Bound by Her Destiny Read online

  “Zora was a serial killer!” I gently lie Colton down and stand.

  A wave of emotional pain rushes through me, thinking of Zora. She was a monster, a psychopath, but my undeniable connection to her lingers, even now that she’s dead.

  “Gray will get a chance to defend his actions,” Astrid says. “But the law here is clear.”

  “It’ll be okay, princess,” Gray says. “I had to call Astrid and turn myself in. It’s the law.”

  I close my eyes for a long moment, trying to think straight, and when I open my eyes, Gray’s looking directly at me, intensely, longingly, like he might never see me again. But in a flash, his expression changes to a comforting smile.

  I want to talk to Gray in private, without Astrid and the others around. It doesn’t seem right that he should be arrested.

  “You should be thanking Gray,” I tell Astrid, “giving him a medal, not arresting him.”

  “I don’t have a choice.” She touches my arm in some vain attempt at comfort that doesn’t begin to work.

  If the police had found Zora first, she’d still be dead and no one would suffer any consequences. Based on what Colton’s told me, there wouldn’t even be forms to fill out. And if Astrid had captured her, Zora would be facing hundreds and hundreds of years in prison.

  Her death made things easier for everyone—even Zora on some level—but Gray will be the one to suffer. Suffer the fate that should have been Zora’s. Centuries in jail.

  “How did the cop figure out you’re a vampire?” Astrid asks Gray. “What gave you away?”

  “Special eyewear of some kind.” Gray tells her. He gestures toward the goggles, lying on the path near where Gray first cuffed Colton.

  Astrid picks them up. “Did you know about these?” she asks me.

  “Yeah. You didn’t?” I just assumed this technology was common knowledge—especially for someone like Astrid—but if she didn’t know about the goggles, it’s possible no vampires do. None beyond me before now.

  She puts them on, then shakes her head. “Whatever the cop saw when he looked through these, it doesn’t work for me. Or maybe they’re broken? Or not turned on?” She takes them off to study them more closely.

  “He told me that vampires give off a glow,” I tell her, my loyalties divided. But anything I can do that might help build a bridge of understanding between humans and vampires feels like a win, the right thing to do. And that understanding goes both ways.

  “Vampires look different to me,” I say. “I can always tell. It seems like a scientist has figured out a way to make whatever we see visible to humans too.”

  Astrid nods, then puts them on again. “Nothing. But I’ll take them in. Our R&D team should take a look. If the humans have a way to identify us, no one is safe.”

  “Those are a prototype,” I tell her. “Colton told me they were the only set in the city. There’s a case for them in his pack. I think it’s important too.”

  Astrid steps toward Colton.

  I move quickly ahead of her, gently roll Colton to his side and remove his backpack for her.

  “We need to take the human in too,” she says looking up at her staff. “I’ll call for transport.”

  “Take him in?” My heart starts to race. “Where? What do you mean by that?”

  She puts her hand on my shoulder. “Selina, we need to take Colton to FJS. We don’t know what he’ll remember when he wakes. He knows where Gray lives, where you live. What you both are. We can’t risk leaving him here.”

  “But…” I shake my head, trying to think it through. “If you take him in, won’t it make things even worse? Let’s say he’s forgotten everything—what will you tell him about why he’s at FJS? How can you ever let him go?”

  My connection with Colton has amplified since I fed from his vein—a connection I didn’t feel with other humans I used for food.

  “Once he’s at FJS,” she says, “the CEO can take more of his memory if necessary.” Astrid checks her phone.

  “But I already fed from him. His memory is already wiped.”

  She takes a long breath. “It’s true that he won’t remember the feeding, a vampire’s venom is designed for that, but you have no way of knowing how much he’ll remember from before the feeding.”

  She turns toward Gray. “How long between him figuring out you were a vampire and Selina’s feeding?”

  “At least ten minutes,” Gray answers. “Probably more like fifteen.”

  “He’ll likely remember that Gray is a vampire then.” Astrid crosses her arms over her chest.

  “And he’ll remember shooting you, Selina,” Gray adds. “And since you’re not dead, even if he forgets the feeding, he’ll figure it out.”

  “But you don’t know that…” I do not want Colton taken into custody. It feels wrong, like kidnapping him, and after being held so long against my will, I never want to be part of that happening to someone else. “But he might forget everything that happened tonight. Right?”

  “It’s too risky,” Astrid says. “Especially given your inexperience. You don’t even know how much memory your venom typically absorbs.”

  “Then how with this CEO know how much venom to use?”

  “An experienced vampire can take longer chunks of memory,” Astrid answers. “And it’s the CEO’s specialty. She’ll err on the side of caution. Make sure she takes enough memory to remove the risk.”

  “How much?” I’m trembling. “A day?”

  Astrid looks to the side.

  “More?” I step toward her. “How much more?”

  “It’s best if he doesn’t remember meeting you,” she answers. “We’re lucky that he hit his head.” She gestures toward the blood on his face. “The humans will assume he has a concussion, explaining his memory loss.”

  I stagger back a few feet as her words sink in.

  “Princess…” Gray walks toward me.

  I shake my head, holding up my hands, signaling him to stay back. “No.”

  “No, what?” Astrid checks her phone and glances up toward the houses lining the ravine.

  “I won’t let you take Colton’s memory,” I say. “You can’t play with people’s minds like that. It’s wrong.”

  Astrid frowns. “You take memory every time you feed.”

  “Not on purpose!” I shake my head.

  Astrid is right on some level—I’m being hypocritical—but it seems different, and the idea of Colton forgetting me entirely…that feels even worse than his knowing I’m a vampire.

  “Look.” Astrid has lost her patience, her voice is firm and tight. “We’re out of time. We’ve got to move. Now.” She lifts her phone to call someone.

  “No!” I shake my head. “Take the goggles, his whole backpack, but leave Colton. I’ll stay with him, and if he remembers too much, I’ll feed again. Then I’ll call you and we can deal with it then.”

  Gray steps up beside me. “What if he tries to kill you? Even if we take his pack, he’s still got weapons.”

  “Colton won’t hurt me.”

  Gray tugs on my blood soaked t-shirt.

  “Not on purpose.” I shake my head, dread taking hold. “This—” I point to my shirt “—this was my fault.”

  “How are you going to explain your bloody shirt to him?” Gray asks.

  “We’ve run out of time.” Astrid pulls off her blazer, then unbuttons her blouse. “If he remembers—” she removes her blouse and nods toward my shirt “—you call me. Immediately.”

  I pull off my blood-soaked shirt and trade it with her blouse. She puts my shirt in her bag and dons her blazer, buttoning it up.

  Before I get her blouse fully on, Gray takes me in his arms and pulls me into a kiss. “Be careful.”

  When our kiss breaks, I gasp. “You’re…” I look over to Astrid. “Is he really under arrest?”

  “Afraid so,” she says. “Now, let’s go.”

  “I’ll be fine, princess.” He kisses my forehead. “Take care of Clayton.” Winking, he
grins as Astrid’s staff lead him away.

  I collapse to the dirt beside Colton.

  Chapter 3

  Selina

  Cradling the unconscious Colton’s head in my lap seems like inaction, but I don’t know what else to do. His expression is so peaceful, and I yearn to kiss him while he sleeps.

  My libido is raging after the feeding but my heightened feelings go way beyond lust. My emotions are muddled as my deepening love for Colton contrasts with my guilt at what happened; the combo simultaneously intensifies my desire and keeps me from acting on it.

  I’ve crossed too many lines with Colton already. I can find the willpower to stop myself from crossing one more.

  My heart aches, but I try not to imagine the worst. Please let him wake with no memory of what happened.

  This afternoon, I felt so warm, so loved—surrounded by Rock, Gray and Pike, and although he wasn’t there, I knew I was in Colton’s heart too.

  But now Gray is incarcerated, perhaps for centuries, and I don’t know what’s going to happen to the man in my arms.

  I had no idea how I could make a relationship work with a human who’d sworn to kill every vampire in existence, but the weight of my despair reveals how badly I wanted to figure it out.

  Human voices resonate in the distance. Three or four young males are arguing about whether or not one of them should text a girl he met at a concert on Saturday night. Blocking out the actual words, I try to judge how close they are, which direction they’re going, whether they’re in the ravine or on the streets above.

  But although my hearing has grown stronger, I still lack the experience to answer any of these important questions. If the humans come down the path before Colton wakes, what will I tell them? What will I do if they call for an ambulance—because why wouldn’t they? A man is hurt, unconscious on the forest floor.

  Colton’s head wound is no longer bleeding and the blood is nearly dry. I long to lick the remaining rivulets off his face and neck, but they’re important. The blood is key to explaining what happened.

  He moans. His expression changes, revealing that he’s now feeling his head injury. His left leg twitches, kicking out. His eyelids flutter.

  “Colton?” I say softly, reluctant to wake him and face what might happen, but glad that he won’t be unconscious should anyone stumble upon us.

  His eyelids flutter again and his breathing rate quickens, but he still doesn’t respond or open his eyes. If only vampires could read minds. I would give anything to know what’s going on in his right now.

  “Colton?” I brush a leaf off his forehead. “Are you awake?”

  He stirs, shifting in my arms, and his eyes open.

  Our gazes meet. His body stiffens, then he quickly sits and puts his head in his hands. “What happened?” he asks. “My head…”

  “Baby.” I kneel next to him and cup the side of his face. “Are you okay?”

  “I think so.” He shakes his head, wincing like he’s in pain. “I don’t remember—”

  My venom dulled the pain from his head wound, just like it stopped the bleeding, but clearly the pain’s come back, and that could work to my advantage. Like Astrid said, his head wound provides a plausible explanation for his partial amnesia.

  “Where are we?” He looks around. “What are we doing in a ravine?” He looks at his hand, covered in blood. “Am I bleeding?” His eyes widen. “Are you?”

  “We were ambushed,” I say improvising an explanation, wanting to stay as close to the truth as possible, but far enough away that I won’t jog any half-repressed memories.

  “Ambushed?” He shakes his head. “Did someone hit me?”

  “You hit your head on a rock.” At least that part is true. And if he checks out the story, he’ll find evidence for that on the path.

  “Sanjay…”

  “Who?” I ask.

  “My partner.” Colton looks around. “We were called here. Someone reported a vampire… Why are you here?”

  “Don’t you remember?”

  “A woman with purple hair…” He nods, then shakes his head, like he’s struggling to put all the pieces together.

  I chew my bottom lip, wishing I’d fleshed out my story before he woke. But distraught and not knowing how far back his memory would go, it was hard to guess where to start my lies. I was hoping to tell him we came to the ravine together, but now that I think about it, Sanjay and other policemen would know that much wasn’t true.

  “Gray and I were walking,” I tell him. “We saw someone about to ambush a jogger. It was the vampire from the surveillance video so we told the jogger to run, to call you.”

  He closes his eyes for a moment. “Why didn’t…why didn’t you and Gray run away too?” He looks around. “Where is Gray?”

  “He left when the police did. I told him I wanted to spend some time alone with you.”

  I expect Colton to smile at this, like he always does when I choose to spend time with him instead of Gray or Rock, but he doesn’t. Instead he looks puzzled.

  “The vampire…”

  “It was definitely her.” I nod, trying to look serious and happy at the same time. “The killer. She’s dead.”

  “Gray killed her?” He rubs his head.

  “That’s right. Then you and Sanjay came, and some other police took the body away, and Gray went with them. You told him you’d drive me to Rock’s bar. Or we could go to your place, if you prefer?” I put my hand on his chest, and kiss him softly. “Is your head okay?”

  “I hit my head on a rock? When?” He lifts his hand to his shoulder, then looks around. “Where is my pack? The goggles!” He sounds genuinely panicked now.

  “Shit.” He jumps to his feet and I realize it’s one of the first times I’ve heard him curse. “Where are they?” He turns on his phone’s flashlight and starts scanning the path and the woods beside it.

  “We were jumped,” I tell him. “Four young men,” I say thinking of the voices I heard earlier. “They caught us by surprise. Took your pack. Knocked you down and you hit your head on…” I spot the rock.

  I take his hand that’s holding the phone and direct the light toward the blood-covered rock. “That must be where you hit your head.”

  He nods, but doesn’t look as confident as he did when he remembered arriving in the ravine. And I suppose that’s good news. If his memories of that part are gone, then hopefully he’ll buy my invented ones to fill in the gaps. At least for now. At least until he’s ready to understand the truth.

  “Losing those goggles—” he shakes his head “—I am in so much trouble.”

  “You were robbed.” I take his hand, and relief floods through me when he lets me. “They can’t blame you for that.”

  “I’m police.” He shakes his head. “It’s embarrassing if nothing else.”

  “Maybe the goggles will show up. Those kids won’t even know what they stole. They were probably looking for drug money.”

  He nods. “Did you get a good look at them? We should head to the station so you can file a report, give their descriptions.”

  “They wore hoodies. It was dark. I was scared.” Wishing I could muster up tears, I look into his eyes. “Please don’t make me go in to the station. Please.”

  He cocks his head to the side. “Why?”

  “Police stations scare me.”

  “Baby.” Turning toward me, he cups my face in his hand and for the first time since this nightmare began, I see the Colton I know and love. “I’ll be with you. There’s no reason to be frightened.”

  “You don’t know that.” I let my lower lip quiver as I appeal with my eyes.

  He frowns. “I had no idea you were so afraid of the police.”

  “All police, except you. I love you.”

  He sucks in a sharp breath. Joy flashes on his face, but instead of responding he pulls me into his chest and holds me tightly against him.

  I can’t believe I said that. Did I just say it to help cover my lies? No. That motivation
might have impacted my timing, but not the words themselves. It’s hard for me to understand or explain given all the barriers between us, but I do love him.

  I feel completely protected in Colton’s arms, which is crazy because I’m more powerful than he could begin to be, but feeling safe isn’t just about physical protection. It’s about knowing that someone has your back and will put your needs above theirs. It’s about knowing that you’re loved. And almost since we met, I’ve felt loved by Colton.

  I’ve seen it in his eyes when he looks at me, and right now I feel it in his embrace.

  Selina

  Colton pulls to the curb in front of a fire hydrant, not far from Rock’s bar.

  “You can’t park here,” I point out. “Fire hydrant. The cops might come after you.” I grin, hoping to get a laugh out of him.

  “I’m not coming in.”

  “Why not?” A tiny part of me is glad that I’ll get a short break from walking the sword edge of guessing what he remembers and what he forgets, but I don’t want him to go, especially now that I’ve realized I love him.

  “I’m really tired.” He yawns. “Maybe it was the knock on the head.”

  “I hope you don’t have a concussion.” I reach over and run my hand down the side of his face, leaving it to rest at the edge of his neck, where his pulse beats hard and strong.

  “I don’t think so.” He shrugs. “The bleeding stopped pretty quickly, considering the cut was near my temple, so the injury can’t have been that bad. I’m just tired.”

  If I thought he had a concussion, I’d insist he go to the hospital. He thinks the impact was enough to knock him out, but my venom takes the credit for that—for stopping the bleeding too.

  “Are you sure you can’t come in?” I stroke his neck. “One beer?”

  He glances at his wrist. “It’s nearly two. I’ve got the day shift tomorrow.”

  “Okay.” Leaving my hand on his neck, I lean forward, expecting him to kiss me goodnight. But he keeps his hands on the steering wheel, his eyes straight ahead.

  Does he remember what happened? What I am? What if he pulls out a stake?