Chosen by Sin Page 21

  “How convenient for you,” Lucy said.

  With a disgusted shake of his head, Mahone snatched up objects that had fallen to the floor when she’d smashed him into the wall. He stacked frames together and tossed shards of glass in the waste bin. Finally, he stood and stared at her with his hands on his hips.

  “Why didn’t you just tell Dex?” she asked, then frowned. “Or did you? Am I wrong about that?”

  “No. You’re not wrong. I didn’t give him any warning.”

  “Why?”

  “Because that would have led him in a certain direction and it might have been the wrong one. It was better that he investigate without preconceived ideas. Plus, Dex doesn’t know anything about this so-called gift, Lucy. And I don’t even know if it’s true. If I’d told him, he would have been distracted, wondering why his grandfather hadn’t told him or if it was the reason his grandfather sent him away. Which, by the way, I think it is. I didn’t have anyone else I could rely on. I needed you here. Him there. I couldn’t afford to lose either one of you! Plus—”

  He bit off what he was about to say.

  “Plus what?” Lucy prodded.

  Mahone shook his head.

  “Tell me, Mahone!” Lucy shrieked.

  She must have looked ready to hurl Mahone into the window again because he started talking.

  “I didn’t tell him because I knew he’d ask me how I’d found out and wouldn’t have stopped until I’d told him. Again, Dex would have been out of his mind, wanting revenge. He’d have gone to France all right, but not to talk to the shape-shifters. He’d have been too busy hunting down the vampire who’d not only fucked him, but fucked him over.”

  Lucy drew back in shock. “Jesmina? She came to you with some story about Dex? When?”

  “Before he left. Before he slept with her.”

  “He—he actually slept with her?”

  “Unless they were playing poker all night. Does that bother you, Lucy?”

  She shook her head in confusion. “What? That she slept with Dex knowing she’d betrayed him?”

  “No. That she slept with him at all.”

  “Dex is free to have sex with anyone he wants.”

  “Even when he’s supposed to be having sex with you? No one told me, by the way. I figured it out on my own. He’s very protective of you.”

  “He cares about me. Maybe too much, which he’d be horrified to hear. But I regretted accepting Dex’s offer to help me with my heat almost immediately. So no, it doesn’t bother me to know he slept with the vampire. It gives me hope he’s finally found someone that can mean something to him. At least, she might have meant something to him if she hadn’t screwed him in another way altogether. I need to talk to him—”

  “And tell him what? That I set him up?”

  “Why shouldn’t he know? If you’re right, shape-shifters and dark spirits are gunning for him because they think he’s some kind of legend and—”

  “Dex already knows he’s in danger. He knows to be wary of shape-shifters even as he seeks them out. What will telling him any of this serve? Other than pissing him off and risking that he’ll abandon the two things that, as far as I can tell, mean the most to him—his place on the team and Jesmina.”

  “So you’re doing him a favor?”

  “No. I need Dex’s head in the game, not on his own shit, but if Dex’s personal life benefits, too, then all the better. He’s happy, which makes him a team player, one who owed me in a way.”

  “You’re incredible, Mahone. But I’m his friend. I can’t let him get further involved with Jes without telling him she played him.”

  “But you came to me before talking to Dex about the legend. Why? Because you trust me. Because part of you knew I’d kept that from him for a good reason.”

  He was right, Lucy thought. She didn’t like it, but he was right.

  “And you trusted Jes, too, didn’t you, Lucy? Trusted her enough to think that she could have been special to Dex. You know what? I think the same thing. Jes might not have been completely honest with Dex, but she’s a good person. One who might be able to give Dex everything he’s ever wanted. You gonna be the person that takes that away from him?”

  “Damn you. You’ll never play fair, will you?” But Mahone’s words were having their desired effect. Lucy was actually considering not telling Dex what she’d learned. After all, he knew about the most important things now—the connection between the shape-shifters and dark spirits, and the threat they posed to him. Given that, the rumor about his alleged gift and Jes’s knowledge of it didn’t seem significant. On the other hand, what if Mahone was right? What if Jes really could mean something to Dex? Lucy had believed the same thing from the beginning. Did she want to ruin any hope Jes had of winning Dex’s heart?

  “So now what?” Mahone asked.

  She sighed. “Now you need to stop what you set in motion. We need to give the rebel shape-shifters what they want. Before it’s too late.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Jes and the mage were waiting in the library for Dex to arrive when he suddenly burst in. She stood and smiled at him. Despite his resistance to holding the newborn Draci baby, she’d seen the way he’d looked at them. With fear, yes, but also wistfulness. “Dex—”

  “You damn bitch,” he snarled, coming at her so fast he was on her in seconds. He grabbed Jes’s arm and drove her backward until her back bumped up against the wall. He didn’t hurt her. Hadn’t shoved her hard enough to hurt her. But he was trembling and she could feel the effort he was making not to unleash his anger on her.

  Her eyes darted to the mage. Had he been possessed by the diabol again? Why was he looking at her like that? Like she disgusted him? Like he hated her again?

  “You’re running fucking experiments here, aren’t you? To find a way to prolong Draci life?”

  She stared at him, too stunned to respond. Had he found out why she’d sought him out? Did he know she’d taken his blood? How? But did it really matter? Shame swept through her. Shame and fear. Fear not just for her child, but for herself. She wanted her baby beyond imagining, but she couldn’t deny what she’d been fantasizing about, either. She wanted Dex, too. She wanted both of them.

  “Answer me!” he shouted.

  “Dex, perhaps you need to—”

  He turned to the blond mage. “I’m not talking to you and I haven’t been possessed by anything other than my own fury. This is between her and me, got it?”

  The mage’s gaze darted to Jes, then back to him. “Then let her go and I’ll let you talk to her. But she’s pregnant, and I’m not going to let you manhandle her in front of me. If I have to, I’ll use the same power that enables me to keep demons away to send you straight to hell.”

  A slight exaggeration, Jes was sure, since she’d never heard of a mage that powerful. Still, Dex turned back to Jes. Studied her. Instinctively, she knew he saw the shame that she’d felt just now, but he clenched his jaw and breathed in furious breaths before slowly releasing her.

  Both Jes and the mage let out sighs of relief.

  “Say it. I’m right, aren’t I? About the experiments.”

  “It’s been my life work,” she admitted. “To find a way to prolong life. Not just for the Draci, but for all mortal races.”

  “Is that supposed to make a difference? That’s even worse!”

  “Why?”

  “Because you’re using Ella, a little Draci girl, and you’re willing to hurt her so you can find a cure for people she doesn’t even know.”

  Ella? “What are you talking about, Dex? What did Ella tell you?” A strange hope filled her. Maybe this was just some kind of misunderstanding. Maybe the hate in his eyes would disappear as soon as he realized that.

  “She told me she didn’t want to have her blood drawn because it hurts. But that you said she needed to, so she was willing to do it!”

  Okay, so he had his facts straight. Hope vanished and guilt once again replaced it. She’d known drawing blood
from Ella would hurt the girl a little, of course, even if the pain was minimal, but she’d given her the option of helping because she’d seen it as the girl’s right. Jes had never thought the blood tests were something that haunted her. Unable to stand the disgust contorting Dex’s face, she tried to explain. For some reason, even though the opinion of others hadn’t swayed her before, it seemed imperative she convince Dex she wasn’t a person to revile. “I’ve explained to her it was important, but I’ve never pressured her. I’ve never forced her. I’ve merely given her the facts and the choice.”

  “She’s seven! She shouldn’t be making a choice like that.”

  “Dex, I’ve explained that even at seven, Ella is emancipated in the eyes of the Draci. I have to treat her that way, as well.” She frowned. “Besides, the procedure is slightly uncomfortable, yes, but if it gets too bad, I stop.”

  “Until you start up again, you mean.”

  This time, his sneer of disgust didn’t hurt her so much as anger her. He had no idea the type of pressure she was under. That with every hour that passed, her failure to find a cure for the Draci, or for the werewolf slowly wasting away in this very abbey, haunted her. Instinctively, she took a step forward, thrusting her face closer to his.

  “You think I want to cause her pain? That I want to cause anyone pain? I don’t, but sometimes doctors have to cause pain to heal, Dex.”

  He pointed toward the doorway. “She’s not sick. She doesn’t need to be healed.”

  “I’m trying to prolong the lifespan of an entire race. I can’t do that by myself,” she cried.

  “So you do it by using children. Children who can’t refuse. And to think I was talking her into cooperating until I realized it was unnecessary.”

  “That’s a matter of opinion and it hasn’t been hers.”

  “You disgust me,” he said.

  Somehow, the words hurt her more than the expression on his face had. She felt her mind close in on itself, erecting walls to block him out, telling herself he simply didn’t understand the importance of the work she did. “I’m sorry you feel that way, but you can’t possibly understand their situation. Or the situation of most mortals. Your natural life span is six to eight times longer than the Draci. Does that seem fair to you? If I can help prolong their lives at very little cost to anyone else, why shouldn’t I?”

  “Little cost?” He shook his head in disbelief. “What about the Draci? Have you even bothered to ask what they want? Because as far as I can tell, most of them seem quite content. You’re all fired up to extend their lives so they’ll be more like you, so you won’t have to be alone, but is that even what they want?”

  “Of course it’s what they want! You think you know them? Je les vois tous le temps. I see them every day. How they mourn for each other. How they long for the time to do things they’ll never be able to. Be more. Go more. Do more. Don’t tell me you know them, because you don’t.”

  He gripped her chin, his fingers still gentle although his eyes flared with fury. “Oh but I do know you, Jes. I know that you’re so obsessed with yourself that you can’t accept others can live fulfilling lives even if they’re not like you. You’re so selfish, you don’t care about peeling the skin off of a young girl as long as it advances your agenda. You dish out pain and poor kids like Ella just have to take it.”

  She jerked her chin out of his grasp. “Qu’est que t’en parle? What do you mean I peel the skin off a young girl?”

  “I saw the graft scars on Ella’s arm, Jes. She admitted they were for the experiments and begged me not to tell you!”

  Again, although there was no hope this time, confusion barreled down on her. “Wait. Ella showed you these scars? She told you they were for experiments?”

  “Why are you bothering to act surprised? Yes, she did. They were—”

  She grabbed his arm. “Where is she?”

  “What?” He looked down at her hand as if he wanted to fling it off her.

  Instinctively she released him. “Where is she, Dex?”

  “You think I’m going to tell you? She’s waiting someplace safe while I—”

  She laughed harshly. “While you what? Accuse me of torturing a child for my own selfish whims? I’ve never asked Ella to undergo skin grafts. I’ve never performed them on her!”

  He stared at her, eyes narrowing suspiciously. “What are you saying? That she was lying?”

  “If you saw the scars, no. But did she specifically tell you I was doing the treatments?”

  He pursed his lips, considering what she’d asked. Slowly, he shook his head. “No. She said you drew her blood. And when I saw her scars, she begged me not to tell you. I assumed—”

  Yeah, he assumed I was a monster, she thought. Because obviously that’s what he believed of her. He probably still believed she’d tricked him into getting her pregnant.

  He pressed his lips together. “So if you didn’t perform skin grafts on Ella, who did?”

  A name immediately came to mind, but she had to be careful. She wasn’t going to repeat Dex’s mistake by accusing anyone of something so horrific without more evidence. “Je ne sais pas exactement. There’s really only one logical explanation but—”

  “Amanda, right? She’s medically trained.”

  She swallowed loudly. To avoid answering him, she turned toward the mage only to find she’d managed to sneak out without either of them noticing. She turned back to Dex. “I need to talk to Ella. I need to see her right now. So please, take me to her.”

  “I can’t. You’d have to go outside. In the sun.”

  “If she’s still on the grounds, it doesn’t matter. Tell me.”

  His expression was unreadable as he stared at her. His jaw ticked. Then he said, “I took her home.”

  ***

  An hour later, Dex stood to the side and watched as Jes argued with Amanda, who they’d found working in the laboratory.

  “As a Draci, Ella’s skin can transform itself to stone and back again. It’s a form of regeneration—stone doesn’t age—and you might be able to replicate the process. I knew you wouldn’t ask her because of the pain the test would cause, but having Draci blood isn’t enough,” Amanda insisted, her tone pleading. “The pain was minimal. If you’re going to find the key to prolonging life, if you’re going to help my—”

  “You went too far, Amanda. I trusted you to treat my patients in my absence, and you betrayed that trust. I want you to pack up your things and leave. Today.”

  “You know I can’t do that. Not without—”

  “He can’t be moved. If you want, you can stay at an inn in the village and visit, but only when I’m present. Otherwise, I’ll tell him what you did myself. I’ll bring him Ella and show him.”

  Amanda turned her head and glared at Dex. “This is because of him. He’s turning you against us. Distracting you from your duty.”

  “No one can distract me from my duty, Amanda. Not even you.”

  Amanda looked like she wanted to say more, but Jes cut her off. “Go. Now. If you say anything else, I’ll retract your access to the castle altogether. I don’t want to do that.”

  After a tense moment, Amanda stalked past Dex and out of the room. Good riddance, he thought.

  Jes closed her eyes, leaned against a tall counter-high lab table, then held a hand to her temple as if it ached.

  To avoid the sun, she’d led him through a maze of underground tunnels to reach Ella’s cottage. There, the girl told Jes how Amanda had come to her while Jes was in the States. Amanda had insisted they do the skin grafting on their own. She’d told Ella that even though Jes believed the grafting was necessary, she was too weak to ask Ella herself, and that Amanda and Ella needed to be strong enough to do the right thing for her.

  As he’d listened to Ella’s tearful explanation, Dex knew she’d been telling the truth. And that meant Jes had known nothing about the skin grafting.

  He felt like shit for how he’d treated her. Even so, he told himself to be realistic. S
he’d admitted she was testing Ella’s blood to further her life-prolonging experiments. Maybe she hadn’t authorized the skin grafts Amanda had performed, but would she hesitate to do them if she really thought it would help her cause?

  The question nagged at him, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask Jes. Not now. She looked tired. Drained. And that’s exactly how he felt, too. Just an hour earlier, he’d been ready to give up his revenge against his grandfather. To open himself up to a fantasy—one in which he devoted his life to Jes and their baby. Maybe that had been foolish, but he mourned the loss of his dream. And he regretted being the cause of the pain Jes was now suffering.

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  Her head jerked up and she looked confused, as if she’d really forgotten he was there. “Why? You came to Ella’s defense because you thought I was hurting her. I’m glad you did.”

  “I should have listened to her more carefully. I should have known you wouldn’t hurt her that way.”

  Her mouth twisted. “But you couldn’t have known that, Dex. How could you, when I don’t even know it myself?” she asked tiredly.

  When he didn’t answer, she raised a brow. “Shocked?”

  He still didn’t answer. He didn’t know what to say. He’d been thinking it himself. Only he knew she wasn’t that selfish. She’d been willing to let him go despite the fact his absence might endanger the baby.

  “I don’t agree with what Amanda did,” she continued. “I certainly don’t condone it. But I also don’t believe the skin grafting was necessary to accomplish what we want. If I did, if I truly thought skin grafting was the key to finding the secret to immortality, would I hesitate to explore that theory because it would cause Ella pain? Je ne sais pas.”

  “I know.” he said quietly. Despite his previous doubt, he spoke without hesitation. He stepped closer, until there was barely any space between them.

  She shook her head and raised her fist, then repeatedly hit him in the chest, although the force she exerted was negligible. “How can you say that?”