“I want to
untie you, but I don’t want to regret doing so. Can we agree that everyone will
behave?” I looked at Kale, but all I received was a shrug and another grumble.
Jace’s blue eyes were glued to Kale.
“Ella, when I
am untied, I will do whatever I can to take you back to the Council. I won’t
have this creature infect you.” Kale
straightened up and moved closer to us.
“Over my dead body.” Jace’s slow, chilling smile revealed his
white teeth. Though it was beautiful, it freaked me out.
“Then it should
be easy, Nosferat, seeing as how your heart no longer beats.” Jace looked at
Kale as if he would attack the first chance he got. At this rate, I would never be able to get
Kale and Jace to work together. Maybe Kale was right. We might be better off
fending for ourselves against Laurent.
“You mistake
the fact you are still alive for weakness on my part, but I warn you that as
soon she sees you are not a necessary factor for her survival, I will finish
what we started years ago, Vesco,” Kale spat, with such malice that halfway
through his words I turned around to face him, not at all liking what I saw.
His face was now plagued by hard lines, and his eyes, though they were always
dark, were darkened with loathing. I hardly recognized him. I didn't want to believe
Kale would truly kill Jace or anyone for that matter.
“Stop, Kale,
you wouldn’t,” I whispered. I searched his face for the Kale I knew. I
understood the Council and vampires were enemies, but I couldn't see Kale
killing Jace. It was probably my naivety that pushed the idea that Kale was
harmless.
“Yes, he would, Ella,” Jace
said, pulling my attention back to his blue eyes. “It’s what he is—a murderer
fashioned only to steal what humans cannot live without and to spread his
disease. He was created by the Dark Prince. No matter how long he tries to deny
his nature by drinking from rats and squirrels, he will always be a threat to
you and all others. Even more so because he can walk in the light.
My plan to
unite them to help me went right out the window. My body went cold, and I sat there wondering
why I’d even tried in the first place.
Anger started to boil inside me, and I gave in to it.
“Bullshit!” I yelled.
“This is pure and utter bullshit.”
I stood so fast that I almost lost my footing.
Kale reached
out to me, catching my arm and righting me quickly. I snatched my arm from him and ignored his
questioning eyes. I turned back to Jace. I looked him directly in his eyes to
get his full attention.
“You both say
you want to protect me, and that’s fine.
Even though I have no clue of what’s going on in the full scheme of
things, I am willing to let you both protect me, but understand this. If you
two cannot figure out how to get along long enough for us to make a plan—other
than taking me to the Council—I will do this without either of you!” I shouted, as my anger reached a
crescendo. “Also, I want to know
everything, not just what you two think I should know.” I gave Kale a pointed look.
He looked back
at me with emotionless eyes. I hated when
he blocked his feelings from me. I gave mine so freely to him. That fueled my anger further, but Jace’s calm
voice slowly brought me down.
“What is it
you propose we do?” Jace asked. “I can
only assume from your tirade that he has told you a few things about your
past. The fact that you are only upset
about that also tells me he hasn’t told you why the Dark Prince has yet to find
you.”
We both looked
at Kale waiting for him to speak.
“Your silence,
Nosferat, confirms that you have not told her the fire at the Ocean Trace
facility was your doing.”
I looked at
Kale, confused. I had told him about my time in a facility, but I hadn’t told
him where it was.
“I told you I
was here to protect you, Ella. I just never told you when that protection
started,” Kale explained and reached for me.
I was tempted
to take his hand because it wasn’t often that he offered his touch, but I
ignored it. “Wait, are you saying you knew me before that first night we met?”
“Yes, I knew
you in your last past life.”
Jace scoffed.
“That is not what she meant, vampire.”
I couldn't
understand why Kale was dancing around my question.
“Let’s go
outside,” Kale said, turning toward the door before I could answer.
“She will
freeze out there. I am sure she is
already cold, especially seeing how the cold sadness of lies and betrayals has
found her here tonight.”
Though Jace’s
clever remark didn't seem to affect Kale, it stung me. The words lies and betrayals slapped me in
the face, waking me from the stupid dream state I had allowed myself to slip
into.
“Ella, I have
watched you for as long as the Council has believed you are the next Arc—before
your parents’ death until now,” Kale said sadly, as the trust that we had
developed between us started to fade.
I had been
nothing but honest with him. I’d snuck around to see him, which put a strain on
Alex’s faith in me. But I couldn't truly blame Kale. Trusting a stranger with
my secrets when I had promised myself I would never do that again was my
fault. With that in mind, I walked over
to Jace and untied his knots.
“Do not make
me regret this. I have enough of those;
I don’t need any more,” I said, looking at them both. We needed to make a plan of action, but we
couldn't do that until I was told everything.
