“And Kadence was the woman you just saw,” Saxon said.
“Simone is here too,” Nathan said.
Elyse swallowed back the bile rising in her throat. Not only did she have to deal with Killean’s hatred, but she would have to deal with Simone’s too. She deserved whatever they threw at her, but she was too tired to withstand it right now.
The others walked back into the room with Killean’s mate, Simone. Saxon was glad to see her; Killean would be a lot easier to deal with if Simone was here to help keep him grounded. She could also pull him back from the edge if he couldn’t handle the blood and death they would soon face.
Simone walked over and rested her hand on Killean’s arm. He stopped glowering at Elyse as he pulled her into his arms.
“Where is everyone else who came with you?” Declan inquired as he strolled over to the couch and plopped onto it.
“In the other cabins surrounding the lake,” Ronan said as he draped his arm around Kadence’s shoulders. “Most were empty, but some ice fishermen occupied a few. They decided to cut their vacations short.”
“Their poor wives.” Declan set his booted feet on the coffee table and leaned back into the cushions that looked like they’d stepped straight out of a nature magazine from the seventies. Trout and other assorted fish decorated the burnt orange, velvet cushions. The coffee table had an iron fish holding up the glass top.
“Anything good on TV?” Declan pointed to the flat screen mounted to the wall across from him.
“They’re still showing you,” Ronan assured him before turning to Elyse. “And they’re still searching for you.”
“Delightful,” Elyse said.
“I’ve taken care of it,” Ronan said.
“How?” Saxon asked.
“They’re not the only ones who can contact the police and reporters. It should clear up in a few days, and once it’s out of sight, it will be out of mind.”
“I hope so,” Asher said.
“Me too,” Elyse agreed.
“What if they start a new report?” Simone asked.
“I’ll shut that one down too,” Ronan said.
Simone took Killean’s hand and ran her fingers over it. Elyse couldn’t tear her attention away from them. They’d almost died because of her; she’d known this, but seeing them really brought it home. They were no longer a means to an end. They were two living, breathing vampires who deeply loved each other.
“I’m sorry for my role in what happened to you,” she whispered. “I could give you all the reasons why, but you don’t want to hear them.”
“No, I don’t,” Killean said.
Elyse bowed her head as she fiddled with the edge of her baggy sweater while keeping her casted arm against her stomach.
“I do,” Simone said.
“Simone—”
“She has a right to explain,” Simone interrupted Killean. “You, of all people, should know that sometimes good people have to do things they wouldn’t normally do.”
They stared at each other before Killean turned his scowl on the wall behind Elyse.
“I’d like to hear it,” Ronan said. “I’ve heard some of what happened from Saxon, but I want to hear it from you too.”
Elyse opened her mouth to tell them everything, but she didn’t know where to start. Did she tell them about her mother and the freak show her childhood became? Did she start with her father’s finger being cut off in front of her, or the people they brought in and slaughtered because she lost track of Simone?
She settled on the beginning of her captivity. “They took me after work.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
