Page 89 of Eternally Bound
CHAPTER 39
Kadence opened her mouth to reply, but Ronan spoke before she could. “I would never keep her caged as you did. She had no choices with you, not even on whom she would marry.”
His eyes fixed on Logan, the man Kadence had told him she was to marry. Ronan suspected Logan’s obvious love for Kadence would turn to loathing when he realized what she was now. The hunter may become an issue that would have to be dealt with later, but for now, he would continue to play nice, for Kadence.
“Every step she has taken with me has been one of her choosing, not someone else’s. I tried to make her return to you. She refused. I set her free. She came back. No one will take her choices from her again, not even me.”
Nathan rocked back on his heels. “And just what is it between you two?”
He saw the question in Kadence’s eyes when she lifted her gaze to him. “Reveal what you will about that,” he told her.
She turned back to her brother. Part of her screamed not to say the words out loud. She was afraid he would walk away from her and she would never see him again if she did. The other part knew she couldn’t lie, not to Nathan, and it would come out eventually. It was better to know if he would turn against her now, than tomorrow or a month from now.
“I… I love him, Nathan.”
“Bullshit!” Logan exploded. He jerked a crossbow up from his hip, and before Kadence could blink, he fired the bolt.
“No!” Nathan shouted as Kadence leapt forward.
Ronan pulled her back with one hand while he snatched the bolt out of the air with the other. Lifting his head, Ronan held Logan’s gaze as he broke the bolt in half. The hunter took a startled step back when the vampires closed in around Ronan and started toward Logan.
“Back off,” Ronan commanded his men.
They moved back, but all their eyes had taken on a fiery red hue as they stared at Logan. If he allowed it, the hunter would be dead before he could take his next breath. Ronan released Kadence and strode forward. She snagged his hand and tugged on it until he stopped.
“No, this is not… This willnothappen!” she yelled.
Releasing Ronan’s hand, she moved forward with lethal speed to yank the crossbow from Logan’s grasp. She threw the weapon onto the ground and stomped it, shattering it into pieces. Her fangs lengthened as she resisted tearing Logan’s throat out for trying to kill Ronan. Feeling somewhat more in control of herself, she lifted her head to meet Logan’s startled gaze.
Ronan drew her against his chest when her eyes burned that feral, white-blue color. Her brother and the other hunters gasped when they saw her eyes.
“Don’t you ever do that again!” she yelled at Logan. “I’m sorry I hurt you, I really am, and I will regret it for the rest of my life. ButIhave chosen Ronan, and no matter what anyone else says or believes, it is a choice I would make over and over for the rest of my life. If you try to attack him again, I’ll kill you myself, and don’t think I’m not capable of it.”
She turned to face her brother who gawked at her as if he didn’t know her. She supposed he didn’t know her, not really. “I love you, Nathan. I always will no matter what happens. Maybe, one day, if you’ll listen to me and accept my choices, you can get to really knowme. However, none of that matters, not when innocent lives are on the line.
“There are vampires who have been killed that didn’t deserve it, and there are hunters who have died that didn’t have to. Joseph is bringing together a large group of Savage vampires that we can beat if we all work together, but if the vampires and hunters remain divided and killing each other, then Joseph will only grow stronger until he becomes unstoppable.”
Her brother succeeded in closing his mouth, but it fell open again. “Your eyes,” he murmured.
Kadence’s heart sank. “Are my eyes really what you’re most concerned about after everything I just said?”
Nathan closed his mouth and threw back his shoulders. “No, they’re not. What is a Savage vampire?”
“Those of our kind who kill for pleasure and take the lives of innocents. There is no humanity left within them,” Ronan replied. “They are the ones we hunt.”
Nathan’s gaze ran over them before focusing on Ronan again. “How big of a threat is this with Joseph and these Savages?
“It’s growing stronger every day,” Ronan said.
“You can’t seriously be considering this insanity!” Logan hissed.
“Not another word, Logan,” Nathan commanded. “Asher, what do you think?”
“I think your sister has hopped on the crazy train express, but I believe there is something to what she says,” Asher replied.
“Thanks,” Kadence muttered.
“You gotta admit it’s a little crazy, kid. I mean, we’re all a little crazy in one way or another, but you’re rounding out the top of the looney tier right now. I suppose the vampires could have found a way to warp her mind and turn her to their side, but I don’t see why he would have set her free if that were the case.”
