The Chosen Ones

by Brighton, Lori

  “My mother was vampire, my father human.”

  I surged to my feet, stunned. Surely he didn’t mean it. They couldn’t, not with humans…could they? “No.”

  He merely stood there, finding my shock amusing. Yet, as I studied his face it was obvious he was completely serious. He was half-human? For some reason it made his actions even worse. He was half-human yet he’d let them murder us for years. Why hadn’t he escaped? Why hadn’t he joined Will? Why did he continue to let them destroy innocents?

  My hands curled as I resisted the urge to scream at him. Getting angry wouldn’t give me answers. And I needed answers so badly. “And the scar?”

  He crossed his arms over his chest and gazed out over the river, completely unconcerned. “We look exactly like the beautiful ones, so when we are born they mark us to know the difference. We don’t heal as well as they do. We scar.”

  They took a knife to a baby’s face? I felt utterly ill. They were worse than I had imagined. I pushed aside the images of bloody children, knowing I couldn’t let my compassion get in the way. “So, they don’t treat you the same?”

  He laughed, a harsh sound. “No. We are servants to them. Just as some of your people are.”

  “Those who are lucky.”

  “No,” he snapped, surprising me with his harsh tone. “Not lucky. Far from it. In fact, they have it worse. Imagine working in fear for weeks, months, years, knowing at any moment you could be killed.”

  I hadn’t thought about it that way. At least we had lived in ignorant bliss for most of our lives. “And you picked the ripe ones for them to feed upon…that’s your job?”

  He nodded slowly, watching me. I knew he was waiting for the judgment. I wanted to feel sorry for him, I wanted to feel something. Even anger would have been welcome. But all I felt was guilt. Guilt that I had survived and Sally hadn’t. Guilt that I still lived, while she had suffered. Guilt that my sister and brothers and everyone I’d ever known were merely awaiting death. And I could only blame him. He had forced me to abandon Sally.

  “You left them,” I whispered. “All of them. You let Sally die.”

  “I had to, Jane. Will is right, I can’t save them all. If I tried, I’d be caught and killed as well. And then there would be no one to help. No one on the inside.”

  But I wasn’t going to accept his easy answer. “How could you? How can you go there day after day and pretend not to hear the screams? Pretend not to see the torture?”

  “I hear them,” he snapped, his eyes flashing. “I hear them every time I try to sleep. I see the blood every time I close my eyes. But there’s not a damn thing I can do.”

  My mind spun, a myriad of emotions fighting for dominance. I didn’t want to feel sorry for him, I couldn’t. Surely there was something…anything…

  “I can’t save them all,” he insisted, as if reading my mind. “I can only save a few every so often. It’s better than none.”

  Was he looking for reassurance? I wasn’t sure I could give him any. “Why did you save me? Why me?”

  He studied me carefully, so fully that I felt a blush rise up into my cheeks, but I didn’t dare look away. I needed answers. “There are two kinds of people in this world, Jane. The ones who are content and believe everything they’re told, questioning nothing.”

  I wasn’t sure where he was going, but I’d play along. “And the other kind of person?”

  “The other kind are those few who need to uncover as much as they can. Those who question everything, who know there is more to life than what they see before them.”

  “What does that have to do with anything?”

  The darker it became, the more his eyes seemed to glow like a cat’s. “I picked you because you wanted more. It’s how I choose everyone I save.”

  I shook my head and surged to my feet. “You couldn’t know that. How?” I stepped closer, angry at him for bringing me into this world, angrier still that he was making me out to be someone I wasn’t. How dare he act as if he knew me. He didn’t know anything about me. “How did you know I would belong here? Because I certainly don’t know if I do.”

  He stood and stepped close, so close I could feel his heat. So close that his scent swirled around me, warming my insides. So close that instinctively I wanted to step back, but I forced myself to hold my ground.

  “I knew, Jane, because you took the bait. You took the books.”

  Chapter 6

  I stumbled back a step, as if distance would make things clearer. “The books? My books.”

  He didn’t respond, merely watched me closely as if to see my reaction. In that moment I realized he was utterly serious. I crossed my arms over my chest, feeling vulnerable, confused, and completely unsettled. I’d thought those books had appeared by something wonderful, something magical. And now that had been torn from my grip, crushed beneath Thanatos’ tarnished black boots.

  Stupid, stupid me. I should have known better, for there was no magic in this harsh reality.

  “The books I found…you had placed them there?” I asked, still confused, and needing the clarity only he could offer. “All this time, you knew who I was?”

  “Yes.” He moved toward the creek, knelt along the water’s edge and cupped his hands to drink. He was dismissing me, as if I needed no further explanation.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I leave the books behind as bait. I’ve done it at every compound. When someone picks them up, studies them, it says they might want more.” He stood and faced me. “You read them. All of them. Word for word. No one has ever done that before.”

  If he knew I’d read them, that meant he must have been studying me. My little nest where I thought I’d had a bit of privacy had been a ruse. “You were you watching me?”

  He shrugged as if it was of no consequence. “I had to. It’s the only way, the best way, to know who will be willing to fight.”

  For months this man had watched my every move. Had watched me and Tom. Had he seen us that last day together? Had he seen Tom give me that necklace? Watched us embrace? Embarrassment fought with anger. “Fight for what? What, exactly, do you want from all of this?”

  “The same thing you want. Freedom.” He started toward me, and I had to resist the urge to flinch, forcing myself to stand my ground. “A chance to live my life the way I want to, no judgment, no repercussions.”

  I released a wry laugh. “You think we can all live together in peace?”

  When he didn’t respond I realized he was utterly serious. Thane honestly believed we could work together. But staring into his hard, uncompromising gaze only sent me back in time to that moment in the compound when he’d picked me. It had always seemed like a faraway dream. But now it was vivid…clear.

  The many guards with scars across their perfect faces. I knew now that those guards were dhampir. But the only thing I could picture were their angry snarls…the way they had pushed us around, almost as if they blamed us for their predicament. We might have had a common enemy, but it was obvious that even the dhampir didn’t want to live in peace with us. How could we possibly work together? And when it came down to it, would Thane choose to side with the dhampir or with us?

  “But at the compound you didn’t want them to pick me.” I remembered quite clearly the way he’d refused to choose me, but had been forced to take me along. “You tried to talk Bacchus out of it.”

  “No.” He glanced toward the dark woods, as if weighing his next words. It was obvious in that moment that he wasn’t telling me all. Not that I was surprised; I wasn’t exactly admitting my deepest, darkest secrets either. “My plan was to help you escape the compound. It’s a bit more complicated at the castle.”

  Complicated? This entire world was complicated. “You’ve chosen others like me?”

  Those eyes glowed eerily in the dim light. “Yes. Jimmy, Kelly, Tony, and many, many others.”

  That explained why they were so loyal to him, and why they thought I should be loyal as well. But it still
didn’t explain how I could possibly forget the fact that, every day, he stayed at that castle while people suffered, and died.

  He stepped closer and I had to resist the urge to step back. In the fading dusk, with that ugly scowl and that scar across his face, he was intimidating, to say the least. “I understand you think you’re being loyal to your friends back at the compound by leaving. You’ve decided to be a martyr and to walk into battle alone. But truth of the matter is if you stay out here, you’ll be dead by tonight, tomorrow the latest. You need Will, and you need to keep training. Even animals stay in packs for safety.”

  His words and attitude annoyed me. I’d never met anyone so arrogant. Whether he’d admit it or not, he didn’t know me. He might have observed me like some scientist with a specimen, but he didn’t know my thoughts, my feelings, my hopes. “And that’s what we are to you people, isn’t it? Mere animals?”

  He didn’t respond. He didn’t need to. I knew the truth.

  But he was right about one thing. I wouldn’t last on my own. Yes, he had saved me two weeks ago, and so I’d give him the respect he deserved, at least when we were face to face. But I wouldn’t trust him. Not ever. And the moment I was ready, I was headed out on my own. I only hoped that I would be ready soon. “Fine.” I started to reach for my bag. “I’ll return. I’ll—”

  “Shhh,” he interrupted.

  Startled, I drew back. He was like a predator, his gaze flickering from shadow to shadow, searching for a prey I couldn’t see or hear. I knew that look well; I remembered seeing it back at the castle. We were in danger. The urge to panic overwhelmed me.

  “Someone’s coming,” he whispered.

  My heart slammed wildly against my chest, blood roaring in denial. “Will?”

  He shook his head, stepping in front of me as if to protect. The realization was like a cold slap to my face, and just what I needed. I didn’t want him to protect me. I didn’t want anything from him. I rested my trembling hand against my thigh, taking comfort, however small, in the feel of the dagger strapped there. I would protect myself, or die trying.

  “Beautiful ones,” he murmured.

  I hated myself for the shiver of pure fear that raised the fine hairs on the back of my neck. Had Thanatos brought them here on purpose? Had he led them to me? Had he betrayed us all?

  “Stay behind me,” he said softly.

  He didn’t look afraid, only determined, which made me only more suspicious. Slowly, I reached for the dagger at my thigh. Just as slowly I pulled the weapon from its sheath, wishing I’d brought my sword. I hadn’t made a sound, but Thanatos glanced back, as if he heard the noise. But when he noticed the dagger clutched in my hands, he merely turned back around, as if it didn’t concern him in the least. I could easily stab him in the back, but he either trusted me or thought I was too weak to worry about.

  “Do you know how many?” I whispered.

  The rushing sound of water blocked any noise. I could hear no footsteps, no conversation. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he lied merely to scare me back into Will’s camp.

  “Four,” he said, starting up the gentle slope of the bank. He moved like a predator too, silent and low to the ground. I was less elegant as I scrambled after him. “No, five.”

  How could he possibly know how many there were unless he had brought them? My wariness was brushed aside when I heard the low laughter of the beautiful ones. Fear tasted bitter on my tongue, but underneath my nervousness was anger, a burning rage that made me want to burst forward and attack, kill as many as I could before they crushed me. I hated them with a passion that I had never felt before.

  Thane crouched low behind the tree. I forced myself to follow his lead, determined to be rational, instead of reacting under the heavy weight of my emotions like I wanted.

  “Hunting party,” he whispered. “You stay here.”

  Hunting? It took me a moment to remember that they weren’t hunting deer or rabbit…but humans. They were here to feed on escaped chosen ones. Sweat broke out across my forehead, and my hands trembled so badly I feared I might drop my dagger. Unless Thane helped me, I knew without a doubt I would die.

  They broke through the trees, a merry party of beautiful ones that even still momentarily stunned me with their elegance. Thane had been wrong. There was only one man and two women in brilliant clothing that shimmered under the low light of the waxing moon, like some dream. Their laughter, the bright flash of their perfect smiles was like a painting from long ago brought to life.

  Slowly, Thane stood. “Stay here.”

  He moved onto a deer path and out into an open patch before I could latch onto him and draw him back. Idiot was going to get himself killed, and me in the process. He made no pretense of sneaking up on the beautiful ones, but moved through the underbrush without care. Obviously he wasn’t planning a surprise attack. But then what was he planning?

  “What are you doing here?” Thane demanded as if he was actually in charge. I knew he wasn’t, but I also wasn’t surprised when they actually stopped, obeying his command. Not one blood drinker seemed shocked to see him. Had they sensed him coming? Maybe heard him? Or was something nefarious afoot…was this a set up?

  “Excuse me?” The only man in the hunting party started toward Thane. He looked annoyed. More than annoyed. “You don’t tell us what we can and can’t do.”

  The two women behind him snickered, but Thane didn’t seem to notice or care. “There are rules,” Thane snapped back. “Rules that must be obeyed. And you know that the console doesn’t approve of hunting parties.”

  The man’s lips lifted into a sneer. “Go back to your work, dhampir, and leave us alone.”

  How could anyone so beautiful look so ugly? It was the lack of warmth to their features, I realized. It was something I’d noticed back at the castle. There was no conscience, no empathy, and it showed.

  “And if I turn you in?” Thane asked.

  The man’s smirk fell. Hands fisted, it wasn’t hard to see he was boiling over with anger. “You bastard.”

  The entire world went still. I didn’t breathe, didn’t dare reach to my ankle and scratch where a mosquito bit into the skin, taunting me. Thane didn’t back down, and they stood there face to face, two animals about to attack. Three against one, the odds weren’t great in Thane’s favor.

  The women grinned, glancing slyly at each other as if they were enjoying every moment. Their shimmering hair of pale gold was coiled about their heads, intertwined with strands of pearls that proclaimed their wealth. They looked identical in their features and their perfection. Not even a speck of dirt marked the smooth satiny dresses they wore, as if dust would not dare touch something so stunning.

  “Oh Thanatos.” One woman separated herself from her sister, and started toward him. “We were merely having fun. The banquets are wonderful and all, but rather boring when the food is merely laid out. Where’s the sport in that?”

  “And what sport is there in hunting pathetic, weak humans?”

  I tried not to take his words to heart, but it was hard not to cringe over the truth. Compared to them we were weak, pathetic.

  The woman laughed. “Touché.” She pushed her male friend aside and rested her hand on Thane’s chest, a familiar touch. In her eyes I saw her hunger, not for food, but for him. I wondered briefly if he had the same look in his eyes when he gazed at her. She was beautiful, to be sure, but her beauty only hid a monster. Did Thane see below her fine features?

  I couldn’t see his face from where I hid, and I desperately wanted to know what he was thinking. The male blood drinker looked annoyed, the other girl merely amused.

  “Athena, let’s go,” the man finally demanded. “He’s right. This is boring.”

  “Wait a minute.” A slow, wicked smile spread across her lips. “There’s another reason you want us gone, isn’t there?” Athena turned, her gaze scanning the trees. “What is that delicious scent, Thanatos?”

  My heart slammed wildly against my chest. The
y knew. They knew I was here. The urge to bolt overwhelmed me. My fingers curled into my thighs, the nails biting against my palms as I resisted the urge to run.

  “Perhaps you’ve already started the hunt? If so, what say you we hunt together?” Athena drew her hand up his chest over his shoulders, while her sister stood to the side giggling. “We won’t tell if you won’t.”

  I waited, breath held for his response. He’d left my friends and my family to die for the supposed greater good. Would he let them kill me for the same reason now? Why put himself in danger of being caught? Why chance that they would escape and tell the other beautiful ones that he was a traitor when he could merely kill me and go on as he had before?

  Thane shifted, slowly turning to face me. I knew in that moment what he had chosen. He was going to give me up to save himself. He didn’t need to point me out. Athena followed his gaze to the shrubbery where I hid. And although she couldn’t possibly see me through the branches and new leaves, her gaze remained firmly pinned to my spot.

  I didn’t wait to see what they would plan next, but spun around and bolted down the hill, the sound of breaking branches so loud that I knew they heard. The trill of laughter raced after me, like a terrible nightmare come to life. They were thrilled with the hunt. They wanted to play a game, and I was giving them exactly what they desired.

  Downwind, I needed to head downwind. But where was downwind? I didn’t have time to stop and figure it out. Suddenly Athena appeared in front of me. I skidded to a halt, my breath coming out in rapid, panicked pants. She was fast, so fast that I hadn’t seen her move.

  A slow, wicked smile lifted her lips. “Darling, where are you going?”

  I spun around, but before I could take a step, firm fingers grabbed the back of my shirt and I went flying through the air. I hit the ground with a thud that punched the air from my lungs. Gasping, I could merely lay there as the forest blurred above me, my mind and body trying to reconnect.

  Athena stepped closer, hovering over me. “Silly, silly little human.”

  I reached for the dagger at my thigh.