The Chosen Ones

by Lori Brighton

Chapter 4

  “Ready?” Will whispered next to my ear, his warm breath stirring the hair that had come loose from my braid and momentarily distracting me.

  I tried to push aside the odd flare of emotion that swirled through my body at his nearness. Attempted to ignore the blood pounding through my veins, partly from excitement and partly from his close proximity. If I wanted to live, I needed to be able to concentrate. Still, I wasn’t used to being touched, and his hand was tight around my upper arm, his fingers almost stinging. I rested my hand against my thigh. Feeling the dagger Kelly had given to me made me feel better for some reason.

  Would I ever get used to physical contact? Because of the years of rules that had been pounded into my brain, perhaps not. Contact at my compound had been merely about producing offspring. But here we were free to touch, cuddle, kiss, as I’d seen many of the couples do at night. As much as I’d always craved closeness, it made me uneasy.

  I rolled my eyes skyward, mentally shaking aside the thoughts. This wasn’t about romance and friendship, it was about learning to survive.

  Will released his hold. “Go!”

  I took off, darting through the trees, leaping over patches of weeds and fallen branches. As children we’d played hide and seek, but this was an adult version, a version I needed to win in order to stay alive. But within moments I was breathless, my weak body screaming out in betrayal. Determined to win, I stumbled on.

  For days we’d been walking, headed toward that elusive meeting point where we’d connect with the children once more, hoping we didn’t run into any beautiful ones. And every evening, as the others rested, Will and I trained. Trained so hard that my muscles constantly trembled with exhaustion, trained so hard that at times I didn’t think I could go on. At least I slept well at night. One small consolation.

  When we’d take breaks during the day hikes, Will would give me what books he had been able to carry with him. I was currently reading a novel on the history of the world. Interesting, yes, but there was nothing about the beautiful ones, and at the moment they were all I cared about.

  I ducked under a low-hanging branch. In the days I’d been with him I’d grown to respect Will. I might not have liked him at times, but I trusted him. And I could even say that Kelly was becoming a friend. The others weren’t so easy to figure out, and were obviously leery about letting me into their tight group, even if the sudden appearance of newbies, as Tony called us, was common.

  I darted left, headed downhill. But my untrained body gave out, propelling me forward and I ended up sliding in the damp earth. “Damn.”

  Coming to a rest at the bottom, just inches from a small creek, I took a brief moment to suck in some much-needed air. Surely Will was already after me. I glanced back up the hill and saw the deep grooves my boots had left behind in the mud. Will would see those tell-tale marks and he’d follow. With a groan of frustration, I stood. Mud covered the side of my trousers, caked into the material. I wanted to curse all over again. Clothing was limited, and I had only two pair of trousers to my name. But I didn’t have time to lament my bad fortune.

  Although it was only Will chasing me, it might as well have been a beautiful one. My heart hammered, urging me to continue on, but I needed to remain calm. I studied the forest, taking in each shadow, every nook. Hide or run?

  Run.

  But where to go? Will had told me to head downwind, so the beautiful ones couldn’t smell me. But I wasn’t running from a beautiful one. Will would easily follow my tracks down this hill, and he’d assume I was listening and I’d run downwind. I glanced up the steep slope. I didn’t just need to know how to protect myself from the beautiful ones, I needed to know how to protect myself period, no matter who the enemy. And at the moment Will was the enemy.

  “Uphill it is.” I gripped a branch and pulled myself back up the hill, this time making sure not to leave any prints. Sweat trailed down my neck and back, as my muscles screamed in protest. So weak that my head throbbed with each step I took. But I couldn’t give up. I wouldn’t.

  Hopefully Will would think I’d headed downhill, giving me a few minutes to catch my breath. But most likely not. We’d been doing this for three days and every time Will had found me within ten minutes. At the top of the hill, I took a moment to glance around. Where was he? Where was I? Pressing my hands onto my thighs, I leaned over, closing my eyes and tried to listen, using my senses as Will had taught me.

  He should have been there by now…unless I had actually won. Impossible. I could hear nothing but the occasional chirp of birds and my own harsh breathing. Still, instinct told me to run. When I straightened, the trees wavered in and out of focus in front of me, my mind spinning. I knew I was pushing myself too hard, but couldn’t seem to quit.

  Kill or be eaten.

  Determined, I surged left, behind a massive oak tree and ran straight into a hard body. I stifled my scream. The warm, musky scent had become so familiar to me in the last few days that nervousness quickly fled as Will’s arms came up automatically, wrapping around my waist. Off balance, we tumbled back. Will hit the ground with a grunt, taking me with him. As we rolled down the hill, I bit back my cry of surprise, knowing it might attract the beautiful ones if they were in the area. Will held me close, cupping the back of my head protectively, until we came to a stop in a pile of wet leaves at the bottom of the hill.

  For a brief embarrassing moment we just laid there, Will’s muscled body pressing mine into the ground. As horrified as I was to be touching someone so closely, I realized it could have been worse—he could have been a blood drinker. Breathing heavily, our gazes met. It was an odd feeling that swept through me…warmth, embarrassment, but something more. Something that confused me. Something I’d been trying to ignore since meeting Will. Was I actually attracted to him? Is this what Tom had felt when he’d been near me?

  “How’d you find my location?” I asked, mostly to make conversation and forget, for a moment, my confusing thoughts.

  He lifted off me, brushing the dirt from his trousers. “Luck.” He held out his hand. “I promise. I was headed downhill when I heard a branch snap. Wasn’t even you, but a deer. Still, I saw you up ahead.”

  I slid my hand into his and allowed him to pull me to my feet. “Damn,” I said, using his favorite curse word.

  It should have made me feel better to know that he’d fallen for my trick, but it didn’t. He’d found me anyway thanks to a deer. And if Will could find me, I’d have no chance against a beautiful one. He grinned a crooked grin that had my heart flip-flopping. Annoyed at myself, I looked away, focusing on brushing the leaves and dirt from my clothes. I barely even liked him. Yes, he had saved me, but he was bossy, practically heartless at times. So why did I react so oddly when he was near? It didn’t make sense.

  “Jane, you’re getting better.” He started to reach out for me, but dropped his arm to his side at the last minute. He, too, seemed to feel uncomfortable with touching at times. Or maybe he just felt uncomfortable touching me. “A lot better. We’ve only been at it for a few days. You need to rest, give your body time to get used to this type of life, this constant exercise. Tomorrow we hike all day to the river and you’re going to be exhausted.”

  It wasn’t as if we weren’t plenty active back at the compound. Our chores kept us on our feet. But nothing compared to this constant movement, up and down hills. I glanced toward the west. The sky, a brilliant pink from the setting sun, was just visible through the trees. It was getting too dark to read any books. If we stopped training, it would only give me time to think, to remember everything that had happened to me, and to the people I cared about. I didn’t want to remember.

  I turned my pleading gaze toward Will. “Just once more. Come on.”

  “Jane—”

  “Please!”

  He sighed and turned his back to me. “One, two…”

  I didn’t wait but bolted, determined to do better this time. They’d thought I was a bother, and I had
been for two weeks. I didn’t miss the looks of pity from Kelly, or the glares from Tony and the others. I was holding them back. I would prove them all wrong. And whether Will could help me or not, I would figure out how to save my friends and family. Or I would die trying.

  The sharp pain in my side pulled me up short. I stumbled, gritted my teeth, but continued. I would not give up. The lives of my family depended on me winning. Will and his friends had one goal in mind…survive. But I had another, not that I was going to share my plan with them. They’d try to talk me out of it, or worse, forbid me. But I was going to save my friends and family. Save them all, even if I had to do it alone.

  I raced on my toes, making sure not to leave footprints, and zig-zagged through the trees, leaping over fallen logs. Will said people instinctively went right. I started to go left, but paused. Yeah, he was teaching me the basics, but I also knew survival had a lot to do with knowing your opponent, and Will would try to read my mind. I spun around and darted right.

  A few steps down the trail and my legs were trembling so much that I found myself tripping over my own feet. At a deer trail, I paused to lean against a beech tree, the bark smooth and cool against my cheek. I heard no footsteps, no breaking branches, only the harsh catch of my breath.

  Slowly, I moved across the trail and into a patch of brush. Where was he? Surely he should have found me by now. Gently, I lowered down, peering through the spindly branches as I awaited Will’s arrival. I was too damn exhausted to run. A surprise attack was my only option, and Will wouldn’t expect me to fight.

  A high-pitched howl pierced the evening air. Although it sounded merely like one of the wolves or wild dogs that I used to see roaming the hills outside the compound, the fine hairs on the back of my neck still stood on end. Perhaps it was stupid of me to be out here alone.

  The snap of a branch behind me had me stiffening in surprise. My determination quickly gave way to disappointment. Would I ever win this game, or was it my lot in life to be killed by a beautiful one? Bracing my hands on the tree in front of me, I managed to stand.

  “Well done, Will.” I turned to face him. “How’d you…”

  But it wasn’t Will’s familiar warm hazel eyes that found me. No, an ice-blue gaze pinned me in place. As a patch of fading sunlight pierced the trees, catching the stark paleness of that scar across his cheek, I realized who stood there.

  Thanatos.

  I froze, my breath held. All the nightmares I’d tried so hard to forget returned. Suddenly I was back in my compound again, under Thanatos’ watchful gaze.

  “Her, I pick her.”

  He had started this endless nightmare. Every drop of blood spilled, every death, every moment of fear that I’d endured had been because of him.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, taking a hesitant step forward. “I didn’t mean to…”

  Terrified, I spun around and burst through the brush. My rational mind fled as I ran. He was a beautiful one. A monster. He would kill me. He would kill us all. I had to warn Will and the others. At the least, I had to lead Thanatos away from the group. How many other beautiful ones were with him? Was this one of the infamous hunting parties Will had warned me about?

  “Jane!” he called out, close, so close.

  I knew in that moment I would never outrun him. Barely pausing, I reached down and scooped up a branch. The moment I felt his presence and saw him come up beside me out of the corner of my eye, I turned and swung.

  He ducked, but I wasn’t about to give up. I dropped the branch, spun around and darted left through a patch of elm trees. “Will!” I screamed, hoping I could at least warn the others. “Will, run!”

  Thanatos suddenly hit me from behind, sending us both sprawling to the ground. His heavy body pinned me to the dirt, so like how they had pinned Sally to the tabletop before ripping out her throat that instinctively I opened my mouth and screamed.

  He slapped his hand over my lips, those ice-blue eyes glaring down at me. “Stop screaming, you idiot. You might attract them.”

  Attract who? Will and the others? The images of death and blood fled, and my anger surged to the forefront. I needed that anger, clung to it in order to survive. Yeah, I hated myself for screaming and panicking, for falling back into that helpless girl. But mostly I hated him. I grabbed the dagger on my right thigh and swung my arm upward. Thanatos rolled off me just at the right moment, jumping to his feet.

  I surged upright, dagger held high.

  He was breathing harshly, the anger apparent in his flashing pale eyes and the whiteness of that scar across his cheek. I’d never thought to see him again, rarely thought about him, even wondered if he’d been a dream. Having Thanatos so close was too much, as if I relived that evening over and over… the day Sally had been murdered right before my eyes.

  “What the hell is your problem?” he demanded. He didn’t wear the colorful silky outfits of the other beautiful ones, but instead wore dark and dreary clothing similar to what we wore. For some reason the clothing annoyed me, as if he was trying to distance himself from the beautiful ones and pretend to be one of us.

  “My problem?” I repeated through clenched teeth. “My problem is you, you murderer!”

  The sound of someone crashing through the vegetation had me stiffening in surprise. Thanatos didn’t even bat an eyelash.

  “It’s merely Will,” he muttered.

  How he knew, I wasn’t sure. But I believed him. I doubted a beautiful one would make so much noise. No, they’d be stealth and quiet like the tigers I’d read about in one of my books.

  “Jane?” I heard Will’s voice a moment later. My relief was immediate, but I didn’t dare turn my back on Thanatos. “What’s wrong?”

  “Him! He’s one of them!”

  Thanatos stepped toward us. Unable to hold back any longer, I lunged forward with the dagger.

  He jumped back, a primitive growl escaping his lips. “Damn it, Will, control her before I do!”

  Startled, I almost dropped my knife. So, he and Will were on a first name basis? I flushed, feeling as if I’d been duped. How wonderful for them. I wasn’t so easy to charm. I narrowed my eyes, not trusting him in the least. Blood drinker. Murderer. A variety of hateful names burst through my mind, but I managed to keep them to myself.

  “Jane,” Will said soothingly. “He’s not like them.”

  I almost laughed at that ridiculous statement. Yeah, maybe he’d saved me after all, and it hadn’t been a dream. But he was still one of them, and he’d let hundreds, probably thousands, die.

  “Just calm down.” Will walked hesitantly forward, placing himself between me and Thanatos as if he meant to protect the blood drinker.

  Frustrated, I dropped my arm to my side. “What is this?” I demanded. “Why are you protecting him after everything his people have done?”

  Thanatos released a wry laugh. “Protecting me?”

  I didn’t bother to glance at him. He didn’t deserve my attention. “What’s this about, Will?”

  “Will?” Kelly cried out. He looked almost relieved when she and Tony came panting up the hill, interrupting us. “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s all right,” he said to them. “She’s not hurt.”

  I wasn’t hurt, at least not physically. As if that made all the difference. They knew as well as I did that mentally I was a mess and it was the blood drinker’s fault. His fault that I couldn’t sleep at night. His fault that for two weeks I’d been a shell of the person I’d once been.

  “What happened?” Kelly asked in that motherly voice she used on the children.

  “Him!” I pointed my dagger at Thanatos, ignoring the flash of anger in his eyes. He reminded me of a snake, coiled and ready to attack. Not to be trusted…ever. “He’s one of them.”

  “Yes, Jane.” Will held up his hands as if to ward me off, as if I was the threat here. “But he’s on our side.”

  Confused, I shook my head. “He’s a blood drinker. He’s a bea
utiful one. He’s the enemy.”

  Will sighed and raked his hands through his hair, looking completely flustered. “It’s not a clear-cut issue. Yeah, he was born there, but he’s not one of them.”

  “Oh really?” I shoved my dagger back into the sheath, my hands trembling with anger, annoyance, and yes, even fear. Traitors, I wanted to scream at them. They’d dishonored the memory of the dead by merely being near him. “Because I think it’s pretty clear. He’s a beautiful one, therefore he’s the enemy. He’s watched plenty of people die. Who knows, maybe he hasn’t killed them, but he certainly didn’t do anything to stop them.”

  “Because I don’t want him to!” Will snapped in frustration.

  Stunned, I merely stared at him. Surely he didn’t mean what he’d said. Or maybe I’d misheard him. “I don’t understand.”

  Tony snickered as if he expected nothing less of me. I ignored him.

  “He’s our inside source.”

  I threw my arms wide. “And so innocent people die, and it doesn’t matter to you?”

  Will frowned. “Don’t be stupid.”

  His words hurt, not that I would admit as much.

  “That enemy saved your life,” Kelly said, looking just as upset by my unwillingness to accept Thanatos. Was I the only one who saw the blood drinker for what he truly was? “He brought you to us.”

  “So what?” I wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it all. They were friends with a beautiful one. They trusted him. Slowly, I looked around the group, studying their sincere faces, trying to make sense of the situation, and realization hit…they were actually taking his side over mine.

  “He’s a blood drinker. A murderer. He’s one of them,” I hissed. “He let my friends die, people I cared about.” I could feel the burn of tears in my eyes, but I refused to cry in front of them. I’d looked weak enough in the past two weeks. But what I blamed him for most of all was that when I’d wanted to help Sally, he’d forced me to leave. I would never forgive him for the guilt I carried.

  Still, they remained by his side. And Thanatos held no expression what so ever on his beautiful face. He didn’t even had the decency to mock me. Damn him. He was the reason I had been chosen, the reason Sally had died. He, and his people, were the reason we were hunted down like animals, killed without second thought. He himself had torn the head from his friends without showing an ounce of remorse. What sort of man could do such a thing? What sort of man could stand by year after year, pointing out people for slaughter and then watching as they were murdered, drained of life?

  A monster. He was a monster.

  “As far as I’m concerned he’s the enemy and I won’t stay here with him.”

  “Thane is our friend, Jane,” Will said softly, but leaving no room for argument. “He helps us, risks his life for us. We won’t kick him out of the group.”

  “Fine.” There was one thing they didn’t know about me, I was stubborn. Very stubborn. “Then I’m leaving.”

  With that said, I spun around and started back toward the camp to get my bag. I didn’t need them anyway. After all, we had different agendas, and would eventually part. We were merely separating sooner than I’d hoped. They were here to survive, I was here to protect my family and friends, no matter what the cost. And the only way to protect them was to kill the beautiful ones.

  “Jane!” Will called out, the shock in his voice annoyed me. How, exactly, had he expected me to respond? They seemed to think I was the one acting irrationally, when they were the ones befriending a blood drinker. I ignored his call. I ignored Kelly’s cry, begging me to return. I shoved aside a low-hanging branch and found the trail back to camp.

  Yeah, maybe I’d die out there on my own.

  But I’d rather die alone than work with a beautiful one.

  Chapter 5