A knock on the door roused him sometime later. Uncertain of what time it was, he gazed around the room as Elyse remained nestled in his embrace. He untangled himself from her, pulled on his jeans, and padded toward the door as another knock sounded. He opened it to reveal Declan on the other side.
“Ronan wants to discuss our options,” Declan said.
“I’ll be right there.”
He closed the door, got dressed, and checked to make sure Elyse was still asleep before slipping out to join the others. He wasn’t surprised to discover it was still night; if they were going to make a move against the Savages, they would have to utilize every bit of daylight they could get.
The others were gathered around the counter dividing the kitchen from the main living area. A map was laid out before them, and he recognized it as the one Elyse used to mark the location of the Savages.
“We’ll have to be on the lookout for cameras and guards, but hopefully we’ll be able to get close enough to survey what’s going on,” Ronan said as Saxon stepped between Killean and Lucien. “I don’t trust anyone else to do this, so it will only be us going in for now.”
“How long will it take us to get there?” Nathan asked.
Ronan inspected the map. “Half an hour.”
“What about Logan?” Asher asked.
“He’ll be out for today and probably part of tomorrow,” Ronan said. “He’ll be fine with Kadence and Simone here to look out for him.” Then he lifted his head to meet Saxon’s gaze. “Elyse is coming with us.”
The words were like a punch to the gut, but Saxon kept his face impassive as everything inside him screamed against it. He had to stay calm if he was going to put a stop to this. “She’s not a threat to Kadence and Simone if she remains here.”
When Killean grunted, Saxon contemplated punching him in the face.
“They’re hunters turned vampires; I have no concerns that a human with a broken arm could be a threat to them,” Ronan said.
“She won’t lead Savages here,” Saxon said. “Or get in contact with them. She wants nothing to do with them.”
The amount of understanding in Ronan’s eyes astonished him almost as much as Ronan intending to bring Elyse into Savage territory.
“I know that,” Ronan said. “I believe what she says, and I trust your faith in her”—Killean grunted again as Ronan pointed to the X on the map—“but this is a vast expanse of land. We could spend weeks in these woods and only accomplish attracting attention to ourselves. She has to guide us.”
Saxon understood his reasons for bringing Elyse with them, but he wouldn’t let it happen. “You want to take my mate, a mortal, into what could be the heart of the Savages?”
Ronan’s gaze didn’t waver as it held his. “Yes.”
“No,” Saxon said. “She just escaped those bastards. She told you what they did to her, but you didn’t see those jars with the pieces of her father floating in them. You didn’t see her standing there with battered feet because they didn’t give her socks or shoes. You didn’t see those cans stacked perfectly in the cabinets or feel her terror when I opened more than one of them for her to eat. You didn’t watch them break her fucking arm, and you don’t hold her through her nightmares. They forgot to feed her, they beat her, and they tortured her; she’s out of this.”
No one spoke as they gazed between him and Ronan. Saxon had disagreed with Ronan before, but he couldn’t recall a time when he’d flat out gone against him, but he wouldn’t let this happen.
Ronan rested his hand on the map as he leaned forward. “Without her, more will die. We go into these woods and start wandering blindly around, we will reveal ourselves. The Savages aren’t playing by the rules anymore; they’ve brought the humans into this, and if we don’t stop them, there is no telling what they’ll do.”
“I won’t have her used like this or put in danger.”
“You don’t have a choice.”
Saxon labored to keep his anger under control while he stared at the man he considered his friend and king.
“I understand how you feel. Do you think I planned to bring Kadence here?” Ronan demanded; his eyes became more red than brown while he held Saxon’s gaze. “I don’t want her anywhere near a possible nest of Savages, but she’s here because she insisted on it, and because her ability could be useful if she has a vision.”
“She’s here, but you’re not taking her into those woods.”
A vein throbbed to life in Ronan’s forehead. Saxon knew he was pushing him toward a breaking point, but he’d fight the entire world to keep Elyse safe.
“She’s going into those woods, and she is going to help us locate those Savages,” Ronan stated.
“I promised her we wouldn’t use her like the Savages did.”
“You’re not using me,” a soft voice murmured, “if I agree to go.”
He turned to find Elyse standing in the doorway of their room; she’d dressed and had the blanket draped around her shoulders. She looked so small and frail it tore at his heart. Sleep had done nothing to ease the shadows under her eyes, and the slope of her shoulders screamed exhaustion.
Elyse studied the men gathered around the map and sensed the friction in the room. Saxon and Ronan looked ready to start fighting. She loved Saxon even more for trying to protect her, but she wouldn’t be the cause of problems between him and his friends. And if she could do something to help keep them safe, then she was going to do it.
“You’re not going,” he said.
She lifted her chin as she stared at him before strolling across the room to them. Declan edged away to make room for her, and she stopped to gaze at the map. “I can’t sense the female Savage anymore; too much time has passed, but my dad is still there.”
“Can you bring us to him?” Ronan asked.
“Yes,” she said at the same time Saxon said, “No.”
Elyse continued as if she hadn’t heard Saxon. “The closer I get to my dad, the stronger the connection will be. I feel him more strongly here than I did in New York.”
“You don’t have to do this,” Saxon said.
She rested her good hand on the map before looking at him. “Yes, I do. Some of those vampires are there because of me. I put them there, and I owe them… something.”
None of them looked at Killean when he grunted.
“When do we go?” she asked Ronan.
“You’re mortal,” Saxon growled.
“I’ll be fine,” she said, but she didn’t look at him.
“If this is going to happen, then you have to make the change and heal your arm.”
When she finally met his gaze, he saw the determination and distress in her eyes. “I’m not having this argument again. If they catch me again, I won’t let them use you against me, and if something does happen to me, you’ll be better off if the bond isn’t completed.”
“Wrong choice of words,” Declan murmured.
But he didn’t have to tell her that. She could see she’d said the wrong thing when Saxon’s eyes turned red, his nostrils flared, and his forehead furrowed in a way that reminded her of a bull about to charge. The hostility in the room ratcheted up as he stood beside her, looking as if he were about to tear this cabin apart with his bare hands.
“Easy, Saxon,” Ronan said. “We’ll all keep her safe.”
Saxon’s fingers dug into his palms until blood pooled against his flesh while he tried to calm himself. They were going to take a mortal, his mate, into what could be a nest of Savages and they were all fine with it.
His gaze fell to her cast as the memory of her scream echoed in his head. He’d been so close to her, yet he was unable to stop that bastard from harming her, and now she still bore an injury she didn’t have to bear. Her mortality made her weaker; her broken arm made her more so.
Red shaded his vision; his blood rushed through his ears as his blood pressure skyrocketed. His mate and they were all putting her at risk. He needed to kill something; he had to change her. He needed… he needed….
His eyes traveled to her neck and the alluring pulse beating there. What did it matter if she didn’t want the bond right now?
He could make her immortal, and there was nothing she could do to stop him. He’d deal with her fury afterward, but she’d be safe and she’d be his.
“Fuck!” he exploded and spun away from her. He had to get away from her before he couldn’t stop himself from changing her.
“Saxon—”
Declan gripped her shoulder when she started to follow Saxon before abruptly releasing her. Saxon didn’t look back as he flung open the door and descended the steps. Elyse huddled deeper into her blanket as she watched him disappear around the side of the cabin.