused some harm when I was going through withdrawal, but none of this is my fault. I was a good person. I was.” Lindsay blinked hard, fighting tears. “I wish you would have killed me, David. That would have been kinder than
this non-existence.”
“What the fuck?” Samantha hissed.
“What do you mean by a cell?” Dr. Stevens demanded.
“You are not kept in a cell,” Dr. Fitz stated, denying the allegation.
Lindsay whipped around to face Dr. Fitz again. “I live in a room with no windows behind a locked door with an armed guard on the other side. I only leave that room for an hour a day to see you. I have a TV and books that I didn’t choose, but that’s it. No phone. The only other person I see is the lady who delivers my meals, and she doesn’t speak to me. I can’t even decide what I eat. I get what they bring me. What does that sound like to you?”
“That has all been for your protection and ours! You injured a lot of people in South Carolina. You have been isolated to prevent fits of rage. You never speak to me during our sessions. You could have told me that you were feeling confined. You could have told me if you didn’t like the food or wanted other books.” Dr. Fitz was on the defense.
Lindsay felt one of those fits of rage coming over her with every word Dr. Fitz spoke.
“I was not aware that you were being treated this way, Lindsay. I will have this situation corrected immediately,” David ensured her.
“I don’t need any help from you,” Lindsay spun around to tell David. She didn’t want to owe him anything.
David nodded sadly. He wanted to make amends, but Lindsay couldn’t accept his interference.
“Dr. Fitz, has Lindsay been charged with a crime?” Samantha asked.
“No,” Dr. Fitz replied, shaking her head.
“What authority do you have to hold her captive?” Samantha asked.
“She’s not a captive, she’s in treatment. She’s been traumatized. I’ve been assigned to her care.”
“So she can leave whenever she wishes?” Samantha asked.
The doctor was red in the face when she replied, “I don’t believe Lindsay is emotionally stable enough to leave her quarters as of yet. She can’t even talk about her assault.”
“Oh, I can talk about it. I just don’t want to. The one time I tried to talk to you, I was informed that my feelings weren’t valid. I was wrong, and I needed to spell out every detail of my ordeal so you could decide how I should feel. How I actually feel means nothing. So, no, I don’t talk to you. And I haven’t assaulted anyone since I was going through withdrawal.”
“So what you’re saying is that you have no authority to hold Lindsay. She can leave her room if she wants to. She can leave the Enclave if she wants to, right? She hasn’t been arrested and hasn’t been violent since before she came to New York, right?” Samantha asked for clarification.
“This isn’t wise,” Dr. Fitz argued, but she didn’t say Samantha was wrong.
“That’s what I thought. Lindsay, you can leave anytime you like. Maybe you should live here until you get on your feet. Let the nation support you until you don’t need it anymore, but don’t let anyone hold you down.” Samantha’s eyes were a warm honey brown again. “They have no right to hold you unless they charge you with a crime. We are free people.”
“I can leave?” Lindsay couldn’t believe it.
“You can.” Samantha smiled. She pulled a set of Mercedes keys out of her purse and held them out to Lindsay. “Take my car. I’ll get a ride home and have someone bring it back to me whenever you get back.”
Lindsay blinked back tears for a different reason now. She hadn’t been free to do anything for so long that she didn’t know how to feel.
“I’ll just walk, thank you.” Lindsay gave Samantha a small smile as she passed the beauty. From what she’d heard from Brandi, Samantha had a reputation for being a bitch, but Lindsay was an instant fan. She’d have to thank Samantha later.
Lindsay didn’t spare a glance for any of the giant men who eyed her suspiciously as she followed the exit signs on her way to find fresh air and a view of the sky.
Lindsay just walked away. She simply put one foot in front of the other, unthinking, unfeeling, until she found herself wandering around the Enclave. It was dark and quiet on the streets this late, or early depending on your perspective. It felt good to just be nobody for a while. She wasn’t the girl who’d been kidnapped and changed by the rogue, or the poor soul who’d been used as a test subject, or an unpredictably violent Hypervamp addict. She wasn’t even the forgotten daughter of a wealthy statesman. Out here in the human world, not the insane world of vampires with its archaic hierarchy, she could be nobody for a while.
She walked across the military base the vampires called an Enclave expecting someone to stop her at any second, but nobody did. A few warriors looked her over curiously but said nothing. A couple holding hands passed her on the sidewalk. They were speaking in low tones and smiling at each other. They were so wrapped up in each other that they didn’t seem to even notice Lindsay. It struck Lindsay as a very human behavior. She hadn’t seen any vampires outside of the infirmary. What had she expected to find in the world of vampires, nests of evil males and bloodsucking monsters?
Maybe Lindsay had anticipated all of her fears about vampires to come to life, but that wasn’t what she found when she was finally allowed to leave the infirmary. What she saw was a group of young guys playing basketball under bright lights in a park next to a playground. It was after dark, so there were no children out, but the sound of a crying baby drew her attention to an apartment-looking building. A young mother was pacing back and forth behind the sliding glass doors of a balcony. The woman looked like any other new parent doing everything she could to soothe their child. A big man entered the room as Lindsay watched. He wore black fatigues, like all of the warriors on base, but his expression was soft and adoring when he gazed upon his wife and child. He kissed his wife softly before taking the child and walking out of sight.
Lindsay kept moving. She mulled over how totally normal everything and everyone she’d seen was until she finally reached the front gates of the Enclave. There was a security gate with guards. She was sure they couldn’t have random humans driving onto the property. Given all Lindsay learned had happened in recent years with an attempted overthrow of the nation’s government and a raid of the Enclave itself, humans weren’t the only ones they were trying to keep out.
She was sure this was all a mistake and the guards would return her to the infirmary as soon as they realized she was the crazed baby vampire who had hurt so many vampires in her drug-induced rages, but they didn’t. The guards saw her coming and opened the sliding window to their security booth.
“Good evening, miss. Will you be returning tonight?” the guard asked with a smile.
“I … well, I don’t know,” she replied dumbly. Honestly, when Samantha stepped in on Lindsay’s behalf and basically forced Dr. Fitz to admit that Lindsay was not a prisoner, but free to leave the grounds, Lindsay had just wanted to go. She hadn’t thought much past getting outside without a babysitter.
He blinked a few times, looking amused, “You know it’s a long walk to town, right?”
Lindsay hadn’t known that. When she arrived on the Enclave, it had been in a helicopter. She’d been so nervous that Lindsay had kept her face buried in the blanket she’d been given when the flight nurse saw her shaking and mistakenly believed Lindsay was cold instead of frightened out of her wits. She should have taken the car keys Samantha offered her. It was too late now. Lindsay wasn’t going back to the infirmary unless they dragged her kicking and screaming.
“I don’t have a car. It’s fine, though. I’ve been cooped up for long enough. A long walk is just what I need.” Breathing in the open night air was doing her a world of good.
The guard’s forehead furrowed. He looked at his partner and back to Lindsay.
“Do you mind giving me your name, miss?”
Great, now he was suspicious. This was when they would march Lindsay back to those damn blank four walls in the infirmary. There was nothing for it. She wouldn’t lie.
“I’m Lindsay Roselle,” she answered, and waited
for them to hop into action.
The second guard who had yet to speak leaned forward with wide eyes and whispered something to the guy she was talking to before picking up the phone in the booth. Guard one stepped out of the booth and came to stand before Lindsay. He was a big dude. What the hell did they feed these warriors as children? They were all massively muscled and taller than the average human.
That thought made her giggle when she answered, even though she wasn’t amused. It was human’s they were fed as children and adults, wasn’t it? At least it was human blood, if not actually human flesh. The average human would shit themselves if they knew anything about their fanged cousins.
“Do you have permission to leave the Enclave, Ms. Roselle?” he asked.
Lindsay sighed. “I wasn’t aware that I needed permission, Mr. …” she looked for a name badge on his uniform, but there wasn’t one, “Mr. Nosy Guard. I’m not a prisoner. I haven’t committed any crimes.”
“Just give me a minute, please, Ms. Roselle. My partner is checking in with the infirmary,” Mr. Nosy Guard directed Lindsay.
“He can check all he likes, but I’m going through this gate, one way or the other,” Lindsay replied with her chin held high. Mr. Nosy Guard remained stoic. He wasn’t worried by her threat in the slightest.
Lindsay eyed the distance between her opponent and the fence behind him. She wondered if she could use her fanged superpowers to just jump over him and the gate. She wondered if she could run fast enough to get away. Would they chase her?
She was trying to remain calm, but her fuse was short, and it burned fast. She’d been such an agreeable human, but her inner vampire gave no fucks once Lindsay lost her temper. There hadn’t been any crimes committed yet … at least none that she’d been charged with, but she had assaulted many doctors, nurses, and security guards, like this guy. He wasn’t bigger than Kayden, so he didn’t really intimidate her. Lindsay could feel her annoyance rising the longer they kept her standing there waiting. Thankfully, she didn’t have to find out if he could kick her butt or not. His partner returned with news from the infirmary.
