Page 36 of Eternally Bound
She had no idea if he’d somehow be able to get the number off the broken phone. She released the remains of the phone and stomped them beneath her feet. The satisfying crack of the material sounded seconds before he spun her to face him.
Ronan’s face was inches from hers as he gripped her upper arms. His lips skimmed back to reveal the lethal points of his fangs. Despite his furious countenance and the lethalness of him, she still didn’t believe he would attack her.
Ronan had no idea how to react to what she’d done. Part of him wanted to shake her for disobeying him whennooneelse did. The other part wanted to hug her close. Had she told her brother that because of him? Did she want to stay withhim?
He shut the hope down. It wouldn’t be possible, no matter what. His life was far too treacherous for her to stay with him. She had to go back, or at least go somewhere away from him.
“What are you doing?” he demanded.
Kadence lifted her chin as she met his stare. She’d made her choice, she wouldn’t back down from it now.
“From the second I was born, my entire life has been plotted out for me. I’ve resented it, I’ve rebelled against it, but I still followed along with that plan. I succeeded in breaking free of the stronghold, and I was going to return to it. I was going to allow myself to be married off, to be caged again, because I’m afraid of what is out here.
“However, I refuse to be a coward. I’m letting my people and family down by doing this, but I’m free, and I have to see what is out here. Once the monster who killed my father is dead, I will go out and experience all the things I’ve read and dreamt about my entire life. Maybe one day I’ll return to the stronghold, but today is not that day. My brother has no idea I’m with you, he knows I’m alive, and believes I’m free, so the hunters won’t blame vampires for my disappearance. I made sure of that.”
For the first time in his life, Ronan hadnoidea what to do. Forcing her back to her people would destroy her, but so would keeping her locked up with him. He couldn’t just turn her loose on the streets. With her beauty and naiveté, the humans would eat her alive. He loathed all of the options, but she would be safest with the hunters.
He tore his eyes away from her and looked over her shoulder to Killean, who had retrieved the broken pieces of the phone. “Give them to me.”
Killean’s hand stretched over her shoulder and Ronan released her to take the phone. Kadence couldn’t bring herself to look at the device for fear she hadn’t destroyed it as badly as she’d hoped. Ronan stared at the pieces in his hand as she held her breath and waited.
“Shit!” he exploded.
Kadence jumped as he spun away from her and heaved the phone into the woods. The remains shattered off a tree with a crack of mechanical bits. Kadence stiffened her spine, refusing to be intimidated by him when he turned back to her.
“I am not going back there. You can’t make me, so leave me here,” she said coldly.
His hand swallowed her bicep when he clasped her arm and dragged her toward the SUV. Declan stepped toward them, but he didn’t try to intervene. Kadence dug her heels into the asphalt to stop Ronan as he pulled her onward.
Her attempt was as futile as a gnat trying to stop a raging rhino. “Stop it! Let me go!”
He didn’t stop. Without thinking, she kicked him in the back of his calf. Her mouth dropped open as he spun toward her. She couldn’t believe she’d done that, but she couldn’t take it back now. He stared at her with his full lips compressed into a flat line and a look that said he might splat her like a fly. Despite her possible impending splatting, Kadence ripped her arm free of his grasp and glowered back at him.
Ronan took a step toward her, but she didn’t back away. Meeting him toe to toe, she stuck out her chin. Her insolence maddened him, yet he couldn’t help admiring her. She was strong, but nowhere near as strong as the vampires standing here.Noneof them would dare to stand up to him in such a way.
“You are going back to your brother,” he stated.
“No. I. Am. Not,” she enunciated clearly.
She didn’t think he’d ever been denied before if the look on his face was any indication, and she’d done it twice in less than three minutes. She could almost feel the breeze of the flyswatter over her head, but she wouldn’t back down from this.
“You are going to do what I tell you to do,” he said as if this would resolve the issue.
“The hell I am! You have no say over me or my life. And yes, this ismylife; I finally get to have one! I don’t expect you to understand, but I am not going back there. I won’t give up this opportunity. I know it’s selfish, I know it’s insensitive to my people, but I must do thisforme. This may be the only chance I ever have to be free, and if I waste it, I will hate myself for the rest of my life.
“The hunters will not come for you; they will come forme. There will still be a lot of them looking for Joseph, but once he’s dead, things will calm down again. I will not let you take this chance from me!”
CHAPTER 19
Ronan couldn’t deny the sway of her impassioned words. What awaited her at the stronghold wasn’t the life he wanted for her. He would prefer to keep her with him, but that would be impossible. If any of his enemies learned of her, they would go after her to take him down.
And then he also had to worry about himself around her. If he turned Savage, Kadence’s life may be the first one he took.
No, he hated what awaited her at the stronghold, but she was safest there. She’d be a broodmare, but she’d be alive and protected. Best of all, he wouldn’t be able to find her again and she would be safe fromhim.
“You have to go back to your family,” he told her, his voice softening at the desperation in her eyes.
“No, I don’t.”
