Page 21 of Bound by Vengeance
It was the first time he’d ever done such athing. The first timeanyleader overruled the elders in anystronghold in almost fifty years. He hated doing it, but he had nochoice.
He’d seen the number of Savages in thewarehouse where Joseph kept innocent humans and vampires to twistthem into monsters. He’d witnessed the adversity they faced andknew the hunters wouldn’t survive without help from the vamps.
Joseph would stop at nothing to accomplishwhatever mission the bastard was trying to complete. Nathan wouldnotallow old prejudices against vampires to destroy thembecause some hunters resisted changing their ways, and others wereflat-out pissed Kadence jumped ship.
Some believed he might be a traitor in theirmidst too. But they hadn’t fought with the vampires as he and someof the others had. They still had doubts the vamps could betrusted. Nathan didn’t. He knew the difference between a vampirewho killed and one who didn’t; he wouldn’t let innocent vamps diebecause the hunters were stubborn.
In the end, it didn’t matter; his familyline had always been in charge of the hunters, and now he was. Theother strongholds were led by men nominated by the elders withintheir group and approved by Nathan’s father. When the time came fora new leader, he would have to travel to accept them. Thisstronghold, and all the others, were his responsibility.
Feeling as if the weight of the world restedon his shoulders, Nathan crested another hill, and the main housecame into view. Though, he could hardly call it a house; the graystone building was a mansion and unlike anything he’d resided inbefore.
Having been around for thousands of years,the hunter organization had amassed a fortune through investments,businesses, and smart financial decisions. Each stronghold hadtheir separate wealth, and he was the only one who knew how mucheach of them possessed.
If all their income revenues stopped today,it would take them centuries of frivolous spending to go broke.Since all their revenue streams were stable and none of the leaderswere foolish with money, Nathan wasn’t concerned that wouldhappen.
This purchase was one he never would havemade if they hadn’t been under the gun to relocate fast. The mainhouse was too big and ostentatious for his liking. He missed hissmaller, brick home as he often got lost in this place. However,all the single men had moved into the main house while theunmarried women resided in the guest house, the carriage house, anda few of the trailers.
They’d already built a house for the elders,one designed to their specifications. Most of the fifteen elders inthis stronghold were in good health, but one of them had broken herback a couple of years ago and was in a wheelchair, and another hadheart problems.
Twelve women and three men comprised theelders. Few male hunters lived to two hundred, the age at which onewas considered an elder. Because of the demon DNA in their genes,hunters often lived anywhere from one hundred fifty to two hundredfifty years, if they didn’t die in battle. They also tended to ageexceptionally well.
The oldest elder, Elfry, was two hundredforty-eight, and she didn’t look any older than sixty-two. A kindwoman with an abundance of patience, Elfry was one of the fewelders on his side about working with the vampires.
He hadn’t expected Elfry’s willingness toembrace his changes. She may not have been on the killing field,but Elfry endured many losses over the years too, and as the eldesthunter in this stronghold, he’d expected her to be the moststubborn. Instead, she believed he’d made the right choice andtried to make the others see it too.
Nathan pulled in between an older model FordExpedition he recognized as Asher’s and Logan’s battered Fordpickup. They were his two closest friends in the stronghold.However, since Kadence broke her betrothal to Logan, thingsremained strained between him and Logan. Nathan had tried to talkwith him, but Logan refused to speak about it. Nathan could onlyhope that Logan would come around when his broken heart andbattered pride mended.
Tugging the emergency brake up, Nathanturned the truck off and opened the door. Before his feet hit theground, he spotted a group coming at him from the right and anotherone coming at him from the left. Nathan threw the door shut andbraced himself for the barrage of complaints he knew werecoming.
“We have a problem with the water line forthe newest house,” someone called to him while another one shoutedabout a gas problem for another house.
Nathan stopped to listen to them, his headthrobbing and his mind drifting from the conversation to Vicky.What was she doing now? Before he dropped her off, they had anotherkey made for his apartment; was she already there, waiting forhim?
He recalled the curve of her thigh, thetantalizing glimpse of her cleavage, and her alluring scent. Whenhe discovered himself unable to focus on what they were saying, hetold those around him he’d meet with them in an hour, excusedhimself, and hurried away.
The heavy wood door creaked when he pushedit open and stepped inside the mansion. He set his keys on thechestnut stand next to the front door. When he kicked the doorclosed, the thud of it echoed through the open foyer.
Everything about the place spoke of opulenceand taste, but it felt as warm and welcoming to him as the gates ofHell.
Nathan crossed the thirty feet of tiledfloor to the broad, red-carpeted steps across the way and began toascend. At the top of the stairs, the hall branched off in twodirections overlooking the foyer below before breaking off intodifferent wings. There werewingshere.
He hated this place.
“Where have you been?”
The question halted Nathan at the top of thestairs. He glanced back at Asher as he walked across the foyer tostand at the bottom of the stairs with an apple in hand. Damp froma recent shower, Asher’s sandy blond hair stood up at the ends. Hisbrown eyes, flecked with streaks of gold, were curious as hesurveyed Nathan.
“Not the clothes you wore out last night,”Asher remarked.
“Who needs a wife when I have you to worryabout me,” Nathan replied.
“Good thing I’m not your wife as I’d assumedyou were out getting laid. Is there something I should be worriedabout?”
“Nope.”
“So did you?”
“Did I what?”
