Bound by Vengeance

by Brenda K. Davies

  They’d already built a house for the elders, one designed to their specifications. Most of the fifteen elders in this stronghold were in good health, but one of them had broken her back a couple of years ago and was in a wheelchair, and another had heart problems.

  Twelve women and three men comprised the elders. Few male hunters lived to two hundred, the age at which one was considered an elder. Because of the demon DNA in their genes, hunters often lived anywhere from one hundred fifty to two hundred fifty years, if they didn’t die in battle. They also tended to age exceptionally well.

  The oldest elder, Elfry, was two hundred forty-eight, and she didn’t look any older than sixty-two. A kind woman with an abundance of patience, Elfry was one of the few elders on his side about working with the vampires.

  He hadn’t expected Elfry’s willingness to embrace his changes. She may not have been on the killing field, but Elfry endured many losses over the years too, and as the eldest hunter in this stronghold, he’d expected her to be the most stubborn. Instead, she believed he’d made the right choice and tried to make the others see it too.

  Nathan pulled in between an older model Ford Expedition he recognized as Asher’s and Logan’s battered Ford pickup. They were his two closest friends in the stronghold. However, since Kadence broke her betrothal to Logan, things remained strained between him and Logan. Nathan had tried to talk with him, but Logan refused to speak about it. Nathan could only hope that Logan would come around when his broken heart and battered pride mended.

  Tugging the emergency brake up, Nathan turned the truck off and opened the door. Before his feet hit the ground, he spotted a group coming at him from the right and another one coming at him from the left. Nathan threw the door shut and braced himself for the barrage of complaints he knew were coming.

  “We have a problem with the water line for the newest house,” someone called to him while another one shouted about a gas problem for another house.

  Nathan stopped to listen to them, his head throbbing and his mind drifting from the conversation to Vicky. What was she doing now? Before he dropped her off, they had another key made for his apartment; was she already there, waiting for him?

  He recalled the curve of her thigh, the tantalizing glimpse of her cleavage, and her alluring scent. When he discovered himself unable to focus on what they were saying, he told those around him he’d meet with them in an hour, excused himself, and hurried away.

  The heavy wood door creaked when he pushed it open and stepped inside the mansion. He set his keys on the chestnut stand next to the front door. When he kicked the door closed, the thud of it echoed through the open foyer.

  Everything about the place spoke of opulence and taste, but it felt as warm and welcoming to him as the gates of Hell.

  Nathan crossed the thirty feet of tiled floor to the broad, red-carpeted steps across the way and began to ascend. At the top of the stairs, the hall branched off in two directions overlooking the foyer below before breaking off into different wings. There were wings here.

  He hated this place.

  “Where have you been?”

  The question halted Nathan at the top of the stairs. He glanced back at Asher as he walked across the foyer to stand at the bottom of the stairs with an apple in hand. Damp from a recent shower, Asher’s sandy blond hair stood up at the ends. His brown eyes, flecked with streaks of gold, were curious as he surveyed Nathan.

  “Not the clothes you wore out last night,” Asher remarked.

  “Who needs a wife when I have you to worry about me,” Nathan replied.

  “Good thing I’m not your wife as I’d assumed you were out getting laid. Is there something I should be worried about?”

  “Nope.”

  “So did you?”

  “Did I what?”

  “Get laid?”

  “Yes,” Nathan lied. He didn’t like keeping the truth from his friend, but it was easier to lie right now. Asher wouldn’t approve of him hunting Joseph on his own, and he wasn’t ready to share Vicky with anyone yet.

  “Good for you.” Asher rubbed the apple on the front of his shirt before taking a bite of it. He climbed the stairs to join Nathan. “It’s been a while. I thought you were becoming a monk or something.”

  Nathan fell into step beside Asher. “If becoming a monk would make it so everyone here had to take a vow of silence too, I’d gladly join a monastery.”

  Asher chuckled. “’Fraid not, my friend. They’re going to hound you until the day you die, or your son takes over.”

  Nathan winced at the reminder he would soon be expected to take a wife and set to work on producing an heir. Nathan pulled at the collar of his shirt as a noose seemed to cinch around his neck.

  Maybe he could override the engagement ceremony. It was so archaic that it made the pyramids look brand new, but he knew he couldn’t alter it after disregarding the elders so recently. He was in charge, but he was no dictator.

  He couldn’t change thousands of years of tradition to suit himself. The elders and other hunters might toss aside thousands of years of tradition and oust him, or hang him for treason if he did. His alliance with Ronan and the added safety it brought his people was far more important than avoiding an unwanted marriage.

  “How are things here?” he asked to distract himself.

  “Same as always. Construction and debates over aligning with the vampires. Some of the anger has died down since the vamps haven’t torn out our throats in the three months we’ve been hunting with them. It helps that things seem to be working with our groups.”

  “Seem to be? You still have doubts?’

  “Every day,” Asher replied honestly. “I also think it’s the right choice. I do keep waiting for one of them to turn on us and kill us, but I kind of like Declan, and there’s no denying Ronan is in love with Kadence.”

  “I agree with you on both accounts. Not a fan of Killean.”

  “Not at all,” Asher agreed, “and Lucien is a bit of an asshole, but Saxon’s not bad. And let’s face it, Logan has been an asshole too since Kadence rode the crazy train out of his life.”

  Nathan agreed. “Where is Logan?”

  “The gym.”

  “Am I on the schedule to hunt tonight?” he asked.

  “You’re off until tomorrow night. Guess that means you can go get laid again.” Asher clapped him on the back and turned to go into his room.

  Nathan walked down a few more doors, slipped into his room, and closed the door. Leaning against the door, he found himself growing aroused at the thought of seeing Vicky again tonight.

  He pulled his clothes off as he headed for the shower. He didn’t bother trying to douse his erection with cold water. Instead, he recalled Vicky’s scent while stroking himself to completion, yet he felt oddly unsatisfied after.

  CHAPTER 11

  Vicky had removed Nathan’s newspaper articles from the wall and spread them across the floor around her. She’d spent the past eight hours trying to find some thread of a connection between them. Despite her rapid healing ability, her neck and back ached so bad from sitting hunched over for hours, that she was a little afraid she’d never walk again.

  Shifting some of the newspaper clippings around, she examined the dates before pushing them back to where they’d been.

  Leaning back, she rubbed her eyes and yawned. Her gaze fell on her phone, plugged into the wall. It was already six thirty. Nathan texted earlier to say he didn’t have to hunt tonight and would meet her here, but he didn’t say what time.

  She wished he’d get here soon; she couldn’t deny she was eager to see him again.

  Her attention returned to the clippings once more. She’d tried arranging them by dates, then locations, and even by similar words in the articles. She was sure Nathan probably tried all the same things, but she was resolved to find some pattern to reveal what Joseph was doing.

  This may have started as Nathan’s mission, but she would help put an end to Joseph’s torment of others. Sh
e was determined to make it so no one else suffered as she had while in captivity.

  Rising, she cracked her back before pacing away from the articles. The clear plastic she’d bought at a hardware store and hammered into place over the broken kitchen window crinkled in the slight breeze blowing outside. She tucked the strands of hair falling free from her ponytail behind her ear as she pondered a new way to look at everything. Stopping, she gazed across the sea of newspapers as an idea struck her.

  Grabbing her phone, she started separating the missing people articles from the violent deaths and googling the names. Another two hours passed before she heard a key sliding into the lock.

  Vicky looked up from the mess surrounding her as the door swung open and Nathan stepped inside. She almost jumped up and hugged him before recalling their relationship was strictly business.

  You’re so doomed! Not yet, she told herself.

  Nathan’s heart lurched when his eyes met Vicky’s. With her face flushed and a smile lighting her emerald eyes, she looked irresistible. Seeing her again eased the strange constriction growing in his chest since they’d parted. He stood and savored her before his gaze fell to the clippings surrounding her. His eyebrows shot up.

  “Don’t worry,” she said in response to the irritation and disbelief flashing across his face. “I’ll put them all back exactly the way you had them.”

  “Really?” he asked as he looked at the hundreds of clippings and the numerous thumbtack holes in the wall.

  Vicky laughed and shook her head. Hair fell free of her loose ponytail to brush against her shoulders. “I’m more than a pretty face and a rocking body.”

  “I have no doubt,” he murmured, but her words caused his eyes to dip to her full breasts. “But that is a lot of articles.”

  The ravenous gleam in his eyes caused her breath to hitch.

  “It is, but I’m a genius, or at least my phone is.” She held it up. “I took pictures.”

  He smiled at her as he closed and locked the door. When he turned back to her, Vicky held his gaze for a second before lowering her eyes and nervously licking her lips. The arousal he’d rid himself of earlier, blazed back to life when her tongue ran over her luscious lips. He badly wanted to replace her tongue with his, or better yet, feel those lips running over the length of his shaft.

  And that easily, he was rock-hard again and pretty sure walking would be impossible.

  Vicky rubbed her palm nervously on her thigh before concentrating on the articles again. She recognized lust on a man when she saw it. If she looked at him, she’d forget all sense of reason, lay down on this floor, and let him take her.

  Damn him for being as affected by her as she was by him; it only made her want him more.

  So you’d prefer it if he considered you as desirable as a toad? A voice in her head taunted. No. Yes. No. YES!

  Ugh, he had her so wound up she’d lost all sense of reason.

  “I… uh… I tried organizing the articles all differently and looking for similarities, as I’m sure you already have,” she said.

  “I have,” he confirmed.

  “Then, I decided to separate the missing from the dead—”

  “I’ve done that.”

  “I’m sure,” she said and chanced a glance at him. It relieved her to find him more focused on the articles than her. “But did you ever search for the missing people?”

  “You mean go out and try to find them myself?”

  “No, I mean Google.” She waved her phone in front of him. “Did you ever search to see if they were found?”

  “No. I just assumed they were gone for good.”

  “So did I, at first,” she said and brushed aside an annoying strand of hair.

  With a sigh, she undid her ponytail and pulled her hair back into another one. She froze when Nathan’s gaze fastened on her neck. For a second, the hunger burning in his eyes was that of a vampire ready to feast.

  Demon DNA, she reminded herself. Still, she’d never expected to see such a look in the eyes of a hunter. As fast as it came, the hunger vanished, but she knew she hadn’t imagined it. This hunter was more vampire than he realized. What that meant, she didn’t know, but it intrigued her.

  “But then, I thought, wait a minute,” she continued. “Joseph has been smart enough to evade Ronan all this time; strong and capable enough to take down your dad—sorry about that.”

  Sadness tugged at his heart at the reminder of his loss. Every day, he pondered what he should or could have done to prevent Joseph from killing his dad. His father was tougher on him than Kadence, but Nathan understood why. From birth, Nathan was groomed to one day become the leader.

  Often, he wondered if he was failing in his role.

  “It’s the past,” he murmured.

  “I hate when someone says that. Just because it’s in the past doesn’t mean it stops hurting.”

  “True,” he admitted. “Continue with what you were saying.”

  “Anyway,” Vicky said. “Joseph has managed to elude so many for so long. He’s growing an army of Savages and stashing them in places no one can find. Except for Kadence, with that one vision or whatever she had of the warehouse location.”

  “She told you about that?”

  “Yeah. We’ve been living on the same property since January, and there aren’t many girls there, so we talk. She said the location of the warehouse came to her in flashes and she still occasionally gets those kind of flashes, but most times they’re too fast for her to decipher.”

  “She tries to hide it, but it’s hard on her that she can’t always figure them out.”

  “She’ll handle it until the day she learns how to control whatever ability she has. For someone who was repressed her entire life, she’s a tough chick.”

  “You think she was repressed?”

  “Don’t you?” Vicky retorted. “I’m aware all you hunters like your women virginal and dressed like pilgrims. They don’t get out in the world, barely have access to TVs, and don’t know computers. Talk about a step back to the Dark Ages, or did the hunter traditions never leave the Dark Ages?”

  “Our traditions aren’t stuck in the Dark Ages, and the women are not repressed,” Nathan grated from between his teeth. They lived a far more old-fashioned way of life than most, especially at this time in history, but he wouldn’t consider the female hunters repressed.

  “Then what are they?” Vicky inquired.

  “I admit our way is outdated, but we’re working on educating the women more. They’re receiving weapons training and learning fighting techniques in case one of them happens to get out again, like Kadence.”

  “Now you make them sound like zoo animals locked in cages.”

  “I can’t change everything at once!” The whiplash of his voice startled him. Typically, it took a lot to ruffle him, but this woman had a way of getting under his skin in every way.

  Vicky’s eyes widened then narrowed at him. Nathan took a calming breath before speaking again as she looked ready to claw his eyes out, and the last thing he wanted was to fight with her.

  “During the short time I’ve been leader, my twin escaped the stronghold and became a vampire, we moved from a place we were planning to stay at for hundreds of years, the women are being taught more and learning to fight, and we’re working with vampires. If I keep shoving changes down the throats of people who haven’t experienced any changes in their society for centuries, they’ll oust me, or they’ll kill me.”

  “They wouldn’t do either!” she gasped. “Your family has always ruled!”

  “They would,” he assured her. “If they think it’s best for them, and necessary to preserve our ways, they’ll have someone else take over rule until I produce an heir, or they’ll kill me.”

  “Kadence would hunt them down and destroy them!”

  “I’d still be dead, and no, she wouldn’t. She knows as well as I do how important hunters are to the survival of all our species. Not all vampires in existence hunt Savages. E
very male hunter is taught from birth how to fight and kill vampires. I’d like to make it so one day the women fight too, but with our low birthrates, I doubt that will ever happen. It might be the death of our species if women are killed in battle as often as the men. However, things will change for the women.”

  Like their marriage choices. Nathan would make it so one day men and women weren’t coerced into marriage with someone chosen for them, but that change would come too late to save him.

  “You have a lot on your shoulders, Nathan,” she murmured.

  Vicky studied him in a new light. Before, he’d always been the one to avoid and the one whose bones she often fantasized about jumping. Now, she saw him for a what he was, a young man with the entire well-being of his species resting on his broad shoulders.

  She didn’t want it to happen, but it made her like and respect him more.

  “No more than any of my ancestors,” he replied.

  “Your ancestors never possessed the knowledge that not all vampires are your enemy. They never tried to change things for the women, and they never had to contend with a Savage who is trying to build an army, like Joseph is. Kadence said you are the youngest hunter who has ever ruled.”

  “Kadence talks too much.”

  Vicky chuckled. “She’s proud of you.”

  “I’m proud of her. She’s done what no other hunter has ever succeeded in doing.”

  “Become a vampire?” Vicky quipped.

  A small smile curved his mouth. “That, and forged her own path in life.”

  Vicky hated the sadness she sensed in him. “Do you want to forge your own path?”

  Lifting his head, he held her gaze as he admitted, “Every day, but I’m on the path I was meant to walk.”

  “You’re far too young to have that already set for you. Have you ever heard of a fork in the road or a detour? What happens if you come across one of those?”