Forbidden
By Misha
Disclaimer- Not mine.
Author’s Notes- This is it. The final chapter of “Forbidden”. When I started this story, I had no idea what the book was going to do with Vega and it started out as a more romantic tale than the ending allows, but I adapted and instead it became a story of heartbreak and of love gone terribly wrong.
Pairing- Adam Vega/MC
Rating- PG-13
Summary- It’s time for the final battle between Adam and Adrian. Is Lilith ready to face off with the man who broke her heart?
Words- 2856
Chapter Ten: The Fight
We woke up just before sunset and joined Kamilah in the main room of the cabin. Before anything could be said, or plans made, there was a noise from outside.
“What’s that?” I asked, feeling like it couldn’t be anything good. I ran to the window and froze at the sight of the large truck. As I stood there staring, Kamilah and Adrian joining me at the window, I watched Adam get out of the truck, Nicole behind him.
“Adrian, old friend, come out, come out, you’ve got something of mine,” Adam called out in a friendly voice. I wonder if he ever let his mask of charm slip.
I exchanged looks with Kamilah and Adrian. “Do we just hide?”
“They’ll simply come in,” Kamilah answered.
“What about making a deal?” I asked desperately, still trying to think of a way out of this predicament.
Adrian shot me a pitying look. “There’s no bargaining with the likes of Vega. He’s here to kill. Our only option is to kill him first.”
My heart clenched at his words. I think I had known since we hatched this plan that it would come to this and yet… Hearing the words out loud…
“I’m sorry Lilith,” Adrian told me in a low voice, “but he’s here to kill us.”
“I know,” I told him. I took a deep breath. “Let’s do this.”
Adrian nodded and then the three of us exited the cabin.
Adam greeted us with a smile. “Hello, old friends. You’ve got something of mine,” he repeated, “actually, a couple of things.”
I stiffened as his eyes fell on me.
“I am not yours,” I spit out, glaring at him. It was the truth. I’d come close to giving myself to him, but thankfully he had revealed himself as a monster before I could and now I knew. Now I knew the truth that lurked behind all that charm.
“But you wanted to be,” he reminded me as if he could read my thoughts, “you were so close to giving in at the ball, to promising yourself to me. You liked the way I made you feel, the way I can make you feel again.” His voice was low and seductive and I felt drawn to it despite everything.
“You’re a monster,” I told him, the words as much for my own benefit as his. I couldn’t let myself forget who he really was. I needed to focus on the monster, not the sexy, devastatingly charming man who’d made me think he might be my Prince Charming.
He shrugged, unaffected by my words. “Unlike some people I’ve never pretended to be anything else.” Adrian stiffened beside me and I remembered what Kamilah had told me in the woods, about the things she and Adrian had done. I was curious, however now wasn’t the time for those questions. “But I also meant it when I said I could show you the world, Lilith.”
“What about her,” I asked curiously, nodding contemptuously at Nicole, who returned my glare of dislike.
“My deal with her has nothing to do with my offer to you,” Adam said with a shrug, “I’ll make her a vampire, but I’ll give you everything you could ever dream of–including immortality.”
I saw Nicole stiffen. “What? You’re not serious,” she protested, “what is it about her?”
“Some of us just have it, Nicole,” I taunted, “I mean, you had to beg and betray to get the promise of being Turned and me, well, I don’t have to do anything. Hell, I don’t even want it. That must drive you crazy.”
I could see from the look on her face, the way her jaw tightened that my remark had hit home.
“Bitch!” Nicole spat.
Adam gave her a look and she shut up, though she continued to look at me with pure hatred.
“You know you want to come with me,” Adam coaxed, “I can offer you so much more than Adrian can. We also both know that in the end, I’ll get what I want, so why delay it?”
“Fuck off,” I told him, glaring at him.
Adrian laughed and then focused his attention on Adam.
“How the Hell did you find me here?”
“I had The Baron plant a tracker in your arm while you were in captivity,” Adam said with a shrug. “Just in case you tried something stupid like this.”
“He’ll pay for that.” Adrian vowed.
Adam simply smiled. “Come on, Adrian. You know me. I always cover my bases.”
“I can’t believe you’re still alive after that stunt you pulled…” Nicole muttered, staring at Adrian with a combination of admiration and rage.
“Yes, well, I’m surprisingly hard to kill,” Adrian told her, dismissing her to focus on Adam. “You ought to know that, Vega.”
I raised an eyebrow at that because it sounded like there was a story there. Until the night before, I’d assumed they were friends, allies and now… Now it seemed like there was so much more beneath the surface.
Adam merely shrugged, his politician smile plastered on his face. “No matter. It’s much more exciting this way. We’ll extract that serum out of you even if we have to drain every last drop of your blood to get it.”
“When this started, I wanted it to go painlessly,” Nicole told him. “But now? I’m looking forward to hearing your screams.”
Adrian shot her a look of disgust. “You two are a good match. Ambitious, yet lacking any moral compass.”
“Better than a lack of vision.” Adam countered.
Adrian scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Spare me.”
“It’s true and you know it, Adrian,” Adam told him. “You’ve always thought small. You can’t help yourself. A serum to try to make yourself human again? What were you thinking?” Adrian didn’t answer, but I don’t think Adam wanted an answer, he just kept talking. “Why would you ever want to return to being of those mewling sheep? That’s always been your weakness, Adrian. Your affection for them. Your sad little nostalgia. Humans are our prey. We shouldn’t be fearing them, protecting them, loving them.”
I gasped despite myself, the harsh reality of his words hitting me. Of how little I’d meant to him. How could I be so naive? Of course, he hadn’t loved me, hadn’t felt anything for me, I’d just been a pawn in his game and he’d played me so well.
The sound made his eyes fall on me, distracting him from Adrian for a moment. “Don’t take it, personally, Lilith, I’m not referring to you.” He assured me, his voice taking on a soothing tone. “You are not one of the mewling sheep, you have so much more potential. You’re one of the rare mortal worthy of the gift of eternal life.”
I recoiled in horror at his words. Did he really think I would let him Turn me, that I’d willingly go to his side?
Adam turned his attention back to Adrian, “Back to my point. We don’t need to walk amongst humans, debasing ourselves to them. We can Turn the ones that are worthy and rule over the rest like the gods we are.”
Adrian merely scoffed. “You sound like Gaius.”
There was that name again… Why… Why did it sound so familiar? Who was Gaius?
“Gaius never had your serum,” Adam pointed out with a smirk.
Adrian went silent.
“Figuring it out now, are you?” Nicole taunted.
“That’ what all of this is about?” Adrian said after a moment, the pieces falling into place. “You’re the one behind all the Ferals?”
“No.” Adam denied. “Not until the ball anyway. At that point… well, what kind of politician would I be if I let a good crisis go to waste? The serum is the key to everything. If we use it, we no longer have to fear the day. The humans’ greatest advantage… gone. No need for blood farms or viruses. We can rule them openly, directly, in the light of day.”
I could tell he meant every word, he meant to seize power and make himself a God, making humanity bow to him. Adrian had wanted to use the serum for good and Adam… How had my heart led me so astray? How had I ignored the good man to fall for the monster? And how did we get out of this situation?
“Can we make a deal?” I asked desperately, trying to buy some time.
Adam smiled, that charming smile that had melted my heart only a few days earlier and made me want to do whatever he asked of me. But now, I didn’t see the charm, I saw the sinister intentions that lurked beneath it. I finally saw him for who he really was. “Of course, sweetheart. You come with me now and I kill Adrian and Kamilah, taking everything I want and losing nothing, but I promise to make it painless. What’s your counter offer?”
God, he was such an asshole. How had he fooled me so completely? He was so fucking confident too. There was something we were missing, I knew it.
Beside me, Adrian cracked his knuckles and loosened his tie.“Enough talk. Shall we end this?”
“Oh, absolutely.” Adam agreed. “But before you go getting all excited… As much as I’d love to fight you myself, I just can’t take any risks. What with my new world order and all. Nicole?”
“With pleasure.” Grinning, Nicole pressed a button on a remote, and the door to the truck’s trailer unlatches.
“Oh, no.” Kamilah breathed.
“Oh. Yes.” Nicole stated with satisfaction.
The doors to the trailer flew open and out ran at least two dozen ferals. Oh God.
“Come now, Lilith,” Adam bade, “come to me and I’ll keep you safe.” He held out his hand as if beseeching me and yet, while only a day ago, I’d been entirely in his spell, it held no power of me. Just the idea…
“I’d rather die,” I spit out defiantly.
His eyes narrowed in anger, his composure finally slipping. “Very well. Maybe I’ll save you after the ferals are done with you or maybe I’ll grant your wish.”
There were no more words because then the Ferals were on us. Adrian, Kamilah and I did our best, fighting them off, but they just kept coming and there were so many of them.
It hit me that we were really going to die out there.
Just as I resigned myself to my fate, suddenly a crossbow appeared out of nowhere and then out of the shadows came Jax, Lily and an army of Clanless.
Oh, God. We were saved.
“How!” I breathed as I ran to Jax, throwing my arms around him.”
“I’ve had my own people tailing Vega.” He explained, holding me close for a moment and then reluctantly letting me go. “ When I saw him loading up a truck with Ferals, I knew I had to act. I gave my people the choice… and they chose to fight.”
“They’re going to pay for everything they’ve done to my Jaxxie!” Liv declared fiercely.
I smiled and then glanced behind the Clanless where I saw more faces, the people in the Baron’s dungeon. Jax had brought us an army. Oh, god, we might actually get to see another day.
With the Clanless’ help, Adrian and I fought our way through the Ferals to the truck but both Adam and Nicole were gone. Of course.
“I’ll go after Vega,” Adrian declared, disappearing into the woods.
I was going to go search for Nicole when suddenly the door to the truck opened, knocking me off my feet and Nicole loomed over me with a crossbow in her hands.
“You ruined everything. Everything. But at least I get to watch you die… I’ll just tell Vega there was nothing I could do…”Her finger poised over the trigger but I was too fast, kicking her in the shin.
What happened over the next few minutes was a battle, the two of clawing at each other, fighting for our lives. Nicole almost got the upper hand, but I fought back.
She ran desperately, but I wasn’t going to let it end like that. Rage coursed through me, the events of the last 48 hours hitting me and Nicole was the perfect target for my rage.
I ignored her pleas and put the crossbolt through her skull with little remorse, knowing she would have done the same for me.
I left her on the grass, not even looking back as I headed back to the truck. I spoke with Jax momentarily and he handed me a UV flashlight before I went after Adrian. “You might need that.”
I took it and then headed through the wood again until I reached a clearing. There, in a field of flowers, were two figures squaring off in the moonlight…
Adam and Adrian.
“Damn you, Adrian. You couldn’t make this easy, could you?” Adam huffed as he dodged a blow.
Adrian laughed. “Not really my style. Now let’s get this over with.”
With a roar, Adam leaped at Adrian, swinging back a right hook… And Adrian effortlessly weaved around it, delivering three brutal jabs to Vega’s side. I cringed as I heard his ribs shatter.
“Hkkkk”
He spun around grabbing for Adrian’s throat, but Adrian sidestepped and delivered an elbow to the back of Adam’s head, knocking him to the ground. I stared in fascination, I had never seen anything like this before.
“Come on Vega. You know you can’t win.” Adrian taunted. “I’m twice the fighter you’ll ever be.”
“Yes, yes. You were always his perfect warrior.” Adam sneered, the loathing now readily apparent. “But I’ve got one thing you never will.” He jumped at Adrian with his hand outstretched. Adrian caught it at the wrist, stopping it an inch from his throat and Adam just grinned, a sight that made my heart stop. “Cunning.”
He clenched his fist, and a spring-loaded blade hidden up his sleeve, fired, embedding itself into Adrian’s shoulder!
“Aghh!”
Adrian stumbled back, and that was all the opening Adam needed. He weaved around Adrian, grabbing him in a headlock, and forces him down to his knees as I watched, horror-stricken, from a distance.
“Farewell, old friend.” Vega’s held something to Adrian’s throat, though I was too far away to see what.
I had to do something, I had to help Adrian. I couldn’t just stand there and watch Adam kill him. I had to act.
Author’s Notes- I couldn’t decide how to end this story, whether to go with the proper ending or with the fail ending (with a twist) and in the end I decided to go with both. What follows here is Ending A. Ending B can be found here.
Thinking quickly, I grabbed the UV light and blasted both men with it.
“I’m sorry, Adrian!” I cried as a hot blue bean cut through the night air, enveloping them both. It was enough to make Adam crumble and drop Adrian, I could hear him hiss as his skin blistered…
But Adrian… There was no blistering, no pain, in fact, he seemed unaffected. I watched in horror as Adrian stalked towards Adam, toying with him, sounding completely unlike Adrian as he held up his hand and made Adam’s blood boil from within. “Farewell, old friend.”
I stood there in stunned silence as I watched Adam combust before my eyes, burned alive from the inside, hearing his screams.
It took another moment for Adrian to snap out of whatever had taken hold of him, though the sound of my voice and my hands on his arm seemed to help.
“Did I do that?” He asked, when he’d come back to himself, glancing over at Adam’s charred remains.
I nodded wordlessly and then suddenly, despite myself, I started to sob as the reality hit me. Adam was dead. He had been a monster and it could only end like this, but… It still hurt.
God, did it hurt.
Adrian’s arms wrapped around me, holding me as I sobbed.
“This is ridiculous,” I sniffed, my face buried in his chest, “I shouldn’t… I shouldn’t mourn him. He was a monster.”
“He was,” Adrian agreed quietly, “but the heart isn’t rational. You cared about him.” It was quiet as if the announcement hurt him to say.
I nodded. “Yeah.” I looked at the charred remains one more time, thinking back to every moment of the last week, how exhilarated at first I had felt when Senator Adam Vega expressed interest me, the way I’d come apart under his touch, how fast I’d fallen… Only to learn that I’d fallen for lies and deception and for a man that didn’t exist.
There had never been a happy ending to this story, I knew that now. It was always going to end with tragedy and bad things and yet, somehow, I the human had survived while the monster had fallen. SO, in that, the story had a twist.
“We should get back to the others,” Adrian said gently, letting me go.
I nodded, casting one last look at what remained of Adam Vega, before following Adrian. I was battered and a little broken, but I was alive and I would survive. This was not the end of the story, just of one part of it. And next time, next time I’d be more careful who I gave my heart too.
- End
