Page 2 of Bound By Blood
His hand went tothe haladie knife strapped to his side. Intricately wrought in away many believed lost to the world, the knife was a masterpiecethat was more difficult to break than Damascus steel. The man whocreated it could help them with this.
At one time, eachstone was encased in a sword. Of course, those blades broke;otherwise, these stones would still be inside them. He didn’t thinkany sword Charles forged would break.
“How do you knowabout the stones?” Ronan asked.
“You know how,”Saber replied.
Ronan knew of hishistory; he hadn’t hidden it from the king when he joined theAlliance. There was no point.
He wasn’t ashamedof his past, and it was obvious to any purebred or hunter that hedidn’t smell like a Savage. But his past might bite him in the assif he ran into an old, murderous acquaintance. Because of that, itwas best to tell the king his history, or he might end up huntedtoo.
And he refused tobe hunted for something he stopped being centuries ago. Was hestill a monster?
Without a doubt.He always would be, but he’d never be a Savage again.
He’d managed toget the Savage part of himself under control over the centuries,and now he was determined to destroy the monsters who once harboredhim. He may not be much better than his enemies, but he wouldmurder them all if given the chance.
And he was alwaysup for a good kill. It was his favorite thing to do as it helpedunleash some of the violence constantly trying to entice him backto the blood and death he once bathed in.
He would nevermurder innocents again, but he gladly took out any Savage he cameacross. There wasn’t enough holy water in all the world to wash theblood from his hands, but they weren’t as stained as they oncewere.
He didn’t know howmuch of his past the king shared with the others and how much hekept to himself. Logan sure looked shocked when Saber told him hewas once a Savage.
“Are you going tosee a Savage about making the swords for us?” Ronan asked.
“No. It’s avampire, an old one, but he’s never been a Savage, or at least hewasn’t the last time I saw him,” Saber replied. “He’strustworthy.”
“He better be,”Lucien said.
Saber shot him anirritated look before shifting his attention back to the womanstaring at him like she’d seen a ghost. She hadn’t answered him,but her reaction said she knew him too. Then his gaze fell to thebites on her neck before flicking to Asher.
Their smell hadintertwined to become something new, and for the first time, henoticed the hunter was more than a hunter. He’d become a vampire.Mates.
Just what theyneeded,moremates in this place. Like there wasn’t enoughof them already. Mates were stronger after completing the bond butwere also weaker as they now had to rely on someone else to stayalive. It was a fate he wouldn’t wish on his worst enemy.
With a sigh, hepulled the haladie knife from its holster and strode to the table.He’d get his answers about the woman soon enough. First, he had toget at least one of these stones to Charles so his friend couldcreate a weapon for them.
When he reachedthe table, he set his blade next to Willow’s. The design on his wasfar more intricate. It came from a man who took his time whilecreating it, but then that man had the time to take while makinghis blade.
It most likelywouldn’t be the same for these new swords. There wouldn’t be enoughtime for all the smaller details.
Whoever forgedWillow’s sword didn’t take the time to make it as pretty, probablybecause the demons were breathing down their necks and seeking tokill them. Despite the differences in the design, the smith whoforged Willow’s sword was as talented as Charles.
“I have no ideawho created Willow’s sword, but as you can see, they used the sametechnique, and it looks like the same metal. This design is strongenough to withstand a demon, but they still break,” Saber said.
He lifted one ofthe broken blades and examined the lime green stone expertlycrafted into the sword’s hilt.
“Crafted by thedemons, the stones hold the power to kill them. They’re the onlythings those monsters fear,” Saber continued. “Our ancestors stolethem and used them to bring down our creators—at least for a littlewhile.”
“How do you knowthis?” Killean demanded.
Saber met Ronan’seyes as he set the broken sword back on the table. “They don’tknow?”
“No. As long as Isaw no sign of you cracking, it wasn’t something I planned todivulge. Your past isn’t mine to share,” Ronan replied.
Saber appreciatedthe king for holding his secret, but it might have been easier ifhe had told the others. At least then, they would have alreadyknown his dark history and still accepted him. Now, there was agood chance they would turn on him.
“Know what?”Kadence inquired.
