“The remaining Savages?” Ronan inquired.
“They’ve fled into the woods,” Lucien said.
“Good,” Ronan said. “Hopefully the sun will destroy more of them too. We have to go.”
“I’m going to pick you up,” Declan cautioned her.
Simone was in no condition to argue with him. She bit her lip to keep from crying out when he lifted her into his arms and followed Ronan through the woods at a dead run. Every step jarred her reawakening nerves, but Simone didn’t make a sound as she gripped Declan’s shoulders and did her best to remain still. She heard the footsteps of the others behind them, but she couldn’t see them over Declan’s shoulder, and she didn’t dare move to look.
Smoke trailed from Killean again when Ronan sprinted across the open area separating the woods from the asylum. Ronan hunched over Killean, shielding him the best he could, but more flames erupted across Killean’s chest. Throwing his shoulder down, Ronan smashed through the front door and ran inside.
Simone couldn’t tear her gaze away from them as Declan followed. Ronan carefully set Killean on the floor near the stairs and away from the sun’s rays. Kneeling beside Killean, Ronan smothered the flames with his hands before lifting his wrist to his mouth and biting deep. He held his wrist to Killean’s lips so the blood went down his throat.
“Ronan?” Kadence asked; the shock evident in her voice.
The others all stopped on the threshold, and Declan’s arms briefly constricted around her as disbelief rippled through him.
Ronan didn’t look up as he replied. “He needs blood, and mine is the strongest here. Simone’s would probably help him more, but she’s in no condition to give right now.”
“Put me down,” Simone whispered to Declan.
He strode closer to Killean before setting her on her feet. Ignoring her cracking skin and the agony of her healing nerves, Simone fell to her knees on the other side of Killean. Ronan’s eyes were a vivid shade of red when he glanced at her, and she saw the anguish in them. Even if Ronan understood why, he hadn’t been happy with what Killean did to rescue her. However, he still cared for Killean; that much was evident in the set of his jaw and the lines of sorrow etching his eyes and mouth.
Tearing her gaze away from Ronan, Simone focused on Killean. “Please don’t leave me,” she pleaded as she rested her hand against the side of his face. Afraid she would hurt him, she barely touched him, but the small contact caused his eyes to flicker.
“Lucien, bring me some blood bags,” Ronan ordered.
* * *
Before sunset,they carefully enshrouded Killean in blankets and transferred him into the back of a van. The blankets covered all of him, but the idea of bringing him into the sun again terrified her. However, Ronan wanted to move him before nightfall to avoid any Savages who might return, and Simone couldn’t argue with that logic.
After supplying Killean with blood, Ronan and the others spent most of the day disposing of bodies and cleaning up the mess created by the attack last night. She and Kadence kept vigilant watch over Killean, giving him blood on an hourly basis.
Simone also fed a lot more than usual, and the blood had accelerated her healing, but her red and blistered skin still cracked every time she moved. Her mending nerves felt like someone had taken sandpaper and rubbed every last one of them raw.
Simone climbed into the van to sit beside Killean and clasped his hand in hers. Blisters still marred his mottled, red, and charred skin, yet his lips were filling out, and his lids completely covered his eyes again. He still hadn’t regained consciousness, but he was getting better. She cleaved to that knowledge as he remained shut off from her.
His skin was growing back in patches over his exposed muscle and bone, but the returning flesh held none of the strange colors that filled it before. When she and Kadence talked about it earlier, her friend said the same thing happened to Ronan when she was threatened, and he was fine. Kadence was sure Killean wouldn’t suffer any ill effects from his strange transformation.
Simone scanned the road behind Ronan as he stood in the doorway of the van with Nathan and Kadence beside him. Nathan, looking much better than he had earlier, leaned against one of the doors.
“Do you think the Savages will return now that Joseph is dead?” Simone asked Ronan.
“There’s no way of knowing what they’ll do,” Ronan answered. All his burns were already healed. “Joseph led them out here, but it sounds as if the creature you and Killean encountered is the one pulling the strings. We don’t know what its next move will be; either way, it’s not safe here anymore.”
She knew it was true, but she hated leaving the place where she and Killean were cocooned in so much happiness for such a short time. Killean would never get the chance to bring this place back to beautiful life, and she would never see her garden again.
“Where will we go?” she whispered.
“You’re coming to the compound,” Ronan said.
“But the hunters—”
“Killean almost sacrificed himself to bring down Joseph. The hunters will have to accept him.” Ronan shot Nathan a pointed look as he said this. “Despite what he’s done, Killean’s proven he’s still one of us this past month and especially last night.”
Simone couldn’t argue with that, and if any hunter had an issue with this decision, they would have to come through her to get at Killean. “How do you think they found us?”
Ronan’s jaw clenched before he spoke again. “I don’t know. We should go.”
