Catalyst

Cole walked back to the men's quarters and found the other guys huddled in the corner. There were no guards, but the nervous chatter was hushed. As he walked up behind them, he heard one thin guy named Chaucer asking, "And they think we'll just do this? And that the girls will let us?"

Cole's heart sank. Plural, Chaucer said girls, meaning more than one, and from the way they were acting, they were talking about the Pairing. Apparently, Alice wasn't the only one who got her date pushed up.

Cole sat on the arm of the couch. The conversation didn't stop with his arrival. Cole seldom spoke, so when he opened his mouth to say something, everyone looked at him, "How many were chosen?"

Brent, another dark haired, skinny guy looked at him like he was crazy. "Wrong question. You should be asking who'd they pair you with? Every single one of us was paired. Dates for Pairings are listed on the front board. Didn't you see it?"

Cole shook his head. "No, I didn't."

Chaucer cut in, "Well, you won't have to worry about it. You pair's one that has gone missing."

"Hey, maybe she saw it was you and ran away," a deep voice laughed. They all turned and looked at Brent who shrugged his shoulders and said, "Ah, forget it. You guys are taking this way too seriously. Normally, they expect us to keep our hands to ourselves. Now, they tell us that we don't have to, and actually give us a girl, and we're complaining?" He laughed. "You all are nuts. I'm looking forward to it."

Cole's stomach suddenly felt like it was filled with acid. The way all the other guys watched Brent, and avoided Cole's gaze when the guy spoke, it made him feel sick. "Who've you been Paired with?" he asked, even though he already knew.

"Your sister," Brent beamed. "I hope she fights back, so I can tie her down." Brent's smile was quickly shattered by Cole's fist.

Before he knew what happened, Cole sprang from the couch, grabbed Brent's shirtfront and swung. When his fist connected with the guy's face, Cole felt something crunch under his hand, but that wasn't good enough. Brent shrieked, as blood poured from his nose like water from a spigot. In that moment, Cole didn't care if the wound was fatal, no one could talk about Cassie like that. Before Cole could land another hit, the rest of the guys were pulling them apart.

Chaucer hissed, "Stop it! Both of you! The guards are godknowswhere and all this means something. We don't have enough time as it is, and if we don't figure this out now, we never will. Curfew was bumped up, and you know the rules for the Pairing - they'll isolate us until it's over. So, stop acting like we have the luxury of time, because we don't!" Chaucer's thin frame was huffing hard by the time he finished scolding Cole and Brent.

Cole backed away from Brent, but he'd never forget what he said. That guy wasn't going to touch Cassie. Cole just didn't know how to prevent it. He literally had a couple of hours to figure it out. Then they'd all be in lock down. Cassie would be raped.

Cole felt sick, like he couldn't keep the contents in his stomach, but his face was blank. Brent's nose continued to gush blood, until they finally forced him to go to the infirmary. Without Brent, the conversation carried on until everyone knew that blood had spilled last night. They still didn't know how much, or whose, but it was agreed that all this strife had originated with Kahli.

Chaucer remained hunched over, sitting on the table in front of the couch, with his head in his hands. "So what do we do? Try to run? Let them stud us out? I don't know about you guys, but I actually like one of those girls, and it's not the one they Paired me with."

A few heads nodded in agreement. Chaucer looked to Cole, "I won't let him touch her."

Cole realized who it was he cared for. Cassie. Cole nodded once, acknowledging him, thankful that someone else was looking after his sister. "Two people protecting Cassie will help, but it won't stop Brent. It won't stop any of this. The vamps have the power and as long as they have it, we've got no say in anything." Cole cracked his knuckles and stood.

"Don't you want to know who they paired you with?" a voice asked. Cole turned toward him, and started to shake his head, but the guy kept talking, "It would have been, Kahli. They made you guys the power couple."

Cole couldn't help it. He laughed. Shaking his head, he said, "They couldn't have picked a worse Pairing. Hardly anything is certain anymore, but there's one thing I know beyond a shadow of a doubt."

Chaucer asked, "Yeah? What's that?""

"She would have killed me."