Chapter Three

"Jason!" I yelled as I shook his shoulder frantically. The material of his jacket was familiar. The same exact jacket that Zane and the rest of the guys used. Zane may be in a fight with the vampire who attacked me, and Caleb may be passed out from hitting the bricked building hard, but my older brother was my first priority. I put my two fingers on his wrist to check for a pulse with closed eyes. I ignored the fighting going on behind me. Zane had to win.

Once I found a pulse, I let out a chocked sob. Getting a grip on the situation, I stood up to help Zane, but he was walking toward me with blood stained on his hand and dripping onto the concrete. It was in his silver hair too. Small drops of it were splattered onto his face and ran from his cracked lip that was already healing. His sharp check bones made his angry look appear even fiercer. I found myself taking a small step back as he approached me.

His bright blue eyes scanned over my body as if checking for any sign of damage. Then they stopped at my stomach. I swallowed loudly and stared at Zane. He radiated power. I had been away from him so long that I forgot how fragile I was compared to someone like him. I had forgotten how death followed him. It showed in the dark purple shadows under his eyes, in his clenched jaw, and when the blood slowly dripped down his big hand.

But then his fingertips brushed against my stomach.

He knew.

His bright blue eyes gazed at me. I couldn't figure him out, but I could never really figure him out anyway. The bond pulsed through me. It was a stability that my body missed. His eyes closed for a brief moment. When he opened them, he couldn't seem to meet my eyes.

"You haven't been gone long at all," I whispered sarcastically. He didn't respond. Instead, he kneeled down in front of Jason with his back turned toward me. For the first time since Zane had put his hand around my neck and took my breath that first day I met him, I felt afraid of Zane. Not that he would physically hurt me, but afraid that he didn't want me anymore, and that would hurt me. I didn't want him here now. I didn't want him to hurt me that way.

"You're going to heal him, right?" I spoke a little more loudly and with more conviction. How was it that Zane always had the ability to make everything okay? He could fix a lot, and I just couldn't figure out how he did it.

Zane let out a small chuckle.

"No, I will not heal him," he said with his back still turned to me.

"Yes, you will," I added as I shoved against his shoulder to get him to look at me.

"Jason is a student of mine, and if I am-"

"What the hell did you just say?" I asked with anger simmering in me. Zane went still. He stood up from looking at Jason and turned his bright blue eyes down to me.

"Do you know how foolish you've been?" he asked in a rather calm way, but I could see his hand start to fist at his side. "Do you really think that you can drop everything that we've all been through and live a normal life?" I stared at him in silence.

"I wasn't trying to live a normal life, Zane," I whispered starting to grow furious myself.

"How long do you think your boyfriend over there would last alive?" I dropped my eyes and gazed over to Caleb. He was still lying still, but from Zane's words I knew he was still living.

"You're not just risking your own life either anymore," his voice was flat when he said that. "It was not a good time-"

"I was looking for you," I said quickly.

"You were looking for Zane?" Jason's voice mumbled softly.

"Jason," I breathed as I forgot about the whole situation with Zane and kneeled down next to my brother again. I put my hand on his chest, reassuring myself of the rise and fall. He was alive.

His hand came up slowly and wrapped around my wrist tightly.

"Please, don't leave. Don't leave me," he said softly with a kind of exhaustion that showed through his whole body. His face was red and swollen, and that was made even more apparent by his eyes. They were only open in small slits.

"Heal him," I said as I gazed up at Zane. I couldn't stand to see Jason like that. It was breaking my fast beating heart.

"He will remain in the state he is in if he wishes to learn anything. If it were not for me stepping in, his efforts would have proven a failure. He will suffer his loses," Zane finished coldly. His calculating blue eyes looked down at my brother with no sympathy.

"Get to your feet, Jason. We must leave," he commanded. "Launcelot was able to escape."

"I'm not going anywhere until you talk to-" I began, but he turned to me and cut me off quickly.

"You will go where I say to go. We must leave because you decided to make a living in a witch's quarter." I fought the confusion welling up inside of me. Questions later, get out now.

"Then help me get Jason up," I said as I held my brother's hand.

"He will get to his feet on his own. There will be days when there will not be someone beside him to hold his hand. As for your boyfriend here… a warlock," Zane suggested as he bent down and flipped over his wrist to look at his tattoo, "and of royal blood." I stood shocked by his announcement. I thought I had been living a somewhat normal life for the past two weeks, and the person I'd been spending my time with was anything but.

I helped Jason to his feet, and he didn't let go of me. He leaned a lot of his weight on me as Zane pulled the car around. "Blair," he whispered, "you have to get in the car with me. You can't leave," he said tiredly. He gripped my coat with bloody hands. His blue eyes were slits when he tried to focus on my face.

"I'm not going to leave, Jason. I'm right here," I said as tears collected in my eyes. I pushed them back. I would not cry.

Zane had avoided me. When I had asked questions, he used one word answers, and that didn't help at all.

I was under lock down since we had gotten back to the underground tunnels, which meant was in a room with metal walls, and I was handcuffed to the table. I frowned and pulled against the handcuff chain.

"You will just break your hand," Torture said as he stepped in the room. He was the tallest of all of the men, and that showed when I had to angle my head just to look at his face.

"Thank God you're here. I've been treated like a prisoner," I said as I held up my cuffed wrist. Torture didn't reply. He just stared at me with calculating silver eyes.

"You have made us all fools, and you wish to know why you are chained to a table?" Torture asked, making me go quiet.

"Torture, I truly am sorry, but I needed to do it. Where's Zane?" I asked, feeling a pit of regret starting in my stomach. But I needed to talk to Zane, and he wouldn't come. I needed to do it to get his attention, to let him know that I was serious about his abandoning of me. I did the right thing by leaving.

"This was about Zane?" Torture asked, narrowing his silver eyes. They were covered a bit by his long, dark hair. His teeth clenched together. And then I completely lost it.

"This is not about Zane! This was never about Zane! It's always been about Revenge, so I am going to ask you one more time to bring Zane in to talk to me," I said seriously with the situation building anger in me.

There was banging on the door, and I flinched. A deep voice resonated from outside the door.

The door to my interrogation room popped open. Jason stood behind it with anger making his fist clench at his sides. He was tall, just a few inches shorter than Zane, who was standing beside him. Jason stepped into the room and pointed at Torture.

"Take those handcuffs off of her," he demanded as he neared me. Zane stood at the open door way. His blue eyes followed Jason. Zane didn't look at me.

"You are a simple human and will not demand me to do anything," Torture said with an uncaring tone. Jason stood next to me and grabbed one of my hands. His knuckles were bruised, swollen, and had scabs on them.

"Blair, I will get you out of here, okay? We're going to get home. I promise," Jason said while his grip on my hand tightened. His green very swollen eyes looked at me with determination. He suffered a few cuts on his face too, and I worried about the rest of his body that was hidden under his shirt. If he was with Zane so much, why was he so out of the loop? Didn't Jason know that I knew everyone here?

"Jason, Torture, leave us. I need to speak with her," Zane said as he stepped into the room. I was a bit nervous in front of Zane. The way he was acting toward me was odd. He acted as if the bond didn't affect him. Me being alone with him to talk made my heart beat a little faster. He took off his long coat and dropped it on the table. Over his white under shirt, weapons were strapped all over his body. Jason scoffed and pulled out a knife as he stepped closer to me.

"I'm not leaving her," Jason said as his green eyes settled on Zane.

"You will wait outside the door. I let you see her. Do not test me," Zane replied. Torture stood up, but he wouldn't leave until Jason did. Jason's arm came out in front of me to protect me. I grabbed it.

"Jason, you can leave us. I need to talk to him," Jason's swollen eyes calculated the situation. I had a sudden urge to get an ice pack and make him some food.

"Honestly, he won't hurt me," I said again. Jason's body seemed to become more relaxed as his body slouched a little.

"I'll be waiting right outside that door," Jason said as he narrowed his eyes at Zane. He slowly began to walk out of the small room with Torture following close behind. The door clicked shut.

"I see you've dressed my brother up just like one of you. Why would you let him get involved with this? With me?" I asked with anger seeping into my voice. I held my biggest question in.

"He was already involved when I checked in on him. He was running around a city with the hunters," he replied without any trace of emotion in his voice.

"What? Who are the hunters?" I asked with genuine confusion.

"A group of humans who fight other races in order to protect the human race," he said.

"So vampire hunters? He was trying to kill vampires?" I asked astonished.

"He tried to kill me too when I checked in on him," he said, and the first sign of amusement hit his face, a small smirk. "As I lay a knife to his throat, he asked me about you. He was about to die, yet he only wanted to know if you lived. He wasn't concerned for his life, and that's when I realized that he would be one of your best protectors. Someone I could trust with absolutely everything about you."

"You pulled a knife on him?" I asked upset. I wanted to jump up and smack Zane.

"Just to show him the danger he was toying with. I wanted to scare him out of it. He remembered seeing you and Revenge with your mother in the hospital, so he went looking into mind control and silver eyes. He ended up catching onto information about vampires and met a few hunters."

"I can't believe you've damned his life to this," I pulled my wrists against the cuffs as hard as I could to free them. I grunted as the metal pushed against my skin. Of course, I was in no way strong enough. Zane glared at me.

"I saved his life the best way I knew how to. He will grow to be a great fighter under my care. You should be thanking me, my human," Zane said softly. His name for me made me pause in trying to break free. I stopped struggling, and I gazed up into his blue eyes. He moved close to me, and his big hand reached down to grabbed my cuffed wrists.

I gasped when he touched my skin. Zane froze. I slowly watched his lips part. He looked at me with clear intentions. Everything about the situation was forgotten in my mind. I could only feel the reconnection of the bond as a surge of wanting rushed through my body. I wanted to slowly run my hand down his face and push my lips to his. I wanted less distance between us. I wanted him. I could see that want reflecting back from him.

"I-I- um," I paused to swallow thickly. "I can't think with you, um, touching me." I said quietly. "Because I don't like it," I said quickly, trying to recover from my involuntary admission of his touch affecting me. I cast my eyes away from his. His ice blue eyes wandered down to his hand touching my wrists. A very small smile showed his amusement at my lie. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of keys to free my wrists from the metal of the cuffs.

There was something small and black in his hand that resembled a small remote. He pressed a button. The lights flickered a few times before completely going out.

"What the fudge!" I yelled as I got to my feet quickly and backed away.

"Relax. It is only a power drainer that I just used. I don't want us being recorded, so I cut off the electricity," Zane said quickly. I let out a sigh of relief and sat down on the metal chair again. Zane sat on the chair next to me and gazed into my eyes.

"Why did you leave the safety of these tunnels? Do you know how insane the men were when you disappeared?" Zane asked with frustration.

"You left me, Zane. You left for so long, that I started to forget the way your face looked when you were mad at me. You have been gone longer than we've known each other."

"Five months isn't that long."

"It's long when Revenge has been in a comma for a month. I wanted you to come back. I asked for you all the time. I told Dax to make you come back. You wouldn't come see me when I wanted you too," I complained as all of the emotions of the past three months came pouring back into me. Sadness made my eyes turn toward the floor, but anger brought them up to meet his eyes again.

"While you were unsatisfied with your wants, I was busy taking care of your needs. Why do you think I was gone? I was not directly in your life, but I am always trying to protect you. Now I have a big lead, and you make me break away from my work to come and seek you out? Do not be so incompetent. You endangered your life," his voice was quiet and harsh.

"Revenge needs your help, Zane. He's dying," I argued as tears collected in my eyes.

"He has been dying for years. He does not want to keep trying for a cure. We have already done everything that we can for him." His words seemed so formal. My heart stung.

"No, you have to be able to do something more. He can't just… he needs to wake up!" I slapped my hand on the table as I stood up. I couldn't breathe. I staggered back into the metal wall behind me. Water started to blur my vision as tears collected in my green eyes. Air. It wasn't making its way into my lungs properly. I couldn't seem to get a deep enough breath. I slid down the metal wall and sat on the ground in pain.

Zane was in front of me within seconds. Both of his hands cradled my face as he kneeled down eye level to me. His blue eyes gave me comfort as I sucked in big gulps of air.

"You are currently experiencing a panic attack. I need you to relax and calm down. You are okay. Nothing is currently happening to Revenge right now. He is in a safe state." Zane's voice was always controlled and easy.

"You- you don't e-even care!" I managed to gasp. His face turned angry fast. His blue eyes narrowed at me, and his sharp check bones became more prominent as his jaw clenched.

"Why is it that you always doubt my feelings?" he asked rather loudly. It only worsened my panicking state.

"I-I just need- I n-need you," I was able to stutter through labored breathing. I pushed on his chest to mover him away from me because I couldn't stand the disappointment I felt when I looked into his bright blue eyes. He didn't budge. I pushed him again with my anger only growing. He caught my hands with his. I turned my head away sharply, so I didn't have to look into those eyes.

"Look at me," he whispered harshly as his grip tightened on me. "Look at me," he repeated, and my eyes slowly turned to him. Red danced along the edge of his irises. I couldn't seem to look away. "Relax," he said calmly.

All of the emotional stress in my body seemed to leak out of me. I finally took in a smooth breath. I stared as Zane blankly.

"What the hell is going on here?" my older brother shouted as he made his way into the room. Exhausted, I leaned forward and rested my head on Zane's shoulder. "Sleep, my human." And so I sunk into the first deep sleep I've had in a while.

:::

Hello! I am so excited that I was able to finish this chapter tonight! It's not very eventful, but it gets everyone up to speed about what's going on! It's kind of shorter too… but it's an update! So yay! I hope you all enjoyed it! As always, I LOVE hearing what you all think!

STORY QUESTION: This question actually pertains to the story haha. Which character has grown to be your favorite over the course of Ice Cream Cravings and going into the beginning of this story?

***Review Replies***

L4N498- I know! It only took two chapters before I really needed to write him back into the story. I have an issue with missing my own characters and wanting to put them back in! haha Thank you for reviewing! :)

DarkspiritsXx- We all definitely missed him! Lol Nice intuition about Caleb! I kind of like his character, so he might hang out a bit more in the story :D thank you for reviewing!

Vampirefreakk- I loved adding Jason in! It was fun, and in this chapter you got to find out about him and Zane. There will be more information released in the next chapter about what's happening too! Aha, well, Caleb is in a band! Someone really does need to teach Blair! Awww :) that makes me feel so good! I'm glad you've enjoyed it so much that the update warranted a mini-dance session lol thank you for taking the time to review!

Momurloc- Awww! Well thank you! :D I'm glad to see myself updating! It's been so hard this past semester with school :( SO ANNOYING! But hopefully I'll be able to update again soon since I'm on break! Thanks for reviewing!

The Huntress of the Night- Well thank you for reviewing! Cliffhangers are definitely love/hate situations. A mermaid? That's interesting! That would be amazing to check out the oceans though! We still have so much to explore in them!

LetsGetTragic – Yay! :D I'm so glad that you enjoyed it! Thank you for reviewing!

mum2shane – Hello there! Well, this update is reasonably soon… haha thank you for reviewing!

Jaya – Ahhh, It makes me feel relieved that you've enjoyed this sequel! It's a lot of pressure trying to get it right. Right? Toothless would be a great pet! Gas is so expensive these days too XD I can't help but love Zane too :) We will see about that whole absence thing later… maybe ;) thank you for your review!

vero7 – And I can't wait to update for you all! :D haha It's always very exciting to hear what you all think, so thank you for taking the time to review!

Guest- Hello there! Thank you! I'm so very happy that you like it!

Curlygirly– Hello :) Well, no problem! It's the least I can do for all of the support a review gives me! I am trying to give little updates to my profile more often now! Aha! I do love taking people by surprise! I am a bit curious about Caleb too… he originally wasn't supposed to be a big character… but now I've written him into the story in a way that makes him more important. It'll be fun to see what I do with him! Thank you so much for your review!

Bellemort2432- Wow! That's crazy! And it makes feel so great knowing that someone enjoys reading this story as much as I enjoy writing it! Don't you worry about all those questions! Haha I love leaving questions open for as long as possible, but everything will be cleared up as the story continues on! But I like how you listed the questions! It gives me a better insight on what readers are thinking. Most of your questions got answered in this chapter. Thank you for all of the lovely compliments and for taking the time to review!

Have a great rest of the week! :D