Night World : Soulmate Chapter 16

It was a very long time before Hannah perceive footsteps again.She distracted herself during the long wait by whistling songs to a lower place her glimmering and thinking ab prohibited thepeople she love.Her mother. Her mother didnt even miss her yet, didnt bonk she was g unmatchable. unless by tomorrow shewould. Tomorrow was May initial, Hannahs birthday, and Chess would intermit her mother the letter.Chess, of course. Hannah wished now that shed spent more time saying adios to Chess, that shedexplained things better. Chess would induct been fascinated. And she had a salutary to know she was an OldSoul, overly.capital of Minnesota Winfield. That was strange-shed only kn let him a week. but hed tried to help her. And at thismoment, he knew more almost Hannah Snow than any nonpareil else in Montana.I go for he doesnt start smoking again if he rinds out Im dead.Because that was credibly how she would demolition up. Hannah had no illusions about that. She had aweapon-but so did Maya, and Maya was much hurried and stronger. She was no match for Maya underthe best of circumstances, much less when she was untoughened and feverish. The best she could hope for wasto outwit Maya to knock raze her while she was unperturbed human.She view about the Circle Day come crosswise members. They were good people. She was sorry she wouldnt possess the pass off to know them better, to help them. They were doing something important, something sheinstinctively sensed was necessary right now.And she fancy about Thierry.Hell have to go wandering again, I guess. Its too bad. He hasnt had a very happy demeanor. I was starting tothink I could take that sadness out of his eyes.When she heard a racket at last, she thought it might be her imagination. She held her pinch.No. Its footsteps. Getting closer.Shes coming.Hannah shifted position. She had stationed herself dear the mouth of the cavern now she took a deepbreath and jutting herself into a crouch. She wiped her sweaty right palm on her jeans and got a better cargo hold on her stake. She figured that Maya would shine the flashlight toward the pole where Hannah had been tied, then by chance take a few steps farther in array the cavern, toilsome to send off what was exit on.And then Ill do it. Ill come out of the loathsomeness piece of tail her. Jump and skewer her finished the back. save Ive got to time it right.She held her breath as she saw light outside the mouth of the cavern. Her greatest awe was that Mayawould hear her.Quiet quietThe light came closer. Hannah watched it, not moving. just now her encephalon was clicking along in surprise. Itwasnt the slanted, focused beam of a flashlight. It was the more balmy pool of light from a lantern.Shes brought some other one. But that meansMaya was locomote in.Walking quickly-and not pausing. She couldnt shine the light onto the pole yet. And she didnt seem nauseating to-apparently it didnt occur to her that she collected to ch eck on Hannah. She was that confident.Hannah cursed ment completelyy. Shes going too far-shes out of range. Get upHer plan in ruins, she flexed her knees and stood. She heard a crack in her knee joint that righted asloud as a gunshot.But Maya didnt stop. She kept going. She was almost at the pole.As taciturnly as she could, Hannah copeed across the cavern. All Maya had to do was turn close to to seeher.Maya was at the pole. She was stopping. She was spirit from side to side.Hannah was behind her.Now.Now was the time. Hannahs muscles could spirit how she had to stab, to adjudge her weight behind thethrust so that the stake went in under Mayas left shoulder blade. She knew how to do it. But she couldnt.She couldnt stab some luggage compartment in the back. Somebody who wasnt menacing her at the moment, whodidnt even know they were in danger.Oh, my theology Dont be stupid Do itOh, my Goddess a enunciate echoed back in her head. Youre not a toss offer. This isnt even self-defen se Frustrated almost to the intimate of hysteria, Hannah heard herself let out a breath. It was wet. She wascrying.Her arm drooped. Her muscles collapsed. She wasnt doing it. She couldnt do it.Maya late moody around.She looked both beautiful and eerie in the lantern light. She surveyed Hannah up and down, looking in stopicular at the drooping stake. then she looked at Hannahs side of meat.Youre the strangest girl, she utter, in what seemed to be genuine bewilderment. Why didnt you do it?You were smart enough to notice yourself out and make yourself a weapon. Why didnt you have the guts to coat it?Hannah was a pare downg herself the same thing. Only with more expletives.I am going to die now, she thought. And maybe die for good-because I dont have guts. Because Icouldnt kill somebody I know is completely evil and completely unflinching to kill me. Thats not ethics.Thats stupid. I suppose its that Egyptian temple training, Maya was saying. Or maybe the life whenyou were a Budd hist-do you remember that? Or maybe youre practiced weak. And a victim. Ive spent acouple thousand years universe a victim-yours. I guess Ive got my part down perfect by now.Oh, rise up. It doesnt re aloney matter why, Maya say. It all comes down to the same thing in the end.Now. Lets get this over with.Hannah stared at her, breathing hard, feeling like a rabbit looking at a headlight.Nobody should live as a victim. Every creature has a right to fight for its life.But she couldnt seem to get her muscles to move anymore. She was incisively too tired. Every part of herhurt, from her throbbing head to her raw fingertips to her bruised and aching feet.Maya was smiling, fixing her with eyes that shifted from lapis-lazuli raunchy to glacier green.Be a good girl, now, she crooned.I dont want to be a good girl.Maya reached for her with long arms.Dont touch her Thierry said from the cavern mouth.Hannahs head jerked sideways. She stared at the new pool of light on the other side of the cave. Forthe first few seconds she thought she was hallucinating.But, no. He was on that commit. Thierry was standing there with a lantern of his own, tall and almost shimmeringwith coiled tension, like a predatory animal ready tospring. The problem was that he was too far away. And Maya was too fast. In the same instant that it tookHannah to make her brain believe her eyes, Maya was moving. In one swift step, she was behindHannah, with her perishs around Hannahs throat.Stay where you are, she said. Or Ill break her little neck.Hannah knew she could do it. She could feel the iron strength in Mayas hands. Maya didnt need aweapon.Thierry put the lantern down and raised his empty hands. Im staying, he said quietly.And tell whoever else youve got in that tunnel to go back. All the way back. If I see another person, Illkill her.Without turning, Thierry shouted. Go back to the entrance. All of you. Then he looked at Hannah. ar you all right?Hannah couldnt nod. Mayas grip was so tight that she could barely say, Yes. But she could look athim, and she could see his eyes.She knew, in that moment, that all her fears about him not wanting her anymore were groundless. Heloved her. She had never seen such open love and concern in anyones face before.More, they understood each other. They didnt need any words. It was the end of mis get windingsand mistrust. For perhaps the first time since she had been Hana of the Three Rivers, Hannah trusted himwithout reservation. They were in accord.And neither of them wanted this to end with a death.When Thierry took his eyes from Hannahs, it was to look at Maya and say, Its over, now. You haveto realize that. Ive got twenty dollar bill people down here, and another twenty on the surface waiting. His voicebecame softer and more deliberate. But I give you my word, you burn walk out of here right now,Maya. Nobody will touch you. All you have to do is let Hannah go first.Together, Hannah said, coughing as Mayas hands tightened, snub o ff her breath. She gasped andfinished, We go out together, Thierry. Thierry nodded and looked at Maya. He was holding his hand out now, like someone trying to coax a stimulate child. Just let her go, he said softly.Maya laughed.It was an unnatural sound, and it made Hannahs skin crawl. Nothing sane made a noise like that.But that way, I wont win, Maya said, almost pleasantly.You cant win anyway, Thierry said quietly. Even if you kill her, shell fixatetle down be alive-Not if I make her a vampire first, Maya interrupted. But Thierry was shaking his head. It doesnt matter. His voice was still quiet, but it was filled with theauthority of despotic conviction, a kind of bedrock certainty that held even Hannah mesmerized.Even if you kill her, shell still be alive-here. He tapped his chest. In me. I keep her here. Shes part ofme. So until you kill me, you cant really kill her. And you cant win. Its that simple.There was a silence. Hannahs own heart was twisted with the force of her lov e for him. Her eyes werefull.She could hear Maya breathing, and the sound was ragged. She thought that the pressure of Mayashands was infinitesimally less.I could kill you both, Maya said at last in a grating voice.Thierry lifted his shoulders and dropped them in agesture too sad to be a shrug. But how can you win when the people you hate arent there to see it?It sounded insane-but it was true. Hannah could feel it chance upon Maya like a well-thrown javelin. If Mayacouldnt have Thierry as her prize, if she couldnt even make him suffer, what was the psyche? Where wasthe victory?Lets stop the bicycle right here, Thierry said softly. Let her go.He was so gentle, and so reasonable, and so tired-sounding. Hannah didnt see how anyone could resisthim. But she was still surprised at what happened next.Slowly, very slowly, the hands around her neck loosened their grip. Maya stepped away.Hannah sucked in a deep breath. She wanted to run to Thierry, but she was hunted to do anything tou nbalance the delicate stalemate in the cavern. Besides, her knees were wobbly.Maya was moving around her, taking a step or two in bet of her, facing Thierry directly.I loved you, she said. There was a sound in her voice Hannah had never heard before, a quaver. Whydidnt you ever understand that?Thierry shook his head. Because its not true. You never loved me. You wanted me. Mostly becauseyou couldnt have me.There was a silence then as they stood looking at each other. Not because they understood each othertoo well for words, Hannah thought. Because they would never understand each other. They had nothingto say.The silence stretched on and on-and then Maya collapsed.She didnt fall down. But she might as well have. Hannah saw the life go out of her-the hope. The energythat had kept Maya vibrant and sparkling later on thousands of years. It had all come from her need to win .. . and now she knew shed lost. She was defeated.Come on, Hannah, Thierry said quietly. Lets go. Then he turned to shout back into the tunnel behindhim. Clear the way. Were all coming out.That was when it happened.Maya had been standing slumped, her head down, her eyes on the ground.Or on her backpack.And now, as Thierry turned away, she flashed one glance at him and then moved as fast as a greatsnake. She grabbed the erosive stake and held it horizontally, her arm drawn back.Hannah recognized the posture instantly. As Hana of the Three Rivers shed seen hunters throw spearsall the time.Game over, Maya whispered.Hannah had a fraction of a second to act-and no time to consider. All she thought was, No.With her solid weight behind the thrust, she lunged at Maya. Stake first.The sharp wooden point went in just under Mayas shoulder blade. She staggered, off balance, herthrow ruined. The black stake went skittering across the rough stone floor.Hannah was off balance, too. She was falling. Maya was falling. But it all seemed to be happening inslow motion. Ive killed her.There was no comfort in the thought. Only a sort of hushed certainty.When the slow-motion feeling ended, she tack herself the way anybody finds themself after a fall. Onthe ground and surprised. Except that Maya was underneath her, with a stake protruding from her back.Hannahs first frantic thought was to get a doctor. Shed never seen someone this badly hurt before- notin this life. There was blood seeping out of Mayas back around the make-do stake. It had gone in verydeep, the wood piercing vampire pattern like razor-sharp steel through a human.Thierry was beside her. Kneeling, pulling Hannah fairly away from Mayas prone form, as if she mightstill be dangerous.Hannah reached for him at the same time, and their hands met, intertwined. She held on tight, feeling arush of heart and comfort from his presence.Then Thierry gently turned Maya onto her side.Hair was falling across Mayas face like a black waterfall. Her skin was chalky vacuous and her eyes werewide open. But she was laughing.Laughing. She lo oked at Hannah and laughed. In a rich choking voice, she gasped. You had guts-after all.Hannah whispered, Can we do anything for her?Thierry shook his head.Then it was terrible. Mayas laugh turned into a gurgle. A trickle of blood ran out of the side of hermouth. Her body jerked. Her eyes stared. And then, finally, she was still.Hannah felt her own breath sigh out.Shes dead. I killed her. I killed someone.Every creature has the right to fight for its life-or its loved ones.Thierry said softly, The cycle is broken.Then he let Mayas shoulder go and her body slumped down again. She seemed smaller now, shrunken.After a moment Hannah realized it wasnt an illusion. Maya was doing what all vampires do in the movies.She was falling in on herself, her tissues collapsing, muscle and flesh shriveling. The one hand Hannahcould see seemed to be wasting away and hardening at the same time. The skin became yellow andleathery, showing the form of the tendons underneath.In the end, Maya was just a leather sack full of bones.Hannah swallowed and shut her eyes.Are you all right? Let me look at you. Thierry was holding her, examining her. Then when Hannah methis eyes, he looked at her long and searchingly and said with a different meaning, Are you all right?Hannah understood. She looked at Maya and then back at him.Im not proud of it, she said slowly. But Im not sorry, either. It just-had to be done. She thoughtanother moment, then said, getting out each wordseparately, I wane to be a victim anymore.Thierry tightened his arm around her. Im proud of you, he said. Then he added, Lets go. We need toget you to a healer.They walked back through the narrow passageway, which was no longer dark because Thierrys peoplehad placed lanterns all(prenominal) few feet. At the end of thepassage, in the room with the vertical shaft, they had set up some sort of rope and pulley.Lupe was there, and Nilsson, and the rest of the CIA group. So were Rashel and Quinn. The fighters,Hannah thought. Ev eryone called and laughed and patted her when she came in with Thierry.Its over, Thierry said briefly. Shes dead.Everyone looked at him and then at Hannah. And somehow they knew. They all cheered and patted heragain. Hannah didnt feel like Cinderella anymore she felt like Dorothy after killing the offensive Witch. And she didnt like it.Lupe took her by the shoulders and said excitedly, Do you know what youve done?Hannah said, Yes. But I dont want to think about it any more right now.It wasnt until theyd hauled her up the vertical shaft that it occurred to her to adopt Thierry how hed foundher. She was standing on an inconspicuous hillside with no buildings or landmarks around. Maya hadpicked a very good concealing place.One of her own people sold her out, Thierry said. He got to the house about the same time I did thisevening, and he said he had instruction to sell. He was a werewolf who wasnt happy with how shedtreated him.A werewolf with black hair? Hannah wondered. But she wa s too sleepy suddenly to ask morequestions.Home, sir? Nilsson said, a little breathlessly because hed just come up the shaft.Thierry looked at him, laughed, and started to help Hannah down the hill. Thats right. Home, Nilsson.