Talons (26 page)

“
What do you want?” he asked
calmly, eyes wary.

“
If I kill Ryken, I want to
leave here, and go wherever I wish to go,” she said
softly.

“
That is not possible,” Eli
said coldly, his eyes growing bright again. “If you’re ever
discovered, so are we! I can’t give this to you, Vivvie. My people
would hunt you down if you left here.”

“
Why would they have to know
of it?”

Eli reflected upon her words, saying
nothing. He was weighing the risks versus what they would gain in
giving into her. She saw the war that raged within him as he
debated her ultimatum.

“
You see the compound as a
prison now, but the real world is far worse for creatures like us,
Vivvie,” he said sadly. “Out there, you’re totally alone. You can’t
even breed with the humans anymore you lack such control. You could
kill them during sex if you turned without thinking. You wouldn’t
age like them either. How could you hide for long? No, I can’t
allow it, even for the good of the tribe. I can’t do
it.”

“
And I can’t kill Ryken by
your command, Eli!” she said harshly. “That is what I ask for, my
freedom.”

Eli stared at her with an inscrutable
expression. “I think you need to question what your definition of
freedom is now, Vivvie. It changed when you did. Here, you can be
what you are.”

“
I won’t live like an
animal, even if I am one!”

“
This is your final word?”
he said, eyes very bright.

“
Yes, that’s my final word,”
she replied tightly, seeing the disappointment in his
eyes.

“
When things worsen in
Florida, or Ryken manages to kill Ty or even Derek, will that make
you see reason?”

She felt the blood drain from her face.
“But Ty is stronger than Ryken. He fought them off and kept them
away from me.”

“
Ryken has an unusual gift,
Vivvie. He can mask his own scent and those with him, which is why
we can’t track them. Ty is much stronger than him, but he can’t see
Ryken coming, and neither can Derek.”

Eli was using everything in his arsenal
to get her to agree, and giving her nothing in return. He used even
her lingering feelings for Ty. He was such a jerk off! She was
unmoved, determined to have her way.

“
What does it take to make
you see you can’t go back to your former life?” Eli said
incredulously. “You might be able to control your emotions better
than Ty one day, but that is not any day soon, Vivvie.”

“
It’s what I want,” she said
quietly. “I don’t want someone making choices for me, telling me
what to do, forcing me to do what I don’t want. Give me that, and
I’ll learn to control this thing and help.”

Eli gazed at her in anger. He turned
and left without a word, slamming the door behind him, shouting at
the women in the hall to go back to their rooms. Vivvie flinched at
the sound of his voice. She knew he was furious with her for
refusing to help unless he gave her the freedom she
needed.

She wouldn’t give in. He might rule
this mountain community, but he wasn’t her master.

~~~~

Ty reacted violently to Eli’s plan, his
golden eyes fierce and glowing. The rest of the remaining council
members were thoughtful at his words.

“
No, we can’t use this gift
of hers! It’s far too dangerous! Ryken knows not to expect it, but
what is she fails? Recall, she has to kill him three times, not
just once? After the first time, you will lose the element of
surprise! He will expect us to send her in again!”

“
Ty, you leave on Saturday.
You have to convince her,” Eli said without concern, his blue eyes
filled with unyielding pressure. “She mistrusts me. She will likely
not listen to Jericho either. Lie to her if you must. Tell her she
can go freely if you have to. She needn’t know until after Ryken is
dead.”

Ty sat back in his chair in the
conference room, staring at Eli in disbelief. “You would have me
lie to her? I tell her she can just walk out of here when it’s
done? There has to be another way!”

“
She is most difficult to
convince!” Eli snapped, losing patience. “The damned female acts
like a human still. She thinks she has the same choices before
Ryken turned her.”

“
Maybe you should have been
more convincing last night when you took her out on a midnight
stroll?” Ty growled angrily, jealousy lighting up his
gaze.

Eli glared back at him and said nothing
of what happened between himself and Vivvie. Ty lost her fair and
square. Vivvie was his now.

“
This gets us nowhere! Ryken
could be planning his next colony while we bicker over who is
mating with the Newbreed. You need to get your priorities in order,
Ty.”

Ty felt all the other member’s eyes
upon him, and the weight of Eli’s words. It was true. He let his
feelings for Vivian cloud the matter. She could never leave the
tribe. Promising her that to gain her help was cruel of them all.
She would never forgive him.

“
Fine, I’ll take the offer
to her,” Ty said bitterly. “This is beneath us all, but I’ll do
it.”

“
It’s for the good of the
tribe you do this,” Eli said as he sat back in his chair, his blue
gaze unyielding. “I know you have feelings for her, Ty, but she
will see the truth of everything in time, and we don’t have it to
spare anymore.”

“
Ryken won’t be easy to
kill,” Ty said harshly. “What is she supposed to use when she
crosses over?”

Eli smiled coolly. “Leave that to me.
She will require some training, but she can be an adequate
assassin.”

“
Like my sister was for us?”
Ty said bitterly and shook his head. “We all know what that did to
her, do we not? Using this gift could do to Vivian what it did to
her.”

Eli looked away, unwilling to show the
pain he felt. Ty’s sister was catatonic still and lost in her dream
state because of him overusing her gift.

“
We need her only three
times,” Eli protested. “It will stop there.”

“
I want your word, Eli,” Ty
snarled, his golden eyes glowing. “Vivian does this for us and it’s
done. You won’t use her again.”

Eli nodded quickly, unable to meet Ty’s
gaze. They all shared the fault for Tania’s current state, but none
more than him. He encouraged her use of her strange gift, never
realizing she would never come back to them one day.

She remained in a dream state now, with
tubes feeding her. The rest of the tribe had no idea of her true
condition, or they would insist she be removed from the council.
They would insist a woman take her place.

None of the council considered it,
given their present choices in females. None of them were worthy of
taking Tania’s place. They would abuse their position with their
petty spite.

“
I’ll deal with Vivvie when
it’s done,” Eli said with a weary sigh and rubbed his eyes. “Go and
work your magic on her, Ty. Say whatever you must to get her to
agree.”

Ty got up without a word and stormed
out of the conference room, furious of what he would do. He made
his way to Vivian’s room, sure she would have nothing pleasant to
say to him, but he had to convince her. Eli was right. Vivian
trusted him implicitly. He saved her life. She would believe
anything he told her.

She opened her door and looked at him
like he was an insect.

“
We have to talk,” he said
as he brushed by her and entered her room.

“
I don’t think there is
anything to say, Ty,” she said and kept her door open. “Please go
now. I don’t think a scene is necessary. I got the message loud and
clear last night.”

“
You think I liked making
the choice to leave here?” Ty said coolly and walked over and shut
the door, his golden eyes filled with regret. “I have one soul
left, Vivian. I’m as mortal as any human you ever dated. Is that
fair to either of us?”

She refused to answer him. Thinking of
Mara with him the night before made her angry. She discovered who
the woman was Ty was with. It was the same one that spoke so meanly
to her in the hall. Jericho pointed the schoolteacher out to her at
breakfast, saying she was going along to teach the new offspring in
Florida.

“
Was it necessary to go to
bed with someone else just to make your point? You could have just
let me down easy,” Vivvie said and shook her head. “Don’t answer
that. We both know that what happened between us means nothing to
you.”

“
Last night was a mistake,”
Ty said and sighed sadly. “I didn’t plan it. I was angry, and she
was there. It’s no excuse, but you deserve more, Vivian. I refuse
to take a mate, or breed. It’s unfair to you.”

“
This isn’t your choice to
make for me!” she said stubbornly. “Just because I have nine souls
now doesn’t mean I think any less of each one. One or nine, what
does it matter?”

“
It matters, and you will
realize it when you’re alone.”

Ty could see the hurt in her gaze and
longed to comfort her, but he wouldn’t add that to his crimes when
she found out he deliberately lied to her.

“
I need only two council
members to gain approval for what you ask to help us,” Ty said and
his gaze met hers directly. “Both Jericho and Derek are willing to
allow you to leave when Ryken is dead.”

Vivvie was stunned. “What about Eli? He
said no!”

“
We can outvote him if we
need to, even if he is Chief here. He won’t like being usurped, but
we need Ryken eliminated.”

“
Why are you doing this?”
she asked, searching his face for some sign of deceit and saw
none.

“
You didn’t ask for this,”
Ty said and shrugged. “If you want to leave, the choice should be
yours. It won’t be easy for you out there, Vivian. You’re one of
us, even if you deny your nature. Time will only tell if you see
that for yourself.”

Vivvie was overwhelmed and didn’t know
what to say. “Fine, I’ll do it. I don’t know if I’ll succeed, but I
want to go home. I’ll do whatever I have to.”

Ty left her room feeling miserable for
lying to her. It showed in his face when he poked his head in the
conference room.

“
You got her agreement,” Ty
said coldly to Eli and slammed the door shut.

Eli looked relieved. Jericho stared at
him until he looked over at him.

“
What if she fails, Eli?” he
said tightly, yellow green eyes glowing with anger. “You have more
confidence in her than she does in herself!”

“
She won’t fail,” Eli said
softly. The leader looked at Gideon then and rolled his eyes at the
man’s pleading expression. “You can make ready to go now, Gideon.
Derek expects you in three days. Don’t kill anything but your own
meals before you get there.”

When they were alone, Jericho looked at
him with a sad expression. “What if she disappears like Tania
did?”

Eli refused to consider it. “Tania
refused to come back because we forced her to choose between us
then, as I recall. It was a way out of making a choice.”

“
You speak to her still?”
Jericho asked quietly, the longing in his eyes
unmistakable.

“
When she feels like
answering me,” Eli said tightly, looking uncomfortable to discuss
the female elder. “It’s not often anymore that she does. Wherever
she is, she is happy.”

“
Tell her I miss her when
next you speak,” Jericho said with sorrow in his voice.

“
I always do,” Eli said and
clasped his lifelong friend’s hand and got up.

Eli left the conference room feeling
satisfied Vivvie would help them now, but annoyed at the worry he
felt for the Newbreed. She had no idea what she asked of them.
Leaving the compound was never an option for any of them. Lying to
her now was all they could do.

Still, for the first time in four
hundred years, he felt some guilt at deceiving a female. This
emotion was new to him, and he despised the way Vivvie made him
feel. Recalling her coming to him in his sleep made him smile,
recalling her passion.

Vivvie would come to him again. She had
no mastery over her gift. The attraction she felt for him would
spill over into her subconscious. Eli grinned, looking forward to
the day she would come to his room fully awake.

For now, he did have his needs. Eli
spied a pretty young female on his way back to his suite. He spoke
to her without words. She smiled and followed him
obligingly.

Vivvie watched as Ty said his goodbyes
to all his people. The whole tribe turned out for the affair. The
dining room was decorated for the farewell event. Even the disco
was made ready for a celebration of his departure and promotion.
All knew he would be named leader in Florida.

Vivvie felt none of their revelry as
she watched him under her lashes endure hugs and kisses from all,
young and old. She would miss him. Her heart clenched to know she
might never see him again. Ty looked over at her and she tensed as
he strode over to her, his golden eyes filled with
regret.