Small fires erupted over the exposed flesh of the remaining dead Savages. Those fires spread until they became a blazing inferno. He couldn’t stop himself from smiling as he took grim satisfaction in watching the Savages burn.
His grin widened when the fire spread to his brother’s body. His hand tightened on Callie’s as his brother became nothing more than ash.
He would have loved to spend centuries torturing Yannis for what he did to Callie, but he would never get that opportunity. However, he savored every second of watching Yannis burn.
For hundreds of years, he’d never known if Yannis survived their fight, but from now on, when his brother crossed his mind, he would have this fantastic memory of watching him burn.
The worthless piece of shit would never be a problem again.
Chapter Forty-Five
When the fires died out, Declan pulled out his phone, and a couple of minutes later, Asher and Logan returned. They drove their vehicles over the piles of ashes, kicking them up and scattering them across the rest area. The Savage’s remains rose to dim the sun’s rays as they danced through the air.
Before those remains settled, the doors opened, and Killean climbed behind the wheel while Simone slid into the passenger seat.
“We’re good to go,” Killean said as he closed the door.
“Good,” Lucien said. “Did Declan and Willow discover where they came from?”
“There’s another road about a half a mile through the woods. They discovered three vans parked alongside it. The Savages must have packed them full, and I’m sure the ones who fled took more than a few vehicles with them when they left. One of the vans had a partition dividing the front seats from the back; that must have been where the demon stayed to avoid the sun.”
“Are we leaving the vans there?”
Killean’s gaze flicked to his in the rearview mirror. “Do you see a problem with doing that?”
“No.”
“Yes, we’re leaving them. Our vehicles may not have tracking devices on them, but those vans might.”
“They most likely told others about our SUVs. They probably have a description and license plates.”
“We already considered that. Ronan is going to leave us some new vehicles in the state forest in Plymouth. We’ll switch them out before going to meet him.”
“Where are we doing that?”
“The hotel on the Cape.”
It wasn’t a secure location, but it was away from the compound and any prying eyes. They could do anything to the demon there. The tires crunched over the earth as Killean shifted into drive and fell in behind Declan’s vehicle.
Lucien wished they could pick up the vehicles, transport them to the state forest, and then the Cape. He hated the idea of that thing in the same SUV as Declan, Willow, and Asher. Many things could go wrong, but he couldn’t dwell on those scenarios; it would only make him crazy if he did.
After an hour of driving, Declan pulled into the parking lot of a hardware store getting ready to open. Killean used his abilities on the two young workers to get inside the store early. He emerged five minutes later with a lot of thick chains and a couple of heavy-duty padlocks.
Simone climbed out to join him as they walked over to Declan’s vehicle and climbed into the back. Fifteen minutes passed before they reemerged. Killean said something to the others, closed the door, and took Simone’s hand while they strode back toward him.
By the time they settled into the SUV again, Callie was whimpering, and her body jerked as her hand ground the bones in his together. The fingers of her free hand clawed at the floor of the SUV until she shredded the thick, black material lining it.
Lucien kissed her hand and stroked her forehead as he tried to soothe her, but she was too lost in pain to notice him. Simone twisted in her seat to face them, but she didn’t say anything before turning away again.
It would be a while before Callie required blood, but he needed to feed so he could heal and be ready for when she woke. However, they were only a couple hours away from the state forest, and it was a half an hour from there to the Cape, so he did have time even if it felt like it was running out.
He kept his attention focused on her as the tires hummed over the highway. Before he knew it, they turned into the state forest and onto the wide, tree-lined roads. The canopy of the trees stretching overhead blocked out the sun.
Killean drove for a couple of miles before pulling to the side of the road. He parked behind another black SUV and a black van with no windows in the back.
They switched everything over, including all of Callie’s things, and Lucien found himself sitting in the back of the new SUV with her as Killean and Simone returned to the front. Everyone else filed into the van.
They set the other SUVs on fire to remove any evidence they may have left behind before pulling away. By the time anyone arrived to put out the fires, little would remain of the vehicles.
Almost an hour later, they pulled into the parking lot of Ronan’s hotel on the Cape. It was where they established the Alliance.
So much had transpired since then, but on the day the vampires and hunters first met here, he never would have guessed they would be as entwined as they were now. Then, both factions were extremely wary of each other, but now they were a joined, single unit.
And they were bringing a demon into their midst.
Killean drove around the circular entranceway and parked behind the two SUVs already sitting in front of the large, gray building. At one time, the building had retained the charm of a Cape building while promising five-star luxury, but the chipping paint and boarded-over windows no longer spoke of luxury.
Though the five-star luxury hadn’t existed in years, the building remained mostly in good repair as Ronan hired people to look after the property. With its oceanfront location, if it wasn’t maintained, it would fall apart fast.
The glass front doors opened, and Ronan, Kadence, Nathan, Vicky, Saxon, and Elyse greeted them. Ronan opened the back door of the SUV and handed Lucien bags of blood.
Lucien’s stomach rumbled as he took them. His injuries were healing, but they’d sapped his strength. The sight of the blood renewed his energy.
“Thank you,” he said.
“How is she?” Ronan asked.
“In pain, but I think it’s almost over.”
“Good.”
When Ronan closed the door and Killean and Simone exited the vehicle, Lucien tore the top off the first bag and downed its contents in one big gulp. It took him three gulps to finish the second bag, but only two for the third. The blood flowing into his system imbued him with strength as it sped up his healing.
He was about to open the fourth bag when the others opened the back door of the van and removed the demon. Even draped in blankets, smoke rose from it as they ran with it to the hotel and disappeared inside.
Lucien finished the last bag, tossed it aside, and gathered Callie into his arms. He shifted her to open the door, but Killean did it for him. He nodded his thanks to his friend before slipping from the vehicle.
Cradling Callie against his chest, he strode beside Killean and Simone toward the front of the building. Killean opened the door for him, and he stepped into the open lobby. If boards didn’t cover the windows, the sun would spill inside, but instead, it was full of shadows.