Descendant

by S. M. Gaither

  “Alex?” he said again.

  God he could be annoying.

  “What?” I finally whispered back, reluctantly moving away from Vanessa. I didn’t want to leave the comfort of her side, but I didn’t want to wake her up, either. I didn’t turn to face Kael.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  My lips had formed the word ‘yes’ before he’d even finished asking the question. But something stopped me from saying it out loud.

  “I just had a nightmare,” I said instead. “I’m sorry if I woke you up.”

  “I wasn’t asleep. I’ve just been for a walk—couldn’t sleep myself, actually.”

  “Is everything okay?” I asked robotically.

  “Don’t worry about me,” he said. “What about you?”

  “I’ll be okay. It was just a dream.”

  “If you want to talk about it…” His words snapped me briefly out of my daze.

  I raised an eyebrow.

  So he was being nice to me again?

  “You seem like you’re in a better mood,” I said.

  “Shane’s gone.”

  Of course.

  I reluctantly drug my fingers out of Vanessa’s fur and crawled farther away from her. “Such a mature relationship the two of you share,” I said, my voice still a whisper. “How old are you guys, anyway?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “I’m four-hundred and six. I don’t actually know how old Shane is, nor do I care.”

  “Four-hundred and six?” I couldn’t help but stare.

  He didn’t look a day over nineteen.

  “That’s what I said,” he replied. My disbelief must’ve been obvious on my face, because he continued: “I’ve figured out the math before, and it takes about twenty-five human years for us to look like we’ve aged one year, give or take. So, I’m a little over four-hundred years old, but I think that’s only equal to about sixteen human years.” He paused, his finger moving through the air as if using an invisible calculator. “Of course, I wasn’t turned until I was three, and my first shift didn’t happen for a few months after that, so I guess technically I’m about eighteen or nineteen in human years. The whole age-slowing down thing doesn’t start until that first shift for a werewolf.”

  “And for a lycan?”

  “Usually the aging process doesn’t start to slow until they hit puberty or whatever, even if they manage to transform before that.”

  I shook myself out of my astonished stupor. “So, back to my original point: pretty sure you’re more than a little too old to be bickering with Shane constantly.”

  His jaw clenched. “Bickering?” he said. “I’m afraid it’s a little more complicated than that.”

  “What, you mean it’s about the whole lycan versus werewolf thing?”

  “Yeah.” He fixed me with a hard stare, as if daring me to finish my thoughts on the matter.

  He should’ve known by now that I wasn’t the type to turn down a dare.

  “I think that’s stupid, by the way,” I said, matter-of-factly. “I couldn’t even tell you were any different from the others. I don’t understand what the big deal is.”

  His eyes closed for a second, as if he was deep in thought. Not really the explosive reaction I’d been expecting. Or maybe hoping for. “Maybe you shouldn’t talk about things you don’t understand,” he said in a monotone voice. “It’s been this way for centuries. You’ve been around what, sixteen years?”

  “…Seventeen,” I corrected him quietly.

  “Whatever. You’re too young to understand.”

  I winced slightly at the word ‘young’, even though now I knew that, compared to him, it was an understatement.

  “But you’ll learn soon enough that there are a lot like Shane out there,” he said. “Bunch of elitist bastards, sure. And I do my best to ignore it, but after four-hundred years it gets kind of annoying. So every now and then maybe I stoop to their level.”

  “Sorry,” I mumbled lamely. Maybe I’d gone a little too far this time. “I didn’t mean to—”

  “Forget it.”

  “I was just upset about that nightmare. I didn’t mean to take it—”

  “I know.”

  “If you know then why are you—” I froze as he shot me a look. “Sorry.”

  “Stop apologizing.”

  “Sor— Okay.”

  Silence.

  I coughed blatantly after a few minutes of it, and Kael gave me an impatient look. “You can’t even go two minutes without talking, can you?”

  “No,” I responded honestly. I was about to continue when Eli gave a particularly violent twitch in his sleep. My mouth hung open in mid-sentence as we both watched him anxiously. But after a few seconds, he seemed to settle back into his peaceful slumber, and Kael turned to me with a quiet sigh.

  “If we aren’t going to sleep, we should at least let them,” he said pointedly.

  “Yeah. Okay.” I got uncertainly to my feet.

  He headed for the trees, while I continued to hover over Eli and Vanessa.

  “Are you coming or what?” he called once he’d reached the edge of the clearing.

  I hesitated, thinking about my earlier conversation with Vanessa. I almost called back to him, to ask where we were going.

  The truth, though, was that I really didn’t care. I wasn’t going to be able to fall back asleep, and the alternative would be sitting there, alone, staring off into space while my thoughts traveled down roads I didn’t want them anywhere near.

  I needed a distraction, and as far as distractions went…well, maybe Kael wasn’t half-bad.

  I took one last look at Eli and Vanessa’s sleeping forms, then I headed for the woods.

  * * *

  We left our argument at the campsite. Kael acted like it hadn’t happened, and he was actually kind of nice to me—or at least as nice as I think he knew how to be.

  There wasn’t a lot of moonlight out. My developing lycan eyes meant I could still see, but it was a different kind of sight then when the world was illuminated with light. I saw things as shadows in my path, and the range of colors I could see had been reduced to a field of black and grey. It was like I’d stumbled across some parallel alien world.

  My imagination had just started to run wild, wondering about what sort of monsters might inhabit this world, when something jumped out of a nearby bush and darted off into the woods. I managed not to squeal, but I couldn’t keep myself from scrambling the distance from where I stood to Kael.

  “A little on edge, huh?” he asked, looking down at me.

  I shot him a dirty look, relaxing the grip I had claimed on his shirt—though not completely. “Must’ve been the dozen near-death experiences I’ve had this past week,” I said flatly. “For some reason I can’t help but be a little paranoid these days.”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I watched a smile spreading across his face.

  “Better paranoid than dead, I suppose,” he said.

  “Exactly,” I said, eying his smile suspiciously.

  “I mean, I know that bunny ran away from you this time, but you might not be so lucky next time.”

  “I hate you. A lot.”

  “Then why are you practically embracing me?”

  I let go of him abruptly.

  “How was I supposed to know it was a bunny, anyway?” I grumbled, shoving him into a tree we were passing. It had only been a playful, half-hearted shove, but I was surprised at the force with which he hit the tree.

  Guess I didn’t really know my own strength these days.

  Not that it even fazed him in the slightest—he simply pushed away from the tree and sauntered back over to me, still laughing.

  “I’m glad you find me entertaining,” I said. I tried to frown, and look otherwise disapproving, but his laughter ended up being contagious. Because I vastly preferred this smiling, joking Kael to the scowling, moody one I’d been getting use to these past few days— even if his laughter was at my expense.

  “You know, yo
u should smile more,” I thought aloud.

  He scoffed. “Right. I’ll be sure to jot that down in my ‘ways-to-impress-Alex’ notebook. Oh wait— I just remembered: I don’t actually have one of those. Damn.”

  “Do you have a smart comment for everything everyone says to you?”

  He shook his head. “Mostly just for you.”

  “Awesome.”

  He laughed quietly at my reply, and we walked on for several minutes before he spoke again. “But seriously? There’s no need to be so paranoid. There isn’t really anything in these woods you need to be afraid of.”

  “Says who?”

  “You’re with me, aren’t you?”

  “Right.” It was too easy—I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at his comment. “My hero…how could I forget?”

  “Who’s being smart now?” he said wryly. “But even if you forget about me, you’re not exactly defenseless.”

  “I might as well be. Or maybe you forgot: I can’t shift.”

  “No, but you can throw me into a tree hard enough to leave an outline of my body in the trunk.”

  Wow, had it really been that hard?

  “I guess so.” I hesitated, then added: “Sorry about that, by the way.”

  This time, it was Kael rolling his eyes. “No you’re not.”

  I had to admit—Kael knew me pretty well considering we had only met such a short time ago. “It felt pretty good, actually.”

  “You should probably work on your temper.”

  “You should probably work on not being so annoying. Then maybe I wouldn’t feel the need to throw you into trees.”

  “Fair enough.”

  We exchanged a smile, and I had to fight a sudden urge to laugh again. I must not have fought it off as completely as I thought I did, because a second later he gave me a dubious look.

  “What’s so funny?”

  I hesitated, but his gaze was unrelenting. “This is—us being here like this, I mean.”

  “You have an odd sense of humor,” he said.

  I shook my head. “It wasn’t really an amused laugh. It was more like a “what-the-hell-is-going-on-here” kind of laugh.”

  He still looked confused, so I elaborated: “It’s just that…I’ve spent most of today worrying about whether or not you hated me. And about what happened with Shane. What you did to him.”

  I’d actually been trying to forget about that last part.

  I had enough to be afraid of without worrying about that, too. I didn’t want to be afraid of Kael. I wanted to trust him. But now that I’d mentioned it out loud, all I could think about was Shane’s face, that orange light, and the blood…all that blood…

  “Forget about that,” Kael said. “And forget about what he said. too. There’s not going to be a lot more where that came from. There’s not going to be any more.”

  I frowned. “Doesn’t change what I saw.”

  “No. I guess not.” There was painful look in his eyes as he turned away.

  “I want to trust you, though,” I said hurriedly. “I don’t know why. I know almost nothing about you. And to be honest? I’m kind of terrified of you. And trusting somebody— anybody— is not even something I usually do, but with you I just…”

  He looked back at me. His gaze took mine, and for a second I forgot what I was saying.

  “…with you I just can’t seem to help it,” I finally managed to whisper. “I guess that’s why I followed you in here. And now here we are talking and laughing like we’re... I don’t know. I don’t get you.”

  He turned back to the path in front of us. “You don’t need to get me,” he said. “But one thing?”

  “What’s that?”

  “You don’t need to be afraid of me.”

  I nodded silently. Not because I agreed, but because of the hurt in his voice. I felt like my words had put it there, and I wished I could take them back.

  We walked quietly for a few minutes after that, until Kael said, “You said you were worried about whether or not I hate you?”

  I shrugged. “You act like I annoy you, sometimes.”

  He glanced over and gave me a small smile. “You do annoy me.”

  “Wow. You know there’s this thing called tact—”

  “But I don’t hate you,” he said quietly, his smile fading. “Actually, I…” he hesitated.

  Before he could continue, the sound of rustling leaves and snapping twigs interrupted.

  I lifted my head and closed my eyes, breathing in deeply through my nose. Against the backdrop of typical forest smells I was getting used to, there were several others that I didn’t recognize—and one I sort of did. I exhaled.

  “It sounds—and smells—like there are people heading this way,” I said quietly.

  “Lots of people,” Kael said. He looked upset, but his voice was strangely calm.

  “I think I recognize one of them,” I said, giving Kael a worried look.

  “It’s Sera.”

  It was so obvious now that he said it.

  “Why are you so calm?” I asked. “It doesn’t sound like she’s alone. We should probably…”

  Kael twisted toward the sound of the footsteps, but he still stayed perfectly cool and collected.

  “I’m going back to warn the others,” I said, turning away. But before I could take a single step, a hand closed over my wrist.

  I looked back and found myself staring Kael in the eyes.

  I tried to pull away, but he grabbed my other arm so roughly that it sent a paralyzing shock washing over me.

  “This isn’t how I wanted things to go,” he said.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I have to do this.”

  “You don’t have—”

  “Hello hello…” I whipped my gaze from Kael to see Sera smiling at me as she stepped into the clearing.

  On either side of her were a half-dozen others who looked like they’d never smiled a day in their lives.

  I turned back to Kael, desperate for an explanation.

  He wouldn’t even look at me.

  “Fancy meeting you guys here,” Sera said.

  Kael pulled as far away from me as he could without letting go of my arms, his gaze focused on Sera.

  “I’m surprised you’re on time,” he said.

  “Oh, I wouldn’t be late for this.”

  Kael nodded, and a second later he smiled—but it wasn’t like the smile he’d shared with me earlier. It was cold. “Think you brought enough people with you?” he asked in an amused voice.

  “I’d be lying if I said you didn’t have me worried for a while there, Kael,” Sera replied with a sly smile. “I just wanted to make sure there was no room for failure this time—even if you failed to do your part.”

  His part?

  He continued to ignore my confused looks—it was like he only had eyes for Sera all of a sudden.

  “You’re too impatient, Sera. You should’ve known it would only be a matter of time until I accomplished what I set out to do,” he said. “I always do.”

  He let go of my arms then, jerking his hands away like he was disgusted by the touch—even though he’d been the one holding me back.

  Then he stepped away from me and walked toward Sera.

  I should have used the opportunity to run. My knees suddenly felt weak, and in that moment all I wanted to do was collapse.

  But I would stay on my feet.

  No matter that I felt completely exposed. Completely naked and empty and cold.

  “I suppose that’s true,” Sera said, her eyes flittering over Kael. “You’ve done what you said you’d do, and here I am, like I said I’d be.” As she said this, Sera kept throwing glances my direction—in what I took to be the equivalent of her rubbing this in my face. Or maybe she was just making sure I knew Kael had planned this—that he’d been expecting her.

  As if I needed anyone to spell it out for me.

  The fact that he couldn’t look me in the eyes told me everything I nee
ded to know.

  And it all made perfect sense now. Earlier, when he said he’d been out for a walk, he must’ve been out here with her—the other night, too, when he’d left me alone on the porch. He’d gone to see her. No wonder he’d agreed to take the first watch. And when he’d suggested we go for a walk, and I’d followed him…

  God, how could I have been so stupid?

  “We aren’t done yet, are we?” Sera was talking again.

  I could distinguish words—but they didn’t mean anything.

  “You’ve left me in the dark for too long, Kael. I’m not sure even I know what’s going on in that head of yours now.” Even though I couldn’t put any meaning behind the words themselves, her tone was unmistakably coy. With every word she spoke, she inched a little bit closer to him.

  Nothing between them, huh?

  Yeah. Right.

  I knew I shouldn’t have cared. I didn’t want to care—especially not now—but the way she was hanging all over him… it just made me that much angrier.

  “It can stay that way, for now,” Kael said to her. “I’ll tell you everything later. Right now we need to get going before the others we were with realize we’re missing.”

  “We could just take care of them,” Sera said with a nasty grin.

  I inhaled sharply.

  But Kael shook his head. “There’s no need for that. It wouldn’t do anything except cause us more trouble.”

  Petty as it might have been, I still rejoiced inwardly at Kael’s rejection of her.

  “Maybe,” Sera said, obviously disappointed. “But never mind, then. I assume you have a plan for what happens next?”

  Kael nodded. “I think The Creator will be happy to see us.”

  A confused look spread across Sera’s face. “I’ve no doubt about that,” she said slowly. “But doesn’t that go against everything—”

  “I told you, we can discuss that later,” Kael said sharply.

  Sera looked hurt by the harsh tone of his voice.

  And again I celebrated—because at least I wasn’t the only one he was keeping things from.

  But my celebration was short-lived, because a second later Kael turned to two of the men standing closest to me, his eyes passing over where I stood. “Grab the girl, and let’s go.”

  I felt my jaw drop.

  Had he really just referred to me as ‘the girl’?