Page 33 of Bound By Blood
Caro’s frustrationmounted as her gaze shifted between him and the front door. “Thenhow do we get out of here?”
“We go out thedoor and walk away.”
“We’re bothcarrying swords. It may not be the height of tourist season, butpeople will notice and probably not be thrilled.”
“I’m not taking asword with me.” He stroked the sword’s handle before placing it onthe counter. “I have all I need here.”
His fingers foundthe gun tucked into his shoulder holster. He had another gun on theother side, a couple of stakes, and his knife. The knife was hispreferred weapon, but he’d gladly gun down Savages if it meantgetting them out of this alive.
“You expect us towalk out there?” she inquired in disbelief. “To facemoreSavages.”
“I do. It’s notthe height of tourist season, but there are enough people out therefor us to lose ourselves in the crowd. It’s our only chance ofsurviving.”
Caro glancedaround the store. She’d come here to say goodbye but still wasn’tready for it. Still, the idea of walking away shredded her alreadybroken heart more.
And now she’d alsobe leaving the van behind. It was astupidthing to miss,considering it was a work van and not anyone’s normal vehicle, butit was one more thing thesemonsterswere taking from her,and shehatedthem for it.
“I still haven’tcleaned up my parents’ blood. The humans think they died fromcarbon monoxide poisoning; their blood will contradict that,” shesaid.
“Then it will beanother one of their great mysteries because we don’t have the timefor that. We have to go before they call in more who can toleratethe sun. I can easily take out four of them, but we can’t havedozens searching for us. And this town doesn’t want thateither.”
Caro gulped at thepossible devastation they could unleash on these poor, unsuspectingpeople. She’d give up everything before she let that happen.
Walking over tothe counter, she slid the sword beneath it again and pulled out asmall dagger her father forged. It wouldn’t do as much damage asthe sword, but she could hide it better.
She tucked thesheathed dagger into her waistband and covered it with her shirt.Assured that no one could see it, she started toward the back room,but Saber stopped her.
“We’re going outthe front.”
“We are?” shesqueaked.
“We are. If we goout the back, we’ll be alone in the alley, and I intend to get lostin the crowd.”
Caro gulped butmanaged a nod. “How do I knowyou’renot going to try andkill me after this?”
“You don’t, but Iwon’t.”
“That’s not aconvincing argument.”
“It’s not, and Idon’t have a better one, but I would have killed you by now if Iwanted you dead.”
That was alotmore convincing. It wasn’t reassuring but moreconvincing.
Caro managed asmall nod before giving one last, longing look around the store.She was going to miss this place and all the love shared here.
So much happiness,laughter, and good times occurred in this store. And now, she wasleaving it all behind for a life of loneliness and uncertainty.
At least she wasleaving here alive. She hoped to stay that way.
CHAPTER 24
Caro unlocked thedoor and the alarm chimes dinged when Saber opened the store’sfront door. He held it open while he gestured for Caro to comecloser. Half shrouded in the shadows embracing the store, shehesitated and took in the merchandise.
The distress sheradiated tugged some sympathy from him, and he once again had theridiculous impulse to try comforting her before he squashed it likea mosquito. And like a mosquito, the emotion was a parasite thatcould result in spilled blood.
“Stay close tome,” he said.
She hadn’t comehere just to clean; she’d come here to say goodbye and to reclaimsome of the treasures her father made. Now, she would never getthat chance.
