“It’s not you,” Saxon said as he finished wiping the blood off him, rose, and brushed past his friend to approach Elyse. “It’s the blood she doesn’t like.”
He knelt before Elyse and held his hands up to show her they were clean. She relaxed a little, but her teeth chattered; he didn’t know if that was from the cold or shock. The scent of her blood teased his nostrils, and he had to fight to restrain the demon that clamored to sink its fangs into her and turn her.
She was his, she was mortal, and she was injured; he could fix it for her, and he could stake his claim on her. He craved it so badly he almost didn’t care who was here to witness it. But he couldn’t traumatize her in such a way; he’d hate himself forever if he did.
Finally feeling in control of himself enough not to turn her, he spoke. “Can I see your arm?”
Elyse couldn’t stop herself from glancing at the battered remains of the Savage who shattered her left arm with such ease. She’d never seen anything like the brutality Saxon unleashed on the thing. She almost felt sorry for it as he pummeled it into nothing more than a bloody pulp. Even after watching what he’d done to it, she still didn’t fear he would harm her; she just could not move her arm, and then there was his skin….
“Why is your skin like that?” she asked.
“It’s what happens to purebreds when we’re enraged. It’s not blood, and it will fade soon, but no one is going to take you from me.”
Elyse didn’t know what to make of that statement; she was far too cold and in too much pain to process anything right now. She wanted to cry or scream in agony, but somehow, she managed to keep her tears suppressed and her scream caught in her throat.
“Can I see your arm?” he asked again.
“It hurts,” she whimpered.
“I know,” he said. “I’ve had a break like this a time or two in my life.”
She raised an eyebrow at this revelation, but given what he did for a living, she didn’t see why it surprised her to learn he’d sustained brutal injuries. Gritting her teeth, she kept hold of her elbow as she moved her useless arm toward him.
He gently clasped her wrist as he examined her broken forearm. It was a miracle the fractured pieces of bone hadn’t burst through her skin. “You’re going to need a hospital, or I can give you some of my blood. If you take my blood, it will heal by tomorrow night.”
As tempting as it was to have her arm fixed, she could not take his blood. “No.”
“Elyse—”
“No.”
She glanced at Logan and Lucien; they were watching the woods like the trees were about to pull up their roots and stalk toward them, but she knew they were listening. What did it matter? Even if they didn’t know what she could do yet, they would learn about it soon.
“It’s bad enough when someone’s blood gets on me; I have no idea what it would be like if it got inside me,” she said. “I might be able to track you for the rest of my life.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
This was not how he planned to tell her she was his mate, and this was definitely not the place, but she had to know he wanted to join their lives together; maybe then she’d stop being so stubborn about taking his blood.
“Elyse, do you remember what I told you about mates?” he asked.
She blinked at the abrupt change in topic. “Yes.”
He lowered his voice and turned to block Logan and Lucien as he clasped her cheeks. “You are mine.”
If he’d dropped a bomb on her, she wouldn’t have been any less astounded. She didn’t know how to respond as she searched his beautiful, hazel eyes. She kept waiting for him to start laughing and yell “Gotcha,” but there was no amusement in his eyes. All she saw in his gaze was a desperate need for her to understand.
“I want to share my life with you.” He’d never felt more vulnerable in his life, and he loathed it. The crunch of steps alerted him that his friends were moving further away. “Which means sharing my blood and taking yours.”
Elyse gulped. “You want to turn me into a vampire?”
“You won’t be like the Savages,” he assured her. “You’ll be like me.”
Ignoring the unease his words created, she rested her hand against his cheek and relished the feel of his stubble pricking her palm. He was so wonderful and strong, and he needed her, but did he want her?
She recalled what he’d said about how he could never be unhappy with his mate even if he didn’t love her. She could easily lose her heart to him, but she didn’t want to love someone who was simply relieved to have found her. However, none of that mattered; she couldn’t take his blood. She cared too much about him to risk him in such a way.
“If the Savages get their hands on me again—”
“That’s not going to happen,” he interjected.
“But it could. And I might not be able to stop myself from tracking you for them if they compel me to do it. I’m not taking your blood and putting you at risk.”
Saxon drew her closer and kissed her forehead when he realized she was being a stubborn fool because she was trying to protect him. “I can take care of myself, so don’t worry about me. I’m going to protect you.”
Letting herself get closer was a big mistake, but she didn’t have the energy to fight him. She savored his scent as she leaned into him and allowed his strength and warmth to envelop her.
“If we get through all of this, we can discuss it afterward,” she said. “Until then, I won’t take your blood, Saxon. I’ve never had another’s blood inside me, and I have no idea what would happen if I did, but I do know they would use me against you, and I won’t let them.”
He didn’t tell her mates could track each other once the bond was complete; it wouldn’t help his argument. “Do not worry about me. I’ve dealt with these bastards for centuries.”
Lifting her head, she smiled at him as she caressed his cheek. “Then I’ll worry about me. I can’t handle having more body parts sent to me and knowing they’re yours. And I can’t hide from the Savages that you’re my mate; you told me vamps recognize a mated vampire.”
He wished he’d never revealed that detail to her, but it was too late to take it back.
“I have to go to a hospital,” she said.
Saxon sighed before nodding. He couldn’t force his blood on her, but disappointment churned inside him as the demon part of him rumbled with displeasure. It wanted to change her and make her his for eternity. For the first time, Saxon’s control slipped, and his fangs lengthened as his driving instinct to complete the bond swelled to the forefront.
He ran his fingers through his hair and tugged on it as he tried to regain control of himself. He turned so Elyse wouldn’t be able to see the red of his eyes. Lifting his head, he found Lucien’s gaze on him; the sympathy on his friend’s face told him Lucien heard the exchange.
Saxon dug his fingers into the snow and inhaled a ragged breath. He’d gotten the color to retreat from his flesh a little, but now it pulsed back down his arms to the tips of his fingers. When Elyse shuddered and her teeth chattered, he willed himself to regain control. He had to get her out of here.
Finally feeling in control enough to face her again, he smiled when he saw the concern on her face. “I’m going to pick you up,” he said.
“Are you okay?” she whispered.
“I’m fine.”
He didn’t wait for her to reply before carefully scooping her into his arms. He turned to Lucien, but Lucien and Logan were focused on the bar instead of him. On a normal night, there were probably a couple of smokers huddled together, but there were almost two dozen people gathered on the deck watching them.
Maybe the sound of the fight or the falling tree had caught their attention. Then he realized the music was blaring so loudly they couldn’t have heard the tree or the fight even if they were standing on the deck smoking. Someone could have spotted the battle and that could be what drew them, but wouldn’t someone have run inside to alert someone? Wouldn’t the music have
shut off if someone reported a murder?
A few of them should be pointing, crying, screaming, or something. Some of them should be on their phones videoing the scene, calling the police, or texting everyone they knew, but they remained stock-still as they stared into the woods with the blank expressions he associated with pod people.
And that’s what they were. These people were under the control of the Savages; they were the eyes and ears of this town when the Savages couldn’t be here or when the sun was up. That was how the Savages found Elyse tonight; someone at the motel reported her. He hadn’t noticed anyone nearby when they entered the room, but anyone could have been watching them from any of the windows.
He and his friends couldn’t have been the ones reported; otherwise, the Savages would have arrived the night they came to town. Unless someone recognized Declan today while he was searching for supplies. Saxon didn’t think someone would recognize Asher, but there were vamps out there who would know Declan. Either way, it didn’t matter; they’d been discovered.
The hair on Saxon’s nape rose as he glanced back at the motel before focusing on the Savages’ puppets. The wind caused the barren branches over his head to click as the two groups stared at each other. How many pawns did the Savages have in this town? How many towns did they have set up like this?
Fuck. The idea of Savage-controlled towns spreading across the country wasn’t something he’d ever considered happening before, but now that the idea was there, he couldn’t shake it. They could be infiltrating towns and taking them over. Maybe they had other people or vampires with abilities stashed in some of those towns.
“That’s not good,” Logan murmured.
“We have to get out of this town,” Lucien said.
Logan glanced at him over his shoulder. “How many more towns do you think are like this one? How many people do you think they have? What is their goal?”
“I don’t know,” Lucien said. “But we can’t stay here.”
For the first time, Saxon detected a note of unease in Lucien’s voice. “Where are Declan and Asher?” he asked.
“Disposing of the bodies,” Lucien said, “and taking care of the witnesses. The motel clerk was under their control. He must have reported us the second he saw Elyse.”
Saxon recalled the innocuous young man behind the counter. The man must not have known who they were, or he would have reported him the other night, but then, the Savages never would have expected them to show up here. They must have put out the word to be on the lookout for Elyse the second she arrived in town; they weren’t taking any chances she might escape them.
When Elyse shivered against him, he held her closer. “Let’s go.”
He felt the eyes of the people following him as he turned and ran back toward the motel. It was only a matter of time before more Savages arrived.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“We have to find another vehicle,” Lucien said when they were a few miles out of town. No one had spoken since they climbed into the SUV and drove away. “They know this one.”
The Savages wouldn’t be able to use Elyse to track their movements as they had with Killean, but they could use other means. As long as they were in this vehicle and close to town, they were in jeopardy.
“We also need a hospital,” he said. He wanted to get her somewhere that could help her soon, but they had to put a lot of distance between them and that town. “Preferably not one close to here.”
“Their little spies could be in every town,” Logan said.
“They haven’t infiltrated every town in America,” Asher said.
“How do you know? They could have been working on this for years longer than we realized and now they’re unraveling their trap or whatever they’re doing.”
“They’re not in every town,” Elyse said. “They wouldn’t have needed me if they were.”
“And they would know our every move,” Saxon said, “but they don’t.”
Lucien turned in the front seat to stare at Elyse. “Why did they need you?”
Saxon cradled her closer against his chest as she lifted her head. He’d changed his jeans when they returned to the motel and tossed his bloodstained ones away so he could hold her.
“You don’t have to answer that,” he told her.
“We both know I do. That’s my map up there, and he’ll figure it out eventually.”
“You’re giving his brain far too much credit,” Saxon said and grinned when Lucien gave him the finger.
Despite the pain radiating up her arm and constant nausea twisting in her stomach, Elyse chuckled. They may bicker, and she was sure they’d had more than a few fights, but Saxon’s closeness to his friends was evident and something she envied. She hadn’t had a friend since she was twelve years old.
After she moved out of her parents’ place and settled somewhere no one knew her, she hadn’t bonded with anyone. She had acquaintances from work; they went out for drinks and shared laughs, but she never allowed herself to get too close to them. A part of her had always worried they’d learn what she could do and abandon her like her friends in school.
The last ten years of her life had been unbearably lonely. And now, she didn’t even have her parents. Her fingers dug into Saxon’s shirt as she grappled against the melancholy trying to take her over. She would get her dad back. She would not lose everything.
When Saxon cupped the back of her head, she closed her eyes and inhaled the scent of cedar and snow on him.
“Is someone going to answer me?” Lucien demanded. “What is going on?”
Elyse opened her eyes to find Lucien’s gaze boring into her. “I have a gift.” And she proceeded to tell all of them why she’d been with the Savages.
Lucien sat back when she finished, and Asher and Logan looked at her like she was a two-headed, talking lobster.
“Ronan knows about this?” Lucien asked.
“I told him,” Saxon said. “He’s going to meet us in Maine.”
“Killean’s going to lose his mind.”
“He already has,” Logan muttered, and they all shot him irritated looks. “What? You think we haven’t seen him pacing the grounds at night staring at his hands and muttering to himself.”
“He’s fine,” Saxon said through his teeth.
“Yeah, that’s normal behavior,” Logan retorted.
Saxon wondered if they could break the truce between the hunters and Defenders long enough for him to punch Logan.
Seeming to sense the increased hostility, Logan sighed. “Look, all I’m saying is he didn’t come back normal from saving Simone. If he finds out Elyse is part of the reason, he’s going to lose what remains of his shit.”
“She’s not part of the reason for that,” Declan said. “The humans he killed to rescue Simone is the reason he’s so haunted.”
“Haunted is a nice way of saying crazy. And are you trying to say he won’t go the rest of the way off his rocker when he learns about her?” Logan stared pointedly at everyone in the vehicle, but no one responded. “That’s what I thought.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Saxon said. “Killean has to accept her.”
“Good luck,” Logan snorted.
“He doesn’t have to accept me,” Elyse said. “He has every right to hate me.”
“Yes,” Saxon growled. “He does have to accept you.” Because like it or not, she was staying with him.
A knot lodged in Elyse’s throat as she recalled all the vampires she hurt, including Saxon’s friends. She’d spend the rest of her life trying to atone for it, but she’d better do it fast as she didn’t see her life lasting much longer.
* * *
“Try to avoid the cameras when you go in,” Declan said. “It’s going to be almost impossible, especially by the front door, but do the best you can. Try to be out in one hour, but anything longer than three and we’re running the risk of Savages breathing down our necks.”
“Got it,” Saxon said.
“I know none of you
have probably ever been to a hospital before,” Elyse said. “But getting in and out in an hour is virtually impossible, even if you’re only visiting someone. It will probably be at least an hour wait in the ER.”
“You’ve never been to a hospital with a vampire before; we’re going to bypass a lot of things,” Saxon said. “Do any of you have extra weapons? I’m out.”
Declan and Asher each removed a stake from their pockets. Saxon took them and tucked them away. “I’ll see you soon.”
He helped Elyse out of the vehicle and closed the door on the minivan they stole an hour ago. When the van pulled away, he wrapped his arm around Elyse’s waist and turned to face the hospital. They’d driven almost three hours before coming across this hospital and deciding it would be safe to stop.
While they were in the hospital, Lucien and Asher would remain hidden outside the building to watch for any approaching Savages. Declan and Logan planned to find a vehicle someone wouldn’t report stolen. The minivan drove toward the entrance before coming to a stop again; Asher and Lucien climbed out of the van and blended into the shadows of the trees crowding the drive.
Elyse held her arm as she walked beside him toward the brightly lit, glass doors almost five hundred feet away. Scaffolding framed either side of the emergency doors. Tarps and equipment remained on the scaffolding in expectation of the construction workers returning today.
Declan made sure to stay away from the cameras when they pulled in, which meant they had to walk further, and Elyse trembled with every step she took. As the night progressed, he’d sensed her increasing distress as some of her shock wore off. Now, her eyes were sunken and shadowed as she kept her head bowed.
“Let me carry you,” he offered. “At least you’ll be warmer.”
Elyse couldn’t stop her teeth from chattering, but she didn’t think it had anything to do with the cold and everything to do with the ceaseless, throbbing of her arm. It was as if someone were jabbing her with fiery hot knives and digging them around in there. When she moved the wrong way, the two bones grated together until she wanted to scream or vomit, but she was afraid both actions would jar her arm too much.
Bound by Passion: The Alliance Series, Book 4 Page 16
