The Chosen Ones (27 page)

I had my doubts. But whatever animals
might be lurking within the darkness would have to share. I dropped to my knees
and crawled into the dirt tunnel. The sides scraped against my pack, but it
opened into a larger room only a few feet inside. Depleted, I set the bag on
the ground and settled with my back against the wall, watching Thane as he
moved into the cave. He looked pensive, tired, and I’d never seen him that way.
It made him seem more human, instead of the beautiful one I always thought of
when I looked at him.
 

“This will do for now.” He
settled with his back against the opposite wall and tossed me the bag. “Food
inside.”

Thank God. With trembling fingers,
I managed to pry open the sack. More wrinkly apples, and some sort of oats. But
it was the container of stew I smelled that had me trembling with need. I opened
the lid of the metal box. It was cold, and the fat had congealed atop the stew,
but I didn’t care. I took the spoon from the bag and ate, savoring each chill
bite until half the container was gone. I tried not to think about the variety
of warm meals I used to eat at the compound, but with each cold spoonful the
memories came flooding back. My appetite waned. Unable to take another cold
bite, I handed the container to Thane.

“Keep it,” he said.

“No, you have to eat—”

“Jane, I can last much, much longer
without eating than you. Besides, your human food does little to nourish me.”

I shivered, pulling back and
clutching the container to my chest. Was he asking for blood?
My
blood? I closed the lid on the stew
and set it back in the bag. “I’ll save it for later.”

“I’m not going to attack you for
your blood, Jane, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

I must have looked unsure, for
he continued, “When you see a deer and you’re hungry, do you ever think of
jumping on it and ripping its flesh from its bones with your teeth?”

“Ugh, no.”

“Exactly.”

“But then I’ve never gone as
long as you have without food.” I must have hit a point, for we grew silent
again. Outside the rain continued to fall, the patter lulling me into a
dream-like state where I only wanted to sink into sleep for a day or two. “How
do you do that?”

He was still, always so still,
never one to fidget. Every move was deliberate and needed. He didn’t waste his
energy. “What?”

“How do you always know what I’m
thinking and feeling?”

He shrugged and studied the
opening of the cave. “We are more empathetic than most.”

My frown deepened. I wasn’t
quite sure if I should be angry or not. Was this another one of his mind tricks
or something he just couldn’t help? For a long while we merely sat there listening
to the rain fall outside. He stared outside, while I stared at him.

“Did you know all a long he
wasn’t Raven?” I asked.

“No. I didn’t.” He held out his
hand. “Come here.”

“Why?”

He quirked a brow. “Must you
always question everything? Do you not trust me?”

He was mocking my obvious
wariness. Frowning, I crawled across the cave to his side. He placed his arms
around my waist and drew me into him. With my back to his chest, he wrapped his
arms around me.

“What are you doing?” I asked,
feeling slightly breathless. He smelled good, so very good.

“You’re cold.”

I was, and he was warm. Forcing
myself to relax, I sank into his body and closed my eyes. Thane rested his chin
on the top of my head. I tried not to think about the intimacy of the moment.
He was merely attempting to keep me warm, nothing else.

“I started to have my suspicions
that first day on the island,” he said. “Your grandfather was incredibly
intelligent but he wasn’t a leader. I confronted him only last night and he
admitted the truth.” I liked the way his voice rumbled through his chest,
almost like a cat purring. “Jane, we have the serum, but you must consider the
fact that your grandfather, although I’m sure you have feelings for him, wasn’t
exactly right in his mind. Living alone…it does things to a person. I’m not
sure how much of what he’s told us we can believe.”

A cold breeze swept into the
cave on the scent of rain and mildew, making me shiver. Thane tightened his
arms around me. I didn’t complain. “You’re saying he was crazy?”

“Maybe a little.”

“Well, he’s dead now.
He’s…nothing.”

He didn’t respond and the only
noise was the patter of rain outside and soft thump of his heart against my
back. I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping the old man had died quickly. He might
have been insane, but he didn’t deserve to be torn apart, tortured.

“I never did find out who had
brought him his supplies from the mainland. It’s obvious someone was visiting
him.”

“I don’t know but I have my
suspicions it was the real Raven.”

I frowned, intrigued by the
idea. “So you truly think he’s out there somewhere and knew my grandfather?”

“I do.”

I was quiet for a few minutes,
mulling over the idea.

“Let me see your wound.”

I hesitated for the briefest of
moments, but I knew he wouldn’t be denied. With a sigh, I pulled away from him
and reached for my shoulder. “Your friends went crazed when they fed. You
won’t…”

“What?” His breath was warm
against my neck. “Go insane when I see the blood?”

I nodded, ignoring the shiver
that swept down my spine. That dream I’d had the first morning on the island almost
a week ago rushed back to mind. The memory of Thane’s kiss had been too good to
be true.
Was
too good to be true. I
might be attracted to him, but he’d never indicated he liked me that way.

“I think I can manage to control
myself,” he said wryly.

I wasn’t quite sure if I should
be offended or not. I pulled down the neckline of my shirt, exposing my upper
arm. The towel kept the blood from flowing, but it still hurt whenever I moved.
He leaned forward and I had to resist the urge to flinch. His face was close to
mine, so very close. I wondered for a brief moment if his kiss would be
anything like that dream.

“Seems okay. I don’t smell any
infection.”

I pulled the shirt back into
place, suddenly feeling too warm. “And yours?”

“I’m fine.”

“I saw the blood.”

He leaned back against the cave
wall. “It’s healed. We heal faster than normal, which is why you have to kill a
beautiful one instantly. If you merely wound them, they’ll live.”

“Good to know.” But I didn’t believe
him. He was exactly the sort of man who would act tough while suffering in
silence, and I needed him in shape. “Take off your shirt.”

He quirked a dark brow. “Excuse
me?”

“I want to see the injury.”

 
“I told you—”

“Just do it to appease me.”

Almost as if on a dare, he
reached for the hem of his shirt. Slowly, he lifted the material, pulling it
over his head. Those muscles and old scars would not deter me; I was intent on seeing
only the wound. I scooted closer and peered at his side, but there was only a small
line marking the taunt skin.
 

“How did you get the scars?” I
asked.

“One for every ten minutes I
denied them,” he whispered.

“What do you mean?”

He paused and I thought for sure
he would ignore my question. “I had feelings for a servant a long time ago. A
human. When the beautiful ones found out, Bacchus cut me every ten minutes
until I swore allegiance.”

At least twenty scars marked his
skin. The image of Thane covered in blood came quickly to mind. A terrifying
image. I felt for the man much, much more than I wanted to. “Anyone would have
given in.”

“The pain didn’t do me in.”

Surprised, I lifted my gaze to
him. “What did?”
 

“They threatened to do the same
to her.”

“Oh.” I felt ill. His face was
in the shadows, so hard to read. “But Bacchus killed her.”

He shrugged. “Drunken fools, not
Bacchus. Death is a constant threat when you serve them.”

We fell silent. I could tell he
didn’t want to speak about it any longer. All he’d suffered and she’d died
anyway. I pushed aside the depressing thought and focused on the small scar
where he’d been wounded.

“Amazing,” I whispered, awed by
the way the wound had healed so quickly. Slowly, I reached out, drawing my
fingers over his stomach. Just a small scar. I didn’t miss the way his muscles
jumped. And it was as his body reacted to my touch that I realized just how
intimate our situation was. I jerked my attention upward, meeting his gaze.

Was it my imagination or did his
eyes glow slightly?

My hand still rested at his
side, his body warm under my touch, and I couldn’t move, couldn’t pull away.
The cave seemed suddenly stifling, too hot, too small. I couldn’t breathe. I
couldn’t breathe this close to him. Frantic, I shoved away, dug my heels into
the ground and fled out of the cave opening. Rain fell, trailing down my face and
blinding me as I slipped and stumbled down the hill. But only outside did I
calm down. Resting against a tree, I closed my eyes as the cold drops pattered
against my face and arms. Relief.

I’d almost kissed him. I’d so wanted
to lean into him and press my mouth to his, and that would have been
horrifying. I could imagine his shocked outrage, his flushing embarrassment as
he gently told me that he didn’t think of me in that sort of way. I suddenly
understood how Tom felt.

A shiver hot and cold whispered
over my body. I opened my eyes to see Thane kneeling there in the opening of
the cave, watching me. Should I apologize? Pretend as if nothing had happened? Slowly,
he stood and started toward me, his steps sure and unhurried.

But as he came closer, I found I
couldn’t speak at all. There was something in his gaze that held me captive,
completely under his control. He paused only a breath away, so close the heat
from his body soaked into my chilled form, urging me near. Slowly, ever so
slowly, he cupped the sides of my face and lowered his mouth to mine. He was
only the second man to kiss me, but this was different than the first. So very
different. Whereas Will had been gentle, soft, chaste, Thane was hard,
demanding. His body was a wall of stone that pressed me up against the tree. With
a growl, he gripped the back of my neck and tilted my head, the pressure of his
mouth on mine increasing.

I wrapped my arms around his
neck and parted my lips. I couldn’t get enough of him. This wasn’t my dream…this
was better than my dream. My mind was not muddled, confused, it was fully
present and nothing mattered but him.

My lip scraped against something
sharp. The coppery taste of blood swept across my tongue. Shocked, I jerked back.
His eyes glowed, glittering in the dull light, his breath coming out in harsh
pants that matched my own. I could see the brilliant smear of my blood across
is bottom lip. My heart pounded erratically, terror fighting with need. I
suddenly found my knees weak, although I wasn’t sure if it was from seeing my
blood on his lips or from the actual kiss.

“Go. Get some rest.” He untangled
my arms from around his neck and stepped back.

“Thane,” I whispered, feeling I
had to say something. “I—”

“Go.” He turned, his back to me,
his shoulders stiff, his hands fisted at his sides. “I’ll keep watch.”

For a moment I just stood there staring
at his broad shoulders. I wanted to say something, felt we needed to talk, but
what would we say?

Slowly, I made my way back up
the hill and toward the cave. When I reached the entrance, I dared to glance
over my shoulder. Thane was gone. For some reason I felt lonelier than I’d ever
felt before. I knelt and crawled back into the darkness, taking comfort in the
shadows. It was obvious Thane regretted that kiss but I didn’t. How could I
when it had rivaled any kiss in any of the books I’d ever read?

I settled there on the blanket
that my grandfather had packed in our bag and watched the opening of the cave,
waiting for Thane to return. He didn’t.

As the minutes ticked by and the
soft patter of rain lulled me to sleep, I wondered if this time he had left for
good.
 

****

I woke up alone to the sound of
rain. The sun had yet to rise and a crescent moon glowed eerily outside, making
the cave glisten silver and gray. My body was chilly and stiff, and my clothing
still damp, but I could tell I had slept for hours for my mind felt clear once
more.

As I looked around the empty
cave I had a feeling Thane hadn’t returned at all. Concerned and confused, I
pressed my hands into the dirt and sat up. It took a moment for my aching body
to catch up with my mind, and another moment to realize that the sound I heard outside
wasn’t the sound of rain pattering against leaves after all, but the sound of laughter
floating up the hill. I frowned, confused. Who? Had Will arrived?

That thought had me surging out
of the cave, my heart hammering. But the area was dark and quiet. I paused,
listening, searching the trees. Nothing. Bemused, I started down the hill.
Where was Thane? The sudden bark of laughter had me stilling. No laughter I
recognized. I knelt behind the tree where Thane and I had kissed. Below, near a
shallow creek, I could see dark forms racing through the water, up and down the
side’s the bank. Were they playing some sort of game? The moon was bright, but I
was too far away to identify the culprits. I sat there in indecision, trying to
decide if they were enemy or friend. Suddenly the men parted and a woman in a
white dress stood in the middle of their circle.

“Please! Please let me go!” she
begged.

That white dress glowing in the
moonlight told me everything I needed to know. An escaped chosen one. My heart
leapt into my throat, fear bitter on my tongue. The beautiful ones surrounded
her in a nightmarish childhood game. Memories of that night in the castle came
flooding back. Me, in my own white gown. Thane forcing me to jump…hitting the
water.