Chosen

This time I will.

This time, I will burn that fucking house to the ground.

When I look up at Frey, he seems to know what I’m thinking and feeling.

“What?”

His expression is stern. “We can’t go in there guns blazing.”

“Is it that obvious? Or have you found a way to reco

He shakes his head. “I don’t need to reco

He doesn’t think I know that? I stand up. “We’d better get going.”

“Wait.” Frey stands, too, but doesn’t take a step toward the door. “There is something else in the note. Have you forgotten? She mentioned an escape clause.”

I had forgotten. I sit back down on the edge of the chair. “Go on.”

Frey sits, too, reaches for the book. “She’s right. The book does tell of a way for the Chosen to relinquish claim to the title.”

But he pauses here, and it isn’t until I snap, “Damn it, Frey, what is it?” that he continues.

Reluctantly.

“There is the challenge.”

“Challenge?”

“Any one of the heads of the thirteen tribes can challenge the ascension of the Chosen One.”

“Not that I want to give the impression that I believe all this crap, but what challenge? I thought the Chosen One was predestined. Had special powers.”

Frey chooses to ignore sarcasm dripping thick and glutinous as honey from every word when he answers. “The identity of the Chosen One is predestined. But if there is a challenge and he or she is defeated, it is believed there was a flaw in the prophecy and the victor assumes the title.”

I clap my hands. “Great. All we need is a challenger. I’ll let that lucky vampire win the contest and we can both go on our merry ways.”

“Not exactly.”

“Well, then what exactly?”

Frey is not looking at me. He’s looking down and around and everywhere except in my direction. The vampire loses patience and erupts with a snarl.

“Jesus, Frey. Do I have to reach down your throat and pull every fucking word out of your mouth?”

For a second, the panther flashes in Frey’s eyes. This time the rumbling growl comes from him. “Watch it, A

He’s right. I back down with a tight-lipped smile. “I’m sorry. I just want a straight answer. Something you seem reluctant to give.”

“If I’m reluctant, it’s because I care about you.” Frey taps the cover of the book with an index finger. “I know how much you ridicule the idea of assuming responsibility for the vampire community. But the alternative is not one wins and one loses. It’s one lives and one dies. It’s a fight. To the death.”

CHAPTER 38

A fight to the death.

Of course it is. What should provoke a startled reaction gets instead a resigned sigh. How could I expect anything less than a fight to the death when it involves the vampire community?

I meet Frey’s anxious gaze. “That’s why you didn’t tell me about the challenge sooner? Because it’s a fight to the death? Did you think that would scare me?”

Frey shakes his head. “No. I knew you wouldn’t be scared. Judith Williams, though, doesn’t know you as well. She would mention an escape clause for only one reason. She knows there will be a challenge.”

No. I stand up and push the chair away with an impatient shove. “Pretty improbable, don’t you think? When she came to us a few days ago, she didn’t even know where to go to feed. Now she’s organizing a challenge?”

“I can’t explain it. But if she put it in the note, it means she expected you to ask me about it. Expected you to learn the truth. Maybe she thought it would scare you into doing something stupid.”

“Like what?”

“Like not showing up for the ceremony.”

“If we can get David out of there before Tuesday, why would that be such a bad idea?”

“Because, if you don’t show up, you’ve declared yourself rogue. No ceremony. No challenge. The Chosen One’s duty is to set the path for the next two hundred years. By ignoring what is written, you disrupt the balance. There must be a Chosen One. Only by your death can another be marked.”

He doesn’t say any more. He doesn’t have to. It’s obvious what follows. If I don’t go through with this crazy ceremony, I’ll be hunted down.

Great.

Just great. I’ll spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder. May as well stake myself now.

Still, David is out there somewhere. Whatever that crazy bitch tries to do to me, I can protect myself. David is defenseless. “Well, nothing you’ve said changes what we have to do now. We’ll drive out to Avery’s. If I’m wrong and the house is deserted, we’ll decide the next step then.”

He slips off his jacket and leaves it with the briefcase and book on my couch. We go out through the backyard and into the garage. Neither of us has much to say on the ride to La Jolla. While I’m still having a hard time accepting the notion that the fate of the vampire world rests on my shoulders, the sad truth is, there seem to be many out there who do. Including the two people whose opinion I’ve counted on most since becoming vampire—Frey and Culebra.

Maybe if I were smart, I’d stop fighting. There must be some vibe I send off that makes crazies like Underwood and not-so-crazies like Frey and Culebra see something in me that I do not. Maybe I should simply go to Judith Williams and tell her I’ll do whatever she wants. Honor the crazy dreams of her crazy husband. Let her determine the course of my life for the next few hundred years. Become the Chosen One and rule from the ivory tower of her choice.

All I’ll ask in return is David’s safe release and a few weeks a year to visit with my family.

An offer she can hardly refuse.

If that is indeed what she wants.

I’m so deep in my own thoughts that the drive to Avery’s is done on automatic pilot. Frey is quiet, too, probably afraid of setting me off again. It isn’t until we’re about a mile from the house on the top of Mount Soledad that I pull the Jag over and stop.

Frey turns toward me. “You want me to get out here and shift?”

“I think that’s a good idea. There’s lots of cover. Trees. Bushes.”

It’s dark on the road. Not many streetlights. There doesn’t have to be. The homes on this street all have their own brightly lit security gates attached to high walls of brick or stone. The closer you get to the top of the mountain, the higher the fences, the more secure the gates.

Frey takes off his shoes, tosses them into the backseat. He unbuttons his shirt and shrugs it off and slips out of his slacks. No underwear. He catches me watching him.

“I think Layla would disapprove of the expression on your face.”

“To the contrary, I think Layla would approve. Right before she scratched my eyes out. Anyway, get going. The sooner you find out how she’s guarding David, the sooner we can make a plan to get him out.”

I give Frey a description of the layout of the place—how the detached garage is at the back of the house, how there’s a walk co

It’s not easy talking logistics to a naked man. My eyes tend to wander. I’d forgotten what a nice body Frey has. He shifts slightly in the seat, giving me a better view. He knows exactly what he’s doing, exactly what I’m doing. Probably the reason he undressed before we had this conversation instead of waiting until after.

At last he opens the door and steps out. He melts into the bushes without a backward glance. There’s a rustle and a low catlike growl and the bushes beside the car no longer move.

I rest my head against the seat, close my eyes. I figure ten minutes for Frey to get to Avery’s, thirty minutes max to check out the house, ten minutes back.