Page 16 of Bound By Blood
Saber continued tostare at the camera. He almost glared at it, but he doubted theexasperating woman standing behind the door would open it if hestarted glowering at her. He’d never been known for hisconversational skills, but he reined in his impatience.
This woman hadsaid Charles was dead, and he would learn what happened to him andwho she was. He would make her pay for it if she’d killed hisfriend.
If Savagesmurdered him, it might mean the demons were on to their plan withthe stones and seeking to take out the ones who could help turnthem into weapons. It could also mean they wanted Charles to makethem weapons for the inevitable war looming on the horizon.
Charles didn’toften reveal his talents, but word could have gotten around aboutthe nearly indestructible weapons he created. Either way, Saber hadto learn what happened to his friend before leaving.
The Alliance wasfucked without Charles. The stones could be forged into weapons bya different bladesmith, but they would never be as good; Saber wascertain of it.
“If someone killedhim, then I’ll make whoever did it pay,” he said.
While he didn’texactly have time for that now, he would honor his promise if theysurvived this war with the demons. It had been years since he lastsaw Charles, but he considered the man a friend… or at least asclose to a friend as he allowed himself to have.
Caro looked fromthe man’s deadened blue eyes to her father’s blade and back again.She had no doubt he could make someone pay in the most brutal ways,and she wanted that for her parents.
Then, her gazeflicked to the bloodstains on the floor as she recalled her parentsdidn’t die an easy death. That knife could have caused some of thedamage they sustained.
“How do I knowyoudidn’t kill them?” she demanded.
“Them?” Saberasked at this revelation.
Caro chewed herbottom lip as she pondered what more to say. He wasn’t human, shedidn’t have to hide her relation to her parents from him, and hecouldn’t use the response against her.
Caro rubbed at hertemples as she tried to get her sorrow-choked, exhausted mind towork. She’d barely slept more than two hours a night since herparents died. Every time she fell asleep, she woke up crying ornightmares haunted her.
She cursed herinability to think and, in the end, took the simplest path. “Myparents.”
Herparents!Saber didn’t know Charles had a girlfriend or mate,let alone a daughter and one who sounded like a grown woman.Granted, they didn’t speak often and never revealed many detailsabout themselves, but it was still a surprise.
Saber waved hisknife at the camera. “Your father gave me this, which means hetrusted me.”
Caro’s browfurrowed as she studied the knife. Normally, that was a truestatement, but looks could be deceiving.
He could havestolen the knife from her father at some point. Her father nevermentioned such a thing happening, but he’d lived a long time andhadn’t told her everything.
Her dad didn’thave weapons like that knife in the store. He kept those type ofweapons securely locked away at their home and had protected themfor years. He’d told her such.
He rarely madeweapons like that and refused to let them fall into the wronghands. Most likely, if this man had one of her father’s specialcreations, it was because her dad gave it to him.
Another troublingpossibility occurred to her. Maybe her father hadn’t given him theknife, and he’d killed whoever possessed it before him.
She didn’t thinkit was likely this man had killed to attain the knife. First, herfather had given away a few of his works over the years but notmany. The chance of this man stumbling across someone who possessedher father’s weaponry was small.
Second, how wouldthis man know about her dad if he’d stolen the knife? He could havetortured the answer from his victim—Caro glanced back at thebloodstains on the floor—but if he stole this knife from someone,there was most likely a fight and not time for any torture.
“How do I know hedidn’t give you that knife because you were friends at one time,butyoudidn’t come here and kill him?” she asked.
Saber’s patiencewas at an end. He’d tried playing nice with the stubborn woman butrefused to do so anymore. “Look, one way or another, I’m going toget answers. You can open the door, or I’ll break it down.”
Caro’s handtightened on the sword at his threat. “The alarm is armed. Youbreak down the door, and the police will be here withinminutes.”
“Do I look like Igive a fuck about the police? And do you think they’ll be here intime to stop me from taking you? Besides, do you think humans couldhelp you?”
They were validpoints, but she preferred not to have him in her store. She restedher finger against the silent alarm button. She hesitated to pushit as she pondered his words.
What if heattacks the officers when they arrive?
He wasn’t humanand definitely didn’t care what she, or anyone else, thought. Ifshe brought humans here, they could end up getting killed,especially if he was the monster who killed her parents.
