Page 36 of Bound By Blood
“I know what tolook for.”
There was his damnarrogance again. She still couldn’t decide if it was attractive ormaddening, but if it helped keep her alive, it didn’t matter.
“They’ll probablytry to grab you when we walk by the car,” Saber said. “I won’t letthem take you, but prepare for it. Don’t do anything to alert themthat we know they’re there. I need them to make a move.”
Caro’s skintingled, and her heart lurched before it leapt into frantic mode.She was icy all over yet boiling as she debated turning andsprinting away, but she might run right into the arms of anothermonster.
“Why are theydoing this?”
But she alreadyknew the answer; he’d told her they sought her father’s knowledge,but she didn’t understand how anyone or anything could be sovicious and callous. Her parents were living creatures who loved,laughed, and dreamed. And they’d slaughtered them and were nowlooking to destroy her.
“You and yourfather possess a knowledge they seek,” Saber said.
Caro didn’t missthat he’d lumped her in with her dad; she also didn’t react.
As she approachedthe car, the two heads inside leaned closer to each other beforeseparating again. The driver looked in his side mirror, but neitheroccupant emerged.
She couldn’tbelieve she was continuing to walk straight toward these things whosought to take her and most likely turn her into one of them. Andthen they would try to use her to help destroy others.
That possibilitycaused her heart to race so fast she could barely think over thepounding in her ears and the sudden, awful lurching of the ground.This wasn’t her world, and it wasn’t her life, but here she wastrying to navigate it.
She never wouldhave considered herself sheltered. She had experienced and donemany things with her parents, and on her own, over the years. For acouple of years in her mid-twenties, soon after she reachedmaturity, she traveled the world.
She hiked to MachuPicchu, explored the rain forest in the Congo, walked the GreatWall of China, skied the Alps, danced at Stonehenge, and partied inBerlin. She experienced numerous cultures and threw herself intothe lives of all the different people this world had to offer.
She’d dated,screwed, and had a lot of fun. But she also learned, experienced alot, and saw many things that matured her.
There was so muchbeauty in this world but also so much suffering. And she’d seen alot of it, from the best to the worst.
After a couple ofyears, she returned home to her family. She hadn’t forged anylasting relationships, but that was the curse of being what shewas. She would always remember the people she met long after theywere gone but would never talk to them again.
She’d encounteredother vamps on her travels. They’d all been like her, and whilethey recognized each other for what they were, they didn’tspeak.
Caro lovedtraveling, she had a lot of fun doing it, but she always knew shewould return to her family. It was where she belonged, and now, shewas so glad she’d cut her trip short and returned early. It gaveher more time with the parents she never expected to lose.
Lifting her chin,she prepared for someone to jump out of the vehicle and attack asthey approached. Her hand fell to the dagger at her side; herfingers rubbed it through her shirt before falling away.
She’d prefer totear their hearts out with her bare hands, but she wasn’t sure shecould actuallydosuch a thing.
As they approachedthe car, the Savages within moved again. Her muscles tensed, and astrange ringing started in her ears. It drowned out all other noiseas the driver’s door began to open.
CHAPTER 26
Before Caro couldreact, Saber surged forward and pulled the door open further. Hishand shot into the vehicle; a second later, blood sprayed thewindshield’s interior. Its scent hit her a second before he slammedthe door closed.
Sun glinted offthe blood-drenched edge of his knife before it vanished into hispocket. The Savage grasped its throat as blood spilled from betweenits fingers. When its ass rose off the seat and its back arched,she saw the stake embedded in its chest.
How did he dothat?Caro shouldn’t have been shocked after what she witnessedSaber do in the storage room, but her jaw dropped. He was a blur toher,yet he’dkilledthe guy.
When she glancedaround the street, everyone went about their day, talking andlaughing with friends, examining the windows, or vanishing into thetreat shops. They were all completely unaware of the brutalityunfolding before them, except…
One man hadstopped to gawk at the car. Then, seeming to recall where he was,the man shoved his hands in his pockets and started strolling alongthe sidewalk.
His eyes brieflymet hers before she looked away. In that second, they both knew thetruth… He was a Savage and huntingher.
Caro searched tosee if the woman might have betrayed herself too, but she didn’tsee anyone who stood out. Their other enemy remained hidden fromher; she had a feeling that wouldn’t last.
The other Savagepushed the body down before emerging from the car’s passenger side.Saber seized Caro’s arm and pulled her to the left. She caught aglimpse of the Savage’s nearly orange hair before bright, flashinglights encompassed her.
