by Ward, H. M.
Cole shrugged, watching Cassie spinning in front of him. She had her arms out and was smiling, breathing in the cold air. His sisters actions concerned him. She’s already given up, he thought. She’s accepted her fate, even if we haven’t. Cole’s gaze cut to Kahli. “We have to make do. It’s part of the game.”
“That’s easy to say when they’re warm inside and not being threatened with death,” Kahli bit back. She realized her words were too harsh. She was upset, but didn’t mean to take it out on him. Cole’s shoulders slumped, his dark lashes obscuring his eyes. He ignored his sister’s good mood. He was probably more upset than Kahli. She breathed, “Sorry. I just—it’s beyond me how things have gotten so bad. I was isolated for so long. I had no idea.”
Cole nodded and looked up. His dark eyes scanned the horizon. “They said you had a nasty wound when they brought you to the palace, one that could have killed a vamp.” She nodded. Her shoulder would never be smooth skin again. Cole was intrigued. Asking her about it was rude, but he didn’t care. There was something glaringly different, besides the red hair. “You didn’t bleed out.”
“So?” Cassie asked, noticing the silence that passed between them. “Lots of us get scraped and heal. What’s the big deal?” Cassie didn’t know the extent of her injuries, but Cole seemed to know it was much more than a little cut. Kahli eyed him cautiously.
Kahli glanced back at Cole, she echoed Cassie, “Yeah, what’s the big deal?”
Cole stopped in his tracks, “You know what I mean. The rest of us die if we get a nose bleed, but a wolf ate your shoulder and you survived.”
Cassie stopped now too, her jaw hanging open. “A wolf did that? I thought they were joking.”
“No, they weren’t,” Cole answered, eyeing Kahli like she was a demon. “What kind of human can kill wolves with her bare hands and recover without vamp blood?”
“None. They healed me.” She stopped and stared at him, her eyes locked with his. Something was wrong, she could feel it, but Kahli didn’t know what.
Cassie felt the tension, and tried to defuse it, “Who cares, Cole. She’s here now. You don’t have to worry like you did. We’ll win this year. You’ll see.” Her voice was high and thin, like she didn’t really believe what she was saying. Cassie seemed to think Cole was just being protective. If this was a big brother act, Kahli was a monkey. It was something else. Contempt masked his face like a shadow.
Cole nodded, shoved his hands into his coat pockets, and continued to the little frozen grove. The snow was deeper in places, sinking up to Kahli’s knees. The wind whipped softy, but it was dry like always and sucked the moisture out of her skin. Her face would be chapped by the end of the day. No one was wearing masks. They’d be sunburned too.
Cole strode up to a frozen tree and stopped. There were twenty trees in straight lines. They’d been planted far apart. They must have looked nice when they were blooming. Now they were just tinder covered in ice, as useless as bones without flesh. Cole tried to snap a piece of ice off the trunk, so he could get at the bark.
After several attempts, Kahli got impatient. “We’re wasting time.” She ripped an icicle off a low branch. It was the size of a small shiv. Carefully, she climbed the tree and tried not to slip. The ice crept through her layers, making her shiver, but she kept climbing. It wasn’t very big, but she needed to move higher to get to the thinner branches. Kahli forced her body higher, pulling and heaving up the icy limbs one at a time. Cassie said the Queen cleared the snow out of the little clearing so that the trees wouldn’t get buried in snow over time. It was insane, but it appeared to be true. It looked like the four feet of new snow was swept away earlier that day. If she fell, the only thing that would break her fall was thick ice. Not thinking about it, Kahli shimmied out from the trunk, hugging the branch above her as her feet crept out onto the limb. She could see the bark under a thick layer of ice.
“Be careful, Kahli.” Cassie was nervously clutching her mittens to her face, trying not to speak. “We should have started at the top of the list. This is insane.”
The items that were the hardest to get were at the bottom of the list. Kahli wanted to start with those because they would be more time consuming and she knew she’d be the one to do them. She didn’t want to wait until the end of the day when her energy was depleted and she was weakened by fatigue.
Cole stood beneath her. Part of him wanted to catch her if she fell, and part of him knew it would kill him if he tried. Men didn’t have the strength to do such things, though he wished he did. This bossy girl climbing the tree amazed and frightened him. And he noticed that his little sister seemed to be taken with her. He hoped beyond reason that they won today, because he wasn’t letting them take Cassie. They’d been through too much to let them have her now. It was because of Cole that she was at the palace. It was because of Cole that she lived as long as she did. He wasn’t planning on submitting quietly at the end of the day, and handing Cassie over. He hadn’t discussed it with her. Cassie would have tried to protect him. She was a better person than him. Cole glanced at Kahli, thinking. With any luck, the crazy wild girl would pull a miracle out of the air. As it was, she was up a tree, moving through it like a cat. There was no trace of worry on her face, which he found amazing.
Sliding out farther onto the icy branch, Kahli wished she had nails on the soles of her boots. Climbing was nothing new, but doing it without the proper tools was foolish. The iced limb was beyond slippery, but she didn’t let that stop her. She was doing this. Then she’d do the next stupid thing, and they’d get the damn list before everyone froze.
Kahli shouted down to them without looking, “I’m gonna snap off the end of the branch and toss it to you. The ice will melt and we’ll have our bark.”
“I think they meant you to strip the bark off the trunk,” Cole replied. His hand shaded his eyes. The sun was directly overhead. Staring up at Kahli was giving him a headache. He wished they had goggles, or sunglasses—something that made the sun easier to deal with.
“Yeah, well since they didn’t specify, they’re getting a branch. Bark is bark.” Bending back the end of the branch, Kahli snapped off the tip. The ice surrounding it was nearly two inches thick. It was like trying to crack an ice cube in half, but she got it. The tip of the tiny brown twig was trapped inside the gleaming ice. Holding it up to the sun, she examined it to make sure there was still bark under there. With her luck, she’d get the stupid thing, the ice would melt, and she’d find out that some extinct animal chewed off the bark centuries ago. Satisfied that the branch would suffice, Kahli said, “Heads up,” and tossed it down.
Cassie caught it, and placed it in their bag. One down, way too many to go, she thought glumly. Though she hid it, Cassie was afraid. Last year’s Purging was awful. It was always terrible, but the vampires acted like it was an accepted part of life. The humans acted that way too after a while. No one questioned the Purging anymore, well, no one but Kahli. She glanced at Cole, hoping he wouldn’t try to take her place later. There were things about him that only she knew, and they needed to stay that way. It was better like this, better that she was weaker. Out of the two of them, she always knew she would die first—Cassie just hoped it would have been later—for some other reason. Getting destroyed in a Purging was a horrible way to go.
Kahli was only six feet up. She debated moving back toward the trunk and shimmying down the tree. She wanted to jump, but the lack of newly fallen snow made the ground too hard. She decided on a combination of both, “I’m going to lower myself, so that I’m hanging, and then I’ll drop to the ground. Get out of the way.”
“No!” Cole scolded her. “Go back the way you came. It’s safer.” His mitten shielded his eyes as he looked up at her. What was wrong with her? She seemed to do everything the most dangerous way possible.
“I wasn’t asking your permission, Cole,” she snapped. “Get out of the way.”
Cassie looked between both of them, “Kahli, you’re higher up than you think
. It’s too far to drop, even like that. The ground’s too hard. You’ll break your ankle.”
Kahli reassessed her distance from the ground, and shook her head, her feet starting to slip, “Can’t Cass. Move.” Just as she spoke, her feet slid out from under her. Reaching out with one hand, she grabbed the branch, hung for half a second, and then dropped to the ground. As soon as her feet hit the ice, they slid out from under her and she landed hard on her hip. She groaned, her hand rubbing her leg.
Shaking his head like she was an idiot, Cole walked over, meaning to help her up—but Kahli was already on her feet. “I’m fine,” she said. A bruise the size of pancake would be there later, she thought, rubbing the sore spot.
Cole folded his arms, watching her like she was the enemy. “Nothing broke? No blood?”
“No, just a bruise.” There was no concern in his voice. It sounded more like he was looking for proof to back his opinion about something. “Back off, Cole” she meant to shove past him, but he stepped in front of her. Green eyes flashing, she looked up at his face.
The man’s eyes were slits, his fists clenched by his sides, “You’re not human. One fall like that and we’d have bruised with a spot of gushing blood bigger than my hand.” His fist flew opened and he shook his finger in front of her face. “Bruises kill! I’ll restate the obvious since it seems to be necessary—you’re not human. You’re a half breed—a Bane.” He said the word like it disgusted him.
“Not now, Cole,” Cassie urged him, but he didn’t back down.
“What do you have against the Bane?” she didn’t bother to correct him. It was more important to find out what his problem was to see if she’d have to deal with it. Will spoke of the Bane like there were hardly any left. She didn’t think anything of it at the time. That’s the way life was now. People lived and died. There weren’t more to replace them. The world’s population shriveled and died. Kahli glanced at Cole’s fingers bunched into fists. She sighed inside. This guy wasn’t messing up Cassie’s chance of survival. If it came down to it, Kahli would take Cassie and ditch him. Cole was protective of the girl, for which she was glad—every person needed a protector, a champion who’d look out for them—but Cole seemed unbalanced.
Her arms folded against her chest. Kahli ignored the throbbing in her hip and glared at him. Cassie stood next to Cole, her expression begging him in a silent plea that was ignored.
He barked a laugh, “What do I have against them? I don’t know, everything! They’re the reason why the vamps started the camps. Bane are the reason why we were hunted, and the damn bloodsuckers can’t sustain their own race. Since the Bane were banished, the number of humans has dwindled to nothing. Bane are the reason for our suffering, and there is no way in Hell I’m letting you influence Cassie more than you already have. Leave, or we’ll do what we do to your kind.” His voice was hard, his words clipped.
“Cole, stop. She’s not Bane.” Cassie was worried. Her dark eyes shifted between the two, her hand reaching for her brother’s arm, but he shirked her off.
Kahli glared at Cole, his detest for vampires was incorrigible, but his venom for the Bane seemed misplaced. They had no choice, much as the humans who were corralled into camps.
“There’s one way to find out,” Cole growled.
“Everyone burns when you drop a match on them, Cole. Don’t be stupid.” Cassie was nearly shouting, her slender body vibrating with anger, the poodle coat shook like it was alive. “This might be the last day I’m alive and I’m not spending it like this.” They both turned to look at her. “Don’t you think that I knew this was coming? As soon as the snow fell deep enough to prove I’m not worth the blood flowing through my veins, I knew I’d die. It was a matter of time. There are only so many times I can narrowly avoid bleeding to death anyway…”
Cole cut her off, “The King shouldn’t have—”
“But he did,” Cassie snapped back, squaring her shoulders. There was no trace of the light-hearted girl from this morning. Her eyes were wide and glassy, her lips pinched into a scowl. “And this is my last day. My minutes are marked and I’m not wasting them standing here with you two arguing. End this. Now.” Cassie breathed hard, her gasps turning white as she exhaled, “And, she’s not Bane. I know she’s not. Let’s just leave it at that.”
Cole scoffed, “If she’s not Bane, they’d have fed from her by now! The vampires would have tried to mate her, bleed her, and used her blood for transfusions by now, but they didn’t, Cass. Think about it!”
Rage pinched Cassie’s pretty face, “No! You think about it!” She jabbed her slender finger into his chest. Cole was shocked, his jaw hanging open like he couldn’t believe that the girl had backbone. “I just told you that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that she’s human and you won’t listen. I don’t care what the vamps do or what they don’t do. Maybe they plan on draining her, mating her, or using her as a distillery for the rich. I don’t care!” Tears streaked her cheeks, “Today’s about me! It’s my time—my final hours—and I won’t spend them like this.” Tears streaked her face. Folding her arms over her chest, she said, “Accept Kahli or leave.”
Cole’s jaw dropped, “Cass, you can’t mean that.”
“I do.”
Staring at Cassie, Cole didn’t blink. He stood there frozen like he was made of ice. Finally he blinked and nodded once. Without glancing at Kahli, he took his sister in his arms, kissed her forehead, and walked away, leaving them on their own.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“I’m sorry,” Kahli breathed, watching Cole’s figure disappear into the glittering snow.
She shrugged, “He has a chip on his shoulder that’s gonna get him killed. He doesn’t recognize who are his friends and who are his enemies anymore. And I won’t be alive long enough to help him.”
Kahli shook her head. Turning to Cassie, she said, “Yes you will. I’m not letting today end the way you think it will.”
“I don’t have the energy to hope. Not anymore. I knew this day was coming for a while now, Kahli. I’ve accepted it. You should, too. We should just go back to the palace and hand me over. All of you are risking your lives, and there’s no reason for it. Not when we know things will turn out like they always do. It’s just my time…”
Kahli wanted to shake some sense into her, but she gritted her teeth instead. Every inch of her body was frozen. But when she shook, it was from anger, not cold. “It’s not your time and it’s not going to happen. And I’m not walking away like Cole just did. Come on, let’s knock off some more of this list. It’s nearly lunchtime. I shoved some food into my coat before I realized what was going on today. We can eat it and find some more of the stuff on the list.”
That perked Cassie up. The food was forbidden, but who would know? They swallowed some nutrient bars that Kahli had taken from their room. She’d been stashing food, making sure she had enough on her to escape without starving. Bodies used more calories in the cold to maintain body temperature. Hunger was an issue.
So far their bag was about half full. It was a scavenger hunt to find things that vampires had no use for. It was purely a test of strength. So far they had rocks, bark, wood, coal, and a coveted iced apple from the Queen’s northern orchid. Climbing trees was an asset today, Kahli thought. They were making a circle around the palace grounds, so that Cassie wouldn’t have to double back for anything. Kahli was getting weary and didn’t really want to either.
Just as they finished their forbidden lunch, they heard voices. Kahli held her gloved finger to her lips. Cassie ducked behind a snow drift and Kahli quickly followed. Three girls were coming into view. They walked side-by-side. The girls held an identical bag filled with things from the list, no doubt. Kahli’s brain was spinning wildly, forming a plan. If they had gotten the things from the top of the list, as she presumed they did, then it might be possible to do more good than she originally thought. If they had half the list in that bag, there was no question of Cassie’s safety. Stealing their pack was risky, but
Kahli felt it was worth it. It would leave them with half a day to find the flag. It was a double safety net and Kahli wanted it.
Voices drifted over the snow, hushed, “…doesn’t even know how to play. They can’t win anyway. We already have their flag. You should have seen Jess’ face when we took it. Her and Taylor were in a rage.”
Cassie and Kahli’s eyes met, but neither spoke. The others were too close. Voices drifted, and echoed in strange ways in the frosty air.
A guy’s voice laughed, “Well, I’m not taking any chances. That red-headed girl wasn’t there. That means she could have filled their bag full of stuff by now, or captured our flag.”
Two feminine voices erupted in laughter, “They can’t even get to our flag! And that wild girl is a savage. She probably ran off to lick herself in the orchards.” More laugher.
Kahli let their insults roll off. She recognized the voice, it was her roommate Missy, the one that was up at first light this morning. They weren’t moving quickly, but if she didn’t act now, Kahli would lose the opportunity. They had no idea she was there, a stone’s throw away, hidden by a massive pile of snow. Kahli put her fingers to her lips and pointed at Cassie, indicating that she should stay put. Cassie huffed, but nodded. Cassie shifted, changing her position so that she could watch Kahli move away from the drift. Kahli crouched, moving quickly and silently, coming around behind the group. Before they knew what happened, Kahli had snuck up behind them. Rushing at her, Kahli grabbed Missy by her neck and pressed a make-shift shiv into the side, careful not to bleed her.
“Bet you wish I was in the orchards right now,” Kahli said utterly calm. Missy was completely still, her companions shocked into silence. Kahli smiled widely. This was cruel, but there was no way she was letting Cassie die tonight. And their little group sure as hell didn’t seem like the weaker of the two. Kahli lifted the bag off of Missy’s hip, “I’ll just borrow this for a little while.”
