Simone ignored the glass digging into her palms and knees as she scurried forward to help him. Gripping the edges of the windshield, she started to pull herself out when fingers locked around her ankle in a vise-like grip. Simone bit back a cry as she was yanked backward; any sound she made would distract Killean and might get him killed.
Simone kicked at her captor but connected with empty air. Twisting to look behind her, she discovered a Savage leering at her while it wormed backward with her in its grasp. She didn’t bother trying to grab something to stop her momentum; there was nothing to grab.
Gritting her teeth, Simone lashed out and plunged the stake into the Savage’s forearm. The vamp hissed, and its fangs snapped at her hand as she twisted the stake until it hit bone. When the vampire ripped its arm away, it took her weapon with it, but released her ankle.
Simone didn’t look back as she clambered forward and threw herself out the broken windshield. She had no idea what she was plunging into, but she refused to give anything else a chance to seize her and use her against Killean.
When feet swung by her head, she ducked back against the vehicle to avoid a kick to the face. She looked up in time to see a Savage crash onto the shredded remains of the driver’s side tire. The Savage looked as if it were snapped in half as its body bowed at a completely unnatural angle.
Killean’s back was to her as he battled the three Savages closing in on him. His shirt hung off his shoulders in tatters and blood streaked his flesh. Her fangs lengthened, and her fingers dug into the dirt road when she spotted that blood. These monsters had hurt him, and if they had their way, they would unleash far worse.
When the SUV shook and rattled behind her, she realized more Savages were running across it toward them.
“Killean!” she screamed. “Behind you!”
He turned as three Savages launched off the vehicle and onto him. He staggered beneath the impact of their bodies and nearly went to his knees.
No!She wouldn’t allow anything to happen to him. Scrambling to her feet, Simone bolted forward as Killean spun to dislodge the Savages clinging to him.
Her fingers snagged the shirt of one of the vamps, and she jerked at it. Material tore beneath her hand, but the shirt collar caught and dug into the Savage’s neck. A head twisted toward her; Simone almost released the vamp when its white-blue eyes clashed with hers.
Another broken hunter.
She didn’t let her brain process who it was as she drew back her arm like Killean taught her and smashed her fist into the vamp’s face. Blood shot out and spilled over them both when she bashed his lips into his fangs.
She was preparing to punch him again when hands grasped her arms. Inhuman sounds issued from her as she struggled against the vampires pulling her backward, but it was like pitting a lamb against a lion.
“No!” she cried when they lifted her and carried her away.
Killean spun when he heard Simone’s cry, but he couldn’t see much through the Savages holding onto him. “Simone!”
A blow against his temple staggered him to the side. His ears rang, and his vision blurred, but he retained his balance until he stumbled into a hole. When his right ankle rolled over, the weight of the Savages made it impossible for him to stay upright.
His knees buckled, and he hit the ground. Excited chatter filled his ears as one of the Savages yanked his wrist behind his back. Killean surged forward to break free of the imprisoning hold, but another Savage thrust their knee into his back and shoved him forward.
His chin smacked off the ground; dirt billowed up to clog his mouth and nose, but through the dust, he saw more feet rushing toward him. Then his gaze fell on Simone as she battled to break free of the Savages restraining her. When she succeeded in tearing one of her arms free, another vamp grasped her hair and yanked her head back; she yelped and kicked at her captors.
The sight of her being mistreated caused his muscles to swell in a way he’d never experienced before as fresh adrenaline flooded his system. His other hand had fallen before him when they pushed him down, and while he watched, a reddish black color crept from his fingertips to his knuckles before spreading out to his hand.
The two colors pulsed and swirled together until he could barely differentiate one from the other. He knew such a thing could happen to a purebred vampire when they were enraged, or their mate was threatened, but he’d never experienced it before. Now, power swelled like a tsunami inside him as the color spread up his arm to his elbow.
Feeling stronger than he ever had, Killean dug his toes into the dirt and lunged forward. The movement threw the four Savages pinning him down off balance. He managed to dislodge one, but the other three cleaved to him. When the fourth fell on the ground before him, Killean seized its throat and tore out its windpipe.
The vamp gurgled and clawed at its bloody throat as power swelled through Killean’s thighs and legs until all his veins and muscles bulged with strength. Killean launched upward and threw back his arms to shake the remaining Savages from him like a dog throwing off water.
Simone’s struggles against her captors ceased when her gaze fell on Killean. Her mouth dropped as she took in the reddish-black color churning throughout his flesh; she’d never seen anything like it before. A streak of red slashed across his left cheek, nose, and slid lower to encompass his chin while black surrounded both sides of it. His scar was a vivid red strip down his face.
The colors filled his neck and arms, and from what she could see of his chest through the remains of his shirt, it was also covered in red and black. The fury emanating from him battered her through their bond while his power vibrated the air around him. The Savages closest to him gawked at him while they scrambled backward.
Simone’s mind spun as she tried to process what she was seeing, but it seemed the Killean she loved so much had been replaced by a demon straight from the deepest bowels of Hell. And given that the hunter and vampire lines originated from demons, maybe Killean was tapping into some more profound and primitive power.
What is he becoming? And how can I ever bring him back from whatever this is?The fact she had no answers to either of those questions terrified her more than Joseph.
When the Savage holding her hair stepped away from Killean, he tugged her head further back and caused her to gasp. In response, Killean released a roar that would have made a T-Rex pee itself and charged at them.
Chapter Forty-Seven
The Savage pulling her hair,and one of the vamps holding her arms, squealed before releasing her and fleeing. But the other one was frozen in place as Killean’s steps vibrated the ground. She didn’t have a chance to blink before the Savage vanished from beside her.
