Page 12 of Eternally Bound
Relief filled her when she finally spotted Nathan next to one of the dumpsters. Blood streaked his face from a nasty gash above his right eye, but it didn’t slow him as he drove a stake through the heart of a vamp.
Kadence reloaded her weapon as another vamp rose behind Declan. The vamp was about to grab Declan when Kadence fired a shot that went straight through the vamp’s heart. Declan glanced at her over his shoulder, his silver eyes glittering with amusement when they met hers. He nodded to her before driving a sword through the stomach of another vamp and running him into the wall.
The already damaged wall swayed back from the impact and gave an ominous creaking sound.
“Look out!” Asher shouted.
Asher staggered away from the wall as it rocked precariously. Pieces of breaking brick clattered over the concrete and thumped off the dumpsters. The wall swayed back again before crumpling with a loud bang and the clatter of bricks crashing into one another. A cloud of gray dust blew all the way out to where she stood.
Kadence stepped forward as her view of the battle was obscured by the debris filling the air. When it finally cleared enough, she saw the vampires who had joined the fight on Joseph’s side were fleeing down the street. Asher and Logan followed them, and ahead of them, she spotted Nathan turning a corner.
Joseph was nowhere to be seen. She suspected he’d been the first one to tuck tail and run like the coward he was.
The other vamps remained standing in the alley, surrounded by the carcasses of the vamps who hadn’t survived and Jayce. Kadence tore her attention away from her friend’s body before she started to sob and didn’t stop. She retreated into the shadows as Ronan wiped some of the debris from his hair. Bits of dust and brick rained down around him.
He glanced idly at the arrow protruding from his shoulder. Without so much as a flinch, he ripped it free and tossed it aside. Kadence winced for him.
“If the hunters get a hold of Joseph—” Lucien started.
“They won’t,” Ronan replied. “And if we go after them, we’ll only end up fighting them again.”
“And then we’ll inevitably kill one of them,” Saxon said.
“I don’t see a problem with that,” Killean replied.
“The hunters are not our enemies,” Ronan said.
Why did he keep saying that? Kadence wondered. Why did hebelievethat?
“Maybe not, but they believe we aretheirs, and because of that they fucked this night all up,” Killean said. “Joseph would be dead right now and everyone on this planet would be a lot safer, if it wasn’t for their stupidity.”
“Enough, Killean,” Ronan said. “You and Saxon gather these bodies and take them somewhere the sun can get them in the morning, or where you can set them on fire.”
“I’ll get the van,” Saxon volunteered. He climbed over the bricks and jogged toward the street.
At the end of the alley, she spotted a crowd of humans growing. The humans whispered behind their hands as they pointed down the alley at the vampires standing where the wall once had stood.
“Declan, take care of the crowd,” Ronan ordered.
“With pleasure,” Declan replied. He climbed over the bricks and sauntered toward the humans. “Hello, darling,” he purred to one. The uneasy look left the girl’s face. She giggled and blushed prettily when he ran his finger under her chin.
Kadence watched as Declan spoke with the crowd. She couldn’t hear what he said, but when he was done, they all walked away. She’d heard about a vampire’s ability to change the memories of another, but she’d never witnessed it in action. She had to admit it was impressive, and scary.
As a hunter, she was immune to a vamp’s ability of persuasion—something she was extremely grateful for right then.
“What about the hunter’s body?” Lucien inquired.
Kadence almost stepped forward to scream at them to leave it be, but Ronan was already speaking, “The hunters will come back for him.”
“And if someone discovers it before then?”
“That’s the hunters’ problem to deal with, not ours. There are no signs of a vampire attack on him, and the police will have a difficult time trying to figure this all out, but again, not our problem. What about the girl Joseph attacked in the club?” he asked Saxon.
“I couldn’t save her,” Saxon replied. “I obscured the wound on her neck and hid her body. They should find her by morning.”
Ronan clenched his teeth as he gazed down the road where the hunters had vanished in pursuit of Joseph. The human race was a food supply to him, but he’d failed in his mission tonight and an innocent had died because of it. Even worse, more of them would die now that Joseph had gotten away again.
They should have killed the hunters and Joseph and called it a night. They all would have had to deal with aftereffects of the hunters’ lives on their hands, but they would have saved countless other lives in the long run. If the hunters interfered again, he may have no choice but to take them down.
