“I don’t know about that,” Cade responded flatly.
“How do you know they reawaken?” Darnell asked.
“Bethany and I saw a man come back to life, though at the time we didn’t realize why he had come back, and thought that perhaps pain had caused it.” Abby and Aiden exchanged a guilty glance, my head bowed beneath the weight of the memory. We hadn’t known why the man in the street had come back to life and we had hoped to save our mother. Because of that, Cade had tried to burn Peter, his former boss, with a lighter in the hopes that the pain would reawaken him. It hadn’t worked. So much had happened since then that I had almost forgotten about that awful memory. “Unfortunately, we were wrong. We saw that man come back to life though, when one of those things fed from him so they were still alive. I saw others come back to life too, when those things got a hold of them.”
I swallowed heavily, I found I could barely say the words, but I had to. I hadn’t said anything, hadn’t even begun to try and tell them what that pain had been like. I never wanted them to understand it, because there was only one way that could happen, and I didn’t want to speak about it. “It’s not the same.”
Bishop’s grey eyes narrowed on me, I turned away from him, unable to take the inquisitiveness in his sharp gaze. The desire to know, but he never could. “What isn’t the same Bethy?”
I could feel something inside of me twisting, recoiling, coming forth and then retreating again. I wanted to tell them, wanted to share, but it was difficult to find the words. Tears filled my eyes; I blinked them back as I lifted my gaze to Cade. Clouds of anger passed over his face; there was a rolling turmoil and fury in him that startled me. For a strange, startling moment, darkness seemed to ooze out of him, seemed to seep from him in waves of black that filled every one of his veins. Then it was gone, and I was left with the thought that I somehow must have imagined it.
“What isn’t the same Bethany?” Bishop pushed.
My jaw clenched for a moment, I focused on the back wall, unable to look at any of them right now. “The pain, the pain isn’t the same.” My fingers played nervously with the ragged edges of my shirt. “You can’t understand it.”
There was a long moment of silence. I had almost forgotten that Bishop was drawing my blood until he stuck a cotton ball against me and forced my numb fingers to hold it in place. I was shaking, but it wasn’t visible to them. It was an inner shaking that quaked through my blood, my muscles, even deep into my organs.
“So it’s worse?”
I couldn’t stop the snort of derision that escaped me at Jenna’s question. “It’s much worse.”
“Ok so it’s worse than a burn, perhaps if we inflict even more pain than that...”
“No,” I interrupted Aiden forcefully. “No.” The cotton slipped from my fingers, I lurched awkwardly up stumbling slightly as a wave of dizziness swept through me. Bishop had taken more blood than I’d realized. Cade grasped hold of my arm, but for the first time I didn’t want his touch. I didn’t want anyone’s touch. “Don’t. I’m fine.”
“Bethany…”
I shook his hand off, I was swarming with dizziness and pain filled memories. I inhaled deeply, trying hard to regain control. “No,” I said again. “No we will not do anything more to those poor people! We cannot awaken them; it’s not possible for us to do it.”
“A broken bone perhaps,” Darnell suggested hesitatingly.
“Maybe, though it would be awful to do, a gunshot,” Lloyd muttered.
“It’s not possible to duplicate that kind of pain!” My voice was near hysteria, my tone sharp and high. I was ashamed by the lack of control, ashamed by the horror and terror clawing at me, but this time I could not reel it in. I couldn’t let them keep discussing this. Not when it wasn’t possible. I didn’t want them to think they could do something, or even have them try to do something, they couldn’t. “You don’t know, you don’t understand. So just stop.”
“There are other options besides burning,” Lloyd pressed.
I opened my eyes, focusing my attention on him. “I’d rather have you cauterize me a hundred times over than ever experience that again. I’d rather break every bone in my body than have one of those things enter, and yes enter, me again. That is not broken bone pain, it is not burn pain. It is a soul deep wrenching that I can still feel in every fiber of my being. It is not a pain that is forgotten with time, it is a pain that is readily recalled. Readily relived. You cannot duplicate it Lloyd and to try to do so is simply cruel and unnecessary torture. Let it go, it cannot be done.”
Lloyd looked as if he wanted to argue with me some more, but thankfully he remained silent. I dropped the cotton ball into the trash, more for something to distract me than for any other reason. I could feel them all watching me, but I couldn’t look at them. I didn’t want to. I had said my peace; they had to understand, because I sure as hell wasn’t going to let them hurt anyone.
“They can be awakened though, even if we can’t do it.” Cade’s eyes were distant; his hair tussled as it fell across the hard planes of his face. “There are some of Frozen Ones still around, even if we don’t see them as often. Sometimes those things just drain them and move on, and sometimes they are gathered and kept frozen for a later time.”
My breathing was shallow; I could barely get any air in my lungs as my chest constricted painfully. I was afraid that I might hyperventilate. I knew Cade was just skimming the surface of where he had been, what he had seen, but my skin crawled with horror, my insides felt like jelly. What had they done to him? I wondered for the millionth time. He reached for me again, but this time he was looking to soothe himself as well as me, and I could not refuse him that. My fingers entwined with his, I could breathe a little easier as I clung to him.
“Those things left people alive?” Bishop inquired.
Cade shook his head. “Those things only feed when they intend to kill, and then they bring the blood back.”
“Back for who?” Jenna asked. Her face was abnormally pale as she watched Cade with wide eyes.
“For the aliens. Those things are like walking storage units. They give their bounty up when they return.” There was a long moment of silence as everyone tried to digest the shock of that statement.
“And the alien’s, they feed from those things?” Aiden’s voice was strained, it sounded as if he was trying not to puke. Cade remained silent, it didn’t appear that he wanted to answer anymore. “What about people like us? The ones still moving?”
“They’re there,” Cade answered.
Darnell shifted, his hand tightened around his gun. “There are people still alive?”
Cade’s dark eyes finally left me as they slid slowly to Darnell. “I think I’m enough proof that they don’t kill everyone, don’t you?”
Darnell’s dark eyebrows shot up, his hard chin clenched tightly. I wanted to intervene between them, I wanted to speak, but my mouth would not form the words. “Where are they?”
Cade shook his head. I felt his eyes burning into me; I knew that he was staring at me, even though I did not meet his gaze. I suddenly understood Cade’s reluctance to tell us anything. To tell me anything. He didn’t want me hurt; he didn’t want me anywhere near where he had been held. “I don’t know.”
I finally met his gaze; sadness crept through me as I took in those beautiful onyx eyes. “Cade…”
“They’re on the Cape, at least some of them anyway, and I think that’s why the bridges were destroyed. It’s a perfect prison over there for them, an island with no escape. I couldn’t find where I was held again though, they move often.” I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was lying, that he was keeping something from us. “There is nothing we could do anyway. No way to get at them without more firepower, people, and a way back across. We couldn’t fight off all of those things anyway, what do you think is guarding those people? There aren’t as many there as you are hoping for anyway.”
“That explains Plymouth. Why the town was so clean, why
they hadn’t gotten to all of the Frozen Ones yet. They had been too busy cleaning and setting it up as another holding place for people,” Lloyd said in awe.
I gasped; my eyes flew back to Cade. His jaw was locked as he gave a crisp, affirmative nod. “We can’t just give up,” Jenna whispered. “We can’t just leave them there.”
I wanted to agree with her, but there was a knot in my throat that I couldn’t swallow. The thought of leaving them all behind made me sick, but how could we possibly help them? Not only did it seem as if we weren’t going to be able to help the ones that had been captured, but there was nothing we could do to awaken The Frozen Ones. “My blood isn’t the answer,” I said thoughtfully. “It is those things.”
Bishop tapped his chin thoughtfully as he studied me. “It’s the answer for something,” he said softly. “It could be a vaccine, it could still awaken people. We have no idea the potential your blood may hold.”
“Or doesn’t hold,” Cade said softly. “Just because she has a different blood type than everyone here doesn’t mean that she is the only one. There could be other survivors like her, and you just haven’t run across them yet.”
“It’s too big of a coincidence. Hopefully these uncontaminated samples will hold some answers.”
Cade’s jaw clenched, a muscle jumped in his cheek. His displeasure was evident as his hand slid from mine. “Were you held on the Cape?” Lloyd inquired.
“Yes.”
My skin crawled. They had turned our home into a place of death, hopelessness, and torment. A place that Cade had managed to escape from twice, but how? I turned back to ask him, but he was already gone.
***
“You can’t keep me sheltered. You can’t protect me from them. You can’t save me from the truth Cade.”
It had taken me a half an hour to find Cade. He had retreated to the workout room of the hotel and had been in the process of beating the crap out of a punching bag. Though I could feel his anger and frustration, I couldn’t help but admire the hard ripple of muscles as he straightened. A thin layer of sweat coated his bare back; his dark hair was wet as it curled against his face. His head turned slowly toward me, his eyes smoldered as he stared at me over his shoulder. I was stunned by the hostility I sensed simmering beneath his surface, I was held immobile by the sheer force of his beauty.
I swallowed heavily, ignoring the heat that pooled through my body, the desire that filled me. Right now was not the time to jump him, no matter how badly I suddenly wanted to. “There is no way to keep me completely safe.”
“Maybe not, but I can do my best to try.”
“Cade…”
“There are things that you do not need to know Bethany. Leave it at that.” I was stunned by the fierceness of his words, the abruptness of them. He walked over to a bench and grabbed the towel that had been tossed onto it. He wiped his face and arms with it before draping it around his shoulders and turning to me. “And there are things that I can do to keep it that way.”
I took a deep breath before taking a step into the room. Anger battled with love inside of me. “You were gone for over a month Cade.”
He nodded, a muscle in his cheek jumped. “Yes.”
“The girl you left on that beach is gone.” It was weird saying those words, weird admitting it to someone other than myself. “I’m not the same, and neither are you. I was weaker then, I was frightened and partially beaten by everything that had happened. When I lost you I was destroyed. I had no hope; all I had was agony, revenge and fury. And I did whatever I could to try and find a way to exact that revenge. I’m stronger now, I can fight, and I’m excellent with a gun. The girl you left behind…”
“No longer exists. I know that.” He dropped the towel on the bench before walking to me. I tilted my head back as he stopped before me. The heat of his body blasted against me; though we weren’t touching I could feel him against me. I was surprised by the startling amount of relief that filled me. He knew, he knew that I wasn’t right, that I was not the same. I didn’t realize, until now, that a part of me had been terrified that he hadn’t realized I was different and was clinging to the dead ghost of the person I had been. That he would stop loving me when he realized the truth. “You are stronger, more capable. I loved that girl Bethany, and I love this one, there is nothing that will ever change that.”
Tears pooled in my eyes. “Then talk to me,” I whispered fervently. “I can take it.”
He took a step closer to me. I couldn’t stop myself from reaching up and resting my hands against his hard chest. His lean muscles rippled beneath my fingers. Though he’d been kept as a prisoner, unlike me, there were no scars marring his chest. I had not seen the rest of him, but I was fairly certain that he didn’t have the ugly marks I had over his legs and waist. His hands clasped hold of my fingers, pressing them flat against his warm skin. I knew there was something that I had come here to talk to him about, but for the life of me I couldn’t recall it at that moment.
His fingers thread through my hair. He caressed my cheeks lightly as he bent to kiss me gently. I sighed softly, joy suffused me. “You’ve been hurt, wounded. You’ve endured things that I can never take away from you, no matter how much I want to. I can keep you a little safer though Bethany, I can keep you from even more hurt. Let me do that, please.” I couldn’t argue with him, not when his lips were brushing over my face, caressing me ever so gently. My heart leapt as it pounded with renewed velocity.
“I just wish you would talk to me, tell me…”
“Later, not now. There is nothing I can tell you that would help. Nothing.”
“Those people,” I whispered.
He sighed softly, his forehead dropped against mine. “We have to keep going forward. There are others that still need help, that we can still help. There may come a time when we can help them, but now is not that time. There is little we can do other than getting ourselves killed. I can’t take the chance of losing you again Bethy, I just can’t.”
I closed my eyes, clinging to his hands as I leaned into him. He smelled wonderful, like sweat and spices. It was a smell I knew well, and had missed so much. A smell that wrapped around me, and enshrouded me in a cocoon of warmth and love. “All we can do is survive and hold onto the dream that one day we’ll be able to help them.”
I nodded, shivering as he dropped soft kisses across my face. “One day we will,” I said forcefully. “One day we’ll help them. Is there any chance that some of them may escape, like you?”
He smiled softly, his eyes bright and clear as his thumbs lightly stroked my face. “There’s always hope.”
I was slightly startled as his words eerily echoed my dream. They left me with an uneasy feeling that even his kiss couldn’t change.
CHAPTER 14
It was unbelievably dark when I awoke. Without power, and not wanting to waste the battery in my flashlight, I had fallen asleep with no source of light in the room. The heavy curtains had been drawn over the large window, blocking out whatever moonlight the night might have had to offer. I blinked, straining to make something out within the dark. I wasn’t used to having my own space, my own room, my own bed. For so long I had been sleeping with a group of people, in one room. I was used to rustling movements, soft snores, and cries from those having nightmares.
I was surprised to find it was terrifying to be alone.
I sat up, trying to keep control of my rising panic. I was also used to having Cade wrapped around me, used to being ensnared within his strong arms, and feeling the reassuring beat of his heart against me. But Cade had volunteered to go on patrol tonight in place of a man who had become ill. I wished that he was here.
I tugged on a pair of jeans and a shirt; there was no way that I was going to get back to sleep in the pitch black room. It was too dark, I was too alone, and I felt the driving need to escape. I slipped my feet into my battered sneakers and headed out the door. The hall was quiet; there was one lamp at the end of it. Its small flame barely lit the dark sta
irwell. I crept slowly down the stairs, my hand trailing along the railing as I stepped into the main lobby of the small hotel. It was eerily quiet as I made my way to the glass front doors.
I stared out at the night, watching for a long moment, but nothing moved out there. I was torn between wanting to go out there and find Cade, and wanting to run. It had been a long, tiring day and I craved the freedom that the woods gave me. A soft sound caused me to turn away from the door. I reached to the gun at my hip, frowning as I strained to hear anything more within the silent hotel. Though no other sound came, I was certain that I had heard something coming from the ballrooms. I wouldn’t be surprised to find Bishop in the backroom, absorbed in his microscope and fresh samples.
I made my way back there, eager for some company, and perhaps some newfound insights from the doc. There was a flashlight sitting on the counter. Its beam, focused on the back wall, was the only source of illumination in the ballroom. I frowned as I stared at the circle on the back wall. There was no way that Bishop could be working on anything when all that could be seen was that circle. I didn’t see anyone within the room, but they had to be there if the flashlight was on. “Bishop?” I inquired softly.
The room remained strangely silent. I strained to see into it, strained to make out anything within the shadows of the room. And then, something moved.
I watched in confusion as a person shifted within the shadows, their movements stirred the night around them, but they did not emerge completely. A chill shivered down my spine, causing the hair on the nape of my neck to stand up. I didn’t know who was in that room, but I suddenly didn’t like any of this. I knew it wasn’t Bishop, he would have come forth. I took a small step back, my hand wrapped around the butt of my gun.
They moved slowly, their slender body barely visible in the gloom. The shadows seemed to hug them, caressing them as they came toward me. There was such an easy grace to them, such a natural ability to blend in with the shadows that I was struck by the strange familiarity of them. They reminded me of someone. “Cade?” I whispered.