Killean didn’t realized he’d stopped breathing until the creature broke eye contact and swept past him. He stood, staring at the wall where the creature had been before turning to gaze after it. The ends of its cloak trailed along the ground as it moved with a grace that made it appear to be floating over the floor. Give this thing a sickle and it would embody the image of the Grim Reaper.
He didn’t know what it was, but it had to be the company Joseph received the other night. He also had no doubt it was the brains behind everything Joseph was doing recently. It wasn’t a typical vampire, not with those eyes.
Before Ronan was born, a hunter must have been changed into a vampire. Only a hunter heritage would explain those eyes, and only vast age would explain the creature’s power and the still electrified feel of his skin. That thing had to be at least a couple of thousand years old and stronger than all of them.
The Alliance had a more grueling battle ahead of them than they’d anticipated, but seeing this creature helped him understand Joseph’s ambition to turn more hunters into Savages. Thisthingwas most likely seeking to have more of its kind with it, and it would know how powerful a hunter could become once they were turned and groomed for mayhem.
But what was their goal once they had an army of Savages?
He was no closer to learning the answer to that question, and he suspected he’d have to be here for months before Joseph revealed it to him. If he had his way, he wouldn’t be here after tonight.
When the creature vanished from sight, Killean forgot about the kitchen and followed it. He watched as it turned into the hall where he slept before entering the corridor with the hunters.
Killean’s pace increased as he hurried down the hall. He had no doubt this thing could kill him as he easily as a fly, but he didn’t want it anywhere near Simone.
Stepping into the hall with the hunters, he discovered the creature gone. He stood there, gazing back and forth between Joseph’s office and the shadows engulfing the steel door at the end of the hall, but he didn’t think it had left.
He almost went to knock on Joseph’s door, but he had no reason for doing so. He glanced at Simone to make sure she was okay, or as okay as she could be, before slipping back into the hall.
No matter what it took, he had to get them free of here tonight if possible. He didn’t have much to report, but Ronan had to know about that thing’s existence.
* * *
“What is going to happen?”Killean asked Joseph as he stood beside him in the hall of hunters.
“We’re going to take some of them from here, turn them loose, and let them feast,” Joseph replied.
“But won’t they feast onusonce they’re unchained?”
Joseph grinned at him and clasped his shoulder. He was far too touchy-feely for Killean’s liking, but it was probably a good thing as it meant Joseph was buying his act.
“That’s what I like about you, Killean, you think ahead. None of these other imbeciles”—he waved a hand at the Savages gathered before some of the hunters— “considered that possibility the first time they did this. They didn’t even bother to try to take control of their minds before unchaining them. Of course, those prisoners were humans and vampires we’d caught and transitioned, and not hunters, so these will be feistier and more fun.”
Joseph licked his lips as he stared at his captives like a proud papa. “I allowed those captives to feast on a few of their jailers to teach them a lesson. Some of the hunters who were captured overseas have already transitioned, and the Savages in charge of that have followed the guidelines I gave them. They’ve suffered no losses and had success.”
Simone’s stronghold wasn’t the only one the Savages attacked and imprisoned hunters from; three others had fallen around the world. With the amount Joseph had killed, Killean doubted he could make the journey overseas to where two of those strongholds were located. The more innocents a vampire killed, the harder it became for them to cross large bodies of water.
So that meant Joseph had more lackeys running programs such as this and possibly more underground hiding places around the world. There may even be more creatures such as the one Killean encountered earlier running those overseas programs.
“If things keep up and you continue to prove yourself, you will rise to become my second-in-command,” Joseph said.
Well yippee, fucking do dah.Killean hoped his smile didn’t look as fake as it felt.
“It would be fitting for Ronan to be taken down by two of his former men. Oh, how the mighty will fall,” Joseph murmured.
Not going to happen, Killean thought. Ronan was the rightful king of the vampires, and it would take a lot more than Joseph to defeat him.
“We’ll keep the hunters restrained,” Joseph said. He held up a black hood and a strip of cloth. “Gagged, bagged, and chained, they can’t put up much of a fight. It would be much easier if we could control their minds, but even as vampires, the hunters retain their ability to keep us shut out.”
“And then what happens?” he asked.
“And then we escort them from here and allow them to play,” Joseph purred. “I already have the perfect venue picked out for them. We’re only taking half of them tonight; the other half will go tomorrow. It will make them easier to contain, and once they see human prey, they usually go for that, especially if the prey is running and screaming. And if not, we have another way of controlling them.”
Killean’s gaze locked on Simone and the Savage standing across from her. The female vampire grinned at Simone like she was a treat the Savage couldn’t wait to devour. Judging by the hood and gag in the vamp’s hand, Simone was one of those who was going tonight.
Excitement and dread rippled through him. Joseph hadn’t said whether Killean would be going with them or not. If he wasn’t there, then he couldn’t stop her from killing, but Joseph could refuse to let him go. He had to proceed cautiously, or everything he’d sacrificed might end up being for nothing.
“The girl,” Killean said, forcing his next words out as a question rather than the command he wanted to issue.Humble yourself. It went against everything he innately was, but he gritted his teeth and continued. “Can I have her?”
