“It was strong, Ronan, damn strong. It took all three of us to kill it,” Declan finished.
“What was it?” one of the hunters asked.
Saxon waited for one of the others to answer, but they didn’t. The silence stretched until he finally broke it. “It was one of the demons that created the hunter and vampire line.”
Now he knew what had been pulling Joseph’s strings and what was strong enough to keep the Savages below in line. He’d like to believe they’d killed the source of their problem, but it wasn’t the same as what Killean described, and the dying scream the thing released told him there were more. It was calling to its brethren as it died, and they would answer the call.
“One thing’s for sure,” Lucien said.
“What’s that?” Killean asked.
“Our ancestors were ugly motherfuckers.”
Saxon had to agree.
“We’ll get our dead out of the first tunnel, and then we’ll take whatever bombs and grenades we have left and blow every exit we’ve discovered,” Ronan said. “If we can’t flush them out, we’ll bury them.”
Chapter Forty-Nine
Elyse flung openthe door and raced down the steps when the first vehicle drove past the cabin. Its tires crunched on the dirt as it followed the curve of the lake and parked in front of the building where Declan took Logan. Saber had returned a few hours ago with five women who’d gone inside and come back out less than an hour later. He’d taken the women away and returned an hour ago; he’d stopped to tell them Logan was fine, but they still hadn’t seen him.
Clasping her hands before her, Elyse watched as more vehicles passed and followed the first. She practically bounced on her toes as she surveyed them. Where was Saxon? Where was her dad?
Footsteps thudded across the porch as Simone and Kadence came to stand beside her. They’d told her they’d communicated with Ronan and Killean who were on their way back with Saxon and her dad, but she wouldn’t believe it until she saw them. She yearned to communicate with Saxon too, but she’d made the choice not to complete the bond; she was kicking herself in the ass for it now.
Two vehicles stopped in front of the cabin and turned off. She searched the tinted windows but couldn’t see anything beyond them. When one of the doors opened, she held her breath while she waited to see who would emerge, and then a foot went down, and Saxon’s head appeared over the door.
She ran forward and threw her arms around him. He lifted her off the ground and squeezed her while she clung to him and tried not to cry.
“It’s okay,” he whispered as he held her close and inhaled her sweet scent. “It’s over.”
For now, but he didn’t add those words. She’d learn soon enough they had a whole new enemy to battle. For now, he just craved holding her.
Sensing something off about him, Elyse leaned back to take Saxon in; he was so bruised and filthy she could barely make out his features beneath the layer of grime coating him. He’d been through hell, but his arms were strong around her.
“Are you okay?” she demanded as she clasped his stubble-lined cheek.
“I’m fine.”
He said the words, but she saw the wariness in his eyes. Something had happened out there, and it had rattled him, but he wasn’t ready to talk about it yet.
“My… dad?” Her voice hitched; Kadence and Simone said he was coming back, but how much of him was left?
Saxon set her down and smoothed the hair back from her face. He tried to wipe away the dirt streaking her cheeks from him, but all he did was smear more over her face. “We’ve got him.”
“Is he… is he…?”
“He’ll get through it with you,” he assured her when her words trailed off.
Elyse nodded, but her gaze went to Asher as he opened another door and helped someone from the vehicle. Elyse gripped Saxon’s arm and stepped away from him as a filthy, bone-thin man emerged from the SUV.
The man blinked against the sun before bowing his head so his scraggly, salt and pepper hair fell forward to shield his face. Lifting a hand, he used it to shield him from the sun, but he kept his face turned away.
It was his hand and the missing fingers that made her realize the emaciated man was her father. She released a strangled cry as she tried to assimilate this man with the pudgy one who had twinkling blue eyes the same color as hers. He’d always been clean-shaven, with his hair neatly trimmed and, while his clothes were usually outdated, they were tidy.
She’d known the Savages were brutalizing him, but seeing him like this broke her. Tears streamed down her face as she staggered away from Saxon. Her father’s head turned toward her, but no recognition registered on his face.
Panic filled her at the possibility they may have made him forget her. Or maybe, after all he’d been through, he wouldpreferto forget her. She hadn’t considered it, mainly because she couldn’t without crying, but what if he hated her for what he endured?
