They would have to figure out something to do with the body tomorrow. They couldn’t have a blazing bonfire in the backyard when the sun hit it in the morning, but for now, it was out of the way.
Willow yanked the stake out of the creature’s back and scented the night as she searched the backyards. She didn’t smell rot on the air anymore. The woman must have been the only Savage nearby, which meant they didn’t know she and Declan were with Gus and his family.
At least something is going right tonight.
Willow ran through the woods and back toward Gus’s house. There may not be any Savages nearby anymore, but Declan was still out there, and she couldn’t leave him out here alone. She had no idea where he was, but he would come back this way, and she was going to make sure it was safe for him to return.
Crouching in the trees, she watched and sniffed the air before deciding it was safe to make her way into the open again. She sprinted across the backyard and into the shadows of the house.
Avoiding the light coming from the kitchen windows, she crept across the back of the house. She ran across the side yard and behind the arborvitae again before moving to the next yard, pausing to hide, and then sprinting onto the next.
This game of run, hide, run, and hide was nowhere near as much fun as when she used to play Ghost in the Graveyard with her siblings. She could easily recall the trill of laughter on the air as they raced for the base. Instead of being comforted by the memory, it sent a chill down her spine.
Would she ever see them again?
Willow shoved the melancholy possibility away as she searched for Declan. She would see her family and hug her nieces and nephews again. She wouldn’t die in Vermont at the hands of the Savages, and she would find Declan.
She was almost to the end of the street when a shift in the breeze against her back alerted her to something coming up behind her. Gripping her stake, she waited until it was closer before spinning to face them. She was on a deadly downward arc with the stake when she realized it was Declan.
Jerking her arm back, she managed to avoid sinking the stake into his chest as he leapt back. He stared at her with a slightly offended look on his face that would have made her laugh under normal circumstances. Instead, her eyes ran over his face as she assured herself he was okay. A couple drops of blood stained his cheek, but she didn’t think it was his.
She almost threw herself into his arms but held back. Now wasn’t exactly the time for hugging. However, she hadn’t realized how scared she was for him until he was standing before her.
“Sorry,” she whispered.
“Do you go around trying to stake everyone?” he whispered.
“Do you go around sneaking up on everyone?”
“I do tonight.”
And that was the truth of it, she decided. Tonight, there really were ghosts in the graveyard, except these ghosts were ravenous, violent monstrosities looking to destroy them.
“What are you doing out here?” he asked.
“Making sure there was no one out here who could ambush you on your way back to Gus’s.”
Declan glanced over her shoulder before clasping her elbow and pulling her into the shadows. They made their way carefully back through the yards and toward Gus’s.
“I killed the one following us in the truck,” he told her.
“You’re wearing his blood,” she said as they crouched near a rhododendron.
Declan thought he’d scrubbed the vamp’s blood from his face and hands before returning, but he must have missed some. He rubbed at the stubble lining his face but didn’t put much effort into removing it. They would be inside soon, and he could wash it off then. He was more concerned about getting her safely inside.
“I changed the memories of the neighbors who might have seen us and killed a Savage behind Gus’s house. I stashed its body in the woods, but I don’t know what we’re going to do with it in the morning.”
“Take me to it.”
Willow led him to the body; he lifted it and hefted it over his shoulder. “I tossed the body of the one I killed into a ditch. It should remain hidden until the sun hits it. There were no houses nearby, so no one will see the flames. I’ll take this one over there too.”
“I’m coming with you.”
Declan didn’t argue as he led the way through the woods, across more backyards, and to the ditch by the side of the road. If the Savages discovered the bodies before morning, they wouldn’t have any idea where they were.
If a human happened to find them, there was nothing he could do about it, but with the police under the Savage’s control, they would soon learn about the bodies and take care of them. He tossed the vamp over the side where it rolled down the hill and came to a stop a few feet away from the Savage he discarded earlier.
“Let’s get back to Gus’s,” he said.
They remained hidden as they returned to Gus’s house and entered the garage. Declan closed the door and locked it behind them.
“How many of them do you think are here?” Willow asked.
“I don’t know, but they have the perimeter of the town covered by humans and Savages. They must have been recruiting people all day.”
“How do you know that?”
“I tried getting close to the roadblock; that’s why it took me so long to return.”
Willow’s shoulders slumped. “So, we’re trapped here.”
Declan wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against his chest. “We’ll figure out a way to get out of this.” He lowered his head and inhaled her floral scent. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
Willow’s fingers dug into his back as she held him closer.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Declan turned off the light in the bathroom and stepped out to discover Willow standing in the room across the hall. The moon illuminated the different shades of blonde in her hair as she stood silhouetted against the window.
With the way she was standing, she’d be able to see out without anyone seeing her. He walked across the hall to stand in the doorway of what he assumed was a sewing or craft room or whatever humans called them.
A sewing machine sat on a table in the corner. Shelves of bins lined two walls. A label marked each container with different things from buttons and ribbons to glue, scissors, markers, yarn, and so on, and so on.
Two stuffed chairs faced the front windows. One had a basket of yarn and knitting needles beside it while the other had a thin layer of dust. He suspected Cheryl and her daughter once spent time together in here, but that time had passed.
When Willow turned toward him, he glimpsed her profile before she looked away again. From down the hall, the distant thump of deathrock sounded from Gus’s daughter’s room. He’d learned her name was Gretchen before she stomped into her room and slammed the door behind her. Her shitty attitude only reinforced his conviction not to have children.
“I spotted a couple of them across the street,” Willow said. “How many people do you think they’ll kill before they move on from here?”
“They’re on a mission to find us, and they’re using some of these people to help them do it, so there’s a chance they won’t kill anyone.”
“Maybe we should hand ourselves over to them?”
He could feel her regret over what was happening in this town, and he didn’t want any of the humans hurt, but he would protect her life over theirs. “That’s not going to happen.”
“I joined the Alliance to protect people and families.”
“And if they have you, they’ll turn you Savage, and then you’ll be the one destroying families. Besides, having us won’t stop them from turning on these people. It might be what triggers them to start killing. Right now, they have to play nice; if they have what they came here for, then all bets are off.”
Willow knew he was right, but she hated the idea of standing idly by while these monsters ran all over this town. It was so idyllic and peaceful before they arrived, and now it was a freaking
nightmare.
“I wish we’d never found this place,” she murmured.
“So do I.”
“How are we going to get out of this?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted. He’d been trying to figure that out the entire time he was in the shower. He still didn’t have an answer. “We could wait until the morning and make a run for the woods on the outskirts of town.”
“They’ll expect that.”
“I know.”
Two more shadows slipped from in between the homes and around to the front. Willow held her breath as they separated and stormed up the stairs of two porches to bang on the doors. Her nails dug into her palms until she drew blood.
When he scented her blood on the air, Declan crossed the room to her and clasped one of her hands. He gently unfolded her fingers as he watched what was happening out the window. Holding her hand in his, he ignored the tingling in his fangs, but her blood was an undeniable temptation as it teased his nostrils.
The door across the way opened to reveal one of the young boys whose memory she changed earlier. Willow bit her lip and prepared to launch herself out the window if it became necessary to save him.
“Declan,” she whispered.
“It will be okay.”
Or at least he hoped it would be; the Savage couldn’t touch the boy while he remained in the house. “If it becomes necessary, I’ll intervene, but I want you to stay here.” He held up his hand when she started to protest. “We have no hope of escaping if we’re both captured. One of us has to stay free, no matter what happens. At least then, we’ll still have a chance of contacting the others and possibly saving whoever they capture.”
“Okay,” Willow reluctantly admitted. She didn’t like it one bit, but he had a point.
A woman appeared behind the child and rested her hand on the boy’s shoulder while she spoke with the Savage. A minute passed before she nudged the boy away and closed the door.
The Savage walked over to join the other, who was standing in front of a closed door. It opened to reveal an older man leaning heavily on his cane. They spoke for a minute before the Savages left.
“They’re coming here too,” Declan said.
Releasing her hand, he turned away from the window and ran out of the room. He took the stairs two at a time to the bottom where he found the family watching TV. Earlier, he’d commanded them to act like it was any other night. Junior sat on the couch with a hunting magazine, Cheryl was knitting, Gus hit the buttons on the remote as he flipped through the channels, and Gretchen was in her room.
His gaze lingered on Junior. When they returned here, the kid had stared openly at Willow again—something Declan put an end to by telling him he’d break his fucking legs if he kept it up. The kid had blanched, and before the rest of the family could get upset, he changed their memories and commanded Junior to stop staring at her. The kid hadn’t looked at her since.
Declan glanced at the windows looking out on the porch. He’d considered closing the curtains, but Cheryl said they were usually left open, so they remained open. He couldn’t draw suspicion by closing them tonight.
Avoiding the windows, he edged around the back of Gus’s recliner as Willow stopped at the bottom of the steps. They all looked up at him as he knelt next to Gus.
“People are coming here who are looking for us,” he said to Gus. “You’re going to tell them you haven’t seen us.”
“I haven’t seen you,” Gus said.
“You’ve never met us,” Declan stated.
“I’ve never met you.”
Declan turned his attention to the other members of the family. He didn’t think Gretchen was going to reemerge tonight, but he’d change her memories of them too as soon as these things were gone. And if she decided now was a good time to stop being an asshole, he’d stop her before she came downstairs.
“None of you have seen us,” he said to the others.
They all stared at him before nodding. He looked at Willow when boots thudded against the porch. He sensed her trepidation, but her stance was prepared for battle as she held a stake in her hand, and fire shone in her eyes.
He waved her back toward the stairs as the doorbell rang. “Answer that,” he said to Gus before rising and returning to Willow.
Declan clasped her elbow, and they retreated up the stairs as a heavy fist landed against the door, rattling it in its frame.
“I’m coming,” Gus called as he rose from the chair and hurried to the door.
He unlocked the door as they arrived at the top of the stairs and moved into the shadows. Declan removed a stake and nudged Willow further back as the door opened. The scent of rot filled the house as soon as Gus opened the door.
“Can I help you?” Gus asked.
“I’m looking for a man and a woman,” the Savage said gruffly. “Have you seen anyone you don’t recognize around here?”
“No, no one,” Gus said.
“Has anyone in your family seen someone?”
Gus stepped a little away from the door as he turned to his family. “Have you seen anyone?”
Willow’s heart raced, and her mouth went dry. It was so close. If she moved a foot to her right, she’d probably be able to see it through the crack in the door. And it would see her.
It wasn’t carrying a scythe or wearing black robes, but Death had come knocking on Gus’s door. Death was here to claim them all, and if this went wrong, it would succeed.
From somewhere in the house, the seconds ticked away on a clock. She swore minutes passed as time crawled to an agonizing pace, but only five clicks went by before someone responded.
“No, I’m sorry,” Cheryl said.
“Haven’t seen anyone,” Junior replied.
“Why are you looking for them?” Cheryl asked.
“They’re dangerous,” the Savage replied. “If you do see someone, we recommend not approaching them. Call the police immediately.”
The family exchanged an uneasy look before focusing on the Savage again. “Are you working with the police?” Gus asked.
“Yes,” he replied in a crisp tone that made Willow bristle. She recognized when a Savage was losing patience.
“We’ll call if we see anything unusual,” Gus said.
“Good.”
Its boots were louder as it turned and stomped down the stairs. Gus closed and locked the door. “Should we have asked Gretchen if she’s seen anything?” Cheryl asked.
“Do you want to go up there and interrupt whatever she’s doing?” Junior asked.
Cheryl’s shoulders slumped. “No, I don’t.”
“Stay here,” Declan said to Willow before descending the stairs again. Gus did a doubletake when he spotted him, but Declan started speaking before someone could scream. “It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you.”
They all visibly relaxed as their eyes became glassy. He hated the vacant look in their eyes, but if they were all going to make it through this, then this had to be done.
“If they come back, tell them the same thing,” he told them.
“I will,” Gus said.
Declan trudged back up the stairs. He wasn’t looking forward to bothering Gretchen either, but he had to take care of her memories too.
Chapter Thirty
“My family must be so worried about me,” Willow said as she stared out the window to the street below. She sat in the large chair with a comfy pink cushion beside Declan in Cheryl’s craft room. Hugging the knees she’d drawn up against her chest, she rested her chin on top of one of them.
“You’ll see them again,” Declan said from the chair beside her.
“I know. I hate the idea of them worrying about me. I hope Brian doesn’t come looking for us. He shouldn’t be caught up in this. If something ever happened to him, Abby wouldn’t survive it.”
“The double-edged sword of matehood. The bond makes you stronger, but it also makes you more vulnerable.”
In the dark, his eyes were a vivid silver that pie
rced her heart and left her slightly shaken while they held hers. Was he beginning to suspect the same thing as she was, between them, or was he only making a statement?
She shouldn’t be thinking about what transpired between them in the bathroom earlier, but suddenly, it was all that was on her mind. They’d stood on the precipice of something good, and now she might never know what could have been between them.
She didn’t know if it was matehood or not; it was too soon to tell, but the possibility was taking root. Mates or not, she could never deny her intense reaction to him or that she liked him, a lot. He was sometimes annoyingly enigmatic, but he was kind, brave, and willing to lay down his life for others, and she admired him for it.
Returning her attention to the window, she studied the quiet street. For most of the night, Declan moved throughout the different rooms while he watched over the backyard, while she remained focused on the road.
His room options narrowed when the others went to bed, but he continued to prowl through the house. He’d joined her only minutes ago, when the sun started to rise.
“Do you think you’ll ever meet your mate?” she inquired.
“I pity her if I do,” he muttered and then cursed himself for saying it.
Over the years, he had considered the possibility of meeting his mate, and each time he’d hoped the woman would run as fast as she could from him. And now, he was sitting beside the woman he desired more than anything else in his entire life. He didn’t want her to run, but he hoped she would.
If she were his mate, she would learn the worst parts of his history; it was inevitable. And when she did, she might curse the fate handed to her. He didn’t know if he could handle her rejection. It might be the thing that finally pushed him over the edge.
Willow almost snorted with laughter, except nothing about this was funny. She was wondering if he might be her mate, and he was pitying her because of it. “You seem like a decent guy to me.”
His silver eyes were unrelenting when they met hers. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”
Bound by Torment (The Alliance Series Book 5) Page 15