The Chosen Ones (17 page)

Thane, on the other hand…

I glanced at the man who met
Will in the doorway of the house, always quiet, always letting Will take the
lead. His hood was up, his face hidden as he talked with Will. Was he ashamed
of his scar? I couldn’t imagine him caring what anyone thought about his
features. Still, wondering about Thane was preferable to wondering who would
die next.

Tony and Kelly had dropped their
packs to the ground in the middle of the decaying building, and were going about
making shelters.

“We’ll stay for a couple days,”
Will said. “Rest.”

“What about the beautiful ones?”
I asked, heading toward the abandoned home. “Shouldn’t we be worried about an attack?”

Kelly shook her head as she
unfolded her bedroll. “After a feed they don’t normally go hunting for at least
a week.”

Tony wrapped his arm around
Kelly’s waist and drew her close. “They’ll be busy feeding today and then
sleeping it off for the next couple days.”

I should have been relieved,
instead I could only think of those who would die soon. I glanced at the sun,
low in the sky. How many hours did they have left?

Will pulled his bedroll from his
pack. “They’re required to attend the Sunday gathering.”

I moved into the ruins a bit
more hesitantly. For some reason I felt like we were invading someone’s
privacy. It was hard to believe people had lived here at one time. Had they had
children? A mother and father who had actually married and stayed together as a
family, like I’d read about in my books? Had they, too, been killed by the
beautiful ones?

I glanced around the large, open
room. We could relax, or so Will and Kelly claimed. So why couldn’t I? The
others settled down on their beds, but I still stood there in indecision. Perhaps
I was uneasy because I’d seen the hatred in Bacchus’ eyes. And because I’d
heard what he had said…they were going after us. Not to hunt, but to kill like
we were rodents after the grain.

“You okay?” Kelly asked.

I nodded, giving her a tight
smile. Appeased, they continued to unpack—all but Thane. He merely stood to the
side, his pack still on his shoulders, his gaze scanning the trees behind the
clearing as if he didn’t trust the situation.

Will, Kelly, and Tony thought
the blood suckers were animals. But I knew better. Animals acted on habit, they
fed out of need. Beautiful ones planned and hunted for the thrill. They were
smart, too smart and their senses were better than any animal I’d read about.

“I’ll do a perimeter check,”
Thane said, even though no one had asked him to, nor seemed to expect him to be
on guard.

Apparently I wasn’t the only one
who was leery of another attack. I watched him go until he merged into shadows,
blending into the forest. The others had started making camp, but I couldn’t
settle down. Something didn’t feel right.

“I have to go,” I muttered to
Kelly.
 

“Sure,” she said, barely paying
attention. She probably assumed I needed to relieve myself. In reality, I
wanted to talk to Thane. I needed to know if he suspected something, or if I
was merely being paranoid, my crazed mind playing tricks on me.
 

“Stay close, okay?” Kelly added.

I nodded as I moved into the
woods, following Thane’s path. But he was gone, and when I stopped and
listened, I heard no footsteps. If he didn’t want to be seen, he wouldn’t be. But
maybe, just maybe, he wanted to be found. I’d read about the sea in my books.
But I’d never understood the beauty and power that surrounded the water. I
paused near the edge. What would it be like to swim within those waves? Even
from this high up, I could see them crash below, so violent, yet stunning. In a
weird way they reminded me of the beautiful ones.

“Careful.”

I stiffened, startled. This time
it wasn’t Will, but Thane who stood behind me. Slowly, I turned. I had wanted
to find him, ask him questions, but now that I was alone with Thane I felt only
uneasy. “Do you blame me?” I blurted out. “For Jimmy’s death?”

I hadn’t meant to ask him, but
now that I had, there was no regret. He lowered his hood, showing his scar. I
didn’t dare take it as a compliment, thinking he felt easy around me. It was
more likely that he didn’t give two licks about my opinion of his looks.

“Why would I?”

I crossed my arms over my chest,
feeling like an idiot for bringing it up. “Tony thinks Will went to the
compound because of me.”

He was quiet for a moment,
watching me through those unreadable eyes. He’d left his pack somewhere, his
shoulders free of the weight. Finally, he shifted his gaze, focusing on the
horizon. “I don’t know about Will, but I had planned to leave anyway, and try
to help them escape. Then the letter came.”

“The fake letter?”

He glanced briefly at me, but
not long enough for me to read anything. “Even if Will hadn’t obeyed the
letter, I would’ve left. If I would have left and you all would have stayed,
you would have been killed.”

“You don’t know that. We were
attacked in that skyscraper and—”

“By a couple of vampires out for
fun. Not by Bacchus. He wasn’t there to quell your little rebellions. He was
there to prove a point to me. Don’t ever, ever underestimate the power and
cunning of the blood drinker.”
 

I nodded, feeling even more
uneasy than before. The day Thane had inadvertently picked me at the compound
I’d noticed tension between the two. Now I wondered if it was merely male
bravado or if their anger was something more…something to do with Thane’s love.
I shifted my gaze from Thane to look out at the trees. Dark, shadowed forest
that could hide anyone, anything. Who knew what was out there?

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

I shrugged, surprised that he
would care enough. “It doesn’t feel right.”

He tilted his head slightly, as
if trying to understand my meaning, or understand me. It was something I
reluctantly liked about Thane…that he didn’t jump to give his opinion, instead he
merely listened. “What?”

“I’m worried about another
attack. Something doesn’t feel right today.” I flushed, knowing I sounded crazy.
“Silly, I know.”

“No, don’t be sorry.” He started
along the edge of the cliff, back toward camp. “You should never trust them.
Just when you think you’ve got them figured out, they’ll surprise you. But you
humans…” He paused, allowing me to catch up. “You humans like to place things
in order. You think you can identify beings and objects by assuming they follow
a routine.”
 

“Don’t we?”

He smiled, a brief flash of a
grin that completely took me by surprise—I’d so rarely seen him smile. “Yes, in
general humans do. But blood drinkers are not humans.”

I frowned. They weren’t human,
they weren’t animal…what were they? “Okay, so we can’t trust them, and they might
hunt on Sunday. Have you told the others this?”

“Will knows. I’ve mentioned more
than once that he does a disservice to assume the blood drinkers will or won’t
do something based on the past. But I don’t question how he runs his little group.”

So it was true then. Thane was
an outsider, just like me. I studied the man who stood there looking out into
the trees as if he sensed something too. Studied the way his ice-blue eyes
missed nothing, the way that overly long hair was tousled by the breeze, a lock
landing against his scar. What was he thinking?
 

Was it stupid to trust him? “Can
we make it to the island?”

He didn’t even glance at me. “I
can.”

I can?
What did that mean? Was he planning on leaving us behind? “How?”

He shrugged. “Any way I want.”

I released a wry laugh. “Can you
fly?”

“No.” He slid me a glance
through his dark lashes. “But I can swim.”

I looked at the island, then
back at Thane in disbelief. The mound of earth that interrupted the sea was a
mere hazy pinpoint on the horizon. “You can swim to that?”

“Sure.”

“Of course.” I shook my head,
slightly disgusted with his abilities. That was Thane, reminding me in a not-too-subtle
way that he was so very different from me. “Super human.”

“That’s me,” he said softly,
gazing out onto the water. “So super, I’ve saved hundreds, yet can’t save a
small boy.”

I realized with a start that I
wasn’t the only one who felt guilty about Jim’s death. If Kelly was right Thane
had been unable to save his true love, and he had been unable to save Jimmy. Did
he actually have a heart? The empathy I felt was so swift and surprising, that I
actually started to reach for his hand. Fortunately I came to my senses and
pulled back just in time.

“It’s not your fault, you can’t
protect everyone.”

He gave me a half smile. “That’s
not what you really think though, do you?”

I flushed, dropping eye contact.
I’d blamed him plenty of times for what he’d done, and I’d made it clear I
didn’t trust him because of his beautiful blood. Still, I couldn’t help but
admit that things had changed between us. Somehow, in some way, we’d bonded. I
still didn’t trust him, and I wasn’t even sure I liked him, but we had more in
common than I wanted to admit. “I didn’t know you before. I was just…”

A high-pitched howl pierced the
air. I’d heard that wolf’s call before, almost a month ago when Will and I had
been training. I shivered, crossing my arms over my chest and gazing out into
the woods. “The wolves sound close.”

“No. Not wolves”

Startled, I glanced at him.
“Then what?”

“Shhh.” He held up his hand, abruptly
cutting me off.

For a second I thought he’d
reverted back to his rude dismissive self, until I noticed his gaze focused on
the trees. My skin prickled. I knew that look in his eyes well. His human side
had retreated, and in his gaze was the look of a predator.

My heart leapt into my throat as
I frantically studied the forest. I’d known all along, hadn’t I? We had been
stalked, followed. “Animal?” I asked, a part of me still hopeful.

He started toward the trees. “Head
back. Tell Will we’ve been found.”

I knew I didn’t have time to ask
more questions and took off, racing along the cliff edge. Although my calves
cramped painfully as I started uphill, I didn’t dare slow. There was a time to
be quiet, but this was not it. The moment I spotted the crumbling home I cried
out. “Will!”

He bolted from the brick remains,
meeting me in the clearing. “What is it?”

“Thane,” I said breathlessly,
coming to a skidding halt. “We’ve been followed.”

Kelly and Tony bolted to their
feet, their daggers out. Always prepared, I realized in that moment I would
never again be able to relax. I’d always be anxious, waiting for the next
attack.

“How many?” Tony asked.

“No idea.”

“Very helpful,” he muttered with
a glare.

“Go to hell,” I snapped back, my
anger surging to the forefront. I was tired of his hatred and blame, tired of
the accusatory glares he kept sending my way. I’d had enough. Apparently he had
too.
 

He surged toward me. “We
wouldn’t be in this mess if it wasn’t for you!”

“Enough!” Will growled, stepping
between us and shoving his palm against Tony’s chest. “You know I got the
letter. I would have gone with or without her.”

“Right,” Tony mocked. “Because
we always follow orders, never think for ourselves.”

Heated anger surged over my
fear. I wasn’t sure why Tony was upset, but it was obvious it wasn’t just
because of me. No, his irritation ran deeper. Lucky me, I was merely the outlet
for his ire.

“Tony, come on,” Kelly said,
trying to soothe the situation.

“We have more important things
to worry about right now,” I said, annoyed with Tony, but even more annoyed
with the way Kelly was trying to placate him. “Like living. Unless any of you
can fly, or feel like jumping off the cliff, we’re trapped here.”

Thane suddenly appeared without
making a sound, as if he’d always been there. I could read nothing on his
face…no worry, no fear, not even anger, but then he never wore his emotions. “Five.”

“Shit,” Tony snapped, scanning
the woods. “Five?”

“What are they doing here?” Kelly
asked.
 

“Apparently they’re sending out
scout groups on Sunday now,” Thane said dryly.

Why hadn’t Will taken Thane’s
warning to heed?

“Tony, left. Kelly, right.” He
turned toward Thane. “Protect Jane!” Before I could protest, Will shoved me
toward Thane. “Get her out of here!”

Wait, what?

Confused, I glanced around the
group for answers, but Tony and Kelly were already heading to their positions
and Thane was of no help. “Let’s go.”

“Go where?” I turned toward
Will. “You can’t be serious, I’m not leaving you.”

“Take her,” Will said, not
meeting my gaze, but heading toward his pack and gathering what little,
pathetic weapons we carried. He couldn’t seriously mean for Thane to take me
away. Thane was the only one standing between the group and certain death.

“Come on.” Thane took me by the
hand, his fingers firm and strong.

“No!” I screamed, trying to
break away from his hold. I wasn’t going to run away like a coward. “I’m not going!”

“You have to,” Will said, his
face full of anguish. An emotion that startled and confused me. He acted as if
we’d never see each other again. “You don’t understand, you have to live.”

I broke from Thane’s hold and
bolted toward Will. He caught me tight in his grasp. When I pulled back, I
found his lips on mine. A quick, hard kiss. Stunned, I was barely aware when he
pulled away.

“Take her,” Will said.

“We’ll have to jump.”

Will nodded.

Thane grabbed my arm again.

“No!” I cried out, terrified by
the idea. I didn’t understand what was happening, why they were acting so
strangely. Thane ignored me and wrapped a steel arm around my waist. Calmly, as
if it was any other day, he pulled me back…back toward the cliff.