Fate, p.1
Fate, page 1
part #1 of The Edge of Forever Series
Fate
The Edge of Forever
D C Gambel
Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Epilogue
The End
Also by D C Gambel
About the Author
Copyright © 2014 by D.C. Gambel
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America.
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval systems, without prior written permission of the author except where permitted by law.
Published by
D.C. Gambel
Edited by
Nina Turner
Cover image from Canstockphoto
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Kindle Edition, License Notes
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The author acknowledges the copyrighted or trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction: Twilight, Playboy, Facebook, Starbucks, iPhone, True Blood, Keurig, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, & Blade
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Prologue
Sliding into a booth, at an all night diner, had Persephone breathing a sigh of relief. Although it wasn’t her favorite spot, its hours of operation met the only criteria that mattered. The thinning crowd, around this particular hour, was mixed with people either heading to or coming home from work. They were scattered throughout the room, most too tired to notice the supernatural presence among them.
Across from her sat the man she loved and the father of her unborn child. She admired his raven hair and sapphire blue eyes, praying daily, to whatever deity that would listen, that her child would be blessed with at least one of the man’s stunning features. Just the thought of their baby growing inside her had Persephone resting her hands protectively over the basketball-sized bump under her stretched blouse.
“The time is drawing near,” the man across from her said. He smiled more to himself as he noticed her hands, and attention, were yet again on her ever-growing bump.
“Your mind has not changed, has it?” she questioned, but knew the answer before he even uttered it. It wasn’t the first time she’d inquired; yet she knew better than to get her hopes up. Nothing she had done, since they found out she was with child, had altered his plan and though she agreed to it, it did not make the situation any less difficult.
“You know it has not.” He gazed at her, sadness filling his eyes, obviously struggling with his decision. It did little to ease Persephone. He had the strongest willpower of anyone she had ever known. It matched his perpetual physical strength perfectly. Nothing could budge his body or his mind. “We will stay together until the child is born. I need to hold her, at least once, but it won’t be safe for either of you with me. You know this.”
She nodded struggling with her emotions as she did every time they discussed their imminent departure. As much of a blessing as their child was, and she truly was, the unborn baby was forcing Persephone away from the man she loved. When it had been just the two of them, she had been more than willing to risk her life to be with the man who’d held her heart most of her long life—not that it had ever come to it. The man had enemies. You couldn’t live for thousands of years and not develop some along the way. That is what happened when you were the oldest of your kind. One of the enemies included her sire, Anton. With a child on the way, neither of them was willing to risk their daughter’s life for the sake of their happiness. Persephone wished things were different, but she had accepted the situation for what it was long ago.
“You know they will hunt her down just to get to me. Her true lineage must be kept a secret, even from her.”
Persephone nodded, never doubting the truth to what he said. It didn’t make her dislike it any less.
“When you return to Manhattan, tell Anton she is part-human. That should explain any extra,” he paused thinking of the correct noun, “talents, she may possess due to my part.”
Breeding with humans was almost impossible, but when it did occur, the child always had a few extra quirks that the human blood contributed.
They had no idea what to expect from their child. She was the first ever fathered by the man who sat across from Persephone, at least in the mating aspect. With the talents he himself possessed, there was no guessing what gifts their child would have.
Persephone hated the idea of returning to Anton, but he was the only one strong enough to protect her child, as long as he never found out who her real father was. If he did, Persephone knew she was no match for him. If surrendering to his will meant her child would be kept from harm’s way, then that was a sacrifice she was more than willing to make.
She would sell the lie that a human fathered her child, even though human breeding was taboo. Better the nest frown at Persephone and her baby than to learn their daughter’s true origins came from the vampire who sat across from the booth in the all-night diner. On her life, Persephone would keep her daughter safe, no matter the cost.
“My Gabriella,” the man whispered. Reaching across the table, he placed his hand over his mate’s expanding belly. It was one concession he’d evoke as often as he could, because only God above knew when he’d see his daughter again.
Chapter 1
Where was he? Shawn was running late again. I knew it shouldn’t surprise me. He liked to be fabulous and make an entrance. I still had hope that he’d learn to be more punctual, but yet again, he had disappointed me.
I scrambled through my clutch searching for my phone. I was going to send him a quick text asking where the hell he was. We were wasting daylight. Quite literally. At dusk, the vampires would rise and my butt had better be home. My over protective mother would remember this was my day off since I had to work Saturday.
Even though I had been at it for over a year, she was still a little upset with me for taking the job in the first place. Time worked differently for vampires. My mother might get over it sometime in the next five years. We didn’t need the money. The nest would provide for us, more than comfortably, especially as long as Anton ran things. He had sired my mother and now he had the hots for me, which was a bit creepy. He was like my grandfather in a weird vampiric way.
Suppressing the shiver that occurred whenever I thought about the master vampire, I continued digging into my clutch. My fingers grasped my cell phone pulling it from its confines. I was just swiping my finger to unlock the screen when, out of nowhere, I slammed into the hard body of a complete stranger. My phone went flying from my hand crashing against the concrete. That was not something that normally happened to me. My senses were more enhanced than a human’s.
“Oh my God! I am so sorry,” I exclaimed to the stranger.
He was crouched down reaching for his dropped phone as well as mine. “No, it’s alright. It was completely my fault. I was an idiot and was looking down at my phone instead of where I was walking.” He stood clutching both phones in his palm.
Meeting his gaze, I inhaled sharply. It was then that I noticed he was exquisitely handsome. His defined features appeared to be chiseled from marble. Full, kissable lips rested under his sharp nose. But what really drew my attention where his smoky gray eyes that seemed to swirl like a cyclone of gunmetal, drawing me in to the point that I swear he could influence me much like a vampire. I wanted to stare into them and get lost.
My pulse leapt and my stomach filled with nervous, yet unfamiliar, flutters. His muscular body filled out his gray business suit, which happened to match the color of his eyes perfectly. For the first time in my life, I had the desire to touch a complete stranger—to trace my fingers across his features, over his body until I discovered every ridge and crevice. I stood there gaping at him for a moment overwhelmed by his sensual masculinity as my mind wandered.
He quirked his eyebrow questionably at me and I realized he had been attempting to give me back my iPhone. With a deep breath, I tried to calm my nerves only striving to make matters worse when I inhaled his scent. It was divine. Not cologne or shampoo, but a scent that was entirely his own. Perhaps it was the predator in me noticing his aroma, although the thought didn’t stop my mouth from watering for two completely different reasons. My fangs ached with longing, wanting to sink into his skin and taste the blood flowing in his veins. Between my thighs grew damp with a completely different desire, as I wondered how skilled his incredibly handsome body really was. I was stunned by my reaction. It was out of the ordinary for me. I’d never met a man
Shaking my head, I cleared all thoughts of this man and my hopes of what we could do together as I mumbled, “Thank you. Mister...?”
The corners of his lips quirked up into a sexy smirk. “Alexander. Grayson,” he offered. Even his voice was delicious, rich and velvety, like it was coated in honey to give it a little extra smoothness, which momentarily distracted me from his name. Grayson Alexander. Why did it sound so familiar to me?
“And you?” he asked as I finally took my phone.
My fingertips grazed his skin sending electric currents pulsating up my arm. “I’m, um, Gabriella Carmichael,” I stammered, struggling to steady my voice, but it came out lower than I intended.
“Well Gabriella, it was nice running into you,” he chuckled as if finding humor in our situation.
“The pleasure’s mine,” I whispered.
“You have a good day.” He tilted his head taking a few steps backwards. Nodding, I watched as he turned to continue on his way. I cocked my head admiring the way his body moved with a grace that I didn’t expect from a man of his stature. After a few feet, he glanced over his shoulder, grinning in my direction. I blushed when he caught me staring. All too quickly he was gone, making his way through the herd of New Yorkers.
Feeling irritated with myself, I couldn’t believe how awkward I had become when faced with a deliciously handsome man, and how it transformed me from the confident woman I prided myself on being, into a blubbering, hormonal, teenage girl. Although I never had experienced what most teenagers did. I guess I was making up for lost time. I was also annoyed at the fact that I would never see him again. Kicking myself for not trying to get his number, I clutched my phone in my hand, preparing to call Shawn.
“Hey baby girl. What’s going down?” A teasing voice I knew all to well, called out before I could unlock my phone.
I spun, seeing that Shawn had finally made his grand appearance and not a minute too soon. I wanted to feign annoyance at his tardiness. He had made me wait knowing my time was limited, but I didn’t have it in me to be vexed. Smiling, I threw my phone back in my clutch. Shawn was dark; dark hair, dark eyes, dark skin. His parents were Hispanic but Shawn was the whitest Hispanic I’d ever seen and I didn’t mean appearance wise.
I threw my arms around his neck, in a brief friendly hug. He was dressed in his usual baggy jeans that hugged his hips and a cute gunmetal gray button up shirt. Gray like the gorgeous eyes of Mr. Grayson Alexander. Geez! I internally groaned. He wasn’t even out of my sight for ten minutes and I was already being reminded of him. Deciding to put him out of my mind, it wasn’t like I’d ever see Grayson again. At least that’s what I told myself.
It was still early for lunch, but Shawn and I enjoyed talking for a while before we ate which would occupy some time. Figuring we might as well find a spot and beat the lunchtime rush, we made our way to one of our favorite bistros, Casa Mia, which had a beautiful outdoor patio.
“You’re working that outfit, Gaby,” he proclaimed as we took our seats outside. The sun hadn’t hit its apex yet, but when it did, we had a nice umbrella shielding us. Not that the UV rays particularly affected either of us. I was part human so the sun didn’t fry me like a fritter like your average vampire—and thanks to my vampire DNA, not much could harm me. Shawn, well, unless it was silver, it wasn’t hurting him. We sat in the corner surrounded by small, round, black marble tables similar to ours. Chairs varied in quantity from two to three, but in each seat rested a black cushion matching the tables.
“You’re just now noticing?” I laughed snobbishly eyeing my menu. It was part of our playful banter. Sporting a killer dress, since I didn’t have to wear my usual business attire, I felt more relaxed. The dress was short, cutting off just above mid-thigh with a layer of black lace over midnight blue satin, close to the same shade as my eyes. It was why I liked this dress so much. Heels were my obsession and the black ones I wore were no exception. My raven hair hung straight looking sleek and long.
“You know I don’t look at girls,” he teased. “If you were a guy, I would have definitely noticed.”
I shook my head with a giggle. “Yeah, I don’t think you’d be the only one noticing if it was a guy dressed in my outfit.”
He ignored my quip and continued on like I said nothing. It was something he did when he had no retort back. “Your mother would flip her lid though if she saw you in it.”
I nodded, “She’s not going to though. I just have to get back before the sun sets and put on some jeans.”
He sighed sympathetically. “I don’t know what I’d do if I had an over-protective, vampire mother on my ass all the time about what I wear.” He hushed his voice on the word vampire, knowing all he had to do was whisper it and I’d hear him, courtesy of my vampire super senses and a healthy diet of blood that kept my senses at their best.
I glared at him. He knew my mother wasn’t a topic up for discussion. Perhaps it was a low blow, but I hit him back in a similar manner. “Well, I don’t know what I’d do if I went furry once a month.” That got his attention. Feeling his eyes bearing down on me, I flicked my gaze to him with a smirk on my mouth. Sometimes it was just too easy to get under his skin, or rather his fur.
“You really want to play this game, little girl? You’ll lose.”
“I doubt it,” I stated smugly.
Shawn sat up straighter. Glancing casually around to make sure no one was within ear range, his gaze then locked with me. We were still alone in our corner of the patio. “At least I don’t have an over protective, vampire mother, who’s on my ass all the time about my clothes,” he repeated quickly since I already heard it, “who’s trying to play matchmaker between me and some four hundred year old ancient, that looks damn good for his age, I might add, but who is scarier than shit.”
I slammed my menu down drawing a few eyes our way that quickly returned to their own business. “Screw you, Shawn,” I hissed. “At least I’m not chickening out about telling my werewolf father, who desperately wants his eldest son to carry on his line, that said son is gay!”
With that, I picked up my menu and buried my nose in it until our waitress came and took our drink order.
Shawn took a deep breath. “I’m sorry Gabs. I shouldn’t have said that bull about your mom.”
I sighed, “No Shawn, it’s true. And I’m sorry too. It’s not my place to give you a hard time about coming out to your folks.” That was something I loved about Shawn. Neither of us held a grudge against the other for longer than it took to place a drink order.
“My dad,” he corrected me and I furrowed my brow. Seeing my confusion, Shawn explained. “My mom has known since I was twelve. She says I was just never that interested in girls. And with me not trying to sneak my dad’s Playboys, like Chris, she said it was a dead giveaway.” We both laughed.
Soon after, our waitress returned with our drinks and Shawn and I decided to go ahead and order. I loved this place. The wait was never very long and the food was amazing. We talked our way through lunch. Shawn and I spent almost every free moment with the other, outside of work, yet we always had a variety of things to talk about. It was like a never-ending fountain of topics and that was something I loved about Shawn. We never grew bored with each other. I often wondered if it had something to do with the fact that we didn’t have to hide who we truly were from each other like we did with the rest of the outside world.
We were just finishing up our meal when someone’s phone began ringing. Shawn and I exchanged a silent glance. Both of us shook our heads letting the other know it wasn’t us. We peered around, but no one else was close. It stopped. I shrugged as we continued settling our check, when it started again.
