The Last of the Twenty: Broken Pawns

Chapter 1

"Wife?" Nadia asked, blinking away her terrified tears as the magnitude of that one simple word pierced her mind.

Ethan nodded and clenched his jaw; he had been dreading this moment for a long time. In the year he had spent with Nadia Ethan had come to respect her enough to not want to hurt her, hoping to use her for his own ends while somehow keeping her oblivious to not only the danger she faced but also the act he had played to gain her trust and keep her close at hand. She had started off as nothing but bait, an object to be used and discarded if necessary until he could exact his revenge on the creature he hunted before disappearing from her life forever. But over the course of the last several months Nadia had somehow worked her way into him like no human had for centuries, a feat he both admired and regretted.  

Her family had been the key to his adversary, somehow directly involved with whatever it was he had been hunting for over a century. Not only had it taken family from him, but it had also been killing members of her family for generations. Ethan had made the connection by accident decades ago when he had come back to town looking for clues of the creature's actions and whereabouts after members of the pack had brought him news of its reappearance. That's when Ethan had made the connection between the deaths in her family and the appearance of the creature. From that point on Ethan had made a point to keep a close eye on the Robert's family line.

The key was the girls.

The creature would appear once a generation to kill the firstborn daughter while she was still young before disappearing. This time around, however, the creature was late. Ethan had watched, or had someone he trusted, watch Nadia since she was born. Yet it had never come, never made its move against her. The day Nadia found him alone in the cabin was the first time in decades Ethan had made direct contact with either her family or the girls themselves. Ethan had decided to try a more direct approach, hoping as a vampire his direct involvement with Nadia would flush the creature out, much like it did centuries ago. And it worked. Weather by his plan or by chance, the creature was back. This time around was different. This time around, Ethan thought he knew who, if not what, the creature was. That made things complicated. Now Ethan found himself forced to not only reveal dangerous information to keep her alive, but also to bring to light all of his lies and deceptions from the last year.

Ethan could feel Delilah shaking at his side, trying to hold in the laughter he knew was coming. She had understandably hated his plan to get close to Nadia and warned him this would happen. That and he knew she still stung from his plan to keep her away from town as long as possible. She was looking up with him with amused anticipation, taunting him with the knowledge that he had been wrong in his planning, at least as far as she was concerned. Ethan shot her a warning look, but all he got in return was a knowing smile.

"Yes, she's my wife but..."

It was one of those moments when all fear and common sense evaporated into so much mist. The fear and shock that should have controlled her actions still hung in the air, still surrounded her. But the shock of hearing that single word pushed those emotions to the side, and like a cloud of fog those emotions were so intangible that they held no power over her, allowing a sense of anger and betrayal to well up inside of her like a coiled snake waiting for its moment to strike.

"Wife?" Nadia repeated, this time with a little more edge. Her sobs had somehow faded away as fast as her fear. The sudden influx of emotions mingled together in her chest, confusing her mind and clouding her better judgment. This whole scene was too confusing, too surreal. Stars formed in her vision and the world began to spin, Nadia leaned against her car, willing herself to stay upright. She closed her eyes, forced herself to slow her breathing and control her sobs. Fear still threatened to paralyze her, but Nadia was determined to find a way away from this impossible nightmare.  Finally, she was able to open her eyes and look into Ethan's face, feeling the ball of anger once more well up inside her, doing everything she could to not see the two impossibly large wolves standing behind him or think about the supernaturally strong and fast girl clinging to his side.