Serena nodded. "You"re right about that. I wouldn"t betray your secrets. But I don"t need a few days to think about it."
"Careful, Serena," Ginger said. "This is not a decision that can be undone. If you join this sisterhood, you join for good. There"s no going back to your old life."
"I have no life to go back to. All I had was my baby. And I"ll devote the rest of my life to searching for her and making those who took her payand making sure they can"t keep doing this to women like me, to babies like mine."
Ginger slid a look at Terry, who shrugged.
"I"m sure," Serena said, looking from one to the other. "I want to join the Sisterhood of Athena."
Ginger nodded. "So be it, then. I"ll make arrangements for the Dedication Ceremony. But you"ll still need a few days to recover, and to prepare. There are lessons, meditations. But tomorrow is soon enough to begin." She turned to the other woman. "Terry, why don"t you show our new sister to her rooms now?"
Ethan opened the rear door of the stable, and it swung wide onto a gra.s.sy moonlit meadow, five acres in size, all enclosed by a white wooden fence that seemed to rise and fall with every curve of the ground. A bubbling stream bisected the meadow, providing a supply of fresh water. And beyond the meadow, the trees began, then thickened into a full blown forest that stretched all the way to the mountains that formed a backdrop to the view.
He loved it here.
He went back inside and opened first one stall, then the other. His companions knew without being told that it was their time to romp, and they trotted out of their stalls and straight through the back door, barely pausing long enough to accept his strokes as they went.
Ethan watched them as they moved. The second they emerged from the building, they tossed their manes and cut loose into a full gallop, whinnying in joy as they raced into the night.
No one liked being shut in. Being captive. Even knowing they would be released each night, they always reacted as if they"d been locked up for years and were just catching their first taste of freedom.
They felt, he thought, the way he"d felt when he"d escaped from The Farm. The way he still felt, every single evening, when the sun set and he awoke to freedom.
He took a fork and shovel and moved into the first stall to begin the usual soothing tasks of cleaning the floor and putting down fresh bedding.
He wouldn"t risk his freedom for anything. Not even for Lilith. G.o.d, he wished his brother were here to tell him what the h.e.l.l to do about her. She could be lying. She could be faking the amnesia. She could have been sent to kill him. It was, after all, inevitable that they would send someone sooner or later. Andeven if she wasn"t the one, she could have been followed, all the while being totally unaware of it.
She was a risk. A threat to his freedom. So why the h.e.l.l hadn"t he sent her packing?
Lowering his head, he realized why. Because it would do no good. To send her away would risk her telling others where he was. The only way to ensure that never happened, would be to keep her hereor kill her.
He paused in his work, leaning on the shovel"s long handle and closing his eyes. He knew d.a.m.ned good and well that he couldn"t kill her. He"d wronged the woman. He"d been racked with guilt ever since he"d been forced to leave her behind. And he"d wanted to go back for herbut he hadn"t.
Because he would have had no chance of surviving. Because he hadn"t even known if she was still alive.
Because he"d thought if he could only find his brother first, maybe the two of them could save her. And most of all because he"d known she would refuse to leave that place without taking every other captive along with her. And that would be impossible.
So he hadn"t gone back for her. And he knew d.a.m.n well that part of the reason he wasn"t telling her the truth about how they knew one another was because it would mean admitting what he had done. That he"d saved himself and left her behind, and that it had been eating his soul bit by bit ever since.
Finishing the stall-cleaning in record timebecause leaving her alone in his haven made him nervous as h.e.l.lhe returned the tools to their places, closed the rear door and headed out the front, then along the winding pathway back toward the house.
Through the window, he saw her framed in silhouette, backlit by the fire"s amber glow, and the sight of her stopped him in his tracks. She was beautiful.
For years, at The Farm, he"d watched her from a distance, and early on, he"d feared for her. Almost weekly, she would be punished for refusing to submit to the rules or learn the lessons or vow obedience to the DPI. More recently, she"d been in trouble for trying to stir revolt in the others. They two of them had barely even talked. But eventually she"d noticed him looking at her when they pa.s.sed on the compound. The DPI kept their captive males separate from the females. They were closely guarded, their every moment scheduled for them, from lessons and training to limited recreation. They were told when it was time to take to their cots in their barracks, and told when it was time to rise and begin another day. Even their bathroom and shower usage was rigidly scheduled. There was little time to form friendships or have casual conversations.
He always saw her amidst a line of girls as they walked from their barracks to the cla.s.sroom. He would be in a line of young men, walking the opposite way, after combat training.
When she noticed him, she looked back. And she kept looking. Day in and day out, that was their only communication. Until that last night, the night he"d left.
That night, he had crept into her barracks, avoiding the guard, risking everything for this one moment.
And as the others slept, he"d slipped silently between the two rows of cots, straining his still-mortal eyes to see each sleeping face, until he found her.
She lay awake, eyes open, but not truly seeing. She"d been in isolation for the past week, drugged, punished for her ongoing disobedience. He couldn"t imagine what had been done to her. And he didn"t want to. He thought she"d been aware of him, even in her stupor, ever since he"d climbed, awkwardly, through the open window, and he"d paused momentarily when he met her curious, unfocused eyes. Then, when she opened her mouth to speak, he quickly put a finger to his lips to silence her.
At last he moved closer and knelt beside the cot. She rolled onto her side, propped her head on her hand and stared at him, a thousand emotions in her eyes. A thousand questions. And a yearning that could not be concealed, even by the drugs still coursing through her veins.
Without a word, he cupped her face between his palms, leaned closer and pressed his lips to hers. He felt them part, felt them tremble, and then felt the warmth of her breath as she released it all at once. At last her arms slid around him, and his body caught fire. He kissed her more deeply, more pa.s.sionately, and she responded with an eagerness that thrilled him. On and on they kissed, until someone in another bed stirred, and the sound made them jerk apart all at once.
She was breathing hard. So was he, and nearly too aroused to force himself to stop. He"d never kissed a woman before that night. He was certain that she was every bit as innocent as he.
Leaning closer, his lips against her ear, he whispered, "I"m sorry." And then, calling up every ounce of willpower he possessed, he rose. It was almost physically painful to turn away from those wide, pa.s.sion-glazed eyes. But he did. He walked away from her, slipped out the window and put his plan for escape into motion.
And for that, even though it had meant his very survival, he would never forgive himself.
I had opened every drawer, fanned the pages of each book on his bookshelves, explored every cabinet and closet, and still I had found no clue as to his past. Or mine.
Maybe I was imagining the familiarity. Maybe it didn"t mean anything at all. Maybe I sensed that he was near and turned my head slightly to see him standing a few yards from the house, staring through the window at me. I couldn"t help but smile a little bit at the sight of him, so great was my relief that had actually come back. And in spite of my fear that I would seem silly and needy, I hurried to the door and flung it open.
He remained still for only a moment, as his eyes met mine, and I felt the oddest familiarity about the intense gaze we shared. Everything inside me seemed to quiver with an unnamed antic.i.p.ation. My stomach clenched tight when he started walking toward me. It was only a few steps, and yet they were powerful, deliberate strides, and I shivered in delicious longing.
I only moved away when he reached the doorway, and then only enough to let him pa.s.s through. As soon as he stepped across the threshold, his arms snapped around my waist and pulled me hard against him. He lowered his head and took my mouth in a way that told me he was eager, that he was hungry for me. I felt an answering hunger burning inside me as I opened to him, threaded my fingers through his hair and kissed him back as my body seemed to burst into flame.
I had been taught about the workings of the human bodyhow, when, by whom, I did not know. The knowledge, though, remained. I knew about mating and reproductionat least as such things pertained to mortals. I had no idea what, if anything, was different among our kind. The Undead. And yet I had never, I thought, understood or expected this feeling that engulfed me in that moment in his arms. I had never, I thought, realized that there would be this fire. Or had I? Because his kiss was familiar.
When he finally lifted his head, I opened my eyes and then gasped, because his were glowing, as if this fire I felt was burning in him, too, and had made itself real, visible there in his eyes.
I couldn"t look away. "Are my eyes glowing, too?" I asked him.
He nodded, searching my face.
A wave of tiredness washed over me then, suddenly and without warning. My knees felt weak, but I stiffened themand my slowly relaxing spine, as well.
"You"ve kissed me before, Ethan," I told him. "I know you have."
Again he nodded.
"You have to tell me. Please, Ethan, I want to know. I want it as badly as I wantas I want you."
He almost smiled. But only with his lips. A brief tug at the corners of his delicious mouth, and then it was gone. His eyes, as the fiery glow faded, seemed to convey worrya worry I didn"t understand. At last he nodded. "I"ll tell you. I"ll tell you all of it. But there"s a lot, and we"re out of time."
"Out of time?" I frowned, not understanding, but my eyes felt inexplicably heavy, and my neck seemed too weak, suddenly, to support the weight of my head.
"You feel it. I can see you do. The sun"s about to rise, Lilith. We need to rest now. I wish to G.o.d we had a choice in the matter." And even as he said it, he turned me slightly, keeping one arm around my waist, propelling me forward at his side. He paused only long enough to close and lock the door, never letting go of his hold on me, and then he guided me toward the stairs.
My head fell sideways against his powerful shoulder as we climbed, and my body slumped once more.
Instantly Ethan scooped me up in his strong arms. I curled my own arms around his neck and was asleep before we reached the top of the stairway.
Chapter Six.
Present Day Ginger Walters, head of the Appalachian Regional Branch of the Sisterhood of Athena, frowned at the telephone as it rang.
Serena looked over at her with curiosity, but nothing more than that. She"d been living with the sisters for more than twenty years now, and she knew how things worked. You knew what you needed to know, nothing more. h.e.l.l, aside from herself, Terrywho"d brought her hereand Ginger, no one in the entire organization knew that she was the mother of one of The Chosen, one of those rare humans who had the potential to become a vampire. One of the people they watched. Ginger said they never would have lether in, if they"d known. "They," being the higher ups in the organization. To say they were strict was an understatement. In her time there, Serena had picked up on the unspoken knowledge that once a woman joined the Sisterhood, she was never allowed to leave.
Never.
Extreme, perhaps. But she could see the need for such measures. And the need for secrecy, the need for all of it. She had become as loyal and as devoted to the cause as any of them.
They were just returning from the wide fenced-in and ultra-private lawn in back, where they gathered morning and evening for Chi Kung and Rung Fu practice. She had a towel around her neck, was wearing a sweat damp gi with a black belt around her waist, and was barefoot. So were the others who trooped through the house ahead of her, all of them heading to their rooms for a shower.
They"d come in through the rear door, so it was the kitchen telephone that had sidetracked the honcha, as Serena liked to call their leader. But when Ginger brought the phone to her ear and said, "This is Ginger Walters. Who is calling?" there was something off about her tone. Something that brought Serena up short.
And when she saw the look on the other woman"s face, she knew something big was going on.
Ginger"s eyes shot to hers. "Get Terry back here, and close the door. Hurry."
Serena nodded and ran out of the room. The others had gone their various ways, but her shout brought Terry in a hurry. Maybe her own voice was giving things away, too. But even if it did, the others wouldn"t snoop or pry or try to listen in. It just wasn"t how they operated. They trusted each otherthey had to.
Their lives too often depended on it.
Terry joined her, and together they rushed back into the kitchen. Serena closed the door behind them, and Ginger said, "All right, Callista. Go ahead." And then she pressed the speaker b.u.t.ton and set the receiver down.
"Callista?" Serena whispered in disbelief, sending a quick stunned look at Terry. It had been twenty-eight months since anyone had heard a word from her. She was a sister who had begun a pa.s.sionate affair with a suspected DPI operative, pretending to know nothing about his work the entire time. Eventually she"d become close enough to him to win his trust, and he had helped her get a job as a "keeper" at some mysterious place they called "The Farm."
She"d planned to work undercover, to send back information on The Farm"s location and find out whether the place had anything to do with the missing children they"d been trying for so long to find, including Serena"s own missing baby girlwho would be twenty-two years old by now. But it had been as if Callista had fallen off the planet. And no amount of searching or digging had turned up any sign that she was still alive.
All of that whirled through Serena"s mind like a twister, and then she was focused again on the call.
"Go ahead, Callista," Ginger said. "Where are you?"
"I"m at The Farm." The words were whispered. Frowning, Ginger hit the volume b.u.t.ton. "I"ve been here the entire time, but what they don"t tell you "til you"re here is that once you"re hired, there"s no contact with the outside world you"re not allowed to leave until your contract is up. And even then" "So how are you making this call?"
"They"ll kill me if they find out. I stole a cell phone from a guard who smuggled it in. If he reports it, they"ll shoot him, though, so I might be safe. And I had to get in touch."
"Why?"
"Serena"s daughter"
"She"s there?" Serena lurched closer to the phone, as if she could grab hold of it, and her child through it.
"She was " Callista said. "A prisonerone of many. But she escaped: I"m fairly certain she she changed over first."
Serena felt her body turn to stone. She couldn"t move. She couldn"t feel. She was devoid of warmth.
"She"s she"s a" G.o.d, she couldn"t even say it.
"I think so, Serena. She goes by the name of Lilith. But after an earlier escape, the Keepers inst.i.tuted anew tagging program. The residents have all been implanted with a tracking device that can be remotely activated if they get away. All without their knowledge. They"ll find her in short order, and when they do, she"ll be executed. That"s why I had to risk everything to call you. You have to get to her before they do."
Serena nodded dumbly. Terry"s arm came around her shoulders, as if to comfort her or soothe her tears.
But there were none. She couldn"t cry. She"d lost her daughter. She"d lost her. Lilith wasn"t even human anymore.
"Callista, can you get out of there?" Ginger asked.
"I couldn"t before, and now that Lilith has gotten away, security has gone through the roof. I"ll look for an opportunity, but I have a feeling I"m going to have to stay another eight months, until my contract is up."
"They let people leave after that?" Ginger asked. "They trust them to keep quiet?"
"Anyone who talks is tracked down and executed. They make very sure we all know that."
Ginger nodded. "So tell me all you can now, then, if it"s safe."
"It"s not. But I might never get another chance. I can"t tell you where The Farm is. They blindfold us when they bring us in, and we never leave until our time is up. I have no idea where I am. But I do know it"s about two hours from Athena House, maybe less. They could have driven me around in circles for a while to throw me off, for all I know."
"Okay. What else do you know, Callista? What do they do there?"
"Program children. Brainwash them. Train them to to kill on command. To obey without question.
They"re taking any kids with the antigen that they can get their hands on and raising them here. When they"re grown, they transform them and take them elsewhere. They are they"re creating a vampire army, Ginger. Loyal to the point of death to the United States Government"s most ultra secret agency."
Ginger"s eyes went wide with horror, and she gazed at the other two. Serena felt her heart breaking. "They couldn"t break your daughter"s spirit, Serena," Callista went on. "You should know that. She never lost her will. She was a rebel to the core."
A little frown bent Serena"s brows.
"She"s an incredible woman," Callista continued. "Vampire or not. I I loved her. You will, too. If you can get to her in time." She paused, then added, "I"m sending you an email from this phone with her picture. It should help."
Ginger nodded slowly, then began to pace. "I don"t suppose you have any idea where she would have gone, do you?"
"Only one clue," Callista said. "A month after I arrived here, there was another escape. A young man called Ethan. No last name, as far as I know. I sort of helped him. But I had no choice."
"We know about Ethan!" Terry said. "He has a place in Mesina. We"ve had him on the radar for a year now."
"He"s a legend here. So will Lilith be, before week"s end. But she used to talk about him. And there was something in her eyes and her voice when she did I don"t think I"m imagining it. And I know he had feelings for her. So maybe"
"Good work, Callista."
"Thank you. Thank you so, so much," Serena said. "Please be safe."
"I"ll do my best. I want to get out of here as badly asI"ve gotta go."
And that was it. The connection was broken.