Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 119746 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119746 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
“I’m not playing a game,” the boy says, reverting to his own voice. “It’s family. The blood always remembers.”
Nate moves toward the door suddenly, his movement too smooth and fast. “I should return. Mother worries when I’m gone too long and I’m getting tired. It takes a lot of effort to try and be like this, to be…as I once was. Otherwise, I would have eaten you by now,” he says simply as he pauses, hand on the door. “They’re coming for you anyway.”
“Who are?” I ask.
“The rest of them,” he says. “My parents, and even Elaine, we can get by with eating…other things. We can make do with our hunger. But the new ones, they can’t. They’re regrouping and then they’ll come.”
“Why tell us this?” Jensen asks, his knuckles white around the axe handle. “Why warn us?”
Nathaniel’s smile is patient, indulgent even. “Because the hunt is no fun if the prey doesn’t run.” His lips twist into a smirk. “At least that’s what my father says.”
He opens the door, letting in another gust of cold air. “I’d run north if I were you.”
Without another word, he slips outside, disappearing into the blinding white with unnatural speed. Jensen slams the door shut, throwing the bolt with shaking hands.
“Jesus Christ,” he whispers, turning to face me.
I lower my gun slowly, my arms suddenly leaden. “That was Lainey’s voice,” I say hollowly. “Exactly her voice.”
“It wasn’t her,” Jensen insists, though uncertainty colors his tone. “He’s playing mind games.”
“For what purpose?”
“To make us run.”
“He knew things, Jensen. And the kid is from the fucking 1800s. Lainey is alive.”
He stares at me for a moment, wildness in his eyes as he tries to make sense of it all. “Even if she’s alive, she’s not…”
“Not what? You saw the kid! He was able to control his hunger.”
“He was able to trick us and we’re just lucky I never put my axe down. It would have taken two seconds for him to turn and bite you. Fuck, maybe I should have chopped his head off when I had a chance.”
“Well, I need to find Lainey,” I say, the certainty settling in my chest like a stone. “If there’s even a chance she’s alive like he is, and can talk to me—”
“That’s exactly what he wants,” Jensen interrupts. “He wants you to find the caves, he wants you to follow him. He told us to run north, but I wouldn’t trust that either. He was sent here on purpose.”
“You don’t know that,” I admit, meeting his concerned gaze. “If they sent him, they would have just come to kill us. They would have already attacked in the night. Why have they left us alone for the last twenty-four hours? That boy came here because Lainey sent him. She’s protecting us somehow.”
Jensen watches me for a long moment, conflict clear in his rumpled brow. Finally, he sighs. “I can’t let you go, Aubrey. I’m sorry.”
“Let me?” I repeat. “How are you going to stop me? Tie me to a pole like you did with Red?”
He sighs, running his hand down his face, and looks over at Eli. “Believe me, I would, if it could keep you safe. But I think we’re going to need the last of our rope for him.” He walks over and stares down at his friend, still breathing steadily under the blanket, though his skin does look a bit waxier now.
“The boy said he’s turning,” I say, and in those words, there are the things I’m not saying.
Jensen looks at me with glassy eyes. “He’s my best friend, Aubrey. I can’t kill him yet. And I won’t let you do it yet, either. Just…not yet.”
I nod, though I’m still frustrated at our impasse. “So then what? Either we wait for him to turn and have to kill him, or we tie him up and we go. I want to go to the caves, you want to head where?”
“Sugar Bowl,” he says, coming over to me. He stops, boots against mine, towering over me as he cups my face in his hands and stares into my eyes. “You can fight me, Aubrey, but I’d rather you didn’t. I don’t want you going to those caves. I won’t let you. The cost of your life might be worth it to you, but it’s not worth it to me. I refuse to lose you.” He kisses me softly on the lips before pulling away. “You’re mine, through and through.”
I have to admit, my resolve is weakening slightly, having this man say those words and stare at me the way he is, like I’m some national treasure.
But I’m not conceding to anything.
“So, what do we do now?” I whisper.
He glances over my shoulder at the window. “We won’t make it anywhere before dark. Think we’ll be spending the night in.”