“Put me down,” Simone whispered to Declan.
He strode closer to Killean before setting her on her feet. Ignoring her cracking skin and the agony of her healing nerves, Simone fell to her knees on the other side of Killean. Ronan’s eyes were a vivid shade of red when he glanced at her, and she saw the anguish in them. Even if Ronan understood why, he hadn’t been happy with what Killean did to rescue her. However, he still cared for Killean; that much was evident in the set of his jaw and the lines of sorrow etching his eyes and mouth.
Tearing her gaze away from Ronan, Simone focused on Killean. “Please don’t leave me,” she pleaded as she rested her hand against the side of his face. Afraid she would hurt him, she barely touched him, but the small contact caused his eyes to flicker.
“Lucien, bring me some blood bags,” Ronan ordered.
* * *
Before sunset, they carefully enshrouded Killean in blankets and transferred him into the back of a van. The blankets covered all of him, but the idea of bringing him into the sun again terrified her. However, Ronan wanted to move him before nightfall to avoid any Savages who might return, and Simone couldn’t argue with that logic.
After supplying Killean with blood, Ronan and the others spent most of the day disposing of bodies and cleaning up the mess created by the attack last night. She and Kadence kept vigilant watch over Killean, giving him blood on an hourly basis.
Simone also fed a lot more than usual, and the blood had accelerated her healing, but her red and blistered skin still cracked every time she moved. Her mending nerves felt like someone had taken sandpaper and rubbed every last one of them raw.
Simone climbed into the van to sit beside Killean and clasped his hand in hers. Blisters still marred his mottled, red, and charred skin, yet his lips were filling out, and his lids completely covered his eyes again. He still hadn’t regained consciousness, but he was getting better. She cleaved to that knowledge as he remained shut off from her.
His skin was growing back in patches over his exposed muscle and bone, but the returning flesh held none of the strange colors that filled it before. When she and Kadence talked about it earlier, her friend said the same thing happened to Ronan when she was threatened, and he was fine. Kadence was sure Killean wouldn’t suffer any ill effects from his strange transformation.
Simone scanned the road behind Ronan as he stood in the doorway of the van with Nathan and Kadence beside him. Nathan, looking much better than he had earlier, leaned against one of the doors.
“Do you think the Savages will return now that Joseph is dead?” Simone asked Ronan.
“There’s no way of knowing what they’ll do,” Ronan answered. All his burns were already healed. “Joseph led them out here, but it sounds as if the creature you and Killean encountered is the one pulling the strings. We don’t know what its next move will be; either way, it’s not safe here anymore.”
She knew it was true, but she hated leaving the place where she and Killean were cocooned in so much happiness for such a short time. Killean would never get the chance to bring this place back to beautiful life, and she would never see her garden again.
“Where will we go?” she whispered.
“You’re coming to the compound,” Ronan said.
“But the hunters—”
“Killean almost sacrificed himself to bring down Joseph. The hunters will have to accept him.” Ronan shot Nathan a pointed look as he said this. “Despite what he’s done, Killean’s proven he’s still one of us this past month and especially last night.”
Simone couldn’t argue with that, and if any hunter had an issue with this decision, they would have to come through her to get at Killean. “How do you think they found us?”
Ronan’s jaw clenched before he spoke again. “I don’t know. We should go.”
Simone curled up beside Killean and draped her arm tenderly around him while Ronan and Nathan shut the back doors. If anyone tried to harm him while he was in such a vulnerable state, she’d tear off their heads.
Chapter Fifty-One
Simone lifted her head when Killean stirred beside her. This small movement was the most life he’d shown in the past two days. Hope surged through her as she sat up to stare at his face. His hair, eyelashes, and eyebrows were still gone, but the rest of his skin had healed enough that all his muscles were covered. The scar running down the center of his cheek remained, but no marks blemished his skin from the burns.
Behind his closed lids, his eyes darted side to side. She rested her fingers against his cheek as she leaned closer to him. “Killean?” she whispered.
When his eyes opened, she found herself gazing into them. It was then she realized she’d feared never seeing those beautiful, golden eyes again. “Killean,” she breathed.
Gripping her shoulders to push her back, he bolted upright, and his gaze flashed around the room where Ronan placed them. Ronan had said this was Killean’s room when he was here before, but it seemed to take Killean a couple of seconds to recognize it as his body remained tensed beside her. Then his shoulders slumped, he released her, and a ragged breath issued from him.
“We’re at the compound,” he said.
“Yes.”
His gaze raked her from head to toe. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she assured him with a smile. “Completely healed and much better now that you’re awake.”
He grasped the ends of her sleek auburn hair, now cut to just beneath her ears.
“It was badly singed, and Kadence had to cut it,” she said. “But I kind of like this.” She gave her head a small shake. “It’s much cooler and easier to take care of.”
“You look beautiful,” he said. The short cut emphasized the loveliness of her sculpted features, porcelain skin, and green eyes.
She rubbed his bald head. “It’s much better than yours.”
Killean reached up and laughed when he felt the smooth skin against his palm. “Much better,” he agreed. “Ronan brought us here?”
“Yes. He said you’ve more than proved yourself, and the hunters would have to accept his decision. I agree.”
“And have the hunters accepted it?”
Simone shrugged. “I haven’t left the room since we got here, but everything seems okay; Ronan hasn’t mentioned any unrest when he comes to visit, but he probably wouldn’t tell me if there was.”
“Probably not,” Killean agreed.
“But the hunters won’t pull out of this Alliance, not anymore. They’re committed.”
“They are. What happened to Joseph?”
“He’s dead. Nathan finished what you started.” Simone bit her lip as she studied him. She’d just gotten him back, but still… “You shouldn’t have done that! You could have died!”
Killean clasped her hand, and lifting it to his mouth, he kissed the back of it. “I’m sorry I scared you, but it wasn’t planned. I’m never going to leave you.”
“You can’t say that! We have no idea what the future holds for us.”
“Simone—”
“You were so badly burned.” Tears filled her eyes as she recalled the terror of the past couple of days.
“Shh,” he whispered and drew her close to kiss her forehead. He despised the tremor in her body as she bowed her head and her fingers encircled his forearms. “I’m okay, and Joseph is dead. He’ll never hurt you again.”
“Dead,” she whispered and for the first time allowed herself to savor that wonderful knowledge. They still had that other thing and plenty of Savages to contend with, but that murderous, sick monster was dead.
Smiling, she breathed in the resin scent of Killean, tinted with the faint hint of smoke and the taint of a Savage. Simone realized that even after enough time passed for the smell of a Savage to fade, he would always be more Savage than not. There was something inherently wild and dark about Killean, and she loved him for it.
“That other thing is still out there,” she whispered.
“But we took out o
ne of its main puppets, and we will destroy it too. I do not doubt that. You shouldn’t have thrown yourself on top of me to put out the flames.”
Simone snorted. “You’re in no position to lecture me, Baldy.”
Killean laughed as he wrapped his arms around her and drew her close. Lowering his mouth to hers, he kissed her as he pushed her back on the bed.
“I love you, Simone,” he whispered against her mouth.
“And I love you.”
* * *
A few hours later, Killean found Ronan and the others gathered in the barroom. Nathan, Asher, and Logan were with them.
“Would you like a drink?” Declan inquired of him. He was seated at one of the stools lining the bar with a glass of amber liquid before him.
“Yes.” Killean settled himself onto one of the leather chairs between Saxon and Lucien.
“How are you feeling?” Lucien asked.
For the first time, Killean didn’t sense any anger in his friend’s voice. “Much better,” Killean answered before turning to Ronan. “If the hunters have a problem with me being here, I’ll leave,” he said, striking right at the heart of the matter. “I didn’t like it in the beginning, but I understand how important this Alliance is, and I won’t jeopardize it by being here.”
“You’re here to stay,” Ronan stated.
“They’re a little nervous,” Nathan said, “but they’re accepting it. Joseph’s demise helped them adjust faster.” Nathan grinned as he lifted his glass in salute to him. “I’ve never seen a vampire barbeque before, but you pulled it off nicely.”
Killean scowled at him, but it didn’t last long before he gave a small chuckle. “I hope never to pull it off again.”
“I would be fine with that,” Ronan said.
Killean met his gaze. Simone had told him Ronan gave him his blood, and that’s what helped pull him through the worst of his burns, but he had no idea what to say about it. The sharing of blood between vampires was rare. Until Simone, he’d never shared his before, and he’d wager Ronan hadn’t before Kadence. None of the Defenders had ever shared blood between them, until now.
“Ronan—”
“Don’t mention it,” Ronan said as he sipped his drink.
Killean nodded; that was the most they’d ever say about it, he knew.
Declan walked over and placed a glass of whiskey in front of him. “Thank you,” Killean said as he lifted it and took a sip. “I still feel stable,” he said when he set the glass down. He didn’t want to say the rest, but he had to. “But that could change.”
“And if it does, we’ll take care of it,” Ronan said. “You’re back with us, and we will stop you from killing any innocents here or on the outside.”
Ronan sharing his blood with him had been the act of love between friends, but Ronan would kill him if he believed it necessary.
“Good,” Killean said. “So what do we do now?”
“Now we find that thing that was working with Joseph, and we destroy it,” Ronan stated. “We also find the mole we have here.”
Killean almost choked on the whiskey sliding down his throat. “Mole?”
“Yes,” Ronan said and gazed pointedly at everyone in the room. “Someone let Joseph know where you were.”
“You don’t think we could have been spotted after a hunt and trailed back to the asylum?”
“Do you?”
Killean pondered this before responding. “We were too careful for that to happen. What about Simone’s guards? Maybe they messed up.”
“It is possible,” Ronan said. “They were newer, young, and not as highly trained, but I find it unlikely. Joseph would have to know what to look for with them, and the vehicle they were in looked just like any other SUV on the road. No, I think someone working with us might have alerted him. It might also explain how Joseph knew we’re working with the hunters now. Yes, one of the hunters he captured could have revealed this, or he could have seen us hunting together one night without us being aware, but it also could have been someone on the inside.”
“But who?” Killean asked.
“That is the question. Is it a new vampire trainee? A hunter? We don’t know, but we’ll find out.”
“And they’ll regret it when we do,” Lucien murmured.
“They can’t be a Savage, or we would smell them,” Killean said.
“That doesn’t mean they’re not corrupt,” Declan said.
And that, Killean knew, was very true.
“Are we going to move?” Killean asked.
“No. If there is a mole, we’ll just be bringing them with us,” Ronan said. “And a new place would be more vulnerable. Few know the extent of the security systems we have here, and I trust them all. If this place was attacked, it would not fall easily, if at all, and many of our enemy would be destroyed before they ever reached the more vulnerable residents here.”
“Good,” Killean said as he thought of Simone. She would be safe here; he was sure of it.
Killean sipped at his drink as they discussed how to discover the answer to who could be the possible mole. After a couple of hours, Kadence and Simone strolled into the room. Ronan rose from his chair, and walking over to her, he clasped Kadence’s hand before leaving the room.
Simone came to stand beside him, but Killean pulled her into his lap and held her close. He had no idea what they would uncover in their hunt for the creature he’d seen in the bunker, or how far they would have to go to destroy it, but with Simone at his side, Killean was certain he could keep the darkness in him at bay.
He’d seen himself as so strong before she walked into his life, but he’d actually been weak. She made him stronger by forcing him to face his past and accepting him for who and what he was. He’d never believed himself capable of loving another or envisioning a future beyond the next fight, but he looked forward to every day of their eternity together, and the family they would one day have.
The End
Look for Bound by Passion, Saxon’s story, to release in 2019!
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About the Author
Brenda K. Davies is the USA Today Bestselling author of the Vampire Awakening Series, Alliance Series, Road to Hell Series, Hell on Earth Series, and historical romantic fiction. She also writes under the pen name, Erica Stevens. When not out with friends and family, she can be found at home with her husband, dog, and horse.
Also from the Author
BRENDA K. DAVIES PEN NAME:
The Vampire Awakenings Series
Awakened (Book 1)
Destined (Book 2)
Untamed (Book 3)
Enraptured (Book 4)
Undone (Book 5)
Fractured (Book 6)
Ravaged (Book 7)
Consumed (Book 8)
Unforeseen (Book 9)
Coming 2019
The Alliance Series
Vampire Awakenings Spinoff
Eternally Bound (Book 1)
Bound by Vengeance (Book 2)
Bound by Darkness (Book 3)
Bound by Passion (Book 4)
Coming 2019
The Road to Hell Series
Good Intentions (Book 1)
Carved (Book 2)
The Road (Book 3)
Into Hell (Book 4)
Hell on Earth Series
Road to Hell Spinoff
Hell on Earth (Book 1)
Into the Abyss (Book 2)
Kiss of Death (Book 3)
Coming 2019
Historical Romance
A Stolen Heart
ERICA STEVENS PEN NAME:
The Coven Series
Nightmares (Book 1)
Coming Winter 2018/2019
The Captive Series
Captured (Book 1)
Renegade (Book 2)
Refugee (Book 3)
Salvation (Book 4)
Redemption (Book 5)
Broken (The Captive Series Prequel)
Vengeance (Book 6)
Unbound (Book 7)
The Kindred Series
Kindred (Book 1)
Ashes (Book 2)
Kindled (Book 3)
Inferno (Book 4)
Phoenix Rising (Book 5)
The Fire & Ice Series
Frost Burn (Book 1)
Arctic Fire (Book 2)
Scorched Ice (Book 3)
The Ravening Series
Ravenous (Book 1)
Taken Over (Book 2)
Reclamation (Book 3)
The Survivor Chronicles
Book 1: The Upheaval
Book 2: The Divide
Bound by Darkness: The Alliance Series, Book 3 Page 31