Taken Over (The Ravening #2)(49)
Author: Erica Stevens

“Not all lies,” he said softly. “Not everything Bethany. I couldn’t fake my love for you.”

A single tear slipped free. It left a cool streak on my heated flesh as it ran down my cheek. I didn’t know what to believe, what to think. I didn’t know which way was north and which way was south. Didn’t know if up was down or down was up. The world lurched sickeningly, my hands clutched at the bark of a tree as I struggled to keep from passing out.

Pressing my forehead against the rough bark of the trunk, I clung to it for a long moment as I inhaled deeply and repeatedly. It took a few moments but eventually I was able to regain control of my body, I was not so lucky with my mind or heart. I didn’t think I would ever regain control of those.

Finally, I was able to lift my head and look at him again. He had retreated to the other side of the clearing. His arms were folded over his chest, his face and posture defensive as he watched me wearily. I was surprised, and slightly angered, by the hurt I sensed radiating from him. He was angry and hurt? He wasn’t the one who had been lied to this entire time. He wasn’t the one who had just realized their boyfriend was some kind of monster that fed on blood and whatever else that black thing that oozed from Ian had been seeking when it penetrated me.

His eyes were hooded, distant. “Do you want me to leave?”

“No!” The word popped out of my mouth before I could stop it, out of my mouth before I even had time to consider a response. I wanted to scream in rage and frustration, wanted to pull my hair and stomp around the clearing like a two year old throwing a tantrum. I wanted to tell him yes, that of course I wanted him to leave! He had lied to me. He had been deceiving me for years; my pride and trust were bruised. They were demanding to be salvaged somehow. The word stuck in my throat though. I could only stand there and stare at him, wounded, hurt, confused by everything rapidly unfolding around me.

But the last thing I wanted was for him to leave. The thought of it was even worse than living with my kicked ego. I couldn’t lose him again. Not again. But how could I trust him? I knew nothing about him. Or did I?

I watched him as he moved with lithe grace away from the edge of the woods. The shadows played over his hard, enticing features. There was no sign of the blackness, no sign of whatever it was that lurked within him; something that I had never even suspected lurked there until recently. He could have killed me years ago. He hadn’t. He could have killed us all; he could have allowed Ian to kill me. Instead, he had killed for us, he had helped us to escape the Cape, and he had exposed himself to me tonight. He had killed for me tonight. One of his own apparently.

I was hurt and I was angry, but I had to listen to him. I owed him that, owed him more in fact, but right now all I could give him was my ear.

I swallowed heavily as he continued to move slowly. He stayed a good distance away from me, but I did not kid myself into thinking he couldn’t grab hold of me in an instant. That there wasn’t far more power and strength in him than I had ever thought possible. “I’ll tell you anything that you want to know.”

I took a deep breath. “I want to know it all.”

He was silent for a long moment, his shoulders stiffened briefly as he ran a hand through his disheveled hair. “There are some things you aren’t going to want to know.”

I was certain that there were. I was just as certain that I had to hear them; that I needed to hear them. “I know.” His gaze slid to me. “But I have to know Cade. No more secrets.” He quirked an eyebrow at me, his head tilted slightly as he watched me. His slow nod encouraged me to go on. I didn’t know where to start, but I thought perhaps the beginning would be best. “You’ve been here since I was a child, how is it possible that you’re one of them when they arrived only a year ago?”

He sighed softly, his arms folded over his chest. “We’ve always been here.”

I sputtered; something icy ran through my entire body. I had thought that there was nothing more that could shock me, I knew now I was wrong. I had a feeling that by the time he was done I was going to be shocked a few more times. I braced myself for that eventuality. “Excuse me?” I breathed.

“Over the years, throughout history, we have always been here. Monitoring, watching, keeping track of your developments, and your technologies. We’ve even aided in some of your own advancements. We’ve also come in search of food before.”

I shuddered. We both knew that when he said food he didn’t mean steak. “I’m not sure I understand.”

He nodded, took a deep breath, and then plunged in. “Our planet, from what I’ve heard of it, is similar to earth. Hence our similar appearances. My people raped it, nearly took everything they could from it, drained it of life, blood, and nourishment. When they realized what they had done they began to make trips to find other planets to harvest from. There were fifteen in total.”

My eyebrows flew up, my mouth parted on a soft gasp. “Fifteen?”

“There are three left, including Earth that they haven’t harvested yet and pushed to the brink of extinction. For now. They’ve raided those planets, took what they could, and left them behind. There were few survivors left but I’m sure those numbers have increased by now.”

My mouth opened, it took me a moment but I finally managed to form a question. “Why would they do that?”

“They destroyed their own planet; do you honestly think they care about others? The survivors were left…”

“For a later time. Another harvest.” I felt ill, but the words escaped me before I could stop them. I somehow managed to keep my composure even though I was rapidly unraveling.

“At first, it wasn’t that way. At first they just went on missions to collect supplies…”

“People?”

“Not every planet calls themselves people, or humans.” That didn’t make what he was saying any better. “The supplies were then brought back to our planet for everyone. Some were kept alive, for breeding purposes.” Yep, I was going to be ill. “Others were slaughtered outright in order to feed the hungry.”

“How did we not notice this?” I demanded.

“It was noticed. There have been mass disappearances throughout history. The lost colony of Roanoke in fifteen ninety, the Anjikuni Eskimo village was nearly two thousand in Nineteen thirty.” I choked at the number, gagging at the mere thought of so many lost. So many souls trapped, or taken. And yet it was nothing compared to the numbers we had lost now, numbers that were so high they were almost impossible to comprehend. “In nineteen thirty-seven, near Nanking, three thousand Chinese soldiers disappeared while fighting the Japanese. The USS Cyclops disappeared in nineteen eighteen with three hundred and six sailors aboard. It was considered to be one of the victims of the Bermuda Triangle, a place that supposedly claimed many lives. There was also…”