“I do care about you,” he said in a strangled voice. Apparently emotions other than anger weren’t something he showed lightly. “Ronnie, you have to understand. This isn’t just something I do. All werewolves are like this. You’re asking me to change who I am.”
“I don’t remember asking you to do anything,” I hissed, narrowing my eyes at him. “And I don’t care what every other werewolf does. I’m not interested in them, Finn. I mean, would it really be so terrible to just be with a girl for more than one night? It wouldn’t exactly be torture to be with the same person over and over again.”
He sighed and ran his hands over his temples, like he was fighting a migraine. “Look, that’s just not how it works! You can’t understand,” he said, eyes pleading with me to believe him. “I can’t help it. We’re made this way. We have meaningless encounters and then we settle down with the one. I’m not ready for that yet. I’ll have a very, very long time to be with just one person. For now, I’ll settle for girls like Brittney. But when I do choose that one girl, it won’t be someone like her. It’ll be someone like you. You’re that forever kind of girl, Ronnie.”
I sighed, and took a step away from him. “I’m sorry, Finn. I’m not going to sit around and watch you sleep with every available girl in this place, just waiting for you to grow up and mature a little. I can’t do it. I think it would break my heart, and I’ve already had so much pain and suffering in my life. I’m sorry.”
I looked up at him, hoping that he would do or say something to make me feel better. Instead, he gripped my arms so tightly it almost hurt, and his head swooped down to mine. Automatically my hand lashed out, and I slapped him across the face before his lips could touch mine. For a second, the two of us just stared at each other; my face confused, and his shocked and a little hurt.
He was a werewolf and probably hadn’t really felt it, but I’d still slapped him. Right across the face, just for trying to kiss me. Didn’t I want him to kiss me? Didn’t I want to know that Finn felt the same way about me as I did about him? Why were my emotions so mixed up and confused?
Someone cleared their throat, and I finally realized that we were alone in the room except for Holly, who was glaring at Finn with a hostile expression on her face. I left a stunned Finn standing alone in the middle of the room, and made my way to where Holly was leaning against the far wall with my gifts in her hands.
“Where’s Tanya?” I asked hollowly, hating the weakness in my voice.
Holly frowned. “She and Ezra snuck off to the woods for some…alone time. Why? Do you want me to go and get her? Did Finn say something stupid to upset you?” she asked.
“Yes,” I said, looking away so she wouldn’t see the tears rolling down my cheeks. “Couldn’t you hear the argument we just had?”
She made a noise in the back of her throat that almost sounded like a wild animal, and her eyes hardened instantly. “I warned him not to do anything stupid.” She handed me my gifts and folded her arms dangerously across her chest. “Do I need to talk to him for you?”
“No!” I said hurriedly, worried that she would do something more than talking. I wasn’t sure if a vampire was stronger or faster than a werewolf, but I didn’t want either of them to get hurt just because I couldn’t keep in control of my own feelings. “I’m just gonna go lie down for now.” My voice cracked again, and I turned and fled the cafeteria before she could do something totally out of her character, like try and console me.
I walked numbly through the halls of the compound, and people gave me uncertain glances and a wide berth. The confusion and distrust that was evident on all of their faces made me feel even more alone than I already did. For the first time since arriving here in the dead of night more than a month ago, I missed my home life with Alan, Jessica, and even Susan.
When I finally reached my room after enduring countless sneers, I set my gifts down on the dresser in my room, and collapsed on the bed and began to cry myself to sleep, not for the first time since arriving at this god awful place. Sometime later, before I fell asleep, I heard a knock on the door, and Finn’s worried voice, begging me to open the door, but I couldn’t bring myself to get up and answer it. I was too afraid that one look at him would make the tears come harder and faster, and I didn’t want to risk it at the moment.
*****
In the morning, I showered and dressed for the day, trying to pretend that nothing bad had happened last night. I had a moment of hesitation in my room, unsure of whether Finn would be at breakfast with the group and if I could face him. All I’d done last night was cry and think about Finn and the almost kiss, and about me slapping him across the face.
Is he angry at me? Does he feel as bad as I do? Will he hate me now? A darker thought crossed my mind, and I had to try hard to swallow past the lump in my throat. Did he go directly to Brittney or someone like her just because we had an argument? Did he spend the night in the arms of another girl, even though he’d know how much it would hurt me? Was he that kind of guy?
I wasn’t sure what to think about our argument last night, and I wanted to push it to the back of my mind for as long as possible. If I could avoid an overly emotional confrontation with Finn anytime soon, I was going to do it. I was hurt last night, but I was angry right now. If I had to see Finn at breakfast, I risked exploding and bitching him out in front of everyone.
Sure enough, Finn was sitting with the others at breakfast. It looked like he hadn’t touched his food yet, and he was instead looking around the room, never fixating on any one thing. When his eyes found me, I stopped in line at the counter with an empty tray in my hand, and our eyes connected.
A mixture of different emotions showed in his eyes, including anger, sadness, helplessness, and stubbornness. One look at his beautiful eyes made me want to run over to his table and throw my arms around his shoulders and just kiss him like he tried to kiss me last night, but I forced my feet to stay rooted to the floor.
Someone tapped me on the shoulder, growling impatiently, and I moved ahead in line, filing my tray with eggs, bacon, and toast. When thunder clapped overhead, I nearly dropped my tray to the floor, and I caught it just in the nick of time. Someone laughed at my reaction to the brewing storm, and I just shrugged it off like it didn’t bother me, though honestly I didn’t need anything else for people to make fun of me for.
Tanya beckoned me over to their table, and I had another moment of hesitation. But I held my head high and ignored the hostile glares from girls like Brittney and her friends, and I walked over and sat down beside Holly and Ezra. As I scooted my chair back in, I noticed that Tanya and Ezra were holding hands under the table, and their fingers were entwined and resting on her thigh.
That one romantic, sweet gesture made me glance up at Finn discreetly through a curtain of hair, and I wasn’t surprised to find him looking at me. He was idly stabbing at a pile of scrambled eggs, and everyone at the table was busy watching the two of us with mixtures of concern and apprehension, like they were waiting for us to fight or scream or throw something at one another.
I just calmly took a bite of my breakfast–although it felt like lead settling in my stomach–just to appear normal and unaffected by his presence. He looked away from me and took a sip of his orange juice, before setting the glass down a little harder than necessary. He and I continued to ignore one another as breakfast went on, and Tanya and Ezra made stilted small talk in an attempt to calm the conflicting temperaments around the table.
I was finishing my last slice of bacon when the alarms went off. Everyone froze in their seats, and Finn’s head instantly snapped up. He titled his face and sniffed the air like an animal, and his hands clenched on the table. “He’s here,” he growled.
Chapter Thirty
The doors burst open and Marcel appeared. His hands clenched the doorway so tightly his knuckles were white and strained, and his eyes had a wild haggard look to them. “Andrew is at our front door with his mercenaries and over two dozen reanimated corpses that
refuse to go down! The younger children are to report to the Council room under protective guard, and the rest of you are to come with me, immediately.”
Everything went into overdrive, and people wasted no time in getting up and following Marcel’s orders. A couple of older girls took the younger kids that looked to be about thirteen or fourteen years old, and ushered them past Marcel and down to the Council room while Marcel walked over to our table.
“Veronica, Annie is going to the roof to try and take care of the zombies he’s brought with him. I want you and Finnley to go up there and join her.”
“But–”
“No arguing, Finn!” Marcel snapped. “I know you’re anxious to get your hands on Diego, but this is more important. We can’t re-kill these people. Only Annie and Veronica are capable of doing that, and we can’t forget why Andrew is here. If he gets inside the compound, you need to protect Veronica, no matter what happens. If this place gets overrun, take her and get out. If he gets his hands on her, we’re finished.”
Finn nodded solemnly and looked down at me. “Let’s go,” he barked harshly, gripping my arm. He was gentle despite the fact that he looked savage and ready to kill something–or Diego–and I trusted him wholeheartedly. Finn would do whatever he could to protect me, just like he had before.
Finn dragged me from the cafeteria, and I fought him every step of the way. I didn’t want to leave Tanya, Ezra, and Holly to their fates–whatever those fates might be–but Finn refused to let me stay. I dug my nails into his hand, which was wrapped around my wrist, and even though he wasn’t hurting me, I was still furious that he wouldn’t let me go.
“Finn!”
He spun me around to face him, and before I could even react, he pulled me close and pressed his mouth roughly to mine. One hand rested against my hip, and the other was fisted in the back of my hair as he moved his warm lips against my chapped ones. When he pulled away a second later, his eyes were dark and serious. “Just in case.”
He grabbed my wrist again and pulled me up two flights of stairs until we came to an open door before I could even object to his random kiss. It led to the rooftop of the compound, and we found Annie standing at the very edge, looking down at the ground far below her. I leaned over the edge and gasped. A group of mercenaries were fighting with some of the residents, including Tanya and Ezra.
They stayed side by side, fighting with their powers and their hands, while Holly moved so fast she was little more than a blur. One moment she had her fangs buried in some man’s neck, and the next she was doling out blow after blow, knocking down men much larger than she was. I was the least worried for her, since I’d seen her fight before, and I knew she could handle herself. It was the others I was most worried about.
Finn growled. “I should be down there,” he said tightly, watching the others fight.
“No, you shouldn’t be,” Annie said. “We need you to make sure we’re protected while we’re doing our thing. We’ll be out of it, and will be open to attack. Make sure nothing happens to us, Finn.” She looked at me and gave me a sad smile. “Ronnie, I know we haven’t practiced this stuff in a while, but I need you to really concentrate and remember everything I taught you. Can you do this?”
I nodded, shrugging off my light sweater and tossing it on the ground. “Let’s do this.”
Turning away from Finn, I closed my eyes and began the quick task of locating my power. It was where it always was, and I found it in a heartbeat. My power began to grow and pulse as I called to it, and I focused on my breathing and on trying to clear my mind of everything but the task at hand. Right now, I had more important things to do than worry about my friends or the people that were possibly dying to keep me out of evil’s grasp.
I could see the recently reanimated souls in my mind’s eye. They were far below me, glowing a bright silver color, and they seemed to be moving very slowly, although with deadly accuracy. They latched onto anything around them and began to chew, ripping chunks of flesh from the bone, causing screams of agony that made my skin crawl and my resolve waver.
How am I supposed to fight against a small army of these things? There are almost thirty of them! When someone else screamed, I gritted my teeth against any discomfort I was feeling, and set to work freeing the trapped spirits that were being forced to fight for Andrew against their wills.
Focusing on the first one, I gripped my amethyst pendant tightly in my hands, and began the slow work of banishing the spirit from its rotting corpse. I could feel Andrew’s presence in each of the spirits, binding them to their corpses as if with rope, and I tried to unravel the rope. Sweat began to break out on my forehead and my stomach muscles cramped painfully as Andrew fought against me.
Andrew was powerful and the spirit fought me each step of the way, but finally I banished it. I could feel the second it departed, and I wasn’t sure, but I thought I felt a gentle caress that might have been some form of thanks before it disappeared for good. When I was sure the first spirit was gone, I set my sights on the next one, and began banishing its poor spirit.
*****
Annie was much better at banishing than me, and she nearly doubled my pace. Even with the both of us working though, it still took us fifteen minutes to release all of the spirits. When I banished the last spirit, I opened my eyes, and nearly fainted when I saw the bodies littering the ground outside the compound. There were more than just corpses that we released.
There were fighters of both sides lying in the mud, being soaked in the rain, while Andrew had left them to rot like trash. I was so busy staring at the dead bodies on the ground beneath us that I didn’t even hear the footsteps until they were already on the roof with us.
“Ronnie, get behind me,” Finn growled. He didn’t wait for me to respond, and instead yanked me behind him as he shielded me from view. I peeked around him and saw Andrew and Diego standing in the open doorway to the roof, and the two werewolves glared in hatred at one another.
“Now boys, there are more important things right now than banging your chests together in a display of testosterone. I have a girl to kidnap and a world to conquer. Remember? You’ll have your chance to kill each other soon. I promise,” Andrew said with a sick smile. “Ronnie, how are you?”
“Go fuck yourself,” I said, stepping out from behind Finn’s back. I felt unsafe and exposed, but I wasn’t going to let Annie and Finn fight while I stood back and watched. And besides, Andrew didn’t stand a chance against both me and Annie. If he was smart, he’d run away and try again some other time.
“You know, Ronnie, I had hoped you’d be a little smarter. But it appears you got your father’s intelligence, not your mothers.” He smiled almost fondly at the mention of my dead mother, and I sighed.
“He’s not my real father,” I said numbly. “You are. When my mother was pregnant with me, she fled, and married an old friend that had always been in love with her. She lied about my age, and he helped raise me because it meant she was in his life. When she died, he saw no reason to stick around. I’m your daughter, Andrew.” I took a deep breath. “And if there’s any shred of decency inside of you, you’ll leave right now and never come back.”
I’d been watching his face throughout my entire revelation. At first he seemed skeptical, then his skepticism changed to shock, and then to anger, to outright fury. His hands clenched tightly at his side and Diego frowned nervously.
“I could have had a family with Vivien, and she took it from me?”
“Andrew, I’m sorry that you’re alone. And I’m sorry that my mother left you, but you have to understand that she didn’t do it for herself. She did it for me. For her daughter. Your daughter. Do the right thing. Please. My mother is gone, but there’s still a part of her here in this world. Don’t change that.”
He sneered. “How do I know you’re even telling the truth? How do I know that you’re not just trying to get out of building a new race with me?” I shuddered at his sick and perverted words, and he frowned. “I’ve h
eard enough from you. You’re coming with me one way or another. But I’ll tell you what. I’ll give you the choice.
“Come with me willingly, and I’ll spare the wolf. But if you make me take you from here by force, I will let Diego tear him apart piece by piece while you listen to his agonized screams, until there is only silence. What will it be, Ronnie? Will you let others fight and die for you, or will you do the honorable thing, and surrender yourself to me?”
Finn answered before I could even fully register his offer. “Hell no she won’t go with you!”
I felt that Andrew’s sneer was directed at Finn, but I couldn’t be sure because his eyes never left mine. “This does not concern you, wolf.” He said the word like a normal person would say cancer, and he pulled a knife out of his pocket as he said it. “Come with me, Ronnie, and I’ll let the werewolf live. You have my word.”
I spat at the ground near his feet. “Your word means nothing to me. You’re a monster, and you’d probably kill him the second I left with you.”
His lips tilted up in a cruel smile. “You’re probably right.” He turned to Diego and his smile grew. “Have fun with your old friend. I’ll handle the girl myself.”
Diego launched himself at Finn, slamming into him before he even had a chance to defend himself. The force of their impact knocked Finn back, and they toppled over me, sending me crashing to the ground. Annie shouted my name, and I looked up just in time to see Andrew grab her by the hair and shove her off the roof. She had time for part of a scream before she hit the ground with a thud.
“Annie!”
Diego and Finn rolled away from me, engaging in a power struggle that I couldn’t have affected if I tried, so I set my sights on taking out Andrew. I wasn’t sure if I could actually kill someone, but if it was a choice between me and him leaving this roof alive, it would have to be me. No doubt about it.
Dark Heritage Trilogy Page 19
