The Chosen Ones (18 page)

“Will!” I cried out, but he had
already disappeared into the trees.

Suddenly, we wavered on the edge
of the cliff. The air tore at my hair, whipping it across my skin. And as I
stared at that churning water below, everything came flashing back. The castle,
Sally’s death, the first time Thane and I had jumped.

Just like that first time, he
held onto me. And just like that first time he leapt forward, taking me with
him. And just like that first time, I knew my life was going to change
drastically the moment I hit that water…if I survived.

Chapter
11

“Jane, Jane wake up.”

Slowly, I blinked my eyes open,
my brain trying to make sense of the world around me. But everything was
confusing and blurry. An odd gray haze permeated the living quarters, telling
me that it wasn’t morning yet, but it wasn’t night either. Although my blanket
was thick, there was a bite to the air. Confused, I scanned the dorm room,
taking in the many sleeping forms huddled on their cots. It could have been any
normal morning...but something felt off. Not quite real.

“Jane,” someone whispered once
more. A feminine voice. A familiar voice.

I rolled onto my right side,
facing the culprit. I couldn’t see her features in the dark, but I knew her
tone. “Momma?”

“Shhh, you know you’re not supposed
to call me that. At least not here.” She held out her hand. “Come on.”

Trustingly I wrapped my small
fingers around hers. She tugged me from the bed, my stocking feet hitting the
hard, wooden planks. I was in the children’s dorm. A place I’d been a million
times before, yet I couldn’t deny the sensation that it felt wrong, as if I
wasn’t supposed to be here.

“Where we going?” I whispered.

“Quiet.”

She led me toward the door. Even
though I didn’t want to go out into the cold, I couldn’t help but feel a thrill
of excitement. We weren’t allowed outside at night. As she pushed the door
wide, I glanced back, fearful someone would hear us. But no one stirred. Everyone
slept with no idea that we were breaking the rules.

Suddenly, we were racing from
the dorm and into the early morning dawn. Her long, dark hair floated back like
a veil tickling my face, but I didn’t dare complain for fear she’d change her
mind and take me back. She’d never much paid attention to me before, why now?
But I kept my mouth shut because I wanted to know what was out here at night,
what happened while we slept. The ground hadn’t completely defrosted and it chilled
my feet through my thick socks, but I spent so little time with her that I craved
her attention. Not that I would tell her. No, we’d been taught since birth to not
speak of our affection.

We didn’t pause until we neared
a patch of wild shrubbery by the fence. Being that close to the metal bars made
me nervous and excited all at once.

“Here.” She shoved me under a
patch of vines, heedless to the fact that the thorns were scraping my skin. I
fell to my knees and cringed. Most of the time she ignored me, but once in a
great, great while, like now, she seemed almost desperate to see me. “I found
this.”

I curled my legs under me, the
cool mist of night coating my exposed skin. She shoved a book into my hands. I
stared at it, confused. “A book, Momma?”

She sat beside me, grinning.
When she smiled like that I swore she was the most beautiful person in the
compound. “Not just any book…something I’ve never read before. Something I
didn’t even know could exist. You know the stories that Albert tells in the
evening around the fire?”

I nodded, staring at the book,
marveling over the smooth leather. Unable to stop myself, I brought it close and
breathed deeply the musty scent. It smelled like everything I loved: the thrill
of the unknown, knowledge and excitement.

“This book,” she tapped the
cover, “is like one of Albert’s stories. You’ll hide it for me, won’t you?”

The moon was almost full and
shone upon the cover, making the golden lettering glow. Magic. If I got caught
with the book, punishment would be swift and severe. “
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
?”

Suddenly she gripped my
shoulders, startling me. “Don’t ever give up hope, Jane. You hear me?” She
shook me, a quick jerk that snapped my head back. “Don’t ever, ever give up
hope that there is more, that there is something better. It’s there.” She
released me and looked up at the sky, just barely visible through the vines. “Can
you hear it calling? You just have to believe.”

I parted my lips to question her
odd comments, but she stood, dove from the vines and raced back toward the
adult ward, leaving me there…alone with the novel.
 

I clutched the book to my chest.
“Mamma?” I whispered, suddenly afraid. The world seemed too big, too dark and
too mysterious. Dropping the book, I bolted from the vines and raced toward the
children’s ward.
 

“Jane,” a deep voice called out to
me.

I didn’t dare look back, but
forced my legs to run faster. But no matter how hard I tried, the dorm didn’t get
any closer.

“Jane!”

Not my mother this time. A man. Reality
slapped me in the face in the form of a large, cold wave of salty water. My
lashes lifted, the hazy clouds above. Suddenly, I was gasping for air. I
tightened my arms around Thane. I hadn’t been with my mom, it had only been a
memory…a long, lost memory from childhood. Water surged up over my head again,
stinging my eyes and filling my mouth and nose. Just when I’d suck in the pure
air, another wave of water would crash around me. I coughed up the bitter taste
of salt, desperate to breathe clean, fresh air. My lungs burned, my chest hurt
and my lips and mouth were raw from the salt.

“You still with me?” Thane
asked, panting as he sliced through the water.

“How…how much further?”
Coughing, I rested the side of my face against Thane’s back, my weak arms clinging
to his shoulders as he surged through the waves. In that moment Thane was no
monster. He wasn’t a vampire or even a dhampir; he was merely the man I had to
rely on, a man who was doing everything in his power to save me.

“Almost there,” he said. “Keep
breathing for me, okay?”

I was too weak to respond, and instead
closed my eyes. The feel of his muscles, taunt and strong under my body as he
moved through the water reassured me, but that tiny strip of land seemed so
very far away. Afraid and exhausted, I squeezed my eyes shut. I’d never felt
water so cold. My entire body had grown numb.

I wasn’t sure how much time went
by but suddenly I noticed a difference in Thane’s movements. He wasn’t
floating, but almost seemed to be walking.

Even when Thane peeled my arms
away from his neck, leaving me floating alone, I still didn’t open my eyes. My
feet hit land that shifted, gritty dirt seeping through my socks. Somehow, at
some point, I’d lost consciousness and my shoes. My legs buckled and I fell
back into the water.

Before I hit the surface, Thane grabbed
both of my hands and vaguely I was aware of him dragging me onto land. I never
would have made it without him. He released his hold and left me laying there,
staring up at the blue sky, gasping for fresh air. The water that had been
sucked into my lungs surged upward. I rolled to my side and vomited up salt
water.

“You’ll be fine,” Thane said,
his booted feet noticeable from the corner of my eye.

I somehow managed to shove my
hands into the rocky shore and sit up. Where the hell were we? A land of trees,
rocks and dirt. Utterly depleted, I sank to the ground, laying on my side and
facing the ocean. The mainland was a hazy strip of land in the distance, so far
away that I’d never be able to see Will or Kelly. Were they dead? Captured? Or
had they managed to escape?

“Come on,” Thane was on his
feet, soaking wet, but not shivering like me. And although he’d swum a great
distance while pulling me, he seemed only slightly out of breath. “We need to
go now, before you get sick.”

He gripped my hand and pulled me
to my feet. For a brief moment I leaned into him, his breath warm across my
cheek as the water dripped from his hair onto the tip of my nose. I swore even
my bones were frozen. There had been a few times when a wave had crashed over
us that I was positive we’d drown. But as always, Thane had done what he’d set
out to do and we’d somehow survived. At some point our luck would run
out…wouldn’t it?

“We need to find shelter.” He
released his hold and started along the shore, leaving me dripping and
shivering near the water’s edge.

Once again, I found myself
turning to look at the ocean and toward the mainland. “Please, Will,” I
whispered. “Please still be alive.”

“Jane,” Thane snapped. “Let’s
go.”

Cursing, I stumbled after him. Without
Will and Kelly, I felt alone, adrift, lost. I had no home of my own, but they
had centered me. Now…I had no one but Thane, and I wasn’t even sure if he
wanted me.

My clothing was heavy, and I was
cold, so cold I couldn’t feel my limbs anymore. But before I could voice my
complaint, Thane disappeared around a bend ahead. Barely tired, although he had
pulled me across the sea. What else could the blood drinker do that I didn’t
know about? The question left me uneasy. I crossed my arms over my chest,
trying to retain what little warmth my body could produce.

“Found a pier,” Thane called
out.
 

My lungs hurt and it was hard to
walk, but I quickened my steps, only to draw up short when I rounded the bend.
A long, wooden platform somehow floated atop the water. At the beginning of the
pier, on land, was a small wooden building. The dock and small home made me
acutely aware that someone actually lived on this mound of land. I realized in
that moment that I hadn’t been quite sure if I believed in their mythical man. Unnerved,
I found myself studying the woods, peering at the shadows. Raven. Who was this
mystery man who knew more about vampires than anyone?

“Sh…should we try to find him?”
I asked through chattering teeth I couldn’t seem to stop. The icy water had
entered my blood stream, had chilled my bones making them feel as brittle as
glass. “As soon as possible?”

“No.” He jumped off the dock and
headed toward the small house. “We need to get warm. We can explore the island
later.”

Did the cold affect him as it
did a normal human? He didn’t seem chilled even though the wind held a bite to
it. Eager to get dry, I started toward him, only to stub my toe on a rock,
reminding me I wore no shoes. The cold made the pain worse. Cringing, I hobbled
on. “Can we get inside?”

“I can.”

Fortunately there was no need
for force as the door opened easily under his touch. Either this Raven wasn’t
expecting anyone, or he wasn’t here any longer and therefore didn’t care.
Around us the island was quiet, eerily so. The few birds chirping and the lap
of water against the rocky shore were the only sounds. Had he left? Perhaps we
were too late.

“Come on,” Thane said. “You need
to dry before you’re ill.”
 

Hesitantly I moved into the
small building. It smelled musty, old, as if no one had been inside for some
time. I hoped we weren’t on a fool’s errand, trying to find a mystery man who
might not even be here.

Only a trunk and cot furnished
the dusty floorboards. Two small windows allowed light into the dreary place. “Looks
abandoned.”

Thane shook his head. “No
cobwebs tells me someone’s been here recently.”

A shiver of nervousness
whispered down my spine. So, he was still here…somewhere.

“How did he build all of this?”
I reached out and lightly touched the beige curtains covering the windows. I
found it odd that he would need curtains when he lived on an island, supposedly
alone. “How could he have possibly gotten all this stuff from the mainland to
this island?”

“My guess was it was already
here. The blood drinkers probably missed the island when they set out to
destroy human-made society.”

Thane closed the door, reminding
me of the fact that we were the only two in the building, and it seemed even
smaller with him so close. I felt Will and Kelly’s absence acutely in that tiny
house and wished more than ever that they were there. The realization that Thane
and I were completely alone hit me hard. Yeah, I was grateful he had saved me, but
I still didn’t trust him. Frankly, I didn’t know him. Why would he save me?
What was in it for him?
  

“Come here.” Before I could
comprehend his command, he stepped forward and without my permission, he gripped
my upper arms, pulling me close.

“Hey!” I snapped, struggling out
of his grasp. “What are you doing?”

“Calm down. You need to get
warm.” He jerked my jacket from my arms and tossed the sodden material to the
ground. He was so close I could feel the heat radiating from his body. The urge
to sink into him overwhelmed me.

“I can take off my own jacket,”
I muttered.
 

“Fine.” He stepped back, paused,
seemingly confused, as if he wasn’t quite sure how to react. I realized I
wasn’t the only one who felt uneasy. And in that moment Thane appeared more
human than he ever had before.
 

He raked back his hair, his gaze
shifting from me, to the door, back to me. “I don’t...humans are complicated.”

“What do you mean?” I asked
warily.

He sighed, annoyed. Good God,
was that a blush on his cheeks? “I mean that blood drinkers are direct. They
tell you exactly what they want, there is no care for other people’s feelings.
But humans….they’re confusing.”

I could argue with that, but
decided not to. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying,” he snapped. “That
if I seem gruff or strange, I don’t mean to.”