“You’ve been through a lot.” He rested his hands on her shoulders as he stopped before her. “It’s understandable that you’re unsettled.”
“No, it’s more than that. Over the years, I’ve always just known things. This is kind of like what I experienced then, but it’s more.”
“More how?” he inquired.
She blinked when he blurred before her until he became two and then three. She leaned toward him, inhaling his scent as she tried to stay focused on him, but as she watched, the floor vanished beneath her feet.
Ronan caught her when her legs gave out. Terror burst through him when he felt her distress and uncertainty battering against the bond connecting them. He tried to get deeper into her mind to see if he could soothe her, but something kept him blocked from experiencing more of what she felt.
“Declan!” he bellowed.
He’d left the others in the gym, but seconds later the pounding of footsteps rang across the marble. Kadence hunched forward and her head snapped up. He found himself gazing into her white-blue eyes. Though she stared at him, he didn’t think she saw him as she remained focused on something far beyond him.
“What the fuck?” Lucien said from the doorway.
Ronan glanced over to find him standing with Declan and Killean. Lucien and Killean took a step back, but Declan winced as he lifted a hand to his head. “Shit,” Declan said.
“What is it?” Ronan demanded.
Kadence wheezed, drawing his attention back to her. He held her cheeks in his hands when she started speaking, “The pathways.” Ice slid down his spine as she uttered the same words she’d spoken during her transformation, but this time she spoke in a much more alien tone of voice. “Plymouth, rock, warehouse, bricks, Joseph.”
Color flooded back into her eyes and she met his gaze. She trembled in his arms, but determination etched her features. “I know where Joseph is, or at least where he was.”
Ronan had originally refused to bring her with them, which had resulted in their first big fight. She’d eventually worn him down when she’d reminded him that he’d promised not to cage her, that she was stronger than most turned vamps, and that she had found a way out of the stronghold, she would find a way out of the mansion too.
She also hadn’t spilled enough details for them to easily locate Joseph in Plymouth, but she would be able to locate him on her own, once she escaped. The pathway to Joseph’s location had unraveled in flashing swirls of brilliant blues and purples in her mind. Each new flash had revealed a landmark she would recognize when she saw it again.
“Joseph killed my father, and you promised me that you would not dictate my life,” she said again when Ronan’s disapproval vibrated through their bond.
“You may not have seen a lot of vampires in your vision, but there will be a lot there if Joseph’s managed to stay hidden from Brian this whole time,” Ronan replied, not for the first time.
“I’m not so sure it was a vision, more like a guide or map,” she said, refusing to rehash their argument again. “I saw road signs, landmarks, then the warehouse, and finally Joseph.”
“You said when you were a hunter you knew things,” Ronan said as he turned onto another road leading deeper into the thick woods she’d directed them into. “Becoming a vampire most likely unlocked something that has been within you. It will grow stronger with time and practice.”
Wonderful, she thought. Being knocked to her knees by the burst of images flooding her mind earlier had been anything but fun. However, if those images helped them to locate and exterminate Joseph, she’d happily receive them again.
She glanced at the cell phone in her hand. She’d called Nathan earlier and explained what had happened, where they were going, and who they were hunting. She had a feeling that, if she hadn’t told him it was Joseph, he wouldn’t be meeting them. Her brother had been distant on the phone, and he’d sounded exhausted. She had no idea what had happened since she’d last seen him, but the elders wouldn’t have made what he revealed to them easy on him.
The screen on the phone lit up as a large boulder with a tree growing through the center of it appeared ahead. “Turn there,” she said and pointed at the rock. She clearly recalled the strange rock from the seventh image she’d received.
Ronan made the turn and continued down a winding road. It was so dark the headlights barely pierced the night surrounding them. She typed a message to Nathan and closed the phone. “We’re almost there,” she murmured.
“You’re going to stay in the SUV,” Ronan replied.
“No, I’m not.”
“Kadence—”
“No. We’re here because of me. I will not allow you to order me about and keep me locked away like the hunters did. Either accept that I will see this through to the end, or get out of my way because you won’t be keeping me in this vehicle.”
The others inhaled sharply in the back seat, but didn’t say a word. Ronan’s head turned toward her, and his red eyes lit the night better than the headlights as he gazed at her. Kadence held his gaze, refusing to back down.
“I may not have realized it before, but I was submissive for most of my life; I won’t be again,” she said.
“You’ve never been submissive around me,” he muttered.
“What can I say? You bring out the best in me,” she replied with a smile that didn’t ease the tension from him as she’d hoped.
He glanced at her again as the knuckles in his hands turned white from his grip on the wheel. Kadence rested her hand over one of his. “You’ve been training me. I’m strong and fast, and I promise I won’t do anything foolish. I will do what you ask of me as long as you don’t ask me to stay behind.”
“We’ve barely gotten any real training in you,” he muttered.
“And that is why I’m agreeing to stay out of the way.”
Before he could formulate a response, she sat forward in the seat and slapped her hand on the dashboard. “Take the next left. The warehouse is through the woods about a hundred feet beyond that.”
She texted the last stage of the directions to her brother before tossing the phone into the glovebox. Her hand rested on the handle and her foot tapped against the floorboard as she prepared to leap from the vehicle.
Pulling to the side of the road, Ronan seized Kadence’s arm before she could bolt. She stiffened in his grasp, her gaze swinging back to him. “Know that I will drag you away from here if you don’t listen to me. Promises or not, your safety comes first and I won’t have you doing anything to risk your life or anyone else’s. I’m willing to let Joseph get away again before I allow that to happen.”
Kadence glanced at the vampires crowding the back seats before releasing the handle. They were all watching her and Ronan with expressions that clearly said they’d rather be toasting marshmallows in Hell than sitting where they were.
“What do we do?” she asked Ronan.
“You stay close to me. Text your brother and tell him to park off the road behind us and continue to the warehouse on foot.”
She retrieved the phone from the glovebox and typed the message before focusing on Ronan again. The red had faded from his eyes, but not completely. He released her arm and slid out of the vehicle. He stood there for a minute before sticking his head back in.
“Landfills smell better,” he said.
“Now we know why he’s out in the boonies,” Lucien said and opened his door.
Ronan focused on Kadence as she shifted in her seat. The last thing he wanted was to have her here, but he’d promised not to cage her again. He was close to breaking that promise and screw the consequences. She could be mad forever as long as she was alive. He glanced at Declan in the back seat, who stared blankly back at him. Declan could stay with her; he’d be able to keep her restrained if it became necessary.
“Don’t,” she whispered. “I promise, Ronan, I’ll do what you say, but don’t make me stay here. I won’t forgive you if you do.”
“You’ll be alive.”
“Life isn’t worth living if you take my freedom away from me again.”
He strove to maintain restraint as he inhaled a deep breath and then another. “We’ll just check things out for now,” he finally said and closed the door.
Walking to her side, he opened her door and took hold of her arm to help her out. Her nose wrinkled as soon as she exited the vehicle, and she stepped back. Her hand flew up to block her nostrils. “It’s horrible,” she muttered.
“It is,” he agreed. “Come.”
Chapter Forty-One
They moved down the dirt road with rapid speed before he led her into the forest and around to the side of a dilapidated, three-story, brick building. Judging by its numerous boarded windows and sagging roof, it had been years since anyone had done any upkeep on the warehouse.
“Smart,” Declan said as he crouched on the ground beside Kadence. “We’d never think to look for him out here, and there are no humans around to interrupt them.”
“He was one of us,” Saxon said. “He knows how we work, what we look for, but Brian should have been able to locate him out here.”
“Not if he’s been moving around a lot,” Lucien said. “This most likely isn’t where he’s staying. Judging by the smell, there are too many Savages in there for his liking.”
“Can he smell the Savages still?” Kadence asked.
“No,” Ronan replied. “Years ago, Declan and I caught a purebred who turned and questioned him. Once they give in, they no longer smell the rot of another. Probably because they are rotten too.”
Kadence shuddered as her eyes drifted back to the building. Beside her, Ronan’s body was coiled so tight, she thought he might snap. “We have to see how many Savages are in there,” he murmured. “This way.”
He kept her hand in his as he led her around the crumpling structure to a sliding barn door in the front. From inside, laughter and music flowed out, as did the pungent stench of blood and decay. Turning to Kadence, he clasped her shoulders.
“I need you to stay here.”
“But—”
“You promised you would do as I say, and I need you to stay here. I can get closer by myself, and I don’t want you to see what is going on inside.”
Kadence glanced at the building as she tried to keep breathing through her mouth. Even still, she could taste the horrific stench of this place. She didn’t think it was any worse than what she would have experienced before becoming a vampire; there were just far more Savages here than she’d ever encountered before.
“You can’t go alone,” she whispered.
“I’m only going to look, not attack.”
“Okay,” she relented. “You have to be careful.”
“I will be.”
He drew her close, his hand sliding through her hair to cup the back of her head as he held her close and claimed her mouth. Reluctantly, he stepped back and released her before turning to look at the shadows dancing through the trees behind her.
“I’d lower those weapons if you want to live,” he said coldly.
Kadence followed Ronan’s gaze, as the others turned toward the woods and edged back until they were flanking her and Ronan. The shadows shifted when her brother came forward, lowering his crossbow as he walked. Behind him, Asher and Logan also emerged with half a dozen other hunters.
“Don’t ever point a weapon at me again unless you’re prepared to fight,” Ronan said to Nathan. “And if any of you think to aim one of those at her, you’ll all be dead before you know you’re missing your throats.”
Nathan’s gaze flicked to her. “Fair enough,” he replied. “I smell garbage, like you said the Savages of your kind smelled, but it’s worse than what I’ve experienced before.”
Ronan edged Kadence behind his back as he spoke. He didn’t trust Logan anywhere near her. “There are a lot of them inside that building.”
Nathan’s gaze went to the warehouse. “Joseph is in there?” he asked as he slipped the crossbow onto his back.
“I think so, or at least I saw him in there, sort of,” Kadence said.
“What do you mean by that?”
Kadence sighed. “It’s tough to explain, but you know how I always kind of knew things?”
“Yeah.”
“I kind of knew this too, but in a way I’ve never experienced before. Joseph was in there when I saw how to get here.”
“Interesting,” Nathan said. “So what do we do now?”
“Now, I’m going to get closer and see what we’re up against,” Ronan replied.
“I’m coming with you,” Nathan stated.
Ronan opened his mouth to tell the hunter no, before deciding against it. They were here to try to work together on this. However, he didn’t want to leave Kadence here with the rest of the hunters. Seeming to sense this, Declan moved closer to her while Lucien and Killean stepped into position in front of and behind her. Saxon hedged her in on the other side. Kadence scowled at them, but she didn’t protest the box they’d closed her into.
“My men won’t harm my sister,” Nathan said.
“That’s not a chance I’m willing to take, not with her,” Ronan replied.
Nathan turned to face the remaining hunters. “I’ll be back shortly. Make sure Kadence stays safe.”
“Oh, for crying out loud, I’m probably stronger than you now,” Kadence muttered, earning her a dark look from her brother that she returned.
The two of them didn’t look much alike, but in that moment, Ronan saw the striking similarities in the twins’ obstinate personalities.
“Let’s go,” Ronan said and slipped from the woods.
Nathan stayed close by his side, moving noiselessly over the ground toward the back of the building. Stopping beside the warehouse, Ronan edged toward one of the broken windows. The board covering it had slipped to expose the bottom of the window. He knelt beside it, and Nathan crouched down across from him. Nathan’s eyes were wary, but Ronan didn’t detect a spike in the hunter’s heartbeat over being alone together.
Rising slowly, Ronan peered into the window. His teeth clamped together when he saw the vast number of Savages within. There had to be at least a hundred of them, and probably more on the upper floors. Beside him, Nathan’s breath hissed in when he rose to look inside too.
Mixed in with the Savages were humans. Most of the humans were dead, their bodies littering the floor, but there were still some who were being feasted on by numerous Savages at once. His gaze ran over the naked bodies covered in blood and writhing over each other as many of them feasted on each other while they screwed in the middle of the floor.
Ronan’s forehead furrowed as his eyes were drawn to the back wall and the line of vampires there. All of them had their hands pulled over their heads and were chained to the wall. Their red eyes gleamed in the candlelight and their fangs extended as they jerked against their bonds. Their emaciated frames made it impossible for them to break free of their binds.
Despite the stench of the place, Ronan didn’t get an overwhelming sense of power coming from the Savages crowded within. He would bet most of them were no more than a month old.
Sliding away from the window, he rested his fingers on the ground as he tried to puzzle out what was going on within. Anger etched Nathan’s face when he knelt in front of him again. Ronan jerked his head to the side and glided back toward the woods. An uneasy feeling grew in the pit of his stomach with every step he took. Something was wrong here; he just didn’t know what it was yet.
“Why is my sister here?” Nathan asked, breaking into his thoughts.
Ronan stopped walking to face him. Nathan had a good four inches on him, but he still stepped away from him. “Because she is.”
“She doesn’t belong here.”
“If I forced her to stay behind, I’d have done to her what you did to her, and look at how well that worked out for you. She may love me, but she’ll grow to hate me and it will destroy her if I try to lock her away, even if it’s what I’d like
to do to keep her safe.”
Saying the words out loud made him realize how true they were. He’d agreed to allow her to come to make sure she didn’t try to find Joseph on her own, but he realized he’d also agreed to it because he knew he could never crush her spirit. He loved her too much for that.
“She belongs here as much as you do. Besides, she’s right, she is stronger than you are now. She’s stronger than any other turned vampire who has come before her, and I’ve been training her, really training her. She’s lethal.”
A muscle twitched in Nathan’s cheek, but he didn’t argue with him. Ronan turned away from him and continued through the woods as his mind churned over what they’d seen in the warehouse. He pulled Nathan back when the missing piece slid into place.
“This is where Joseph is storing his recruits. His new recruits,” he said.
“Recruits?”
“Yes.”
Turning away, he poured on the speed until he came back to the place where he’d left Kadence and the others. She pushed past Killean to come to him. Logan sneered and hatred burned in his eyes as he watched her. Stepping forward, Ronan gathered her in his arms and held her firmly against his chest. He pinned Logan with a remorseless stare that caused him to pull at his collar as he looked away.
“How bad is it?” Kadence asked.
“Bad,” he replied, unwilling to release her. “There are at least a hundred Savages inside.”
“Is Joseph in there?”
“I don’t think so. He’s definitely been here, as this is where he’s creating and keeping his recruits.”
“What do you mean creating?” Declan asked.
“I mean, he’s turning humans and putting them in there. He’s probably feeding them after they turn so they can complete the transformation, but then he’s chaining them to the walls until they’re so famished they ravish the first human they come into contact with. If they kill often enough, they won’t fight their bloodlust anymore. The Savages who aren’t chained are in the middle of a feeding and sexual frenzy. They’ve completely given themselves over to the bloodlust.”
[The Alliance 01.0] Eternally Bound Page 28