Dangerous Lovers (28 page)

Finally, we made it to the hut and Catherine pushed aside the dusty blanket that covered the entrance. I ducked under the doorway and found that the hut was exactly that, a hut. Straw mats lined the floor, and the only light in the room came from the holes in the sides of the mud walls, where the blankets that served as curtains had been pulled back. Against the wall, two sets of blankets were laid out neatly, and I supposed they served as beds. Catherine sat me down on a small wooden stool and left the hut.

When she returned, she held out a large piece of bread and an apple. I took them and thanked her, devouring the meal in record time. Soraya and Catherine sat silently as I ate, and I felt much better after having gotten something in my stomach.

“Thank you,” I said, wiping my mouth.

“I’m sorry we can’t offer you more,” said Catherine. “Food isn’t easy to come by around here.”

I looked down at my hands, suddenly feeling very bad that I had been as foolish as to come here in need of food. “I apologize,” I said. “Your hospitality is more than appreciated.”

She waved off my apology. “There’s no need to be sorry for anything. I wanted to meet you, anyway. Soraya here wouldn’t shut up about you yesterday.”

I smiled at Soraya, who was sitting crossed-legged on the floor, looking sheepish. “You’ve got one amazing little girl there,” I commented.

Catherine smiled, and it made me notice how lovely she was. She looked like an older version of Soraya. “That I do,” she agreed. “Would you like something to drink?”

I nodded and she went over to where a metal pitcher was sitting on a small table and poured some water into a wooden mug. Handing it to me, she said, “If you would like some blood instead, I’m sure I could scare some up for you.”

“Um, no thank you,” I said, trying not to wrinkle my nose at the offer. “Water is fine. I don’t drink blood.”

“Why not?”

I shrugged. “I’m not a vampire. I don’t need it.” At least I didn’t
think
I did.

“You’ve never had blood?” she asked, as if such a thing were unheard of.

“No. Actually, until recently, I didn’t even know what I was.” I still didn’t really know.

She considered this for a moment. “Why have you come here, Alexa? We are happy to have you, but I fear it’s not worth the risk you take.” It was nice to meet someone who addressed me by my name, instead of Warrior.

I thought about the question before answering, but really, I knew why I’d come. “I want answers.”

Catherine turned to Soraya. “Sweetheart, please go tend to your tasks while I speak with Alexa.” Soraya looked as though she was ready to protest, but after a sharp look from her mother, she got up and left the hut.

Turning back to me, Catherine said, “What would you like to know?”

I started with the obvious. “What is going on here? What is this place?” I hoped that didn’t sound rude.

She gazed out the window and took a deep breath. “We are here because someone has decided we are of no use to our society. We are donors.”

“What do you mean ‘donors?’”

She pulled back the sleeve of her tattered shirt and turned her arm so that I could see the inside of her elbow. I was confused until I took a closer look. Her arm was dark with bruises where the veins webbed. I gasped and my hand flew up to cover my mouth.

Shaking my head, my voice came out in nearly a whisper. “No.”

She just nodded gravely, her face full of sadness. I took a shuddering breath. “Blood donors?” I asked, even though I knew the answer. I still hoped I was mistaken.

“Yes,” she confirmed. “Blood donors.”

I felt dizzy with anger. How could anyone be so cruel? “Who is responsible for this?” I asked. “The queen and the Council?”

“That, I’m unsure of. No one here can remember their lives before coming here. Kayden has spoken of this queen and Council, but I can’t say I know of them. We are made to leave the donations by the far wall at the end of each week, and when morning arrives, the blood is gone. You are the only one other than my brother-in-law who has ever come here.”

I tried to take this all in, but the more I learned, the more I was confused. “Why not just leave? What happens if you don’t make the donations?”

Her eyes were so filled with pain now that I almost wished I hadn’t asked. “Many have tried to leave. They would be gone a day or so before they are returned to us. We never see who brings them back, but in the morning, we wake to find them drained dry and tossed out into the middle of the village. When we don’t meet our quota… our children disappear, and we find them having met the same fate.”

I felt like I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t process what she was telling me. It was almost surreal to hear of such horrid things, almost too much to hear at all. It made me feel selfish and stupid for complaining so much over my own problems. This was worse than anything
I
had ever endured. It was extremely humbling, and I wouldn’t forget that no matter what hand fate dealt me. There was always worse.

Most of all, though, I was infuriated. Catherine may not be sure if the queen knew about any of this, but I was certainly going to find out. After all, who else would be behind this? The village was within the walls, so didn’t that mean that the Council would know about it? The confusing thing was: Why would they need blood from other vampires? Nelly had told me that Two Rivers owned several blood banks in the human world that supplied the city with the blood they needed for survival. She would have noticed if it was blood from a supernatural, apparently there’s a difference in taste.

Catherine must have noticed my fury, because she rested her hand over mine. Her skin was as rough as Soraya’s. “Easy, Alexa,” she said softly. “You mustn’t allow the fire to engulf you. It can be more dangerous than you realize.”

I actually thought I had a pretty good idea of how dangerous I could be. I didn’t tell her that. “You said no one has ever come here, so how is Kayden able to?’

“There is magic in the woods. An ancient magic. It keeps most from being able to come or go.” She paused before adding, “I assume Kayden and you are able to because he is a Libra and you are a Warrior. Your resistance to such magic is much stronger than anyone else’s. Elite.”

I thought back to the disoriented feeling I’d had upon leaving here. It had been difficult to remember anything about the village. If it hadn’t been for Soraya and the compass she’d given me, I might not have been able to remember at all. Also, on the way here, I hadn’t been able to recall the path I’d taken the day before, even though I was sure it was the same one. I’d started and ended in the same places.

However, this wasn’t what caught my attention. “What’s a Libra?” I asked. I was almost afraid to hear the answer, but I had to know.

She raised her eyebrows. “You really don’t know about yourself, do you?” I shook my head and she continued. “Kayden should have told you, but perhaps he was unsure as to how you would react. In fact, no one other than Soraya and I know of what he is. His race is as rare as yours, I’m afraid. Warriors, like you, are made up of a certain physiology; a perfect mixture of all the races. But Libras can be any race, Life Drinkers, Wolf Sons and the like. However, Libras carry an extra trait, one that makes them similar to Warriors, as well as dependent on them, and Warriors dependent on Libras. It is called the Ignis, which means fire in Latin. I would assume you are familiar with this, though.”

Somehow, I wasn’t as shocked as I should have been, because really, that explained a lot. Like the way I always felt happy around Kayden and drawn to him in a way that was nearly undeniable. This knowledge also hurt me a little bit. I had thought that we were just attracted to each other, that he might just like me, even though I knew he’d never admit it. But now, now I wasn’t sure what to think. I couldn’t even be sure if I really liked him the way I thought I had, because it could just be the fact that our races were dependent on each other. This information shouldn’t have upset me, but it did.

“How are we dependent on each other?” I asked, in a smaller voice than I’d intended.

She smiled at me as though she could read my thoughts. “I think you know, but if it helps, Libra means balance.”

I decided that this was important, but didn’t take precedence. I was sure that I would dwell on the information about Kayden plenty later on. Right now, information on the village and its captors was more important.

I pushed my emotions aside and met her eyes. “What am I supposed to do?”

She shrugged. “Talk to Kayden about it—”

I shook my head and she stopped. “No, I mean what am I supposed to do about this?” I said, gesturing toward the door of the hut. “The village, how do I help?”

She studied me for a long moment before speaking. “Do you feel that you must?” she asked me slowly. “You are not obligated to do anything. Your race does not have to dictate your actions, Alexa. You make your own choices, especially when they concern your own life and death.”

My answer came quicker than I would have thought. It wasn’t as though I just all of a sudden believed in the prophecy that the journal had spoken of, it was Soraya who popped into my mind. Maybe it was my protective nature, the way I had grown up putting Nelly’s life before my own. Perhaps it was because I’d always had a soft spot for children. They’d always represented the only completely and absolutely innocent souls on earth in my eyes. Maybe it was just the fact that I was a Warrior. I couldn’t be sure
why
it was, but I felt absolutely certain that I had to help her. I had to help Soraya. I didn’t really care what the consequences may be. I had to try.

I felt the truth of the words as I spoke them. “Yes,” I replied, still holding her gaze. “If it’s in my power”—and I wasn’t sure that it was—

“I’ll do whatever I can.”

She studied my face for a few long seconds, then, she nodded. “I had a feeling you would say that, but I honestly cannot say what it is you can do. Unfortunately, the stories do not tell of how the savior is to accomplish freeing our people. They just say that she will.”

“The stories?”

She smiled sympathetically, probably at my assumed ignorance. “What do you already know?”

I told her about the journal, then added, “The people back at Two Rivers seem to think I’ll save them from something, too, but what is there to free them from? Things in the city are… much different than they are here.” I hadn’t wanted to say much
better
than here.

She shook her head and smiled, but didn’t say anything. I raised my eyebrows and waited for a long time before she finally told me what she was thinking. “Many people here would not agree, because really, we wouldn’t know any better. But I have considered the possibility that maybe we are not the only ones enslaved. I think that maybe the prophecy goes beyond the village, beyond even the walls of Two Rivers. Perhaps it extends across the entirety of our races. But then, what do I know?”

“How many of us live among the humans?” I asked. “And how many live in places like this, hidden cities behind walls in the middle of nowhere?”

“How many of our kind did you meet when you lived among humans?” she countered. “You would know better than I the answer to that.”

I thought about this. Jackson was the only other one I’d met in my entire seventeen years of life, before the night of the attack, that is. But then, I hadn’t even known what he was, so maybe I’d met more of our kind than I’d even realized. When I looked up to see that she was waiting for an answer, I said, “Not many. Not that I knew of, anyway.”

Soraya popped her head in the door then, causing both Catherine and I to jump in surprise. “Mommy,” she said, “the others want us to get back to work so that we finish before nightfall.”

Catherine nodded. “Okay, dear, just go on back out. We’ll be finished in a moment.”

Soraya poked out her lip and darted her eyes toward me. She started to protest. “But—”

“You may walk her back over the hill if you like,” Catherine said, holding up her hand. “Now go, we are nearly finished here.”

Soraya didn’t look happy about being kicked out again, but the fact that she would be walking me back seemed to placate her. She left, and Catherine and I stood to leave.

“Be careful, Alexa,” she told me. “The choices you make are entirely your own, but make sure you weigh the repercussions before you act. You don’t owe anyone anything. No one has the right to ask you to trade your life for theirs. You are no less important than anyone else.”

She turned to leave, but I stopped her. “Catherine, you don’t have

to answer me, and I apologize if I’m out of line in asking, but do you remember anything,
anything
about what your life was before coming here?”

I felt bad about asking this, but I figured that if maybe I understood the events that would land someone in a place like this, then I might be closer to figuring out who was behind it. She stayed with her back to me and didn’t speak for a long time. I had just decided she wasn’t going to answer and apologize for asking, when she finally spoke. Her voice was small and pained. “A husband,” she said. “I remember I had a husband and I loved him very much. But… I can’t remember him at all, just that I loved him.”