But he didn’t know where else to go. There was no gym where he could unleash some of his pent-up energy. There was no one he could kill, and that was what he longed for most.
Arriving at the end of the hall, Killean turned and headed for the kitchen. He had no idea what he planned to do there, but before he was halfway to his destination, a hooded figure in a black cloak striding toward him caused him to stop. The being stood well over seven feet tall and hunched over to avoid hitting its head on the ceiling. Leaner than him, the cloak swallowed much of the creature and all its face.
However, its imposing height was not what stopped Killean in his tracks. No, what glued his feet to the floor was the vast amount of power wafting from the creature; it electrified his skin and caused the hair on his arms to stand up.
He’d spent most of his life working with Ronan, the oldest vampire in existence and a fifth-generation purebred, but this thing made the power Ronan emitted feel like child’s play.
What is this thing?
He had no guesses about that as the being bared down on him. Killean didn’t recall thinking about doing it before he was stepping out of the creature’s way. The being’s head turned toward him, and its stare latched onto him like a tick on a dog.
From beneath its hood two, white-blue eyes burned out of the blackness at him. If this thing had a face, Killean couldn’t tell as those glowing orbs became all he could see. They seemed to bore into his soul, stripping him bare to reveal everything about him, including the real reason he was here.
He waited to be struck down by this beast—and that’s what this thing was, a beast who could knock his head from his shoulders with one swipe of its hand. But apparently, this powerful being didn’t possess the ability to learn all the secrets of another as, instead of killing him, it turned away.
Killean didn’t realized he’d stopped breathing until the creature broke eye contact and swept past him. He stood, staring at the wall where the creature had been before turning to gaze after it. The ends of its cloak trailed along the ground as it moved with a grace that made it appear to be floating over the floor. Give this thing a sickle and it would embody the image of the Grim Reaper.
He didn’t know what it was, but it had to be the company Joseph received the other night. He also had no doubt it was the brains behind everything Joseph was doing recently. It wasn’t a typical vampire, not with those eyes.
Before Ronan was born, a hunter must have been changed into a vampire. Only a hunter heritage would explain those eyes, and only vast age would explain the creature’s power and the still electrified feel of his skin. That thing had to be at least a couple of thousand years old and stronger than all of them.
The Alliance had a more grueling battle ahead of them than they’d anticipated, but seeing this creature helped him understand Joseph’s ambition to turn more hunters into Savages. This thing was most likely seeking to have more of its kind with it, and it would know how powerful a hunter could become once they were turned and groomed for mayhem.
But what was their goal once they had an army of Savages?
He was no closer to learning the answer to that question, and he suspected he’d have to be here for months before Joseph revealed it to him. If he had his way, he wouldn’t be here after tonight.
When the creature vanished from sight, Killean forgot about the kitchen and followed it. He watched as it turned into the hall where he slept before entering the corridor with the hunters.
Killean’s pace increased as he hurried down the hall. He had no doubt this thing could kill him as he easily as a fly, but he didn’t want it anywhere near Simone.
Stepping into the hall with the hunters, he discovered the creature gone. He stood there, gazing back and forth between Joseph’s office and the shadows engulfing the steel door at the end of the hall, but he didn’t think it had left.
He almost went to knock on Joseph’s door, but he had no reason for doing so. He glanced at Simone to make sure she was okay, or as okay as she could be, before slipping back into the hall.
No matter what it took, he had to get them free of here tonight if possible. He didn’t have much to report, but Ronan had to know about that thing’s existence.
• • •
“What is going to happen?” Killean asked Joseph as he stood beside him in the hall of hunters.
“We’re going to take some of them from here, turn them loose, and let them feast,” Joseph replied.
“But won’t they feast on us once they’re unchained?”
Joseph grinned at him and clasped his shoulder. He was far too touchy-feely for Killean’s liking, but it was probably a good thing as it meant Joseph was buying his act.
“That’s what I like about you, Killean, you think ahead. None of these other imbeciles”—he waved a hand at the Savages gathered before some of the hunters— “considered that possibility the first time they did this. They didn’t even bother to try to take control of their minds before unchaining them. Of course, those prisoners were humans and vampires we’d caught and transitioned, and not hunters, so these will be feistier and more fun.”
Joseph licked his lips as he stared at his captives like a proud papa. “I allowed those captives to feast on a few of their jailers to teach them a lesson. Some of the hunters who were captured overseas have already transitioned, and the Savages in charge of that have followed the guidelines I gave them. They’ve suffered no losses and had success.”
Simone’s stronghold wasn’t the only one the Savages attacked and imprisoned hunters from; three others had fallen around the world. With the amount Joseph had killed, Killean doubted he could make the journey overseas to where two of those strongholds were located. The more innocents a vampire killed, the harder it became for them to cross large bodies of water.
So that meant Joseph had more lackeys running programs such as this and possibly more underground hiding places around the world. There may even be more creatures such as the one Killean encountered earlier running those overseas programs.
“If things keep up and you continue to prove yourself, you will rise to become my second-in-command,” Joseph said.
Well yippee, fucking do dah. Killean hoped his smile didn’t look as fake as it felt.
“It would be fitting for Ronan to be taken down by two of his former men. Oh, how the mighty will fall,” Joseph murmured.
Not going to happen, Killean thought. Ronan was the rightful king of the vampires, and it would take a lot more than Joseph to defeat him.
“We’ll keep the hunters restrained,” Joseph said. He held up a black hood and a strip of cloth. “Gagged, bagged, and chained, they can’t put up much of a fight. It would be much easier if we could control their minds, but even as vampires, the hunters retain their ability to keep us shut out.”
“And then what happens?” he asked.
“And then we escort them from here and allow them to play,” Joseph purred. “I already have the perfect venue picked out for them. We’re only taking half of them tonight; the other half will go tomorrow. It will make them easier to contain, and once they see human prey, they usually go for that, especially if the prey is running and screaming. And if not, we have another way of controlling them.”
Killean’s gaze locked on Simone and the Savage standing across from her. The female vampire grinned at Simone like she was a treat the Savage couldn’t wait to devour. Judging by the hood and gag in the vamp’s hand, Simone was one of those who was going tonight.
Excitement and dread rippled through him. Joseph hadn’t said whether Killean would be going with them or not. If he wasn’t there, then he couldn’t stop her from killing, but Joseph could refuse to let him go. He had to proceed cautiously, or everything he’d sacrificed might end up being for nothing.
“The girl,” Killean said, forcing his next words out as a question rather than the command he wanted to issue. Humble yourself. It went against everything he innately was, but he gritted his teeth and continued. �
�Can I have her?”
Joseph glanced between him and Simone, and for a second, Killean feared he’d given away too much when it came to her.
“You really have a thing for this girl,” Joseph murmured. “Why?”
Killean held Joseph’s gaze while he replied. “As I told you before, she believed herself above vampires, and I want to watch her fall. I despise all hunters, but that icy little bitch was more self-righteous than the rest of her asshole brethren.”
“Did she spurn your advances?”
“I’d never make a move on one of them,” he spat the word in the hopes of selling the lie.
He had kissed her, and for one blissful second, he forgot all about his past, all the death he’d witnessed and delivered, and experienced lust as well as peace again. When it was the two of them on the beach, he’d held heaven in his arms before recalling she was nothing more than the serpent tantalizing Eve with the apple.
“Hmm,” Joseph murmured as he rubbed the scruff lining his jaw.
Killean had to sell his tale more if he were going to get his way. “She was supposed to marry the leader of the hunters.”
“Nathan,” Joseph stated.
“Yes, but when he chose a vampire over her, the knowledge repulsed her, and she didn’t hide it. This little bitch mistakenly thinks she’s better than us.”
Killean’s fingers dug into his palms as he made himself put Simone down. You’re doing it to save her life. But it didn’t matter, she was his mate, and the words went against his vampire instincts to protect her.
“The hunters did a number on you, didn’t they?” Joseph inquired.
Killean couldn’t stop his fangs from extending as he held Joseph’s curious gaze. No one knew his history, and he would keep it that way.
“They’ve done a number on far too many vampires,” Killean replied.
“Hmm.” Joseph looked at Simone again. “You’re right; they have. I think you’ve earned yourself a little treat. She can be yours to keep leashed until she’s ready to be set free, but you are to do everything I say with her, Killean, or I’ll kill you.”
I’d like to see you try. “Fair enough,” Killean said.
Joseph led him over to the female Savage and spoke with her as Killean stepped in front of Simone. She looked at him and blinked before baring her fangs like a wild animal caught in a trap. It was as if Simone no longer existed, and if Joseph had his way, she would cease to exist in more ways before this night was over, just as Killean already had.
Following Joseph’s instructions, he knelt before her and rested his hand on her head to hold it still. Simone snapped and lunged at him while the female Savage bent beside him. Dried blood from her brutalized lip caked Simone’s chin and fresh blood trickled from her raw wrists as she jerked against her chains. Her dirty hair whipped around her shoulders as saliva dribbled from her mouth.
Killean had thought he wanted to kill before, but it was nothing compared to the impulse thundering through him as he watched his mate unravel.
Timing the closing of Simone’s jaws, the Savage slipped the gag into her mouth. Killean held Simone steady when she tried to recoil and strangled sounds issued from her. He didn’t know if he wanted to draw her into his arms and hold her or tear this place down more.
A little while longer. He kept repeating this in his head while she gazed at him with accusation and hatred. I’m sorry. I wish there were another way.
The Savage tied the gag behind Simone’s head far too tight for his liking, but he couldn’t loosen it without drawing attention.
“Move your hand,” the woman commanded and waved the black hood at him.
When Killean pulled his hand away, the woman slipped the hood over Simone’s head and pulled the string around her neck. Before Killean could grab her again, Simone threw herself backward, and her head cracked off the wall with a loud thwack. Blood pounded in his ears when the Savages around him laughed, and Simone issued a strangled whimper.
Stay in control. It’s her only chance.
“Time to go!” Joseph announced and slapped Killean on his shoulder.
Killean almost snapped at the hand, but he restrained himself as Simone’s wrists were unchained from the wall and handed to him. Gripping the chain, he realized they were one step closer to freedom.
CHAPTER 9
Joseph took Simone’s chain from him when they stopped in front of the door at the end of the hall. Killean almost closed his hand around the links and refused to let go, but he relented to Joseph’s second tug as the Savage’s surrounding him stared unrelentingly at him.
Joseph took the chain, and another Savage stepped forward to blindfold and hood him. At least this time when they led him outside, he wasn’t shoved into a trunk. Instead, they turned him and pulled his hands behind his back. Cold metal touched his wrists before a set of cuffs clicked shut.
Stronger than the handcuffs used for humans, these weren’t built to restrain a purebred. He could break them, but by the time he did that, the Savages would be on top of him. His head was shoved down, and they pushed him into the backseat of a car.
The front doors opened and closed before the other back door opened. A scuffle sounded, and then the car sagged as more weight entered the car. The rank stench of body odor filled his nostrils, but beneath it, he detected a crisp, eucalyptus scent. Even before her skin touched his, Killean knew Simone sat beside him. When another weight settled into the car, she was pushed more firmly against him, and a door slammed closed.
“Hold still, bitch,” a man grumbled.
Killean’s wrists flexed against the cuffs as the car started. “Where are we going?” he inquired.
“You’ll see,” Joseph replied from the passenger seat. “It will be a bloody treat for all of us.”
Despite his determination not to give in to the Savage nature he’d awakened, Killean’s fangs lengthened, and saliva rushed into his mouth at the prospect of witnessing whatever Joseph had planned. Closing his eyes, he inhaled a tremulous breath as he strove to suppress the demon seeking to control him.
It would be so easy to give in, let Simone go through this tonight, and remain a Savage with her. Maybe, if he gave in completely, he wouldn’t care about her hunter heritage anymore, and they could feast on blood and humans and…
And what? Stay with Joseph and work to destroy Ronan?
No!
His eyes flew open, but all he saw was the back of the blindfold. Ronan had given him a purpose for living when there’d been none, and in doing so, he saved Killean’s life. Killean betrayed him by becoming this thing he was now, but he would not betray him further.
After at least an hour of driving, the car turned. Judging by the ruts and the change from the tires humming across asphalt to the ping of sand and rocks dinging off the undercarriage, they’d driven onto a dirt road. Killean sat up a little straighter and leaned instinctively closer to Simone as they neared their destination.
She’d remained unmoving throughout most of the journey, but now she sniffed at the air and whimpered as her chains rattled. “Quiet,” the man on the other side of her commanded, and Killean recognized his voice.
“She knows it’s almost playtime, Andre,” Joseph replied.
“If she had a shower, I wouldn’t mind playing with her,” Andre replied, and the others in the car chuckled.
Killean’s head turned toward his old friend Andre as he marked the Savage for death. Then the car came to a stop, and the distant thump of dance music floated to him. Doors opened and closed before the one beside him flung open. A hand clasped his arm and pulled him from the seat. They turned him so his chest pressed into the hood of the car while the cuffs were unlocked. When the metal fell free, Killean drew his arms forward and rubbed his wrists together as they tugged the hood free.
“You can take off the blindfold,” Joseph said.
Killean removed it, and his eyes went to the building behind Joseph. In the black velvet of the night surrounding the structure, the ligh
ts inside and outside the building were a bright homing beacon. The sign over the door marked the place as Trowbridge Hall. Small white lights were twined around the banisters of the wheelchair ramp as it wound toward the door.
Six windows faced the lot, and from within, light shone against the billowy, white curtains covering the glass. The silhouettes of the people inside moved across the curtains, and laughter resonated from within. A cold pit opened in his stomach when he thought of the oblivious humans who had no idea death lurked outside their door, watching them.
Two floodlights were on each corner of the single-story building and lit up the first fifty feet of the parking lot, but the last fifty were cast entirely in shadow, and that was where Joseph had parked. As Killean watched, ten more vehicles, with their headlights off, pulled into the lot and parked behind Joseph’s car.
Nestled beneath a cluster of red maples, the hall was situated off a dirt road. He didn’t see any homes along the street, only woods. Glancing behind him, Killean saw more forest. He tried to find something familiar in his surroundings, but the pines, oaks, and maples could be in any town along the east coast. However, the woods were thick enough that if he got the chance to break away with Simone, he might be able to lose himself in them.
It was the only chance they had.
“What are we doing here?” Killean asked as Andre and Simone exited the other side of the car. Killean tracked their every step around the vehicle.
“We’re here to crash a wedding,” Joseph said and rubbed his hands together. “It’s the happiest of occasions, for those who are invited and those who aren’t.”
He waved his hand at the Savages gathering around them with their chained hunters. About half of the Savages held yellow poles with two prongs on the end that looked like giant cattle prods; the others carried dart guns. These must be their other ways of controlling the hunters that Joseph mentioned.
Looking away from the Savages, Killean inspected the fifty or more vehicles in the lot that didn’t belong to the Savages. There could easily be a hundred or more people inside.
Bound by Darkness (The Alliance, Book 3) Page 6
