Page 15 of Rebel Fae
“Let go of her,” Baeleath said, standing up to his massive nearly seven-foot height as if he might intervene, but I didn’t want him hurt.
“I can fight my own battles, Baeleath. You watch out for the littles,” I said, hoping it would be enough for him to stay out of it. Glancing back, I spotted him still standing as he watched us go.
When Vaughn had pulled us far enough from the group that the rest couldn’t hear, he let go of me. “What are you doing?”
“The same thing you are, playing a part.” I rubbed at my arm where he’d grabbed me, letting my anger simmer.
Vaughn paced in the small clearing between trees. “Well, stop it. You’re creating unease in the group. We’ve already had enough trouble. I don’t need you causing more.”
I snorted. “Me causing more? How about your Mr. Tough Guy act? Do you think you’re getting anyone to your side by acting like a Fae Death Raider?”
“I don’t know what that is,” he shot back.
“Well, it’s bad.” I put my hands on my hips. “Did you know New Starts was going to put vampires in our group?”
“No! I’m as much in the dark as you. And werewolves and vampires are natural enemies. It’s like they want us to fail.”
“Exactly,” I said, pondering this. “Why would they want us to fail?”
“So they can kill us?”
“So they can go back on their deal,” I added, the ugly truth unfolding before me. “If we don’t produce the results they’re looking for, they won’t have to do anything they promised. We have one dead vampire already. It won’t be long before they claim we didn’t uphold our end of the bargain. They get free labor from us and compliance, but don’t have to give us anything in return.”
“Arg!” Vaughn turned and punched a tree, sending bark flying in all directions. “I’m going to go back to that dome and tear someone limb from limb!”
I shook my head. “You know that won’t do any good.”
“What will, though?” He turned to me with his head in his hands. I stared into his eyes, realizing that he wanted me to answer. He wanted to know what I thought.
“The best we can do is keep everyone else alive and bide our time. But we’re going to have to do something we both won’t like.”
“What’s that?” he asked.
“Work together.” I hated to admit it, but I feared it was the only way.
“Oh.” Vaughn leaned against the damaged tree and blew out a breath. “I’m not trying to make things harder for you, but the other campers can’t know we know each other. Adaline was clear on that.”
“I get it,” I said, “but you can try being nicer toeveryone. Channel your inner Meadow Song.”
He laughed a bit at this. “Don’t remind me. And that Watts guy? He’s just a walking textbook. Can you believe he told us to enjoy the fresh air and birdsong?”
“Yeah.” A smile materializing on my lips of its own accord. “It’s like he has no idea what this island is about.”
“Maybe he doesn’t,” Vaughn added. “Maybe Crescent is the only one who knows how messed up this program is.”
I shrugged. “I’m sure we’ll soon find out.”
The moment settled as we both realized that we were having the first civilized conversation since entering the dome weeks ago. Maybe my idea wasn’t crazy. Maybe we could both put everything aside and work together. Though the person putting aside the most was me, and it wasn’t easy, especially every time I remembered he was the reason Arryn was still a prisoner.
“Did you ever see your cousin?” I asked in an effort to understand him better and make this whole situation more manageable.
He shook his head. “They let me talk to her on the phone once. They said I could see her after this group graduates.”
“And then they’ll let her go?”
He nodded. “That’s what they said.”
“That’s what they said about Arryn, too,” I replied.
