Chapter Eight
"I'll stay with you," I told him. "But only for the day. At sundown, I'm leaving. "
He was quiet for a moment. Then he clicked his tongue at Charybdis, and the stallion trotted to his side.
Ethan took hold of the horse's reins and began walking. I walked alongside him.
"There are guards at the compound. Dozens of them. And they're armed," he said.
I shrugged. "They're also ordinary. I'm a vampire. "
"That doesn't make you invinciblenot to mention that they have vampires on their side, too. "
I sighed. "I have to help the others. "
"Hell, Lilith, most of them don't want to be helped. " I frowned at him, but he went on. "Don't you think I tried? I had friends there, people who could have escaped with me. They flat out refused. Hell, one of them decided to turn me in, and if I hadn't overheard him and moved my entire plan up, I'd never have escaped at all. "
"Why would anyone want to stay in captivity?"
"Because they've been broken. Their minds are like oatmeal. They've been programmed, brainwashed, converted into obedient, loyal servants, too afraid to question anything. They have no will of their own anymore. "
"I did. " He looked at me slowly, and I thought he knew my next question before I asked it. "Did you ask me to go with you?"
"You'd been put into isolation. They couldn't break you, Lilith, and they were determined to. I had no idea what they were doing to you, or what you would be like when you came out. But yes, I'd planned to wait for you to return to the general population and ask you to come with me. "
"But then your friend decided to reveal your plan to the guards," I said slowly. "And you had to leave or give up the idea of escape entirely. "
"Yes. Callista helped me get in to see you, that last night. And even then, I hoped. But you were weak, drugged, barely coherent. There was just no way. " He pointed. "There's a cave up there. See it?"
I nodded. "Perhaps I misjudged you," I said. In my heart, I hoped against hope that I had. But it would take some doing for me to truly believe in him, much less trust him again. "If I did, then I'm sorry. "
"If you did. You're not certain, then. "
"Certainty will take time. And effort. "
He nodded slowly. "Lilith, if we can find James, learn what he's learned about the organization, about The Farm, about the Bloodliners who've graduated, where they are and what they dodon't you see? With all that knowledge, we'll have a much better chance of getting the others outif they'll come. "
"But you don't know where your brother is," I said.
"Or who he is. What if you're wrong about him? What if he really has become one of the DPI's loyal vampiresa house pet willing to do whatever he's told? What will you do then?"
"I don't know. " He shook his head. "I don't want to believe that's possible. "
"Why do you think he hasn't tried to find you, then, Ethan? Wouldn't he have come back for you if he could?"
"Maybe he did go back and I was already gone. And since then, I've been staying very well concealed. "
"So well that I found you on my first night. "
"We don't know for sure it was your first night. "
I hadn't considered that one.
We'd walked up the slight incline and stood at the cave's entrance. Facing his horse, Ethan removed the saddle, blanket and packs. He left the bridle on, though, looping the reins through the headstall and then knotting them to keep them out of the way, then patted the horse on the rump, and Charybdis trotted back down the slope to join Scylla, already grazing in the lush grass alongside the stream. Above them, the trees rustled, their dying leaves fragrant with the scent of their decay. And even higher, the stars had paled until they were barely visible as the sky became purple with the approaching dawn.
"Should we tie them or anything?" I asked.
"They'll stay close. "
I was impressed but didn't say so. He slung the packs over his shoulder and moved deeper into the cave. At the far end, I saw the charred remains of an old fire, a small stack of branches for firewood and, against the back wall, a rusty-hinged hurricane lantern hanging from a jutting rock formation. "You've been here before, I take it. "
"I camped out here before I bought the place. In a few others places, too. I wanted to watch, see who came and went, from a secure distance. "
I lifted my brows. "You are cautious. "
"You will be, too, when the rest of your memory comes back. "
The words weren't meant to frighten me, but a chill raced up my spine all the same. "You think it's going to? Come back, I mean?"
"I think so. You remembered me, sort of. You knew that you'd known me, right from the start.
Somewhere down deep, you recognized my energy, followed your sense of it right to my door, even though you didn't know that was what you were doing. "
She nodded. "That's the way it works with vampires, though, right? They sense each other?"
"Well"
"But that can't be true. Or you'd be able to sense your brother and walk right up to his door, wouldn't you?"
"Sit. Here, why don't you unpack these while I build a fire?" He handed me the saddlebags as he spoke.
I took them, and sat down on the cave floor, unbuckling the straps and listening to him as he began arranging twigs atop the blackened coals.
"I expected to be able to sense James. Maybe V m just not close enough, though. Distance weakens the connection. But to answer your question, no that's not exactly the way it works. I can sense another vampire who's near, but unless I knew him, had spent time with him, I wouldn't know who he was. I think you must have been fonder of me than I ever knew, to have homed in on me immediately. "
"Oh, you think so, do you?" I smiled a little as I tugged items from the packs. Blankets, a Thermos, a long-nosed lighter.
"Something inside you recognized and remembered me, there's no denying that. "
"I suppose not. " I lowered my head. "What does it mean, do you think?"
"I can only assume it means your memories aren't gone, exactly. They're only sleeping. And even now, rousing. Night by night, they grow stronger. It won't be long before they all return, I suspect. "
I felt myself relax at his interpretation, which was, . if nothing more, some relief from my own. "I like that.
They're sleeping. And beginning to rouse. That means they could wake up fully any time now. "
"They could wake up at any moment. And for you to go back there before they have would like going in with your arms missing. Your memory of that place may end up being the best weapon you could wield. "
He was crouched in front of the fire, his back to me, as he spoke, setting the twigs alight. I watched the flames lick higher, reaching the larger pieces of wood.
"That would make more sense if I knew for sure that my memory would return. Just waiting for it without knowing, could mean leaving the others there indefinitely. "
"If they really wanted to get away, they could. We did. "
"Not everyone is as strong as you are, Ethan," I said. "Or as stubborn as I was. "
"Was?" He turned as he said it, amusement in his eyes, though the topic was a serious one. "You still are. "
"So I've discovered. "
"It's not just stubbornness, either. You're strong, too. Smart, short-tempered, willful, determined and fiercely independent. "
I nodded. "I'm feeling more and more of that myself. But even now, I think you know more about me than I do," I said. "Which means you know I have to go back. With you or without you. I have to. "
"I know. I think that's another part of the reason I didn't tell you everything from the start. Deep down, I was afraid you would react exactly the way you are. "
A rush of something heavy seemed to flow into my head. It nodded before I was aware of it, suddenly feeling leaden, and then I snapped my chin up again as I fought to keep my eyes from fall
ing closed.
"God, I'm so tired all of a sudden. "
"It's the dawn. It's on its way. I feel it, too. " He added larger logs to the fire, ensuring there would be a warm bed of coals still glowing at day's end. As he did, I quickly unrolled the blankets in what looked like a good spot. None of it was because we needed the warmth, because we didn't. We wouldn't be uncomfortable in the cold or even feel it once we fell asleep, nor would it kill us. But warmth was cozy, a creature comfort, and our kind apparently valued such things.
I stripped down to my T-shirt and slid in between the blankets, leaving room for him beside me.
Moments later, Ethan took off his shoes and jeans, and got in beside me wearing a T-shirt and boxers.
"It's been a long timeand it's extremely rare in any casesince I've slept with a woman," he said softly.
"Literally or figuratively. "
I felt myself smile. "It'll be literally this time, Ethan. But don't take it personally. I don't think I could stay awake if I tried. "
"You couldn't. But there's always tonight. "
I smiled weakly, already sliding into a sleep the depths of which I had only recently come to know.
And only once before that I could remember.
Ethan woke at sundown to find that he had rolled onto his side, either just prior to falling fully into vampiric slumber or just before emerging from it, because once a vampire entered the day sleep, he didn't move. He was lying with an arm draped protectively over her body, his hand resting near her hip.
One of his legs was entangled with one of hers, and her head was resting against his shoulder.
He shouldn't be surprised, he supposed. He knew he wanted her, had always wanted her. But this was different. It felt intimate, almost tender, holding her this way. It wasn't a feeling with which he was even vaguely familiar, much less comfortable. He found it more confusing than anything.
Gently, he began to change position, but even as he removed his arm from around her, she opened her eyes, turned her head slightly and met his gaze. Her sleepy smile filled his head with notions best ignored, but then it faltered as she took in the way they were embracing. She whispered, "Oh," but she didn't pull free.
"I suppose we were cold or something," he said.
"I'd bet more on the 'or something,'" she replied.
He took his arm from around her, rolled onto his back, then sat up slowly. "Yeah. Well"
"You said we barely knew each other back at The Farm, right?"
"Right. "
"So we neverwe never shared more than that one kiss. "
"No," he said.
"And it was well, what was it? Physical attraction between us?"
"It's hard to say what it was. I mean, neither of us had any kind of experience with the opposite sex. No adolescent boyfriend-girlfriend drama, no dates, nothing. "
"Didn't they teach us about sex? In the classes, I mean?"
"Sure they did," He cleared his throat, got to his feet. "Just the basic physical aspects of reproduction though. We knew how it worked, just nothing about how it felt. "
"I see. "
He shrugged. "They kept us apart, kept the males and females as separate from one another as possible to prevent problems. But you and I"
He broke off there, and she sat up. Her smile was mischievous, as was the twinkle in her eyes. "There was something more between us, wasn't there, Ethan?"
"There were looks. I was attracted to you, and the way you returned those looks I got the feeling it was mutual. But we never got the chance to"
"To do more than share one kiss," she said.
"No,"
"I wish I remembered it. That first kiss. "
"You might not have remembered it, even if your mind were intact. You'd been drugged and God knows what else. You were still recovering. "
"So you told me. "
"Besides, we've kissed since then. "
Her eyes flared so slightly that he might have imagined it, and she quickly averted them. "My memory isn't that bad, Ethan. I haven't forgotten. " She shrugged, carefully moving her gaze back to meet his. Her eyes were beginning to gleam softly, a rose-tinted glow coming from somewhere beneath the surface.
"We have the time now," she told him. "To do more than kiss, I mean. "
He couldn't help that his gaze slid down to her breasts, even though they were hidden from him by the T-shirt she'd pilfered. "You want to?"
"I wouldn't have said it if I didn't. " She got to her feet, sexy as hell in the oversized shirt, and moved closer to him. "Besides, it might help my memory. "
She pressed her palms to his chest, and then her body was touching his as her hands slid higher and twined around his neck. She stood on tiptoe, tipped her head back, closed her eyes.
He had no earthly reason to resist the temptation she represented. None at all, and yet there was a tiny voice deep down inside him that told him there would, be repercussions. He ignored that voice, barely even heard it above his body's own urgent demands. His heightened senses kicked into overdrive as she pressed herself against him and set his very soul on fire.
He locked his arms around her waist and bent his head until his lips touched hers. They met lightly at first, and then the pressure increased. He wasn't sure which of them was responsible for thatmaybe both.
And then she sighed a little, and her lips parted, and something sort of shot through him. It felt the way he was certain it would feel if he poked his finger into a live socket. The next thing he knew, he was holding her harder, bending over her and kissing the living hell out of her. He felt as if he could never get enough.
And she was kissing him back just as eagerly, just as hungrily.
At last they pulled apart, took a step back, arms falling to their sides, and just stood there, equally stunned and, he thought, equally aroused, as well.
"Well," she said. "That was even better than last time. "
"Yeah. "
"I guess you were right. I was returning your looks. "
He allowed himself a small, satisfied smile. "Yeah. "
"And it worked, too. "
He blinked and wasn't following. "It worked ?"
"I remember. I remember you. " Her eyes narrowed on him, and he wondered exactly what she remembered. But before he could ask, he sensed a human presence. A heartbeat later, he realized he'd sensed it too late.
As his vision shifted beyond Lilith to the cave opening and the night beyond it, he saw female forms, silhouetted in the darkness. A dozen women, mortals, stood there just outside their cave. Then, moving as one, their flashlights came on, twelveno, thirteenglowing spots in the night, each one trained on his eyes.
He lifted a forearm to shield his face as Lilith suddenly became aware of the danger and spun around.
He felt the ripple of fear move through hen He felt her wrestle with it, pin it and stand on its back.
"Just who the hell do you think you are?" she demanded. "Get those lights out of my face!"
"Relax," one of the woman said. She moved in front of the others, making her all but invisible to him and, he knew, to Lilith, as well. "We just want to talk to you. "
"I don't know who you are, woman, and it's clear you don't know who I am, either, or you wouldn't dare be here, in the dead of night, in the middle of nowhere, risking your life. Tell your minions to put the lights down and stop blinding me," Lilith snapped. "Now. "
"I do know who you are Lilith. "
When the womanand Ethan was fairly sure now that she was the same woman who'd visited earliersaid Lilith's name, she flinched backward. He wrapped an arm around her waist from behind, an instinctively protective gesture.
"I can't risk you getting away again," the woman said. "It's taken me a long time to find you. "
Ethan saw the woman raising her arm, and he reacted instantly, whirling Lilith out of the way even as he heard the "pfft" of the weapon and saw the dart speeding
toward them.
It missed its mark, just grazing Lilith's arm and flying harmlessly away. He pushed her behind him, clasped her hand in his, then turned and, with a low growl, lunged directly at the crowd of women. Their leader tried to take aim a second time, but he was too fast. Pulling Lilith along behind him, Ethan sped straight into the midst of them, knocking half of them to the ground with a single sweep of his arm, while still running at full speed. In another instant he and Lilith were emerging from the mob and racing through the forest.
Their feet pounded. Their speed was so great that it was difficult to avoid hitting branches, even with their heightened reflexes and preternatural night vision. At length he had to slow to a pace near that of a mortal, albeit a fast one.
"What the hell just happened, Ethan?" Lilith asked, as they hurried along.
She kept stumbling, which worried him. At least the women, though his ears told him they were still in pursuit, had no hope of catching them. He'd put enough distance between them, and was increasing it all the time.
But deep in the forest, Lilith yanked her hand free of Ethan's and stopped. "I need to rest. "
He frowned. "You're a vampire. You don't need"
"Tell me what just happened. Who were those women?"
He shook his head, frowning at her. "The one doing the talking was the same one who came around asking about you. The one with the photo. I don't know about the rest of them. "
"How the hell did they find us, Ethan?"
"I don't know. "
"Well, don't you think we'd better find out?"
He put a finger to his lips and cut loose with a whistle that was too high for human ears to detect. Within a few minutes the pounding of distant hoofbeats whispered on the wind, drawing ever nearer, until it no longer a whispered but thundered.
The beasts slowed to a trot as they reached him, tossing their great manes and blowing, excited by what they were sensing. Trouble. Danger. Impending flight.
"I say we go back there," Lilith said, gripping Scylla's mane, and pulling herself up. She only made it partway, then slid back down. "I say we grab one of those bitches and make her talk. "
"And I say we get on these horses and leave here," Ethan replied. He moved beside her, cupped her buttocks and helped her up onto Scylla.
"And go where?" she asked, wrapping her hands in the mare's thick mane and urging the horse forward.
"Somewhere safe. Somewhere we can hole up while I try to find my brother. James will know how they tracked us. " He got up onto Charybdis, clicked his tongue and rode him up beside Scylla, awaiting Lilith's reply.
"You've been on your own for how long now? Almost two years?" she asked. Even before he nodded, she was rushing on. "And they never found you. Now, within twenty-four hours of my arrival, you're being attacked by a pack of Amazons. So clearly it's me. Somehow, they're tracking me. Do you agree?"
He met her eyes and wanted to say no, but he knew it was senseless to lie. "Yes. "
"I arrived stark naked, Eton. So if there's anything on me leading them to us, it must be on the inside. We need to find it and get rid of it before we do anything else. "
He urged Charybdis faster as they moved onto a narrow, winding trail that must have been some sort of deer path through the woods. He looked behind them. "They'll make it here soon. Come with me, Lilith, please. We'll figure out our next step once we've put more distance between us and them. "
She thinned her lips and tapped Scylla's sides with her heelsalready, Ethan imagined, missing the clothes she'd left behind. She was reduced again to nothing more than a shirt. He would have to find her something better.
"Is dawn near, Ethan?" she asked, as they increased their pace. "I thought it only just got dark. "
"It did. " He looked back at her. "Are you all right, Lilith?"
She nodded, but she also blinked heavily, giving the lie to her response. "We could get me X-rayed.
Maybe we could find something. "
"Maybe. "
"But once we know then I have to go to go back. "
"Return to The Farm," he said. "Risk your freedom and your life to rescue people who might rather stay right where they are. "
"That's ezakly what I've gotta do, an' you know't. "
Frowning, he turned, only to see Lilith slumping over Scylla's neck. He leapt to the ground and was already running back toward her when she fell from Scylla's back. She hit the ground hard, and he was kneeling beside her only an instant later. But she was stone cold unconscious. Scylla turned and stretched her long neck, nuzzling Lilith's hair.
"Lilith!" Ethan shouted. He gripped her shoulders and shook her. "Lilith, what's wrong?"
"It was a tranquilizer dart," a voice said. "They must have gotten off another shot as you ran away. "
Ethan went utterly still and then slowly looked up. But he knew that voice even before he saw the man who'd spoken.
"James," he whispered.