Bound by Danger (The Alliance #6) - Brenda K. Davies Page 0,103
to warrant a rest area. He hadn’t seen another car in a while, but the flow of traffic would probably increase as the day dawned.
“They were pretty daring to attack us here,” he said.
“They’ve been getting increasingly bold for a long time,” Declan said.
“When do you think they started following us?” Asher asked.
“Callie’s apartment,” Lucien answered. “It’s the only thing that makes sense. They didn’t just stumble across us. Someone”—his gaze traveled to the remains of his brother—“was waiting for us nearby. It was most likely Yannis.”
“What makes you say that?” Logan asked.
“Because, whether I like it or not, we were brothers. It’s been hundreds of years since we saw each other, but we know how the other thinks. He expected me to bring her back there, and he was waiting.”
“Why would he expect that?” Saber asked.
“The second I didn’t kill her in that pit, he knew she meant something to me. I was starved enough that I would have killed anyone else, but instead, I saved her. I’m sure some of the other Savages and probably demons suspected it too, but Yannis would have been certain.”
“That’s a long time to wait,” Killean said.
Lucien met his gaze as he replied, “He’s been waiting centuries to kill me. These past weeks were nothing compared to that.”
No one said anything as their eyes returned to the demon.
“If they’ve been following us for that long, why didn’t they attack sooner?” Asher asked.
“They’ve probably been waiting for the right time, or maybe for enough of them to gather,” Willow said. “I’d like to know where they came from in the woods.”
“We’ll check that out,” Declan said.
“At least they didn’t follow us to the compound,” Logan said.
“They wanted the sword,” Declan replied. “They wouldn’t take the chance of us getting somewhere more secure and taking it with us.”
Willow lifted her chin. “They’re not getting it.”
Declan shifted uneasily but didn’t say anything.
“Do you think they put a tracking device on one of the vehicles?” Logan asked.
“We had someone watching over them every night in case they found us. There’s no way one of them got close enough to do that,” Willow said.
“I agree,” Killean said.
Lucien glanced toward the lightening sky, but it would still be a couple of hours before the sun was up enough to burn away the remains. “We should set up a roadblock so no vehicles can come by here until the bodies are gone.”
“Asher and I will take two of the SUVs to do that,” Logan said.
“I also need blood for when Callie wakes. I have to feed her.”
And she will wake, he told himself. He couldn’t allow himself to doubt it; he’d go mad if he did, and now was not the time to do that. They would end up having to restrain him too, and they needed all the help they could get to clean up this mess and get out of here.
Callie would make it through this, and soon the agony of her transformation would take hold. He ground his teeth together as he resisted going to her, but they had to take care of this mess before he could do that.
He sneered at the creature on the ground as the demon part of him stirred. This never should have happened. Callie never should have suffered in such a way, and it was all this thing’s fault.
We must keep it alive. We have to see what it knows.
It’s never going to tell us anything; just kill it.
That was most likely true, but no matter how much he’d prefer to see it dead, they had to learn if it would reveal anything. They also needed to learn if they could discover any weaknesses.
“We’ll get some blood for you soon,” Killean said.
Lucien opened his mouth to argue; he wanted to ensure he was ready for her now, but it would be hours before Callie required blood to complete her transformation. Before then, they had to ensure the demon was secure, find out where the Savages came from, get the roadblock established, and ensure the bodies were destroyed.
When the demon stirred, Saber kicked it in the head, and its movements ceased again. “I guess we’ll know when it wakes,” he said.
Willow rolled her eyes as she slid the sword into the scabbard on her back. “Let’s go see if we can discover where these things came from,” she said to Declan.
He nodded.
“We’ll set up the roadblocks,” Asher said, and Killean tossed him a set of keys.