Fate Forsaken

by Chauntelle Baughman

  “I know you are.” He knew how she felt. The expression on her face showed her regret.

  She broke the eye contact with him to stare at her feet. “I…um, I hate to ask for a favor, and you don’t have to say yes.”

  “You need to feed.”

  The moment he said the word, her fangs extended, peeking out from her full, pink lips. “Yeah.”

  He fought his desire to spring up from his chair and capture her in his arms. After what they’d been through over the past few days, he wasn’t sure where they stood. Better play it safe. He stayed seated in the chair and extended a wrist.

  Rho’s eyes went wide. She took a step back toward the door.

  Had he done something wrong?

  He rose from the chair, and she whirled toward the doorway just as her hands rose to her face. A dark sense of wrongness coated his senses. He tapped the line beneath his feet and faded instantly into the energy, riding the wave to the door and cutting her off at the exit. When he glanced down, what he saw nearly broke him in half.

  Tears brimmed in her eyes. A single droplet spilled over, leaving a wet stain on her pale cheek. The sight of that single tear shred him from the inside out. He reached out to her instinctively, but she spun away from him.

  He clamped a hand on her shoulder and turned her back to face him. “You’re crying.”

  What had happened? Rho didn’t cry. She tried to be tough and rock solid, perpetually strong. And he knew that she was especially steely in front of him, even though she didn’t need to be. But in that moment, he would have given anything to make her stop.

  She squeezed her eyes shut then made a quick wipe with her hand against both cheeks. “Please, I need to go.”

  “Why?”

  She cleared her throat and lifted a shoulder nonchalantly. “Why what?”

  “Why are you crying?”

  “Eldon, please,” she choked out. She lifted a shoulder to try and escape his grip, but that only made him hold her tighter. No way would he let her walk away from him now. Not like this.

  She shook her head. “I can’t… Don’t do this right now.”

  “Do what?” He gave her shoulders a shake and gazed down at her, completely dumbfounded.

  She sucked in a deep breath and blew it out slowly, then squared her shoulders and met his stare defiantly. “If you don’t want me anymore, I get it. But don’t make me say the words out loud. That’s just cruel.”

  He recoiled, her words a sucker punch to the gut. She thought he didn’t want her anymore? Since when? Was that what this was about? He shook his head, wondering what could have possibly given her that idea. “Who told you that?”

  “You gave me your wrist.” She turned her face away from him, dejected.

  He arched a brow. “And that’s why I don’t want you.” Of all the ridiculous conclusions to jump to, this one had to take the cake. To think, she actually believed for one second that he wanted to leave her? They were so connected to each other, he never even considered that an option.

  She sniffled, still refusing to look at him.

  Eldon heaved a sigh. “I thought with the way we left things earlier, you’d want your space.” That was the absolute truth. Sometimes he forgot she was a vampire and the intimacy her race placed on blood. He’d never meant to hurt her with the gesture. He frowned and brushed his thumb along her cheek, capturing a tear. “Is that why you’re so upset?”

  “I thought you were done.” She swallowed as she searched his eyes. “I thought that was your way of telling me we were over.”

  “Oh, angel.” He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her into his chest. “No, not at all.”

  She sagged into him before sucking in a deep breath against his chest. He smiled as he felt her squeeze her arms around his waist, relishing in her need for him. In all the time they’d been together, she’d never allowed him to support her like this. To hold her close and just be her rock.

  But it saddened him to know why she held him so close. Did she really think she was going to lose him? Did she think he could walk away from her so easily? He knew exactly what it would mean to his heart—his soul—if he lost her. She was…everything.

  Had he ever told her that?

  When she finally loosened her hold on him, he pulled away, his hands firm on each of her shoulders. He stared down at her with serious eyes. “Do you have any idea how much I care about you?”

  She searched his eyes but didn’t answer the question. Which told him what he needed to know, and confirmed everything he probably should have said before now. No wonder she’d had such a reaction to Trinador. He’d never once reassured her of the place she held in his heart.

  First things first. “You can’t leave me out of the things that are important in your life.”

  She snorted. “Hello, pot. Meet kettle.”

  Okay, so she had him there. He’d practically written the training manual on secret-keeping. Case in point, his Parisian ex-girlfriend and their unannounced field trip to her house. But that was all over now.

  He grimaced. “I admit, I should have told you about Trinador and what my plans were.”

  “I should have told you about the Council meeting. So we’re even.”

  “I need you to understand something.” He furrowed his brow and blew out a breath, trying to grasp the words that he knew needed to be said. Words had never been his strong suit. He dropped his stare to the ground before meeting her eyes again.

  Rho gulped as he took a step forward to close the distance between them.

  He’d have to just speak what he knew. “I don’t understand the bond we have, so I won’t pretend that I do. It makes no sense and it shouldn’t be possible.” He tipped her chin up with the crook of his finger, and her breath hitched. “But I have never in my life felt the way I feel about you. I love you, Rho, so if I’m overprotective and annoy the hell out of you, I want you to know I have a good reason.”

  Rho’s mind blanked as she stared into his eyes. Sincerity poured from their depths, threatening to knock her knees out from underneath her. She hadn’t expected this at all. When he’d given her his wrist, she’d thought for sure things were over. Soul struck or not, she would have sworn he’d been ready to walk away from her right then.

  But he loved her? Really and truly? The last time she’d ever felt loved was when her parents had been alive. Even her affections for Frederick, her creator, were built more out of appreciation and duty than a sincere love. She sucked in a breath she didn’t need to take and tried to calm the thoughts speeding through her mind.

  His lips quirked into a faint smile. “Have I actually managed to render you speechless? I didn’t think that was possible. Actually—”

  “I love you, too.” The words came out so soft she wasn’t sure she’d said them out loud.

  His eyes widened. “You do?” He explored her face with his penetrating stare, as if trying to get a bead on her emotions.

  She wasn’t sure when it had happened, but she’d fallen. She’d fallen hard. If she were being honest with herself, she would have admitted it long ago, but as Eldon often pointed out, she was notoriously stubborn. Their connection was telepathic, sure, but what they had together ran so much deeper. He ran straight through the core of her.

  Rho tried to refocus her thoughts. “I didn’t tell you about the meeting because I couldn’t allow you to be distracted by my issues.” And getting hurt or killed because you were thinking of me and not of yourself. “If anything happened to you, I…”

  She clamped her mouth shut, unwilling to finish the thought. After almost losing him once and then thinking she’d lost him again tonight, she knew without question that she’d do whatever it took to keep him safe. She had a death mark on her arm to prove it.

  “I’m not a child.” He shook his head. “I can handle some bad news.”

  “You already worry about me too much.”

  His eyes narrowed. “I worry because I’m in love with you. Do you think
I’d move on that easily if something happened to you? You’re the kind of love a person doesn’t get over.” He reached up and brushed a strand of hair from her cheek, tucking it behind her ear. “And you forget, I’ve nearly lost you, too.”

  True. She’d nearly died when she’d been hit with silver, and he’d forced his sister to fix her and never left her side. “You’re right.”

  “Then you understand why I did what I did with Trinador.”

  She lifted a shoulder. “I don’t agree with it. But I can understand.”

  He traced her jaw with a finger, the sensation sending a delicious shiver down her spine. “I told you it wouldn’t be easy. If we’re going to do this, you’re not allowed to lie to me. Omissions are lies.”

  She raised a brow. “You have to take your own advice. No lying to me either. Even if it might piss me off.”

  “I can agree to that.” A smile tickled his lips. “No more secrets. No more lies.”

  She nodded. That meant no keeping secrets from their teammates, either. “You know what we have to do next, right?”

  He tilted his head.

  Rho sighed and peered around him to the door. “We need to tell our teammates about you and me. They should know about our connection.”

  The smile fell from his face as he nodded then pulled her in for a long embrace. “As much as I hate to agree with you, I do. But right now the sun is coming up and we need all the rest we can get. We’ll tell them at nightfall.”

  “Promise?”

  He planted a kiss on her forehead. “Promise.”

  Eldon rolled over to his side, pulling his body closer to Rho’s, relishing the stark contrast between her cool skin and his warmth. Nightfall always came too soon, especially with her delicate body occupying the space beside him in the bed.

  Although delicate was relative, he supposed. She could crush a man with her bare hands if she wanted to. Wasn’t that sexy as hell.

  He combed her hair with his fingers, the strands fine and soft against his skin. With her in his bed, he felt unbelievably… lucky. He hadn’t felt lucky in a very long time, since long before his parents passed away. Certainly not since he’d started dealing with the Collective bullshit his dad had saddled him with.

  As the clock hit eight thirty in the evening, he knew it was time to rise and shine. “Rho?” he whispered in her ear, wondering why he bothered. He knew he’d practically have to drag her out of bed to get her awake.

  She didn’t budge.

  He reached his arm out and yanked the bedspread back, exposing her completely to the cool, conditioned air. “Rho, come on. It’s time to get up, angel.” Still nothing.

  Staring down at her resting form, he wished she had some sort of human reflex he could test. But she was a vampire, so she could appear practically dead and be faking it.

  “No more playing around, woman. It’s time to get up.” With steady arms, he wrapped his biceps beneath her body and flipped her on top of him, just as he had the night before.

  She flopped onto his chest like a dead fish.

  A chill crawled up Eldon’s spine as he surveyed her lifeless body. He shot out of bed and pulled Rho to the edge of the mattress then flipped her onto her back.

  “Rho?” He shook her shoulders, but she didn’t move. He couldn’t check for signs of breathing because vampires didn’t breathe in their sleep. They didn’t have heartbeats, either. Shit. “Rho! Wake up!”

  He shook her again. One arm slid off the mattress and hung limp off the side of the bed.

  The death mark. Oh, God, no. This couldn’t be happening.

  With one eye on Rho, he rushed to the door and flung it open. “Evette!” he shouted into the hall. “Come quick!”

  “Eldon?” Evette’s thick accent sounded from somewhere in the nearby kitchen.

  “It’s Rho. She won’t wake up.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  The sound of footsteps echoed, and Eldon rushed back to Rho’s side, shaking her again. “Rho, can you hear me?”

  “What’s going on?” Preshea strode into the room, her cropped hair sticking straight up. She took in the scene, and her smirk faded instantly. Tim stepped in right behind her.

  Evette barreled into the room, her long skirt billowing behind her. Shoving Eldon aside, she crouched at the side of the bed and took Rho’s hand. The scarf tied neatly around her head kept the dark strands from her face as she peered closely at the unmoving vampire.

  Chest pumping, Eldon tried to calm himself enough to think. There had to be something he could do. Some counterspell to the death mark. His mind churned over the possibilities, trying to come up with something that could be remotely helpful. But he came up with nothing. He and his sisters had already been looking for weeks.

  Evette flipped Rho’s arm over, exposing the death mark. With a steady hand, she called blue energy to her fingertips and held the magick just over the massive design. “It’s not active yet.”

  A tiny dose of relief washed over Eldon at the declaration. If it wasn’t active, it couldn’t be killing her. Not yet.

  “Her aura is sluggish,” Lukas said from the doorway. He shook his head. “The spell must be sapping her energy. Has she been tired lately?”

  Eldon lifted a shoulder and glanced up at Tim and Preshea, who shook their heads. There were a few times when he thought she’d looked a little tired, but he hadn’t asked her how she was feeling. Between researching the disappearance of the mover’s Kamen and all their personal drama, they hadn’t really spoken about how the death mark was affecting her. Why wouldn’t she say anything? Could their fallout yesterday have expelled too much energy?

  Evette patted Rho’s cheek with her hand.

  “I know what’ll work.” Preshea strode forward, Tim close on her heels, forcing Evette and Eldon aside. “Rho! Wake up!” With a heavy hand, she slapped Rho straight across the face.

  Eldon lunged forward. Blood trickled from the corner of Rho’s mouth, supercharging the anger and fear stirring in his chest. No one hit his woman. Especially when she couldn’t defend herself.

  Tim pushed Preshea out of the way and launched toward Eldon, wrapping his massive arms around Eldon’s body. “Cool it, man. She was only helping.”

  Eldon glared at Preshea from across the room but allowed Tim to hold him back. They needed to help Rho right now, not challenge each other to a fight.

  “Headache, dude,” Tim grunted. “You two chill out, or I’m going to be popping pills for the rest of the day.”

  Eldon drew a deep breath as Tim’s command settled over his psyche and held him in place. He blew the air out slowly, trying to get a hold of his anger.

  “Eldon?” Rho’s shaky voice brought his anger to an instant simmer.

  He rushed to her side and perched on the edge of the bed, cupping her cheek with his palm. “Rho, can you hear me?” Her lovely gray eyes fluttered open, the sight a welcome relief.

  She grimaced. “My face hurts.”

  Leaning forward, he pressed a kiss to her forehead and ran his fingers gently along her battered cheek. “You can thank Preshea for that.” He glanced toward the shifter, who stood in the doorway with her arms folded across her chest, her lips lifted into a wide grin. She’d probably been waiting for an opportunity like this for weeks.

  “Why is everyone here?” Rho propped herself up on her elbows but quickly sank back into the pillow then covered her eyes with her forearm. “Oh, crap on toast. My head is killing me.”

  “You weren’t waking up,” Eldon said.

  She dropped her arm and met his eyes. “What?”

  “When I tried to wake you up, you wouldn’t move.”

  “I’m always hard to wake up. You know that.”

  He shook his head. “Not like this. You weren’t responding at all.”

  “Have you been tired lately?” Lukas asked from the doorway.

  “A little bit.” She frowned, her gaze growing distant as if she were recalling something. “You think it’s the death mark?
”

  “We need to keep you under close observation.” Lukas’s brows knotted as he eyed Rho, still lying in the bed. He hadn’t really answered Rho’s question either, which only told Eldon he already knew the answer.

  “Rho goes nowhere without me.” Eldon met Lukas’s eyes. “And we’re going back to see Trinador tonight.”

  “And what if Rho isn’t well enough?” Evette asked.

  “She’s doing better.” Lukas surveyed the air, as if it held secrets no one else could see. “Her aura has not changed.”

  Evette’s eyes narrowed. “And what of Trinador? How is her aura?”

  “You can’t put Trinador in danger again.” Rho’s jaw set defiantly, and she shook her head. “I won’t let you hurt her just for my sake.”

  After all they’d discussed the night before, he wasn’t in any mood to argue with her. “We won’t ask her to manipulate the magick. Only to try and help us understand what it’s doing to you.” He ran his fingers through Rho’s long golden strands. “If your energy is going to keep declining, I’d like to know that up front.”

  Rho shook her head. “It’s been a busy week. I’m sure I’ve just worn myself out.”

  “Still.” Tim stepped toward the bed, arms folded across his chest. “We’re going to keep an eye on you.”

  “No offense, because I appreciate you all coming in here and I know we have things to discuss, but could you guys maybe keep an eye on me after I take a shower?” Rho offered a half smile.

  Evette nodded as she rose from the bedside. “Of course. I’ll put on a pot of coffee.” She strode toward the door and grabbed Lukas’s hand, pulling him behind her as she exited the room.

  Preshea and Tim snuck out behind her and closed the door, leaving Eldon and Rho alone in the room.

  Eldon leaned forward to rest his head on Rho’s shoulder. Once again, he’d been entirely too close to losing her. Her slender fingers stroked the hair on the nape of his neck, and his body relaxed. For a brief moment, his world had stopped turning. She was the axis around which his world revolved, everything beginning and ending with her. They had to figure out what to do with her death mark, and soon.