Cassie pressed her fingers into the crook of Cole's arm and pulled him around. She'd been thinking about it all morning. "You should go without me." When he opened his mouth to protest, Cassie cut him off. "No, listen. I'm a liability. I'll slow you down. You're stronger than me, less anemic." Cole was about to hush her. She could tell he wasn't even listening. Straightening her spine, she yelled in his face, "The vamps already know how strong you are, that you're not like the rest of us! Don't tell me to shut up, because I won't! Damn it, Cole! Listen to me! You might be able to pull this off twice, but I was lucky to live through it once." She drew in a deep breath, and her voice softened. "I can't run again. I won't survive."
"Cassie, don't say that. You're as strong as you think you are." He sounded desperate. Cole gripped her elbows, trying to talk sense into her, but Cassie pulled away.
"I'm safe here, Cole. I might not like the things they make me do, but I've done them before. I survived then. I can survive now." Cassie's face took on a vacant expression, like she was remembering something painful, something she wanted to forget. She stepped back to the window and gazed through the panes.
Cole followed her to the window, watching Cassie as she stared through the glass. "You never told me what happened exactly."
She shrugged, "There was nothing to tell. The King did forbidden things with me, with my other roommates. He was probably trying to pull that crap on Kahli when he called her. I survived that. I can survive, Brent." Her arms wrapped around her middle when she spoke. It was impossible not to notice the chill that covered her skin, like she was doused with a bucket of fear. Cassie rubbed her arms, trying to push away the memory of the King's hands on her. Brent would be nothing compared to that nightmare.
"I didn't know," Cole breathed behind her. For once, he didn't touch her. He tripped over his words, making a few false starts before saying, "I'm sorry, Cass."
She turned toward him, a sad smile on her face. "It wasn't your fault. It's life. And it's a good life - the best we could hope for." That was the truth. Those thoughts had been floating through her mind all day. This was better than the alternative. Cassie was weak, she couldn't survive another escape, another trek through the frozen hills. She only held Cole back, and slowing him down when this was going on would be fatal. Cassie didn't want to be the one who got him killed. Staring at Cole, she said softly, "I'm not going with you."
Cole's jaw dropped. "You can't mean that. Cassie, don't do this."
She felt so hollow, so lost. If there was another option, Cassie would take it, but there wasn't. She couldn't risk Cole's life this time. She wasn't a child anymore. She couldn't let him do it. Lying to Cole was the only way to get him to go without her. She forced a smile and pressed her lips together, "I was talking to the other girls and they're really excited about tonight, and so am I. I mean, I wouldn't have picked Brent, but he's better than some of the others."
"Cassie," he murmured, shocked. Cole's eyes grew wide. "You don't know what you're saying."
"You forget, Cole, I do. I know exactly what I'm saying. I know exactly what will happen. I'm going to my Pairing. I'm cooperating. I'll go back to my bed tonight with a smile on my face, and if I'm lucky, I'll have a baby in me, too. You know how the Queen treats the women who are with child." She smiled broadly, wistfully, "That'll be me. Be excited for me, Cole. I want this. I've been thinking about it. This is so much better than the alternative." While Cassie spoke, she smiled at him even though her stomach was twisting tightly.
"This isn't a choice. How can you act like it is?" The muscles in Cole's neck were corded tight. He had trouble keeping his voice even. He looked at his hands like he didn't know what to do with them.
"Everything we do is by choice, even here. How can you act like it isn't a good choice for me? Yes, I might die in nine months when the baby is born, but that's better than my odds tonight if I go with you. Cole, this is the best I can hope for. It's the best decision for me." Cole stared at Cassie, his eyes pleading with her, but she wouldn't change her mind. Cole needed to go on without her. Cassie was weak. She knew she'd only hold him back. Pretending to be excited about the Pairing, lying and saying she changed her mind, had to convince him to go on without her.
Before Cole had a chance to say anything else, Brianna popped her head out of the doorway and hurried into the hall. Cole stepped back and tried to hide the emotion in his eyes. "You forgot your negligee, Cassie." Brianna walked toward them quickly, holding out the black lace. "Hey, Cole. Too bad your girl ran off. Guess you won't be having any fun tonight."
Through gritted teeth, he muttered, "Guess not."
Brianna looked at Cassie and said, "Find Alice and get back. You're missing everything." Brianna's eyes slid over Cole's body once, before returning to his face, "We're talking positions. Tell the guys they better be ready." She winked at him, and turned on her heel, heading back into the room.
Chapter 21
By the time the King's men realized what they were tracking, it was too late. The sun was already high in the sky. It was well into the day after the King had fled the palace and he was running out of time. Bellowing from the back of his car, he exclaimed, "It's nearly noon, and we aren't any closer than we were this morning! It's like that demonic girl is running in circles! How is she still alive? The storm last night should have killed her." The King was growling by the time he finished speaking, his voice low and menacing. He rubbed the back of his hands, resisting the urge to strangle the person sitting nearest to him.
The Tracker, Celticad was a large man with dark stubble on his massive jaw. His arms were the size of hams and covered thickly in dense hair. He clutched a live rabbit and held it in his lap. Celticad was a fearsome sight when he was human. After he turned vampire, not even his own kind wanted him around. He had too much power in those muscles, too much strength in his body, compared to the rest of them, but there was reason for it. The King had kindly slipped this Tracker extra vials of blood since the famine began. It was foolish to allow his guard to become weak, but that was unpreventable. Too many vampires receiving extra rations would be noticed, but one loner, freakishly large vampire, much less so.
Celticad was aware of the King's strength. While he fought viciously and feared no one, Celticad feared his King. There was something about the King that was different, stronger. The King's skin didn't have that sickly yellow tint, his eyes were cunning - always plotting, always thinking - and his wrath was swift. This particular setback was not Celticad's fault, however the King had no one else to blame.
"There was no way to know, your Highness." Celticad would not apologize. They tracked the item that the King told them to. While he would never say that this was the King's doing, Celticad wasn't about to take the blame or throw it on his men, either. The King stared furiously, straight ahead, fuming. His fingers rested on the door. He pressed so hard into the plastic handle that it snapped under his palm. Celticad did not acknowledge it. Instead, he continued, "The tracking device was contained within another animal. She must have realized it was there and removed it. There was no way to know we weren't tracking a human."
"No," The King said calmly, "of course not." Turning his golden eyes on the Tracker, he lifted his palms, like he was being reasonable, "There was no way to notice a change in body temperature or heart rate, no indication whatsoever that the chip was in a goddamned rabbit!"
Celticad refused to cringe. He sat against the seat, his back perfectly straight, clutching the rabbit in his lap. The animal shook fiercely when the King yelled. Celticad stroked it softly, trying to keep its heart from exploding. Quite reasonably, Celticad repeated, "As I said, my King, the anomalies with her temperature and pulse could have been for any number of reasons. No one suspected that the girl would take a knife to her back, remove the chip, and put it into another animal."
The King had underestimated Kahli, again. There was no way she removed that chip on her own. William helped her. The King fumed thinking about it. He couldn't return to the palace without the girl. He couldn't return without Will. In a sudden display of rage, the King turned toward Celticad. Grabbing his jacket, he roared in his face, revealing his fangs as his anger exploded, "Do you see these, Celticad? Do you see my power? My fangs?"
Celticad nodded. While he feared for his life, he did not fight back. To fight the King meant certain death. "You are the most powerful vampire in the world, my Lord."
He shook the large vampire once, and released him. Celticad slunk back into his seat, his hand smoothing over the rabbits trembling body. "Then why is it that I am out here and she is back there?" He screamed, pointing his finger behind them, out the back windshield. "If I am the most powerful vampire in the world, why do I have to run from my own wife!" It was a question that wasn't meant to be answered, but Celticad cleared his throat, indicating he would respond. The King's fierce gaze lifted and flashed a warning not to speak, but Celticad didn't listen.
"You don't have to run, "Celticad said brazenly. Quickly he explained, "Queen Sophia does not realize how powerful you've become. There is no other vampire with fangs, none that drinks blood straight from a warm body, none that can compel without a true name - except you. You can do all those things, my Lord, and yet, we chase this wild girl, a token of the Queen's. The girl was the one who ran, and therefore, the Queen's wrath will fall on her, not you. You could say that you did not harm those other girls, Kahli did. She killed them, spilling their blood before attacking you and killing members of your guard. You can return to the palace and resume your place at Queen Sophia's side without the wild girl. But - "
The King cocked a dark brow at him, "But, what?"
"But, I believe you had another reason to return in mind. You can easily overpower the Queen if you return. You can kill her and her guard, and yet, we sit out here in the wild." Celticad paused, and ran his thick hand through his hair. "I'm not a fool. I know the girl's worth, why you want her - but the player who makes the first move is the one with the upper-hand. If you plan to eradicate the Queen, now is the time, whether the girl is in hand or not." Celticad knew he'd spoken too openly, said too much, but it was a risk he had to take. If the King was slaughtered, beheaded by the Queen, then all who assisted him today would also feel her wrath.
The King worked his jaw as he listened to Celticad. When the vampire first spoke, the King planned on decapitating him at his last word, but the longer the brute spoke, the more the King agreed with him. Finally, the King glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, "That was extremely foolish, to speak out just now."
Celticad responded, "Or brave. It depends on how you look at it."
"Apparently so," he considered Celticad for a moment and nodded, "So be it. We will return to the palace. I will seize the throne, and if that girl is still alive, I'll hunt her down myself when this is over." He grinned, revealing his pearly fangs, thinking about sinking them into her neck again. Kahli was still alive. He could feel her heart beat, feel the steady pulsing of blood circulating her body. That blood was his. He would have her yet.