Bound by Vengeance

by Brenda K. Davies

  She didn’t know how many years she’d be able to live without him, but she did know the days making up those years would feel like an eternity.

  “And you two were working together?” Abby asked.

  “For a little bit,” Vicky replied flippantly. “He’s not so bad, for a hunter, and he did help me destroy Duke.” She ran her fingers over the scar on her wrist as her thoughts briefly turned to Duke and what he did to her.

  “Hmm,” Abby murmured, still a little sore Vicky had kept Duke’s death from her until today. “And because of that, you were trying to help him find Joseph?” Abby asked.

  Vicky had heard that question at least five times already.

  “Our need for vengeance bound us together for a bit.” Vicky held her hand over her heart in a theatrical way and batted her lashes at Abby. “Alas, I haven’t been anywhere near as helpful to him as he was to me.”

  Keep your answers shorter! She scolded herself. Abby was a bloodhound on the scent; more concise answers provided a smaller trail.

  “What an odd word choice,” Abby murmured.

  “What word is that, vengeance? I do occasionally read something other than magazines, and I can throw out some big words too, egghead,” Vicky teased.

  “No, not vengeance, bound. You could have said your need for vengeance brought you together or had you working together. Instead, you said it bound you together.”

  Vicky briefly contemplated sororicide, but no matter how much Abby irritated her, she didn’t know what she’d do without her twin. She also didn’t know a response that wouldn’t make her seem defensive or like she was hiding something.

  “I may know some bigger words, but sometimes I don’t always put them together correctly,” Vicky said. “Nathan and I were working together for a bit.”

  “And you’re still working with him?” Abby asked. “That’s why we’re here, isn’t it?”

  “No, we’re not,” Vicky replied. “I’m here because I’m going to finish what I started, and I have friends I need to make sure stay safe down here.”

  “Of course,” Abby murmured. “But I’m sure Nathan will appreciate it if we do find something.”

  Vicky refrained from replying and digging herself in deeper.

  CHAPTER 35

  When Ronan and Declan entered, Nathan nodded to them from the other side of the room. They’d gotten here only a half an hour ago with the hunters. He weaved his way in and out of the dust-covered tables filling the large restaurant toward the vampires. Behind him, Asher and Logan ushered the hunter refugees out of the restaurant and out to the patio beyond.

  The doors clicked closed when the last hunter left the room, and Asher and Logan’s steps thudded on the tiled floor as they followed him. Ronan’s gaze went beyond Nathan to Logan, and his jaw clenched. When the door opened behind him, Ronan’s hand shot out to stop Kadence from entering.

  “What are you doing?” she demanded.

  Ronan didn’t move his hand when she pushed down on it. Then, she looked beyond Nathan and froze. Saxon opened the door more, and he, Lucien, and Killean slipped inside from behind her, but Ronan kept Kadence mostly out of the room.

  “Where is Vicky?” Nathan demanded.

  Their brows furrowed in confusion over his question, but none of them looked surprised by it.

  “We haven’t seen her since earlier,” Kadence answered.

  Nathan froze. “I told her to contact Ronan and return to your place.”

  “Are you new to women?” Lucien retorted. “Usually when you tell them to do something, they tend to ignore you, or do the exact opposite.”

  Nathan contemplated punching the smug look off Lucien’s face. Before Vicky, he’d always been even-tempered; since she’d become such a focal point in his life, he wasn’t anywhere near as steady.

  His gaze darted to the doorway behind Kadence; he stepped forward to go in search of Vicky before catching himself.

  He couldn’t go after her before making sure his people were safe. She was still at the hotel; she wouldn’t leave there after Ronan’s earlier threat.

  Nathan dragged a hand through his hair as he turned his attention to Ronan. “I have to show you something.”

  “What is going on?” Ronan inquired, his eyes becoming redder as his gaze remained riveted on Logan who had moved forward to flank Nathan’s side with Asher.

  “Asher, Logan,” Kadence greeted.

  “Hey, Trouble,” Asher replied.

  Logan hesitated before offering her a small smile. “It’s good to see you, Kadence.”

  She smiled back at him, but though Logan seemed to mean this, Ronan didn’t relax.

  “It will be easier to show you what’s going on while I explain it,” Nathan said to Ronan.

  Ronan hesitated before lowering his hand. When Kadence stepped into the room, Ronan slid his arm around her waist and cradled her protectively against his side.

  “I’ll tear apart anyone who fucks with us while we’re here,” Ronan stated.

  “No one will bother you,” Nathan vowed. “This way.”

  Asher and Logan hung back to allow Ronan and Kadence to fall into step beside Nathan. Together, they walked across the restaurant and out the doors opening onto the patio. Nathan barely glanced at the covered pool and the ocean beyond. Night had descended, but clouds obscured the stars and moon. Some hunters remained outside, mainly the elders and males who were on high alert, but a few women loitered.

  Most of the women and children were settling into the enormous ballroom. He’d set some hunters to work on removing the beds from the hotel rooms and setting them up in there. Until they were somewhere safer, he wanted everyone together and in a place with various exits. The ballroom was perfect.

  Most of the male hunters had already met the vampires while hunting with them, but the elders hadn’t, and they couldn’t contain their curiosity as Nathan led the vamps across the patio. Most of the hunters also hadn’t seen Kadence since she changed. She looked and moved the same, but they all knew she wasn’t mortal.

  He didn’t expect anyone to say anything rude to her, but that didn’t stop them from gawking or, in a few instances, scowling. However, they all looked away from Ronan’s scathing glare.

  Nathan led them around the side of the building and toward the only trailer they’d had time to bring with them. Opening the door, Nathan climbed into a space cramped by the numerous computers filling the entire front of the trailer. The blue glow of the screens and the light fixture on the ceiling over Roland dimly lit the interior.

  Roland was at the computers as he worked to re-establish a connection with the remaining strongholds, while blocking any possible way for someone to trace them, or the other strongholds, to their new location.

  Lucien and Killean remained outside the trailer, keeping guard, but the others crowded in behind Nathan. With so many large bodies crammed inside, the small space became a sardine can. A can that heated up fast. Sweat slid down Nathan’s neck as he walked over to stand behind Roland.

  Roland glanced back and froze when he spotted Kadence. Roland ignored Ronan’s unrelenting stare as the head of security gazed disapprovingly at her.

  “Kadence,” he greeted.

  She smiled shyly and gave him a small wave.

  “You should have told me about the weaknesses in the security system,” Roland scolded, and Kadence winced.

  “I hope I didn’t get you in trouble,” she apologized.

  “Hmm,” Roland grunted.

  “I am sorry. Not about escaping, but that it was on your watch.”

  “Hmm.”

  “If it helps, it took me a long time to figure it out.”

  “I do remember we had numerous conversations.”

  Kadence recoiled from his words. “I didn’t sit with you all those times because I planned to breakout. I did it because I enjoyed your stories, and few others would talk to me about what the hunters did outside our walls. I considered you my friend, but after my dad….”
r />   Kadence spread her hands before her. “I didn’t feel like I had a choice. I had to see Joseph die, and I will be there when it happens. And honestly, I was tired of being held back simply because I’m a woman.”

  Kadence had been repentant when she started speaking, but by the end, her chin was high and defiance blazed from her eyes.

  Roland stared at her before patting the prosthetic leg he wore. “I understand about resenting things you can’t change.” Roland turned away to focus on the computer screens once more. “I have to admit, I was a little impressed with your ingenuity.”

  Kadence’s smile lit her eyes. “Just a little?”

  “Hmm,” Roland grunted again as his fingers flew over the keys, and Kadence chuckled.

  “Bring up the photo of Sergei,” Nathan said to Roland.

  Ronan and Kadence came forward to stand beside Nathan as Roland pulled up the photo. “His eyes,” Kadence whispered.

  “His eyes,” Nathan stated.

  Resting his hand on one of the desks, Nathan told them everything that occurred during the day and who Sergei was. Kadence’s hand covered her mouth when Roland replayed the last bit of video they had with Bhavin before his screen went blank.

  “Alejandro should be calling in with news from his men in San Francisco soon,” Nathan said.

  Ronan’s eyes turned the color of blood as he gazed at the photo of Sergei. Before Ronan could say anything, the phone Nathan purchased on the way here rang. Roland had already hooked the phone up to the computer, and when Nathan leaned over and saw Alejandro’s new number on the screen, he pressed the button to answer it.

  “Is that your same phone?” Ronan inquired, pulling Kadence closer. “Saxon, go outside and keep watch with the others.”

  Saxon turned and walked out of the trailer as Nathan replied to Ronan. “I stopped to buy new phones on our way here. I texted the new number to all the other leaders, and you, a few minutes ago.”

  Ronan pulled his phone out of his pocket. He looked at the screen, read the message, and returned the cell as Alejandro’s voice came over the speaker of the computer.

  “My men rented a helicopter and are in position above the stronghold,” Alejandro said. “They’re sending me live footage now. I’ll relay it to you as I get it, but it will be on a delay.”

  “That’s fine,” Roland said.

  Nathan watched as one of the screens flickered before an aerial view of the San Fran stronghold appeared. The setting sun was still high enough that they could easily see the devastation leveled there.

  Located on the outskirts of the city, the San Fran stronghold was the smallest of them all. It encompassed five acres of land and was the home of two hundred hunters. The helicopter buzzed trees and houses as it moved in an ever-widening pattern around the stronghold.

  Most strongholds were set up with the leader’s home being central to the other houses and established around a clearing where they gathered for ceremonies and funerals. San Fran was no different, but it looked like it had been hit by a tornado as doors were torn from their hinges and thrown into the clearing. Glass from shattered windows littered the blood-streaked ground.

  Kadence gasped, but everyone else in the trailer became rock still when the camera revealed the couple dozen corpses littering the ground. Nathan had expected the worst, but the confirmation of it was a fist to his gut. He didn’t know if they were hunter or vampire corpses, it would be impossible to tell without a closer look, but he suspected a combination of the two.

  “They’re not reporting any more bodies below,” Alejandro said, “but they can’t get a good assessment from the sky.”

  “Do you want me to send my men in, Nathan?” Alejandro asked.

  Nathan contemplated telling Alejandro that decision was up to him, they were his men, but they were also Nathan’s men. Alejandro was their direct leader, but he was the one they all followed. If these hunters went into the San Fran stronghold to learn more and died, he couldn’t pass the responsibility of their deaths off on Alejandro.

  “Yes,” Nathan said. “Send them in. Tell them to be careful, and that I want to see everything they discover.”

  “Will do,” Alejandro replied.

  CHAPTER 36

  Vicky left Brian and Abby to wait for her when she went to Sister June and Duncan’s home. She explained to them what happened with Jordan and that Nathan wasn’t with her but others were. She told Duncan he didn’t have to help her if he didn’t want to meet any new vampires, or if he felt it better to let their search go.

  “Are you going to let it go?” Duncan asked her.

  “We only have a few more places to check,” she replied. “I’d like to finish it, even if it is pointless.”

  “Nothing is ever pointless,” Sister replied. “Before you two head out, bring your sister here. I’d like to meet her.”

  “Are you sure?” Vicky inquired.

  “Yes.”

  “Then I’ll get her.”

  Ten minutes later, she returned with Abby and Brian and introduced them to everyone. The kids all gawked at Abby before looking to Vicky.

  “Holy shit! There’s two of them!” Elmo blurted.

  “Watch your language, young man!” Sister scolded.

  Elmo didn’t look at all contrite as his gaze ran over Brian. When Brian scowled at him, Elmo laughed. Brian looked as if Elmo had tried to tickle him before he grinned at the kid.

  “What is this place?” Brian asked.

  “A place for lost children to find shelter and love,” Sister replied.

  “How long have you known about this?” Abby asked Vicky.

  “A couple of years.”

  “A couple of…?” Abby’s voice trailed off.

  The distress in her twin’s eyes caused a small twinge to Vicky’s heart. “I know everyone thinks I have a big mouth, but I can keep some secrets. Don’t be mad at me.”

  “I’m not mad. I’m… stunned.”

  Abby smiled at her and rested her hand on Vicky’s arm. Abby released her and made her way further into the room to greet the children. Sister and Duncan walked with her, explaining some of their history as they went.

  Brian came to stand at Vicky’s side. “She’s never believed you were the ditzy, selfish, party girl you portray. I did,” he said in a low voice.

  Vicky snorted. “Thanks for sugarcoating it,” she whispered.

  “You wouldn’t appreciate it if I did.”

  “Maybe if you offered me a cookie, I would.”

  “Sorry, fresh out of those. So why keep this from Abby? Why always act like you are what the world revolves around?”

  Vicky winced. “I could have taken that with a grain of sugar.”

  As Abby moved around the room, Vicky’s heart filled with love and sorrow for her twin. Her eventual descent into madness and death over losing her mate would break the hearts of her whole family, but it would be especially difficult on Abby.

  They’d been as thick as thieves their whole lives, even though they hadn’t shared every single detail of their lives. Like Vicky hadn’t known Abby believed Brian to be her mate since she first saw him at fifteen. And Vicky hadn’t revealed to Abby that, at some point in her life, she’d begun to suspect her mate would be the end of her.

  Abby would have been sympathetic, but she would have tried to convince Vicky she was wrong. And no matter how often Abby told her she was wrong, she would also secretly worry, and all Vicky wanted for her sister, and the rest of her family, was happiness.

  “Why did you keep this from her?” Brian asked again.

  “Because sometimes you just know life isn’t going to go your way. And because sometimes the best thing you can do is not burden others with that knowledge. I’ve suspected for years my mate would be the end of me,” she whispered, admitting it to someone else for the first time.

  “Nathan,” he stated.

  “I didn’t know it was going to be him back then, but I know now. Imagine if there hadn’t been a truce between
hunters and vampires? He would have staked me the first chance he got. Now, he’s the leader of people who will never accept me as his wife, and he’s going to be engaged to another soon.”

  Never had she imagined Brian would be the one she revealed this to. Unless he was with Abby, he could sometimes make ice look warm, but out of everyone, Brian somehow made the most sense. He would make sure Abby got through this the best she could once Vicky was gone.

  “So you faked all of it?” Brian asked.

  “Not all of it. I faked some of it, and in doing so, I gave Abby and my family twenty-one years of an upbeat, party girl, flitting happily from one thing to another. And I did have a lot of fun too. I regret being with Duke, and I’ll always feel guilty about killing that woman while in captivity, but I’m not ashamed of most of the things I’ve done.”

  “You couldn’t have seen that coming with Duke, and none of us have known starvation like what you endured. I saw you, and the other purebreds who came out of that warehouse with you; all of you were severely malnourished.”

  “I know, but I’ll live with the stain of that woman’s blood on my soul for the rest of my life.” Vicky rubbed the scar on her wrist while she spoke. “I’ll also continue to play my role with my family until the day the charade breaks and it becomes easier to end my existence. Until then, I won’t have Abby, or my family, worrying about me.”

  “How far into the mating bond did you get with Nathan?” he asked.

  “Not far enough to break me tomorrow, but far enough that I care for him.”

  Brian sucked in a breath as April opened one of her books and pointed at the pictures she’d colored within. Abby’s face lit up; her laughter filled the room when one of the other children said something to her.

  “Abby is the last person in this world I want to hurt,” Vicky whispered. “But I won’t be able to stop myself from spiraling. I’m not sure….” Her voice broke as a sob lodged in her throat. “I can’t spend an eternity without him.”