With his beard gone and his hair short, he almost looked like her father again, except the twinkle in his eyes was gone. She hoped it would return one day, but she doubted it. After his shower, he told her about her mother and the fact she’d been the one sent in to torture him.
How could anyone go back to enjoying life after enduring something like that? Her mother was the love of his life, and he’d gone out of his way to make her happy every day. He’d packed them up and moved them around the continent for her mother; he brought her a fresh flower every day, and never complained when some new whim struck her. He’d catered to her every whim until she became a monster who tortured him almost to death.
“Without Elyse to help them find more recruits, and what we believe was a pretty big hit against them today, it will take them a while to recoup,” Ronan said.
“I never should have let her drag you around like she did,” her father murmured. “She was so fascinated by everything. When she discovered your ability, she believed it was proof she wasn’t crazy and there really was something mystical to this world. I didn’t see what harm following her dreams could do and believed it would makeyouhappier to be around people like you, but most of them werefrauds.”
He spat the word frauds like it was something dirty, and Elyse understood his anger. In the beginning, she’d hoped to meet other special people too, but she quickly realized most of them were simplyreallygood at reading people, excellent liars, or crazy. Out of the thousands of people she was introduced to on her journey, she only met three with a real ability.
“It was years ago,” she said.
His eyes were harder than she’d ever seen them when they latched onto hers. “And look at what happened to us because of it. I should have been stronger; I should have saidnobefore you did. She was just… she was… I just wanted her to be happy.”
“I know.”
He gulped as tears filled his eyes. “I should have realized it wouldn’t be good for you, but that school… I thought it was best to get you away from that school andthosekids. What they did to you after they learned about your ability was awful. Ireallybelieved I was doing the best thing for you both.”
Elyse tried not to cry at the thought of her mother as one of thosethings. Their relationship had been complicated and probably not the best, but she was hermom,and Elyse loved her. And now she was gone forever. Sorrow twisted in her heart, but she would grieve later; her father needed her to be strong right now.
“I know,” she assured him. “I didn’t want to be in that school anymore either, and I did hope to meet someone like me, someone who would understand. We couldn’t have known we were mostly going to meet a bunch of liars or what would come of it years later. Thisisn’tyour fault.”
“And it’s not yours either.”
Elyse smiled, but though she could hand out forgiveness like candy, she couldn’t share a piece with herself.Maybe one day.
Saxon shifted beside her and rested his hand on her knee. She didn’t miss her father’s eyes following the gesture or the set of his jaw afterward. Turning, she looked to Ronan. “If you catch Savages, I can trace their blood to other vampires they created. I can help you hunt them like I helped them.”
Saxon stiffened beside her, and his displeasure radiated from him. She purposely hadn’t told him that she planned to talk to Ronan about this; she knew he wouldn’t approve.
Ronan glanced from her to Saxon and back again before speaking. “That would be helpful.”
“You can bring them to me until I’m trained well enough to fight them, and then I’ll join you in the field.”
“No, you won’t!” Saxon exploded.
Elyse took a deep breath before facing him. “I helped create this mess; Iwillhelp undo it.”
“Theyforcedyou to work for them. Getting yourself killed as some act of redemption won’t do anyone any good.”
“Are you going to stop fighting?”
“No, but that’s different.”
“No, it’s not. We both plan to make sure this world stays safe, and I can help do that. If I’m going to become a vampire”—her father’s hand jerked in hers—“then I’m also going to be a fighter. If I remain human, I’ll stay out of it, and you can bring the Savages to me.”
Saxon gaped at her. He closed his mouth, but it fell open again. “Are you saying you won’t join me unless you can fight?”
“Yes.”
She expected him to explode off the couch and storm out of the cabin like he had earlier, but he remained sitting where he was; his body rigid against hers. She didn’t want to upset him, and she yearned to join him, but she’d spent most of her life controlled by others and doing what they wanted. She wouldnotspend eternity the same way.
Using the mating bond as leverage over him to get her way was all kinds of wrong, but she was going to fight, and he was going to have to accept her decision.
“Before being a prisoner in the cabin, I never considered myself strong, but I survived months of mental abuse and torture while there. I felt so beaten and broken by the time you came, and even after I left there, I wanted to hide. But I’m tired of hiding.
“My time in the cabin made me realize I’m far stronger than I believed; I’m not going back to being weak and allowing others to run my life. I will not become a vampire to remain locked away while others fight my battles. Ihaveto do this, and not for redemption, but because it’s as much who I am now as it is who you are.”
Saxon didn’t speak as he digested her words. Everything inside him screamed against putting her in danger, but how could he deny her this when she finally realized her strength?
