Chapter 20
Scarlet steadied her horse and stared down at the human village below. The night was bitterly cold, but she could smell the change in season. She frowned as she watched the people moving around the village and struggled to shut out the terrible memories it dragged to the surface of her mind.
It had been five weeks since she had last been here, since she had been their captive and at their mercy.
It had taken her that long to heal fully, and Corazon had insisted that they wouldn’t go forward with their mission until she had recovered and was back at full strength.
She glanced across at Corazon to find that he was watching the village too, his eyes sharp and dark in the low light. He was in his vampire guise. She slid into hers too, wanting to see what difference it would make to her vision. It cleared a little and everything seemed brighter, but it brought her no advantage. Was the emergence of his true form simply because he wanted to show the humans his full power when they met? Was it a tactic to frighten them until they didn’t dare attack him and herself?
Scarlet held her own true form at the surface too, using the way the night spoke to her to distract her from the thoughts still crowding her mind.
Her senses reached out and fixed at first on Corazon and then on Troy. They were flanking her, their horses as restless as her own. She knew that neither of them would let anything happen to her. She was safe here. The humans wouldn’t dare try to hurt them.
It wasn’t just the presence of Corazon and Troy that would see to that.
Half the garrison was with them.
There were well over sixty soldiers surrounding the village, led by the captains and lieutenants of the thirteenth and twelfth companies.
Corazon broke rank, silently moving his horse forwards. She began to follow and then stopped and looked back at Troy. He was watching her, a strange look in his eyes that she could easily interpret. He wanted to go too. He was worried about her safety.
She felt Corazon move back towards her, his signature sharp on her senses. He stopped just in front of her and looked right at her. She glanced at him and then back at Troy.
“I think it would be wise to take more numbers to the fort,” she said, her voice trembling the slightest amount and betraying her growing nerves.
Her eyes met Corazon’s and he looked at her for a long time, his expression unwavering.
“Lieutenant Troy,” he said, his eyes never leaving hers. “Accompany us.”
She thanked Corazon with a smile. It was better this way. She would feel safer with them both there, and she didn’t want Troy to be worried about her. He needed to focus. They all did.
Riding into the humans’ fort like this was dangerous. They would be vulnerable, even with their armour. If the humans used the same poison tipped arrows as they had taken her and Troy captive, then armour would give them little protection. It would only take a hit on their arm or leg to render them unconscious.
Scarlet glanced at the surrounding hills as they rode down into the valley where the fort was nestled amongst the dark pines. If they were attacked, it would be the end of this fort and the humans occupying it. The ranks had orders to destroy everything if needs be.
Her eyes strayed to Corazon, to the man who had given that order.
He was taking no chances.
They would eradicate the humans if they attempted anything other than speaking. The slightest sign that they were arming themselves for attack, or potentially going to assault them, and the companies would descend and kill everyone.
If that happened, there was no chance of convincing the humans that it would be foolish not to take the offer her species were giving them. The humans would hear of the massacre and would retaliate.
They would all be killed.
The generals had resolved to no longer tolerate any attack by humans.
They were going to send the companies to war either way—be it against the other territory’s vampires, or against their own territory’s humans.
Blood was destined to be spilt.
She looked up to see they were drawing closer to the gates. The steady beat of the horses’ hooves on the dirt path broke the silence that hung heavy between her and the two men flanking her. She could only think of one thing. Facing Jacob.
How could she act civil after what he had done to her?
How would Corazon and Troy be able to control themselves when faced with the man that had so brutally tortured her?
This was going to go badly.
There was no way it could go well.
Someone would snap—the humans or one of her protectors, or even herself. It didn’t matter who it was. She could sense that it was going to happen.
The tension in Corazon and Troy was as tangible as her own. She could sense it, feel it inside her, and the closer she got to the humans fort, the stronger those feelings became.
Her eyes skimmed up the height of the wooden gates to the top. Towering above her were a dozen archers, their bows trained on her and her companions.
Corazon moved forwards until he was easily within range and any arrow fired wouldn’t miss its target.
Her chest tightened.
Her fingers flexed against the reins.
She was suddenly very aware of the sword hanging at her side and the bow and quiver of arrows on her back.
“We wish to meet with a man calling himself Jacob.” Corazon’s voice rang clear and strong through the night.
There was a clamour of voices from behind the wall.
“Why?” one called out. “We don’t want vile creatures like you in this place.”
Corazon had no visible reaction. He steadied his horse, his back straight and posture proud.
“We do not wish to enter. We wish to meet with a man calling himself Jacob,” he said, his eyes fixed on the archers. “It is a matter of great importance concerning your future and ours.”
More muttered conversation took place, this time louder, and Scarlet heard several vulgar objections shouted above the noise.
She rode forwards, bringing herself in line with Corazon. A glance at him revealed that he wasn’t as calm as he appeared. The muscle in his jaw was twitching as he struggled to hold his expression. His top lip curled slightly to reveal sharp canines.
“Jacob!” she hollered and the night fell silent. She could almost feel everyone’s attention on her. “If you ever called me friend, you will speak with us now. We mean you no harm, regardless of your actions against myself and First Lieutenant Troy.”
The hush stretched on, heavy feeling and full of meaning. No voices broke it. Not one whispered comment. Her ears listened for it, but only silence filled them.
Footsteps from inside the fort finally broke it.
Wood shifted against wood.
The gate creaked open.
Jacob came out, flanked by two men with short swords and backed up by a half dozen archers.
She thought it a little excessive considering there was only three of them to his nine.
Troy came forwards and the whole group tensed and turned to face him. She smiled inside at their foolishness. If they had wanted a moment to attack, this shift of focus by them would have been perfect. They had neglected to keep herself and Corazon under scrutiny. It would have been easy for someone of Corazon’s skill to kill half of them before they even knew what was happening.
Jacob looked at her again.
He seemed different now, aged. His hair was drawn back, tight against his skull and tied. Dark rings lined his eyes, a sign of fatigue. He had a new scar, long and thick across his forehead. Corazon had probably caused it. She was glad that he had been able to have some form of vengeance for what had happened to her.
Jacob’s gaze shifted from her to Corazon. The fear in them and the way his hand began to rise towards his head confirmed that it was Corazon who had hurt him.
“Speak,” Jacob said, voice gruff and demanding.
This was her moment.
Corazon had brought her here to talk reason to a man she had once known, a man who had loved her, and failure wasn’t an option.
“The vampires from the territory south of here have eradicated the humans there.” She paused only long enough for this to register with him. “They now ride on us, intent on taking this land for their own. They will battle us for possession of the land, and then they will kill every human on it. They will not stop until the very last one is dead and drained, and then they will move to the next territory.”
“You came in all this glory, with all these soldiers, to tell us that?” There was a sharp edge to his voice.
It didn’t affect her.
“We have a proposition.” Scarlet dismounted and her nerves returned when she walked towards Jacob. It was hard to act so brazen and confident when she was turning to jelly inside. She was vulnerable now, but on her horse, she had been looking down on Jacob and the humans and that was no way to get them to do as she wanted.
She heard Corazon and Troy dismount, and before she had reached Jacob, they were beside her.
Jacob’s eyes flickered to Corazon again, and then he stared hard at her, giving her the impression that she was being scrutinised. Was he trying to see if this was the captain that she had spoken of? She had noticed Jacob look at the insignia on Corazon’s arm.
“We’re asking you to speak with your superiors in all the forts and discuss with them the potential for a truce between our species.”
There were shouted comments from above, demeaning words that she chose to ignore.
“We will defend you against the vampires, and join forces with you to protect this land.”
He looked sceptical. “And the price for this so easily given offer?”
“We ask only for blood.”
The whole fort laughed at her.
Troy drew his sword at the exact same time as Jacob and stopped his blade from touching her throat. She glared at Jacob and went to speak, but Corazon stepped forwards. His face was as black as midnight, as thunderous as the mountain storms.
He took hold of Jacob’s blade, his fingers wrapped tight around it, and eased it backwards away from her. His head dipped towards Jacob and she watched Jacob’s face, seeing the fear surfacing in his eyes.
“Listen, little man, and listen well,” Corazon whispered and Jacob tensed, his eyes going wide and his face draining of colour. She could hear his heart racing, pounding hard and erratic. It called to her, enticing her, but she kept control. “It would be wise to accept this offer. The next territory’s vampires have been without blood for many weeks. They are starving. Your kind would not stand a chance without us. You are not strong enough to fight a pack of starving wolves, let alone starving vampires. An offer of blood on a weekly basis is better than dying, surely?”
Jacob was silent. She wondered if he could even speak to answer Corazon. There was so much fear in his eyes.
“You would keep us like farm animals,” he said at last, but his voice trembled, no longer strong and confident.
Corazon leaned closer. “Your people would be free and safe. We would protect them for this price, this offering. Our strength for your blood. It is a fair exchange.”
“We only ask you to think about it and to meet with your superiors to discuss it. There is less than a week before the vampires reach the southern borders of our territory. Many lives would be saved by accepting our truce. When you have an answer for us, ride to our garrison and ask to speak with Captain Corazon. You will not be harmed.” She held his gaze a moment and then mounted her horse.
Corazon and Troy followed her lead. She was about to turn away and ride out when Jacob spoke.
“Is this Captain Corazon?” he said, eyeing him.
She nodded. “It is.”
“Returned from the dead.” Jacob’s voice was dark now, full of jealousy.
“Returned from hell,” Corazon said.
She thought Corazon would say more, maybe mention coming back to save her, but he turned away and looked over his shoulder at her. She could see that any patience he’d had with the humans was gone and he wanted to leave now.
“You have three days. We will watch for you.” Scarlet turned her horse away too, following Corazon up the incline and leaving Troy to bring up the rear.
The more the distance between her and the humans grew, the calmer she felt. By the time they had met with the captains of twelfth and thirteenth company, she was relaxed in the saddle and feeling as though this encounter with the humans and Jacob had never happened.
“You did well, Scarlet,” Corazon said, riding beside her as they led the group back to the garrison.
She thanked him with a smile, unsure of what to say.
Her thoughts turned to Jacob and the offer that had been extended to the humans. Could he see it was an ultimatum? The humans faced death if they didn’t agree to the blood offering. They were fools if they turned it down.
The garrison loomed into view, dark and imposing. The heavy twin gates swung open and archers filed out, lining the way into the garrison, their bows pointed into the forest. Corazon was taking no chances at all.
The vampires from the other territory had his scent now. Once they had made it past the sixth garrison, they would be coming here to finish the job they had started on him.
War was coming and this time it was against her own species. Defending themselves against the humans would seem child’s play in comparison.
She didn’t know if she was ready to fight vampires, to fight those with similar strength and abilities to her, but she wouldn’t hide away when they came. She would be in the front wave of the attack. She would remain near Corazon and fight with everything she had.
She rode closer to him as they entered the garrison and followed him towards his quarters. He dismounted when a groom took hold of his horse and hers. She smiled at Corazon when he helped her down, his hands firm against her waist, holding her tight. It reminded her of when she had first met him, but now things were so different.
They were exactly as she had wanted them to be.
Her eyes closed as his lips claimed hers in a brief, passionate kiss.
She wouldn’t let anyone take him from her again.
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