Reclamation (The Ravening #3)(24)
Author: Erica Stevens

I stared as I tried to ascertain if she was asking because she was frightened or if perhaps she wasn’t really all that bright, but her question appeared to be serious. "They’re most likely going to kill you," I told her.

Her hand fell away from my arm as she took a quick step away from me. I shook my head at her and continued on through the crowd. Did she really believe she had a chance anymore? Not all of these humans would be killed, but most of them wouldn’t survive to see another week.

But then humans were different than us, they fought and struggled and continued on when it all seemed bleak and hopeless. Bethany had shown me this, and standing amongst these people I sensed the hope beneath their desolate despair. My kind never fought and struggled, we didn’t have to. I supposed it was the benefit of being on top of the food chain.

I made it to the steps at the end of the massive encampment and rapidly climbed them. A guard stepped forward to block me but another one stepped forward just as quickly and pushed him back. "Sir," the second man said with a bow of his head.

So they knew who I was then. It wasn’t unusual for one of my kind to recognize me; I would see it in their eyes and the subtle lowering of their heads when we would pass each other, but this open acknowledgment was new. I nodded back to him and continued forward when they stepped out of my way.

The massive wooden doors with gold etching on the glass panes in them opened before I could reach for the brass handle. The low sobs of the people drifted into the distance as I made my way into the massive and elaborate lobby of the hotel my kind had established as their residence. More people nodded and bowed to me as they stepped aside to get out of my way.

I barely acknowledged their presence until a woman moved forward to greet me. "I will show you to a room sir," she said to me.

I had no intention of staying here for one minute longer than it took for me to find a chance to break free. I wasn’t going to take the chance of having one of them follow me out of here though. No, I couldn’t rush out of here now, but the last thing I wanted was to stay amongst these creatures, especially when I could feel Bethany’s suffering teasing at the edges of my mind. I had to ease that, I had to make it better for her; she was the only thing that mattered in this world. She was the only good thing about it.

"Fine," I stated flatly.

The woman turned on her heel and led me to the stairs beyond the elaborate reception desk. Though we climbed numerous flights of stairs to the top of the hotel neither of us were winded when we arrived at the top. "This is the best suite," she said as we walked down the dimly lit hall to the room at the end.

She turned the knob and stepped back to allow me to enter. The room was more of a suite as we entered the living room with two matching blue sofas and a projector screen that slid down from the ceiling. From here I could see the flames from the fires outside as their light played over the walls in a dance that almost made the shadows seem alive as they moved.

"I’m glad that you found us sir."

I glanced over my shoulder at the woman. She didn’t attempt to hide the lust radiating from her as her gaze raked me from to head to toe. Revulsion curdled through me and I couldn’t stop the curve of my lip as I sneered at her. There weren’t many things my kind enjoyed outside of blood and death but though I had no firsthand experience of it, I knew the other thing they found pleasure in was sex. Something I hadn’t even one ounce of desire to have with this woman. There was only one woman that had ever stirred me in such a way, only one woman I even remotely yearned to touch.

The woman took a step back as my gaze seemed to make her realize that I had no interest in her. "Me too," I lied smoothly.

Though the monster that had taken me had been killed, it had already led me to this encampment before it realized its mistake. A mistake I had made it pay for by destroying it before it managed to get me all the way to one of my kind.

I turned away from the woman and made my way over to one of the large windows. Stepping up to it, I surveyed the world beyond the glass. Fires had been lit in metal trashcans; people were huddled around them as they sought heat even in the humid summer night. I thought perhaps the fires offered them some sense of false security, a light in the dark, but I didn’t know or care what it was they sought from them. Beyond the smaller trashcan fires a much larger blaze loomed on the horizon. I didn’t need to smell the burning flesh to know what fueled that fire.

From here, I could hear their sobs as they held onto one another and sought comfort upon the rough, dirty ground. I didn’t know where they were going to the bathroom but judging by the smell out there they didn’t have appropriate facilities. I had come to this hotel in Hyannis once before, for a meeting about when The Freezing would occur. The area around it had been a beautiful, thriving park with trees and lush grass as far as the eye could see. All of that was gone now, like my kind was so successful at doing, they had taken something beautiful and destroyed it. It’s all we ever did.

My thoughts turned to Bethany as I surveyed the wreckage before me. If it hadn’t been for her, this is what I would be. This is the nothing that I would still be. This is where I was supposed to belong, with the murderers that had created me and yet I felt no affinity for the woman behind me and the monsters outside that window. Bethany deserved far better than what they had to offer this planet and as soon as I was sure it would be safe for me to leave again, I was going to do everything I could to make sure she got it.

I’d never known sorrow before, or misery, but there was something in my chest now that was making it difficult to breathe as I thought of having to spend an unspecified amount of time away from her. It had been difficult enough to stay away from her before, it had taken everything I had not to return to her after that night in the garden, but at least I’d been able to see her still. I’d known that she was alright, that she was there, and I’d been able to take solace in the glow of life she radiated far more than any other person I’d ever met before. A glow that had entranced me and had made me feel alive ever since the first time I’d met her.

Yes, there was definitely something wrong with my chest as I rubbed it absently.

"Is there anything else you would like?" the woman asked.

I’d forgotten she was even there. "No," I responded in a clipped voice. "Get out."

She wasn’t offended by my tone but simply stepped out of the room and closed the door. I turned my attention back to the ruined world beyond the glass. My world, a world I was supposed to help rule now, a world that I was supposed to help destroy now.

She will be fine, I told myself. She was tough and she would survive her broken heart until I could see her again.