“Looking for this?” Athena’s sister moved into my line of vision, holding my dagger high. “You really think this will do you any good?” She tossed the weapon over her shoulder and laughed. “Ridiculous.”
“Must we always play with them?” The male blood drinker hovered near the edge of the clearing, standing next to Thane. “It gets rather tiring.”
Thane with his hard, cold eyes. Thane, who would throw whoever it took to the wolves, as long as he remained safe. I hated that I was going to die in front of him. I didn’t want him to see me helpless, suffering.
“What’s the fun in just killing it?” Athena pouted, placing her hands on her hips. “Besides, it tastes better when you prolong. Builds up the appetite and all.”
The male crossed his arms over his chest, looking rather bored. “Unless there are any others around here, she will be a mere snack. Hardly a waste of our time.”
She shrugged. “Hors d’oeuvre.”
He sighed and glanced at Thane. “Have you located any camps? Are there more nearby?”
“Maybe,” Thane replied, stepping from the dark shadows and into the moonlight. I searched his face and stance, trying to find something, anything… a softening, a sign of a human emotion, a way to let me know he was merely playing along. I saw nothing but coldness.
He was going to betray them. Will, Kelly, Jimmy…all would be dead, along with me.
“Maybe?” Athena arched a brow and glanced at him.
He glanced back at her, his lips quirking. My stomach churned. He was flirting, I realized with disgust and shock. “I might be able to show you for the right price.”
He was selling us out. I opened my mouth and screamed. “Will, run!”
I didn’t know if he would hear, if he was even in the area, but I had to do something. The two women flicked annoyed glances my way. Thane didn’t even bother to look at me. I was nothing to him, and he was the demon I had expected.
But I wouldn’t die easily. I grabbed a rock and jumped to my feet, throwing it at Athena. She pulled back just in time, the stone whizzing by her pretty head. Those perfect lips lifted and long, pointed teeth glimmered in the moonlight. The anger in her gaze sent me stumbling back into an oak tree.
“Does she really think to fight back? How amusing!” her sister said.
“It’s much easier,” Athena hissed. “If you just accept your fate, and don’t fight it.”
“Much easier for us,” the male vampire replied drolly.
“You’re really going to let them kill us?” I screamed at Thane in all my fury, whatever good it would do. “They trusted you!”
“What’s she talking about?” the male asked, frowning. All this time he’d merely looked bored, but now he drew up straight, coming to attention.
Thane sighed. “Well done, Jane. You just blew my cover.”
He was gone, a blur of movement I could barely see, let alone understand. Just as suddenly as he had moved, he paused in front of the male blood drinker. Before I could even draw breath the man’s head was torn from his body. I couldn’t help myself and screamed as I surged to my feet.
But Thane wasn’t done. He turned to face the two women as their friend lay in a bloody mess that used to be a man. “Who is next?”
His cold, dismissive tone made me nervous.
“Thane?” Athena said, her voice oddly calm. She looked beautiful as she stood there in her red silk gown. She knew the power she held over men, and it was obvious she was going to use those feminine wiles to help her now. I was still trying to understand if Thane was an enemy or friend. “You know I’ve always cared about you.”
“Yes, but unfortunately I care little for you.”
He was on her before I had time to blink. There was only a moment, a second, when everything slowed and I caught sight of her perfect, yet horrified face. They hit, falling to the ground. Blondie was stronger than I’d expected, and somehow managed to flip Thane to his back. It was a horrifying, yet somehow graceful dance.
“I gave you a chance,” she hissed. “Now you’ll die.”
“Not today, my dear.” He kicked her in the stomach, sending her tumbling, twisting over him and landing on her back with a thud that shook the ground and billowed her skirts around her.
I surged toward them, intending to help Thane when a firm grip drew me to a stop. “Not so fast,” a woman hissed into my ear. Athena’s sister. Her steel arm wrapped around my waist and jerked me back into her lush body.
Thane was on Athena, his hands at her neck.
“Touch my sister and this girl dies!” the woman behind me cried out. “I swear.”
Thane paused, glancing up at us. I could practically feel him weigh his options: kill Athena or save my life. He turned back around, dismissing us, gripped her hair tightly, and ripped Athena’s head from her body. Blood splattered across his trousers and shirt.
“Bastard,” the other girl hissed, her arm trembling around me tightening. “You just gave your little sweetheart a death sentence.”
“Do you really think I care?” He stood and swiped his hands across his trousers, leaving more blood on the material. “You kill her, I have what…a few moments before her blood goes bad? I can still kill you and feed.”
“Oh, I do think you care.” She grinned. “You forget we can sense these things. You might have been able to hide your feelings from the others, but not from me.”
Startled, I forgot for a moment my fear. No, surely Thane didn’t care in the least whether I lived or died. “You’re mistaken.”
“Shut up, Jane,” Thane shot back.
I glared at him, my face flushed with annoyance and humiliation. How I hated him.
The woman tightened her grip around my waist, painfully bending my ribs. I grimaced, my breath catching, as I waited for the bones to break. She could kill me so easily, so quickly, so painfully. And she was wrong, because Thane truly looked as if he didn’t care in the least. I knew the man, the monster, I knew what he was capable of. The bodies littering the ground were indication enough.
She stepped back, dragging me with her until the heels of my boots dug into the damp earth. “One move and I kill her.”
Thane pulled the dagger from the sheath on his thigh, and tilted his head to the side, as if trying to decide if he should have chicken or fish for dinner. “Dare I?” Slowly he turned the dagger over and over in his hand, while watching us. He looked utterly bored.
“I mean it, Thane,” she whispered, but I heard the nervousness in her voice. So, the beautiful ones had emotions after all. I would’ve mocked her fear if I wasn’t terrified for my life.
He lifted his arm, pointing the dagger at us and closing one eye. “If I throw it just right…”
The blade hit her in the right eye before I had time to realize he had thrown it. She screamed, releasing her hold and stumbling back, the blade quivering in her socket. She started to reach for the weapon, but Thane was on her before she had a chance to free herself. Cringing, I looked away right as he reached for her neck. A brief second later I heard the distinct pop of bone breaking, the shriek of skin ripping. Then silence.
Thane was barely out of breath as he strolled by me, no emotion on his face. A cold, heartless monster. “We should leave.”
“What the hell is going on?” I demanded, trembling. “Who are you?”
He paused for a moment, his body and mind attuned to the world around us. How I wished I could sense what he could.
“Damn, too late.” He leaned down and scooped up my dagger from the weeds, handing it to me. “Quiet, the other two are coming.”
“Other two?” I stiffened. He’d been right all along, there were five. I searched the woods, but could see nor hear anyone. “Where? How far away?”
“Step into the clearing,” he demanded, not bothering to answer my question. “We’ll use you as bait.”
I stared at him wide-eyed. Surely I’d misheard him. “Bait?”
“Go!”
I shoved my dagger
into the sheath at my thigh and then stumbled from the shrubbery. In the small clearing moonlight filtered through the trees, hitting me fully, almost blindingly. Nothing. I heard nothing. No movement from the shadows, no sound of conversation. I started to turn toward Thane to question his instincts when I heard the unmistakable murmur of voices.
“Now run,” Thane whispered.
He didn’t need to tell me twice. I turned and bolted. I’d just made it to a deer path when a muscled body tackled me to the ground. I hit the forest floor hard, my forehead hitting a root. The pain was instantaneous and I had to bite my lower lip to keep from crying out. Having tackled me, the blood sucker jumped to his feet, laughing.
“Caught one!”
I flipped around, laying on my back. Two tall, imposing figures stood above me. I knew I couldn’t fight them, and to make matters worse, I had the terrible feeling I was going to lose consciousness.
“Think there are more? I hate sharing. Where do you think the others went?”
Frantically I searched the dark woods, trying to find Thane. Where had he gone? Had he merely used me as bait so he could get away?
“Who the hell knows, or cares. I say we take her for our…”
His voice broke off as a figure raced through the woods and hit both men full force. All three of them tumbled to the ground, slamming against the earth so hard that the branches above rattled. Thane. The thud of fists hitting flesh interrupted the quiet evening. A glob of dark forms that twisted and turned merging in and out of shadows. I grabbed the dagger from the sheath at my thigh and swung my arm wide, catching the blood drinker closest to me across the back of his neck.
It didn’t kill him, but it was enough to anger the monster. He spun around, leaving his friend to deal with Thane. I shoved my dagger forward as he leapt toward me. His fingers caught my wrist, his grip so tight that the dagger flew through the air. His body hit mine and we fell to the ground. My head throbbed, the world around me spinning. He straddled me, his face only a foot or so from mine. When he grinned, those long, pointed fangs, gleamed. “How cute, it wants to fight.”
That night Sally died came thundering back to mind, her face…the blood sucker’s face…back and forth so I wasn’t sure which reality I resided in. His grip grew tighter and he pulled me upward against his chest, his arms wrapping around almost as if he comforted me.
“Poor, poor girl.” He bent my arm back painfully. Whimpering, I fell into him, trying to lessen the ache. “What will you do now, weak one?”
Thane loomed suddenly behind the vampire. Before the blood drinker sensed him, Thane wrapped his arm around the man’s neck, jerking him back. The blood drinker’s glowing eyes went wide and at the same time he released his hold, letting me fall to the ground.
The blood drinker desperately clawed at Thane’s arm. “Say goodbye to Jane.”
With a quick twist, the man’s head was torn from his body. I cried out, raising my arms to cover my face just as the blood splattered through the air. Everything went silent. No more screams, no stomp of feet, no diabolical laughter.
Firm fingers gripped my arm and jerked me to my feet. “Let’s go before more arrive.”
Thane didn’t wait for me but spun around and started toward the deer path. It was over. I’d survived again, and yet I’d needed help again.
“Thane,” I called out, my voice trembling. He paused, his back to me. I hesitated, not fully sure what I wanted to say to him, but settled on, “Thank you.”
For one long moment he didn’t speak, and I couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking. “That’s twice I’ve saved your life.” Slowly he turned to face me. I could read nothing in his glowing eyes, the darkness hid his emotions. “You owe me, Jane, and I always collect my debts.”
His words startled, then angered me. I scooped up my dagger from the ground and shoved it into the sheath at my thigh. Really, the man was much too arrogant. “What do you want?”
He shrugged. “You can pay off your first debt by returning to the camp and Will.”
Easy enough, but I wasn’t buying it. Nothing was that simple, and certainly not where Thane was concerned. I crossed my arms over my chest and waited. “And the second debt?”
“I’ll save that one for later.”
With that, he turned and started down the trail.
I forced my shoulders to relax on a sigh. Wonderful. I wouldn’t know where or when, but I knew for sure he would collect on his debt, most likely to his great advantage and my utter humiliation. Gritting my teeth and biting back a curse, I forced myself to follow him.
Chapter 7
The children never arrived.
For two days we’d been sitting near the river, waiting at the specified meeting point, yet no one came. Kelly told me not to worry, that it took longer to travel with a group of kids. I knew the truth. And I could tell, when I looked into her clouded gaze, she was worried as well.
Everyone was on edge, unable to sleep at night, eating little, and me…I had to bite back the comment that I wanted to make. I had known, hadn’t I? I had questioned, at least to myself, the idea of separating the children from the group. Even animals knew there was safety in numbers. But I had been weak, I hadn’t had a voice in this group, I still didn’t.
“Here.” Carla strolled toward me and dropped a few daggers into the pile I’d been cleaning. I smiled up at her, but she didn’t bother to respond, merely headed back to Sam and started whispering.
It was obvious they were talking about me. Their laughter drifted my way, sending the heat of embarrassment to my face. I forced myself to keep my attention on the daggers I cleaned. According to Kelly, Carla had arrived at the camp only a year ago, yet she had been openly accepted. Which meant they didn’t dislike me because I was a newbie, but most likely because of the time I spent with Will.
“Jimmy,” Will snapped out as he came strolling into camp. “You know the rules, no fire.”
To say I was relieved to have him back would be an understatement. The more friends I had nearby, the better. Will and Tony were supposedly surveying the area, making sure there were no beautiful ones lurking. But we all knew the truth: they were searching for signs of the children. By the drawn look of Will’s face it was safe to assume they hadn’t found any clues.
“Ah, no!” Jim whined, sticking his hands toward the flames in an attempt to soak up as much heat as possible. “It feels so warm and good!”
I hid my grin as I rubbed the rough cloth against my dagger, trying to remove the rust patches. I’d been given the task of cleaning and sharpening everyone’s weapons, a tedious but necessary job. I had a feeling I was being punished for leaving camp, but if I had to clean them until my eyes went bleary, so be it. The pile of flashing blades should have made me feel better, safer, but it didn’t. Swords and daggers would do little against the strength of a beautiful one.
“Keep the fire,” Thane said, emerging from the dark shadows and into the ring of firelight. “I did patrol and didn’t sense any blood drinkers.”
I stiffened at his approach, my heartbeat faltering. How did he always know where to find us? He didn’t bother to glance my way. In fact, we hadn’t had any contact since I’d returned to camp. But then again, he barely paid attention to anyone. Thane kept to himself, sitting along the outskirts when he was here, making only the minimum of conversation with Will. He appeared and disappeared when he wanted, and I never knew when to expect him. It made me feel on edge for some reason.
Last night I’d woken in the middle of the night when everyone slept. Restless, I’d rolled to my side only to find Thane sitting there watching me from across the camp. He merely leaned against a tree, his gaze direct, as if daring me to react. Finally, I’d broken eye contact, turning so my back was to him once more, but unable to sleep the rest of the night.
He strolled to a fallen log on the outskirts of camp. His movements were easy, unhurried, graceful, like the animal he was. He pulled his sword from the sheath on his back and began to
clean and polish it, not asking me to do the job. In fact, he never asked for anything. Not water, not food and certainly not help. It had been two days since I’d left camp and returned. Two days wondering when he would collect that second debt. Did he keep me in suspense on purpose? I frowned, picking up another dagger. Of course he did.
Will settled on the ground next to me. The dhampir might have been confusing, but Will was rather easy to understand and that was exactly why I liked him. Will was all about the group; everything he did was for the better of us all. Whereas Thane…well, Thane was about himself.
“Hey.” I smiled up at Will as I replaced the clean dagger with a rusty one.
“You okay?” he asked.
He’d shaved. I’d seen him do it before with a sharpened blade. While others seemed to cut themselves, Will hadn’t. My fingers curled as I resisted the urge to reach out and touch his smooth cheek.
I shrugged, watching the smoke from the fire drift up into the enormous, dark sky. Would I ever get used to the vastness of it all? To the eerie sounds that echoed across the hills and through the woods? “Yeah, fine.”
He rested his hand on my forearm, his touch warm and comforting, although I didn’t want to admit it, not even to myself. “You sure? Thane said you were attacked the other day.”
I bit back my sigh. Why had Thane told him? I didn’t want to talk about the attack, I didn’t want to talk about the beautiful ones and I certainly didn’t want to hear an ‘I told you so.’ I never should have left the group. I knew that now. But I didn’t need people like Tony and Carla mocking me.
“Yeah. I’m great.” I laughed, realizing how ridiculous that sounded. Thane glanced my way. Instantly my smile fell. Just as quickly as he had looked at me, he looked away and I was left to wonder what his brief glance had meant, if anything.
“Jane?” Will reached out, lightly touching my forehead where the bump I’d gotten during the fight in the forest with Thane still throbbed.
I tore my gaze from Thane and focused on Will. “Sorry, I just…can a person truly ever be great in this world?” He looked confused, as if I’d asked him the meaning of life. “It’s okay. Maybe I’m not great, but seriously, I’m fine. No harm.”
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