Over the next few days,two vampires and a hunter arrived to pick Simone up before sunset; the same three brought her back to Killean before dawn. They didn’t blindfold her as they drove her to the compound the vampires and hunters shared, but she doubted she’d be able to find the place again if she tried. She was too busy taking in all the things to see along the way to notice the route they took to get back and forth.
She spent most of her life behind the walls of a hunter stronghold. She’d been knocked out when Joseph took her, and too focused on fleeing with Killean to really absorb much of the human world. Now she took the time to notice how strangely fascinating they were.
She marveled at the various colors of their vehicles, homes, stores, and clothes. She couldn’t get enough of watching them walk the streets with their strollers and dogs. They watered their lawns while talking with their neighbors and ran or rode their bikes down the sidewalks and roads.
The humans were everywhere and so oblivious to the battle brewing under their noses that it amazed her. She almost envied them their peaceful oblivion and mundane lives, but not quite. If they were unable to stop whatever Joseph planned, the simple lives of these people might forever be altered, and they would never see it coming.
Every time they pulled through the gates of the compound, Simone couldn’t help feeling a little shocked when the mansion where the vampires resided came into view. Imposing was an understatement for the gothic estate with its peaks and turrets. The gargoyles on the peaks and outside the doorways looked about to come to life, and she had to stop herself from gulping whenever she saw them.
On the other side of the compound, some of the hunters resided in a beautiful mansion, but many hunters, including her mother, resided in the trailers parked on the lawn of the hunter estate. Some of the hunters, mostly the elders, had moved from the trailers and into the homes being erected on the large, grassy lawn. Eventually, every hunter family would have their own home, and the trailers would be gone.
Every night when they arrived, the hunter children were running around and playing with what she’d come to learn were human children rescued from Joseph. Those children and their caretakers, Duncan and Sister June, had been brought here to live under the protection of the hunters and vampires. After exiting the vehicle, Simone would stop to listen to the children laugh and squeal in delight while they chased each other during their games.
She was able to watch them because a large section of the wall originally dividing the two properties, had been torn down to combine the estates. She’d been to the hunter side a couple of times, but though her visits were brief, she couldn’t deny a more relaxed air encompassed the hunters. Most of the women had forsaken the dull gray, black, and white clothing they’d always worn in favor of the cheerier colors Nathan’s mate, Vicky, brought into their lives.
She’d never expected anything to ever change for the hunters. Seeing so many changes at once was a little overwhelming for her at first, but they were good changes and ones the hunters all seemed to be embracing.
She found those hunters who weren’t too afraid to speak to her—now that she was a vampire and mated to the “killer,” as she’d heard some of them whisper after she passed—were happier.
Kadence had informed her they would also have to build more homes on the vampire side of the property for the growing number of vampire recruits they were gathering. They still had a lot to do, but the hunters and vampires had coalesced into a finely tuned army Simone never would have imagined possible when Nathan first made his announcement to combine forces.
While here, she spent her nights with her mother and Kadence. One night, Vicky also joined them. Her pregnancy still wasn’t showing, but Vicky glowed with happiness as she revealed the maternity clothes the hunter women made for her. The vivid colors and designs were beautiful and would be flattering on her.
Simone mostly wore jeans now, but though she loved the colors of the clothes the others wore, she still preferred black and gray for her shirts. However, she had started wearing more dark blues and greens over the past couple of weeks. Maybe one day she’d feel comfortable enough to don the vibrant reds, yellows, oranges, and purples Vicky and Kadence wore, but Simone wasn’t going to rush it.
Her first night away from Killean, Simone chewed her nails down to the nubs; something she’d never done before, but her terror for him mounted with every hour they spent apart. Would he be okay amid all the blood and death if he ended up in a fight again? What if the hallucinations came back while he was out there? What if the temptation to kill an innocent became too much and he lost control? Would the others forgive him if he did? Would she be enough to bring him back if the darkness trying to claim his soul overtook him?
Even though she could feel Killean’s strength and reassuring presence through their bond, that first night apart was the longest of her life. When she climbed back into the SUV, and her protectors drove her off the grounds, she spent most of the ride mentally urging them to go faster.
When they arrived at the asylum, she hadn’t waited for the vehicle to stop before throwing open the door and running into Killean’s waiting arms. She’d been so focused on him, she barely noticed Declan and Saxon slipping away to their waiting vehicle.
The more time passed though, the less she worried Killean wouldn’t be able to handle returning to his old life, but she stillloathedbeing separated from him.
* * *
“They never switchedlocations after I left them to find you,” Killean said after he’d been working with the Alliance again for a week.
Simone lay in his arms, staring at the ceiling as he ran his fingers through her hair.
“I don’t know if they did or not,” she admitted. “I never asked.”
“Ronan told me last night they never relocated.”
Simone craned her head to peer up at him. “What does that mean?”
“I think it means that no matter what I did, they still trusted me not to reveal their location to Joseph.”
The note of awe and hope in his voice made her heart ache as she realized he still didn’t have confidence in himself. “You’re not a monster, Killean. You never were no matter what you believe.”
“I believe no one as amazing as you could ever love a monster.”
“I’d love you no matter what you did or became. We’re in this together for eternity.”
Killean pulled her close and kissed her forehead more roughly than he’d intended. “We are, but you will never have to love a monster, Simone. I promise you that.”
She listened to the reassuring thump of his heart beneath her ear as she nestled closer to him.
“It also means,” he said after a few minutes. “That they’re confident the compound is strong enough to withstand an attack from Joseph.”
