The Chosen Ones Read online

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  “You’re saying,” Will whispered, as if worried we’d be overheard. “If we inject this serum into our blood stream, they won’t be able to ingest it? We’ll be safe?”

  “We hope,” Thane replied.

  “My god,” Kelly whispered. “We could save everyone. The entire world.”

  I pressed my hand to my neckline, feeling Tom’s wooden rose beneath my shirt, needing the reassurance. Will seemed shocked, Kelly overjoyed, but I couldn’t quite read Tony’s reaction. He merely sat there on the outskirts of camp, watching us all, barely saying a word. To me it was so obvious he was the traitor that I could hardly stand to sit there and do nothing. Why hadn’t Thane told Will? And I knew Will didn’t know, for he wore his feelings on his face and he still treated Tony like a friend.

  “The attacks have been getting worse,” Will said softly, almost as if talking to himself. “More hunting parties.”

  Susan…she merely sat there sipping her cup of water, asking sweetly for help every once in a while. And of course the guys would jump to do her bidding. Tony, who normally looked out only for himself, had even helped her to the creek earlier. The fear I’d seen on her face during the attack was gone. She seemed oddly content instead of traumatized. How could they not think her actions strange?

  “It’s unbelievable,” Kelly said, shaking her head. “It could all end within weeks…days. The fear, the running, the death.”

  Everyone was quiet, as if letting the realization sink in fully. I wondered what would have happened if only someone had had the courage to find my grandfather earlier. Would Jimmy still be alive? My mother? My father?

  Thane reached into the bag at his feet and pulled out a syringe. The amber liquid glowed under the brilliant light from the setting sun. It was hard to believe that little bottle would save us all. At the same time, the liquid worried me. What was in there, and could we trust my grandfather?

  Will’s gaze shifted to me. “Have you tried it?”

  I shook my head. I wasn’t sure why. We hadn’t exactly had time, what with running for our lives and all. Still, if I’d wanted to I could have found a moment. Thane hadn’t brought it up, and during the past two days, although I’d thought about it, I hadn’t been ready to trust the serum, or my grandfather.

  “I’ll be the first.” Will rolled up his sleeve, surprising us all. “Give it to me.”

  “Will,” I said, startled by how quickly he was ready to jump in. “My grandfather was insane. What if it’s not ready yet? Or what if it makes you ill? If we find Raven, the real Raven, he might be able to help.”

  “And by then it could be too late. It’s a chance I’m willing to take.” He glanced at Kelly. “Will you?”

  She nodded and moved across the camp. Thane handed her the syringe as she swept by. I watched him, hoping he might intervene, but as always, Thane said nothing, allowing the others to make their own fate.

  I shifted to my knees, growing nervous as Kelly settled next to Will. “You don’t know what will happen.”

  “Exactly,” he said. “I will be the test rat here. I won’t allow it to be anyone else.”

  Will, always the hero, forever a leader. Kelly lifted the syringe, tapped it a couple times and lowered it toward his arm. We all watched while she slowly slid the needle through his skin. Just like that the liquid drained from the syringe and into his body.

  “Any idea of side effects?” Will asked.

  Thane shook his head. “We know as much as you.”

  The vial empty, Kelly pulled the needle from Will’s arm. We sat there in silence, knowing that my Grandfather could have been insane. Knowing it might not work. Knowing it could make things worse. Will tightened his hand into a fist. A tiny drop of blood rested on his forearm where the needle had pierced the flesh. It was the only indication the needle had been there.

  Will looked at Thane. “Can you sense anything different?”

  He shook his head.

  “Maybe you have to actually try the blood,” Kelly suggested.

  “No thanks,” Thane said dryly.

  Will gave us all a hesitant smile. “Well, I’m going to wash.”

  He surged to his feet and started downhill toward the creek, most likely wanting to get away from our curious gazes. I didn’t miss the way Susan watched him go. It wasn’t enough that she had Thane’s interest, she had to have Will too?

  Unable to stand still any longer, I jumped to my feet, ignored Thane’s piercing attention, and followed Will. I needed to know his thoughts, needed to understand my own feelings. “Hey, can we talk?”

  Will was already at the creek by the time I caught up to him. He didn’t seem surprised to see me. He didn’t exactly seem welcome either. “Sure.” He knelt by the water and splashed some on his face, then arms, cleaning the skin. I thought about those two times he had held me, pressed his mouth to mine. It had been only weeks ago but it felt like years. A memory of a dream I wasn’t quite sure was real or not.

  “Will?” I could have sworn he was avoiding eye contact. “You feel okay?”

  “Pretty normal. I haven’t grown an extra limb or anything, have I?”

  I smiled. “No. You look fine.”

  Of course we had no idea what would eventually happen but it was too late to voice my concern. “Listen, it’s about Susan.”

  He stood, frowning, and raked back his damp hair. “What about her?”

  “I don’t trust her, and I don’t think we should talk about the serum around her.”

  Will sighed, settling on a boulder that had somehow ended up alongside the creek. As out of place in this landscape as I felt at times. “Jane, people didn’t trust you when you first arrived.”

  “Yeah, but I wasn’t in everyone’s business either. I was out of it. Insane. And you certainly never shared anything this important with me.”

  He glanced back at the hill where everyone still sat. The setting sun was bright, highlighting their faces in an ethereal glow. Soon the moon would be full again. Which meant more people would die. Would it be my sister’s time to be chosen? As if sensing Will’s gaze, Susan turned and smiled at him. She was pretty. Really pretty. Is that why Thane and Will liked her so much? Were guys really that shallow? Tony stood and left the group and I wondered briefly where he was headed.

  I switched my attention to Will and saw that he was smiling back. The flush upon his cheeks had nothing to do with the heat of the day and everything to do with Susan. I looked away, annoyed, unsure what I was feeling and why. Yeah, maybe I was jealous. But what it really boiled down to was that I just didn’t trust her.

  “She’s fine,” Will said, scooping up a pebble and throwing it into the creek, watching it skip across the water. “She’s been through an ordeal, yet is thriving.”

  In other words, doing better than I had. “Yeah, that’s why I don’t trust her. Who goes through that much? Sees that much death, feels that sort of fear and comes out smiling?”

  “Maybe she just feels safe here with me.” He looked away, the flush on his face darkening. “With us. All of us, I mean.”

  His slip angered me. “Kelly was right, you need to save people.” I hadn’t meant to say the words, but once they were out I didn’t regret them. “Don’t you?”

  He straightened, his gaze flashing with annoyance. I’d hit on the truth and he knew it. “Excuse me?”

  I glared back at him. “First me, and now her? Kelly said you have this need to save people, but I didn’t want to believe her. You don’t even see what’s right in front of you, Will, because you’re blinded by your need to be her hero. She can’t be trusted.”

  “Enough,” he hissed, his anger stinging more than I wanted to admit. “I take care of her like I do all of my people.”

  His people? “And is that what I am to you? Just one of your people? Another person you saved, another burden?”

  His face softened. “I didn’t say that.”

  “Maybe you didn’t need to.”

&n
bsp; He narrowed his gaze as he shook his head, attempting to make sense of my comments. I knew he was confused, but I wasn’t sure how to explain, or even if I wanted to. “Is this jealousy? Is that what this is?”

  “Honestly, maybe it was at first. But now, no. Now its disappointment. I guess I just expected more from you.” I started to turn away; sad, lost, but knowing I had to get away from him, from Susan, from Tony, and even Thane. I needed to think, to try and decipher my strange and new emotions.

  “Jane.” Will followed me alongside the creek. “We need to talk.”

  “About what?” I clambered over a pile of fallen logs that had ended up in a crevice between two hills, annoyed he had followed. “You made your position perfectly clear.”

  “I think maybe you’ve misunderstood our relationship.”

  Angry, I spun around to face him, the pile of fallen trees separating us. “You kissed me.”

  “I know.” He raked his hair back, obviously flustered. “And I do like you, Jane. More than I should. Much more than I should.”

  I wasn’t sure if I should be happy about his admittance or not. Bemused, I rubbed my temples, my head suddenly pounding. I didn’t understand, but then I’d never had a boyfriend. Were they always this frustrating? “Okay, and the problem?”

  “The problem is that we don’t have time in this world for relationships.”

  “Kelly and Tony do.”

  “Yeah, but they’re not me. They don’t have the responsibility that I do.” He threw his arms wide. “Jane, I get it. You haven’t experienced much of real life. You don’t understand that sometimes it just doesn’t work out.”

  What the hell was he talking about? “Bull, Will. You kissed me. You took care of me. You made me think you wanted some sort of relationship. Don’t you dare try to make me feel like I misinterpreted your actions.”

  He took a step back. “I’m sorry, Jane, but I don’t want this. It’s too much right now. We have other things to worry about.”

  The harshness of his words stabbed me. He certainly didn’t seem confused by Susan. But how could I argue? He was right. This insignificant relationship meant nothing in the bigger picture. “Fine.” I started to turn away. I need to bathe, wash away the heat of the day, wash away his words…something. “Do whatever you want.”

  “Will!” Kelly came racing down the hill. “It’s gone!”

  I jumped atop the pile of logs and over onto the ground, landing next to Will, my heart hammering madly in my chest. “What’s gone?”

  But even as I asked, I knew. Deep down I knew.

  “Susan,” she gasped. “The pack, the serum…gone!”

  I jerked my gaze from her to Will. Good God, I’d been right. Will’s face went pale. Any other time I would have found his shock amusing. Gone. All of it gone, along with our hope. As much as I wanted to rub it in, I couldn’t because she’d taken the serum and our chance at a normal life.

  “She’s not the only one who has disappeared,” Thane said, moving down the hill. “Tony is gone as well.”