Page 20 of Between Imminent Fates

With his mate in danger, he radiated the urge to protect, and there’d be no relief from it until that threat passed.

As they’d planned, Lucy led Derek to the passenger side of the Jeep Grand Cherokee. Jeremiah’s invisibility cloaked the three of them inside from his prying eyes.

Satisfied no one was in the car, theCitizenslieutenant opened the door and sat down—to the immediate feel of a gun barrel pressed into his neck.

“If you do anything that threatens my mate, I won’t hesitate to use this weapon.”

Aidan’s words made Zia shiver, but her mate was unperturbed. “Which would be a real shame because grey matter is notoriously difficult to get out of leather.”

Lucy hit the gas, taking them out of the parking lot and toward the secondary location where Zia would work her magic.

The night before, Key had instructed them on how to deal with Derek in great detail. As he was immune to suggestion, there was only one option to keep him alive: altering his memories. His tenure with theCitizenswas to be completely erased from his memory—as was his relationship with Lucy.

Remmus, their resident technopath, had already created an entirely new identity for Derek; one where Torrin and the otherCitizenscouldn’t find him. It was a witness protection program, of sorts.

Recoding his memories would remove him from the equation while simultaneously dealing a catastrophic blow to their enemies. Their fallback plan, should Torrin go public, was to bring Derek out of hiding, publicizing his story about how theCitizensgroup was a cult, made up of fanatics and extremists.

Derek smelled of fear and sour sweat by the time they pulled into the underground parking garage. Long abandoned, it was on the outskirts of the city and rarely visited by anyone except vandals and vagrants.

Tonight, it’d play host to the immortals and their enemy.

Stumbling out of the car, Derek whirled around. Those wide eyes darted between each of them, finally settling on his former fiancée. “Lucy, please, come on. I’d never hurt you. Please don’t do this.”

“Don’t do what?” Aidan’s dry tone sounded threatening even without a hint of malevolence. “You’ve no idea why you’re here.”

TheCitizenssycophant backed into a wall, yelping as his spine hit the concrete. “Please don’t kill me.”

“Please don’t killyou?” The wolf inside Aidan snarled. “Now you beg for your life? What about the others you’ve killed who never got that chance? What about all the wolves you’ve condemned to a tortured death because you turned them?”

Aidan’s fist shot out of nowhere to strike the pock-marked concrete an inch away from Derek’s face. Dust billowed out from under his knuckles, shards of concrete falling to the ground when he retracted his hand. The human male hacked at the resulting dust, quivering in fear, but Zia could find no empathy for him.

Sputtering, Derek put up two hands defensively. “The—the wolves weren’t my idea. I only ever wanted to hurt the vampires. They—theyare the ones who hurt people.”

“How is that any different than what you are doing, Derek?” Lucy asked. “You’re hurting people. Those wolves you turned and forced to become rabid? Each of them had a family. A home. A mom and a dad.Youturned them rabid.Youmade them hurt people.”

“We turned only those who wouldn’t be missed.”

“And purposefully turned hem rabid afterward—because they wouldn’t have harmed a soul otherwise,” Aidan growled, his top lip revealing teeth that looked too sharp to be human.

Finally donning the mask of theCitizenslieutenant, Derek recited, “Immortals kill people. Vampires make them do things they’d never otherwise do. You must’ve seen it by now, Lucy.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Derek.” Shaking her head vehemently, Lucy said, “The vampires I know aregoodpeople. None of them would make someone do something against their will; it’s against their code. I know Torrin has told you the vampire council has mandated blood bags instead of live feeds.”

“Those monsters have pulled the wool over your eyes.”

“My eyes are as clear as they’ve ever been.” Her gaze met Zia’s. “I think it’s time, don’t you?”

“Time for what?”

Cocky façade falling, Derek’s back hit the concrete again. But he had nowhere to go, and he merely fisted his hands and shifted uneasily on his feet as he looked back and forth between Zia and Lucy.

“We aren’t going to kill you, but we are going to modify your memories,” Jeremiah said, almost chipper. “Say goodbye to the old Derek.”

“Modify my memories? You mean brainwash me?” Derek turned snide. “I’m immune to suggestion. Good luck.”

“Oh, we know. That’s why I’m here.” Zia’s mouth curved while she pressed his limbs into the concrete behind him telekinetically. “And I’m no vampire.”

And then she was in his mind.

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