Retribution (Book 3 of The Dominion Series) Read Online Free Page B
Author: S. E. Lund
he'll fight my desire to kill Soren, but I won't give in until he complies.
That, or I'll leave him and I doubt he'll let me leave him ever again.
CHAPTER THREE
"You shall know the truth and the truth shall drive you mad."
Aldous Huxley
The next few days pass much as they have since the bombing. Michel and I walk the beach together, stopping to remember when we met – again – and the few days we're back together are so happy and filled with pleasure, I shut off my mind for once, just letting things happen. He shows me memory after memory so that I start to feel our shared past rather than just know about it from reading my journal.
He can't deny me this time. When we've had our fill of each other, he'll let me back in to the life he tried so hard to keep me from so we can kill Soren. He's not said it in so many words but I've felt his resignation about it. He knows that unless he wants to go through the whole drug me to make me forget exercise again, I won't give up until we face what lies ahead. Until we find a way to destroy Soren and prevent Dominion. He's tried to keep me from being involved and it nearly cost me my life. Now, he must understand that I can't let it go.
It's my calling – to do what my mother failed to do. Help in the fight to 'cure' vampirism and prevent new vampires from being made.
To help prevent Dominion.
That night, we wear sweaters as we walk along the shore because the nights are now cool, the air crisp with a hint of Autumn. After our walk, we lie on a blanket on the beach and watch the stars, our hands clasped.
I want him to show me his memory of my mother's death. I haven't asked him yet, and have been blocking him from my mind so he won't know. But all day, I've been thinking of it – wanting to know how he felt and what he was doing when it happened. They knew each other and he was her liaison to the Council. As we're lying on the beach, I decide to ask.
"Take me back to the day my mother died. When you learned about it."
He says nothing for a moment. "Why?"
"I want to know what you know, how you felt."
He sighs. "That is not a memory you should have, Eve. It's not a good memory nor is it safe for you to know. It will put you at risk."
"How? I just want to know how you felt about it. What you know."
"I can tell you that Soren was responsible. He wanted your mother to turn over research to him, research she was doing for the Council to find a silver bullet to kill us all. He tried to compel her but she was immune, just like you. That’s where you got it. When she wouldn't comply, she died."
"Wouldn't killing her mean he'd never get her research?"
"No," he says. "There were others working with her. He wanted her on his side. He wanted to develop his own silver bullet – not one that would kill us all, but kill selectively so he could use it against those who resisted him. She was key, but her colleagues would be just as useful."
"I want your memory," I say, my voice firm. "You used your memories to convince me to stay with you. It's not fair that you get to use them for your own goals but not for mine. Show me."
He turns on his side and reaches out to stroke my cheek. "Please Eve. I'm asking you not to demand this. Ask me for some other memory – any other memory. This is somewhere you don't want to go."
"Or somewhere you don't want me to go," I say, and pull my hand out of his. "What is it about her death that you don't want me to know? "
He doesn't say anything for a moment, his expression haunted, his eyes huge.
"I was there."
"What?" A shock rushes through me. "You were there ? When he killed my mother?"
He sighs heavily.
"You have to understand, Eve, that I was susceptible to his compulsion. I had no ability to stop what happened. I didn’t know what was going to happen and even if I did, he controlled me."
I reach out to touch him, to try to connect with him to see into his memories, but he blocks me, pulling
That, or I'll leave him and I doubt he'll let me leave him ever again.
CHAPTER THREE
"You shall know the truth and the truth shall drive you mad."
Aldous Huxley
The next few days pass much as they have since the bombing. Michel and I walk the beach together, stopping to remember when we met – again – and the few days we're back together are so happy and filled with pleasure, I shut off my mind for once, just letting things happen. He shows me memory after memory so that I start to feel our shared past rather than just know about it from reading my journal.
He can't deny me this time. When we've had our fill of each other, he'll let me back in to the life he tried so hard to keep me from so we can kill Soren. He's not said it in so many words but I've felt his resignation about it. He knows that unless he wants to go through the whole drug me to make me forget exercise again, I won't give up until we face what lies ahead. Until we find a way to destroy Soren and prevent Dominion. He's tried to keep me from being involved and it nearly cost me my life. Now, he must understand that I can't let it go.
It's my calling – to do what my mother failed to do. Help in the fight to 'cure' vampirism and prevent new vampires from being made.
To help prevent Dominion.
That night, we wear sweaters as we walk along the shore because the nights are now cool, the air crisp with a hint of Autumn. After our walk, we lie on a blanket on the beach and watch the stars, our hands clasped.
I want him to show me his memory of my mother's death. I haven't asked him yet, and have been blocking him from my mind so he won't know. But all day, I've been thinking of it – wanting to know how he felt and what he was doing when it happened. They knew each other and he was her liaison to the Council. As we're lying on the beach, I decide to ask.
"Take me back to the day my mother died. When you learned about it."
He says nothing for a moment. "Why?"
"I want to know what you know, how you felt."
He sighs. "That is not a memory you should have, Eve. It's not a good memory nor is it safe for you to know. It will put you at risk."
"How? I just want to know how you felt about it. What you know."
"I can tell you that Soren was responsible. He wanted your mother to turn over research to him, research she was doing for the Council to find a silver bullet to kill us all. He tried to compel her but she was immune, just like you. That’s where you got it. When she wouldn't comply, she died."
"Wouldn't killing her mean he'd never get her research?"
"No," he says. "There were others working with her. He wanted her on his side. He wanted to develop his own silver bullet – not one that would kill us all, but kill selectively so he could use it against those who resisted him. She was key, but her colleagues would be just as useful."
"I want your memory," I say, my voice firm. "You used your memories to convince me to stay with you. It's not fair that you get to use them for your own goals but not for mine. Show me."
He turns on his side and reaches out to stroke my cheek. "Please Eve. I'm asking you not to demand this. Ask me for some other memory – any other memory. This is somewhere you don't want to go."
"Or somewhere you don't want me to go," I say, and pull my hand out of his. "What is it about her death that you don't want me to know? "
He doesn't say anything for a moment, his expression haunted, his eyes huge.
"I was there."
"What?" A shock rushes through me. "You were there ? When he killed my mother?"
He sighs heavily.
"You have to understand, Eve, that I was susceptible to his compulsion. I had no ability to stop what happened. I didn’t know what was going to happen and even if I did, he controlled me."
I reach out to touch him, to try to connect with him to see into his memories, but he blocks me, pulling
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