Taken Over (Book 2 The Ravening Series) (41 page)

   He rose slowly, with a strange grace that made me want to cry. That grace, that haunting
beauty, those dark piercing eyes
,
and strange strength I had seen him exhibit were slowly
, and finally,
beginning to make sense to me. He hadn’t escaped
from the aliens
, he hadn’t broken free. They had
let
him go.
No wonder he didn’t want to talk about
what he had experienced
, because he had not experienced it as a human, as a prisoner
. He had no answers for us, nothing he could tell us because he had been with his
kind
all along. He had probably
enjoyed
the time he’d been with them. Probably relished in the death and brutality I was certain the
captured
people endured.

   I’d been a fool to think he’d actually loved me. He was a monster, monsters could not love.

   Thoughts scrambled and screamed through my mind. I could barely make sense of anything as he gazed at me for a long moment. I wanted to run, wanted to flee screaming into the darkness, but I found myself unable to move. And then he was
rising
above me
like
a
dark avenger coming to finish what his cohort had started.

  
Terror drove me
to my feet. I lurched
awkwardly
upward, desperate to get away as he came at me. I darted in between the tables
, frantic for escape
. My heart hammered in panic; I could barely br
eathe as I ran blindly forward. I had left the flashlight behind in my panic. I was never going to escape; I didn’t even know where the damn door was anymore!

  
Not like this, I thought franticly. Not like this. Not at the hands of Cade. I could
not
be killed by the only person I had ever loved.

   I hadn’t made it that far, not nearly as far as I would have liked anyway, before his arms wrapped around me. He lifted me easily off the ground as he clasped m
y back
firmly against his chest. His hand snaked around, closing
tightly
over my mouth as I opened
it
to scream. He pressed me against his chest, holding me against him as I struggled within his grasp.

   “
Shh
Bethany, I’m not going to hurt you. Stop
,
just stop.”

   Tears slipped down my face, I couldn’t keep them in anymore
. This was
just too much to handle right now
. It had been so hard for so long, but this
this
was going to be my snapping point. I could feel my mind unraveling rapidly; feel everything within me spinning
wil
dly
out of control.

   “Oh Bethy,” he breathed. “Please don’t cry.” His head fell against mine; he inhaled a shaky breath as he held me tight.
He actually seemed genuinely distraught, but I knew he was not genuine about anything, he never had been. A sob lodged in my throat, my broken heart kept beating.
“
Let me
explain
love, let me
…”

   Noise from the hallway cut him off. He stiffened, his hard muscles locking against me. Though I couldn’t see him, I could
feel
th
e
blackness
against my back as it
crep
t
over him, seeping through his eyeball
s
, bleeding through his veins. A
primitive
growl escaped him
, his hold on me tightened
as running footsteps
approached
.

   Cade slipped further into the shadows, carrying me easily with him as he moved. I started to struggle against him, wanting to be free, wanting to alert the
people approaching
to the danger that lurked within this room
.
That had
always
lurked amongst us.
The danger I had so fervently and desperately wanted back.
B
ut Cade
held me easily and with
a rigid strength that was
impossible to break free
from
.
We reached the back corner of the room
.
I had a
brief mom
ent of
hope
as Cade let go with one hand
to
reach
for something
behind him. I lurched against him, but he grabbed me back
, pinning me against him
as three people burst into the room. I had a brief flash of Bret as light filtered on, but Cade had already pulled us into the other ballroom
and away from all promise of salvation.

CHAPTER 15

   Cade didn’t release me until
he
had
carried me deep
into the woods.
I felt as if we had walked for miles, and going by the strength and speed that I now knew he possessed, we probably had.
The moment he set me on my feet
,
I
tried to run
. H
e grabbed hold of my arm and pulled me back
with surprisingly gentle ease
. I was brought up sharp against his chest, my arms pressed against the hard flex of muscle beneath his
blood spattered
cotton shirt. His eyes were dark, fierce as he stared at me
, but at least they were back to normal now.
H
is eyebrows were drawn sharply together over his nose
, his jaw clenched
.

   I glared defiantly back at him as I struggled to break free of his tight hold. “I am
not
going to hurt you,” he
snarled.

   “How do I know that?” I demanded breathlessly. “How can I believe anything that you say, anything that you do!?”

   He watched me for a moment longer
before he
released me suddenly.
Holding up his hands, he walked
a couple of steps
away
.
“Because I have
never
hurt you before
,
and I
never
will.”

  
I blinked at him in surprise, torn by what he was saying, and everything I had just witnessed.
What I had just
seen
. He’d lied to me repeatedly, he’d pretended to be something he wasn’t. He’d pretended to be
human
. I was filled with the heartbreaking certainty that I didn’t know him at all.
“You’ve lied to me repeatedly. I have no idea who
or
what
you are.”

   Anger filtered over his features,
though the black did not return to his face, I could sense it lurking just beneath the surface. “You know exactly who I am
.
I’m the person that’s kept you alive. I’m the person you
claimed
to love.”

   “But you’re not a person,” I
breathed.

   He recoiled as if he
’
d been slapped. For a moment guilt and
uncertainty
flared hotly through me.
I was ashamed of myself.
I didn’t know who he was, I wasn’t entirely certain
what
he was, but he had saved my life. Many
many
times he had saved my life, and no matter how betrayed and deceived I felt I still loved him, I always would.
Even if he tried to kill me.
I didn’t want to cause him any hurt, I didn’t want him to feel like I felt right now, but I couldn’t stop myself from striking out at him.

   C
ouldn’t stop myself for inflicting
some measure of
hurt
on
him
,
because I was so unbelievably hurt
by him
.

   “No,” he agreed
. “I’m not.”

   The
blunt
admission was like a
cold blast of water against my heated skin
. I had known it, I had
seen
it, but I hadn’t truly believed it until that moment. Hadn’t fully
understood
it until he confirmed every horrible thought
,
emotion
, and fear
that
tangled within m
e. “What did they do to you?” I breathed.
Even as I asked the question I knew that I was wrong. This hadn’t been
done
to him.

   He looked at me over his shoulder, his eyes narrowed as he scowled.
There was so much anger
in him, so much murderous rage still lingering beneath the surface that I f
ou
nd myself taking an instinctive step away from him. I
didn’t know him, not anymore, but I was strangely certain that
he
still
wouldn’t hurt me.
“They didn’t
do
anything to me. I was
born
this way.”

   My mouth dropped, m
y legs began to shake
as he confirmed what I had
suspected
. I thought I was
going
to fall, thought I was going to melt into a puddle of boneless goop right there on the forest floor.
How could I have been so wrong about everything?
“How… how is that possible? I’ve known you…”

   My voice trailed off, I leaned heavily against the tree behind me. Cade had been five when h
is family
had moved to town.
Cade’s
family had been wealthy; his father a prominent lawyer whose
own
father had once been a congressman.
Mr. Marshall h
ad been intending to run for office himself when he was killed.
Cade’s
mother had been a teacher in our elementary school and had enrolled Cade there.
She’d been a sweet woman who always smelled of raisin cookies and
P
lay-
D
o
h
.