The guy named Bishop roared with laughter for some strange reason.
“Thank you again for … helping me out of that predicament,” Amelie said, a strange smile touching her lips.
That’s a blasé way to thank someone for saving your life.
“The statue was of a woman reaching up to the sky?” the beautiful guy with the firewood—Caden—asked.
I nodded. They were all silent then, exchanging cryptic glances.
In a flash, Caden was crouching down beside me, so unexpectedly that I flinched, startled. He leaned in close, staring intently at my chest. My half–naked chest, I realized. I instinctively crossed my arms over my torso, my hot face turning every shade of humiliation from rose to eggplant, I was sure. With everything else going on, I had forgotten about my clothing—or lack thereof. He raised his eyes, his brow furrowed in confusion for a moment. Then his jade eyes went wide with comprehension. “Your necklace—I was looking at the charm,” he explained, raising his hands in surrender.
“I wasn’t!” I heard Bishop call from behind him, followed by a loud smack—presumably Fiona’s response to his lewdness.
“Can I please see it? The pendant,” Caden asked gently.
“Um, yeah, sure … I guess.” I reached up to unclasp the chain, then remembered Sofie’s request to leave it on. “I can’t take it off. The clasp is broken and I don’t want to lose it.” He nodded once. I grabbed the chain and pulled it as far out from my half–exposed chest as possible, the glowing red heart swinging back and forth thanks to my trembling hand.
Caden slid in closer to me.
I swallowed, my chest tightening with anxiety at his proximity, my heart beginning to hammer my chest again. I noticed his eyes flit curiously to my face for a second and I thought I detected the slight crook of a smile, but his face smoothed before I could be sure.
His hand reached out to grasp the pendant. A burst of red light flashed brightly. He recoiled. Leaning back to squat on his heels, he placed his chin in his hands.
“What is it?” Rachel asked crisply. I glanced over to see her standing with arms crossed, scowling.
Caden, a pensive expression on his face, ignored her. “Where’d you get that?”
“It was a gift.”
“Recent?”
I nodded.
“From whom?”
“Sofie. Um, I mean … my boss.”
Caden continued studying it in silence, his eyes shifting back and forth. “You’ll have to thank Sofie. I think it saved your life.”
I glanced down at the radiant heart and an unpleasant chill ran down my spine. “What do you mean?” I stammered.
Caden opened his mouth to answer, but Bishop sprang to his feet, cursing vehemently as his eyes darted to the cave entrance. “They’ve tracked us here,” he growled, his jovial tone of moments ago gone.
“Damn it, Amelie!” Rachel cursed.
“Oh, shut it!” Amelie threw a withering glare in Rachel’s direction. It didn’t phase the dark beauty in the least.
“Must be the fire,” Fiona whispered.
“How much time?” Caden asked, his eyes locked on mine, his voice now hard and determined.
Bishop inhaled deeply. “Maybe two minutes … I can’t believe I missed their scent,” he hissed through gritted teeth.
Scent? I inhaled deeply but my nostrils filled with nothing but smoke.
“There. I can sense them … three of them. They’ll be here soon,” Rachel confirmed.
Three … there’d been three people by the river. Three murderers. I wondered if it was the same group.
In the next second I was flying across the cave, cradled in Caden’s strong arms. Setting me on my feet, he gently pushed me into a small alcove. Standing within it, I couldn’t see two–thirds of the cave. They’re hiding me, I realized.
Caden’s hand lifted my chin, tilting my head back far enough that my eyes met his. He stared at me so fixedly that I began squirming, trying to turn away. “No, don’t,” he whispered calmly, holding my chin securely between his thumb and forefinger.
The tension slid from my body as I fell deeper and deeper into those infinite pools of jade, my focus becoming cloudy, my thoughts muddled.
Caden’s voice whispered, slow and deliberate, “You need to stay hidden and remain calm. Don’t speak. Don’t make a single sound.” His words strung together, swirling around inside my head, repeating over and over. I nodded involuntarily. With a satisfied nod, Caden removed his hand from my chin and turned to face the cave entrance.
I stood staring at his broad, muscular back, imagining my fingers running through his hair, barely noticing the burning against my chest as my pendant blazed …
The temporary fog in my brain lifted. I began tapping my fingers against my thighs in response to my growing panic. “What do they want?” I finally whispered.
Caden’s head whipped around, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he searched my face, until his gaze landed on my pendant. “Interesting …” he mumbled to himself. He paused. “They want Amelie. They’re the ones who put her in the river. But you … when they find out about you …” His eyes left the pendant and returned to my face.
He didn’t need to finish his sentence. I caught the drift. “Because I helped Amelie?”
His eyes narrowed. “You don’t know where you are—who we are?”
“We’re in a cave and you’re … homeless people?” I said. Oh, stupid, Evangeline. That was so insensitive.
“Just stay hidden and don’t say anything. I’ll keep you safe, I promise,” Caden whispered, smiling down at me reassuringly. Or sympathetically, because I sounded like an imbecile.
I couldn’t resist asking, “What’s going to happen?”
“Would you shut up? Unless you want to die tonight, little girl,” Rachel hissed through clenched teeth. She had edged to the back wall of the cave and was now watching us keenly.
I blanched at the threat, my heart doubling its pace.
Caden reached out, his hands cupping my chin. Again I sensed a gravitational pull toward those deep pools, only it wasn’t nearly as strong as before. “You have to calm down. Now.”
I took a deep breath. I focused on his soothing voice, the intensity of his eyes. Although my heart kept racing, its thunderous pounding dulled to an irritating thud.
Caden put his finger to his lips in a hushing motion. I nodded. He turned back to the cave entrance, his feet shifting position ever so slightly.
I felt something boring into the side of my face. Glancing over, I saw Rachel glaring at me sadistically, those yellow eyes lit with some private enjoyment. I cowered within my alcove, wishing I could turn into a chameleon and blend into the rock. The pendant, tightly grasped in my hand now, continued to burn hot against my skin.
4. Dead Is Dead
So silent was their approach that I was unaware anyone had entered the cave until I heard a new voice. “Why, hello again, Amelie! We didn’t expect to see you mobile so soon.” The man’s tone oozed false kindness.
Impulsively, I peeked out from behind Caden to catch a glimpse of the speaker, figuring the shadows and the glare from the fire would be sufficient cover. All I saw was the back of a snow–white head before Caden’s body subtly leaned back, forcing me into full hiding again.
“Jethro,” Amelie responded, her tone icy. “I warned you, I don’t like that river. Too murky.”
“Yes, I recall … I’m curious about how you escaped, and so quickly!” Jethro’s voice grew louder and I heard footsteps as the man walked farther into the cave.
“Oh, it’s my little secret,” she responded glibly, as if joking with a friend instead of the man who’d tried to kill her.
“I’m sure we can get it out of you.” Jethro’s voice indicated a smile but his words were full of malice. “I’m surprised to see another highly esteemed Council member here … Rachel,” he said in greeting.
My eyes darted to Rachel. She nodded once, undaunted and still exuding confidence; she wasn’t afraid of Jethro.
“And your brother is uncharacteristically quiet this evening, skulking in the back corner like that. Are you hiding something?”
I pressed further against the wall until the jutting stone hurt my back.
“Only his infatuation with me.” Rachel swooped over and wrapped her arms seductively around Caden’s waist, skimming her lips across the side of his neck.
So they’re together, I realized. Despite the urgency of the situation, bitter disappointment coursed through me.
Caden didn’t acknowledge Rachel’s affection, though. “Did you think you could walk in here after what you did to my sister?” he said through gritted teeth.
Jethro’s laughter echoed through the cave. I recognized that sound. I had believed it to be my salvation, earlier that night. Now that laugh made me want to swallow my tongue in fear.
“That sounds like a threat. Amusing.”
The footsteps moved away from us. I had no urge to peek again.
“Quite silly of you to start a fire. Someone may accidently trip and fall into it. That would be a much more permanent ending than sitting at the bottom of the river,” Jethro mused.
A silent warning to Amelie, though I didn’t see how drowning had a different outcome than burning. Dead is dead.
“You know, it was interesting earlier, out by the river,” Jethro said, his voice falsely casual, “after we chucked you in. We—all of us—sensed a true rarity. A human heartbeat, of all things.”
What? My face twisted with confusion.
“It must have been wishful thinking, of course … but it brought back fond memories. I remember ripping one of those tasty morsels right out of a chest once, so quickly that the little thing continued pulsing in my palm. I even showed it to the terrified lemming I had snatched it from before she collapsed to the ground. How I would do anything to hold one of those again …” Jethro sighed wistfully.
As if my poor heart had heard the threat, it began thrashing against my chest, likely trying to grow legs so it could break free and run away before this psychopath could get his hands on it.
“There it is again—that heartbeat!” Jethro exclaimed in a hiss. “Do you hear that?”
My stomach lurched. Was he referring to my heartbeat? A hand squeezed my thigh in warning. Glancing down, I saw it was Caden’s hand, covertly reaching back, attempting to calm me. Unfortunately his touch pushed my heart further into overdrive until I was sure it would explode; it was a thunderous, repetitive boom against my eardrums. The cave, Caden, everything began to swirl. I leaned against the wall for support, begging my knees not to buckle.
Unevenly paced footsteps moved toward us, slowly edging in, taunting. Rachel’s arms slid away from Caden, who shifted. I knew they were preparing to react.
My hands groped forward in desperation, my fingers digging into Caden’s back. Clenching my teeth together, I fought the urge to let out a blood–curdling shriek.
What happened next came in a flash. Rachel was no longer beside Caden. She was slamming into the opposite wall, the rock crumbling from the impact, surely every bone in her perfect body shattering. I didn’t see her collapse to the ground, though; the demon who now stood in her place had my full attention.
I couldn’t decide which was more sinister—those cold white eyes with their web of tiny blue veins staring down at me, or the creature’s face, so contorted that it pulled his skin back severely against his facial bones. His long hair, also stark white, was tied back in a ponytail that only emphasized the tautness of his skin. He was like some monster out of a horror film, only a hundred times more hideous because he was real. Demon, sprang into my mind—something straight from hell.
As hard as I struggled to turn away from that repulsive face, it held me riveted. The blood drained from my own face, and my body trembled uncontrollably. I felt as vulnerable as a mouse cornered by a hungry snake.
A strange expression passed over the demon’s face. It took me a moment to identify it as shock. “Where did you find her?” it hissed, and I recognized the voice as Jethro’s.
“It doesn’t matter,” Caden responded levelly.
I glimpsed a springy curl as Amelie edged in behind Jethro, shifting her weight, ready to react to the impending explosion—an explosion over me, and I hadn’t the first clue why.
“Oh, but it does! She could lead us to more … I need to bring her to the Council.”
“And how do you suppose you’ll do that?”
Jethro laughed wickedly. “Do you actually think you’ll walk out of here alive with her?”
“Do you?” Caden growled. He leaned back to shield me with his body just as Jethro lunged forward.
I didn’t see anything else. I curled up in my hollow, my face buried in my shoulder. Growls and shrieks filled the cave. Ghastly sounds—bones crunching, flesh tearing—sucked the breath out of my lungs. Caden was no longer protecting me. Now, exposed, I was an easy target. I winced, waiting for a hand to wrench me out of my hiding place and rip my heart out.