“It’s not your fault,” I repeated.
“If anything, it was my fault,” Thane interrupted.
I glanced over my shoulder, confused. Why was he taking the blame? I was no expert on the man, but even I knew that wasn’t like him at all.
“I do apologize.” His dark brows were drawn together in concern. “I should have known you weren’t well enough to fight.”
And there it was, the tone in his voice, the implication that I was pathetic… My ire grew, replacing any embarrassment or unease. He knew. Somehow he knew my Achilles heel…my weakness. “I’m fine. Really. Don’t bother yourself.”
“You forget we can sense these things,” the vampire had said in those woods during the attack.
Had she been serious? Could Thane sense my feelings? My thoughts? It was a suspicion that wouldn’t let go.
His lips quirked, the amusement shimmering in his glowing gaze. “Surely you should rest.”
“I’m fine,” I said warily. “Let’s continue.”
“Jane,” Will started.
“I’m okay.”
The sound of snapping branches was followed by Tony and Kelly’s appearance along the outskirts of the clearing. Great, even more people to witness my utter humiliation. Ignoring them, I focused on Thane. He shifted his body toward the right in a natural stance. I narrowed my eyes, my mind spinning. It was all too easy. He was playing with me. Had he heard Will’s instructions? If Thane’s senses were better than ours, maybe he had heard our conversation. If so, he would expect me to go for his right side.
“Ready?” he asked calmly.
I didn’t respond. Instead I went with my instincts and lunged left immediately, dagger extended. Thane was a blur before me, spinning out of the way just in time. As I stumbled to regain my balance I realized I had judged correctly, and I’d actually almost cut him. Shocked, I met Thane’s gaze. Will hollered, laughing loudly, thrilled with my success.
“Well done, Jane!” he called out.
Thane merely quirked a brow. “Almost took out my kidney.” He bowed low. “Good job. Can’t outsmart you.”
Why did I have the feeling he was mocking me? I didn’t have time to decipher Thane’s reaction for Kelly was suddenly at my side, her arm sliding through mine. “Smart move, Jane.”
I gave her a grateful smile, noticing that while she and Will seemed happy for me, Tony merely glared from the outskirts. Would the man ever accept me as one of the group? Or would I always be trying to prove myself to them? I shook off my unease and focused on the thrilling sense of victory. Tony couldn’t get me down. No one could. I’d finally proven myself.
“Told you she’s ready,” Will said.
“Ready?” I slid the dagger back into the sheath, trying to regain control of my breath. “For what?”
But no one was paying attention. The fight was over, and I apparently, was no longer of interest.
Tony’s brows drew together. “You can’t be serious.”
“For what?” I asked Kelly.
“Please, Will, most of us have been training for years,” Tony added, not only sounding bitter, but angry. “She caught a lucky break, that doesn’t mean she’s ready.”
“You can’t deny she’s smart,” Will said. “Smarter than most of us. Her instincts are spot on.”
Thane didn’t bother to reply; he merely crossed his arms over his chest and stood there watching them argue, as if he watched some silly play between humans who were so far beneath him. He’d distanced himself from the group once more.
Tony’s hands fisted at his sides. “Intelligence isn’t everything. This is a stupid plan.”
I swore I could hear Will’s teeth grind together. “I’m aware of your opinion.”
“Are you?” Tony shoved his hand against Will’s chest, sending him stumbling back a couple steps.
Kelly gasped and I was just as shocked.
“Tony,” she called out. “Stop!”
But Tony ignored her. “I know why you’re doing this. You’re putting everyone in jeopardy for her.”
Will shifted, bracing his legs apart in a commanding stance. He had enough discipline not to shove Tony back. “You don’t know anything. It’s time we stopped running from them.”
Startled, I glanced at Kelly. “What’s going on? I don’t understand.”
Tony snorted, his glare coming to rest on me. “Will’s trying to impress you.”
Kelly released a nervous laugh. “No, he’s just realized it’s time to act.”
“You’ve always said it was too dangerous before. We all agreed. So, why now?” He jabbed his finger toward me. “Because you want to impress her.”
“Kelly?” I demanded. “What’s he talking about?”
“We’re leaving,” Will said, interrupting. “But not for the reasons Tony believes.”
Confused, I glanced around the group. Kelly was looking at the ground, everywhere but at me. She knew something I didn’t. They all did. Tony was glaring at Will. And Thane merely looked amused by it all.
“Where are we going?” I demanded.
“To your compound,” Will finally explained. “You’re getting what you wanted. We’re going to try and save your friends.”
Chapter 8
“You sure you wouldn’t rather go to your home compound where you were born?” Kelly whispered as she lay beside me in the vegetation. “You have a sister and brothers there, right?”
Home? I had never felt at home there behind those walls.
A gnat swarmed my face, but I didn’t dare reach out to slap it away for fear the movement would draw unwanted attention from below. “No. We need Tom on our side, and his compound is closer. It just makes sense.”
I’d told her about my family one sleepless night, but was surprised she remembered. She’d had an older sister who had been killed before her, so she probably didn’t understand why I wouldn’t want to save my family first. But Tom was my family; I was closer to him than I’d been to anyone else. Besides, I had a bad feeling this wasn’t going to work.
Below, Tom’s compound lay nestled between two hills. We could see into the fenced area, the people milling about, doing their jobs. They were ants down there, just waiting to be crushed by the beautiful ones. So completely clueless. They had no idea what was to come. We were far enough away that none of them would notice us, but for the dhampir standing guard with their super human senses. It had been almost a month since I’d seen Tom, but it seemed like years and years ago. A dream.
“This is a damn suicide,” Tony muttered next to Kelly.
Part of me agreed with him.
“We’re tired of sitting around waiting to be killed,” Will snapped back. Things had been tense since their argument the other night and I couldn’t help but feel responsible. “It’s time to act.”
Will had been short-tempered and nervous on our day-long hike, making me wonder if he’d second-guessed his decision. Did he really want to do this? But now that I was here and Tom was down there somewhere, I couldn’t seem to voice my concerns. I took my lower lip between my teeth. Yes, I was being selfish, but I needed to see him.
The dhampir patrolled the area, casually strolling back and forth in front of the gate. They held no weapons; they didn’t need them. Their arrogance, I hoped, would be their downfall.
“Would they help us?” I asked. “The dhampir?”
“No.” Will didn’t even bother to glance my way—he was too busy studying the scenery as if he expected to be attacked at any moment. I wondered if he’d ever been this close to a compound before. “We already tried. In the end, Thane had to kill the guy so he wouldn’t squeal.”
I slid Thane a glance. He lay on the other side of Will, quiet, unconcerned. Sunlight pierced the leaves above, highlighting the hard planes of his face and that pale scar. As if sensing my attention, he turned his head and caught my gaze. I flushed, looking away. Of course he’d killed him. Why did every story to do with Thane end with him murdering someone?
“We need to act,” Will whispered. “Might as well be now.”
I curled my fingers into the dirt, eager to go. There, amongst the throng of people somewhere, was Tom. I tried to decipher his red hair from the light and dark brown, but couldn’t tell if any men were him at that distance. The urge to race down there was overwhelming, but I knew I had to be patient.
“Once you do this,” Will whispered, glancing at Thane. “There’s no going back. You will be a traitor, and they’ll most likely find out what you’ve done.”
In other words, he would not be rescuing anyone else. I stared at the dirt I lay upon, watching an ant weave its way around grass and pebbles. Never before had I wished to be an inconsequential insect as much as I did at that moment. Thane wouldn’t be able to save anyone else, and if Tony was right, it would be my fault.
“I know,” Thane replied.
A wave of guilt hit me hard. Tony had implied we were here because of me. I hadn’t thought much about it. I hadn’t wanted to. No, I’d selfishly accepted that this was Will’s decision. But now the importance of what we were trying to do overwhelmed me. Thane jumped gracefully to his feet and moved down the hill, leaving us without another word.
“Will?” I shifted closer to him, so close I could smell his musky scent, see the scruff along his jaw. “Are you sure now’s the right time?”
He gave me a reassuring smile, those dimples flashing. “It’s time.”
“But--”
“Jane.” He leaned closer so I could hear. “Despite what Tony thinks, I’m not doing this just because of you.”
I flushed, but forced myself to hold his gaze. “Then why?”
He glanced at the others, as if to make sure they were out of hearing distance. “I received a note the other day from Raven and he said it’s time to act.”
Surprised, I glanced toward the compound, but Thane had already disappeared. So, we weren’t here because of me at all, but because of this mythical Raven. I was relieved, but slightly annoyed at the same time. Why hadn’t Will mentioned it before now? “And he said to act?”
“Yes. Although he left it up to me to decide exactly when.”
“Will, Thane’s getting ready to attack at the front,” Tony whispered the warning.
Will pulled away from me, our leader once more. “Remember the plan: once Thane kills the few guards posted in front, we act.”
I wondered what Tom would think when he finally knew the truth. Wondered how they would all react. But mostly I wondered how we could possibly get them through the woods and back to camp without being caught. I took in a deep, trembling breath. For now, one step at a time. We needed them, needed our own army, if wanted any chance of fighting the beautiful ones.
“Jane?” Kelly whispered.
I scooted closer to her. “Yeah?”
“Are you afraid?”
“Yes.” She nodded, reaching out and grasping my hand.
A few minutes later Thane strolled toward the front of the gates, so casually that for a moment I’d forgotten he was on our side. I shivered, watching him work, knowing what was to come. “He’s like an animal. He kills with no conscience.”
Kelly glanced at me. “There’s more to him than you realize.”
Reluctantly I tore my gaze from Thane and the gates. “What do you mean?”
She shrugged, looking uncomfortable. I’d realized early on they didn’t like to talk about him, as if they were betraying the blood drinker by divulging his past. I found their loyalty honorable and frustrating. “He had a love at one time, you know.”
Shocked, I found myself actually speechless for a few moments. Thane had loved someone? That seemed impossible. “A vampire?” Is that why he hated them so? Had she broken his heart and this was his form of revenge? That, at least, made some sense.
“Not a blood drinker,” Kelly said, surprising me for the second time. “Not even a dhampir. But one of the servants at the castle.”
“A human?” I glanced at him again. He’d managed to talk the guards into opening the gates. They trusted him, but wouldn’t after today. That man had loved a human? Impossible. “What happened to the human?”
“They killed her. Drank her dead.”
Suddenly Thane’s comments came rushing back to me with new meaning.
“We are servants to them. Just as some of your people are.”
“Those who are lucky,” I had said, so completely stupid at the time.
“No,” he replied. “Not lucky. Far from it.”
They’d killed his love. I swallowed hard over the lump of emotion suddenly clogging my throat. I didn’t know what to think anymore. So, he did know what it was like to merely wait for those you loved to die. And this was his revenge. So be it. I could live with that. And I could certainly understand.
“He was out at the time,” Kelly continued. “He’d always been able to protect her while at the castle, but he was sent to his first compound, and that’s when it happened.”
“Enough with the gossip,” Tony snapped.
As much as I wanted to keep questioning her, Tony was right for once. The gates were opened. It was time to act. Will tucked his feet underneath him and stood slowly, using the maple to hide behind. Tony followed.
While Thane kept the guards occupied, we moved down the hill. Grass rustled, birds chirped and took flight at our approach. We did little to hide our progress, for we wanted the guards to see us. We wanted their attention on us, not Thane. We’d taken only a few steps when the guards turned. Thane took advantage of the distraction to leap upon the guard closest to him. We had surprise on our side. No human had ever attacked them before. Hearing his friend’s cry, the other guard tried to help. And that’s when we attacked. Racing down the hill, Will lifted his sword, Tony close behind him.
“Go!” Thane demanded, pushing me toward the open gate. “You have ten minutes, at the most.”
Kelly and I raced into the compound. As my foot stepped over that imaginary line separating the outside world from the inside, everything seemed to slow. For the briefest of moments I felt like I was back there again. Trapped in a cage. I froze in the middle of their commons area, where the ground was worn from their waiting and pacing for the beautiful ones. Where they’d stand on the last Sunday of every month hoping to be picked. Where I’d last seen Tom.
“Jane? Do you see him?”
Kelly’s voice jerked me from my stupor. I scanned the people who were slowly making their way toward us, drawn by the open gates, confused because they saw no beautiful ones. They automatically started into two lines, trained so well that they were like the pet dogs we’d occasionally kept.
“Hurry, you need to gather your people,” Kelly called out to them. “You must hurry. It’s an emergency.”
It was finally a woman in a dingy brown dress who stepped forward, taking the lead. “Can we help you?” She was older, in her twenties and reminded me so much of Sally that it was hard to look directly at her.
Thane brushed by me, centering himself between the lines. The guards were dead, obviously, or he wouldn’t be here. Will might be our leader, but these chosen ones would only listen to Thane, the one person they knew.
“You recognize me,” he stated in a loud, authoritative voice that demanded respect. “You know me.”
I searched for Tom, but couldn’t find him. What if I was too late? What if he’d already been chosen? Desperate, I started through the crowds, weaving my way between the two lines, searching for his familiar face. ,
“I’m here to tell you the truth.” Thane started to walk between the lines. “You are not here for your protection. You are not here because you will be offered some great reward when you are chosen.” He paused, the entire crowd was deathly silent. “You are here because you are food for the beautiful ones.”
They didn’t react the way I’d expected. But of course they didn’t understand. It was too outlandish, too insane for them to even comprehend. They slid each other confused glances, as if looking
for answers from their neighbors. But I didn’t have time to explain. I needed to find Tom and fast. Tom would listen, he would understand. Where the hell was he?
“Jane?” someone whispered, a low sound that I heard even over the murmured confusion of the group.
I jerked my gaze from the crowd, looked past Thane and found the familiar face I’d been hoping for, there…at the back. “Tom.”
He shoved his way through the group and I raced forward. Seeing him was a shock to my system. It had been almost a month, and as I raced toward him I tried to take everything in at once. His hair was longer, his face leaner, and I was sure his shoulders seemed broader. But it was when I saw the woman next to him that I pulled up short.
Slowly, my gaze dropped to their clasped hands. Tom wasn’t alone, he wasn’t pining after me. He’d replaced me. But if I’d been surprised to see him, he seemed even more shocked to see me. I could imagine what he must think…finding me in men’s trousers with a dagger strapped to my thigh. I looked like one of the warriors I’d read about. Tom’s nightmare, I went against everything he understood.
“Jane?” he whispered again.
I started forward. “I can explain.”
“Jane, wait.” Will reached out and latched onto my arm, holding me back. “Let Thanatos.”
I wanted to jerk away from his hold and continue to speak to Tom, but managed to keep my mouth shut.
“You are here,” Thane continued. “As food, nothing more than cattle. You are here to be murdered.”
The entire group, at least thirty people now, all gasped in shock and dismay. I should’ve been focused on our mission; instead I could manage to do nothing but stare at Tom’s new love interest. He’d found that woman to take to the couple’s cabin after all, and apparently here they were allowed to touch in public.
Catching my gaze, she turned toward Tom and I heard her whisper, “Do you know her? What do they mean?”
Tom shook his head, that overly long hair brushing against the collar of his shirt. “I don’t know. I don’t understand.”
The Chosen Ones Page 10
