Page 49 of Bound By Blood
Caro shrugged asshe tried to act casual, but inside she squirmed like a worm on ahook. “So, I learned a thing or two from watching my dad work overthe years.”
“I need someonewho can forge a sword like him and make a blade as strong as myknife. We have stones that could help us destroy the demons; yousaw what my stone did to them. The stones and swords can help uslessen the number of Savages and give us an advantage in destroyingthese monsters.
“Without theproper weapons and a way to use the stones against them, wewilllose this war. And that means theywillwin.Your parents were victims of the demons’ wrath and greed; will youlet their deaths go unavenged?”
“That’s low,” shemuttered.
“It’s not low;it’s your choice.”
Caro couldn’trecall ever being as annoyed with someone as she’d been with him…numeroustimes today. The man had destroyed the Savageshunting her, most likely saving her life, and she’d still love topunch him in the face. It would feel great, she decided as shesmiled grimly at him.
She’d much preferto have nothing to do with him—I really would—she repeatedfirmly, even if a part of her retorted,liar. She told thatpart toshutup!
It didn’tlisten.
There wasnoway she would let her parents’ murders go unavenged. Theydeserved better than that.
Her parents wouldexpect her to run from this mess, save her ass, and never lookback. They’d loved her deeply; her survival and happiness werethemost important things to them, but she couldn’t walkaway.
They may notunderstand her decision to embed herself in this crazy, violent,tumultuous world Saber resided in. Still, she had to do somethingto help fight against the plague of Savages and demons creepinginto their world. If she didn’t, it wouldn’t matter if she ran ornot; they would eventually catch up to her. And they knew what shelooked like; they might catch up sooner than she’d like.
She didn’t likefeeling forced into it, and she especially didn’t like feelingforced into it byhim.
CHAPTER 36
“I don’t trustyou,” she said.
“That’s a smartdecision, but I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“At least notuntil you’ve gotten what you need from me.”
Saber’s knucklesturned white on the wheel as he nearly ripped it from the car. “I’man asshole, but I’m notthatbig of an asshole.”
Caro grunted inresponse and crossed her arms over her chest. “None of the weaponsin the store are made the same as your knife; what makes you thinkI could create anything as intricate and powerful as that?”
“I saw thedifference between your weapons and his. If your father taught youhow to make weapons, which he did, then he passedallof hislegacy on to you. There’s no way he didn’t.
“His knowledge wasrare and ran through his bloodline for generations. He told me theoriginal humans of your family line handed it down through thegenerations. If you showed an interest in his work, which youobviously did, he wouldn’t have let that heritage die out.”
Despite herirritation with him, she was intrigued. “My father told you allthat?”
“He did.”
A little more ofher distrust toward him ebbed. When she saw Saber’s knife, sherealized her father trusted him, but if he’d revealed this bit oftheir family history to him too, then her father trusted him morethan she’d realized.
“How did you meetmy father?” she asked.
“About a hundredyears ago, I saved his life from a group of Savages who wereattacking him. The two of us barely got out of there alive. Bythen, it had been a hundred years since I stopped killing; I’d lostmost of the Savage smell, but your father, as a purebred, detectedit.
“At first, hedidn’t know what to make of it, but as we celebrated being aliveover a few pints and many shots of whiskey, he decided I wasn’tcompletely bad. After that night, we became friends.
“We traveledtogether off and on for about ten years and learned each other’sstories. Your father was first-generation pureblood and a littleyounger than me. He was a good man, who battled his demons toremain that way, but he obviously managed to keep them undercontrol.
“After those tenyears, we went our separate ways. I had decided to travel toAustralia while he chose to remain in the US. Before we parted, hegave my knife to me, and we said we’d keep in contact. Of course,doing so was a lot harder back then, but we often wrote letters toknow each other’s whereabouts and what was happening in ourlives.
“When phones cameabout, it was easier to keep in contact, but we only talked acouple of times a year. He never told me he had a mate or adaughter.”
Caro blinked awaythe tears in her eyes. “My parents loved each other very much.”
