Page 68 of Eternally Bound
The scent of the blood and the thrill of the kill had his pulse racing and his temples pulsing with the adrenaline coursing through him.More. He needed more death, more blood, more of this mindlessness. It was the only thing that made any sense to him anymore.
He pulled another Savage off Killean and twisted its head completely around. Killean ran a hand through his hair, pushing it away from his face and streaking more blood over him.
“Ronan—”
Footsteps silenced Killean and drew Ronan’s attention to the end of the alley. A crossbow bolt fired out of the darkness. He sprinted to the side to avoid taking the hit as more were fired at them. Saxon cursed as one of the bolts hit him in the upper shoulder.
Ronan bounded down the alley toward the half a dozen hunters emerging from the shadows. The hunter’s blood wouldn’t be putrid. No, it would be delicious, powerful. It would finally satisfy the unending thirst he’d been dealing with his entire life.
A small part of him still recognized that once he gave into the bloodlust, it would never be eased, that it would haunt him until he was destroyed. The far larger part didn’t care as he slammed into the first hunter. Ronan struck the hunter in the nose, shattering it.
The enticing aroma of the hunter’s blood filled his nostrils and caused his veins to burn with hunger. The hunter’s startled blue eyes met his. Ronan hesitated when he recognized it was Kadence’s brother, but then he heard the release mechanism of a crossbow and a bolt slammed into his shoulder. Ronan grinned as he dragged the man beneath him.
CHAPTER 31
“What happened to you guys?”
Ronan didn’t bother to respond as Lucien strolled across the grounds toward them. His body language remained casual, but his gaze raked Ronan’s blood-soaked frame from head to toe and back again before his black eyes darted nervously to the others.
“Savages and hunters,” Saxon replied.
“Looks like a bloodbath.”
“It was,” Ronan grated.
“It was ugly,” Declan said.
“I can tell,” Lucien remarked.
“How are things here?” Ronan demanded.
“I just returned with everyone,” Lucien replied. “The recruits are settling into the carriage house and the guest house. All of them decided to come.”
“Good.” Ronan turned away from him. His body still thrummed with his need to kill; he hadn’t had enough of it tonight, but that would have to wait until their next hunt. He could feel the eyes of the others boring into his back as he stalked toward the hideous house that had nothing on the hideousness creeping into his veins.
He threw open the door and walked into the foyer, pausing when the aroma of vanilla drifted to him. Kadence’s lingering scent caused a stabbing pain to shoot through him as he strode toward the stairs.
Something shifted in the shadows and Baldric emerged from the area of the kitchen. Ronan’s hand fell onto the banister at the same time his foot hit the first stair. Baldric’s eyes widened on him and he stumbled back. Ronan could only stare at him as he tried to figure out why the man was back here.
Had she returned to her brother? Had she been trying to spy on them and betrayed him, or had she run away from Marta and Baldric?
“Where. Is. She?” Ronan bit out even as he realized that none of his questions were right.
He turned away before Baldric could respond and followed the enticing lure of her scent toward the library. Every step had him feeling more keyed up than the one before it. “Ronan—”
He didn’t look back at Declan, but he heard his footsteps as Declan hurried after him.
“Ronan, you’re covered in blood. Some of it is her brother’s.”
Ronan ignored him as he stepped into the doorway of the library to find Kadence lying on one of the couches with her head resting on her hand and her eyes closed as she slept. Her silvery hair cascaded around her shoulders in waves. The sight of her calmed him even as his body roused to her nearness and his fangs lengthened in anticipation of tasting her.
“Ronan—”
“Leave us be,” Ronan commanded. Spinning, he grabbed the doors. Declan’s troubled eyes held his as he slid the doors closed, shutting Declan out.
“Ronan?”
He turned toward the beautiful sound of her voice to find her eyebrows in her hairline as she surveyed him. The rays of the moon spilling through the windows were the only illumination in the room as she rose. The increased beat of her heart sounded in his ears; her hand went to her mouth.
