The Chosen Ones (22 page)

“Stay down!” He rolled off me
and stood, hidden behind the tree.

I managed to turn onto my
stomach and peered through the weeds in front of me, trying to make sense of
the situation. Although there was a cold chill in the air, sweat peppered my
forehead.

“Looks like we found our man,”
Thane muttered, edging closer to me.
 

I shoved my hands into the damp
earth and sat up. “What the hell was that?”

“Gunshot.”

“Gun?” I’d read about them in my
books, but had never been sure if they were real or myth. Guns could do damage,
real damage if what I’d read was true. Where had he gotten a gun? And if they
really existed, why didn’t the rest of us have them?

“One shot and you’re dead, so
stay down.” He moved to the next tree.

Hunching low, I followed. “How?
How does he have a gun?

“I don’t know. The beautiful
ones had gathered and destroyed all they could find years ago. We thought.”

I found it utterly fascinating
to see Thane so caught off guard. At any other time I would have laughed at the
shocked outrage on his beautiful face. As it was, his obvious lack of
understanding only made me nervous.

“What’s the plan,” I finally
asked, as we paused behind another pine. Steeling my nerves, I dared to peek
around the tree and toward that field.

In response, the man shot again.
I heard the blast and ducked right before a piece of bark was torn from the
trunk and went twirling through the air.

Thane moved forward, darting
behind the next tree. He slung the bag he carried over his back and knelt low. “We
need to get closer. Make sure to stay behind me.”

He’d stopped shooting. Perhaps
those first couple blasts had merely been a warning. “But…how does he have guns?”

Thane shrugged, his gaze
scanning the clearing. “Must have found one. Or maybe he made them. I don’t
know. But I’ve had some experience with guns and either his weapons are old and
not working properly or he’s a terrible shot.”

So, Thane didn’t think he was
missing on purpose? So much for warning shots. “Do the beautiful ones have guns?”

“They have a few saved just in
case. But they don’t need them and have destroyed most. The beautiful ones
don’t trust your man-made machines. They’d rather rely on their genetic
abilities.”
 

A glimmer of hope whispered
through me. If we had guns, would this war turn in our favor? The clearing
ahead showed no one, no movement, no shifting shadows…nothing. Where was this
Raven? I narrowed my eyes, trying to make sense of the light and darkness. Nothing.
I saw nothing. But if Thane said he was there, I had no doubt he was.

“If I attack, there’s a chance I
might kill him, trying to protect myself,” Thane muttered, reaching toward his
leg and pulling out his own dagger. “We don’t want that to happen.”

Another reminder of his
strength. “Then let me go.”

“No.”

I rested my hand on his forearm,
but he didn’t bother to look at me. “Thane, think about it. If he sees me, a
human, he won’t shoot.”

He slid me a glance. “You hope.”

“He won’t.”

For one long moment we merely
stared at each other. I tried to read the thoughts in his gaze, but like
always, I sensed nothing.

“I’m going.”

He swore, looking away. “Then walk
out slowly, arms up, and tell him you escaped the mainland. That you need
shelter. If he sees me he won’t believe you.”

I highly doubted this Raven
would trust me either, but decided to keep my thoughts to myself. I looked out
into that wide, open field. Nowhere to hide, nowhere to find safety. And Raven
was obviously the type of guy who shot first, and asked questions later. I was
starting to have second thoughts. “What if he shoots me?”

“I won’t let that happen.”

I wasn’t sure how he would stop
a bullet, but for some crazy reason I believed him. I took in a deep breath and
straightened. My heart hammered loudly in my chest, and with each step closer toward
the field, it thumped even harder, so hard I thought it would burst through my
ribs. Arms raised, my entire body trembled as I moved through the last few
trees.

“Sir,” I called out. “Please, I
need help.”

My voice echoed across the
field. No one responded. I could hear nothing around me, for my own harsh
breathing drowned out the chirp of birds and insects. I stepped further into
the field, momentarily blinded by a ray of sunlight that somehow managed to pierce
the dark clouds. Disoriented, I could see nothing at first, only empty weeds, and
the perimeter of the forest beyond. Slowly, I kept my pace, forcing my feet to
move when all I wanted to do was run back to the safety of the trees and Thane.

“Please,” I called out. “I need
help! I escaped—”

Suddenly, something tight clamped
around my ankle and jerked me upward. A scream ripped from my throat as the
world around me turned sideways. I was flipped around, and found myself hanging
upside down, the ground below me wavering back and forth, as I swung. Dizzy
from the sudden movement, I barely understood what had happened.

Frantic, I tried to bend upward,
using what little stomach muscles I had to look above. A rope held me from a
thick tree branch. My stomach muscles quivered from the exertion, and I fell
back down, hanging there like a fish on the end of a line. “Thane!”

But Thane didn’t come. Instead
an old man stepped from the woods and into the clearing. He carried what I knew
immediately had to be a long gun of some sort. “Who the hell are you?”

“Jane.” I blinked my eyes,
trying to focus, but his weathered face was all a big blur. “I was a chosen one
who escaped.”

“Liar.” He lifted the gun and
pointed it directly at me. “What do you really want?”

Where was Thane when I needed
him? The guy had probably dumped me here and high-tailed it back to the
mainland. Raven started toward me, coming closer…closer.

“I promise, I mean you no harm.
I’m here because I need help.”

“I know you didn’t swim here, so
how did you find me?” He shoved the end of his gun into my belly, making me
grunt. I swung backward from the force, turning in a whirl that made the
dizziness worse. “What do you want? Truth, girl.”

I swallowed hard, trying to
ignore the pain of the rope burning around my ankles, the thrum of blood
rushing to my head, and focus on the man who was upside down. Or was I the one
upside down? I couldn’t really remember anymore. Good God, I was going to pass
out. “They’re getting worse. The attacks on the mainland.
 
The beautiful ones are out to destroy us. We
heard that you might know how to stop them.”

“I know nothing and want nothing
to do with them, or you.” He leaned forward, his face a few inches from mine.
The deep wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and around his mouth fascinated me.
The yellowing of his teeth and general scent of decay that hovered around him
proclaimed to all that he was ancient. Stunned, I could merely stare at him.
This Raven was the oldest human I’d ever seen or heard of.

He lifted the gun again,
pointing it at my head. “Now get off my land before I kill you!”

Suddenly Thane appeared shoving Raven
back and stepping in front of me. “Harm her, old man, and I swear you’ll regret
it.”

Thane’s appearance startled him
enough that he froze in indecision. The pale set of his wrinkled face showed
his fear. “Using her as bait, dhampir?”

“No.” Thane turned his back to
the man, pulled the dagger from the sheath on his thigh and cut the rope. I fell
into his arms with a thud. He caught me easily, settling me gently upon my
feet. It happened so quickly that the scenery around me still spun and for a
moment I thought I might get sick.

Fortunately he didn’t let go. “You
okay?”

I nodded. Yeah. I was all right.
I was starving, cold, had almost been shot, and my ankle throbbed, but Thane
hadn’t left me, he hadn’t set me up so he could escape. So I figured I was
doing better than I could have been.

There was a soft click as the
man lifted his gun once more, pointing it directly at Thane this time. “You
have ten seconds before I start shooting.”

Thane stepped in front of me, placing
himself between me and the old guy. Still off balance, I had to press my hands
into his back and use him as support. “Calm down. We don’t mean you any harm.
But she’s right. We need your help.”

“As I told her, I don’t have
anything to do with the beautiful ones. I want no war with anyone.”

Thane released a harsh laugh.
“You think the war won’t find you? You think you’re safe here, old man? We know
you’ve been working on a way to destroy them once and for all. We need your
help.”

“Leave.” He turned and started
back toward the trees. “I have nothing to offer.”

“At least he didn’t kill us,” I
muttered.

“Whether you want a war or not,
it’s coming, Raven,” Thane called out. “They’ve been asking after you.
Slaughtered good people trying to find information. You’re no better than the
others kept in compounds, hiding out, blind to what is truly going on around
them.”

He spun around to face us. “Shut
your mouth, boy.”

For one long moment none of us
said a word. I inched around Thane, peeking over his shoulder. The old man
looked like he might start foaming at the mouth as he stood there stewing in
his righteous anger. Thane had certainly made an impression, although I wasn’t
quite sure if that was good or not.

“They are coming,” Thane finally
spoke again. “And I have a feeling they’ll be here soon. Very soon.”

Raven lifted his lips in a
growl, holding his gun high. “Then let them come.”

“It doesn’t matter how many guns
you own,” Thane snapped. “They will overpower you.”

Slowly, he pointed his weapon at
us once more. “You’re one of them. Why should I trust you? Give me one good
reason why I shouldn’t kill you.”

“Because,” Thane said, stepping
aside and leaving me out in the open, alone and vulnerable. “She’s your granddaughter.”

Chapter
13

I stared into the fire, watching
the flames jump and dance, taking comfort in their warmth. But as much as I
enjoyed the fire, it made me think about the others. Jimmy, and how much he
would love the warmth. Kelly and Tony, and how they’d be snuggling by the
flames. And Will…Will, who could have sat by and kept me company, making me
think about anything other than my torturous thoughts. Yet, one of them had
betrayed us, if Thane was right.

It wasn’t Will. I knew that for
sure. Tony was the obvious choice. It certainly wasn’t Kelly…was it? If I went
by the books I’d read, it was always the sweet one, the one you’d least expect
who was the culprit. Which would mean…Kelly. I rested my head in my hands, curling
onto my wooden chair. No. Not Kelly. Not Will. I hated that Thane had done this
to me...hated that he had made me distrust my friends, the very people who had
saved me.

I heard the door to the cabin
open, the thump of his feet as Thane moved down the steps and toward me. He was
being loud on purpose, so he wouldn’t catch me off guard. When his sweet scent
hit me, I had to resist the urge to breathe deeply. His mere scent could make
me weak-kneed and only reminded me of that dream I’d had this morning.

“What do you want, Thane?”

“He wants to meet you. To talk.”

I couldn’t help myself and
studied that cottage. My grandfather. My father’s father. The lights in the
window shone brilliantly against the evening sky. I’d been sitting out here for
hours, unable to go inside, unable to be near the old man without wanting to
cry, hit something, scream. I had a grandfather. It should’ve meant something. It
meant nothing.

Then again, I had brothers and a
sister and felt little more than mild affection for them. Why should I feel
anything for this old man? Because, I realized, this was different. He was an
adult, an adult who had knowingly left his own grandchildren to be tortured and
killed, yet he had done nothing to try and save us. Where were the loving
families I’d read about in my books?

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I
asked, staring at the cottage. It was a home. An actual home set amongst a
fairy-tale forest. My grandfather had lived here for years, perhaps decades
without fear, without war or strife. Safe and comfortable.

“I didn’t know.”

I jerked my gaze toward him. If
he hadn’t known, then why had he repeatedly placed himself in danger to save
me? I’d assumed, as I sat here lost in thought, that he had used me to get
here.

“I could only smell the
similarities in your blood in that field.”

“I see.” My mind spun. Thane hadn’t
known I was related to Raven, yet had saved me anyway. Why? “And Will?”
 
 

He shrugged. He didn’t fidget,
didn’t shift uncomfortably. “If he knew, then obviously he realized if anyone
could talk Raven into helping, it would be his granddaughter.”

I released the breath I held, my
shoulders slumping. Just as I’d thought. It was Will, not Thane, who had been
using me. Anger, hurt and frustration swirled within, burning as bright as the
fire. I picked up a stick and jabbed it at the burning logs, watching the
sparks fly into the air, and wishing I could release my anger up into that dark
sky. The joke was on him, because my grandfather probably didn’t give two figs that
we were related.

“Was he using me?” I demanded,
knowing Thane had the answer. “Pretending to care just so I’d come here?”

Thane sighed. “No. He wasn’t.”

I dropped the stick. “How do you
know?”

“I know,” he snapped, almost as
if annoyed. “Because whether you want to admit it or not, I am a man and I know
what guys think. He liked you.”