Chapter 27
Corazon fixed Jacob with a hard look, one that hid nothing of his feelings. He loathed the man. Every fibre of his being called for vengeance for what he had done to Scarlet. He couldn’t look at Jacob without his right hand twitching, filling with strength that was becoming impossible to restrain. He took a step back to clear his senses and keep a safer distance between him and the humans. One wrong step and everything would be ruined. That was why he had insisted that Troy remain with Scarlet. He wanted neither of them involved in this. Their presence would only remind him of the things the humans had done to them and could push him into losing control.
Daliel stepped forwards and unrolled the plans on the table. Corazon looked at the table and those around it. The humans were using it as a barrier. Not one of them were on the same side as the vampires. The werewolves crowded either end of the table, bridging the gap. He had noticed that the humans seemed more content with the werewolves. It was odd considering that both werewolves and vampires killed their kind. Perhaps it was easier for the humans to forget this since the werewolves could roam in daylight.
“The opposing territory will have to come this way to break through into our territory,” Corazon said, pointing out the sixth garrison on the large map. It outlined the whole of the territory, every garrison and human village was marked on it, as well as landscape. There were also a few blood splatters. It was human blood, but he wasn’t about to tell the humans that. They wouldn’t know by looking at it. He only knew by scent. He motioned to the mountains that surrounded the sixth garrison and the valley beyond them. “They will be funnelled in towards us. There is no other way over these mountains for hundreds of miles and this is the way I came when I returned from their territory. They will follow my scent.”
There was a murmur among the humans. He waited patiently for them to simmer down again. When they did, Jacob had stepped forwards to stand beside the human commander. Corazon stared at them. Jacob whispered something into the man’s ear. The man nodded and Jacob left the room.
Corazon didn’t like this. He watched the door close and stared at it a moment. Instinct told him that Jacob was likely to try to find Scarlet. He had caught the man close to her several times, and each time he had placed himself between them, obscuring her view of the man. He knew that her torture at the human’s hands had scarred her for life. It had wounded her deeply to be treated so heinously by someone she once knew.
He wrapped the meeting up quickly and was walking out into the clear night air before twenty minutes had passed. The seventh and twelfth had patrol tonight. Scarlet would be up on the wall somewhere with Troy. He had told his child to keep close to her, even though he knew that instruction wasn’t necessary. Troy would never let her out of his sight.
Crossing the courtyard towards the wall, he noticed Daliel walking across it with Violet. They seemed happy. Violet was laughing, her hand over Daliel’s arm. It was good to see them together again. It made him feel safer. Only the presence of the humans worried him now.
* * * *
Scarlet stared into the distance. Darkness swallowed the world, leaving no detail. She slid into her vampire guise, hoping to see what was out there in the valley, but it had no effect. Changing back again, she looked across to her left at Troy. He was staring into the distance too. The wind tousled and toyed with his sandy hair, sweeping strands of it across his forehead. Neither of them wore their helmets. The weather was mild and it felt too good to have the breeze on her face to stick with protocol. If the first lieutenant of her company wasn’t going to wear his helmet, then neither was she. The playful wind danced through her long black hair, tickling her neck with it.
It was so quiet tonight.
It wouldn’t remain that way for long.
The time was drawing closer.
“I won’t let anything happen to you again, Scarlet,” Troy said, his eyes never leaving the distance and his voice strained with feeling. He looked down at her, his blue eyes dark in the low torchlight. There was so much affection in them. “I promise I will remain close to you, if I can.”
Scarlet smiled and placed her hand over his where it rested on the top of the wall. It would be impossible for him to remain close to her when he was a swordsman and she an archer, but she didn’t mention it. It was the thought behind his words that counted. It was his desire to protect her that touched her heart.
“Thank you, Troy,” she said and meant it with all of her soul. Her hand remained over his. “I will do my best to protect you too, both of you.”
A smile touched his lips and he placed his hand over hers, holding it. It was quietly comforting to have his hand on hers. It reassured her that perhaps they would all make it through this. Her thoughts had been growing darker by the minute since she had awoken this evening in Corazon’s arms. Their night of love making had only been able to chase away reality for so long. Not long enough. The moment they had risen, thoughts of battle and war and losing him or her friends had crowded her mind.
The peace she had found by speaking to Troy had surprised her. He had reassured her so much.
Her other hand covered his, completing the tangle, and she stared out into the distance, enjoying the silence. The stars twinkled down at her, beautiful against their inky backdrop.
She wished this peace could last.
“It won’t be long now,” Troy whispered, as though he feared voicing those words and shattering this quiet moment.
“I know,” she said. “I can feel it too... the rise in tension. The wait is almost over.”
The sound of footsteps on the heavy stones of the walkway around the wall made her turn. She had expected Corazon. In front of her was Jacob.
“You never struck me as the kind that would cheat on a lover,” he said.
Troy’s hands left hers and he was past her in an instant, his hand on his sword, drawing it as he growled at Jacob. She reached out and placed her hand over Troy’s. He stopped and looked at her. She eased his hand downwards, sliding the sword back into its sheath.
“He isn’t worth it,” she said, holding his gaze.
“You couldn’t kill me anyway,” Jacob said with an air of triumph and smug satisfaction. “If you killed me, the truce would be over.”
Scarlet stared at him, at the face of the man who had hurt her more than any other. Anger boiled in her veins. He believed that her kind had been de-fanged by the pact.
She kept her hand over Troy’s, stopping him from attacking and using the feel of him being there to give her strength.
“We could toss you over the wall and say you fell,” she said, casual and cold. She peered over the edge of the wall at the long drop and then looked back at him. “It would definitely kill you.”
Jacob’s eyes widened and she could sense the shock in him. He shifted as though he was going to back off a step but then moved one towards her instead.
“Does the fact we once knew each other mean nothing to you?”
She laughed in his face and moved closer to Troy. Troy placed his free hand over hers, holding it. She silently thanked him for the reassurance that he was there for her.
“Maybe it would, if you hadn’t tortured me.” Those words were hard to say, bringing back a nightmarish twisted memory of her time in captivity. “You’re nothing but a loathsome human now... a treacherous snake.”
Jacob lunged at her. The blade of a sword against his throat stopped him dead. Scarlet frowned at him and realised that she was still holding Troy’s hand. Who’s sword was at Jacob’s throat?
Corazon stepped past him, his blade remaining pressed against Jacob’s Adam’s apple. There was such darkness in Corazon’s eyes that she feared he would lose control. His right hand was shaking as he held the sword. She could sense the anger and tension inside him. The violence.
He sneered, revealing sharp teeth to Jacob’s wide horrified eyes.
“If you ever go near Scarlet again, I will kill you, regardless of the truce.” Corazon pressed forwards with the blade.
Jacob fled, disappearing down the nearest stairs.
Scarlet stared at the spot where he had been and released Troy’s hands. She looked at Corazon and then at him.
“You were right to refrain from attacking him,” Corazon said to them and she kept her eyes fixed on Troy.
She could see the anger in his eyes and it spoke volumes. Next time Jacob came near her, she wouldn’t be able to stop Troy with a simple hand on his.
If Troy caught Jacob near her, he would kill him too. Troy moved to stand near Corazon and both men looked at her.
They would both kill Jacob for what he had done to her.
Regardless of the truce.
If Jacob survived this.
He was a dead man.
Leave a Comment