[The Alliance 01.0] Eternally Bound

by Brenda K. Davies

  “We are not. Hunters have made us their enemies when we don’t have to be,” he cut in, more abruptly than he’d intended, but he was tired of this mistaken belief of the hunters. It had taken the lives of numerous innocent vampires over the years and cost the hunters many of their own.

  “Joseph tried to kill me last night. He did kill my friend, and he has hurt my family.”

  Turning on his side, he propped his head on his hand as he gazed down at her. “Joseph is a Savage and no longer one of us.”

  “What do you mean by no longer one of you?”

  “Not all vampires kill innocents. In fact, many don’t kill at all. But, there are some vamps who are swayed by the power killing can bring them and give into the bloodlust that resides in all vampires. Many vampires fight giving into that bloodlust every day of their existence. Some of them have to fight it more than others. At one time, Joseph worked with us and fought his destructive nature, but he recently gave up that fight and became what we call a Savage.”

  “Why do some give in?” she asked.

  “Vampires go wrong for many different reasons. They’re seeking more power, something inside of them snaps, they are inherently evil to begin with, they are tired of constantly having to fight themselves, or they are simply bored.”

  “They’re bored!” she spat.

  “Not the best reason, but who knows what finally causes them to lose control. When faced with living for an eternity, things inevitably get… monotonous. Perhaps it is curiosity in some, while others are simply trying to feel something new and exciting again. Whatever it is, once a vampire takes the first step toward becoming a Savage, it is much easier to take the following steps that will make it impossible for them to ever again be what they once were.”

  “Is that why you wanted Joseph, because you try to stop these Savage vampires?”

  Ronan placed his hands on the mattress and lifted himself to a seated position against the headboard. He crossed his ankles as he stared at the blank wall across from him. She would leave here soon, and she couldn’t leave with too much knowledge of them, but better educating her about vampires might save a life in the future.

  “We do stop them,” he replied.

  “Why?”

  “Why does your kind hunt them?”

  “Because they’re evil, and it is what hunters were created and are bred to do.”

  He knew that was most likely what the hunters had been created to do. The world had a way of balancing itself out, and it had balanced the birth of the more demon-like vampires with the birth of the more human hunters.

  “What do you mean by bred?” he inquired.

  She shrugged and lifted her head onto her hand as she rolled toward him. Her fingers played with the stitching in the charcoal-colored blanket as she gazed at the wall behind him. “The hunter line must be kept strong,” she said. “The best available men and women are paired together to make sure of that.”

  Ronan’s teeth grated together as she revealed this information. She had no ring on, her brother seemed to have been the one in charge of her, but he realized that one day she would be paired off too.

  He’d lived through the days when women were married off like they were no better than cattle, and he hadn’t liked it then. He liked it less now. Female vampires, especially the purebred ones, always had a mind of their own and spoke it freely. Those were the type of women he’d grown up with and admired.

  They hadn’t been mated or in love, but his mother had agreed to bear his father a child because with her second-generation purebred status and his father being the only fourth generation to ever exist, their offspring would be the most powerful vampire created. His mother had loved power and attention, and his birth brought her both of those things. After his creation, his parents had found other lovers, but they remained friends until the day they were both killed.

  “I see,” he said.

  “So not all vampires are Savage,” Kadence prodded in the hopes of getting him off the depressing topic of marriage.

  “No, they are not. I believe you are right and hunters were created to stop Savages, but you weren’t given the whole story.”

  “And that is?”

  “That not all vampires are evil. It is only some who go bad, but all vampires are hunted indiscriminately by your kind.”

  “We didn’t know that,” she whispered.

  “I know.”

  “Why weren’t we taught any of this? Why were we never told? Why would we be enemies from the very beginning if what you say is true?” she demanded.

  Chapter Twelve

  “Do you know how vampires and hunters were created?” he asked.

  “At one point in time, a handful of demons escaped to freely roam the earth. Those demons were unable to tolerate the sun, were creatures of the night, immortal, and slaughtered humans to feast on their blood. When humans learned of their existence, they hunted them to the point where the greatly outnumbered demons were once again forced to seal themselves away in what many believe to be Hell,” Kadence recited from her studies on the subject.

  “While they were here, the demons also mated with some humans,” she continued. “The first vampires were born from those humans. Like the demons, they had a thirst for blood, eternal life, and many other demon capabilities such as the power to bend another to their will or cloak their presences. Unlike the demons, they were more human in appearance, had a heartbeat, breathed, and passed as human. Over time, they came to be known as vampires. Vampires discovered that, by sharing their blood with a human, they could create more of their kind.”

  “And hunters came about how?” Ronan inquired.

  “They were created in the same way, only hunters took after the human species even more than vampires. We are the mortal version of a vampire. We have many of your abilities, such as enhanced strength, senses, and extended lifespans, but not your thirst for blood or immortality. Your powers of persuasion and cloaking do not work on those of us who are born hunters, but we do not possess them.”

  The hunters also didn’t have the restrictions vampires faced when they took too many innocent lives, but he didn’t tell her that. He also wouldn’t reveal to her that many vampires could walk freely through the day. If she went back and told her fellow hunters, which she most likely would, the revelation could make those of his kind who weren’t Savage more vulnerable to the ignorance of the hunters.

  “The hunters have also figured out a way for the human allies they recruit to not be susceptible to our ability to change their minds,” he said.

  Her lips compressed into a flat line, and he knew she wouldn’t confirm it. It didn’t matter; he’d already encountered an entirely human hunter who resisted a vampire’s ability to change her memories. A mixture of herbs and hunter blood had been given to the human to keep her mind blocked from a vampire’s mind control.

  “Why do you and your friends kill the vampires who go wrong?” she asked.

  Ronan draped his arm over his forehead as he lifted his gaze to the ceiling. “Humans aren’t the only ones who need protection from the vampires who turn Savage. The Savages attack other vampires too, for our blood gives them the most power and we are a far more thrilling kill than any mortal or hunter could ever be.”

  She inhaled sharply. “That’s awful.”

  He glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes. “That sounded very un-hunter like of you.”

  “I’ve never been the hunter I’m supposed to be,” she murmured. “I’ve been a thorn in my family’s side since I was old enough to speak.”

  He imagined she had been, considering she was the firstborn female hunter who had ever been seen by a vampire, as far as he knew anyway. “And why is that?”

  She shrugged absently. “Little things here and there I guess. I was always the rebellious one amongst the women within the stronghold, and I was never any good at my classes. I can’t sew, I’m not much of a cook, and I’ve dropped a lot of the baby dolls over the years. Far
more than any of the other girls in my classes. I still can’t pin a diaper without stabbing the doll. Though, I’ll admit that’s more because it’s ridiculous to diaper a fake baby, and it feels good to give it a jab.”

  Ronan lifted an eyebrow at that admission as he tried not to laugh at the look of consternation on her face.

  “Unlike the other women in the stronghold, I always dreamed about going out in the world, to see things, and experience them. We’re not allowed to do that. We’re told from the moment we’re born that we shouldn’t yearn for things we can never have, and that being a good wife, mother, and continuing the hunter line is what we are meant to do. The world is so big and marvelous that I always wanted to see more of it and explore it all.”

  The longing on her face and the melancholy in her voice had him contemplating booking her the first flight to anywhere she asked to go in the world. She should be set free to enjoy her life, not secluded and locked away.

  “Women must be protected and sheltered from the world,” he grated out.

  Resentment simmered in her eyes when they came back to his. “You sound like my brother.”

  He realized she’d taken his words the wrong way, but he couldn’t resist provoking her further as it brought color back to her face and more life to her than he’d seen since her attack. “Your brother sounds like a wise man.”

  He was certain visions of strangling him were dancing through her head while she glowered at him. Her anger also made her forget her wariness of him as she leaned closer to him.

  “I do not wish to be paired off for breeding purposes or want a husband,” she said.

  Not married then. He ignored the relief her confirmation of that brought with it.

  “I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself,” she declared.

  “Yes, you take great care of yourself. That’s why you’re here,” he replied, hoping to bait her even closer.

  She bolted upright, sputtering with indignation. Realizing he’d pushed her too far, he moved to calm her before she reopened her wounds, but she slapped his hand away. Ronan did a double take as he gazed between her and his hand. In over a thousand years, no one had dared to rebuke him in such a way.

  She swung her legs over the side of the bed. Getting over his shock, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her back before she could rise. She slapped at his arm. Her attempts to get free would have made him laugh, if he hadn’t known it would only piss her off more.

  “Let go of me!” she cried.

  “No.” He may not have the same beliefs as her kin, but she would learn he was the one who ruled here. “Relax, before you hurt yourself. I pushed too far, and I am sorry for that.”

  Her hair whipped into her eyes when her head spun toward him. “That’s the second time you’ve done that.”

  “Done what?” he asked.

  “Said you were sorry. I’m always the one apologizing for doing something wrong, for not obeying when I should or not doing as I’m told. I’m supposed to be sorry for not being overjoyed about my glorious role as soon-to-be bride. Or at least that’s what my instructors tell me.”

  Ronan kept his arm around her waist, his fingers caressing her flat stomach while she spoke. “Then they are idiots.”

  “Do vampires not have the same rules for women as hunters do?”

  “There would be no caging a female vampire, especially not a purebred one.”

  “What is a purebred?”

  “A vampire who is born to two vampires instead of being a human who is turned by one.”

  Her breath exploded from her. “There’s such a thing?”

  “Yes. I am a purebred as are the other vampires who live here.”

  “Oh,” she breathed as her eyes ran over him. That revelation, and his age, had to be why she sensed so much power in him. “What about a human and a vampire? What would their offspring be?”

  “It depends on which side is stronger. I’ve seen some be more like hunters, but not as strong, and some be entirely human. The combination of a human and a vampire doesn’t happen often, but it has in the past. Most live normal, human lives, some choose to be turned later in life. If they are turned, they can be stronger than an average turned vamp, but not as strong as a purebred.”

  “Vampires are able to conceive and bear children,” she murmured. “We believed they were all turned.”

  “We are part human too after all, which is why not all of us are killers. We have as much human DNA as demon. I’m not an overly big fan of the human race, they’re rather annoying, but I don’t like seeing them slaughtered for sport, even if they do it to each other on a daily basis.”

  Kadence felt as if he’d given her a combo punch that left her lying flat in the middle of the boxing ring. Never in a million years had she expected to learn these things about vampires, never would she have considered they had any compassion within them.

  “Do vampires have a difficult time conceiving?” she asked.

  “No. Do hunters?” Her eyes went to the shuttered windows behind him. “So that is why they lock their women away,” he guessed, and knew he was right when her jaw clenched. “The demon DNA must have reacted differently with the hunters, making it difficult for them to conceive.”

  She didn’t reply.

  “Lie down,” he coaxed, knowing he would get no more out of her on the subject. He gave a tug on her waist, but she didn’t budge. “Joseph didn’t take enough blood to permanently damage you, but he took enough to weaken you for a while.”

  “The permanent damage he’s done to me happened before last night,” she muttered more to herself than to him.

  He frowned as he realized more than a rebellious streak had brought her out last night. “Why were you in that alley, Kadence?”

  Her gaze was fixed on the blanket as she responded. “Nathan has been tracking Joseph for a while.”

  “Why is your brother so interested in him? Why did you disobey everything you’ve been raised to believe to be there?”

  “I never obey when I’m supposed to.”

  “I get that, but why risk leaving your home now?”

  “It took me a while to figure out a way to break free of the stronghold.”

  “How did you get out?” he asked.

  “I can’t tell you that.”

  “Fair enough.” He wouldn’t ask her to divulge any information he wouldn’t divulge himself. “So why were you so determined to escape and see Joseph brought down?”

  Fire burned in her eyes when they met his again. “He killed my father.”

  No wonder she’d been determined to achieve freedom and her brother had been so determined to destroy Joseph himself. Nathan wouldn’t back down and would get in the way again, but that was something he would have to deal with later.

  “I’m sorry for your loss,” he said honestly. He knew how it felt to lose a parent to a Savage.

  Kadence gazed at him, trying to decide if he was playing with her or not, but she saw only sincerity on his face and in his eyes. “Thank you. I’m hoping that watching Joseph die will make me feel better. That this… this emptiness in me will ease once he’s gone.”

  He didn’t want to take the hope away from her, but he knew nothing completely eased the pain of losing a loved one. It had been nearly a thousand years since he’d lost his parents. He’d had such a short time with them, but their guidance had forged him and the hole of their passing had never been filled.

  The young, idealistic man he’d been before their deaths never would have believed himself capable of slipping into the darkness. That man hadn’t been plagued with the need to kill, as at twenty-eight, he’d just reached maturity, stopped aging, and started to come more fully into his powers.

  Back then, he’d been a young fool who had no idea that soon after becoming fully matured, there would be little left of the vampire race to lead. He hadn’t known that centuries of delivering death, even to those who deserved it, would stain and warp his soul. He’d been told by his
father that as a mature, purebred vampire he would start to crave something insatiably and that he would have to fight giving into that craving every day of his life, but he’d never fully understood it until his need for blood and death became an ever-constant companion.

  He knew the truth of it all now.

  “The emptiness of a lost loved one never goes away completely,” he told her.

  “Never?” she whispered.

  “No, but time makes you better capable of dealing with it. Revenge is never the salve you think it will be. It is often necessary and must be carried out, but it will not make everything better.”

  When he realized he was still holding her and she didn’t seem about to jump up and run off, he removed his arm from her waist and leaned back against the headboard. Her haunted eyes met his, her raw anguish evident in her gaze. He’d give anything to take the hurt from her, but that was impossible.

  “You should lie down before you make yourself sick,” he said.

  “I don’t get sick,” she mumbled as she slid back onto the bed.

  “Exhausted then.”

  She rolled toward him. “It was a tiring night.”

  Kadence’s heart leapt in her chest when he gave her a darling, lopsided smile. She may be exhausted, but she doubted she’d get any sleep with a half-naked Ronan lying in the bed with her.

  She bit her lip as she thought about what her brother and the other hunters would say if they could see her now. They’d probably believe she went crazy and lock her away, just as they’d locked away some of the other hunters who had broken their laws or lost their minds over the years.

  Nothing she’d revealed to Ronan could be used against her or the hunters, but she was lying in bed with him, and she found herself content to be there. He brought a strange sense of calm to her, one she hadn’t experienced in years, if ever. Her kind would consider her a traitor for her actions. She kind of considered herself one by staying beside him, but she wouldn’t crawl out of this bed, and she didn’t ask him to leave it.

  She inched subtly closer until the heat of his body warmed hers. Maybe tomorrow she would get her mind together enough to realize the situation she was in and plot a way out of it, but for now, she didn’t have the energy or the will to fight this draw to him.