Page 29 of Eternally Bound
“She cannot stay here,” Killean said, his hands flattened on the table before him. His scar stood out more starkly in the glow of the small chandelier hanging over the table.
Ronan had been focused on the wall, but his head turned toward Killean when he spoke. “I never said she could. However, I am not going to turn her out on the streets and hope the hunters find her or that she can find her own way home. She’s been secluded her whole life; she may not survive on her own.”
Killean shrugged. “I don’t see anything wrong with a dead hunter.”
Kadence winced at his callousness, but she knew her brother would have the same attitude if the roles were reversed.Shehad the same attitude about Killean. She may not want to see anything bad happen to Ronan, but Killean could bite it for all she cared.
Ronan’s eyes became redder as they narrowed on Killean. “I do,” he grated between his teeth.
Killean bowed his head before speaking again. “So we’ll arrange a meeting with the hunters and release her somewhere.”
“And how do you plan to do that?” Saxon inquired.
“She has to know some way to get in touch with them,” Killean replied. “We should arrange something tonight. The sooner she is out of here, the better off we’ll all be. The hunters will be out in force and far more of a nuisance to us while searching for her.”
Kadence’s heart leapt in her chest and disappointment crashed through her. She opened her mouth to shout,no, before closing it again. She should be elated they didn’t plan to kill her, didn’t plan to use her as leverage over her brother and her kind. Instead, she felt… deflated.
She wanted to see her brother and friends again and let Nathan know she was safe. Hehadto be told she was fine. He would go crazy with worry otherwise, and the hunters would be out looking for her. Someone could get killed because of her.
However, she wasn’t ready to go back yet. She was free—well, as free as she could be while being held by her enemies…
Not my enemies.She didn’t understand how it all worked yet, and it would take her time to get used to the idea, but these vampires were not her enemies.
Ronan wasn’t going to just turn her loose. However, she felt freer here than she’d ever felt at the stronghold. There were no expectations for her to be docile here. No looming marriage. No sequestered, endlessly boring days where she sat idly by while her brother and the others went out to make a difference in the world.
And Ronan was here. Her eyes ran over him again. There could never be anything between them, but she couldn’t help admiring the way his maroon shirt molded to his broad shoulders and chest. Her gaze lingered on the jeans hugging his powerful thighs and taut ass.
He stepped away from the mantle, drawing her attention back to his face. His gaze was focused on the crack in the doors. She gulped when she realized he knew she stood there.
CHAPTER 15
“Come in,” he ordered.
She didn’t pretend to hide or duck away. She’d been caught. Releasing the knife, she made sure it was tucked securely away before pushing open one of the doors and stepping into the dining room. Like the rest of the walls she’d seen in the house, the white walls within here were also bare.
Her gaze finally settled on Ronan. Her fingers itched to touch him as she recalled the warmth of his body so near hers when he’d lain beside her and how he had nearly kissed her. She almost lifted her fingers to her lips as desire coiled within her belly. She’d thought maybe her weakened state yesterday had caused her to imagine some of her intense attraction to him; she’d been mistake. If anything, it felt stronger.
When Kadence’s heightened scent drifted to him, Ronan was unable to stop himself from taking a step toward her. He halted abruptly as he restrained himself from going any closer. If he did, he would take her in his arms and carry her from this room. She wanted him, and all he could think of was easing her need.
No one within the room spoke as their eyes traveled between Kadence and him. A blush crept through her cheeks as she fiddled with the sleeves of her sweater. Then, Declan cleared his throat and gave a discreet cough.
“How much did you hear?” Ronan inquired, his voice more gravelly than normal.
“Enough to know you plan to release me to my brother,” she replied.
Ronan stepped back to rest his arm on the mantle and focused on the wall across from him, but not before she saw a flash of pure red in his eyes.
“You must know where you came from,” Saxon said.
She met his hazel eyes head on. “I do, but I can’t let you know that.”
“I told you we aren’t your enemies,” Ronan growled.
“I realize that now, but you also said Joseph was once one of you. How can I trust that none of you will become a monster like him? I won’t divulge our location to you. There are too many lives at stake.”
Kadence braced herself as she waited to see how they would react to her refusal. Declan smiled as he sat forward and rested his hands on the table. Killean and Saxon stared at her as if she were a snake with the head of a spider, but Declan gazed at her as if he understood her, or at the very least maybe kind of liked her. She smiled back at him.
“Is there any guarantee none of you will ever become a Savage?” she asked.
