Phoenix visibly swallowed, and he almost relented when he saw the agony on her face. But he couldn’t give in. He loved her, but he couldn’t sacrifice his own happiness for hers, especially when she wouldn’t really and truly let herself be happy. They would both end up resenting each other, and then they’d be worse off than they were now.
Turning her away was the hardest thing he’d ever done, but it had to be that way.
“I’m here if you ever change your mind,” he foolishly added. Man, don’t I have any pride? “But know that I’m not going to wait around forever. I care about you, Phoenix, but if you don’t want me, then I have to move on.”
Phoenix just looked at him. He had no idea what she was thinking. Her blood in him was like a blank line of nothing.
“I hope, someday, you find someone who can make you happy.” He only wished that male were him. He stepped around her and opened the door to his room. “I think it’s best if you go now.”
Phoenix slowly pivoted on her heel and headed for the open door. She felt so…empty inside. She took one last look at Dante before she left, but he wouldn’t meet her eyes. She slid the key from her pocket and put it in his palm, and then she walked down the stairs and out of the compound.
She had never felt so numb. Ever.
This thing with Dante was done. This was why she hadn’t wanted to get involved with him in the first place. She knew it would end in disappointment and heartache.
Damn, she hated being right.
LEXINE AND STERLING entered the nightclub, Pulse, on a mission. They were going to find Lucas tonight, and she was going to find her parents.
“Are you sure he’ll be here?” Sterling asked.
“I’m ninety-nine percent sure. Like I said, he hates the vampire-shifter alliance. He wouldn’t miss an opportunity to have so many vampires in one room, so he can spew his filthy lies.”
Sterling’s eyes rounded. “Lies? Weren’t you on his side not that long ago?”
Lexine winced. “Yes,” she admitted since she’d confessed everything to him already. “I was foolish, and I regret ever getting involved with them. I already told you all of this.”
“I just don’t understand the change of heart.”
She opened her mouth to tell him that he was the one who had changed her mind. It had started when the elderly Mrs. Howard almost got hurt, but Sterling was the one who had truly made her see things differently.
“I just have, all right?” she said instead.
“All right. Let’s go find this asshole.”
Lexine rubbed her hands together. “Let’s.”
The plan was for the two of them to track Analeigh, Steve, Michelle, Mathis, and Dani, whose blood she and Sterling had stolen. There was no way Lucas wouldn’t come without his entourage, and they would use them to find Lucas. Once they located the group, who would hopefully all be together, Lexine would lure Lucas away from the group when he sensed her nearby. Once she got Lucas away from the group, Sterling would sneak up behind him and take his blood. Once Sterling could track Lucas, then she would be able to find her parents and, with any luck, find the tape that incriminated her.
It seemed almost foolproof, which was why, when Sterling had encouraged her to tell Dante, she had insisted the two of them could do this on their own.
They circled the club, but so far neither of them had been able to find Lucas’s group. They’d been there for an hour, and Lexine was getting antsy. Everyone around them was having fun and had no idea the danger they were in with Lucas and his friends out and about. She wanted to shake them and tell them to stop being so naive, but she needed them to be there for cover.
Just when Lexine was beginning to feel like a failure, she sensed them. She grabbed Sterling’s arm. “They’re here.”
He arched his neck up and looked around the throng of vampires. “I know. I can sense them.”
She pointed to the bar. “There. They’re getting drinks.”
This was a good sign. If they had known she was here, they wouldn’t have been getting alcohol.
“Do you see Lucas?” Sterling asked.
The only bad part of their plan was, he didn’t know what Lucas looked like. She’d realized, when Sterling asked her, she didn’t have any photos of him or anything. He’d never let her take pictures of him, and his social media accounts were all minus identifying pictures, too. The closest thing she’d been able to find was an old yearbook photo that was outdated, but at least it had given Sterling an idea.
“No,” she said, defeated.
She was sure he’d be there. She scanned the room around Lucas’s friends and had almost given up when she saw Lucas walk toward his group. She felt excitement flush through her body. She couldn’t wait to take the fucker down.
“There he is! He just fist-bumped Mathis.” She pointed out Lucas to Sterling.
He glanced at her and back at Lucas. She couldn’t read his look, and all he said was, “Got him.”
Due to their distance, she could barely sense the group’s blood in her, so there was a strong chance Lucas couldn’t sense her. Her blood in him was older and therefore more faded. They had to wait until they felt like it was the right time for her to move closer.
Lexine and Sterling waited until the group had their drinks and were standing at a table, talking. Their defenses were down, and it felt like the right moment.
“I think we should move closer. Are you ready?” she asked Sterling.
“Yep. Let’s do this.”
They moved slowly and cautiously. They both watched for signs that Lucas sensed her. The group’s blood in her veins was getting stronger, and she was happy her plan was working so far.
They were about halfway across the room when she knew Lucas knew she was there. She would have missed it if she had blinked. The guy was good, and it pissed her off.
“He’s got me,” she told Sterling.
He nodded. “I noticed. Are you ready? I’ll be right behind you.”
She nodded. With her heart hammering in her chest from excitement, fear, and anticipation, she moved closer to Lucas. She wanted him to think that she didn’t know he was there. She got closer to him but not so close that they would spot each other, and she kept herself hidden behind other patrons as much as possible.
When she felt like she had given Lucas enough bait, she headed toward the back of the nightclub. She ran into two males who were in each other’s face, looking ready to brawl.
They had a circle of vampires around them with a few chanting, “Fight.”
It was a nice distraction for Lexine to get out of the club, except the group was blocking the hallway to the back door.
It took her longer to walk around them than she had anticipated, and she was afraid that Lucas would catch up with her. But, every time she looked back, he wasn’t there. She really wished she had been able to get his blood. She hated that he had an advantage over her.
She made her way into the empty alley and hid behind the dumpster, watching the door. She glanced down at her watch several times. Where is he?
Just as she was about to give up, the door opened, but it wasn’t Lucas who came out. It was Sterling.
Crap.
He was too early. He was supposed to wait for Lucas to come out first. She stood to go and tell him to hide when she sensed a presence behind her. Even before she felt the knife at her neck and the strong arm around her waist, she knew it was Lucas.
“Put your hands out where I can see them.”
“Fuck you,” she said. But she did as he’d commanded.
“We already did that.” He licked her neck. “But I’d be willing to go at it again.”
Lexine shuddered at the thought of sleeping with Lucas again. The only vampire she wanted touching her was Sterling.
“Tell your boyfriend over there to put his hands up.”
“I don’t know what—”
She felt the knife bite into her neck, and warm blood dripped onto her shoulder.
“Sterling, I’m coming out. Please don’t try anything,” she said as she unblocked her blood link to him while simultaneously blocking Lucas. If only she’d been able to block her presence and not just her emotions.
Sterling stiffened and opened his blood to her. He was pissed, and it gave her comfort and strength to know he wasn’t scared.
Lucas dragged Lexine out in front of Sterling. “So, you thought you could best me, Lexine. Did you really think I was that dumb?”
Sterling was shooting daggers at Lucas. “Let her go, asshole.”
“Let me think about it. Hmm…no. If it wasn’t for this bitch, we’d be on the next step in our plan. But someone had to grow a conscience.”
“I didn’t grow one. I always had it. You promised that no one would get hurt.”
“Stupid bitch. You really thought some vandalism was all we were going to do?”
Lexine stiffened. She had been a fool, and she had no one to blame but herself. “How did you find me?”
“Isn’t that what you wanted, Lexine? For me to follow you out here? Oh, that’s right. You probably thought you were going to get the drop on me. You hadn’t planned for me to go out the front door and come around the building.”
Lexine gasped slightly. How had he known?
“Did you really think I didn’t know you were up to something? Steve had told me right away about what happened at his house. Didn’t you find it odd that I hadn’t called you for any information in all that time?”
Of course she had. But she had assumed that Lucas was busy with something else.
Lucas laughed mockingly in her ear. “You really are a dumb bitch, you know that? How you even made it as a Guardian is a shock.”
If Lucas hadn’t had a knife to her throat, she would have hung her head in shame. It had become apparent lately that Lexine was not cut out for this role, but hearing Lucas say it was a blow to the gut.
“Since you double-crossed me, I’m going to have to sacrifice your parents.”
“No!” she cried out as Sterling took a step toward her.
“One inch closer, and I’ll sacrifice her as well,” Lucas told Sterling.
Sterling gritted his teeth, and Lexine tried to tell him she was sorry through their link. It wasn’t an exact emotion, but hopefully, he would feel her remorse.
Lucas stuck his mouth in the air and whistled several times in a row.
Lexine felt the rest of the group moving closer, and panic filled her body. Right now, they were two to one. If the rest of her former friends got there, it would be six to two. They were so fucked.
Think, Lexine, think. You might be the worst Guardian in history, but use your training.
Then, it came to her. It seemed so simple that she should have thought of it earlier. She tried to let her happiness at having an idea flow through her blood link to warn Sterling that she was going to try something. His anger and fear turned to alertness, and she knew he’d figured it out.
Lexine grabbed the first finger she found on the arm Lucas had around her waist. She gripped it and bent it backward as she let all her weight go, forcing Lucas to let go of her or go down to the ground.
At the same time, Sterling made a beeline for Lucas and kicked him in the face as he bent over from Lexine’s waist. She really wanted to stay and finish him, but they didn’t have any time with the rest of the group getting closer.
Lexine hurried and bit into Lucas’s arm and sucked as hard and fast as she could. She dropped his limb, not caring that he was bleeding still, as Sterling helped her stand up.
“Let’s go.”
Lexine nodded and let Sterling grab her hand as they ran for his SUV.
Tonight had undeniably not gone according to plan.
She finally admitted that she was in over her head. “I think it’s time I talk to Dante.”
Sterling glanced behind himself. “Thank God. Finally.”
DANTE GLANCED DOWN at the thick manila envelope that lay on his desk. There was no name on it, just the compound’s address.
Curious and relieved to have something to keep his mind off Phoenix, he sat down in his chair and opened the envelope. He pulled out the stack of papers. It looked to be a report of some kind on…he shuffled through the paperwork…six different people. Dante didn’t recognize any of the names, and the business card that came with the report was for a human private investigator. All vampire businesses were registered with the Guardians. So, Dante didn’t know if these were six humans or vampires. Maybe the investigator got the wrong address.
Dante leaned back in his seat and started to read.
An hour later, he heard a commotion in the hallway. Since he had been the only one home, Dante had left his office door open. He now heard Lexine and Sterling whispering as they moved closer to him. He couldn’t make out their words, but it was just the vampire he wanted to see.
Sterling knocked on his open door. “Hey, boss.”
Dante nodded in greeting. “Sterling.”
“Lexine has something she needs to discuss with you.”
Dante raised a brow because Lexine was absent from view.
Sterling rolled his eyes and reached over. He pulled Lexine in front of him and pushed her into the office.
“Uh, hello, Dante.”
“Lexine.”
“I, uh, need to tell you something.”
Dante held up the report and envelope. “Does it have to do with the reason you hired a human private investigator to do research on six vampires and why these six vampires are photographed vandalizing both shifter and vampire areas? And does it also have to do with the cut on your neck?”
Lexine’s face turned white, and she covered her wound with her hand.
“Why don’t you come in and shut the door? I think we have a lot to talk about.”
A couple of hours later, Lexine stood in front of all the Guardians—Dante, Lennox, Sterling, Hunter, Morgan, Ram, Tempest, and Declan—and told them her story. Everything, including how Lucas had chained her up, blood-raped her, and how he and the guys had ejaculated all over her. That was the hardest part of all, and she couldn’t look at Sterling when she said it. The only thing she hadn’t shared was how she’d gotten started hanging with the group. She couldn’t have them knowing she’d done it because she was jealous of Phoenix and Dante.
“So, you knew about this?” Dante asked Sterling.
She’d tried to leave him out of the story, especially when she talked about how she’d turned around and stolen their blood in return. Technically, it was the same thing they had done to her, except she had done it to protect her family. Plus, she and Sterling hadn’t taken so much that they could have died from it. But, in the end, Lexine wasn’t much better than Lucas and the others.
“Yes,” Sterling said without any shame. “But only recently.”
With those words, she realized that Sterling had defied Dante, the Council, and the other Guardians. She had made Sterling do something he never would have done without her influence, and her shame deepened.
“Please, don’t punish him,” Lexine said. “He was only trying to protect me. I asked him not to say anything. I realize now that it was a mistake.”
“Ya think?” her brother said.
She could tell he was very angry with her, and he had every right to be.
“I’m not punishing anyone,” Dante told her. Lexine felt relief. “The two of you will have to go in front of the Council, and they will decide what happens to you.”
Lennox felt a moment of dread. The Council was not going to go easy on them.
“But, first, we need to take down this group. I can’t lose you before we eliminate the threat. You and Sterling are too valuable to the mission,” Dante said. He walked over to his desk and grabbed a stack of papers and some photos. “Lexine, pass a packet out to everyone, and, Sterling, hang these pictures on the board.”
Lexine grabbed the pile of papers while Sterling pulled the whiteboard from the corner of the room.
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br /> “What’s this?” Lennox asked as Lexine handed the stuff out.
“It’s a copy of the report from Lexine’s private eye. I want you to look it over now. Sterling is hanging the pictures the investigator took, and I would like you to look at those also. It would have been nice if he had emailed a report, but apparently, Lexine found the only guy who enjoys killing trees.”
Lexine winced. She wasn’t about to argue, but she’d picked the guy because he left less of a digital trace by doing things the old-fashioned way.
Lexine started poring over her own copy of the report. She was making her way through Michelle’s section when Morgan spoke up, “Lexine, where did you say you met these guys?”
“I met them at a bar by the vampire clinic.”
Morgan tilted her dark head. “And what’s the name of it?”
“Jack’s Place.”
“What are you thinking, Morgan?” Dante asked.
Her brown eyes glittered. “This is probably far-fetched, but it says Lucas’s father and grandfather are both named John, and the nickname for John—”
“Is Jack,” Sterling finished.
“Declan?” Dante said.
“Already on it,” Declan said as his fingers flew over his laptop keyboard. After a minute, he sat back in his seat. “It looks like Jack’s Place is owned by a shell corporation. Hold on.” He did some more typing. “Is there anyone with the name Porter?”
They all flipped through their papers.
“Yes,” Lexine said. “Lucas’s grandmother was Elsbeth Porter before she was married.”
More typing. “Yep, it all comes back to Elsbeth Porter.”
“Why would they hide their bar?” Hunter said.
“Nothing good,” Dante said.
Lexine looked up at everyone with tears in her eyes. “Do you think this is where my parents are?”
“Only one way to find out,” Lennox said.
Lexine looked at her watch. “But the sun is going to be up soon. We don’t have time.”
Forbidden Addiction (Forbidden, Book #4) Page 21
