The Chosen Ones Read online

Will was gone.

  Dead.

  Like Jimmy, like my grandfather, my parents.

  And most likely I would follow.

  For hours we’d been traveling in the carriage, wheels bouncing over dirt roads until my aching body had grown numb. Although the very men who had killed my friends, and who would murder me sat beside and across from me, I was barely aware. I’d sat quietly in the corner, staring unblinkingly at the blur of trees, lost in my grief, my fear, my pain.

  Will was gone.

  I was the last one left but I knew I wouldn’t be here much longer. But what hurt me more than anything, what twisted like a dagger deep within my gut, was Thane’s betrayal. I hadn’t known him at all. He was a monster. The Thane I thought I’d known had been a myth, like a character in one of the very books he’d given me.

  We’d been fighting a losing battle all along. Death had finally caught up to us, taking no prisoners. As with the very insects, mammals, and reptiles we’d exterminated from our gardens. They’d tried so hard to survive, but it had been pointless because we were ruthless, stronger and determined.

  Vaguely I was aware of Thane’s hand gripping my upper arm as we sat side by side. The same hand that had killed Will. Perhaps he thought I might try to throw open the carriage door and jump. But jumping would only amuse them, and I’d be damned if I’d provide the entertainment. Will had died well, marching nobly to death and I would as well.

  How could I have trusted Thane so utterly and completely? Why hadn’t I paid attention to that cold indifference I’d seen so often in the dhampir’s eyes? Why had I ignored the way he killed without remorse?

  I didn’t care about my own death. I’d given up worrying about that long ago. But I was angry that I hadn’t been able to do more. Angry that I hadn’t been able to give the others a fighting chance. I could only hope Kelly had escaped. I could pretend. Pretend that they would find the serum, that they would live on, while the vampires around them slowly died off.

  I could pretend.

  “I can practically hear your mind spinning,” Bacchus said from across the carriage. I couldn’t see his features in the dim light, but his eyes glowed eerily. He found me so very amusing, and toyed with me like a cat playing with a little mouse.

  “Why am I still alive?” I demanded.

  “Would you rather have it over quickly?” Bacchus asked, tilting his head to the side as if he was contemplating the idea.

  How I hated him. But I despised Thane even more. Bacchus hadn’t hid what he was. He’d made it clear he was a full-blooded killer. But Thane…Thane had used me. Pretended to care. And it hurt so much more than I would ever admit.

  “Yes, actually, I would like it done quickly because I’d rather be dead than in your company a moment longer.”

  “Oh don’t worry, my dear. Your wish will be granted soon enough.” He smoothed down his cloak and folded his hands demurely in his lap. “Now then, enough with the theatrics. You humans are so dramatic.”

  “Says the monster wearing silk pantaloons,” I muttered.

  Bacchus laughed, but his mirth didn’t quite reach his eyes. “They are going to love you at the castle, my dear.”

  I shivered despite trying to hold back my fear. “Why?” I demanded. “Why are you doing this? Why do you hate humans so?”

  Bacchus shrugged. “Don’t take it personally. We need to eat.”

  Right, if only it were that simple. “And can’t you feed in a more humane way? Must you enjoy the terror?”

  He leaned forward, so close that his sweet scent swirled around me. “My dear, people love a good horror show.”

  My lips lifted into a snarl. “You’re monsters.”

  He quirked a brow and leaned back. “We’re the monsters? Really? You’ve read, you know the history of your people. Good God, your humans used to gather around and cheer hangings. Women, children, all would go to the show.”

  “That’s different,” I hissed. “That was war.”

  “Oh no, my dear. Not war.” He was silent for a long moment, watching me, merely watching me. I was so incredibly aware of Thane at my side and Bacchus across from me. I felt trapped, suffocated. “Do you know what they used to do to vampires before we took power?”

  I didn’t respond, because I didn’t know.

  He smiled slow and sweet. “They would burn us at the stake. But we didn’t die that way you see, so it was merely a slow torture. Quite painful until we healed again. Or they’d stab us in the heart and bury us alive. Again, didn’t kill us, merely tortured us. I could go on and on, but you get the idea. That, my dear, is what your humans did to us before we decided to fight back.”

  Had Thane hated me all this time? Bitter over the way humans had treated his family?

  “That was a long time ago,” I whispered, unsure anymore what I believed.

  “And can you say that it wouldn’t happen again?” He tilted his head thoughtfully, watching me. “Say you humans regained power, would you show us mercy? Would you accept us? Or at the least, would you integrate us, teach us your ways? Or would you rather just kill us and be done with the fear?”

  I wanted to assure him we would do what we could to help, but I couldn’t. He was right…we could never live together in peace. Which meant in the end either the vampires or the humans would end up failing. And considering how often we were on the losing side, I wasn’t going to place my bet on my human friends.

  “And so it will go on and on forever, never ending.”

  He shrugged. “At least until you’re dead or contained.”

  “And then you’ll turn on each other,” I said.

  He didn’t seem to care. “Perhaps.”

  The carriage slowed as the wheels hit the cobbled streets of town. The same town where I’d escaped with Thane. He’d been leading us back here all along. My heart hurt, a stabbing pain of betrayal. The escape, finding my grandfather, learning to fight…all of it had been pointless.

  The scene unfolded much like it had those two months ago. As before, a variety of curious beautiful ones poured from their elegant homes in their elegant clothing to watch my arrival. Only this time I was alone. We entered the large courtyard and the carriage came to a stop. Bacchus jumped from the vehicle first. I was left alone with Thane.

  “My friends,” Bacchus called out.

  Frantically, I looked at Thane. If he was going to help me, if this was all some ruse, it would be the perfect time to let me in on the game. But no words of comfort came from his lips and his gaze remained firmly on the crowd gathered outside.

  “How could you?” I whispered.

  I felt the ever so slight tightening of his hand on my arm, but he didn’t respond, didn’t bother to look at me.

  “Do you truly hate me this much?”

  His gaze remained on the door as he responded. “Do not confuse indifference for hate, Jane.”

  He might as well have slapped me. I would have preferred his hatred. At least then he’d have a reason for wanting me dead. But his indifference, his lack of emotion was too much like the beautiful ones.

  “We will no longer stand by while they attack,” Bacchus continued outside. “Today is merely the first in a long line of wars to be won.”

  Suddenly Thane was stepping from the carriage, pulling me with him. When my feet hit the cobbled street, there was an uproar of cheering. Around me faces fill with hatred glowed under the lantern light that hung around the courtyard. Monsters…every one of them.

  “I give you the rebel leader!” Bacchus cried, turning toward me.

  I wanted to deny the accusation. I was no leader. A leader wouldn’t be quivering under their hateful gazes. A leader would have figured out a way to escape and warn the others of what was to come. But calling me the leader would make Bacchus look good. Which, I knew, was why he lied.

  “Mommy! My pet,” a little girl cried out.

  A sudden tiny blur of a body hit me so hard that Thane’s hand was knocke
d away and I fell to my knees. A grunt of pain escaped my lips as thin arms wrapped tightly around my waist. I was horrified by the touch of the little monster, yet at the same time taken in by her innocent face. Her scent was like ripe apples left in the sun, warm and lovely. But I knew better than to find comfort in her presence. This child monster could save me no more than I could save myself. Thane gripped my upper arm and jerked me to my feet as the child’s mother raced forward to take her back to the group. And just like that she was gone. For some reason I hoped she wasn’t there to witness my death.

  “So is that what this is?” I asked. “A public hanging?”

  Thane didn’t answer, but Bacchus heard and turned toward me. “No, my sweet. Our king wants the best. We are having a celebration and you are going to be the main course.”

  A cheer went up in the crowd. I felt their thundering applause vibrate against me. Acid swept up my throat, burning the back of my tongue. I was going to faint. The heat of the evening beat down upon me, thrumming in time with their applause. They wanted to see me suffer. They hated me with a passion I understood well, because I hated them in the same way.

  Thane’s grip was tight as he led me through the crowds and into the main hall. I saw the double doors where Sally and the others who had died had disappeared that fateful night. But we didn’t go that way. Instead, Thane led me up the stairs to the right, bypassing the floor where the women had slept the night we’d been chosen. Higher and higher up into the castle. Were they going to dress me before they killed me? I swore I would never wear one of those fancy white dresses again. But in this world I had so little choice.

  “You’ll stand by?” I seethed, glaring up into Thane’s stoic face. “And watch? You’ll do nothing?”

  We paused outside a wooden door, and the dhampir who had followed stood in a neat little group, awaiting Thane’s command. He pulled the dagger from the sheath on his thigh and reached around me, stepping so close, his chest brushed against mine. I heard the soft swoosh as the ropes were cut and my arms freed. Still standing close, Thane pushed open the door behind me.

  From the corner of my eye I could see the other dhampir, waiting for their commands. But I didn’t care. I kept my gaze focused on Thane, knowing there had to be something…something good inside of him. It couldn’t have been all pretense.

  “Please,” I whispered.

  He lowered his gaze, meeting mine. For one long moment we didn’t speak. I could read nothing in his eyes, nothing in his firm lips or the hard planes of his face. Not surprising, for I’d always had a difficult time understanding him.

  “Thane,” I whispered, pleading.

  With firm hands, Thane gripped my shoulders and shoved me into the room. I fell hard to the ground, bouncing. I had just enough time to see the smirking faces of the other dhampir before the door was pulled shut with a sure thunk, and I was left to face the reality of my situation alone.