The Chosen Ones (11 page)

“Caught one!”

I flipped around, laying on my
back. Two tall, imposing figures stood above me. I knew I couldn’t fight them,
and to make matters worse, I had the terrible feeling I was going to lose
consciousness.

“Think there are more? I hate
sharing. Where do you think the others went?”

Frantically I searched the dark
woods, trying to find Thane. Where had he gone? Had he merely used me as bait
so he could get away?

“Who the hell knows, or cares. I
say we take her for our…”

His voice broke off as a figure
raced through the woods and hit both men full force. All three of them tumbled
to the ground, slamming against the earth so hard that the branches above
rattled. Thane. The thud of fists hitting flesh interrupted the quiet evening.
A glob of dark forms that twisted and turned merging in and out of shadows. I
grabbed the dagger from the sheath at my thigh and swung my arm wide, catching
the blood drinker closest to me across the back of his neck.

It didn’t kill him, but it was
enough to anger the monster. He spun around, leaving his friend to deal with
Thane. I shoved my dagger forward as he leapt toward me. His fingers caught my
wrist, his grip so tight that the dagger flew through the air. His body hit
mine and we fell to the ground. My head throbbed, the world around me spinning.
He straddled me, his face only a foot or so from mine. When he grinned, those
long, pointed fangs, gleamed. “How cute, it wants to fight.”

That night Sally died came
thundering back to mind, her face…the blood sucker’s face…back and forth so I
wasn’t sure which reality I resided in. His grip grew tighter and he pulled me
upward against his chest, his arms wrapping around almost as if he comforted
me.

“Poor, poor girl.” He bent my
arm back painfully. Whimpering, I fell into him, trying to lessen the ache.
“What will you do now, weak one?”

Thane loomed suddenly behind the
vampire. Before the blood drinker sensed him, Thane wrapped his arm around the
man’s neck, jerking him back. The blood drinker’s glowing eyes went wide and at
the same time he released his hold, letting me fall to the ground.

The blood drinker desperately clawed
at Thane’s arm. “Say goodbye to Jane.”

With a quick twist, the man’s
head was torn from his body. I cried out, raising my arms to cover my face just
as the blood splattered through the air. Everything went silent. No more
screams, no stomp of feet, no diabolical laughter.

Firm fingers gripped my arm and jerked
me to my feet. “Let’s go before more arrive.”

Thane didn’t wait for me but
spun around and started toward the deer path. It was over. I’d survived again,
and yet I’d needed help again.

“Thane,” I called out, my voice
trembling. He paused, his back to me. I hesitated, not fully sure what I wanted
to say to him, but settled on, “Thank you.”
 

For one long moment he didn’t
speak, and I couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking. “That’s twice I’ve
saved your life.” Slowly he turned to face me. I could read nothing in his
glowing eyes, the darkness hid his emotions. “You owe me, Jane, and I always
collect my debts.”

His words startled, then angered
me. I scooped up my dagger from the ground and shoved it into the sheath at my
thigh. Really, the man was much too arrogant. “What do you want?”
 

He shrugged. “You can pay off
your first debt by returning to the camp and Will.”
 

Easy enough, but I wasn’t buying
it. Nothing was that simple, and certainly not where Thane was concerned. I
crossed my arms over my chest and waited. “And the second debt?”

“I’ll save that one for later.”

With that, he turned and started
down the trail.

I forced my shoulders to relax
on a sigh. Wonderful. I wouldn’t know where or when, but I knew for sure he
would collect on his debt, most likely to his great advantage and my utter
humiliation. Gritting my teeth and biting back a curse, I forced myself to
follow him.

Chapter
7

The children never arrived.

For two days we’d been sitting near
the river, waiting at the specified meeting point, yet no one came. Kelly told
me not to worry, that it took longer to travel with a group of kids. I knew the
truth. And I could tell, when I looked into her clouded gaze, she was worried
as well.

Everyone was on edge, unable to
sleep at night, eating little, and me…I had to bite back the comment that I
wanted to make. I had known, hadn’t I? I had questioned, at least to myself,
the idea of separating the children from the group. Even animals knew there was
safety in numbers. But I had been weak, I hadn’t had a voice in this group, I
still didn’t.

“Here.” Carla strolled toward me
and dropped a few daggers into the pile I’d been cleaning. I smiled up at her,
but she didn’t bother to respond, merely headed back to Sam and started
whispering.

It was obvious they were talking
about me. Their laughter drifted my way, sending the heat of embarrassment to
my face. I forced myself to keep my attention on the daggers I cleaned. According
to Kelly, Carla had arrived at the camp only a year ago, yet she had been openly
accepted. Which meant they didn’t dislike me because I was a newbie, but most
likely because of the time I spent with Will.

“Jimmy,” Will snapped out as he came
strolling into camp. “You know the rules, no fire.”

To say I was relieved to have
him back would be an understatement. The more friends I had nearby, the better.
Will and Tony were supposedly surveying the area, making sure there were no
beautiful ones lurking. But we all knew the truth: they were searching for
signs of the children. By the drawn look of Will’s face it was safe to assume
they hadn’t found any clues.

“Ah, no!” Jim whined, sticking
his hands toward the flames in an attempt to soak up as much heat as possible.
“It feels so warm and good!”

I hid my grin as I rubbed the
rough cloth against my dagger, trying to remove the rust patches. I’d been
given the task of cleaning and sharpening everyone’s weapons, a tedious but necessary
job. I had a feeling I was being punished for leaving camp, but if I had to
clean them until my eyes went bleary, so be it. The pile of flashing blades
should have made me feel better, safer, but it didn’t. Swords and daggers would
do little against the strength of a beautiful one.

“Keep the fire,” Thane said, emerging
from the dark shadows and into the ring of firelight. “I did patrol and didn’t
sense any blood drinkers.”

I stiffened at his approach, my
heartbeat faltering. How did he always know where to find us? He didn’t bother
to glance my way. In fact, we hadn’t had any contact since I’d returned to
camp. But then again, he barely paid attention to anyone. Thane kept to
himself, sitting along the outskirts when he was here, making only the minimum
of conversation with Will. He appeared and disappeared when he wanted, and I
never knew when to expect him. It made me feel on edge for some reason.

Last night I’d woken in the
middle of the night when everyone slept. Restless, I’d rolled to my side only
to find Thane sitting there watching me from across the camp. He merely leaned
against a tree, his gaze direct, as if daring me to react. Finally, I’d broken
eye contact, turning so my back was to him once more, but unable to sleep the
rest of the night.

He strolled to a fallen log on
the outskirts of camp. His movements were easy, unhurried, graceful, like the
animal he was. He pulled his sword from the sheath on his back and began to
clean and polish it, not asking me to do the job. In fact, he never asked for
anything. Not water, not food and certainly not help. It had been two days
since I’d left camp and returned. Two days wondering when he would collect that
second debt. Did he keep me in suspense on purpose? I frowned, picking up
another dagger. Of course he did.

Will settled on the ground next
to me. The dhampir might have been confusing, but Will was rather easy to understand
and that was exactly why I liked him. Will was all about the group; everything
he did was for the better of us all. Whereas Thane…well, Thane was about
himself.

“Hey.” I smiled up at Will as I
replaced the clean dagger with a rusty one.

“You okay?” he asked.

He’d shaved. I’d seen him do it
before with a sharpened blade. While others seemed to cut themselves, Will
hadn’t. My fingers curled as I resisted the urge to reach out and touch his
smooth cheek.

I shrugged, watching the smoke
from the fire drift up into the enormous, dark sky. Would I ever get used to
the vastness of it all? To the eerie sounds that echoed across the hills and
through the woods? “Yeah, fine.”

He rested his hand on my forearm,
his touch warm and comforting, although I didn’t want to admit it, not even to
myself. “You sure? Thane said you were attacked the other day.”

I bit back my sigh. Why had
Thane told him? I didn’t want to talk about the attack, I didn’t want to talk
about the beautiful ones and I certainly didn’t want to hear an ‘I told you so.’
I never should have left the group. I knew that now. But I didn’t need people
like Tony and Carla mocking me.
 

“Yeah. I’m great.” I laughed,
realizing how ridiculous that sounded. Thane glanced my way. Instantly my smile
fell. Just as quickly as he had looked at me, he looked away and I was left to
wonder what his brief glance had meant, if anything.

“Jane?” Will reached out,
lightly touching my forehead where the bump I’d gotten during the fight in the
forest with Thane still throbbed.

I tore my gaze from Thane and
focused on Will. “Sorry, I just…can a person truly ever be great in this
world?” He looked confused, as if I’d asked him the meaning of life. “It’s okay.
Maybe I’m not great, but seriously, I’m fine. No harm.”

He didn’t say anything, just watched
me curiously, trying to figure out a puzzle, the same way Tom had always looked
at me. I forced myself to smile, not wanting him to suspect anything. As far as
they knew I was completely normal now. They didn’t need to know that at night I
often lay awake, too afraid of my nightmares to sleep. That during the day,
while hiking, I worried I would slip back into that pit of darkness and
insanity. Worried I would never fit in anywhere.

I picked up Will’s dagger, which
I’d been polishing and handed it to him. “It’s a bit much…for anyone. The
death, the blood.”

Images of broken bodies and heads
torn from necks swirled through my mind. I shoved the memories aside, refusing
to dwell upon them.

Will rested his hand on my lower
back, startling me. “I know. Listen, Jane, I want you here.” Even though it was
dusk and the only light was the dull glow of the fire, I could still see he
blushed. I found his reaction endearing. “I mean, we all want you here.”

I took in a deep trembling
breath, steeling my nerves, and managed to meet his gaze. I needed to know
more. I needed to understand all that I could, and I’d much rather ask
questions than dwell on my confusing emotions for Will. If we were going to be
friends, I needed to know I could trust him with my plans, and I so needed
someone to talk to. “When were you rescued?”

He pulled back, leaving distance
between us. “I wasn’t.”

“You escaped then?”

“No.” He raked his hands through
his hair, flustered, although I wasn’t sure why. I watched the reflection of
the flames dancing in his eyes as he tried desperately to think of the best way
to explain, which confused me even more. What, exactly, was there to say?

“Truth is, I was born out here.”

I hadn’t been expecting that. “You’re
serious?”

He nodded. “Actually, my mother was
born out here too. There are still pockets of us, you know. Natives, we call
ourselves.” He nudged the toe of his boot into the dirt. “My father was a
chosen one.”

I wondered where his parents
were now, but didn’t dare ask. I didn’t need any more horror stories at the
moment. So, he didn’t know what it was like to live in the compounds? I wasn’t
quite sure how to feel about that. All those lectures he’d given me back at the
skyscraper had been unfounded, hadn’t they? After all, he didn’t truly
understand what I had gone through.

“I see.” But I didn’t, not
really.

I didn’t want to be annoyed with
Will, but I was. How could he pretend to understand? He had no idea what it was
like to be picked, to watch your friend be led to her very death. “This war
between the beautiful ones and us… how long has this been going on?”

“We’re not sure.” He seemed relieved
to be discussing something other than his personal life, and I wondered if he
was hiding anything else. “Over a hundred years.” He picked up a stick and
began drawing nonsensical swirls in the dirt. “We thrived once, a long time
ago.”

I’d figured as much, reading the
books. Still, it was shocking to hear, and even harder to believe.

He drew a map in the dirt. I’d
seen that map before in one of Jimmy’s books. The United States. He tapped the
end of the stick in the middle of the map. “Humans ruled this world at one
time, until the blood drinkers decided we weren’t worthy and took over.”

I shook my head, confused. I’d
heard it before, but it seemed impossible…preposterous. Compared to the
beautiful ones, we were feeble. “Are you serious?”

He nodded. “Those cities, those
buildings, they were made by our people. The books you read were written by our
people.”

Either Will was lying to make me
feel better, or he truly believed what he said. If it were true, did that mean
we could possibly make such marvelous things again? “My ancestors?”

“Yes.” He smiled. “
Our
ancestors.”