When they entered the warehouse, Willow took in the brick walls and busted out windows set up high in the walls. From years of neglect, the roof sagged, and chunks of brick had fallen from the walls. Overhead, the second floor was missing large pieces of wood flooring, and the rickety stairs across the way looked like the weight of a ghost would collapse them.
“This way,” Saber said and led them toward the back of the building.
Other than the cobwebs hanging from every nook and cranny, the building was empty of equipment or furniture. Beneath the musky scent of mildew, she detected the aroma of oil and wondered if this was once a garage or if it housed machinery.
They entered another room, which was a cavernous space with four, twenty-foot-tall garage doors. Willow rested the blade against her shoulder as the scent of oil and gas grew stronger, but the building remained empty.
They left the garage behind for a side office where Logan and Asher sat on a forgotten, dusty desk. Asher stopped drumming his fingers against the desk when they entered, and Logan stood.
Willow studied Logan as he walked over to another doorway. She was aware Declan was the one who turned him into a vampire, but this was the first time she was seeing him for more than a minute since becoming Declan’s mate. It was a little weird to know her mate’s blood changed another.
“We’ve got them chained up in there,” Saber said and waved at the doorway Logan stood beside.
Ronan held his hand out for the sword. “Let’s see what this thing can do.”
Willow hesitated before lifting it from her shoulder and placing the hilt on his palms. Feeling a little like Gollum with the ring, she almost snatched the sword back before Ronan’s fingers curled around it. She restrained herself by fisting her hands, but her teeth ground together as Ronan walked away with the sword.
It’s not mine, she reminded herself. Ronan would keep the sword safe, she didn’t doubt it, but she still wanted it back.
Sensing her frustration, Declan wrapped his arm around Willow’s waist and kissed her temple. He was glad to see the sword go, but he understood her emotions. He wouldn’t have been happy to hand over something he wanted either, but Ronan was their king, and he was stronger than Willow. The sword belonged in his hands.
They followed Ronan into the side room to discover two Savages chained to a brick wall. Willow wrinkled her nose against the stench of rot emanating from the prisoners. Dim light filtered through the windows, but unlike the rest of the windows she’d seen, these remained intact. However, the thick layer of grime coating them barely allowed any light to penetrate the room.
They spread out to watch as Ronan inspected the sword before looking at the Savages. Ronan pointed the blade at the tall Savage on the right. “Let him go.”
Kadence sucked in a breath as Saber strode over and released the chains. When the Savage spun on him, Saber punched it in the face. The blow staggered the creature back a few feet before it recovered and whirled on them. The Savage raced at them, and Ronan stepped forward to plunge the blade into its belly.
The creature’s eyes widened as it clawed at the blade, but it didn’t burst into ash. Willow’s shock vibrated against Declan, and she pulled away from him as Ronan placed his foot on the Savage’s belly and, shoving the creature back, ripped the blade from its gut. The sword whistled as it arced through the air and Ronan severed the Savage’s head from its body.
“I don’t understand,” Willow muttered as the head rolled across the floor to settle against the wall.
She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the blood dripping from the blade as it landed in soft patters on the ground. Beneath the blood, the blade shone, but that shine was duller.
Ronan turned toward them. “I thought you said this thing turned Savages to ash.”
“It does, or… it did,” Declan said in confusion.
He strode over to Ronan and held his hand out for the sword. Ronan gave it to him, and Declan turned the weapon over to inspect the jewel. He’d only held it a couple of times, but it looked and felt no different to him.
“Set the other one free,” he said to Saber.
Saber released the chains. Unlike his friend, this Savage decided that making a run for it was his best course of action. The vamp was halfway to the door when Declan swung the sword and severed its leg at midthigh.
The Savage howled as it fell to the ground, but the creature didn’t turn into ash. Instead, it crawled across the floor. The blade was the sharpest he’d ever seen, but a sharp blade wasn’t much of an advantage against the Savages and demons.
“How is that possible?” Willow asked. “I know what we saw the other night. I know what happened, and what I felt when I killed those Savages with it.”
Ice crept down Declan’s spine. He hadn’t felt anything when he held the sword, and Willow was the one who wielded the sword that night. He contemplated handing the sword back to Ronan and declaring it a fluke, but they couldn’t walk out of here without knowing the truth.
With a growing sense of dread, Declan turned to Willow and held the sword out to her. “You do it.”
Her eyes lit with joy, and she practically snatched the hilt from his hands. His dread was turning into a knot in his stomach. As she turned the blade in front of her, he swore the thing shone a little brighter.
A feeling of rightness stole through Willow as she gripped the sword once again. Ignoring her twinge of sympathy for the mutilated Savage, she walked over to it. Grasping the hilt in both hands, she drove it into the creature’s back. The jewel sparked, and its light flashed around the room before the vamp erupted into ash.
Silence followed before Asher breathed, “Holy shit.”
“That’s pretty much the consensus,” Declan muttered.
He did not like this one bit, but he couldn’t deny the sword had chosen her. She was a warrior who never quit fighting, so he could understand why, but what did it mean for her?
It meant she would have a bigger bullseye on her back. The demons and Savages would not tolerate them having this powerful of a weapon against them. If they discovered she was the only one who could wield it, they would come after her with everything they had.
But then, they already knew she was the only one who could harvest its true power. Derrick and the other Savages who survived their fight that night in the town had seen her use it, and they would have reported it to Kirkau.
“Fuck,” he hissed. “They know.”
“Who knows?” Willow asked.
“They know. The Savages and demons know you have the sword, and if the demons are aware of its power, they probably know only you can use it. They’re going to come after you with everything they have.”
“Oh shit,” Vicky whispered. “Willow, you have to get rid of that sword.”
“No!” she blurted.
“Fuck!” Declan bellowed as he spun and hit the wall with enough force that he dented the bricks and dust rained down on him.
His shoulders heaved as his eyes turned a fiery red, and color flooded his skin again. Willow lowered the sword to her side and hurried over to stand beside him while Ronan nudged Kadence out of the room and Nathan moved to stand protectively in front of Vicky.
“It’s okay,” Willow assured Declan as she rested her hand on his arm. “If they come for it, I’ll turn all their asses to ash too. We have something we can use against them, something they’ll be frightened of, and it will make them think twice before coming after me.”
“This puts a bullseye on your back,” he growled.
“I put a bullseye on my back when I joined the Alliance. It’s my choice to be here, and I’m going to do everything I can to stop these monsters from hurting more people and vampires. This sword belongs to me; I can feel it. I have no idea why it chose me, but it did, and I am going to protect it and use it to kill them.”
Declan tugged at his hair as he tried to get the volatile sway of his emotions under control. Taking a deep breath, he lifted his gaze to meet hers before crus
hing her against him. He would give anything to lock her securely away where no one could ever harm her again, but that was impossible. He could only do everything he could to keep her safe, and he would.
The color eased away from Declan as his body relaxed against hers and some of his hostility ebbed. When he finally released his death grip on her, Willow turned to find Ronan eyeing the sword before his gaze shifted to her and Declan.
“We’ll have to find a sheath to fit it so you can keep it strapped to you,” Ronan said.
“I… I can keep it?” she asked, still a little afraid someone might try to take it from her.
“It’s a lot more lethal in your hands than ours. Just don’t stab one of us with it.”
“I’m a little scared of nicking myself with it.” She regretted her words when Declan’s lips curled into a sneer that revealed his fangs.
“What exactly is that thing?” Logan asked.
“I don’t know,” Ronan said. “But I have a feeling we’ll find out.”
Chapter Fifty-Six
Willow woke slowly the next morning and smiled at the sensation of Declan’s body enveloping hers. He nuzzled her neck before lifting his head to prop it on his hand. Willow rolled over to look up at him. Her smile faded when she saw the uneasiness in his eyes.
“I’m not going to stab myself with the sword,” she said.
Her words coaxed a smile from him. “I know.”
“Then why do you look so worried?”
“Because there’s a lot of power in that sword, and it’s been given to you.”
“And you don’t think I’m ready for it?”
He skimmed his fingers up and down her arm. “I think you’re more than ready for it, but the demons are going to want their weapon back, and they’ll come after you with everything they have.”
“Are you so sure it’s a demon sword? Maybe the hunters or Savages or someone not demon forged it on earth.”
“Maybe,” he allowed. “But I don’t think so, and neither do you. Those Savages were as surprised as us when they saw what it could do. If Kirkau kept that information from them, it’s because the demon didn’t want them to know about its power. Which means it can probably be used against demons too.”
“Oh,” she breathed as the full depth of her responsibility with the sword settled on her shoulders.
She hadn’t asked for this, but she wouldn’t shy away from it either. She was more than ready to protect the sword and meet whatever challenges lay ahead of them.
“Yes, oh.”
“Easy,” Willow whispered when his eyes turned red and the color returned to the corners of his eyes. She now knew she wouldn’t lose him when that color emerged, and it did make him stronger, but she didn’t like seeing him so immersed in his demon side. “We’ll get through this together.”
Declan rested his hand on her hip. “We will.”
“And the sword will come in handy while we’re searching for Lucien.”
“How is that?”
“It will destroy anyone who gets in our way.”
The smile curving his lips didn’t reach his eyes.
“We’re going to find him,” she insisted.
“He could be dead.”
“He’s not. If he were, Vicky and the others would have found his body in the woods too. He’s alive.”
Neither of them said what was on their minds, but he knew they were both thinking Lucien probably wished he was dead… if he wasn’t already a monster. He’d been missing for over two weeks; a lot could happen in that time.
Today, they would set out to meet up with Killean, Simone, and the Alliance members who remained searching for him. Declan wouldn’t stop until they found him, but once they did, would they have to destroy him?
“We’re going to find him,” Willow said again. He’d sacrificed himself for her; she wouldn’t settle for anything less.
“We will,” Declan said and kissed her.
Willow melted against him as his hands and mouth did things to her that should be illegal and probably were in some states. She worried about what the future held, but she was positive they could get through anything together. She’d never expected to fall in love with someone like Declan, but now that she had him, she was never going to let him go.
Declan marveled at how much she’d healed his broken soul as he sank his fangs into her throat. He vowed to do whatever it took to make sure he never lost her.
Releasing his bite on her neck, he entered her and whispered, “I love you.”
“I love you too, forever and always.”
She felt his joy through their bond and smiled when she realized this beautiful, amazing, tormented man was hers for eternity.
Epilogue
Two weeks later
Fire burned through Lucien’s veins, tore at his insides, and incinerated him until he was sure every part of him was nothing but the ashen remains of cells and sinew. He had no idea where he was, and he didn’t care.
Hungry. Hungry. Hungry. Must feed. Blood. Feed. Feed. Feed.
Nothing made sense anymore; his brain was a jumbled mess, and everything came back to one thing… blood.
He had to get blood soon. He needed to feed, to sink his fangs into something and drain every drop of blood from it. That was the only thing that would put the fire out. Memories of feeding drifted through his mind and became jumbled with other memories from his life.
He was a child in his mother’s arms, a man covered in blood, a vampire unable to unleash all his pent-up violence, a fighter. He saw the man he followed, his leader, but he couldn’t recall his name. Shadowy figures of other warriors flitted through his mind, and he dimly recalled they once meant something to him, but they meant nothing now.
He saw a Savage… no, a vampire… no, not a vampire but a hunter with strangely white-blue eyes emerging from beneath the earth. The hunter held a sword, and smoke trailed from him as he ran for the woods.
Then a horde of creatures buried him, and he was fighting, tearing, kicking as he sought to break free. He had to save the others.
What others? Who cared about any others when he was on fire, but he was still fighting because he didn’t want to die….
No, he was fighting against a fate worse than death….
He was fighting against this!
For a second, his haze of starvation broke, and he knew he was living his worst nightmare. He couldn’t give in; he wouldn’t let them break him. He had to get out of this.
And then the fire burned away all memories and coherent thought once more. In the dark, he snarled and fought against his binds like a wild animal seeking to break free of a trap. He heard the sounds, and sometimes he realized they were coming from him, but at other times, they were as distant as the moon.
Sometimes he became aware of the stench of a filthy animal and knew it was him. Other times, he jerked against his chains as he hunted the source of the smell so he could feed on it. Sometimes, he sank his fangs into his flesh in an attempt to assuage his need to bite and to taste blood, but his blood did nothing to ease his thirst. It only made it worse.
Something clattered then squeaked. He lifted his head, but all he saw was the shadows enshrouding his prison. Then a flame was brought forth. Unaccustomed to the light, he recoiled, but when the scent of blood hit him, he forgot all about the pain the fire created. Lurching forward, those animal sounds filled his cell as his fangs snapped.
“He’s ready,” someone said.
Lucien lunged toward them, but his chains made the action useless. However, he couldn’t stop trying to break free as the thunderous beat of pumping hearts filled the room. They sounded as loud as gunshots in his ears, and they were more tempting than Eve with her apple.
“Unchain him,” the voice commanded.
Lucien tried to bite his captors when they approached, but they didn’t acknowledge him. A rattling clink came from behind him, and his arms fell forward. He didn’t take the time to rejoice in his freedom or the ease o
f the ever-present soreness that seeped into his muscles so long ago.
He lurched toward one of them, but someone jerked his arms behind him again. Someone else grasped his ankles and lifted him off the ground. Thrashing, kicking, and hissing, Lucien sought to break free, but starvation had weakened him. His struggles were useless as they carried him through a tunnel.
He saw nothing of his surroundings until he was led into a large, open pit and tossed into the middle. He spun toward whoever carried him, but they were already exiting the pit and shutting a steel door behind them.
Unwilling to let them get away, he flew across the pit and flung himself against the door, but he was like a weakened mouse against an elephant. The impact threw him back and knocked him on his ass.
Pushing himself partially up on his hands, he blinked as he tried to take in his surroundings through the white lights shining down on him. In front of those lights stood a group of vampires who all gazed down at him with mixed expressions of boredom, curiosity, and eagerness. Someone shouted to bring in the others, and then a door across the way opened.
Gladiator pit.
He had only a moment of lucid thought to recognize his surroundings before they shoved five women into the pit with him. Five human women, and they all had delicious, life-saving blood pumping through their veins.
Lucien didn’t realize he was standing or hear the rattle of his chains as he raced across the pit, grabbed the first woman, and sank his fangs into her throat. The sweetest blood he’d ever tasted filled his mouth.
And then a pain unlike anything he’d ever experienced exploded in his head, and he reeled back.
The End
Look for Bound by Danger, Lucien’s story, to release in 2020!
Bound by Danger is now available for pre-order:
brendakdavies.com/BDwb
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Bound by Torment (The Alliance Series Book 5) Page 30