Blood Vengeance [COMPLETED]

Chapter Thirty-Five - Fatal Error

They flew north until the they were over land once more, but now it was snow covered, glistening like white satin beneath them.

"Where are we?" asked Selene, shouting to Hector. But he either ignored her or couldn't hear her, because he said nothing.

Near the edge of a deep forest, the helicopter began to land, descending towards the snow-topped trees.

Cecily had been silent for most of the journey, and was staring out the window. Without turning to look at Selene she reached back and grasped her hand, and held it tight as the helicopter seemed to fall through the air.

Selene felt her friend's fear-dampened skin against her own, and wondered what would happen to her. Hector meant to kill Cecily, to sacrifice her in order to save her, Selene.

Could she let that happen?

And as she contemplated it, she realised that she could, and, if she had to, she would. Despite everything that she had been through, she wanted to survive. She had been ready to surrender her life to Arthur, just to have him close to her. And now...well, now was a different matter entirely.

Ideally they would find someone else, someone she didn't know. But if they didn't, then Selene knew she would let Cecily die if it meant she herself could continue to live.

When the rotating blades had stilled and the noise stopped, Hector got out of the cabin up front and opened the door. On seeing them sitting together, their hands clasped he frowned.

"Are you scared?" he asked.

Selene looked up, but realised that he wasn't talking to her at all. He was talking to Cecily.

"Yes."

Selene felt Cecily's fingers grip tighter around hers and she squeezed them back.

"Here, drink this," said Hector, fishing a small bottle from his pocket and tossing it to Cecily, who had to release Selene's hand in order to catch it.

"What is it?" she asked.

"It will calm you down." He nodded at her, encouraging her.

Selene watched as Cecily's shaking hands pulled the cork from the bottle neck, and she raised it to her nose to smell it, her face wrinkling.

"Go on," he urged.

And with that Cecily tipped the whole thing into her mouth and licked her lips.

"Good," said Hector, offering his hand first to Selene and then to Cecily to allow them to step down into the snow, which had frozen over and it crunched underfoot.

"We're not dressed for this," said Selene, hugging her arms around her and rubbing her hands up and down her biceps.

"I'm surprised you aren't burning up inside," said Hector, barely glancing at her as he stepped to Cecily and put his arm around her.

Selene frowned at his gesture of kindness, watching as Cecily folded into him, her head pressing against his chest. The picture of intimacy surprised her, and just as she could feel a kind of envy bubbling up inside she realised that Cecily was no longer conscious. Her legs collapsed and Hector picked her up, and positioned her over his shoulder and turned to look at Selene.

"What have you done?" she asked.

"It's less trouble this way," he said.

"Are you going to kill her?" she asked, hurrying to catch up to Hector who had already begun to stride into the forest.

"I'm not, but she will die." With one arm resting on Cecily's thighs, he used the other to bat the branches of the trees out of his way.

Selene hurried along behind him, ducking her head to avoid the branches that swung back in her face after Hector had released them. Just as he had prophesied, she felt her temperature begin to rise, and she rolled up the sleeves of her jumper, relieved to feel the cool air on her arms.