“And you have no idea what I’m capable of handling.”
The jarring ring of the phone silenced his reply as his gaze went to the nightstand. Releasing her wrist, he stepped around her and lifted the phone from the receiver. “Yeah,” he said.
“Killean?”
Ronan’s voice deflated his anger. “Yes,” he said.
The relief in Killean’s voice drew Simone’s attention. When he sank onto the bed, he looked more relaxed than she’d seen him in a while. He also looked almost happy.
“How are you?” Ronan asked.
“Been better,” Killean admitted. “Saxon spoke with you?”
“Yes, and we’ve talked with the others. Nathan has never heard of another turned hunter before Kadence. He’s spoken with the elders, and the other hunter factions he’s still in touch with, but none of them have ever heard of such a thing happening before either.”
“I know what I saw.”
Killean’s gaze fell to his hands, and an uneasy feeling crept into his gut.Didhe know what he saw in the bunker? He’d seen blood drenching his hands that was never there too.
No, he’d seen that creature before the hallucinations started; it wasreal.
“It could be something else, it could be the hunters weren’t told about such a thing happening, or it could be a hunter they all assumed dead until now,” Ronan said.
“It’s really powerful, and I believe it’s older than you.”
“And it can still die,” Ronan said.
“Yes, it can.”
Killean’s gaze slid to Simone as she watched him with compressed lips and narrowed eyes. The composed, pristine doll he’d first encountered on the beach was gone. The woman standing there resembled a banshee with her hair flowing about her shoulders and a wild gleam in her normally tranquil eyes.
He liked this side of her; he likedher.
The realization hit him like an arrow between the eyes. All this time, he’d considered her a passive creation of the hunter’s archaic ways, but free of their hold, she was defiant, stubborn, and stronger than he would have believed her capable of being. He’d been confident her captivity would destroy her, or if not destroy her, make her meeker, but like a phoenix, she’d risen from the ashes of her old life and spread her wings to become something stronger.
She was amazing.
“How is Simone?” Ronan asked.
It took him a minute to find his voice to respond. “She’s a fighter.”
Simone quirked an eyebrow. Was he talking abouther? Could dollies fight? The question left a bitter taste in her mouth, and she found herself scowling at him again. To her utter annoyance, he smiled at her.
“Kadence would like to speak with her,” Ronan said.
“Here she is,” he held the phone out to Simone who turned her glare on it. “Kadence is asking for you.”
She snatched the phone from his hand. “Hello.”
“Simone,” Kadence breathed. “Are you okay?”
Her irritation fell away at the sound of her best friend’s voice. “Yes, I’m fine,” Simone assured her.
“What about Killean? Are you scared of him? Is he treating you okay? Is he dangerous?”
“Not at all. Yes. And not to me,” she answered each rapidly fired question honestly. What Killean would be like around others, she didn’t know, but he would never be a threat to her even if she slapped him a hundred more times. The reminder of what she’d done and the complete loss of her temper caused her cheeks to flush.
“Can he be trusted?” Kadence asked.
