The Chosen Ones (31 page)

“No,” Kelly interrupted. She
hadn’t followed us but still stood near the creek. “Tony wouldn’t! He hates
them! He loved me, he said so!”

Her pain vibrated around us, raw
and consuming. “Kelly.”

I tried to reach out to her, but
she spun around and paced alongside the creek. “No. Oh God.”

She froze, tears streaming down
her face. Why hadn’t I voiced my suspicions about Tony earlier on? Maybe if she
hadn’t fallen so deeply for him, Kelly wouldn’t be taking this so hard.

“He did it,” she whispered what
we had already accepted. “He was responsible for all their deaths.”

No one responded. My urge to
comfort her fought with my need to stop Tony and Susan. “I’m sorry, Kelly.”

“We need to go,” Will stated
impatiently. “Tony knows our meeting points. And…” A telling flush colored his
face. “I told Susan about them as well.”

Kelly’s pain was all but
forgotten. I wanted to ask him how he could be so stupid, but managed to keep
my thoughts to myself. It didn’t matter. Nothing did. It was too late. We could
only try to stop them now.

Thane sighed and continued up
the hill. “Then we definitely need to find them.”

I raced after Thane, leaving
Will and Kelly to follow. “What’s the plan?”

“I’m heading northwest, you go
northeast. I think they split. Yell if you find them, I’ll hear.”

I nodded and we parted at the
campsite. They were only a few minutes ahead of us. I had no doubt Thane would
find them. I also realized he probably knew exactly where they were located and
was sending me in the near opposite direction on purpose. Will had taught me to
know the people around me. I might have misjudged Will, but I knew I hadn’t
misjudged Thane and he would try to protect me. I didn’t head northeast, but
headed north, hiking almost parallel to Thane. If they ran, I’d catch them.

I felt Will behind me a moment
before he whispered my name. “Jane.”

I didn’t look at him, but kept
my gaze on the forest, my feet sure and steady. “Where’s Kelly?”

“I sent her south to the next
camp to warn them.”

I frowned, annoyed he would send
her alone in her condition. Why hadn’t he gone with her? Because he, too, felt
like he needed to protect me. “What do you want?”

“I’m sorry.” He brushed his hand
against my arm as he fell into step beside me. I wasn’t quite sure if it was an
accident or not. “I have to give everyone the benefit of the doubt.”

No, he didn’t. But that’s how
Will was and how he would always be. Just like that, my anger evaporated. If
there was one thing I’d learned from Tom it was that people rarely changed. And
maybe that was okay. Maybe Tom and Will should be with someone who accepted
them as they were. “Its fine, Will, really.”

“I feel…”

I didn’t wait to listen to
whatever excuse he would use, and hurried my steps. Thane was impossible to see
or hear. But knowing him, he’d probably already caught the two escapees. I quickened
my steps, jogging through the woods, brushing aside branch after branch, trying
to make sense of the shadows in the forest and all the while Will raced beside
me.

“I feel like I hurt you, which I
didn’t want—”

“Will,” I snapped, annoyed.
Couldn’t he see I was trying to concentrate? I didn’t want to focus on my
emotions. At least not now, maybe not ever. Emotions, feelings…blah. They made
everything too complicated. I was done completely with them.

“Broken branch,” Will whispered
as we approached another creek.

But it was the footprint in the
mud that caught my attention. A female print by the size and shape. I narrowed
my eyes, the adrenaline in my body pumping. How I’d love to find Susan on my
own, make it clear exactly how I felt about her.

“It’s just that—”

“Will,” I hissed, finally turning
to face him. “It’s okay.”

For one long moment we merely
stared at each other, something strange and uncomfortable shifting between us.
He was no longer the priority in my life, and he had proven with Susan that I
was no longer the priority in his. He knew—I could see it in his eyes—that I
had moved on. I no longer needed him, and for Will that would be hard to take.

“Do you love him?”

I knew who he spoke about, but I
wasn’t sure how I felt about Thane and even if I did know, I didn’t want to
discuss it with Will. I trudged through the creek. “What are you talking
about?”

“Thane.”

I could feel the heat rushing up
my neck and into my cheeks. A sharp, wry laugh escaped my lips. “I don’t even
know what love is. I don’t think I’ve ever known. Maybe I never will.”

The words saddened me more than
I thought they would.

Disconcerted, I hastened my
steps up the bank of the creek, but before I could reach the top Will grasped
my arm, stopping me. “Have you kissed?”

I jerked my arm away, frustrated
and annoyed. Why did he suddenly care? “That’s none of your business.”

“So you have.”

“What’s this about, Will?” I glared
at him. “What’s this really about?”

How dare he question my
relationship with Thane when he had practically ignored me in favor of Susan. He
parted his lips, but didn’t respond. He didn’t want to admit that he was
jealous.

“We should be searching for the
others.”

He frowned. “Thane most likely
already found them.”

True, but I still didn’t want to
stand around chatting with Will about my love life. Talk about awkward. “He
might need help.”

He released a harsh laugh.
“Thane never needs help.”

I couldn’t tell if it was
bitterness or merely honesty behind his tone. “Why do you care about me and
Thane, Will? You made it abundantly clear that you wanted nothing to do with me
the moment Susan arrived.”

He took my hand, his fingers
warm and comforting. “Jane, I don’t know how this serum will affect me. I
didn’t want you wasting time on us when I didn’t know if I’d even have a
future.” He released my hand and cupped the side of my face. “I do care about
you. I always have.”

Did I believe him? Or was he
only speaking about his feelings after finding out that Susan had betrayed us? Was
I his second choice? I shook my head. It didn’t matter. I didn’t want a
relationship with Will. Perhaps with no one.

“Over here,” someone whispered,
the voice traveling through the woods.

I jerked my gaze from Will and
peered through the branches. Tony was in the clearing just through the trees,
but he wasn’t speaking to us. No, he was speaking to Susan who stumbled into
the open area after him, clutching a bag to her chest. Thane’s decoy satchel.

“Where are they?” she whispered
in a hushed tone. “They should be here by now.”

They?
The vampires were coming. Will crouched next to me, his gaze
pinned to the two. I shifted my attention from them to the trees beyond, looking
for Thane. Dare we wait for him to make a move, or should we attack now?

“Make sure the serum is there
before Bacchus arrives.” Tony reached out and snatched the bag from Susan,
tearing it open.

I knew what he would find even
before he cursed. But I wasn’t concerned about his reaction. No, I was focused
on their upcoming visitors.
Bacchus was
coming
. Just the thought of the vampire made my blood go cold.
Bacchus was coming
. Instinct told me we
had to act now, before it was too late. We couldn’t wait for Thane’s help.

“Idiot!” He threw the bag at her.
“It’s empty!”

“No.” Susan shook her head,
dropping to her knees to search the satchel. “They’re…Oh God, they’ll kill us!”

I started to surge forward, but
Will reached out, grasping onto my upper arm and stopping me. He, obviously,
wanted to hear more.

“We can’t return to camp,” Tony
snapped bitterly, raking is hands through his hair and pacing the small
clearing. How I hated him. He was the reason Jimmy and the others had died. He
had stood there while Jimmy lay bleeding to death, and pretended to care. The
mere sight of him made me ill.

“Unless I pretend I caught you
escaping.”

Susan surged to her feet in
outrage. “You aren’t betraying me like you did your supposed friends! I’ll tell
them the truth!”

He leapt toward her, his lips
lifting into a snarl. “Who do you think they’ll believe? Me, someone who has
been with them for years, or you?”

The woods were growing dark. It would
be harder to fight them, more difficult to see. And if Bacchus appeared we were
as good as dead without Thane’s help.

“Will?” I whispered urgently.

I’d give him one more chance,
but Will was no longer my leader and I trusted my instincts more than I trusted
him. My instincts were screaming at me to act.

Fortunately Will relented and nodded.
“Go around. Surprise them from the back.”

I headed through the trees,
making sure to avoid stepping on twigs and branches that might give away my
presence. While I made my way around the clearing, Tony and Susan continued to argue
about what to do. It was obvious they hadn’t known each other for long, which
meant Susan had been sent to us on purpose, most likely to find the serum.

I paused when I was directly
across from Will. I could barely see him through the branches but the moment I
heard the twigs rattle, I took action. In one smooth movement, I pulled the gun
from the waistband of my trousers and stepped into the clearing.

“Stop. It’s over.”

Tony spun around to face me.
“Jane,” he gasped. The surprise on his face quickly smoothed into concern. He
was good. Really good. “I found Susan trying to race off with the serum.”

I would have punched him in the
face then and there if he hadn’t been stronger than me. “Really? Well, good thing
you were there to stop her.”

He didn’t notice my sarcasm. “Is
that a gun?”

“It is.” He didn’t need to know
there were no bullets left and it was about as useless as a rock. I only hung
onto it because Thane had asked me to. Thane. Where was he? It wasn’t like the
man to be late. He was always one, or five, steps ahead of us.

“But where’d you get it?”

“We know,” Will said, stepping
from the trees, his dagger in hand. “Don’t try to deny it, Tony. We know you
betrayed us.”

Tony shook his head, tearing his
gaze from the gun and focusing on Will. “No. I wouldn’t do that. You know me,
Will. We’re friends.”

“Damn it,” Will hissed, grabbing
Tony by the shirt and jerking him close. “How could you? How could you pretend
to care when they were tortured? They killed Jimmy!”

“I did care!” Tony hissed,
struggling to break from Will’s grasp. “They’ve known about us for months,
Will! They’ve been following us. They gave me a choice, and if I wanted to
live, I had to pick sides.”

“You picked the wrong side.”
Will threw his fist forward, hitting Tony in the chin. His head snapped back
and he stumbled, falling to the ground. Will shoved his foot into Tony’s chest,
sending him to his back. “Find something to tie them up.”

Susan was whimpering by a tree. “Please,
I had no choice.”

“Get up,” I snapped, in no mood
for her manipulative begging. It might have worked on the guys, but not me.
 

She stumbled to her feet,
glaring at me. Her poor maiden disguise was gone, the ugly truth revealed. “You
don’t think you’ll end up dead along with us?”

“We might end up dead,” I said. “But
it will never be alongside you.”

“They would have killed me.” She
looked ridiculous standing there in her white, maiden gown, her beautiful face
flushed with dirt and outrage. “I had to do what they said! I had no choice!”

“We always have a choice.” I
gripped her upper arm and turned to head back toward camp. I had barely taken
my first step when a shiver of warning raced down my spine. “Will, I think…”

Men shifted from the woods, at least
five beautiful ones and Bacchus, merging into the clearing. The terror I felt
was real and shocking. My hand grew tight around the butt of my pistol.

“Well, well, well,” Bacchus
sighed. “We came merely to get the serum. But I see the universe has thrown in
a surprise…or two.”

I slid Will a glance from under
my lashes. What was the plan? Certainly we had a plan. But he looked just as
worried as I felt. Will was a leader, he wasn’t a warrior. Swallowing hard, I
jerked the gun up, deciding to take action on my own. “Don’t move.”

Bacchus looked at the gun, then
back up at me and laughed. The men behind him grinned. My arm wavered. They
knew. Somehow they knew.

“Even if that gun had bullets,
which I’m rather sure it doesn’t, it won’t kill us, my dear. So don’t even
think about trying anything.”

I raised the pistol. “It will
kill you if I hit your head.”

Before I could blink, they were
on us. I barely had time to register their advance before the gun was torn from
my hand and I was tossed to the ground. The side of my face hit the hard earth.
Will was slammed to the ground next to me. With a muffled cry, I tried to break
free, but they held me so tight I could barely move. My arms were jerked back
and rope was wound tightly around my wrists. Just as quickly as I’d been shoved
to the earth, I was jerked back to my feet. It was all too much, too fast. My
mind spun, the world around me wavered in and out of focus.

Although my body ached and my
arms felt as if they were being pulled from the sockets, I didn’t worry, for I
knew Thane would arrive at any moment. He’d never let me down before and he
wouldn’t now. At least I hoped. But could Thane take on five beautiful ones and
Bacchus?

“Shall we, my little pets?” Dismissing
us, Bacchus started through the woods as if we were on a stroll through the
forest, all ease and smiling happiness. How I hated him like I’d never hated
anyone. There was no reasoning with the vampire, he was a demon in man’s
clothing. A monster who got his power from harming others.