The Chosen Ones

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter 13

I stared into the fire, watching the flames jump and dance, taking comfort in their warmth. But as much as I enjoyed the fire, it made me think about the others. Jimmy, and how much he would love the warmth. Kelly and Tony, and how they'd be snuggling by the flames. And Will...Will, who could have sat by and kept me company, making me think about anything other than my torturous thoughts. Yet, one of them had betrayed us, if Thane was right.

It wasn't Will. I knew that for sure. Tony was the obvious choice. It certainly wasn't Kelly...was it? If I went by the books I'd read, it was always the sweet one, the one you'd least expect who was the culprit. Which would mean...Kelly. I rested my head in my hands, curling onto my wooden chair. No. Not Kelly. Not Will. I hated that Thane had done this to me...hated that he had made me distrust my friends, the very people who had saved me.

I heard the door to the cabin open, the thump of his feet as Thane moved down the steps and toward me. He was being loud on purpose, so he wouldn't catch me off guard. When his sweet scent hit me, I had to resist the urge to breathe deeply. His mere scent could make me weak-kneed and only reminded me of that dream I'd had this morning.

"What do you want, Thane?"

"He wants to meet you. To talk."

I couldn't help myself and studied that cottage. My grandfather. My father's father. The lights in the window shone brilliantly against the evening sky. I'd been sitting out here for hours, unable to go inside, unable to be near the old man without wanting to cry, hit something, scream. I had a grandfather. It should've meant something. It meant nothing.

Then again, I had brothers and a sister and felt little more than mild affection for them. Why should I feel anything for this old man? Because, I realized, this was different. He was an adult, an adult who had knowingly left his own grandchildren to be tortured and killed, yet he had done nothing to try and save us. Where were the loving families I'd read about in my books?

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked, staring at the cottage. It was a home. An actual home set amongst a fairy-tale forest. My grandfather had lived here for years, perhaps decades without fear, without war or strife. Safe and comfortable.

"I didn't know."

I jerked my gaze toward him. If he hadn't known, then why had he repeatedly placed himself in danger to save me? I'd assumed, as I sat here lost in thought, that he had used me to get here.

"I could only smell the similarities in your blood in that field."

"I see." My mind spun. Thane hadn't known I was related to Raven, yet had saved me anyway. Why? "And Will?"

He shrugged. He didn't fidget, didn't shift uncomfortably. "If he knew, then obviously he realized if anyone could talk Raven into helping, it would be his granddaughter."

I released the breath I held, my shoulders slumping. Just as I'd thought. It was Will, not Thane, who had been using me. Anger, hurt and frustration swirled within, burning as bright as the fire. I picked up a stick and jabbed it at the burning logs, watching the sparks fly into the air, and wishing I could release my anger up into that dark sky. The joke was on him, because my grandfather probably didn't give two figs that we were related.

"Was he using me?" I demanded, knowing Thane had the answer. "Pretending to care just so I'd come here?"

Thane sighed. "No. He wasn't."

I dropped the stick. "How do you know?"

"I know," he snapped, almost as if annoyed. "Because whether you want to admit it or not, I am a man and I know what guys think. He liked you."