The Chosen Ones

Chapter Six

Chapter 6

I stumbled back a step, as if distance would make things clearer. "The books? My books."

He didn't respond, merely watched me closely as if to see my reaction. In that moment I realized he was utterly serious. I crossed my arms over my chest, feeling vulnerable, confused, and completely unsettled. I'd thought those books had appeared by something wonderful, something magical. And now that had been torn from my grip, crushed beneath Thanatos' tarnished black boots.

Stupid, stupid me. I should have known better, for there was no magic in this harsh reality.

"The books I found...you had placed them there?" I asked, still confused, and needing the clarity only he could offer. "All this time, you knew who I was?"

"Yes." He moved toward the creek, knelt along the water's edge and cupped his hands to drink. He was dismissing me, as if I needed no further explanation.

"I don't understand."

"I leave the books behind as bait. I've done it at every compound. When someone picks them up, studies them, it says they might want more." He stood and faced me. "You read them. All of them. Word for word. No one has ever done that before."

If he knew I'd read them, that meant he must have been studying me. My little nest where I thought I'd had a bit of privacy had been a ruse. "You were you watching me?"

He shrugged as if it was of no consequence. "I had to. It's the only way, the best way, to know who will be willing to fight."

For months this man had watched my every move. Had watched me and Tom. Had he seen us that last day together? Had he seen Tom give me that necklace? Watched us embrace? Embarrassment fought with anger. "Fight for what? What, exactly, do you want from all of this?"

"The same thing you want. Freedom." He started toward me, and I had to resist the urge to flinch, forcing myself to stand my ground. "A chance to live my life the way I want to, no judgment, no repercussions."

I released a wry laugh. "You think we can all live together in peace?"

When he didn't respond I realized he was utterly serious. Thane honestly believed we could work together. But staring into his hard, uncompromising gaze only sent me back in time to that moment in the compound when he'd picked me. It had always seemed like a faraway dream. But now it was vivid...clear.

The many guards with scars across their perfect faces. I knew now that those guards were dhampir. But the only thing I could picture were their angry snarls...the way they had pushed us around, almost as if they blamed us for their predicament. We might have had a common enemy, but it was obvious that even the dhampir didn't want to live in peace with us. How could we possibly work together? And when it came down to it, would Thane choose to side with the dhampir or with us?

"But at the compound you didn't want them to pick me." I remembered quite clearly the way he'd refused to choose me, but had been forced to take me along. "You tried to talk Bacchus out of it."

"No." He glanced toward the dark woods, as if weighing his next words. It was obvious in that moment that he wasn't telling me all. Not that I was surprised; I wasn't exactly admitting my deepest, darkest secrets either. "My plan was to help you escape the compound. It's a bit more complicated at the castle."

Complicated? This entire world was complicated. "You've chosen others like me?"

Those eyes glowed eerily in the dim light. "Yes. Jimmy, Kelly, Tony, and many, many others."