The reminder of that death didn’t bother him as much as it had in the beginning. He’d killed those who deserved it. Four were child molesters set free because of overcrowded jails or technicalities, two were convicted rapists on the streets for the same reasons, and the other was Arlo.
He’d fed on one of the rapists hours ago, and when he finished, he felt ready to try his hand at tracking down these Savages and handing himself over to be brought to Joseph. At first, he’d been afraid they might try to kill him, and he’d have to destroy them and find different Savages, but after a phone call, they agreed to do it.
Killean suspected they’d called Joseph and their leader demanded they bring Killean to him. If it were a setup, Joseph would get the chance to destroy one of Ronan’s men, and if it wasn’t, Killean could be a significant asset to whatever Joseph planned.
When the call ended, the Savages bound, gagged, blindfolded, stripped, and searched him before shoving him into the trunk of a car. He had no idea where they were, as they’d driven around for hours. These bastards had either taken the most confusing route they could before bringing him here, or they’d left Massachusetts far behind.
Wherever they were, he was alone here, and if he couldn’t convince Joseph he was one of them, he would die soon.
Chapter Three
Killean glancedat the concrete walls surrounding him as the Savages slipped out the door behind him. The room they’d led him into was circular, and the gray walls were bare. Like the hallway where Simone was chained, recessed lights set into the concrete ceiling cast a dim glow across the desk in the center of the room and the man sitting behind it.
Everything he’d seen of this place had a bunker feel to it. Judging by the scent of damp earth he detected beyond the walls, they were underground. However, instead of the stale air of the old sewer tunnels where a nest of Savages had been discovered, the air here was fresher and, he suspected, filtered. The temperature in the place was also comfortable and must be as regulated as the air.
They may be below ground, but this was most certainly no sewer tunnel or any other tunnel running beneath the city. But then they could be far from Boston.
“Killean,” Joseph purred.
Rising from the black leather chair he’d been perched on, Joseph stood behind the massive, walnut desk in the middle of the room. Joseph planted his hands on the desk and leaned forward as his gaze ran over Killean’s naked frame. Killean suspected part of the reason they’d stripped him was to intimidate him.
It hadn’t work. He’d endured far worse humiliation and degradation in his lifetime; this was nothing in comparison.
Holding out his arms, Killean turned in a slow circle before facing Joseph again. “Do you like what you see?” he asked.
Joseph’s smile revealed the tips of his glistening fangs. With his golden-brown hair brushed back from his face, the narrowness of Joseph’s features was more noticeable. At six foot two, Joseph was an inch shorter than Killean but stockier in build and about ten pounds heavier than Killean’s two-hundred-ten-pound frame.
“Ah, Killean, I never would have guessedyouhad a sense of humor,” Joseph murmured.
That was because he didn’t have one.
“So why have you come to us?” Joseph inquired when Killean didn’t respond.
“You know why.”
“Do I?”
Killean hadn’t spent much time with Joseph when they were Defenders. Joseph had spent most of his time in the training facility with the recruits, most of whom were turned vampires rather than purebred ones.
At the time, turned vampires were allowed to train with the Defenders to fight Savages, but only purebred ones made it into their inner circle. That changed when Joseph started creating Savage vampires and the Alliance formed. After he turned Savage, Joseph had recruited some of his old trainees to join his new cause.
“I am moving on from Ronan,” Killean stated.
Joseph surveyed Killean again. “You are one of Ronan’s most loyal supporters.”
“Iwas,” Killean corrected.And I will be again.“But not anymore.”
Joseph’s gaze dipped to the scar on Killean’s chest. Killean didn’t look down at the faint white circle almost directly over his heart; he’d seen the thing too many times over the centuries.
“And why is that?” Joseph inquired.
Killean glanced away in what he hoped appeared to be shame. Acting had never been a skill of his. He’d never seen a reason to pretend about anything; he had no choice now. “I slipped up and killed.”
“You killed a human?” Joseph inquired.
Killean met Joseph’s eyes again. “Yes.”
“Ronan would forgive one slip up.”
