by J. N. Baker
“Distracted,” he finished. “It’s like you’ve lost all focus. That is how our kind dies, Zoe.”
His words caught me off guard. Had I really been that off my game? A small voice in the back of my head screamed yes. I ignored the voice, my ego wounded.
“I haven’t been distracted,” I said defensively. I hadn’t noticed that my fingernails were digging into the flesh of my palms until the blood began dripping onto the floor.
“It’s him, isn’t it?”
With those four little words, Alec knocked the air clean out of me. The room swayed momentarily and I turned away from him, staring a hole through the wall.
“What are you talking about?” I finally asked, my voice barely audible over the crackle of the dimming fire.
“Josh,” he said, his voice going cold. Alec stepped behind me, so close, I could feel his breath on the back of my neck, sending chills down my spine. “He’s consuming your thoughts, haunting you from beyond the grave. He’s the reason you’re so distracted. His memory is going to get you or someone else killed.”
I whirled on him, jabbing a finger into his muscular chest. “Josh isn’t a distraction,” I snapped, déjà vu creeping in. I’d been down this road before with William. First, Josh was making me weak, now he was distracting me? The small voice in the back of my mind got a little louder and I pushed that bitch back down.
Alec growled, his nostrils flaring. “Even in death, you defend him?”
A metallic taste settled in my mouth as I bit my tongue in an effort not to say something I’d likely regret. We stood nose to nose, panting, our rage palpable.
Alec was the first to concede. He blew out a breath, raking his fingers through his messy hair as he stepped away from me. “I know you miss him, Zoe,” he continued, his voice remarkably controlled for how utterly pissed I knew he was. “I know you’re still grieving his loss. But it is time to let go.”
“Alec—”
“It’s been over six months,” he interrupted, pinning me with a stare. “Six. Months.”
“You think I don’t know that?”
“What I think is that your grief over his death is clouding your judgment,” he retorted. “What I know is that type of distraction will get someone killed. And I’ll be damned if that someone is you. I think it’s time for you to talk to Annie.”
My blackened heart stopped beating. He couldn’t possibly mean…
“Maybe she can help you forget,” he said, bringing my worst fear to life. William had told Annie her ability to put thoughts into people’s minds also meant she could control them. That included planting memories that never happened…and erasing those that had.
My heart jumped back to life, beating wildly in my chest. Adrenaline kicked in, coursing through my veins. I suddenly felt like I was in a life-or-death battle, only it wasn’t my life I was fighting for.
“No,” I breathed. “I don’t think you realize what you’re asking me to do.”
“I know exactly what I’m asking of you,” he said, clearly resolute in his decision.
I tried to move away from him but he grabbed firm to my arms, holding me in place.
“I-I can’t,” I stuttered.
“Yes, you can,” he said, shaking me a little. “And you need to. Josh is dead, Zoe. I know that isn’t easy for you to hear, but you need to face the harsh reality: he’s never coming back. Nothing that you or I or anyone else does will ever change that. You can’t bring him back,” he said again, rubbing salt into the already festering wound. “Let. Him. Go.”
When I didn’t respond, Alec said, “If you won’t do it for yourself, then do it for me. It’s not fair to me. I can’t spend eternity with you and some ghost. I want to be the only man who holds your heart. I won’t share you. You are mine, from here until forever.”
“I told you before, Alec, there was nothing going on between Josh and me.” As the words left my mouth, even I didn’t believe them. Perhaps it was because there very well had been something. Something stronger than the intense magnetic pull I felt for Alec. Something that, unbeknownst to Alec, led me to choosing Josh. Something that never got to see the light of day.
But none of that mattered anymore. Like Alec continually liked to remind me, Josh was dead.
Alec opened his mouth to speak when the door to my bedroom flew open.
I could only imagine what Ryuu was seeing as he barged into my room unannounced. Alec released his hold on me, taking a not-so-subtle step back. I wiped the nonexistent tears from my cheeks—some habits die hard.
“What is it?” I forced out.
“It’s time.”
I stepped out of the castle alongside Ryuu and looked up at the black sky overhead. Immediately after the Great Battle, William had sent two of our people—vampires—out in the plane in search of provisions and more people. No one had seen or heard from them since.
No one ever mentioned the plane anymore, not even optimistic Annie, but I still thought about it from time to time.
There were nights when I’d find myself longing for the roar of those jet engines. Deep down, I knew the plane was never coming back. It probably ran out of fuel or was taken down by the Sythen. Either way, we had to face the cold hard facts: help wasn’t coming. We were on our own. Still, a girl could dream, even if she wasn’t supposed to actually dream.
In the distance, William was talking to one of the shadow people. I kept my eyes down as we approached.
“There is something coming, my lord,” I heard the shadow creature say as we reached them. Its deep, raspy voice—much different than Ryuu’s—made the hairs on the back of my neck stand. I didn’t recognize this one. “It moves through the shadows, drawing closer.”
“I understand,” William said with a nod, not the slightest bit fazed by the creature’s close proximity. He’d been around long enough to know how to handle the shadow people. Fine by me. The less I had to deal with them, the better.
“Do you know what it is?” Ryuu asked.
“The Sythen maybe?” I threw in.
The creature paused, its cloaked face turning to each of us. When it got to me, it lingered a moment longer than I would have liked. “It is…troublesome.”
William thought over the creature’s words for a moment, looking over to Ryuu and then me. “Very well,” he finally said. “Thank you.”
The shadow creature nodded and bowed before turning back toward the trees.
“Wait,” I called after it. I stepped forward, ignoring both William’s and Ryuu’s questioning eyes. “Why won’t your people fight with us?” When it came time for combat during the Great Battle, the shadow people were nowhere to be found and no one questioned it. Probably because no one else wanted to be around them any more than I did. But the question still remained: if they were on our side, why didn’t they fight?
The creature stopped dead in its tracks, back still facing me. It visibly stiffened under the long black cloak.
“Zoe,” Ryuu started, his fingers wrapping around my arm to pull me back a step.
I easily broke free of his grip. “No. I want to know,” I said over my shoulder. I turned my attention to the creature.
“We are not fighters,” it replied, its voice dropping a full octave.
“You would have me believe that you are no more than spies and contractors? I call bullshit. I know the fucked-up power your kind holds. Why won’t you use it to fight for us, to take Baldric down? If you want to redeem yourselves with God, or whatever the hell it is you’re trying to do, then shouldn’t you be fighting for us?”
There came a low growl from the shadow creature I felt in my bones. I held my ground. I was not afraid of killing it. One less shadow creature didn’t affect our people if they wouldn’t even fight.
I couldn’t stop the questioning. “Maybe I should be asking whose side you’re really on.”
“That is enough,” William commanded.
I ignored him. “How do we know your people don’t work for Baldric as
well? Where does your obedience really lie if you won’t fight for us?”
The shadow creature spun around, its eyes blessedly hidden by the loose black hood. “Our obedience lies with God and God alone,” it hissed.
Before I could push further or William could snap my head off, the creature turned and fled to the protection of the shadows.
William shot me a disappointed look—what else was new—before saying, “The shadow people are phenomenal at gathering information. They have always been good allies to us. Let us hope you did not just jeopardize that.” Without another word, William turned and made his way to the castle.
“Wow, Fido,” Ryuu said, then whistled. I glared at him over my shoulder and he smirked, his eyes twinkling. “Making friends everywhere you go.”
“You know it,” I grumbled. It looked like Jade was finally rubbing off on me.
Speaking of Jade. She strolled over to us, a middle-aged man sporting messy brown hair and a thick scruff walking beside her. Of all things, he was wearing a kilt.
“What do you know?” Jade asked, pulling my attention from the big man.
“Zoe wants the shadow people to fight alongside us,” Ryuu answered.
Jade looked at me as if I’d grown an extra head. “You really want those unpredictable shits fighting next to you during a battle? How stupid are you, Sparky?”
“So yer the Sparky I’ve heard so much about?” the big man said rather loudly, his Scottish accent strong enough that I almost couldn’t understand him.
“What, do you live under a rock?” Jade asked. “Weren’t you at the battle?”
“Aye, I was there,” he told her. “But I like to keep to myself. I don’t much like people. Bunch of dumb fucks.”
Jade smirked. “Well, we can agree on that much.”
“I’m Brock,” the man said, not bothering to extend a hand or bow or do any of the other ceremonious shit I hated. I liked him already.
“So, you’re the shift Sloane recommended.”
“Aye, I’m yer man,” he answered Ryuu.
“I haven’t seen you around,” I pointed out, fairly confident I would’ve remembered a big man in a bright red kilt.
“I don’t suppose you would have. As I said to yer angry pixie here, I don’t much like people. I stick to the forest with the wee little tree huggers. Those fucks don’t talk much.”
“Welp, it was nice knowing you, buddy,” I said, watching murder flash through Jade’s silver eyes. The “angry pixie” was pissed.
Ryuu put a hand on her shoulder as she took a murderous step toward Brock. “Now, now, Jade. We don’t want to kill one of our best shifts.”
Brock flashed a lopsided grin, arrogance written on his face. “Aye, princess. Listen to yer man here. He’s clearly the smart one.”
I couldn’t stop the laughter that bubbled out of me. Jade’s venomous glare shifted my way and I laughed harder. “I think I just found my new best friend.”
“Jade,” Ryuu said, not bothering to hide his smile, “can you go get Dante and the other vampire for me? Let them know we’re ready.”
“Aye, lassie, run along.”
Jade’s fingers clenched and unclenched at her sides as she stormed off in the direction of the castle.
“Careful there,” I warned Brock. “She won’t hesitate to kill you.”
The big Scot laughed. “She could try. I’m nearly five hundred fucking years auld.”
I opened my mouth to argue that she was Chosen and he was only a shift but I decided against it. Mostly because I would pay to see the two of them to go head to head. While I had no doubt Jade would win, I had a feeling Brock would get in a few good shots before he went down. Maybe he could knock Jade down a peg.
Dante and a curvy woman I’d seen around a few times made their way toward us, sans Jade. When they approached, the woman started to bow and Dante elbowed her in the ribcage. I hid my smile under my hand.
“This is Ivanna,” Dante said, gently pushing the woman forward. “While she is far from the oldest of our kind, she is excellent with a bow. She hits her target every time. If there is prey to catch, she will bring it down.”
Ryuu nodded his approval. Clearly, he’d told Dante to pick who he wanted to go with him. While the vamps were coming along more to be protection, much like us, it wouldn’t hurt to have one with hunting skills.
“All right,” Ryuu said, motioning to the large crate beside him, “grab the weapons you need and let’s prepare to leave. The forest nymphs are waiting and I want to get out of here before Rhett realizes we’re taking one of his shifts.”
Brock snorted. “I ain’t his shift. And don’t you be worrying. Slo has that bawbag giving MaryAnn a proper burial service. He’ll be busy a while. Not that he’d ever try to tell me what to do,” he added.
“Wait for me!” a voice called as a young man sprinted toward us. His once-short blond hair was tousled in a way that made the ladies’ panties wet, and his brown eyes twinkled with excitement and perhaps a little fear. I gave him a once-over, appreciating his newly formed muscles. He was no Alec—or Josh—but he was nice to look at all the same.
“For fuck sake, James,” Brock barked out, his accent only growing thicker the louder he got. “What do ye think yer doing, boy?”
James straightened. “I want to help on the hunt.”
“James, get your ass back in that castle right now!” Jade hollered as she returned and I thought I saw Dante flinch. I half expected her to grab the young shift by the ear and drag his ass away. A man grown or not, he still tended to follow her around like a lost dog. But where he once followed her to help, now he did it to glean fighting tips.
He picked the right person to learn from, even though she wasn’t a shift like him. The bitch could fight. Not that I’d ever admit that to her face.
“I’m sorry, James,” Ryuu said, “but I’ll never hear the end of it from your brother if we take you with us, and we’re running rather low on Advil.”
I could only imagine the shitstorm Rhett would cause if he found out we’d allowed his baby brother to go on the hunt with us, let alone that we’d planned a hunt without his knowledge in the first place. One of those things was forgivable, the other was not.
“Ryuu. Zoe.”
I turned to find William, Annie, and Cody approaching. Annie smiled warmly at James, who looked like a man who’d just had his balls ripped off. Jade had that effect on most men. His mood lightened if only a little. Annie had that effect on pretty much everyone.
“Keep the others safe,” William told us. “If you run across trouble, send Dante or Brock back to alert us. Stay out as long as it takes to gather enough food. The success of this hunt is of the utmost importance.”
“Of course,” I said, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. “Important” was William’s middle name. Ryuu nodded to William in agreement, flashing me a sideways smile that told me he and I were on the exact same sarcastic page.
Jade stepped up to Ryuu, grabbing his hand. To my utter disgust, he kissed her. It was like watching my brother make out with his girlfriend.
“Can I get some of that, dude?” Cody asked, stepping beside the two of them. Before Jade could kill him, Cody turned toward Ryuu with outstretched arms. “Come on, bro. I gotta have some of that sweet, sweet lovin’ before you go off to war.”
Jade rolled her eyes and shoved past Cody, but not before flashing Ryuu a serious look—one that said he better come back to her. If I were him, I wouldn’t disobey her. That woman would probably storm straight into the fiery pits of Hell, drag him out, and kill him all over again.
I looked back at the castle, wondering if Alec would swallow his pride and come say goodbye to me. Our heated conversation had left a bad taste in my mouth. But the hunt had to go on. There wasn’t time for our petty relationship drama. We needed food.
And the need for food was getting stronger by the night. One of our human women was pregnant and one of the shift women was suspicious she might be. It was both
a blessing and a curse. While we needed to repopulate in order for there to be any hope for a future generation, it also meant we would have two fewer fighters if Baldric came back, and two more mouths to feed if the babies survived.
“All right, let’s get this show on the road,” Ryuu announced.
Properly armed and stocked with supplies, we made our way to the tree line where five of the forest nymphs were waiting for us on the backs of their enormous horses. They’d need to be on horseback in order to keep up with the rest of us. We had to cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time. A “human” pace wouldn’t cut it.
As we neared the edge of the forest, I heard something in the distance, so far away that I was sure no human or shift would be able to hear. Dante, Ivanna, Ryuu, and I paused, exchanging a look.
“What the fuck are you all waiting for?” Brock asked when he realized we’d stopped. “Hurry up will ya? I’m hungry.”
“You heard the man,” I mumbled, motioning our group on. Whatever was out there, we’d handle it. Hopefully. We didn’t have much of a choice. Our people were depending on us. “Let’s go,” I told them.
And with that, we headed off into the trees, swallowed up by the night.
After following the forest nymphs through the trees encircling our little kingdom, our group emerged on the other side, looking out at the barren countryside beyond.
It was a lot different than I remembered. One of the last times I’d come through here, I was chasing after Josh. I’d been scared that the Sythen would get to him before I could. I’d followed his tracks through the snow all the way to Stonehenge on the back of one of the forest nymph’s horses.
My mind drifted back to that night, fingers automatically going to my lips. With one kiss, he’d breathed life into my empty soul. In that one fleeting moment, tangled in his arms in the snow, I was alive—I was human. What I wouldn’t give to feel like that again. What I wouldn’t give for just one more…
Ryuu’s fingers snapped in front of my face. “What?” I asked him, not realizing he’d been talking to me.
“I asked if you were ready to go,” he replied, cocking an eyebrow at me. “You okay, Fido?”