Killean’s golden eyes were unreadable and his scar more pronounced as he studied her. Then, he squeezed her arm. “I know what it’s like to be at the mercy of others. I also know what it’s like to become something you hate to save someone you love.”
Elyse didn’t know how to reply, and he didn’t give her a chance before he released her and strode back to the others. Her mind spun as she returned her attention to the door. She’d never expected Killean to forgive her, or to experience any kindness from the man, but though she would never forgive herself for her hand in all this, his understanding eased some of her self-recrimination.
Chapter Fifty
Elyse sat on the couch while Saxon and the others filled them in on what they discovered in the tunnels and the creature they encountered. Elyse held what remained of her father’s hand while Simone finished cutting his shaggy hair.
With his beard gone and his hair short, he almost looked like her father again, except the twinkle in his eyes was gone. She hoped it would return one day, but she doubted it. After his shower, he told her about her mother and the fact she’d been the one sent in to torture him.
How could anyone go back to enjoying life after enduring something like that? Her mother was the love of his life, and he’d gone out of his way to make her happy every day. He’d packed them up and moved them around the continent for her mother; he brought her a fresh flower every day, and never complained when some new whim struck her. He’d catered to her every whim until she became a monster who tortured him almost to death.
“Without Elyse to help them find more recruits, and what we believe was a pretty big hit against them today, it will take them a while to recoup,” Ronan said.
“I never should have let her drag you around like she did,” her father murmured. “She was so fascinated by everything. When she discovered your ability, she believed it was proof she wasn’t crazy and there really was something mystical to this world. I didn’t see what harm following her dreams could do and believed it would make you happier to be around people like you, but most of them were frauds.”
He spat the word frauds like it was something dirty, and Elyse understood his anger. In the beginning, she’d hoped to meet other special people too, but she quickly realized most of them were simply really good at reading people, excellent liars, or crazy. Out of the thousands of people she was introduced to on her journey, she only met three with a real ability.
“It was years ago,” she said.
His eyes were harder than she’d ever seen them when they latched onto hers. “And look at what happened to us because of it. I should have been stronger; I should have said no before you did. She was just… she was… I just wanted her to be happy.”
“I know.”
He gulped as tears filled his eyes. “I should have realized it wouldn’t be good for you, but that school… I thought it was best to get you away from that school and those kids. What they did to you after they learned about your ability was awful. I really believed I was doing the best thing for you both.”
Elyse tried not to cry at the thought of her mother as one of those things. Their relationship had been complicated and probably not the best, but she was her mom, and Elyse loved her. And now she was gone forever. Sorrow twisted in her heart, but she would grieve later; her father needed her to be strong right now.
“I know,” she assured him. “I didn’t want to be in that school anymore either, and I did hope to meet someone like me, someone who would understand. We couldn’t have known we were mostly going to meet a bunch of liars or what would come of it years later. This isn’t your fault.”
“And it’s not yours either.”
Elyse smiled, but though she could hand out forgiveness like candy, she couldn’t share a piece with herself. Maybe one day.
Saxon shifted beside her and rested his hand on her knee. She didn’t miss her father’s eyes following the gesture or the set of his jaw afterward. Turning, she looked to Ronan. “If you catch Savages, I can trace their blood to other vampires they created. I can help you hunt them like I helped them.”
Saxon stiffened beside her, and his displeasure radiated from him. She purposely hadn’t told him that she planned to talk to Ronan about this; she knew he wouldn’t approve.
Ronan glanced from her to Saxon and back again before speaking. “That would be helpful.”
“You can bring them to me until I’m trained well enough to fight them, and then I’ll join you in the field.”
“No, you won’t!” Saxon exploded.
Elyse took a deep breath before facing him. “I helped create this mess; I will help undo it.”
“They forced you to work for them. Getting yourself killed as some act of redemption won’t do anyone any good.”
“Are you going to stop fighting?”
“No, but that’s different.”
“No, it’s not. We both plan to make sure this world stays safe, and I can help do that. If I’m going to become a vampire”—her father’s hand jerked in hers—“then I’m also going to be a fighter. If I remain human, I’ll stay out of it, and you can bring the Savages to me.”
Saxon gaped at her. He closed his mouth, but it fell open again. “Are you saying you won’t join me unless you can fight?”
“Yes.”
She expected him to explode off the couch and storm out of the cabin like he had earlier, but he remained sitting where he was; his body rigid against hers. She didn’t want to upset him, and she yearned to join him, but she’d spent most of her life controlled by others and doing what they wanted. She would not spend eternity the same way.
Using the mating bond as leverage over him to get her way was all kinds of wrong, but she was going to fight, and he was going to have to accept her decision.
“Before being a prisoner in the cabin, I never considered myself strong, but I survived months of mental abuse and torture while there. I felt so beaten and broken by the time you came, and even after I left there, I wanted to hide. But I’m tired of hiding.
“My time in the cabin made me realize I’m far stronger than I believed; I’m not going back to being weak and allowing others to run my life. I will not become a vampire to remain locked away while others fight my battles. I have to do this, and not for redemption, but because it’s as much who I am now as it is who you are.”
Saxon didn’t speak as he digested her words. Everything inside him screamed against putting her in danger, but how could he deny her this when she finally realized her strength?
“You won’t join the fight until you’re fully trained,” he said.
“I won’t,” she agreed. “I wouldn’t put you or anyone else at risk by being unprepared, and I plan to kill Savages, not be killed by them.”
Wrapping his hand around the back of her head, he drew her close and kissed her forehead. “Good.”
When he released her, she turned to find her dad staring at her like he wasn’t sure who she was. Then, he gave her a small smile. “You’ve always been strong.”
Refusing to cry anymore, she blinked away her tears.
“That thing you saw in there,” Kadence said, “are you sure it was a demon?”
At this point, Saxon wasn’t sure it existed. He was exhausted, famished, beaten, and the pulse of Elyse’s blood called to him with every beat of her heart.
“It’s either a demon or some hybrid vampire or hunter,” Lucien said.
“I think it was our origins,” Saxon said. “It’s strong, lethal, had the white-blue eyes of a turned hunter that turned red when we pissed it off. It also had fangs, and its spine was like that of an infuriated purebred when their skin turns color. I don’t know if its spine is always that color or if we pissed the thing off and it was starting to change color.”
Silence descended over the room before Simone broke it. “They say hunters and vampires were created during a time when demons roamed the earth and mated with humans. The demons later retreated to Hell, or wherever they came fr
om, when humans started hunting them. Why would they return now when there are more humans?”
“Maybe because there are more demons now too,” Elyse murmured, and everyone turned to stare at her.
“You think the demons have been breeding?” Ronan asked.
“It’s possible, but even if they haven’t been breeding, there are still more demons now than there was then. Vampires and hunters may not be full demon, but there is demon in you. I assume there weren’t many hunters and vampires in the beginning, but over the years and, like humans, your population has grown. There may only be the same number of that kind of demon as there was when they created your lines, but there are a lot more of you. And who knows, maybe there are more of them too, but I don’t think so.”
“Why not?” Saxon asked.
“Why would they be working to build an army of Savages if there were enough of them to destroy the world?”
“What makes you think they’re trying to destroy the world?” Declan inquired.
“Isn’t that what demons are supposed to do? That’s what’s always been said about them, demons are bad and up to no good, and these ones definitely don’t have the best of intentions.”
“I don’t know how humans beat them back before,” Lucien said. “That thing was fucking strong.”
“They had hunters to help them,” Kadence said. “And the humans were developing weapons.”
“And humans have more sophisticated weapons now,” Killean said. “So why would they take the risk of exposing themselves to the human population?”
“They’re not attacking outright now,” Saxon said. “They’re working on building an army, and they’re using people to help them keep an eye on things like they did with that town and with the news report.”
A chill ran up Elyse’s back. “How many humans do you think they control?”
“There’s no way of knowing,” Asher said.
“Maybe it was the only demon,” Simone suggested.
“No,” Saxon said. “There are more of them. That thing was calling out to its friends as it died.”
“I agree,” Declan said.
“So what do we do now?” Kadence asked.
“We prepare for war,” Ronan said. “We may have put a dent in their plans today, but they’re still out there, and they’re not going to give up. We have to be ready for when they come for us. And they will come for us just as they went for the hunters and other turned vamps.”
“Ronan, did you have something to do with the news story about me being found safe?” Elyse asked.
“Yes. That should keep people from looking for all of you,” Ronan said.
“Good,” Elyse breathed. “We saw it earlier, before Logan woke up.”
Saxon’s hand tightened on hers. She’d told him about what happened with Logan, and though they hadn’t expected him to wake so soon, she could tell he was mad at himself for leaving her with the newly turned hunter.
The ringing of a phone caused Nathan to jump, and he fumbled with his pockets before pulling it out. “Hello… Okay… I’m on my way.”
He hung up and looked at all of them. “Vicky’s in labor. I have to go.”
Chapter Fifty-One
Elyse didn’t remember much about the journey to the large compound where Saxon and the others lived. The rolling fields and farms of Maine gave way to the city of Boston before becoming woods and homes she couldn’t see from the road.
She didn’t register any of it until Saxon helped her from the SUV, and she tried not to cringe at the hideousness of the mansion looming over her. But as ugly as the turrets and gargoyles on the outside were, the beauty inside the place stole her breath.
A tall, thin man with dark hair going gray at the temples met them at the door. His round spectacles were perched on the tip of his large nose as his brown eyes surveyed her and her father with open curiosity. Declan and Lucien slipped past them and went up the stairs while the others went with Nathan to the hunter side of the compound.
“Can you ready a room for us, Baldric?” Saxon asked the man.
“Marta has readied the third room on the right in the left wing,” Baldric replied. “Ronan called ahead to let us know you were returning with friends. He also said you might need this.”
He lifted a black cane with a golden eagle head and held it out to Saxon.
“That will come in handy,” Saxon said.
He took the cane and handed it to Elyse’s dad who was holding onto the stick Saxon found in the woods for him before they left Maine.
Elyse restrained herself from jumping in to help as her father awkwardly adjusted his hold on the cane before leaning his weight on it. He had to learn to do these things on his own, and she was starting to drive him crazy, but she’d just gotten him back and hated seeing him struggle.
“The hunter doctor is waiting in the library for you,” Baldric said.
“Thank you,” Saxon said.
Baldric nodded before slipping into the shadows.
“You have a butler?” Elyse whispered.
“Baldric’s family has worked for Ronan’s family for over two thousand years. His wife, Marta, also lives here.”
The cane clicked against the gray and white marble of the sweeping foyer as they walked across it. When Elyse tried to clasp her dad’s other arm, he waved her away. She dropped her hand as Saxon led them into an enormous library filled with books. Her eyebrows shot up as she tried not to gawk, but this place made her fingers itch to explore the numerous tomes.
A plump man with blond hair stood by one of the shelves with a book in hand. He looked up when he heard them enter and smiled before returning the book to the shelf and striding over to them.
“Hello,” the man greeted, and to his credit, he didn’t wince when he saw the damage inflicted on her dad.
Elyse settled on one of the couches and watched as the man examined her father. She saw the sadness in the doctor’s eyes when he finished and dropped his stethoscope into a bag.
“The ear is getting infected,” he said. “I’ll give you some antibiotics, but the other wounds are doing fine, and your heart and lungs sound good. Some rest and food will help, and when you’re ready, I know a woman who’s doing some ingenious things with prosthetics.”
The doctor rested his hand on her dad’s shoulder before digging into his bag and pulling out a bottle of pills. He set it on the table next to her father. “I’ll come back tomorrow to check on you, but there’s a baby on the way, and I have to get back to the mom.”
“Of course,” her father murmured.
Elyse felt a little better as she watched the doctor leave. At least her father was still healthy. “Are you okay, Dad?”
He gave her a wan smile as he lifted the pills and put them in his pocket. “You heard the doc, I’m fine. Though I am tired.”
“I’ll take you to your room,” Saxon offered.
When Elyse went to help him rise, her father waved her away. She felt like a nervous parent watching a child take their first steps as she hovered nearby, but he managed to get himself back on his feet.
He clicked the cane on the floor as he smiled at her. “Don’t worry about me so much, Jelly Bean. It will take more than some missing body parts to keep me down.”
She couldn’t stop herself from grinning at him. Maybe the twinkle in his eyes was gone, but he wasn’t giving up. She looped her arm through his as Saxon led them back into the foyer and to the sweeping staircase. The mahogany banister shone in the light from the chandelier above. The domed ceiling above the chandelier displayed a painted mural of animals gathered in a meadow near a lake.
When they arrived at the top of the stairs, Saxon led them into one of the wings before stopping outside an open door.
“This will be your room, Raymond,” Saxon said. “When you feel up to it, you’re free to explore the mansion and the grounds.”
Her father glanced at his hands, and his cheeks reddened as he lifted a finger to his mouth. Her father had
always taken good care of his teeth.
“We’re going to take care of you,” Saxon said as he rested his hand on her father’s shoulder.
Her father nodded, but Elyse suspected it would be a while before he felt comfortable enough to go out in public. Hopefully, they would be able to get him some teeth soon.
“Thank you,” he said to Saxon before turning to embrace Elyse. “Are you going to be okay?” he whispered in her ear.
“Yes.” She looked over her shoulder at Saxon. “Can I have a few minutes with my dad?”
“Take all the time you need,” he said and strolled away to stand near the staircase.
When her father entered the large room, she followed him inside and closed the door. She walked past the austere, dark wood furniture and to the king-sized bed. Her father set his cane aside and sat on the bed before bouncing on the mattress.
“These vampires have much better accommodations than the last ones,” he said.
He was trying to sound airy, so she made herself chuckle as she settled beside him on the bed. “How bad was it?”
His smiled faded away. “How bad was it with you?”
“I wasn’t locked in a room.”
“You had a cabin; I had a room.”
“I kept all my body parts.”
“They took other things from you.”
Her gaze traveled to the armoire across from her. “They did.”
The clock on the wall ticked away the minutes as they sat together. Finally, she broke the silence. “I love him.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life, and I want to join him.”
“You really want to become one of them?”
She turned to look at him. “Yes.”
His gaze searched her face as his hand went to his missing ear. “Elyse—”
“He’s not like them, Dad. None of the vampires here are like them.”
“But they could become like them.”
“Not Saxon.”
“How can you be so sure?”
Bound by Passion: The Alliance Series, Book 4 Page 28
