“Wrong choice of words,” Declan murmured.
But he didn’t have to tell her that. She could see she’d said the wrong thing when Saxon’s eyes turned red, his nostrils flared, and his forehead furrowed in a way that reminded her of a bull about to charge. The hostility in the room ratcheted up as he stood beside her, looking as if he were about to tear this cabin apart with his bare hands.
“Easy, Saxon,” Ronan said. “We’ll all keep her safe.”
Saxon’s fingers dug into his palms until blood pooled against his flesh while he tried to calm himself. They were going to take a mortal, his mate, into what could be a nest of Savages and they were all fine with it.
His gaze fell to her cast as the memory of her scream echoed in his head. He’d been so close to her, yet he was unable to stop that bastard from harming her, and now she still bore an injury she didn’t have to bear. Her mortality made her weaker; her broken arm made her more so.
Red shaded his vision; his blood rushed through his ears as his blood pressure skyrocketed. His mate and they were all putting her at risk. He needed to kill something; he had to change her. He needed… he needed….
His eyes traveled to her neck and the alluring pulse beating there. What did it matter if she didn’t want the bond right now?
He could make her immortal, and there was nothing she could do to stop him. He’d deal with her fury afterward, but she’d be safe and she’d be his.
“Fuck!” he exploded and spun away from her. He had to get away from her before he couldn’t stop himself from changing her.
“Saxon—”
Declan gripped her shoulder when she started to follow Saxon before abruptly releasing her. Saxon didn’t look back as he flung open the door and descended the steps. Elyse huddled deeper into her blanket as she watched him disappear around the side of the cabin.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
“I didn’t mean to upset him,” she whispered.
“The incomplete bond is making him more volatile,” Ronan said.
“He’ll be okay once he calms down,” Declan murmured.
Elyse gulped as she tried not to let her distress show. She’d never seen Saxon look so out of control. She almost went after him, but she was probably the last person he wanted to see. He’d warned her that he could lose control, but she hadn’t been prepared.
She’d seen the hunger in his gaze when it latched onto her neck and sensed what he required, but she couldn’t give it to him. On this, she had to remain firm. He couldn’t go into a nest of Savages while marked as her mate.
If they caught him, what they would do to him….
“They’ll cut him into pieces and give him to me too if they know he’s my mate,” she whispered.
“Elyse.” She tore her eyes away from the open door and back to Ronan. “We won’t let that happen, and they won’t take you again.”
She nodded, but she became acutely aware that a group of large, powerful men surrounded her. And some of them would like nothing more than to see her dead. Her attention shifted to Killean who stared at her like she was some specimen he’d never seen before.
“They know I’m with you,” she said. “Or at least with some of you. Do you think they’ll expect us to come for my dad, for them?”
“It’s a possibility,” Ronan said. “I’m hoping they don’t think you’ll be able to track them still. They know that once you receive someone’s blood, you can only track someone for a short time, don’t they?”
“Yes. They knew I required fresh blood after a few days if I was going to keep tracking someone, but my dad is different.”
“Do they know that?”
“No,” she said. “I made sure to keep it from them.”
“Good. And when was the last time you had contact with the female Savage you were tracking with your father?”
“I think it’s been about a week. It was difficult to keep track of time in the cabin, and after a while, I stopped caring.”
“Understandable.”
Her gaze returned to the open door when Asher walked over to close it. “Will Saxon be okay?”
“He needs some time,” Ronan said. “But until you complete the bond, he’ll be a lot more unstable.”
She clutched the blanket closer. “And if I complete the bond, he’ll be in a lot more danger.”
“We’re always in danger,” Declan said.
“When are we leaving?” she asked.
“Soon,” Ronan said.
“I’m going to get ready,” Elyse said.
She stared at the door, willing Saxon to come back, as she walked away from them and into their room. Gathering a fresh set of clothes, she returned to the living area where she discovered them still gathered around the map with their heads bent close together.
She slipped into the small bathroom and removed her clothes. Stepping into the shower, she held her casted arm out of the spray as she cleaned herself the best she could with one hand. After a lot of fumbling and cursing, she managed to wash her hair before leaving the tub.
It took more time than she would have liked to dress, but she finally left the bathroom to find them still gathered around the counter. Her heart sank when she saw Saxon hadn’t returned. She was about to go back to her room when a low moan drew her toward the room they carried Logan into last night.
Kadence and Simone sat in chairs next to the bottom bunk across the way. Simone was dabbing Logan’s brow with a cloth while he remained pale and unmoving on the bed. Elyse was about to retreat when Kadence turned toward her and smiled.
Elyse smiled shyly in return. “How is he doing?”
“He’ll be okay in a couple of days,” Kadence said. “The transition is much harder on hunters than humans.”
Elyse suspected Kadence was trying to reassure her, but she didn’t fear the suffering she’d endure becoming a vampire.
“Come in and join us,” Simone said.
Elyse shook her head; she didn’t belong here. Logan was one of them, and she was the outsider who’d nearly gotten Simone killed. “No, I, uh…” her brain felt like it was stuck in mud as she tried to think up some excuse to run away.
Kadence rose and walked over to her. “They really did a number on your arm. Does it hurt?”
Elyse glanced at the cast. “It’s better today.”
“That’s good.”
Before Elyse knew what was happening, Kadence was leading her toward the chair and settling her onto it. “So, Elyse,” she said, “tell us what it was like to grow up in the human world? Did you ever get anything from the ice cream truck? Are they real?”
Before Elyse could reply, a shadow fell over the doorway, and she looked up to find Killean watching them. “Everything okay?” he asked.
“It’s fine,” Simone assured him and waved her hand at him. “Go back to plotting.”
He hesitated before stalking away.
“He’s too overprotective sometimes,” Simone murmured.
“He has a good reason to be concerned about me with you,” Elyse said.
“Why, do you plan on doing something to one of us?” Simone asked.
“Of course not! But you almost died because of me.”
“And Killean killed because of me. In this life, there will always be things we wished we’d never done, or that we could change, but the past can never be undone. It’s how we react to those events, and our future actions, that define who we truly are.”
Elyse didn’t know how to respond; part of her longed to throw her arms around Simone and hug her while the other part wanted to beg for a forgiveness it seemed Simone had already given her. When tears filled her eyes and her bottom lip started to tremble, she bowed her head and focused on her hands in her lap.
“There’s a reason I was led to you,” Kadence said. “And I believe it was more than stopping the Savages from using you to defeat us. You belong with us; you belong with Saxon.”
Elyse gawked at her as Kadence shifted in her chair to touch Logan
’s arm when he started twitching.
“So,” Kadence said when Logan settled down again, “are ice cream trucks real? Do they really bring it right to you?”
Elyse blinked at her before laughing; she’d never felt so grateful for a change in conversation. “They’re real, and, yes, I’ve gotten ice cream from them before. You’ve never seen one?”
“No. Things are different for female hunters, or at least they used to be,” Simone said. “Kadence changed things.”
They grinned at each other before focusing on her again. “I would have followed a portable ice cream machine everywhere when I was still mortal,” Kadence said.
Elyse found herself falling into easy conversation with them as they revealed some of their lives as mortals and immortals, and she told them about hers. For the first time in years, she relaxed around others. These two already knew the worst of her, and they were still talking to her.
Though she enjoyed talking with them, she found herself listening for the door to open and Saxon to return.
Chapter Forty
Elyse bolted out of the chair when she heard the door open and ran out of the room. She froze when Saxon entered the cabin; he stomped the snow off his boots and lifted his head to look at her. Relief filled her when she saw the red was gone and only the beautiful hazel of his eyes was present.
Guilt and self-disgust swirled within Saxon when he saw the hopeful expression on Elyse’s face. He should have been stronger for her; he should have controlled himself. She deserved better than the disaster he was becoming.
He stalked across the room and lifted her into his embrace. She melted against him as she buried her face in his neck. He bent his head so his lips brushed her ear. “I’m sorry.”
He wanted to promise her it wouldn’t happen again, but he couldn’t. The animals he’d fed from helped to calm him, but the longer they went without completing the bond, the more difficult it would be for him. If this continued, he would have to separate himself from her or risk hurting her.
The possibility made his fangs prick, but there was no other choice. For now, he had to hold her close so she could ease the turmoil inside him.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
He realized while he was feeding on a fox that he’d left her in a cabin full of strangers and Killean. No matter how much Killean disliked her, Saxon knew she was safe with his friend, but he couldn’t imagine how uncomfortable she must have felt.
“I’m fine,” she said.
“I shouldn’t have left. I was an asshole.”
“No, you weren’t. You warned me this could happen, and I understand.” She lifted her head to look at him and smiled. “Everything will be fine.”
“Yes,” he agreed, but he wasn’t so sure.
He set her down and clasped her hand as he led her into their room; he required some time alone with her, but Ronan stopped him. “We have to go soon, Saxon. The sun is rising.”
Saxon glanced at their room before looking to Ronan and the others. He dreaded doing this, but there was no sense in putting it off. “Let’s go then.”
* * *
Elyse stopped walking to survey the woods lining the road. She waved the map away when Declan tried to hand it to her. “That was for you guys,” she told him.
She stared at the woods while she tried to get her bearings. Nothing moved in the shadows of the forest; not even a breeze stirred the limbs. Her breath pluming before her was the only thing stirring the air. When the sun reflected off the snow, it sparkled like thousands of diamonds were trapped within the white crust.
It would have been so beautiful if she didn’t know something sinister and deadly lurked within these peaceful depths. “This way,” she said as the call of her father’s blood drew her to the left.
They’d been walking for almost a half an hour; she could feel her dad getting closer, but she didn’t know how much longer it would take.
“What if she’s leading us into a trap?” Killean muttered.
Elyse didn’t bother to look at him; she didn’t have the energy for him right now, and her blood was beginning to sing. Or at least that’s the name she’d given it, as singing was the best way she could think to describe it while her blood vibrated in such a way it reminded her of the echoing notes of a singer’s voice.
She wanted to plunge forward and race through the snow, but she stopped instead. She had no idea what lay ahead, and she couldn’t accidentally lead them into a trap.
“We’re almost there,” she whispered. “It’s straight ahead a couple of hundred yards, give or take.”
They all glanced between her and the direction she pointed in the woods. Ronan had warned them about cameras when they first climbed out of the SUV. She’d been so focused on her father’s blood she’d forgotten about the possibility of cameras, but all their heads tipped back as they searched the trees.
Elyse studied the men around her before turning her attention back to the woods. Kadence and Simone had asked to come with them too, but Ronan and Killean both refused. In the end, they’d relented to staying with Logan and taking care of him while he went through the rest of his transition.
“Are you sure?” Saxon asked her.
“Yes. I can lead us to it now,” she offered.
“No,” Ronan said. “Everyone, stay here. I’ll check it out first.”
Ronan split off from them; he faded into the woods before vanishing. She huddled deeper into her coat as anxiety churned in her stomach. The Savages could be living in a mansion or beneath a rock or in the trees; she had no idea where she’d led them.
While she strained to hear and see something more than the trees and snow, she realized something was missing. “Where are all the animals?”
She didn’t expect to see any deer or moose or anything, they would have scared all of them off, but she hadn’t seen a squirrel for at least ten minutes.
“The Savages either killed them or have driven them away with their presence,” Saxon said.
“How sad and horrible.”
Saxon rested his hand on her shoulder and drew her closer, but his gaze remained on where Ronan vanished. The others gathered closer until they stood in a circle with each of them focused on a different direction and a weapon in hand.
They’d loaded up on weapons before coming out here, she’d even seen a few guns, but no one offered her one. So focused on finding her dad and getting out here, she hadn’t thought to ask for one.
She tapped Saxon’s hand and pointed to his stake before gesturing at herself. She didn’t want to speak again as she was afraid something might be listening. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a stake.
She took it and, gripping it at her side, strained to see through the woods as the beat of her heart ticked away the minutes and the cold seeped into her bones. Ronan had been gone for a while, something the others seemed to realize as they shifted around her.
Something to her right caught her attention, and she turned as Lucien crouched to rest his hand on the snow-covered ground. He looked about to charge into the woods as his lips skimmed back to reveal his fangs. Elyse held her breath and searched the area Lucien was focused on, but she still couldn’t see anything. Then, Lucien relaxed and rose again.
“What was it?” Elyse whispered.
“Ronan,” Saxon answered.
Finally, he materialized from the trees, and Elyse felt the distrustful stares swing away from her.
“What did you find?” Lucien asked.
“Nothing,” Ronan replied and focused on her.
“That’s not possible,” she said.
“There’s nothing there.”
“My father is there.”
She pushed past Saxon and started through the snow again. When he grabbed her arm, she tried to jerk it away, but he held on. “You’re not charging up there.”
When she tugged at her arm again, he released her. “I have to find him.”
“Elyse—”
“He’s there!”
she spat. “Let me go.”
Saxon reluctantly released her. He didn’t try to grab her again but stayed close by her side as she stalked through the trees. Her blood sang louder with every step as she drew closer and closer. Her ability had never let her down before, and it wouldn’t this time.
When she stepped into a clearing, she spotted Ronan’s footprints in the snow where he’d wandered around before returning to the woods. Elyse stared at the snow covering her feet as her blood vibrated like a tuning fork.
“This is it,” she whispered.
“This is what?” Nathan asked.
“They’ve taken to living underground,” Saxon said. “If there’s a bunker under here then there has to be a door.”
“How are we going to find that?” Killean asked.
“No, you don’t understand,” Elyse said and pointed at her feet. “This is it.”
Bending, she grasped some snow and started pulling it out of the way with her non-casted hand. Saxon knelt across from her and tried to catch her hand, but she waved him away. Giving up on trying to stop her, he dug in and threw more snow aside.
They cut through the snow to discover a layer of leaves and dirt beneath. Saxon leaned back and rested his hands on his knees, but Elyse refused to give up. It was here. Her fingers ached from the cold and dirt caked her nails as she tossed more aside.
“Let me do it,” Saxon said.
She refused to stop digging as every handful caused her blood to sing until she was sure they would soon hear the cacophony it created in her veins. The only way to make it stop was to find what she sought, and then…
Her fingers clinked against something metal. Across from her, Saxon’s hands froze in the dirt before he ripped another layer away. Silver glinted in the sunlight when he exposed a large patch of metal beneath them.
“Here.” Her shoulders slumped as the song in her blood finally stopped. “It’s here.”
“It is,” Asher murmured and knelt beside her to pull more snow out of the way.
Declan and Nathan bent to help.
Bound by Passion: The Alliance Series, Book 4 Page 22