“Yes,” she cried out in desperation, looking into Will’s confused eyes. “Yes, I claim him. What do I say? I don’t know the words. I only know that I love him.”
“Perfect.” Aiden’s word filled the air and echoed off the trees.
The mark on Emma’s back burned, causing her to cry out.
Will looked down at his forearm with a jerk. Emma’s eyes followed. The mark on his arm began to fade.
“No!” Emma cried out in agony, gripping Will’s arm.
“I told you that you had to lose someone you loved.”
She shook her head. “No. You took the baby.”
“The baby wasn’t what you loved. The baby was what bound you to Will.”
“Emma, it’s okay,” Will smoothed her hair and kissed her forehead. “I don’t need a mark to love you, I told you that already. Now this just proves it.”
But she knew there was something else, he said she had to lose someone she loved. “Please don’t kill him, please. I’ll do anything.” Her words were wild and desperate.
Aiden chuckled. “Now, Emma, I never took you for the dramatic type. I don’t plan to kill him.”
She hiccupped a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”
“But you have to let him go.”
Will slid sideways to the trees, his left arm around Emma’s waist, the other pointing his gun toward Aiden. “I’ve heard enough. I think we’ll be going now.”
“Your gun can’t hurt me, Will,” Aiden laughed.
Will pulled Emma along the tree line, behind Aiden. She struggled to keep up with him, fighting her cramps and nausea. Nausea.
Oh, God. No. “Will, they’re coming.”
His eyes widened. “Who?”
She fell out of his arms, vomiting onto the earth, adding to her sacrifice. What more would the earth claim from her tonight? She prayed what she had given was enough.
Will grabbed her arm and pulled her up. “Emma, we’re close. Come on.” He dragged her to a blanket-wrapped bundle that lay on the ground. Her heart leapt into her throat. Jake.
Oh, God. Jake.
Her breath came in desperate gasps as she fell beside it, her fingers fumbling with the wrapping.
“Looking for this?” Aiden asked.
Her head jerked up. Jake stood next to Aiden, his eyes glowing in the firelight. “Jake!”
He didn’t answer, staring into the fire.
Another wave of nausea swept over her and she vomited again, cursing the stupid way her body responded to the threat. When she finished, she pushed herself off the ground. Will reached down and helped her to her feet.
“Jake! It’s Mommy!” She leapt for him, but Will held her back.
Jake ignored her, lost in his daze.
“What have you done to him?”
Aiden put a hand on Jake’s shoulder. “He’s fine. He’s under my control. I assure you he’s not in any pain and he chose freely to go with me.”
It all made sense now. “You were the one who visited him in his dreams before he was kidnapped?”
“Yes.”
His tie to Jake ran deep. Her fury ignited, a burning ball of wrath spinning in her chest. She was only vaguely aware that her power grew.
“Emma.” Will warned behind her.
Aiden’s face beamed.
“What is your game, father?” she sneered, her hands stretching out from her sides. Electricity ran down her arms and lifted the hair on her neck. Will loosened his arm around her waist. “What do you expect of me? What am I and scores of others required to sacrifice for your entertainment? How do I get back my son?”
“You will battle each other to win, until one is left.”
“And if I don’t?”
“You have too much to lose.”
She leaned her head toward Raphael. “How do you know they’ll do it?”
“Because they are as desperate for this to end as I am.”
“Wait!” Raphael called out, lifting his chin. “I want this clarified. There are four of us and only two will remain?”
Aiden gave him a sardonic smile. “Aren’t you good with math?”
Raphael glared. “The rules are there are four and only two remain?”
Aiden’s eyes squinted in annoyance. “You’re not only becoming weaker but denser as well. Didn’t I just say so?”
Raphael’s face hardened, but a smile lifted the side of his mouth. “And this will be the end, you swear it?”
“Yes.”
“So let’s end this right now.” Emma shouted, narrowing her eyes. The electricity in her body reached a fevered pitch and she released it, aiming at Aiden’s chest. He held up his hand and blocked it, sending it into the fire. The flames shot twenty feet into the air, a deafening roar filling her ears. Weakened, she sagged to the ground, Will wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her up.
“I’ll let that go this time.” Aiden’s eyebrows furrowed as his mouth tightened. “Next time, I won’t be so lenient. But one more thing before I go, Emmanuella. Time to say goodbye to Will. ”
He and Jake turned, and walked into the woods. A massive wind howled and a cramp spread through her abdomen, followed by nausea. Hunched over, she looked up at Will. “We have to go, they’re coming.”
He looked at her with an expressionless face, his eyes empty.
“Will!”
His expression reminded her of Kramer’s when she’d controlled his mind.
“Will?” she choked out.
He stared at her, his eyes clouded with confusion. “Who are you?”
Raphael ran to her side. “Your father has erased his memory of you.”
“No!” she screamed and grabbed Will’s face in her hands. “Will, it’s me. It’s Emma. I love you, Will. I love you. Please. Please, don’t forget me.”
He stared down at her, even more bewildered.
“Oh, God. Did he hurt his brain?”
“No, he’s just momentarily confounded over the memory loss.”
She grabbed his shoulders and shook. “Will! Please. Don’t leave me. I love you!” She pressed her lips into his, wrapping her arms around his neck. Her tears fell onto his cheeks but his lips were unyielding and he gently pushed her away, a vacant look in his eyes.
“Do I know you?”
“No!” she sobbed. Turning to Raphael, she became frantic. “They’re coming. Warren’s men or the Cavallo are coming. We have to go. We have to take Will out of here.”
Raphael shook his head, scanning the area. “Emma, I doubt he’ll go.”
“Please, help me. Please.” She wasn’t beyond begging. She couldn’t let them take him.
Raphael groaned. “Tell me why I’m helping you?”
“Because you lost your Emmanuella. Please help me save Will.”
Raphael grabbed one of Will’s arms and pulled. “Where are we going, Emma?”
“Will drove here in a car. If we can get to it, we can get away.”
Will dug his feet into the ground. “I’m not going anywhere with you two.”
Emma tugged on his arm. “Will, I know you don’t remember me, but you’re in serious danger. We have to run.”
The sound of feet crashing through the forest made him straighten.
“Emma, you have to go. Now.” Raphael’s insistent voice growled.
“No! I can’t leave Will.” She turned back to him. “Will. Please trust me. We have to go. They’re going to capture you.” Or worse. He no longer had his mark to protect him.
Will shook his head as though he tried to clear it. He scanned the trees then looked down at her, his eyes clearer. “Okay,” he said. “What’s the plan?”
Emma breathed a sigh of relief. “Do you have the keys to the car?”
He reached in and pulled out a set, handing them to her. “Why can’t I remember how I got here?”
“I’ll explain it to you later. Just trust me.” She grabbed his hand and pulled as they took off running through trees. The anger built in her chest, not difficult to
produce when she thought of all she had lost in the matter of minutes. And when she saw the first men creeping in the forest, preparing to attack from their right side, she released the energy, pushing it to them with a heart full of hatred. The ball glowed bright, an orange-red ball of hate that blasted into the trees. The ground shook and Emma fell, her legs weak from the lost of energy. Will’s hand reached down to help her up but when she looked into his face to thank him, she looked into the eyes of a stranger.
“How did you do that?” he asked.
She stood and grabbed his hand again. Raphael moved in next to them. “You need to control your power.”
“I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing.”
“No, shit. You’re going to kill us all for eternity.”
“So, you die, you come back. Big fucking deal.” She yelled over her shoulder, running with Will beside her.
“No, Emma. You don’t get it. This is the end. We die, we’re done. We live as shadows. Forever.”
The realization slammed her. This was it. Gunshots sailed past them and they dove for cover, Will releasing Emma’s hand. He seemed to regain his senses as he swung up his shotgun and began to fire.
“Stay here,” Will called out as he dashed into the trees, leaving Emma with Raphael in his wake.
“Where the hell is he going?” Raphael asked.
“He’s protecting us.”
“Why? He doesn’t even know you now.”
“Because that’s who he is.” It was true. This was the real Will, who was a hero at heart. She’d been lucky he chose to love her and now it was gone.
Raphael grabbed her arm. “We need to go.”
“No! Not without Will.”
“You’re going to get yourself killed.”
“What the fuck do you care? I die, you have one more chance of winning against Aiden.”
Raphael knelt in front of her, his eyes full of anger. “No, Emma. We need each other. That’s why I pinned him down. There are four of us, only two survive. He thinks he’s an automatic winner. Together we might be able to defeat him, but separately we are doomed.”
She stared at his dark face lit only by the moonlight.
“Emma, I’m your only chance to save Jake.”
He was probably right. She needed him. “I won’t leave Will.”
He turned his head to the side. “Son of a bitch,” he said, standing. “Come on.” He led her in the direction Will had taken. Two armed men appeared from behind a tree. Raphael reached out toward the earth, releasing a green glow. The ground shook and separated, revealing a deep crevice into which the two men fell.
“Can you make your energy smaller, more controlled?” Raphael asked.
“I think so. I practiced before with fruit.”
“Okay, a little bit more than fruit but not enough to blow us up.”
When three men with guns appeared, she released energy toward each man. They fell onto the ground into a smoldering pile.
Her mouth dropped open in surprise and disgust.
Raphael grabbed her hand and pulled her away. “Better them than you. Let’s find Will and go.”
Gunshots echoed ahead of them. “Hurry,” Emma shouted.
They found him surrounded by a group of armed men, laying face down on the ground. Emma sank to her knees in the cover of dense growth, Raphael kneeling beside her.
“Oh, God. They killed him.” She choked back a sob.
Raphael put an arm around her head, covering her mouth. “Shh.”
The men lifted Will and carried him toward a van several feet from the edge of the trees.
She struggled against Raphael’s grip, desperate to get to Will before they tossed his limp body into the vehicle. Raphael held tight and as she struggled, a liquid warmth spread through her body, becoming alive with craving. Her body melted and molded into Raphael’s. She watched the back doors close and the van drove away before Raphael released his hold.
The warmth slipped away replaced by the cold wind and the realization of what she’d just done. While men carted Will’s body away, she yearned for Raphael.
She fell to the ground, sobbing her pain, frustration and betrayal into the damp ground, but the earth hadn’t claimed enough from her yet.
It was greedy for more.
About the Marks
Three intertwined symbols are on The Chosen Series covers: a trident, fire and water. All three appeared on Emma’s shoulder blade at various times.
The trident was the symbol that Jake branded on Will’s forearm as proof that Will was The Chosen One, the protector of his mother Emma. That mark was highlighted in Chosen.
In Hunted, the symbol for fire is highlighted on the cover and embedded on the title and chapter heading pages. Fire is the symbol that appeared after Jake was conceived and the symbol on the pendant Emma’s father gave to her mother.
Water will be highlighted in Sacrifice.
Acknowledgments
First, I’d like to thank my children, as always, for not only tolerating Mommy’s crazy work habits but respecting that this is Mommy’s job. I love you guys.
Thanks to Scot Kraemer who was an indispensable resource during the writing of Chosen and parts of Hunted. Little did he know that a random tweet from me about researching South Dakota would get a character named after him that spans three books.
And little did my alpha reader, Brandy Underwood, know that she’d get a character named after her, too. Just goes to show you that you better be careful around an author.
Many thanks to Ken Hammond for his patience and expertise reviewing the airplane scene. He offered advice while I wrote the first draft then reviewed the scene and offered more suggestions after editing.
Thank you to my critique partner and best friend, Trisha Leigh. I couldn’t do this without your support, encouragement and friendship. I suppose I could, but it would be ten times harder. And a whole lot lonelier.
Thank you to Eisley Jacobs, S. Frankie Blooding, Katrina Harris, Rhonda Cowsert, Anne Chilldon and Lissa Critz. Your critiquing and beta reading made Hunted so much better and gave me the encouragement I needed when I was sure it was the worst book ever written.
And last, but never least, thank you to my editor Jim Thomsen, who not only tolerates my moments of insanity but makes my books so much better.
About the Author
Denise Grover Swank lives in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. She has six children, two dogs, and an overactive imagination. She can be found dancing in her kitchen with her children, reading or writing her next book. You will rarely find her cleaning.
You can find out more about Denise and her other books at:
www.denisegroverswank.com
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
About the Marks
About the Author
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02 Hunted - The Chosen Page 29
