River’s eyes went past me toward the rolling land beyond my shoulder. She had no way of knowing what was really out there, not yet anyway, but she would learn; they all would. If they were lucky enough, they would survive it, but if she was the one we’d been searching for these last four years, her chances were slim; most wouldn’t survive what would have to be done in order to use her.
“Now that you’ve been better informed, it’s time for your training to begin,” Mac continued. “First things first, run.”
When no one moved, Mac stepped forward and pointed to the right. “Now!” he barked.
The volunteers all jumped, a few burst into tears again. The soldiers who had been fencing them in fell back to give them room to run past them. Some of the volunteers walked forward, others remained mulling around aimlessly, but when Mac yelled at them again and the soldiers stepped forward to push them on, they all broke into a slow jog.
Except for one. She remained where she was, leaning against the wall, her striking eyes watching the volunteers fall into line amid a bunch of yelling soldiers who would lead them on a five mile run. She turned and started walking toward Mac’s house.
“Ms. Dawson, where do you think you’re going?” Mac called after her.
“To sleep, hopefully,” she muttered the last word under her breath, but I heard it.
“Not today.”
She turned back to him and lifted her hand to her forehead to shade her eyes from the sun. I tilted my head as I watched her, intrigued by the gleam in her eyes. “And what am I supposed to do today, run?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Ms. Dawson—”
“You took away my freedom, but I’m not about to fall in line like a goddamn—” She winced as her gaze went to the sky and she bit her bottom lip. “Like a child,” she finished.
“You will train with the others. You could be an important part of what we are trying to do here.”
“When you figure thatimportant partout, you let me know. Until then, I’m going back to bed.”
Around me, a couple of demons chuckled. Corson and Bale remained unmoving by my side, raptly watching her.
River went to turn away but Bernadette stepped forward and stopped her. “We could arrange for your brothers to be returned to your mother.”
River froze; her hand fell back to her side. She glared at the woman before turning to look at Mac. “I willingly left with you to keep them away from her.”
“We can do whatever we want. We could even have them brought here,” Bernadette continued.
River’s mouth parted on a breath. Her eyes dilated as they darted over all of us before she gazed at the wilds beyond the houses. She had to have heard the cries last night, and now that she knew we weren’t human, she had to know worse lay beyond the protection of this camp.
“No,” River said. “You can’t do that. They’re all I have… No. You promised they would be safe.”
“Then fall in line,” Bernadette replied.
River took a step forward, not to follow the others as they ran along the wall, but in a hostile advance toward Bernadette. I broke away from the others and strode toward them when I realized River was about to launch herself at the woman.
“It’s all right,” I said to Bernadette as I stepped in between them. “I would like to spend some time with her anyway.”
I almost felt a small amount of pity for her as River gazed helplessly at the rest of us. Almost. While I found her fighting spirit to be amusing, she was going to have to accept her new fate and make her peace with it. We all did, or had to do, things we didn’t want to.
She’d really hate what she would have to do if she was the one we’d been looking for.
CHAPTER 11
River
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Kobal as he moved around the inside of the tent he’d brought me into. I should be terrified of this man, thisdemon. Instead, I found myself raptly watching the way his muscles rippled as he moved. Attraction to someone was not something I’d experienced often, but now it swelled within me as I longed to run my fingers over his bronzed skin.
Being torn away from my family had rattled my brain, I decided.
