Captivate Me (Book One: The Captivated Series) (25 page)

“Where are the other six?” I asked
again.

“They’re hidden away
safely.”

I paused, a thought coming to me.
“Would one of them happen to be Sarah?”

She slid me an amused glance. “I don’t
know their names, child. But probably.”

Anger flared again. “Well
you
need
to know
their names. The people you’re killing have names – Sarah, Jillian,
Brad, H-.”

“That’s nice, Kathrin,”
she said, turning to look me square in the eyes, “but obviously if
I’ve lived with the ones that are tied up with you right now, and I
have no qualms sacrificing
them
, then I don’t give a shit about
what your little school friends’ names are.”

I glared at her and hoped
she felt it cutting through her. How someone could be so beautiful
and terrible at the same time was beyond me.
I hope you rot in hell.

“Have something else to
say?”

I pressed my lips tight.
Kai’s footsteps were nearing. We didn’t have much time.
Hurry, Anna!

“That’s what I thought. And while
we’re waiting on Kai, I’d like to share a little story with
you.”

My eyes dropped to the ground. I had a
feeling I didn’t want to hear her story, but I wouldn’t have much
of a choice. Besides, this would help stall.

“This all started with me and my
younger sister, Lilliana, about twenty years ago. In case you
haven’t guessed, I’m a witch.” Her mouth twitched with a smile on
the word “witch”. Apparently she was proud of it. “And so are my
sisters, Lilliana and Rose. My sister Rose has a knack for spells
and rituals, and she came across a one for immortality. To live
forever didn’t appeal to her, but me and Lilliana, we couldn’t
resist. The only thing was, we needed angel hybrids and had no idea
where to look.” She brushed her hand against my cheek, and I shied
away. “You little shits look just like all the regular humans… on
the outside.”

Kai’s footsteps were closer. We needed
more time.

“Luckily, we knew a witch that read
auras.”

“Kai?” I guessed, and I’d forced as
much venom into saying his name as I could.

Her eyes narrowed. “No. This was an
old family friend… a warlock. Daemon.”

Fitting name.

“He said he’d heard of humans with
unusual auras, that they had silver threading. He’d never seen one
before, himself, but a friend of his had. His friend had also told
him he believed they were half-breeds – part angel, part human –
but the only way to find out for sure was to check their
blood.”

Sounds
familiar.

“So we commissioned Daemon’s help,
traveled far and wide. One day we stumbled across a compound – log
cabins in the woods surrounded by a rickety fence. Everyone there
had silvery threads in their auras.” She paused reflectively.
“Makes sense – hybrids living together in a large colony. A sense
of community, but a community where nobody dies. No losses. No
hiding your true self or your immortality. And that’s when we
realized, this is what we really wanted… to live together
forever.”

My thoughts snapped back to mine and
Gabriel’s conversation the night before. About how Raymond had
heard of this colony, and Iris didn’t want them talking about it.
Now I knew why.

“So Lilliana and I did
what we had to do. We snuck in during the night and drugged twelve
of them.” She smiled proudly. “And in case you haven’t guessed,
elixirs are
my
specialty.”

Thinking of the nasty
drink from earlier, my stomach churned.
Never would have guessed.

“We performed the rituals and haven’t
aged since. I’m forever frozen in my thirties, and Lilliana in her
early twenties.”

“And let me guess,” I said. “Rose
became sick with cancer, and you’re on a mission to save her life
by killing innocent people.”

Her eyes flared. “Who told you she was
sick?”

I stared back into her eyes,
unwavering. I truly did wish they’d all rot in hell.

“I’m back!” Kai said, interrupting our
stare-down, “let’s-”

She held out her hand to silence him.
“Who told you, Kat?”

I said nothing.

“It was lover-boy, wasn’t it?” By the
way her body shook with rage, I know I’d hit a sore spot. I didn’t
want her to take it out on Gabriel any more than they were already
planning to, so I bit my tongue.

“Well let me tell you a little
something about that too.”

Kai stepped back, knowing better than
to interfere.

“She has stage four leukemia, and by
some miracle – which might partly have to do with some of my
elixirs – she’s managed to stay alive twenty years. But the doctors
say-” Her voice cracked. “She only has weeks left.
Weeks!”

Kai placed a consoling hand on her
shoulder, but she shrugged it off.

“After Lilliana and I came
back to my sister with our news of immortality, she gave
us
the news she’d
received when we were away. We eventually talked her into letting
us bring her six more hybrids from the compound so we could prevent
her death, but when we returned, the village had been
abandoned.”

A tear slid down her cheek, and she
angrily swiped it away with the heel of her palm.

“So Lilliana and I split up to save
time. She went with Daemon to try and find another compound, and I
hired Kai – who I’d met while he helped care for Rose – to help me
look in mortal communities. Lilliana hasn’t had any luck, but I’d
been able to find a hybrid every year or so… getting them to live
with us and trust us was another task.”

Because they were smarter
than us.

“It took me and Kai
ten
years to even get
one to commit – Gabriel. After that it was a little easier to get
others to join. We finally had six a year ago and were traveling
back in the direction of my sister’s house when Aubrey and Brad
decided to leave us… but what were we to do? Keep them from
leaving? Demand they stay? The others might have left then, and I
couldn’t risk it.”

She paused, heaving a breath to settle
her nerves and said, “That’s when we came across Midland Pines, and
it was a gold mine for hybrids since some of you also have gifts.”
Her eyes closed for a moment. “I believe destiny brought us here.
My sister was meant to be saved.”

It wasn’t
destiny
, my thoughts retorted.

“So we took Jillian first, in the
middle of the night – I’ve gotten sick of this “come and live with
us in the woods” song and dance – and had planned to take you and
the rest shortly after, but your annoying little curiosity led you
into the woods and right into Gabriel’s arms. It proved a useful
tactic to get you to keep coming back though, I admit. He was more
than happy to court you at my request.”

Confused, I furrowed my
brow.
At your request?

She regarded my scowl with a phony
sympathetic pout. “Oh, that’s sweet… you think him being around you
so much was because he loved you? And that quickly?” Her mocking
laugh was like a swift blow to my stomach. “You teenage girls are
so easily fooled.”

I felt nauseous, my mind whirling and
trying desperately to make sense of what she was saying. Kai
lowered his eyes to the ground.

I cut my eyes at
Gabriel.
Tell me it’s not true.

“But don’t be completely
heartbroken… I think he had feelings for you on
some
level. That’s why I couldn’t
very well snatch you up; he’d know if you went missing.”

I continued staring at
Gabe, tears falling harder than before. My heart was broken,
utterly broken. All of it was a lie to get me to live with them,
and now I was going to die because of it.
I’m such an idiot.

“So while we arranged the other four’s
capture,” she continued like the cold-hearted bitch she was, “Kai
and I put on one last charade to get you to come with us. I was
even reduced to slashing telephone lines to keep the news of the
missing students from getting out and you being carted away by your
parents. You were one of the only six hybrids at the school… we
needed you.”

“How nice,” I snapped between ragged
gasps.

“How nice of you to oblige me,
Kathrin,” she replied with a tug of the rope around my shoulders.
“So in short, my dear, Aubrey and Brad came back to us right before
we’d had our first talk with you in the woods – another blessing
from destiny – and now we’re one big happy family. After taking
your friends last night, we now have the twelve we need. Kai can be
immortal with me, and we’ll take the rest to my sister tonight.”
She stepped closer, looking deep into my eyes. “Take this as a
sign, dear – those of us who deserve this life are the ones fate
has chosen. You twelve, however, your souls can just float back up
into heaven and live with your goody-goody ancestors. We all
win.”

I had the urge to spit in her face,
but thought better of it. They were the ones with the
knife.

“Iris, honey,” Kai said, low and
respectful. “We need to get this finished.”

She pulled away, her eyes never
leaving mine. “Still want to be awake for this?” she
asked.

Ha! She was extending me mercy? “Fuck
you,” I spit out.

And that’s when we heard a muffled,
blood-curdling scream – Piper was the next to wake.

CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN

___________________

Reinforcements

Iris and Kai turned in
Piper’s direction, and my attention drew back to the school. I
counted a total of six figures slinking in the shadows toward the
clearing. Anna had brought a small army, and I hoped Iris and Kai,
or her stupid bird, wouldn’t notice the crunching of their
footsteps.
Make noise
, I thought.
Give them a chance to
get here without being heard.

“Let us go!” I screamed, wiggling
against the ropes.

Piper followed suit with a string of
strangled cries from behind the tape.

“Shut up!” Iris hissed at her. Her
dove made a similar sound.

I yelled as loud as I could. “Someone,
help!”

Iris snatched the dagger from Kai and
ran to Piper. I couldn’t see, but I imaged she’d poised it
dangerously at her throat. Piper cowered. “Shut your mouth, Piper,
or I’ll slit you wide open.”

Piper nodded with wide, frightened
eyes.

I tried to grip the knife with my
gift, but I couldn’t grab hold. I couldn’t see it; I needed to see
it.

Iris bashed her over the head with the
dagger anyway, knocking her out. “I’d rather do this in
silence.”

I cringed with a whimper. Iris turned
to me with an outstretched hand, her fingers curling as I felt my
throat squeezing tight. I gagged. “Keep that mouth shut,
Kathrin.”

“Iris, nobody can hear us,” Kai
reminded her.

“I know that!” she replied. “I don’t
want to hear all the screaming while we work.”

Blackness was seeping into my vision.
I tried to reply, but I couldn’t.

She flashed a wicked smile. “You’re
not the only one with ‘gifts’.”

Before the darkness took me, she
dropped her hand. My head lolled as I choked and gasped for
air.

Iris pointed at me. “Remember the
feeling of your windpipe crushing when you decide to burst my
eardrums again.” She motioned for Kai to join her, and they headed
for Gabriel.

Desperate, I cut my eyes
back at the woods, and four heads peaked above the trunk of a
nearby fallen tree. They must have been crouching and assessing.
One of the heads in particular grabbed my attention – blonde-tipped
hair.
Levi!
The
thought of him coming to my rescue flooded me with a mixture of
warmth and relief and love; although I also knew this was far from
over.

But where were the other two? I had
counted six figures earlier. Curious, I searched the woods and saw
two silhouettes skirting the clearing to the other side, opposite
of the others. I didn’t recognize their shape – bulky with slight
guts, and they both wore hats. They must have been officers. Oh,
God, please tell me they were officers!

I looked back to Gabriel and gasped.
Blood poured down his leg from where they were cutting his arm open
to drain him out, but I couldn’t see the knife. I couldn’t do
anything about it.

I swallowed the emotions down, trying
to bury them deep. I didn’t want to cry for him; I didn’t want to
think of him as the boy who I’d loved and had given my heart to. He
was a fraud. But I couldn’t help it; they swelled inside me anyway.
My soul was already weeping for him, my pull to him practically
bursting from my chest because he was in trouble and my entire
being pled with me to help him.

While I waited for Levi and the others
to make a move, my body began to shake violently beneath the ropes
– the cold, the pain and flurry of emotions were taking their toll.
I almost wished Iris had choked me until I’d passed out.