Chosen by Sin Read online

  Dex nodded. “You’d be the one to see, I suppose. Given the little display I just saw, you love him, just not enough to sacrifice your own life, right? Otherwise, you’d have turned him into a vampire.”

  “If it was that easy,” she said, her voice shaking, “I’d have turned a whole bunch of others into vampires. But you’re right, considering I’d have been risking my life, I didn’t make the offer to anyone. Anyone but Bodin, that is. But he refused and I already told you, I don’t make people do things against their will.”

  “No. You just make sure they don’t have the knowledge to protest. You trick them, so you can justify your actions and tell yourself they were committed without force. So long as you get what you’re after, that’s all that matters. That’s why you didn’t tell me you knew my grandfather or that he was here. Because you knew you wouldn’t get what you were after. Me. Isn’t that right?”

  When she didn’t answer, he moved aggressively forward. “Isn’t it, Jes? Answer me.”

  “Yes, you’re right,” she whispered.

  His aggression slipped away and was replaced by genuine confusion. “Why? Why did my grandfather send you after me?”

  “He didn’t send me, Dex. I was the one who wanted something from you. I wanted to test your blood. I—I took several vials from you while I was in L.A. After we made love—I mean, after we had sex.” She would always remember it as making love. That’s what it had been every time they’d been together. But she knew Dex no longer viewed it that way.

  “My blood? Why? You already had Amanda, a full-blooded werewolf. Any healing properties my blood carries are diminished compared to hers.”

  “That would be true if you were an ordinary werebeast. But you’re not.”

  “I’m not, huh?”

  “No, Dex. I’m afraid not. You’re a half-breed, but you’re not half were and half human. You’re half were and half vampire.”

  He barked with disbelieving laughter. “For a scientist, you haven’t done your research. Dharmires, no matter what type of race mixes with vampire blood, always present as vampires.”

  “You’re an anomaly. One that’s been foretold for centuries.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “It’s not. It’s called the Legend of Wolves. Legend has it that a half-werewolf, half-vampire who presents as a were will have the ability to gift immortality. Because Bodin knew you were half vampire but presented as a were, he believed you were the one to fulfill the legend. He sent you away, Dex, because it was the only thing he could think of to protect you.”

  “You can’t know that.”

  “I can. You can. I see it in your eyes.”

  “All you see in my eyes is disgust. For him and for you. I knew you’d do anything to help your cause. Why not add whoring to the list?”

  It hurt more than she’d thought it would. It hurt so bad she wasn’t sure if she could survive the pain.

  His gaze returned to Bodin. The hate was still there, but so was a flash of longing. A longing that he extinguished as easily as he could choke the life out of the weak, aged were. His gaze slid back to hers. “It’s just too damn bad,” he said, “that we conceived a child from your lies. Now another child has to suffer, stuck with freaks like us for parents. One more life my grandfather has had his hand in ruining. But this time, he had your help.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  After Dex left his grandfather’s room, Jes saw very little of him. He remained on the grounds, and despite the vast depression Jes had slipped into, their baby continued to thrive. Occasionally she’d venture from her bedroom and she’d catch a glimpse of him, but he’d immediately disappear.

  Days passed. Bodin was on the verge of death. Soon, she began keeping vigil by his bedside, trading shifts with Amanda, often sleeping in the chair next to his bed. When Jes wasn’t caring for him or comforting Amanda, she forced herself to sleep and eat for the baby’s sake.

  She was doing just that, sitting in the kitchen and forcing herself to drink bottled blood and choke down soup, when Dex appeared in front of her. She dropped her spoon and stood, swaying slightly. He looked both bad and good. Bad because he looked tired. Troubled. But good because he was him, and she wanted nothing more than to draw him in her arms and beg his forgiveness.

  “Congratulations,” he said, his tone as cold and unforgiving as ever. “I didn’t realize I could think less of you, but I just talked to Lucy. She told me you talked to Mahone before leaving the States. And that you told him about this legend of yours. Even managed to get some money out of him for your trouble. For your research, right?”

  She sank back into her chair. “That’s right,” she said softly, though she sounded nothing like herself. Did that faint, scratchy, defeated voice actually belong to her? “You might as well know I spoke to Rurik Pitts, too. Before I returned to France. I paid him for information about you, so he probably traveled here for me.”

  His expression darkened before he composed himself again. “It doesn’t matter. Not anymore. There’s something going down. I’m returning to the States.”

  “What?” she asked in disbelief. He was leaving her? “Today?”

  He averted his gaze. “I leave tonight. Lucy and I are going to meet with shape-shifters in the States and try one last time to negotiate with them.”

  Since Dex had never told her what he and Cy had learned from the shape-shifters, she wasn’t certain what that meant. All she knew was that she didn’t want him to leave. “Why—why can’t Lucy handle it herself?”

  He scowled. “Because Lucy’s been doing everything herself while I’ve been wasting my time here with you. I need to get back and do my job. You said the baby’s been growing. That it’s almost ready to be born. It should be fine. Unless there’s something I don’t know. If so, just tell me.”

  He couldn’t even look at her, she thought. She disgusted him and he wanted no part of her. But of course that was true. She’d done nothing but lie and deceive him since the moment they’d met. No matter what her intentions had been, she’d acted with dishonor and he’d never forgive her for that.

  Still, she felt compelled to ask him one last question. “So you’re not going to be here for the birth? You—you don’t care about the baby?”

  He turned toward the door. Over his shoulder, he said, “I’ll check in when I can. If the baby’s born before then…” He shrugged, dismissing the birth and her, and at the same time giving her the answer to her question.

  ***

  That evening, Dex held his phone to his ear as he stood outside Jes’s castle. For once, his cell reception was crystal clear. Good, because he wasn’t standing in that damn gazebo ever again.

  “I’m not expecting much from this meeting,” Mahone said, “but it’s all we’ve got. We haven’t been able to get anything from the weres. Bodin’s MIA, and they refuse to say anything until they hear from him.”

  “What about the First Lady?” Dex asked, his voice flat. He wasn’t going to discuss Bodin with Mahone. Not yet.

  “No word. But the President has called a press conference. It’s scheduled for tomorrow evening. Seven p.m.”

  “My flight will just have arrived.”

  “And we’ll know, one way or another, if going to the Quorum was a lost cause or not.”

  “Right,” Dex said. “I’ll check in when I get Stateside.”

  “Dex…”

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m sorry about Jes. I don’t think she meant any harm, which is why I didn’t say anything.”

  Dex heard a noise behind him. He sensed Jes. Smelled her. For a second, he closed his eyes, wishing with all his heart things could’ve been different for both of them. But they couldn’t. She’d lied to him. One time too many. He no longer trusted her.

  “It doesn’t matter,” he forced himself to say to Mahone. “Jes means nothing to me, Mahone. Less than nothing.” He hung up. Stood there. Expected her to scamper away. But she didn’t. Instead, she spoke.

  “Dex. Pl
ease don’t leave.”

  Her plea stunned him. He knew how proud she was. Knew she’d heard what he’d said to Mahone. How could she think she could sway him? Why did she want to even try?

  Slowly, he turned.

  At some point, the dark dye had completely faded and he hadn’t even realized it. Standing under the entryway lights, she looked like the same vamp he’d first met in L.A. Well, except for the fact she looked decidedly pregnant. But her lush curves only made her more attractive. Too bad all she’d wanted from him was what she thought he could give others—immortality.

  “It’s no use. I don’t fulfill any crazy-assed legend. Even if I do, I don’t know how to gift immortality. I can’t help you.”

  “I don’t care about that,” she cried, walking closer to him. “I mean, I did. That’s why I deceived you. And I’m so sorry for that, Dex. But I’ve changed. I understand what’s important now, and that I’ve been denying myself a real life because I didn’t think I deserve it.”

  “And now you do?”

  “I don’t know if I deserve it,” she conceded, “but I know I want it. I want you. Not for my experiments, but because you make me happy. I love you and I know you can love me. Love our child.”

  “It’s too late.”

  Her expression crumpled and tears fell from her eyes. It was the first time he’d ever seen her cry, he realized. And the first time since he’d been a child that he felt the sting of moisture in his own eyes.

  “I’m sorry, Dex! I’m so sorry. S'il te plait me pardone-moi. Please forgive me. Please stay with me.”

  “I said no,” he snapped, too tempted by his own need to forgive her. But he couldn’t give in. He’d been a fool to think Jes was different. To think that he could be different with her.

  His harsh tone seemed to jolt her. “Is it because of Lucy? You don’t need me anymore because you’ll be fucking her?”

  “Stop it, Jes. You know that’s not true. Even if it were, so what? Lucy has never lied to me. When she was using me, I knew exactly what was going on. That’s the difference between you and her.”

  “But she doesn’t love you, Dex. Not the way I do.”

  “Goddess save me from your kind of love, Jesmina. If this is love, I hope I never love again.”

  Her stricken expression was the last thing he saw before she finally gave up. She whirled and ran from him.

  And although Dex took a step toward her…

  Although he wanted to chase after her and tell her he’d changed his mind…

  He didn’t.

  He swiped at his face and any trace of tears that might have lingered in his eyes. After taking a deep breath, he forced himself to recall Mahone’s last words. He’d said the weres wouldn’t talk until they’d heard from Bodin.

  Fine.

  Dex would just have to make sure that happened.

  Without hesitation, he retraced the path to Bodin’s room. Although he’d half-expected Jes to have moved him, she hadn’t. He was still in bed. Pale. Old. Helpless.

  Harmless.

  But he hadn’t always been that way, Dex reminded himself.

  He stepped farther into the room, determined to shake the old were to consciousness, but he froze when he saw Amanda. She sat in the chair next to him, looking like she hadn’t slept in weeks. She stood when she saw Dex.

  “Come in,” she whispered, shocking the hell out of him.

  Not waiting to see whether he complied, she bent down, kissed Bodin’s cheek, and spoke in his ear. Then she straightened and walked past Dex. Before she walked out, she paused to look at him. “I know why you hate him,” she said, her voice barely audible. “I hate him for the same reason.”

  “Really?” he drawled in patent disbelief, telling himself not to be swayed by the sadness in her eyes. “Tell me about it,” he said, even though he just wanted her to go.

  “You hate him because he sent you away and your mother never recovered from it. She fought her depression, even married and had other children, but she never got over losing you. She ended her life rather than face her loss.”

  Okay, so she did know why he hated him. But what did that have to do with her?

  “You still don’t get it, do you, brother?” She laid a hand on Dex’s arm and squeezed softly. “Can’t you see who I am?”

  “No,” he choked out, jerking his arm from her touch. She was full were. She looked nothing like him. But something reached way back into his memory… If he allowed himself to remember the beautiful visage of his mother, rocking him to sleep and singing him a lullaby… He pictured a face startling similar to Amanda’s.

  “I never condoned what he did. Nor did our mother. We loved him, but we hated him. And we grieved for you, Dex. We all did. Bodin most of all.”

  While he was still in shock, she slipped out of the room.

  Silence surrounded him, broken only by Bodin’s slow, weak breathing.

  As if he was in a trance, Dex walked to his grandfather.

  He stared down at the werewolf he’d hated for so long, and he tried to feel pity for him.

  Forgiveness. Compassion. Something. But he couldn’t.

  “I hope you rot in hell,” he said, before whirling around and going after Amanda.

  Bodin wasn’t able to tell him anything about the solstice gates.

  But maybe Dex’s sister could.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  As soon as Dex’s plane landed in the States, Lucy met him at the airport. She hugged him hard. When Lucy had told him about Jes contacting Mahone, Dex had filled Lucy in on the Legend of Wolves and the reasons Jes had sought Mahone out. Lucy hadn’t said much then, and she didn’t now, either. She simply asked, “Are you okay?”

  She was his favorite Para-Ops team member for a reason, he thought tiredly and nodded his head. “I will be. What’s going on with the press conference?”

  “It’s about to start. Let’s find a television and check it out.”

  They found a bar and pissed off a few football fans by changing the channel on the big screen TV, but the bar pretty much cleared after Dex’s colorful response. Lucy smiled and shook her head. “I’m glad to see you’re the same old were.”

  “What did you expect? That less than two weeks in France would make me a better man?”

  Despite his attempt at humor, his joke fell flat. Lucy looked away and Dex swore she was trying not to cry.

  Fuck. “Lucy—”

  But he was interrupted by the sounds of the Presidential Address commencing. Grim-faced, he and Lucy watched as the President was introduced.

  He spoke on various topics, domestic and international. Just when it appeared he was winding down, he said, “Recently, I vetoed the award of federal funds that Congress set aside for a shape-shifter awareness campaign. My thinking was the money would be better served to hire more border agents. I’ve given it more thought. I’ve weighed the importance of strengthening the relationships between our citizens versus protecting our nation’s resources. As we’re still recovering from war, it’s often easier to look outside ourselves and see enemies when what we must do is look within. I don’t know how much you know about shape-shifters, but in truth, I probably don’t know much more. That can’t continue. Many fear shape-shifters because they are a mystery. Today I’m challenging us all to learn more about them. In order to let go of our bloody past and embrace a brighter tomorrow, I am authorizing the funds for a shape-shifter awareness campaign.”

  The journalists in the room exploded into action, peppering the President with questions.

  Lucy turned to Dex, her gaze mirroring his own disbelief.

  “We did it. The First Lady did it. She convinced the President to change his mind.”

  “I don’t believe it,” Dex said. “She must have some ulterior motive.”

  “Of course she does,” Lucy said, slapping Dex’s arm. “But for one second, can we simply enjoy this small victory? We need to confirm the shape-shifters are actually going to abandon their plans now. And
we’re still going to have to attend the meeting and propose a long-term plan in order to avoid something like this happening again. But right this minute—”

  She grinned and for a second, Dex’s mood, weighed down by his grief over Jes, lightened slightly. “Yeah,” he said. “Only I’m not relying on the shape-shifters just telling us they’ve changed their minds. We have to assume a great number of them will still try to bridge demons through the solstice gates. We need to stop them. We might not be able to stop them forever, but if we can ensure they don’t do anything now, when emotions are still high, we might buy the President the time he needs to prove he’s serious about working with them.”

  “But how can we stop them?”

  “I spoke to a werewolf in France, one who believes I can help close the solstice gate in the United States while she tries to close the one in Europe.”

  “Is this about the legend Jes told Mahone about?”

  “Not necessarily. Apparently, werewolves have been charged with this duty for centuries. They fight the demons in human form; it’s the only form they can take once they enter a solstice gate.”

  “Then they—you—can be killed.”

  “But if I am part of the legend, maybe I can prevent one of them, a significant one, from being killed.”

  “Small problem. You don’t know how to access your gift to give it to anyone. Do you?”

  “No. Jes tested my blood but came up with nothing.”

  “Who’s this were you’re working with? You trust her?”

  “I have no reason to trust her, yet I do. At least with this. She’s my half sister, a werewolf sworn to protecting the solstice gates. She says her destiny and the destiny of all weres is to prevent demons from crossing into earth. She was in France with my grandfather. Before I left, she gave me this.” Dex reached into his backpack, then pulled out an envelope with a worn piece of paper inside. He showed it to Lucy. “According to Amanda, it’s the only known recording of the Legend of Wolves.”