Page 96 of Eternally Bound
Nathan’s eyes were haunted when they met hers. “It’s more than just the elders. Yes, we were wrong about some things, but there are other strongholds around the world. There are others with us who will not understand this or agree to it. Everyone in our stronghold wants to change our location, and I have agreed to it.”
She ignored the twinge of sadness his words caused her. She should have known they would decide to do that once they’d learned of her fate. “I would never reveal where it is,” she murmured.
“I know, but it doesn’t matter. They don’t feel safe, and I can’t have that. They’re in the process of moving as we speak.”
“I see.”
“How did you escape, Kadence?”
She smiled at him. “Planning,” she replied and gave him the shortened rundown on her method.
“Smart,” he murmured.
“Determined,” she replied. “Nothing is ever easy, Nathan, not in our worlds, but the hunters have followed our family for years, and for more reasons than we were the strongest line. We are born leaders who can do anything we set our minds to. The hunters believe things are one way, and we’ve always accepted it, but you will make them see that things must change if we are all to survive.”
He opened his mouth before closing it again. His head tilted to the side as he studied her. “We’ve been together our whole lives, but I’m not sure I ever knew you. A part of you would have died if you stayed in the stronghold.”
“This was the path I was meant to take in life, and I truly believe that. It’s more than seeing things more clearly now, like this place, but I also see themdifferently.”
“I can understand that,” he said.
Ronan strode over to them and slid his arm around her waist as he handed Nathan a bottle of gasoline with a rag hanging out of the top. “Let’s get this over with.”
Nathan took the bottle and glanced between the two of them. “We have much to discuss when this is over.”
“We do,” Ronan agreed. He removed his arm from her waist and turned to face her. She’d come armed with stakes and a crossbow, but he pulled out another crossbow and a lethal-looking switchblade knife. He handed them both to her. “I know you won’t return to the vehicle, and I’d prefer to have you where I can see you, but don’t you let anything that comes out of that building anywhere near you. The fire and the sun will take care of most of them before they can get close to you, andIwill take care of anything else.”
She nodded and he clasped the lapel of her coat. Pulling her closer, he kissed the end of her nose before his forehead fell briefly against hers and he inhaled her fragrant scent. Every instinct he had said to take her from here before this started.
He couldn’t, he knew, but allowing Kadence to embrace who she was becoming may be his undoing. She wrapped her hands around his wrists as she lifted her lips to his.I love you.
The words were a soothing caress that came from her mind and whispered into his.I love you too, he told her.
Lifting his head, he kissed her again before releasing her. “I don’t want you in the shadows,” he said as he led her toward the edge of the small clearing surrounding the crumpling building. The woods had crept in to reclaim most of their land, but there were still some open patches. “As soon as that building is on fire, get in the sunlight.”
“I will,” she promised and stroked the thick muscles in his forearm when his body vibrated with tension.
“Don’t get out of the sunlight.”
“I won’t.”
His gaze remained latched on her, his eyes turning redder with every passing second. She knew that color wasn’t entirely because of his concern for her, but also because of the impending battle. She could feel his growing excitement over what was about to unfold. Their bond would keep him from turning Savage, but she’d never be able to completely ease the compulsion to kill from him, and she didn’t want to. She loved him for who he was, a powerful warrior.
Nathan stepped beside them and rested his hand on her shoulder. Kadence grasped his hand and tears burned her eyes at the connection. He squeezed her fingers before releasing her.
He moved swiftly forward with Ronan and the others. Kadence remained in the tree line with Declan and Saxon, watching as half of the hunters and three vampires approached the warehouse. A clammy sweat coated her skin and her heart raced as Ronan and Nathan crept up to the backside of the building.
The strengthening rays warmed Ronan’s skin as Lucien and Killean broke off to head around the building. Nathan stayed by his side as he reached the warehouse. Turning, bricks bit into his back when he pressed it against the wall and lit the rag sticking out of the bottle he held. Nathan did the same with his bottle.
Rising to his feet, Ronan used his fist to smash the board out of the window and tossed the bottle inside before Nathan threw his in. The crack of more boards breaking sounded around the warehouse before the first startled cry pierced the air.
Retreating from the building, Ronan fell back as the screams within rose. Declan led Kadence out of the shade of the trees to stand twenty feet behind him. Saxon moved forward to join the circle near the front of the building. From his spot, Ronan couldn’t see the hunters guarding the front.
Flames shot out of a lower window as the first tendril of smoke spiraled from the roof. The back doors burst open and a rush of Savages poured out to take their chances with the sun instead of the flames. Some of them didn’t make it ten feet before they shrieked and fell to the ground. They wailed as the sun blistered their skin and smoke poured from them. Others made it to the circle where they were taken out by a hunter or vampire.
Ronan seized the first one coming at him and threw him to the ground before grabbing the next two. He tossed one of them onto the ground before tearing the head from the first. Placing his foot into the back of the one he’d thrown down, he ripped the heart out of the next Savage before finishing off the one pinned beneath him.
From behind him, a bolt whistled past his ear and embedded into the heart of a Savage racing toward him with smoke billowing off his body. The impact of the bolt through his heart threw the Savage back and he fell to the ground, dead. Ronan glanced over his shoulder as Kadence lowered her crossbow and grinned at him.
