Taken Over (Book 2 The Ravening Series) (35 page)

  
There was a long moment of silence. “Are you by yourself?”

   The man nodded. “I am. Can I lower my hands now?”

   “Never told you to raise
‘
em
,
”
Darnell retorted with amusement.

   The man grinned. It was a devilish smile that caused more than a few of the women
in the group to melt as the moved closer to him
. He was fresh meat and it was more than obvious that
they were interested in
him.
Apparently pickings were slim in the group; it wasn’t something I had noticed until Cade’s return. T
he
women
had
been very interested in
Cade when he had appeared, but
he paid them no attention, and
they had quickly realized that he was
not available
.

   “
We have some food if you want,” Darnell told him.

   “And a place to stay?”

   Cade stiffened. I took a step forward but he nudged me gently back. I opened my mouth to protest but the slight shake of his head silenced me. “We’ll see,” Darnell told him. “Lloyd take this man to Molly, I’m sure she has some food for him.” Darnell leaned close to Lloyd and said something that caused Lloyd to nod in response. He stepped forward as the man’s gaze slid back toward Cade
and then
focus
ed
on me. My eyes widened slightly as he stared at me for a long moment, a strange light shining in his dark eyes.

  “Go inside Bethany,” Cade ordered
softly.

  
I b
a
lked against his commanding tone.
“Cade…”

   He turned toward me, his face tense and his eyes burning.
He grasped hold of my shoulders, turning me toward
the door. Though he was trying to be casual as he slipped his arm around my shoulders and led me in, his body was tight, and I caught the backwards glance he threw over his shoulder.
I wanted to protest his
movements but the tautness of his body silenced my words. He was obviously disturbed about something, obviously upset the man had arrived.

   “Do you know him?” I inquired.

   “No
.”

  
I frowned, the disquieting notion that he was lying to me again filled me as I studied the stiff set of his jaw.
“You seem upset by his presence.”

   “
D
on’t want anyone to get hurt.”
   “And you think he’ll hurt someone?”
   Cade shrugged. “
We
can’t trust him until we know him
, but it’s foolish to give him the chance to do something
.
Things can go wrong
very
quickly.
”

  
That was a fact that we were both well aware of. T
he screen door opened
, causing us both to turn
a
s
Darnell came stomping inside
. “We’re moving again. Let Bishop know.”

   “But we just got here.” I hadn’t seen Jenna standing in the doorway of the downstairs bathroom
until she’d spoken
. Her hair was
in
wet
curls
as it hung around her shoulders.
Her sky eyes were wide with dismay as she surveyed Darnell.

   “Better safe than sorry. There could be other
people
out there
and we don’t know if we can trust him
.”

   Jenna frowned at Darnell’s statement but
he moved past
her
before he could
elaborate
. “What does that mean?”

   I explained it to her as we made our way toward the back, and Bishop. He was going to be disappointed that he wasn’t going to be able to get a fresh blood sample out of me again. For some strange reason, I was acutely relieved by th
e
fact.
Cade disapproved of Bishop using me as a guinea pig, and I wasn’t certain I wanted the answers that Bishop’s new round of tests might reveal.

CHAPTER 13

   I studied the map, barely listening as Darnell outlined the path he wanted to take. Some of it was going to be rough terrain, but at least it was mainly woods.
We had been on the move for the past three days, only now settling down once more
for a rest
. We were going to spend a few days at the small hotel
we had discovered
nestled at the edge of the woods
.
On the other side of the large cabin
-l
ike building was
a sparkling blue lake. Everyone had been ordered to stay away from the lake, only the woods were a secure position in which to remain hidden. It was a good thing the weather
had
become
cooler; I didn’t think I’d be able to resist the allure of the dark blue water
otherwise
.

  
I glanced at the people gathered around the table. Aiden and Lloyd were close together, Jenna stood slightly behind Bret, leaning over his shoulder. It looked like an intimate
posture
for the two of them, but unfortunately it was simply because it was the only place she had been able to squeeze in.
Bret was still annoyingly obtuse to her
, not because of me, but because he had become focused on be
coming
even more of a soldier, and spent every free moment he had training with the
re
m
aining troops
.
Bishop was standing beside the two other soldiers, Private Mick Smith and Private Frank
Doogal
.

  
There were a few other people gathered around, but I was acutely aware of the fact that Cade was not present.
And neither was
Ian Hoyt, the
enigmatic
man that had wandered into our camp just days ago.
Cade was weary of him still, distant, and he did whatever he could to keep me as far from Ian as possible. I had wanted to question him on it, but we barely had a moment alone, never mind time to have an in depth conversation. I was hoping that our stay in this hotel would give us a chance for so
me
much needed, and wanted, privacy.

   My attention left Darnell and the map as I scanned the crowd once more. I didn’t know where
Cade
had gone,
but for the past two days he had been hard to read. I was worried about him, but he still wouldn’t talk to me, still wouldn’t tell me what had happened to him while he
’
d been
gone. What they had done to him.

   Tension. There was always tension within him, always something simmering close to the surface. Something
I was becoming more frightened
was going to explode
,
no matter how tight of a hold he
tried to
k
e
ep on it. And he was keeping a very tight hold on it, that much was apparent. Even if it was only
apparent
to me.

   A light touch on my elbow pulled me away from my morose thoughts. I blinked Bishop into focus.
Apparently the meeting was over.
“We’re staying for a few days. I would like to finally get a sample if I could.”

   My throat was suddenly dry, but I managed a brief nod.
I could not
put Bishop
off
forever, could not hide from what may be hidden within my blood. I worried about Cade’s secrets, but I think he
suspected
I was harboring a few of my own.
He didn’t question me about it, but I was well aware of the fact that he was watching me even more than normal. Even more than those times I
ha
d ca
ught
him studying me in the halls
at
school, or on the streets
w
hen I had felt his gaze on me, and been drawn to him, but had been too shy to approach him in anyway.

  
It was all very confusing
but neither of us seemed willing to talk about
what we were going through
,
or our doubts
. I took comfort in the fact that at least he was back, at least the world did not appear as dark and cold
with him here
.
However,
now it wasn’t the world that was dark and cold
,
but Cade
himself.

  
A
nd I was even more confused about the changes going on inside of me.
Changes that had increased since that thing had attacked me
in Plymouth
. My craving for meat had increased, it was a battle to avoid it now, one that left me strained and exhausted by the end of every day.
I almost hoped that this fresh sample of blood would provide Bishop with the answers he sought, but I was terrified of what those answers m
igh
t be.

  
“Of course,
”
I murmured.
 

   I followed
Bishop up the steps of the hotel. He had set up his new
research
area in the small ballroom tucked in between two larger ballrooms. The three rooms could be combined by opening the partition that separated them.
When they were all c
ombined the
rooms
took up almost three quarters of the first floor of the hotel.
I imagined it had been a beautiful spot for weddings and parties.