Her first time out of the stronghold and she was having the warm and fuzzies for her worst enemy. She was an idiot and a pitiful excuse for a hunter.
Taking a deep breath, she struggled to control the accelerated beat of her heart as Ronan hit Logan, knocking him backward. “Declan, go that way,” Ronan ordered with a wave of his hand at the auburn-haired man. “Killean, that way,” he commanded the one with the scar.
Kadence’s hands went to two of the stakes tucked into her inner coat pocket when she realized there were two more vamps in the alley. Declan moved to the right as Jayce fired a shot at Killean, hitting him in the shoulder. Killean lunged forward, knocking the gun from Jayce’s hand with one blow.
Killean jerked Jayce forward, but instead of sinking his fangs into Jayce’s throat and tearing it out, he threw Jayce away from him. Killean could have killed Jayce, there was no denying that. Instead, he’d pushed him away. Kadence’s mind spun as she tried to understand what she’d seen, but none of it made any sense.
“Kadence! Get out of here! Now!”
Nathan’s bellow made her cringe, but she wouldn’t follow his command. She had to witness what happened here. Kadence gasped when Logan brandished a stake and tried to plunge into Ronan’s chest. Ronan grabbed Logan’s hand and tore the stake away as if Logan were no more than a child. With a flick of his fingers, he tossed the stake aside.
His lethal fangs gleamed in the dim light of the alley, but instead of striking, he pushed Logan away from him like Killean had. Kadence watched as the vamps lined up on one side of the alley, with the hunters moving to position themselves on the other side. The vamp who had killed her father thrashed in her brother’s grasp, his red eyes blazing like rubies in the sun. His florid face and wheezing breaths led her to believe his windpipe had been crushed at some point.
“We are at a crossroads,” Ronan stated.
His deep voice sent shivers down her spine. Kadence shook herself. No matter how compelling she found him to be, he was a vampire, plain and simple.
So caught up in her own confusion and emotions, she failed to notice what had happened during the fight. Her brother and the hunters were lined up on their side, closest to the wall, with the vampires lined up before them.
Which would have been fine. Her brother had her father’s killer. Kadence was more than happy to leave here with him, more than happy to go somewhere else to dispose of the monster, while they left the rest of the vamps alone, for now.
The real problem was that she’d been separated from the hunters and was stuck behind the vampires.
CHAPTER 6
“Do you plan to fight to the death?” Ronan asked.
“If that’s what it takes, considering it will be your deaths, not ours,” Nathan replied.
Declan and Killean chuckled while Ronan shifted his stance. Kadence’s heart leapt into her throat. “No,” she croaked.
Once the word was out of her mouth, she knew she’d made a mistake. Until she spoke, everyone had forgotten about her. Now, all eyes turned toward her.
“Kadence, leave!” Nathan spat.
Her eyes flew around the group. Her hand trembled as she lifted it to her treacherous mouth. However, she couldn’t run from here. She couldn’t lose her brother, and for some strange reason, she didn’t want anything bad to happen to Ronan either.
Later, when she was alone, she would kick herself in her stupid ass for finally encountering vampires in the world and turning into a complete idiot because one of them fascinated her. For now, she had to completely ignore her bizarre reaction to Ronan as the other two did absolutely nothing for her.
“The fight is a draw. No more blood has to spill,” she said. “We have the one we came for. There will be other nights to continue this.”
“And more innocent deaths before then!” Nathan sneered.
“Nathan, please, I can’t lose you too!” she cried.
So the hunter, Nathan, was her lover or husband, Ronan realized. He eyed the vein in Nathan’s throat and licked his lips as he contemplated ending his competition for her.
“Get out of here, Kadence!” Nathan yelled at her.
A low growl emanated from him over the way Nathan spoke to her. Declan and Killean exchanged startled glances, but neither of them could be as surprised as he was over it.
Nathan tightened his hold on Joseph’s throat. He seemed to think Ronan was going to charge him to take Joseph back. However, Ronan had no intention of going anywhere near Nathan, not if it meant leaving Kadence unprotected.
“Nathan—” Kadence started.
“I said leave!”
The roared order echoed throughout the alley. Kadence preferred not to see the bloodbath she was certain was about to unfold, but she wouldn’t let it happen if she could somehow stop it. Her fingers slid away from one of her stakes as she looked to Ronan, whose head was turned in her direction.
Everything she’d been taught over the years told her he was evil. However, something within her said he wasn’t. That belief might get her killed tonight. If it did, then she well deserved to die for her stupidity, but she couldn’t bring herself to attack someone who hadn’t come after her.
“I’m not leaving,” she declared as she looked back to her brother.
Nathan’s eyes widened. Declan glanced over his shoulder at her, an approving smile curving his full mouth. Before she could think about what that smile meant, a large hand enclosed on her arm. She spun to face the two men who materialized from the shadows behind her.
The one holding her stared back at her. His pitiless black eyes caused chills to run down her spine. His sandy blond hair framed his handsome face as his upper lip twisted into a sneer of disapproval.
She didn’t have to see his fangs to know this was another vampire. Dread flared through her as his grip became bruising. The other vamp who had appeared with him moved forward to join Ronan and his group. Kadence’s heart sank as she realized the hunters were now outnumbered.
She didn’t get any murderous vibes from Ronan, but she had no doubt the vamp holding her would break her neck and step over her dead body with the same amount of consideration he gave to pulling on his socks.
“Hello, boys,” the vamp holding her greeted, his voice as glacial as the rest of him.
“About time you showed up, Lucien,” Killean said.
“Looks like Saxon and I are just in time, Killean,” Lucien replied with a shrug. “Quite the pickle we’re all in. Especially Joseph there,” he nodded to the vamp Nathan held. “Looks like everyone’s after your blood, asshole.”
Joseph opened his mouth to respond, but only a choked ugh sound came out. Hatred churned in her gut as Kadence gazed at the vamp who had killed her father. She knew his name now, but to her he would always be the vamp who had torn her world apart. The one who had propelled her into breaking free of the boundaries she’d chafed against her whole life.
“Let go of her!” Nathan snapped at Lucien.
“Is she what I think she is?” Lucien inquired, completely ignoring her brother’s command as he bent toward her to inspect her more closely.
“She is a born hunter,” Killean answered.
Kadence leaned away from him and, before she could think about it, kicked him in the shin. Lucien jumped and surveyed her with more interest. “Feisty little hunter, aren’t you?” he murmured.