Knights of White Bundle

by Lisa Renee Jones

  “Beasts,” Jag said instantly, a hiss to his voice. “They are here.”

  Ryder inclined his head, his expression grim. “Yes. Hell Hounds, too. They’ve been killing off the cattle.”

  Jag narrowed his eyes on Ryder. “Yet you tried to handle it on your own,” he said flatly. “Why?”

  The truth exploded from Ryder, the truth that had been eating him alive for days. “Because I can’t face the other Knights,” he said, staring at the clear night sky speckled with bright twinkling stars and a full moon. “Because—“ he inhaled and looked at Jag “—I found my mate.” He scrubbed his jaw and turned to Jag. “Why? Why am I given a mate when so many others are struggling to survive the Beast within them? I don’t understand.” He’d heard stories of Knights finding mates, afraid to claim them, afraid the Beast within would take control and hurt them. “I have control. Even with Alexis, I have control. They don’t. How can I face them with a mate? How can I say I was somehow more important?”

  “This isn’t about importance, Ryder,” Jag said, his tone even, certain. “It is timing. When your mate is ready, so must you be. Everything has to come together.” He waved a hand through the air. “Clearly, yours is in danger. There is a purpose that you and she will serve. A reason you must find each other.”

  Ryder shook his head. “A purpose.” Cynicism laced the words. “Right.”

  Jag laughed. “I know what you are feeling.” He glanced at the sky, scanned the horizon. “I used to questions things,” he said, a calming quality to the sureness and confidence in his voice. “I used to ask why.” He cut Ryder a sideways look. “I even resented that those above us knew things they wouldn’t just come out and say. The ‘purpose’ answer I was given by my mentor really bit me smack in the ass.”

  His mentor. Salvador, the earthly guide to the Knights, the link to the Archangel Raphael. They all knew of him, but few had met him. “You doubted?”

  “I did more than doubt. I resented Salvador. I second-guessed him. I tore myself up inside over the past and the present, and why I was chosen to lead the Knights.”

  “But not now?”

  He shook his head. “Now, I accept rather than question. I’ve seen enough to be able to look out at the vastness of the world and be thankful something greater exists to keep the darkness in check. Evil exists and always will, Ryder. We’re important. We keep the balance, so evil can never overtake humanity. This was your time to find your mate. And yes, curse me if you will, but there is a purpose, a reason. Her safety being one of them.”

  Ryder shoved his hands in his pockets. Even if he accepted, even if he stopped questioning, it wasn’t so simple. “I can’t take her away from her life.”

  “What makes you think she won’t go willingly?”

  Ryder didn’t look at Jag. “I don’t like this destined-mate crap.”

  “You want her to choose you.” It wasn’t a question.

  His chest tightened. “Yes. I need to stay. For a while. Until I’m sure.” He turned to face Jag. “I have a proposition for you.”

  Jag’s lips lifted, and he turned to face Ryder, an intrigued look on his face. “A proposition?”

  “The Beasts are heavily populating this region. We thought they were gone once, clearly they are not. They’re infested, staking a claim we can’t let them have. Why not bring a few of the newer Knights here? We’ll operate out of this location and deal with the Demons targeting the area. It will be good training for them. And a good post for us.” He paused before adding the punch line, the big idea he’d come up with on his way over here. The one he thought would never be accepted, but he had to try. “Indefinitely.”

  Jag arched his brow, and Ryder proceeded to unveil his whole plan. When he’d finished explaining what he proposed, he held his breath. Jag smiled and held out his hands; using the magic he alone possessed, he produced two swords and offered one to Ryder.

  “Nothing like a good Demon-killing mission to seal a deal. Let’s hunt.”

  Ryder’s chest filled with relief as he accepted the saber, his plan now a reality except for one thing. He needed Alexis to say yes—to his plan to save her ranch, and to his proposal to stay around for long past tomorrow. He wanted to stay forever. Which meant she had to know the truth—she had to know he was a Knight of White, and that he had more than ghosts in his past. There were Demons.

  Chapter Nine

  Alexis sat on the edge of the tub, still fully dressed, watching the basin fill with water, the bubbles grow. She was upset. Upset on so many levels, Alexis didn’t know if she was coming or going. Worried over Kelly and completely rattled over the ranch—afraid she was about to lose it. No. Certain. Absolutely certain that everything her father had worked was going end horribly. At least selling the ranch would have felt like a successful ending. Losing it was devastating. Adding to those things was a complication she’d warned herself not to create, but she had. She’d gone and fallen in love with Ryder. Head over heels in love. And tonight she’d been ready to tell him everything going on in her life, to spill the beans about how bad her circumstances were. No more talking in circles and telling him half the story. No more avoiding his ideas to help the ranch grow and prosper because she didn’t have the money to implement any of the changes he suggested. She was going to trust him completely.

  But as surely as she’d been ready to open up, he’d disappeared. Gone three hours without a word. The timing had been undeniably horrible. A silent promise that leaning on him was dangerous. He was leaving. He had never said anything about staying. Not once. Heck. Maybe he already had left. Maybe he’d heard her talking to the bank and had packed up and gone. She stood up and took off toward the door, determined to find out.

  Turning off the water, she ran down the stairs as if she was on fire. She needed to know if she had trusted her heart to someone who didn’t deserve it. Halfway down the stairs, she drew to an abrupt halt, her heart pounding like a drum in her chest. Ryder was standing at the bottom of the stairs. He was devastatingly handsome, his hair tousled, lithe muscle defined beneath soft denim. But it was his eyes that got to her, the soul-deep torment within them.

  “Alexis.” He whispered her name, softly, full of emotion.

  “What?” she whispered. “What is it?”

  He took a step upward, coming closer to her. She wanted him closer. “I don’t want to leave you,” he said.

  Her heart squeezed. “But you’re going to.”

  He shook his head slowly his voice still low, his voice gravely. “I have obligations. Things I have to deal with.”

  She could barely swallow. “I understand. I knew this was temporary.” She drew her spine stiff. “I appreciate all the help you gave us.”

  He looked at her in disbelief. “Just like that? You’re ready to kick me to the curb?”

  “What do you want me to say, Ryder? You just told me you’re leaving.”

  “No, Alexis. You don’t understand. I never said I was leaving. I said I have obligations. I have more than obligations. I have a duty.”

  “To Jaguar Ranch,” she said flatly. It hurt. He had a real job, a real life. Damn it. Why did she do this to herself? And she had done it to herself. He’d never promised her anything. Before he came, she’d been fine on her own.

  His hand was on the railing. “I thought about all kinds of way to talk to you about this. Played it over and over in my head.”

  “Goodbye,” she said. “It’s simple.” She crossed her arms in front of her body, feigning nonchalant cool when her insides were shredded. “It’s okay.”

  He stared at her, his eyes dark, intense. Anger began to burn in their depths. “Is it okay?” he asked, a demand in his voice. “Is my leaving really okay with you?”

  She wanted to tell him no. No it wasn’t okay. But she was scared. When had she become so scared? “I don’t know what you want from me. I don’t.” Why did he have to push her beyond her comfort zone?

  “I want you to answer the question,” he said. “Is my
leaving okay with you?”

  She wanted to answer. “You have obligations. What I want doesn’t matter.” She turned to walk up the stairs.

  He grabbed her arm and pulled her around to face him, heat flickering up her armwith the touch. “I want you to believe in me enough to tell me to stay,” he said. “I want you to say it. But if you do, I need you to mean it.” His lashes lowered, lifted. He whispered her name. “Alexis. Tomorrow is here.”

  She was confused. No. She was done fighting. She wanted him. “Damn you, Ryder. No. No I don’t want you to go.” Her eyes burned, stupid tear threatening to make her look weak and needy. “Are you happy now?”

  He laced his fingers through her hair, framed her face. “I don’t want to go, Alexis. I don’t.”

  “Why do I sense a but? You don’t want to, but what?”

  The front door jiggled. Not now, Alexis thought desperately. “Kelly,” she said. “It has to be.”

  “Alexis!” It was the housekeeper, Beverly. “Alexis!”

  Before they could make to the bottom of the stairs, Beverly was there, her short, dark hair wild, her expression flustered. “Rick is in jail. He saw Hector roughing up Kelly and he went after Hector.”

  “Oh no!” Alexis said. “Is he okay?”

  “Yes,” she said. “Yes. He’s fine. He’s worried about Kelly. He thinks Hector is going to blame her for all the bad publicity at the bar.”

  “Let’s go,” Ryder said, grabbing Alexis’s hand and tugging her with him.

  Alexis saw Beverly glance at their connected hands but she didn’t care. She didn’t care because something in the way Ryder held her hand, the way he claimed her crisis as his own, made her never want to let go of him.

  Ryder whipped the truck into the parking lot of the Double R Tavern, thinking how profoundly ironic it was to end up here tonight, the place where he’d become a Demon hunter. He’d been only seconds from confessing who and what he was to Alexis when they’d found out about Kelly. And damn how he’d wanted to tell her. Wanted to get the secrets dealt with, the past behind him, once and for all. But this situation with Kelly had to be handled first. More than once he’d thought he’d spotted evidence of Kelly being abused. More than once he’d wanted to come to this bar and beat that sorry bastard’s ass. It was long past due.

  Easing the truck into a graveled spot at the side of the bar, Ryder put the gear in Park and left the engine running. Alexis reached for the door, and Ryder grabbed her arm. “Stay here behind the wheel, ready to drive. I’ll take care of Hector. You can count on it.” She looked as though she might argue, but changed her mind, logic winning against her emotional need to see Kelly. He started to get out. “Lock the doors.”

  The minute he was out of the truck, he scented Beasts. Damn it! His swords were under his seat in the truck. Another little ironic twist of this night. Same bar he’d died at. Same enemy. No way to defend himself.

  He started for the door when he heard Alexis call his name. “Ryder.” She was running toward him. “The back parking lot. I just saw them go out the side door.”

  Back parking lot. The location of his attack. And Alexis was running in that direction. Ryder’s gut twisted with warning. This moment was what he had come here for; this was where everything began and where it could end.

  Chapter Ten

  Alexis rounded the side of the bar to find the back parking lot empty except for one vehicle, Hector’s, and only one small light illuminating the area, the shadows thick and threatening. Several yards away, she saw Hector and Kelly.

  “Kelly!” Alexis screamed, trying to stop her from getting into Hector’s pickup truck, but to no avail. Kelly got in; Hector didn’t. He charged toward Alexis, and she felt the menace in him. She started to back away, certain Ryder would be there any second.

  Hector was running toward her now, angry, ready to lash out. Probably blaming her for her foreman’s actions, too. She turned and started to run, thankful for the sight of Ryder charging toward her. With…swords. He had swords in his hands. What in the blazes was happening?

  Her question was absorbed by the growl that sounded behind her. A vicious snarl followed. A snarl like she’d heard in the wood with Ryder that day. Hector’s horrid gasp came next. Instinct had her turning toward the noise, trying to see what might attack. “Don’t!” Ryder yelled. “Don’t turn! Run! Run!” She ran and he sped past her. The sound of blades connecting behind her was too much. She turned.

  To her absolute shock, she found Ryder matching blades with not one but two men. Hector was on the ground bleeding from his neck. Dead. He was dead. Or close to it. Alexis backed away in horror as she fixed her attention on one of the things fighting Ryder. Because that was no man! Monster. The word repeated in her head over and over. She didn’t know what to do. Was this a nightmare?

  She inhaled, held her hand to her chest, tried to calm her racing heart. Think! Think! Help. They needed help. She screamed the word. Help! Help! Help! All the while, her eyes stayed focused on Ryder, praying his sword was the one to prevail. Music pumped from the walls of the bar; her cries were lost in its volume.

  Her gaze caught abruptly on Hector’s truck as the door popped open. Kelly was going to get out. “No! No!”

  Alexis started running toward her, past the battle. From the corner of her eye, she saw another monster dart from the woods, and it was chasing her. She screamed and ran faster. But it was fast. Too fast. It was already practically on her. She stumbled. Her heart pounded against her chest, ready to explode. She scrambled, rotated to her back to try to see her attacker, certain she was about to die.

  Suddenly, Ryder’s sword swished through the air, and the monster’s head came off. Alexis gasped, certain blood would splatter everywhere. Instead, flames erupted on the head and body, and moments later the monster was gone. Her gaze swept the area around her. The other monsters were gone. Hector was gone! His body was gone! Kelly. Where was Kelly? Frantically, Alexis turned to find her friend standing behind her. “Oh, thank you,” she said in a sigh of relief. “Are you okay?”

  “No,” Kelly sat down. “Hector must have put something in my drink. I’m seeing things.”

  Ryder knelt down in front of Alexis, his focus on her, not Kelly, his swords by his side on the ground. He touched her face, hand skimming her hair. “Are you okay?” he asked, but gave her no time to reply, pulling her into his arms. He held her close, tight, as if he never wanted to let go.

  “I’m okay,” she whispered, the warmth of him surrounding her, making her believe those words. A thought rushed at her. She jerked back, urgent. “Hector. Hector was bleeding. We have to call 9-1-1.”

  Ryder stared down at her. “He’s one of them now, Alexis. He’s gone.”

  She shook her head, rejecting those words, rejecting the reality that included monsters. “What’s happening?”

  “I’ll explain everything, I promise. But not here. Not when they could come back.” His hand skimmed her hair. “At home.”

  Home? Alexis blinked at the underlying meaning that might lie in those words, unable to ask questions. Ryder was on his cell phone already, telling someone where to come, where to clean up. She squeezed her eyes shut. There were so many things she didn’t understand. Things about Ryder she didn’t understand.

  Ending the call, Ryder pushed to his feet and offered her his hand. She stared up at it, at him. “Why do I trust you after all of this?” she asked, because she did. She trusted him more completely now than ever, yet she wondered if she knew him at all.

  He knelt down again and looked into her eyes, the light nearby allowing her to see the tenderness in them. “Because I would die to protect you, and I think you can sense that. And because I love you, Alexis. I love you.”

  Doubt slid away with his emotional confession. Because she loved him, too.

  Hours after the fight behind the bar, Alexis stood on her front porch with Ryder and Jag, Ryder’s hand resting protectively on her back. She listened as they debated which Knights wo
uld soon be joining Ryder to hunt the nearby territory and deal with the Demon infestation. Her head was spinning with all she’d learned of Demons and Angels.

  The Demons were apparently keen on claiming territory. They’d been here once, they’d always come back. Hector was now a Demon who’d been a random victim as Ryder had once been. Only Ryder wasn’t a Demon. Ryder was a Demon hunter. She was his mate. She could save him from the Beast within him, bind it so it could never taint his soul.

  She’d learned this from Marisol, the woman who had appeared with Jag behind that bar and orbed everyone back to the ranch. Orbed. Somehow, transported them in the blink of an eye from one place to the next. One minute they were in the parking lot behind the bar, the next at the ranch. It had been amazing. Even more amazing was the way Marisol had erased Kelly’s memories and then, with a wave of her hand, sent her into a healing sleep. Kelly was resting, and before Marisol had left, she had assured Alexis that Kelly would be well the next morning. Alexis had every intention of making sure she was more than well. She was going to make sure Kelly had a fresh start.

  Alexis narrowed her gaze on Jag as he spoke. He was a man easy to like, impossible to ignore—and not because he was a hunky six foot plus of Hispanic male. It was an inner strength he possessed, a leadership presence you noticed immediately. Which was befitting since he was more than the owner of Jaguar Ranch. He was the leader of the Knights of White. And Ryder was a Demon hunter. She still couldn’t fully get her mind around that fact but, having seen the Demons, acceptance came easy.

  That Ryder had once been bitten by one of those creatures was horrifying. She’d seen Hector’s neck, seen all the blood. She shivered just thinking about it, and Ryder pulled her under his shoulder, warmth filling her. Jag turned his attention to her as well. “Partners,” Jag said, extending his hand to her.