Free Adrian (The Dark Shadows Book 4) by Ariel Marie Page A

turned.” She gasped at Jaxon’s blunt statement.
    She knew that the other rogues didn’t care for her back then. She wasn’t as evil as them, or wanted to kill and torture anything that wasn’t a vampire.
    “They had expected you to go rogue immediately after you were turned, but you didn’t. You woke up like any other newly turned vampire. I begged them to give you a chance, but I knew that you weren’t meant to be a rogue. They wanted to force you to go full bloodthirsty rogue, but I couldn’t allow them to do it. You were too pure of heart. That’s why I helped you leave.”
    Memories began to surface of her last night in the compound. She had been tied down to a metal table, alone in a room filled with tools for their medical experimentations. She could still hear her own screams echo in the room as she fought to get free from her restraints. Her memory was still sometimes a blur, but she remembered the door to the room banging open, and Jaxon rushing in.
    Once he freed her, he practically dragged her out of the building, and gave her the keys to a car. He told her to go, to never look back, and drive until she was far away from them. She sped away, driving far off into the night. The car was packed with everything she would need. A few days’ worth of clothes, a few grand in cash, and even a cooler with a couple pints of blood.
    “But why?” she asked, coming back to the present.
    “Well, that’s obvious,” Teague’s voice came through. “He cared for you.”
    Her eyes widened at Teague’s assumption. She thought back, but Jaxon never showed any interest in her, aside from making sure she learned how to be a vampire.
    “I was still too late,” he whispered, a grimace forming on his face.
    “Too late for what?” She was so confused by his ramblings. She knew she had to get him back on subject in order to make sense of what he was saying.
    “The necromancers. I was one of many working with them… giving them rogues to use, trying to destroy the Dark Shadows,” he said, staring down at the ground. “We were building a rogue army to fight the Shadows and vampires alike. You know of everything we taught you. The vampires and Dark Shadows cannot be trusted. But the necromancers wanted total control of the rogues. They took their life energy, and will now make them fight the vampires. They will use mind control to get the rogues to do what they want.”
    “Shit!” Teague cursed.
    “What does that have to do with me?” she whispered, as dread filled her belly.
    “They took yours,” he confessed, looking defeated. “When they are ready, they will be able to control you too.”

Chapter 13
Adrian
    A ngel had been shell-shocked ever since she left from speaking with the rogue. Her large brown eyes were filled with tears when he opened the door to the dungeon, along with a look of horror. He instantly picked her up and carried her straight to Nicu’s office, placing her on one of the couches.
    She had yet to say a word or move since leaving the dungeon. His siblings gathered in the room as word spread about the necromancers having full control over every rogue, including his mate.
    “Should we call the doctor?” Nadira asked, concern lining her face.
    “I don’t know,” Adrian said, waiting for his parents to come. There had to be some way for them to break the control the necromancers had over Angel. He refused to lose his mate. “We’ll find some way to break their hold on her.”
    “If they have taken her energy, is there any way for her to escape them?” Teague asked.
    “She’s like a sleeper cell,” Nicu snapped from behind his desk. “The minute the necromancers are ready to attack, they can activate her, and there’s no telling what they will have her do.”
    “For all we know, she’ll try to kill you, brother,” Toma said, frowning.
    “I could never hurt him,” Angel whispered, her tear-filled eyes looking around the room. “You must believe me.”
    “I know that,”