The Chosen Ones (28 page)

“Help me!” she screamed.
 

I jerked from my memory.

“She’ll taste delicious,”
someone crowed.

My body went cold. Oh God, they
were going to kill her. I started to surge forward when a steel arm wrapped
around my waist and jerked me back into an equally hard body. I recognized
Thane’s scent immediately.

His hand clamped across my lips.
“Shhh. Quiet. They’ll hear you.”

I swallowed hard over the lump
of fear clogging my throat and somehow managed to nod. I knew better than to
scream and draw their attention. He released his hand from my mouth, but didn’t
remove his arm from around my waist. And I was thankful for his presence, even
more so for his comforting touch.
 

“I was watching them when I saw
you leave the cave,” he explained, his gaze pinned to the scenery below. They
were pushing her back and forth, as if she was a ball they might play with. Her
terrified screams ate at my conscience and I had to resist the urge to bolt
down there.

“How many are there?” I asked.

“Five.”

Five. Could Thane take five?
Doubtful. And so far I’d been little help where the beautiful ones were
concerned. Still, we had to try. Maybe my grandfather had been able to ignore
the fact that innocent humans were being tortured and killed, but I couldn’t. “We
have to do something.”

He sighed, his breath a warm
caress across the side of my cheek. “I knew you’d say that. You’re injured, and
as amazing as I am, I most likely can’t kill five blood drinkers on my own,
while protecting you.”

In other words, yet again, we
might die. “I can’t just leave her to be murdered.”

“I know you can’t.”

Perhaps I should have taken that
serum, but it was too late now. “Thane, you don’t have to—”

“Shhh.” He glanced back at the
cave. “You stay in there, I’ll lure them away. I don’t care what happens, you
stay put.”

I spun around to face him. We
were close, so close I could see the glow in his eyes. “You’re joking, right?”

“Not at all.”

When I didn’t respond, merely
glared up at him, he sighed again. “What do you suggest then? There is no
reason for the both of us to die.”

He fully expected to be killed. “I’ll…play
the bait again, just like I did with my grandfather. Just like I did when we
ran into those vampires in the woods weeks ago.”

He frowned. “No, this is
different. Not going to happen.”

“How is it different?”

“Because, I…” He trailed off,
his jaw clenched.

He made no sense. Why was he
acting so strangely? “Thane, we have no other choice. It’s either use me as
bait or I scream now.”

His jaw clenched, his gaze
flashing with emotion. “I could stop you.”

“And I’d never forgive you.”

We sat there staring at each
other for a long moment, a battle of wills, as the girl cried out for help below.
Maybe I was an idiot, and I knew at some point I was going to have to put my
own safety above another, but not now. Not yet.

“Fine.”

I nodded even though my nerves
flared. I’d left Sally. I’d left Jimmy. I couldn’t leave this woman too. “What
do you want me to do?”

He pulled a pistol from his
waist band, reached behind me and tucked it into the back of my trousers.
“You’ll figure it out.” He stepped back. “Shoot them straight through the heart
or head. And Jane, try not to shoot me.”

I fought my grin. “I thought you
couldn’t die.”

“We can still feel the pain.”

“Big baby,” I got in before he blended
into the darkness.

Alone, I refocused on the group
below. Thane was trusting me to take the lead, and I’d have to trust him to
show up because I sure as heck couldn’t fight off five vampires on my own. But
deep down I knew he would be there. He was always there for me.

“Please, no!” the woman screamed.
She’d somehow managed to break free and was stumbling through the creek,
holding her skirts in a white cloud around her as she attempted to escape. Running
would only feed their sick desires.

I had to act fast. I jumped up,
skidding and slipping down the muddy hill. “Stop!” I cried out. “Let her go!”

They turned immediately toward
me. Five faces of pure beauty, glowing eyes, and steel bodies. Within that very
moment they could have killed me. But they didn’t just kill to kill. No, to
them it was a game and if they could taunt the prey, only better.

“Let her go,” I repeated, pretty
proud when my voice didn’t quiver.

One vampire chuckled, separating
himself from the group and trudging through the shallow creek toward me. “You
want to save her, rebel? Very well.” He looked at his friend who held her.
“Give her back.”

He shoved the woman toward me. I
caught her when she stumbled, her weight heavy as she leaned into me. That was
easy. Too easy. I knew better than to trust them. “Don’t worry,” I whispered. “We’ve
got a plan.”

The woman whimpered in my arms,
so afraid, she couldn’t even respond. She smelled of overly perfumed rose soap
and sweat, the noxious odor reminding me of that night at the castle and making
me ill. She was exactly how I had been that day Thane had saved me. Helpless.
Terrified. Alone.

“Please,” the vampire said,
spreading his arms wide. “Do leave. We shouldn’t want to hold you up.”

“Let’s go,” the blonde haired woman
whispered urgently. She was leaning into me with all her weight, making it hard
for me to walk. She trusted them, silly girl. I knew better. But maybe, just maybe
I could hold them back while she made a dash for it.

“Can you run?”

She looked up at me with wide,
tear-filled eyes. “Y…yes.”

“Okay. When I count to three,
you’re going to run. I’ll hold them back.”

She nodded. Hell, the woman
actually thought I was going to get us out of this mess alive. Even if they
focused on me I had no doubt they would track her down within moments. Still,
we had to try. “One, two, three.”

Gripping her skirts she darted
around me. At the same time I reached for the pistol and stepped back…right on
the hem of her gown. I knew in that moment we were utterly ruined. We both
ended up falling to the ground. The pistol flew from my hand, out of reach.
Suddenly we were surrounded.

“Well, what can I say,” one
vampire replied with a shrug. “We gave you a chance.”

I had only a split second. As he
dropped toward me, I pulled the dagger strapped to my thigh and shoved it
upward. He fell onto the knife. It had worked before and it worked this time.
Thank the skies. With a cry, he stumbled back. I pulled the knife free,
remembering what Thane had said. I had to make sure he would die. But how? I doubted
the others would wait patiently by while I sawed of their friend’s head with my
dagger.
 

Before I could react, I was
pulled upright, held tight against a hard body, while the damsel in distress
was grabbed by another vampire. “You’ll pay for that, rebel.”

Frantic, I searched the dark
shadows.
Come on, Thane. Where are you?

“Please,” the woman cried out.
“I wasn’t going to harm you. I didn’t want to attack.”

Unbelievable. I slid her a glare,
annoyed. Was she actually blaming me for this after I’d tried to save her? If
she’d run like I’d said, she could have had a chance. Knowing how my fear would
only feed them, I decided to play tough. “Let us go and we won’t kill you.”

The vampire laughed, his sweet
breath wafting over me. Not Thane’s scent, no. This man’s was noxious. “You do
amuse me. Pan, what do you say? Shall I keep her as a pet? She could be fun.”

A shiver raced through me. The
thought of being held captive under his power sickened me. I’d die before I’d
be imprisoned again.

“Only if I can play with her
too,” Pan replied.

The girl in the white dress
whimpered and I had to resist the urge to tell her to shut up. Damn, Thane had
been right. We should have run when we’d had the chance.

“Too much work,” the man holding
me said. “You have to feed them, water them…exhausting. I’d rather just kill
them now.” His lips pulled back and long, thin canines glistened in the
moonlight. “So much easier and instant gratification.”

“I didn’t mean I would kill
you,” I snapped, trying to delay my impending demise. “I meant my friend would.”

“What?
Her
?” Pan lifted the girl in the white dress, holding her up like a
prize while she screamed and thrashed her legs, making her skirts billow around
her. If I could have slapped her, I would have.

The rest of the group broke out
laughing. All but one. The man who stood back, watching with a smile of amusement.
It was obvious he was the leader; his relaxed stance said as much. As his gaze
met mine, something shifted deep within. Something that told me this wasn’t
right. Suddenly I had the oddest feeling they’d used
her
as bait to draw us out.

“Good God,” their leader
drawled. “Feed already, this is growing boring.”

“No,” I interrupted. “I don’t
mean her.” I glanced at the girl in the white dress. “I mean my other friend,
the one who is stalking you even now.”

I hoped.

Their laughter tapered off as
everyone looked around. The woods grew silent. Even their leader looked uneasy.

“She’s bluffing,” the man who
held me said, tightening his hold around my waist and making me grimace. My
injured shoulder was pressed tightly against his hard chest. If the wound broke
open and he smelled the blood, I was as good as dead.

“Am I bluffing?”

“I’d say yes,” Pan replied,
dropping the girl and letting her crumble to the ground in a pool of trembling white
material. “Feed off her now.”

“Very well.”

I tried to move, but my arms
were pinned to my side. Just as I saw him lower his head from the corner of my
eye, I heard the soft swoosh of a bow. The arrow whistled by my nose and pierced
the vampire holding me through his throat. The vampire cried out, stumbling
back. Another arrow hit him in the chest. He went down with a thud, leaving me fumbling
to regain my balance.

The relief I felt was immediate.
Thane had arrived. Frantic, I studied the forest, but I couldn’t see him.
Judging by the direction of the arrows he was north.

Only four vampires remained. Their
gazes darted from us to the woods, as if they couldn’t decide what to focus on.

“Who are you?” Pan cried out.

“Merely a dhampir,” Thane said
as he stepped out from behind a tree, bow raised. He shot the man through the
heart, then within a blink he’d turned and shot another.

“Traitor,” their leader hissed.

“That’s right.” Thane let the arrow
go. It hit the man in the eye. “I am.”

The last vampire raced forward
so fast I could barely see him. He hit Thane hard and they both flew back a
good ten feet. Everything happened so quickly, I barely had time to think. Thane
hit a tree, his head cracking against the trunk. The bow he held tumbled from
his hand and into the brush.

I stumbled toward the area where
my gun had fallen. “Where is it?” I demanded of the girl laying in a white,
satin puddle. But she merely only sat there whimpering. Big help.

Desperate, I shuffled my hands
around until I found the cold metal. Grasping it firmly, I pointed the pistol
at Thane and the monster he fought.
Pull
the trigger. Just pull the trigger.
But they were rolling around so quickly
I couldn’t tell one from the other. The sun burst above the horizon,
brilliantly, blindingly bright.

“Shoot!” Thane demanded, right
before the vampire hit him in the face.

I cringed. “I might shoot you.”

Thane stumbled upright and threw
his fist forward, connecting with the man’s jaw. “I’ll heal.”

“Shoot him,” the girl in the
white dress hissed.

And so I pulled the trigger. The
bullet hit the vampire, flying cleanly through his torso. He wasn’t the only
one who gasped. When Thane stumbled back, falling to his knees, I realized the
shot had hit him as well.

“No!” I screamed, running to
him.

“Jane,” Thane seethed through
clenched teeth, as he pressed his hand to his gut. “Shoot him in the head!”

I stopped and jerked my gaze
toward the vampire who sat in the weeds, bleeding. His lips lifted as he
growled at me. “You think you can win, human?”

I swallowed hard. My hand
trembled, but I couldn’t do it. For some reason, I couldn’t shoot him in the
head while he stared up at me. What was wrong with me? Suddenly Thane was
standing, his right hand pressed to his wounded stomach. He snatched the gun
from my fingers and pulled the trigger. The blast sent a flock of birds
screeching into the air.

Cringing, I looked away.

Truth was I took no glory in witnessing
their deaths. Truth was I grew tired of the fighting, the blood, the battle. I
could hear the thump of the vampire’s body hitting the ground and knew we had
survived yet again…thanks to Thane. Instead of focusing on the dead and dying
surrounding me, I left them to Thane and made my way to the woman who was
sobbing on the ground.

As much as the sight of her
disgusted me, I also knew that I was her only a little over a month ago. And so
I kept my tone soothing, my hands gentle. “It’s going to be okay.”

Around us two vampires were
dead, the other two laying there moaning in pain. I knew what this chosen one
was thinking…what sort of world was this? Believe me, I understood the terror
in her eyes, the confusion, and even anger. I reached out and took her hand, helping
her to her feet.

From the corner of my eye, I
noticed Thane move toward the two vampires who still lived. He lifted the bow
and pointed it at the first monster. The arrow struck his head. Then to make
sure, Thane raised the bow and pointed it at the vampire’s chest.

The woman in the white dress
suddenly showed some spirit and spit toward the body. Her reaction surprised
and confused me. I’d never known a chosen one to have so much bitterness. Not
even I had been this angry. Had she been a servant forced to endure years of
torture?