Page 92 of Eternally Bound
Color flooded back into her eyes and she met his gaze. She trembled in his arms, but determination etched her features. “I know where Joseph is, or at least where he was.”
***
Ronan had originally refused to bring her with them, which had resulted in their first big fight. She’d eventually worn him down when she’d reminded him that he’d promised not to cage her, that she was stronger than most turned vamps, and that she had found a way out of the stronghold, she would find a way out of the mansion too.
She also hadn’t spilled enough details for them to easily locate Joseph in Plymouth, but she would be able to locate him on her own, once she escaped. The pathway to Joseph’s location had unraveled in flashing swirls of brilliant blues and purples in her mind. Each new flash had revealed a landmark she would recognize when she saw it again.
“Joseph killed my father, and you promised me that you would not dictate my life,” she said again when Ronan’s disapproval vibrated through their bond.
“You may not have seen a lot of vampires in your vision, but there will be a lot there if Joseph’s managed to stay hidden from Brian this whole time,” Ronan replied, not for the first time.
“I’m not so sure it was a vision, more like a guide or map,” she said, refusing to rehash their argument again. “I saw road signs, landmarks, then the warehouse, and finally Joseph.”
“You said when you were a hunter you knew things,” Ronan said as he turned onto another road leading deeper into the thick woods she’d directed them into. “Becoming a vampire most likely unlocked something that has been within you. It will grow stronger with time and practice.”
Wonderful, she thought. Being knocked to her knees by the burst of images flooding her mind earlier had been anything but fun. However, if those images helped them to locate and exterminate Joseph, she’d happily receive them again.
She glanced at the cell phone in her hand. She’d called Nathan earlier and explained what had happened, where they were going, and who they were hunting. She had a feeling that, if she hadn’t told him it was Joseph, he wouldn’t be meeting them. Her brother had been distant on the phone, and he’d sounded exhausted. She had no idea what had happened since she’d last seen him, but the elders wouldn’t have made what he revealed to them easy on him.
The screen on the phone lit up as a large boulder with a tree growing through the center of it appeared ahead. “Turn there,” she said and pointed at the rock. She clearly recalled the strange rock from the seventh image she’d received.
Ronan made the turn and continued down a winding road. It was so dark the headlights barely pierced the night surrounding them. She typed a message to Nathan and closed the phone. “We’re almost there,” she murmured.
“You’re going to stay in the SUV,” Ronan replied.
“No, I’m not.”
“Kadence—”
“No. We’re here because of me. I will not allow you to order me about and keep me locked away like the hunters did. Either accept that I will see this through to the end, or get out of my way because you won’t be keeping me in this vehicle.”
The others inhaled sharply in the back seat, but didn’t say a word. Ronan’s head turned toward her, and his red eyes lit the night better than the headlights as he gazed at her. Kadence held his gaze, refusing to back down.
“I may not have realized it before, but I was submissive for most of my life; I won’t be again,” she said.
“You’ve never been submissive around me,” he muttered.
“What can I say? You bring out the best in me,” she replied with a smile that didn’t ease the tension from him as she’d hoped.
He glanced at her again as the knuckles in his hands turned white from his grip on the wheel. Kadence rested her hand over one of his. “You’ve been training me. I’m strong and fast, and I promise I won’t do anything foolish. I will do what you ask of me as long as you don’t ask me to stay behind.”
“We’ve barely gotten any real training in you,” he muttered.
“And that is why I’m agreeing to stay out of the way.”
Before he could formulate a response, she sat forward in the seat and slapped her hand on the dashboard. “Take the next left. The warehouse is through the woods about a hundred feet beyond that.”
She texted the last stage of the directions to her brother before tossing the phone into the glovebox. Her hand rested on the handle and her foot tapped against the floorboard as she prepared to leap from the vehicle.
Pulling to the side of the road, Ronan seized Kadence’s arm before she could bolt. She stiffened in his grasp, her gaze swinging back to him. “Know that I will drag you away from here if you don’t listen to me. Promises or not, your safety comes first and I won’t have you doing anything to risk your life or anyone else’s. I’m willing to let Joseph get away again before I allow that to happen.”
Kadence glanced at the vampires crowding the back seats before releasing the handle. They were all watching her and Ronan with expressions that clearly said they’d rather be toasting marshmallows in Hell than sitting where they were.
“What do we do?” she asked Ronan.
“You stay close to me. Text your brother and tell him to park off the road behind us and continue to the warehouse on foot.”
She retrieved the phone from the glovebox and typed the message before focusing on Ronan again. The red had faded from his eyes, but not completely. He released her arm and slid out of the vehicle. He stood there for a minute before sticking his head back in.
