Page 28 of Eternally Bound
What had happened to it all? She didn’t think Ronan was planning to redecorate—she had a feeling he didn’t have much time for color schemes—but then why had all the paintings or photos been removed?
In the long run, it really didn’t matter what had happened to them all. However, her curiosity was piqued.
When her stomach rumbled again, she walked over to the tray and picked up a piece of bacon. Why vampires had food in their house was another thing she didn’t know how to explain, but she happily ate the bacon before grabbing another piece and biting into it.
She doubted any weapons remained in her coat, but she still searched its pockets to confirm it. Dropping her coat back over the chair, she rotated her shoulder, relieved to find she no longer felt any discomfort.
Lifting the navy blue cardigan that was set out with the dress, she slid it around her shoulders and buttoned it. Shereallydidn’t want to go through Ronan’s things, but with nothing else of use in view, she saw no other option.
She pulled open the heavy wood doors on the armoire. The crisp scent of cedar met her as she gazed at the clothes hanging neatly within. Most of them were jeans and button down shirts in an assorted array of colors. There were some black pants of the cargo variety and a black, three-piece suit she bet Ronan looked striking in.
The idea of peeling that suit off him to reveal all the ridges and carved muscles of his chest and abdomen made her mouth water.
Stop it! She was no longer missing at least two pints of blood and could no longer blame her strange attraction to a vampire on that. She had to plan her escape, not stand here wondering what it would be like if Ronan kissed her. She’d broken free of the stronghold; she could figure this place out too.
Although, it had taken a lot of plotting before she’d succeeded in breaking out of the stronghold. In a book she’d once read, the detective used baby powder to uncover fingerprints, so she’d decided to give that a shot. One night, shortly after Nathan and the hunters had gone out, she snuck out to use the baby powder on the keypad by the gate. All the numbers had fingerprints on them, as the code was changed once a month, but she’d used the four most visible fingerprints to figure out the right combination of numbers.
Over the years, she’d spent a lot of time with Roland, the man who ran the security system at the stronghold. She’d never sat with Roland with the intention of escaping. She resented the plans for her life, but she’d never thought she’d do anything other than what had been laid out for her. She’d spent time with Roland because he was one of the few elder men alive, and his stories were fascinating.
However, during all the time she’d spent with him, she’d also watched the cameras as they talked. There were no cameras on the homes or the massive garage with all the vehicles. No one saw any need for that. All the cameras were focused on the outside world.
Eventually, Kadence had realized that the three cameras covering the gate and roadway had a minute, every hour, at the twenty-three mark when none of them were focused on the gate. That minute had been enough time for her to run up and punch two new combinations into the pad every night after the hunters left.
Over her years in the stronghold, she’d learned that three wrong combinations in a twenty-four-hour period set the entire system off. Two wrong tries went by unnoticed though. She had hoped and prayed no other hunters entered the wrong combination on their exits and entrances after her; they would have known something was wrong then.
It had taken her weeks of patience and wrong tries before she finally lucked out on the right combination. She’d closed the gate before it could open more than an inch and fled.
She’d broken free the next night and ended up in the hands of a vampire.
With a sigh, she closed the armoire and turned back to the sparse room. She wanted to know where Ronan was and what was going to happen to her, but she couldn’t walk around this place without some kind of weapon.
If I’m not locked in…
Her gaze went to the door as the possibility occurred to her, but she’d leap that obstacle if she came to it. She could only handle one thing at a time right now. Walking away from the armoire, she bent to peer under the bed. There wasn’t even a dust bunny under there.
Sitting back, she rested her hands on her knees as she surveyed the room again. Her eyes fell on the metal serving cart and the platter of food before returning to the room. Unless she planned on destroying some furniture, there was nothing she could use in this room to defend herself with against a vampire. The only thing she’d be able to break anyway was the nightstand, and that would defeat the whole purpose of being secretly armed.
Rising, she walked over to the cart and snatched the butter knife laid out neatly next to the fork. The silver knife may not kill a vamp, but she could at least inflict some damage with it. She slipped the knife up the sleeve of her cardigan before snatching the rest of the bacon. She greedily ate it as she walked to the door and grabbed the handle. Taking a deep breath, she braced herself for it to be locked.
The handle turned within her grasp and the door inched open. Stepping forward, Kadence pressed her eye against the crack and peered into the hall beyond. She couldn’t see much of what was on the other side, but she heard no movement and detected no one out there. Feeling like a thief in the night, she slid out of the room and closed the door. Thick, dark wood doors lined the long hall before her.
Her bare feet made no sound on the plush, red rug lining the hall as she walked. She was halfway down the hall when her step faltered, and she stopped to take in the bare, white walls. The walls were lit by dim, candle-flame-shaped bulbs housed within the glass sconces lining the walls. Those small bulbs illuminated the numerous places where things had once hung on the walls.
What is up with this place?She wondered as her fingers touched against the handle of the knife. The weapon gave her zero reassurance.
Despite the electricity, she felt as if she’d stepped into the eighteenth century as she continued onward. She saw no bare spots or stains to indicate the rug was anything other than brand new, but something about it, or maybe it was the vibe of this whole place, made it feel ancient.
She crept forward until she came to a large, curving staircase at the end of the hall. The mahogany banister shone in the light spilling from the chandelier above. The hundreds of bulbs within the chandelier created a rainbow of colors amongst the crystals that danced over the white and gray marble foyer below. She had no idea who changed those bulbs when they burnt out, but she didn’t envy them their job.
The dome of the ceiling had been painted with an exquisite landscape. Animals were gathered within a beautiful meadow as the sun shone down on a glistening lake. It was an outdoor scene she was certain none of the inhabitants of this place had seen, at least not by day. She hadn’t asked, but she assumed since Ronan had been born a vampire that he’d never seen the sun.
Feeling ridiculously saddened for his inability to feel the warmth of the sun, Kadence turned her attention to the stairs. She tiptoed down the steps so as not to make a sound.
Her feet became instantly chilled when she stepped off the wood and onto the marble. Pausing with her hand on the banister, she glanced left and right, uncertain of where to go from here. Her gaze went to the front door across from her, but there would be no walking out of it as a heavy metal gate blocked the way.
Voices drifted from down the hall on her left. Kadence crept toward the voices, her hand slipping into her sleeve to grip the knife handle. Arriving at a set of sliding double doors, she stopped when the voices within became louder and more distinct. The doors had been mostly closed, but a small crack ran down the middle of them to allow the light from within to spill out.
Moving closer, she stepped to the side of one of the doors to peer in at the large men gathered around the ten-foot-long table within. Ronan was on his feet, his arm resting on the mantle of the gray stone fireplace at the far end of the room. His dark hair was disheveled, and an air of angry tension surrounded him.
