Territory of the Dead (Book 2): Phase Two: Evaluate (14 page)

“We need Drake,” he responded harshly. “Stay here with Jayden and keep him calm. I'll be back as soon as I can.” He quickly disappeared around the trees, in the direction of the burning building.

Jayden groaned, his hand reaching to the back of his thigh. “God, it hurts,” he panted out, his voice strained. “Shit, I'm going to die.”

“Don't say that,” I ordered sharply, scanning around us to make sure a zombie wasn't in sight. I prayed that they wouldn't find us. “Kellan has went to get Drake. You'll be okay.”

Jayden grunted in pain. “Don't let them turn me into a vampire, Tabitha.”

I hadn't thought of that. I stared down into his face, admiring his strength. Bite and all, he was holding it together, but I knew that it could be fatal. As I watched him, I didn't know that I could let him die, not when there was an alternative. Hopefully, it wouldn't come to that, though.

To my relief, I saw Kellan and Drake running back to us. “He's been bit by a water moccasin,” Kellan informed him as Drake studied the bite. “I think we both know what you're going to have to do.”

“Wait,” I interrupted, staring between the two men. “What does that mean?”

“Take her out of here,” Drake told Kellan, jerking his head in my direction. “In fact, the two of you should head on back to the Suburban. After all, you've been shot. We don't need you collapsing out here, too. I'll bring Jayden over when I'm done. We'll make much better time than the two of you will.”

I stared at all of them as if they were crazy. “You've been shot?” I asked in disbelief, lifting my hand up to shine the flashlight over his body. On the upper right side of his shirt, he was bloody. “Oh, my God,” I gasped, lowering the flashlight. “You have been.”

“It passed all the way through,” Kellan retorted, picking up his bag and rifle. “I'll live.”

I felt horrible, knowing he'd been shot because of my thoughtless actions. Jayden groaned, reminding me of his request. I shined the flashlight at Drake. His lips were open, his fangs clearly visible. “What do you think you're going to do to Jayden?”

My voice was hoarse but firm. I pulled my own pistol out and aimed it at Drake's head, or at least I hoped I did. My aim still wasn't great. Drake stared at me in amusement. “I asked you a question, and I expect an answer. I'm not going anywhere until I know what your plans for Jayden are.”

Drake arched an eyebrow up as he stared at Kellan. “She's a feisty one, huh?”

“You have no idea,” Kellan replied, somewhat sourly. I was willing to bet I wasn't on his top ten list of favorite people, but I couldn't care less. He wasn't on mine, either.

“You can lower the gun, my dear,” Drake replied, with a lisp. His large fangs were interfering with his speech. “I'm only going to suck the poison out, that's all.”

Jayden's body contorted on the ground. “We don't have much time,” Drake continued. “If you want him to live, I need to get on with it.”

I lowered the gun. I was being pulled in two different directions. How could I send Kellan to the Suburban alone, after he'd been shot because of me? Then again, how could I leave Jayden alone with a vampire as he suckled his blood?

“Do you trust Drake to keep his word?” I asked Kellan, respecting his judgment.

Kellan gave me a tight nod. “I do.”

“Then get on with it,” I ordered the vampire. It was hard to stand there and not cry as Jayden stared up at me with pain-filled eyes. Despite his strength, underneath it all, I could sense his fear. We were both scared, our previous lives not preparing us for moments like these. “But know this,” I continued, my voice turning hard. “If you hurt him, I'll kill you. I promise you that.”

Kellan rolled his eyes. “Enough with the dramatics,” he ground out, hooking his arm through mine. Looking at Drake, he added, “Get to the Suburban as fast as you can. We've only got minutes till the zombies get here. The sooner you can join us, the better.”

Drake didn't respond. Instead, he bent his mouth to the back of Jayden's leg. I watched in disgust as he drew deeply. The seconds passed as I wondered if he'd keep his word. Finally, Drake stopped to spit it out as I nearly sagged in relief.

Kellan pulled me away, his stride long and powerful. I almost had to run to keep up with him. I watched Jayden and Drake until I couldn't see them anymore, praying I'd made the right decision.

I was out of breath by the time we made it back to the top of the hill. Lucky for me, the rest of the way was downhill.

Epilogue

We arrived back to Kellan's home just a little bit before sunrise. With Jayden in the condition he was in, and Kellan shot, he'd decided to not check out the Texas border, after all. But even shot, Drake and Kellan had switched places an hour before. With dawn approaching, Kellan was able to see enough to drive us home.

He opened the automatic gates and pulled through. Like always, he came to a complete stop and watched them as they closed. Even shot, exhausted, and pissed off, Kellan didn't take any chances.

Jayden was slumped up against me, his face pale. Drake had carried him to the Suburban, moving much faster than we ever could. After putting him in the back, he'd hopped in and immediately assured me that Jayden would live. That was good news. That meant the vampire would, too.

I had plenty of time to think about everything as we drove back home. We'd all remained silent on the way back, only talking when we had to. I felt gratitude to Drake for saving Jayden's life. As a vampire, the venom didn't affect him. Without him there, Jayden would have died. Drake and I wouldn't be bosom buddies, but I respected him, and I no longer feared his presence in the house. It was a start.

Initially, the kiss between Kellan and I had disturbed me. I'd finally made my peace with it, too. As Kellan had said, it didn't mean anything. He'd quieted me down in the best way he knew how. I had to admit, it had been pretty effective. For my own peace of mind, I had to leave it at that.

Despite my thoughts, I couldn't forget how pleasurable it had been. I'd now been kissed by two men, and I'd enjoyed it both times. Was it always that way? I wasn't sure.

I liked Jayden. A lot. But Kellan was a different story. I felt safe and protected when I was with him, but that was as far as it went. I wasn't comfortable with him, not like I was with Jayden. Kellan was just too masculine, too hard,
too much
. The kiss might have been pleasurable, but I couldn't imagine being the woman he was involved with. I'd take safe and comfortable over fast and dangerous any day.

I didn't think that Jayden had witnessed the kiss. We'd been concealed behind darkness, trees, and tall grass, and he'd been watching the burning building and scanning for zombies. After a huge internal debate, I decided it would serve no purpose to tell him. Kellan hadn't kissed me out of passion, he'd kissed me out of necessity, in an effort to save all of our lives. I grimaced as I recalled how distasteful he seemed to have found it.
Moving on
.

Kellan pulled to a stop in front of his house. Quietly, he turned off the ignition. Instead of getting out, though, he just sat there and sighed. It was the closest I'd ever seen him to completely worn out.

As strange as it sounded, none of seemed to be in any hurry to leave the Suburban. I couldn't speak for the others, but I knew I was drained. So much had happened, and I felt as if we hadn't accomplished anything. I hoped my mom and dad were still asleep. I wasn't up to answering any questions. I just wanted to sleep.

Maybe we were relieved to just be safe again, or maybe we were all simply too tired to move. Regardless of the reasons, though, several minutes passed us by as we remained inside. If I weren't so numb from the events of the night, I would have found it funny. As it was, though, I was just too deadened to even make a comment.

“Well, then,” Drake said, his tone cheerful. “We had quite the night, huh? I don't think I've had that much excitement since the night I spent with four whores in a brothel in Paris.”

Kellan shot him a droll look, not appreciating his humor.

Drake shrugged. “What? It's as silent as a coffin in here. I'm just trying to lighten the mood.”

Looking at us in the rear view mirror, Kellan said, “We might as well go in. Jayden, I'll help you up to your room. You'll probably want to shower before going to bed. Afterwords, I can check on your bite and medicate it. You don't want an infection settling in.”

“Sounds good,” Jayden replied, without any enthusiasm. He pulled away from me, grabbing the seat in front of us. His lips tightened from the effort of pulling himself upright. Reaching for the handle, he opened the door to wait for Kellan.

Drake's next words stopped us all. “The night wasn't a total bust,” he said casually, reaching for something in his pocket. To my surprise, he held up a flash drive. “I was able to snag a few of these before the building got too hot.”

“I'll be damned,” Kellan muttered, looking at him in surprise. “So that's where you were at, huh?”

Drake opened his own door. “Of course.” He stood up and pulled out several more before handing them over to Kellan. “Now, I don't know how to use these,” he warned. “But I've seen enough to know that they record important computer files and such. You'll let me know what you find, right?”

Kellan nodded, taking them from his outstretched hand. “I'll do you one better. I'll teach you how these work, and we can go over them together.” He stared down at them, his expression far away. “I'm willing to bet that these files are encrypted. It's likely we won't be able to discover their contents for awhile, if ever. I've got a few tricks up my sleeve, though, and some state-of-the-art programs that will help. Hopefully, that will be enough.”

He got out of the driver's seat. Slamming the door behind him, he stopped to talk to Drake some more. I stared at Jayden. I'd never seen him look so sick, not even after his parents and sister had died.

I felt bad for him. He'd went from having a loving family to nothing. Jayden had to be feeling the loss, especially now. Nobody should have to be alone when they were in pain.

Bolstering up my failing courage, I asked, “Would you like to sleep in my room today?” I hadn't been afraid to ask before, but it was easier when you were faced with imminent death. Now that my opinion of Drake had changed, though, I didn't have that excuse to fall back on.

Jayden's back tensed at my words. Turning his head, he gave me a small smile. “Sure, but not for sex, okay? I'm not up to it, at least not today. Tomorrow might be a different story, though.”

It was so ridiculous I had to laugh. “I can accept that,” I informed him mischievously, still smiling. “Let's just worry about getting through today. We'll let tomorrow take care of itself.”

Kellan came to the door to help him out. I ignored the look he sent me when Jayden informed him of our change of plans. Instead, I grabbed Jayden's back pack and got out. Kellan could help him just as easily in my bathroom as he could his. This way, I wouldn't have to worry about Jayden being alone.

Drake had disappeared, likely to find his own bed before the sun came up. I didn't know where he slept, and I didn't want to know. I might not fear him as much as I did before, but there was only so far I was willing to go with it.

The two men started up the concrete stairs. At the door, both of them turned to stare at me curiously. “Is everything all right?” Jayden called down, his tone considerably weaker than it usually was.

“Everything is fine,” I reassured him, starting up the stairs. I was surprised to realize how true my words were. For the first time since the apocalypse, everything really was fine. We were alive, safe, and healthy, and something lovely was brewing between Jayden and I. I didn't know how long it could last, but I was determined to hold on for as long as I could.

With that thought in mind, I hurried up the stairs.