Killean had hoped she’d forgotten that question or decided to drop it; he should have known better. “Would you have preferred I left you there?”
“Of course not,” she replied. “I’m just trying to understand why you didn’t leave me there when, after we kissed on the beach, you acted like I disgusted you.”
She didn’t like recalling that day; between him and Nathan, it had been humiliating. She’d considered it the worst day of her life until she was taken, and then the degradation Joseph put her through made that day seem like a day in the park.
“So why did you come after me?” she asked.
“Because I didn’t want you to become one of them.”
“But why? Was it because we kissed?”
“That’s the only answer I’m going to give you, so let it go and be happy you’re not there with the others.”
Simone didn’t think he’d rescued her because he cared for her. They didn’t know each other well enough for that, and she didn’t see Killean as the type to become emotionally attached to anyone, but she wasn’t going to give up until she learned the truth. Continuing to press him now though would get her nowhere. She’d just have to keep hammering at his walls until she finally found a weak spot that caused them to collapse.
“Fair enough,” she murmured and turned to look out the window again.
Silence stretched between them as the tires hummed over the pavement. A few vehicles passed them going the other way, but they had the road mostly to themselves. When she glanced at the clock, she and saw it was nearly nine.
“Have you ever heard of any other hunters becoming a vampire?” Killean asked when he recalled the being he encountered in the bunker. “I mean besides Kadence, Nathan, and you. It wouldn’t have happened recently, but probably occurred millennia ago.”
Simone bit her lip as she shook her head. “I studied our history, but I never heard of such a thing happening. They might not have taught it to us though.”
“Might not have taught it to all the hunters or just the women?”
“I would like to say all, but probably just the women.”
“Hmm,” he grunted. “While you were a prisoner, did you see a vampire who was over seven feet tall, but had the white-blue eyes of a hunter?”
For some reason, his description of this creature made her skin crawl. “No, but after the first couple of days, I didn’t register much beyond the hunger. You saw this thing?”
“Yes.”
“And you think it was another turned hunter?”
“I don’t know what else it could be, not with those eyes. And judging by the power it emitted, it was ancient.”
“How much power?” she asked in a hoarse voice.
“More than I’ve ever encountered before.”
Her breath caught at this revelation. She’d felt the aura of power surrounding Ronan, and if this thing was even more powerful than that…
She shuddered and rubbed at her arms when goose bumps broke out on them.
“How old are you?” she asked to distract herself from the horrible possibilities of what something so ancient and evil could unleash on them.
“I fully matured and stopped aging at twenty-four, so I will forever look that age. I’m four hundred fifty-two now.”
“Wow,” she breathed.
“And how old are you?”
“Twenty-three, but I’ll be twenty-four July first.” As if that would somehow make a dent in their age difference.
“And I will be four hundred and fifty-three on November sixteenth.”
“You’ll officially be ancient then,” she replied.
Killean released a small bark of laughter; it had been so long since he laughed that it sounded rusty to him. Simone didn’t seem to notice as she smiled at him. He found himself momentarily dazed by the loveliness of that smile and the twinkle in her eyes.
Simone relished the sound of his laugh. It wasn’t carefree or loud, but it was deep and vibrated his chest. “And what’s your last name, ancient?” she teased.
“Claymore and yours?”
“Baker.”
Simone had hundreds of more questions for him, but some might irritate him or get him to clam up again, and she was enjoying this more carefree side of Killean. Just minutes ago, she never would have suspected it existed; she didn’t want to scare it away.
They traversed another fifty miles in silence before Killean pulled into a gas station that looked like it was last updated in the fifties. The old-style pumps would make antique hunters drool. Chimes went off when Killean drove over a black strip and parked next to one of the pumps. A young man in his twenties jogged outside and was at Killean’s door before he could turn off the truck.
“What can I get for you?” the kid inquired when Killean rolled down his window.
“Fill it up,” Killean said as he pushed a button to open the gas tank.
The kid nodded before turning away.
“I need to use the restroom,” Simone said, and opening her door, she jumped out into the brisk air.
“Not alone,” Killean replied.
He flung his door open and hurried around the front of the truck to join her. Her fierce frown didn't deter him when he stopped at her side.
“I’ve been going alone most of my life. I think I can handle it now,” she said.
“Not alone,” he repeated as he clasped her elbow. “Where’s the bathroom?” he asked the kid.
“My dad has the key inside,” the kid replied without taking his gaze off the rising numbers on the pump. “He’ll tell you where it is.”
Killean led Simone across the pavement and into the small convenience store. The middle-aged man behind the counter didn’t look up from his newspaper when the bell over the door rang.
“Keys to the bathroom?” Killean asked him.
Without looking, the man pulled a spoon from the wall and plopped it on the counter before turning the page. “Outside to the left,” the man said.
Simone grabbed the spoon before Killean could. “Thank you.”
They walked outside and around the side of the building to the metal bathroom door. Simone used the key, slipped inside, and locked the door behind her. Crossing his arms over his chest, Killean leaned against the wall while he studied the road. Crickets chirruped and frogs croaked in the nearby fields. He smelled horses, but he couldn’t see them in the fenced-in paddock across the way. Overhead, thousands of stars lit the black tapestry of the night while a crescent moon hung in the sky.
On the distant horizon, a set of headlights soared over a small hill. They vanished into a dip in the road before reappearing. Killean stepped away from the wall as the vehicle neared. Despite the calm of the night, a looming sense of doom built in his chest. He had no reason to suspect being discovered, but the sooner they were away from this place, the happier he would be.
The car was almost to the gas station when Simone emerged from the bathroom. “Do you need to use it?” she inquired.
Killean didn’t look at her as the car swung into the gas station and parked near the door of the store; more headlights loomed on the horizon. They’d passed other vehicles on their way here, and for all he knew this was the only gas station around for miles, so it was a big draw for the locals, but he still didn’t like seeing so many vehicles on the road.
“Killean?”
“Shh,” he whispered, and clasping Simone’s arm, he slid further into the shadows of the building as the kid pumping the gas turned to look at the idling sedan.
A beat-up truck pulled in and parked next to the car. Three young guys jumped out, waved to the kid pumping gas, and sauntered into the store. A woman climbed out of the sedan with her baby and followed the guys inside.
Killean relaxed, and taking the spoon from Simone, he strode with her back to the store, put the spoon on the counter, and they returned to the truck. Opening the passenger door, he helped her into the truck before walking around to the other side and climbing behind the wheel. Killean closed the door and studied the quiet night.
“That will be seventy-five dollars,” the kid said as he returned to Killean’s window. “Would you like me to check your oil and wash your windshield too?”
“No,” Killean said as he took control of the kid’s mind. “And I already paid you.”
“You’re all set, sir,” the kid said and tapped the window frame. “Have a good night.”
The kid stepped away from the truck when Killean started it and pulled away from the pump.
Simone turned to stare out the back window as the gas station vanished from view. “Do you think Joseph and his followers could find us?” she asked, knowing that was the source behind Killean’s strange uneasiness at the gas station.
“I’m not taking any chances.”
Killean drove faster to put more distance between them and the gas station. The truck surged forward as it rose over hills before coasting down them. They were heading into a dip in the road when he spotted headlights coming toward them. The lights momentarily vanished from view before he spotted them again.
Simone’s fingers dug into the armrest of the door as the headlights approached. A sense of foreboding built in her stomach though she had no idea why. She suspected Killean’s agitation was catching as there was nothing unusual about this vehicle.
The car was almost to them when it suddenly swerved into their lane and came at them head-on. Simone gasped and slammed her feet into the floor as if that could somehow stop them from barreling toward the vehicle.
“Hold on!” Killean shouted and jerked the wheel to the left.
For a second, it seemed as if they were going to miss the car entirely, but the car outmaneuvered the truck and came back toward them. Simone could only sit and watch helplessly as the car homed in on them like a shark on a seal. It was so close, she could see the vicious grin of the driver as he hunched over the wheel.
Simone cried out when the front ends collided with a screech of metal. Golden sparks flew over the hood of the truck and peppered the windshield. Pushed away by the truck, the car turned and its dented bumper scraped along the passenger side as the car slid by her. Simone found herself looking down into the hate-filled, red eyes of a Savage as the car went past her.
Killean yanked the wheel to correct the truck before the impact sent it careening off the side of the road and into an embankment. The ass end of the truck fishtailed and the tires squealed when he stomped on the gas. In the rearview mirror, he watched as the car spun in the middle of the road and started after them.
“Are you okay?” he demanded of Simone.
“Ye-yes,” she stammered.
“Hold on.”
In the front, a rattling sound increased from the damaged bumper when he accelerated. If the bumper had been shoved into the tire, it was only a matter of time before the tire popped, but he didn’t dare slow down as the car steadily gained on them.
The speedometer climbed from sixty to seventy to eighty. They were at ninety when a piece of the bumper broke off; it smashed into the side of the truck before spiraling away and crashing into the middle of the road. The bumper broke apart when it bounced over the pavement. Forced to swerve around it, the car lost some of its momentum and fell back a little.
They were up to over a hundred when the rattling grew loud enough to drowned out the radio. “Put on your seat belt,” he said to Simone.
She fumbled for the belt and tugged it over her shoulder before clicking it into place as the car closed the distance between them to twenty feet. When the truck soared over the next hill, the wheels came off the ground, and for a second they flew over the earth until gravity won out. Simone’s teeth clacked together when they hit the ground, and the truck released an ominous groan.
Simone’s nails dug into the armrest as the truck made an awful noise she believed meant it was about to burst into a million pieces. Somehow all the nuts and bolts managed to stay in place, but the rattling grew louder.
Killean could no longer see the headlights of the car as it was nearly on their ass. With the damage to the truck and the fact the car was simply faster, they would never outrun it, and he couldn’t allow them to get the upper hand. He had to do whatever was necessary to keep Simone safe and free from Joseph.
“Brace yourself,” he said.
“For what?” Simone asked.
“Impact.”
Simone didn’t have a chance to respond before Killean threw his arm out and pressed it against her chest; he shoved her back in the seat. The truck tires squealed, and smoke plumed up around the windows as he stomped on the brakes. Another loud squeal came from behind him, but his stop was so sudden that the car didn’t have time to avoid plowing into the ass end of the truck.
Metal crunched as the tailgate bent in, and the bed of the truck bowed up from the force of the car being driven into it. The back window shattered, and glass rained down around them. When the airbags exploded, Killean released the wheel to tear away the one in front of him before ripping Simone’s out of the way.
The truck shifted to the side when the passenger side tires gave way; the rotors digging into the asphalt tore up chunks of pavement and sent more sparks over the hood. They were shoved another fifty feet forward before the hideous screeching and twisting of metal came to an end and the truck stopped sliding.
Lowering his arm, Killean turned to Simone as she slumped in the seat. The pallor of her face terrified him as he rested his hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay?” he demanded.
“Yes,” she said.
“Are you sure you’re not hurt?”
She lifted her head to reveal her quivering lower lip. “I’m not hurt.”
Realizing it was fear and not pain that had her so rattled, Killean wanted to stay and comfort her, but lingering would only give those bastards a chance to close in on them.
“Stay here,” he commanded before flinging his door open and plunging into the night.
Steam poured from the crunched-in hood of the car as he ran toward it. The nose of the car was buried in the bed of the truck, but all the Savages had survived the crash. The driver beat at the steering wheel pinned against his chest as he tried to free himself, but the wheel was lodged in the Savage’s diaphragm, making his chest nearly concave. He wouldn’t get free anytime soon, but another Savage was already climbing out of the back seat.
Seizing the door the Savage had opened, Killean smashed it into the vampire and pinned the creature between the door and the car. The vamp grunted, its hands flailed, and it beat at Killean when he put more of his weight against the door. When the door started cutting into its chest, the Savage changed tactics; instead of beating at Killean, the vampire gripped the edge of the door and attempted to push it away.
Lowering his shoulder, Killean pressed it against the door to keep the Savage trapped while freeing his hand. He delivered a series of three consecutive blows to the Savage’s face. Its nose and cheekbone gave way as the other back door and the passenger side door of the car opened. When two more vamps emerged, Killean realized he didn’t have time to mess around with this Savage anymore.
Jumping back, Killean leapt away from the door and jerked it open. He swung his hand forward as the Savage staggered toward him. The ribs Killean had crunched in the door gave way beneath the force of his fist as he plunged it into the Savage’s chest. The beat of the Savage’s heart tickled his fingertips before Killean clenched the organ in his hand and tore it free.
The vamp staggered forward before collapsing to his knees and falling face-first onto the road. Killean released the heart and looked over the car at the Savages on the other side. Red filled his vision when he saw one of them was Andre, and they were heading for Simone.