Page 84 of Bound by Vengeance
He waited for the leaders to tire themselvesout before saying goodnight to them and turning off the computer.The ensuing silence was a balm to his aching ears.
“Now what?” Logan asked.
“Now we make sure we’re secure here,” Nathanreplied. “And we prepare ourselves for war.”
“A war in which we’ll be fightinghuntersturned Savages,” Kadence said. “I’m stronger thanthe average turned vampire. This new breed will be brutalopponents.”
“Which is part of the reason Joseph wentafter hunters,” Ronan said.
“What’s the other part?” Logan inquired.
“He’s eradicating an enemy by making it anally,” Nathan answered. “An extremely powerful ally.”
“Well, fuck me,” Lucien said fromoutside.
“What do you think his next move will be?”Asher asked.
“I don’t know,” Ronan said. “I never sawthis one coming.”
“I think he’s still close by,” Nathan said.“But instead of focusing on creating a new army out of humans to goafter the hunters with, he’s binding together the existing Savagesby offering those Savages something they couldn’t turn down.”
“Hunters,” Kadence murmured. “But how wouldJoseph know it’s possible for a hunter to become a vampire?”
Ronan cupped her cheek. “Because yousuccessfully became one.”
“But how would he knowIbecame avampire?”
“Word travels fast through hunters andvampires,” Ronan replied.
“That it does,” Nathan said. “All thehunters know about you.”
“And some vamps do too,” Ronan said.
Tears shimmered in Kadence’s eyes before shewiped them away.
“But won’t the Savages want to kill thehunters?” Roland inquired.
“I’m sure not all the hunters taken will beturned. Some of them will be used for food, and to keep hisfollowers happy,” Ronan said.
“Fuck!” Nathan snarled.
“Many Savages would hold off on killing thehunters if it meant a chance to see me, my men, and all huntersbrought down. Joseph is dangling a prize in front of them bigenough to warrant the Savages’ patience and obedience. It took timefor Joseph to capture hunters, turn them into Savages, and learnhow to take down their strongholds from them.”
“Bhavin had four hunters go missing threeweeks ago. I’m not sure about the other strongholds. The missingaren’t reported to me until a month has passed,” Nathan said.
“Three weeks is plenty of time to turnsomeone into a vampire and starve them into madness,” Declanmurmured.
“It is,” Ronan agreed.
“And somehow, he’s also brought Savagesacross the ocean into his fold,” Saxon said.
“Going by what that Savage said to meoutside the warehouse a few months ago, Joseph isn’t working alone,and his partner, orpartners, are either overseas or capableof traveling across water,” Ronan said. “The more a Savage killsthe less they can tolerate sunlight, crucifixes, and holy water;crossing large bodies of water also becomes increasingly difficult.I believe Joseph is too far gone in his Savagery to be able totravel overseas.”
“You think you’re so strong, Ronan, sopowerful, but you don’t know what’s coming. Not even you will beable to stop it,” Kadence murmured, repeating the words thevampire had spewed at Ronan months ago.
Since that day, those words had hauntedNathan.You don’t know what’s coming.
They just witnessed part of what was comingwith the destruction of three hunter strongholds, but he sensedthis was only the tip of the iceberg. Whatever else was coming, itwould be brutal, and he suspected that many of them wouldn’tsurvive it.
