Kadence opened her mouth to reply, but Ronan spoke before she could. “I would never keep her caged as you did. She had no choices with you, not even on whom she would marry.”
His eyes fixed on Logan, the man Kadence had told him she was to marry. Ronan suspected Logan’s obvious love for Kadence would turn to loathing when he realized what she was now. The hunter may become an issue that would have to be dealt with later, but for now, he would continue to play nice, for Kadence.
“Every step she has taken with me has been one of her choosing, not someone else’s. I tried to make her return to you. She refused. I set her free. She came back. No one will take her choices from her again, not even me.”
Nathan rocked back on his heels. “And just what is it between you two?”
He saw the question in Kadence’s eyes when she lifted her gaze to him. “Reveal what you will about that,” he told her.
She turned back to her brother. Part of her screamed not to say the words out loud. She was afraid he would walk away from her and she would never see him again if she did. The other part knew she couldn’t lie, not to Nathan, and it would come out eventually. It was better to know if he would turn against her now, than tomorrow or a month from now.
“I… I love him, Nathan.”
“Bullshit!” Logan exploded. He jerked a crossbow up from his hip, and before Kadence could blink, he fired the bolt.
“No!” Nathan shouted as Kadence leapt forward.
Ronan pulled her back with one hand while he snatched the bolt out of the air with the other. Lifting his head, Ronan held Logan’s gaze as he broke the bolt in half. The hunter took a startled step back when the vampires closed in around Ronan and started toward Logan.
“Back off,” Ronan commanded his men.
They moved back, but all their eyes had taken on a fiery red hue as they stared at Logan. If he allowed it, the hunter would be dead before he could take his next breath. Ronan released Kadence and strode forward. She snagged his hand and tugged on it until he stopped.
“No, this is not… This will not happen!” she yelled.
Releasing Ronan’s hand, she moved forward with lethal speed to yank the crossbow from Logan’s grasp. She threw the weapon onto the ground and stomped it, shattering it into pieces. Her fangs lengthened as she resisted tearing Logan’s throat out for trying to kill Ronan. Feeling somewhat more in control of herself, she lifted her head to meet Logan’s startled gaze.
Ronan drew her against his chest when her eyes burned that feral, white-blue color. Her brother and the other hunters gasped when they saw her eyes.
“Don’t you ever do that again!” she yelled at Logan. “I’m sorry I hurt you, I really am, and I will regret it for the rest of my life. But I have chosen Ronan, and no matter what anyone else says or believes, it is a choice I would make over and over for the rest of my life. If you try to attack him again, I’ll kill you myself, and don’t think I’m not capable of it.”
She turned to face her brother who gawked at her as if he didn’t know her. She supposed he didn’t know her, not really. “I love you, Nathan. I always will no matter what happens. Maybe, one day, if you’ll listen to me and accept my choices, you can get to really know me. However, none of that matters, not when innocent lives are on the line.
“There are vampires who have been killed that didn’t deserve it, and there are hunters who have died that didn’t have to. Joseph is bringing together a large group of Savage vampires that we can beat if we all work together, but if the vampires and hunters remain divided and killing each other, then Joseph will only grow stronger until he becomes unstoppable.”
Her brother succeeded in closing his mouth, but it fell open again. “Your eyes,” he murmured.
Kadence’s heart sank. “Are my eyes really what you’re most concerned about after everything I just said?”
Nathan closed his mouth and threw back his shoulders. “No, they’re not. What is a Savage vampire?”
“Those of our kind who kill for pleasure and take the lives of innocents. There is no humanity left within them,” Ronan replied. “They are the ones we hunt.”
Nathan’s gaze ran over them before focusing on Ronan again. “How big of a threat is this with Joseph and these Savages?
“It’s growing stronger every day,” Ronan said.
“You can’t seriously be considering this insanity!” Logan hissed.
“Not another word, Logan,” Nathan commanded. “Asher, what do you think?”
“I think your sister has hopped on the crazy train express, but I believe there is something to what she says,” Asher replied.
“Thanks,” Kadence muttered.
“You gotta admit it’s a little crazy, kid. I mean, we’re all a little crazy in one way or another, but you’re rounding out the top of the looney tier right now. I suppose the vampires could have found a way to warp her mind and turn her to their side, but I don’t see why he would have set her free if that were the case.”
“What do you think of that, Logan?” Nathan inquired.
“He set her free as part of his manipulation to gain her trust,” Logan replied.
Kadence almost stomped her foot in frustration, but she managed to stop herself from doing so. Acting like a child would get her nowhere right now.
“True,” Nathan said as he rubbed at his jaw. “And judging by the color of my sister’s eyes and the speed with which she moved over here, I’m going to say she’s not the same as when she left the stronghold. We know a vampire can control a human’s mind, perhaps—”
“You know hunters are immune to a vampire’s powers of persuasion,” she interrupted brusquely.
“True,” he said. “But he’s no normal vampire, we can all sense that, and you are not a normal hunter anymore.”
Ronan didn’t speak as he waited for Nathan to figure things out for himself. It wouldn’t do any good to rush him or argue with him. Nathan was young, but the fact he was taking time with his decision and listening to the views of the others revealed a maturity beyond his years.
“But then, we’ve never been normal hunters. Our family line has always been stronger,” Nathan continued.
Nathan’s gaze traveled to the other vampires. “What makes a vampire turn into a Savage?”
“Death and blood is a temptation many vampires live with every day, and some give into it,” Ronan replied. “Those who kill become stronger, especially if they kill our kind or a hunter, though they enjoy slaughtering humans too. A vampire doesn’t become completely Savage until the innocent deaths of the humans warp their souls.”
“So at any time one of you could also become Savage?”
“Yes.” There was no reason to deny it or to lie. If they were to work together, they would have to be honest with each other. If Nathan discovered the truth later, it would sever any relationship they may have built between them.
“Many of us fight it,” Declan said. “And that’s just it, we fight it.”
“That’s fine. I’m more concerned about thinking we can trust you and having one of you turn on us,” Nathan said.
“We could say the same to you,” Ronan said and glanced pointedly at Logan. “We’re not asking for your secrets.”
“I know more about them than they know about us,” Kadence said as she silently pleaded with Nathan to believe her.
Nathan stared at her before looking to Ronan. “What will happen to my sister if you turn Savage?”
Ronan slid his arm around her waist. “Because of your sister, I will not become a Savage, not unless something happens to her.”
“I don’t understand.”
“That’s something I’d like to keep between us for now at least,” Ronan replied before focusing on Logan. “But know I will defend her life above my own and I will kill anyone who threatens her, no matter who they are.”
Logan’s nostrils flared and hatred burned from his eyes, but he kept his mouth shut.
“I see,” Nathan said. “And what of them?” he asked with a wave at the other Defenders.
“I’ve known all of them for centuries. They battle their demons, but they’re as determined to destroy Joseph and the Savages as I am.”
Nathan folded his arms over his chest as he speared Kadence with his stare. “Are you a vampire?”
Kadence had hoped not to have to deal with this yet, but she’d given herself away with her eyes. “Yes,” she replied.
Logan sucked in a breath. Before anyone could respond, he spun on his heel and stalked away. Kadence took a step after him, but Ronan held her back as Nathan put out a hand to halt her.
“Let him go,” Nathan said. “This is something he may never come to terms with, and you have to accept that.”
A lump lodged in her throat as Logan vanished into the woods. “I never meant to hurt him.”
“I know, but you did, and we’re the ones who put you in that position. You shouldn’t have taken off the way you did, you could have gotten killed, but we… I was wrong for expecting you to accept a life I wouldn’t have accepted for myself. I know that now, but that doesn’t change what has happened.”
“Nathan—” She stepped toward him and froze when he kept his hand up between them.
“I’m not ready either. I love you, but this is a lot to take in.”
Tears burned her eyes as she bent her head. Ronan embraced her as he leveled her brother with an unblinking stare.
“We’ll work through it in time,” she said.
“I have to discuss this with the elders,” Nathan said. “They’re not going to take it well.”
“No, they’re not,” Kadence agreed.
“Call me tomorrow,” he said to Kadence before turning and walking away.
“Crazy or not, I hope you found happiness, Kadence,” Asher said before following her brother.
Kadence nestled against Ronan’s chest when he lifted her and held her against him. His body remained tensed as he studied the trees. Over his shoulder, her eyes landed on Killean. The pitiless vampire stared back at her for a minute before briefly bowing his head to her.
She may have just lost everyone she had known for her whole life, but she knew then that she’d somehow managed to earn Killean’s respect.