Page 91 of Eternally Bound
“I’m not ready either. I love you, but this is a lot to take in.”
Tears burned her eyes as she bent her head. Ronan embraced her as he leveled her brother with an unblinking stare.
“We’ll work through it in time,” she said.
“I have to discuss this with the elders,” Nathan said. “They’re not going to take it well.”
“No, they’re not,” Kadence agreed.
“Call me tomorrow,” he said to Kadence before turning and walking away.
“Crazy or not, I hope you found happiness, Kadence,” Asher said before following her brother.
Kadence nestled against Ronan’s chest when he lifted her and held her against him. His body remained tensed as he studied the trees. Over his shoulder, her eyes landed on Killean. The pitiless vampire stared back at her for a minute before briefly bowing his head to her.
She may have just lost everyone she had known for her whole life, but she knew then that she’d somehow managed to earn Killean’s respect.
CHAPTER 40
Kadence put the book down, rose, and paced over to one of the bookshelves before stopping and turning back to the chair she’d vacated. Her gaze went to the window and the sun spilling inside. She strode over to pull back the curtain and reveal the covered swimming pool.
She should call Nathan, but she dreaded picking up the phone. She knew the elders would never agree to the hunters working with the vampires. They hated and resisted any kind of change, and the hunters had been set in their ways for centuries. She stalked back toward the chair, her dread growing with every step.
There had been a niggling at the back of her mind ever since she’d woken this afternoon. It was the same feeling she got when she somehow knew things. Then, there was always this nagging tug on her mind. Before the tugging had been small, but now it felt like something was digging its way into her brain, and it would not go away.
Before, there had been some sort of revelation, but there were no revelations coming to her now. She sensed nothing more than what she already knew. However, the incessant digging sensation grew with every passing hour, and she could feel it expanding within her brain and taking over.
She shook her head to clear it of the sensation, but it clung like a burr. She rubbed at her temples as they pounded with every beat of her heart.
“Kadence?”
Lifting her head, she found Ronan standing in the doorway. The sweats he wore hung low on his hips, a sheen of sweat emphasized the chiseled ridges of his abs, and his damp hair had been brushed back from the rugged angles of his face. He’d been working out with the others, and the new recruits who had been moved here. Now it was time for the two of them to train together.
“What is wrong?” he asked as he strode toward her.
“I… I don’t know,” she muttered. “I have this feeling that something is coming, but I don’t know what, and I can’t shake it.”
“You’ve been through a lot.” He rested his hands on her shoulders as he stopped before her. “It’s understandable that you’re unsettled.”
“No, it’s more than that. Over the years, I’ve always justknownthings. This is kind of like what I experienced then, but it’s more.”
“More how?” he inquired.
She blinked when he blurred before her until he became two and then three. She leaned toward him, inhaling his scent as she tried to stay focused on him, but as she watched, the floor vanished beneath her feet.
Ronan caught her when her legs gave out. Terror burst through him when he felt her distress and uncertainty battering against the bond connecting them. He tried to get deeper into her mind to see if he could soothe her, but something kept him blocked from experiencing more of what she felt.
“Declan!” he bellowed.
He’d left the others in the gym, but seconds later the pounding of footsteps rang across the marble. Kadence hunched forward and her head snapped up. He found himself gazing into her white-blue eyes. Though she stared at him, he didn’t think she saw him as she remained focused on something far beyond him.
“What the fuck?” Lucien said from the doorway.
Ronan glanced over to find him standing with Declan and Killean. Lucien and Killean took a step back, but Declan winced as he lifted a hand to his head. “Shit,” Declan said.
“What is it?” Ronan demanded.
Kadence wheezed, drawing his attention back to her. He held her cheeks in his hands when she started speaking, “The pathways.” Ice slid down his spine as she uttered the same words she’d spoken during her transformation, but this time she spoke in a much more alien tone of voice. “Plymouth, rock, warehouse, bricks, Joseph.”
