“I spotted a couple of them across the street,” Willow said. “How many people do you think they’ll kill before they move on from here?”
“They’re on a mission to find us, and they’re using some of these people to help them do it, so there’s a chance they won’t kill anyone.”
“Maybe we should hand ourselves over to them?”
He could feel her regret over what was happening in this town, and he didn’t want any of the humans hurt, but he would protect her life over theirs. “That’s not going to happen.”
“I joined the Alliance to protect people and families.”
“And if they have you, they’ll turn you Savage, and then you’ll be the one destroying families. Besides, having us won’t stop them from turning on these people. It might be what triggers them to start killing. Right now, they have to play nice; if they have what they came here for, then all bets are off.”
Willow knew he was right, but she hated the idea of standing idly by while these monsters ran all over this town. It was so idyllic and peaceful before they arrived, and now it was a freaking nightmare.
“I wish we’d never found this place,” she murmured.
“So do I.”
“How are we going to get out of this?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted. He’d been trying to figure that out the entire time he was in the shower. He still didn’t have an answer. “We could wait until the morning and make a run for the woods on the outskirts of town.”
“They’ll expect that.”
“I know.”
Two more shadows slipped from in between the homes and around to the front. Willow held her breath as they separated and stormed up the stairs of two porches to bang on the doors. Her nails dug into her palms until she drew blood.
When he scented her blood on the air, Declan crossed the room to her and clasped one of her hands. He gently unfolded her fingers as he watched what was happening out the window. Holding her hand in his, he ignored the tingling in his fangs, but her blood was an undeniable temptation as it teased his nostrils.
The door across the way opened to reveal one of the young boys whose memory she changed earlier. Willow bit her lip and prepared to launch herself out the window if it became necessary to save him.
“Declan,” she whispered.
“It will be okay.”
Or at least he hoped it would be; the Savage couldn’t touch the boy while he remained in the house. “If it becomes necessary,I’llintervene, but I want you to stay here.” He held up his hand when she started to protest. “We have no hope of escaping if we’re both captured. One of us has to stay free, no matter what happens. At least then, we’ll still have a chance of contacting the others and possibly saving whoever they capture.”
“Okay,” Willow reluctantly admitted. She didn’t like it one bit, but he had a point.
A woman appeared behind the child and rested her hand on the boy’s shoulder while she spoke with the Savage. A minute passed before she nudged the boy away and closed the door.
The Savage walked over to join the other, who was standing in front of a closed door. It opened to reveal an older man leaning heavily on his cane. They spoke for a minute before the Savages left.
“They’re coming here too,” Declan said.
Releasing her hand, he turned away from the window and ran out of the room. He took the stairs two at a time to the bottom where he found the family watching TV. Earlier, he’d commanded them to act like it was any other night. Junior sat on the couch with a hunting magazine, Cheryl was knitting, Gus hit the buttons on the remote as he flipped through the channels, and Gretchen was in her room.
His gaze lingered on Junior. When they returned here, the kid had stared openly at Willow again—something Declan put an end to by telling him he’d break his fucking legs if he kept it up. The kid had blanched, and before the rest of the family could get upset, he changed their memories and commanded Junior to stop staring at her. The kid hadn’t looked at her since.
Declan glanced at the windows looking out on the porch. He’d considered closing the curtains, but Cheryl said they were usually left open, so they remained open. He couldn’t draw suspicion by closing them tonight.
Avoiding the windows, he edged around the back of Gus’s recliner as Willow stopped at the bottom of the steps. They all looked up at him as he knelt next to Gus.
“People are coming here who are looking for us,” he said to Gus. “You’re going to tell them you haven’t seen us.”
“I haven’t seen you,” Gus said.
“You’ve never met us,” Declan stated.
