“Understandable.”
Her gaze returned to the open door when Asher walked over to close it. “Will Saxon be okay?”
“He needs some time,” Ronan said. “But until you complete the bond, he’ll be a lot more unstable.”
She clutched the blanket closer. “And if I complete the bond, he’ll be in a lot more danger.”
“We’re always in danger,” Declan said.
“When are we leaving?” she asked.
“Soon,” Ronan said.
“I’m going to get ready,” Elyse said.
She stared at the door, willing Saxon to come back, as she walked away from them and into their room. Gathering a fresh set of clothes, she returned to the living area where she discovered them still gathered around the map with their heads bent close together.
She slipped into the small bathroom and removed her clothes. Stepping into the shower, she held her casted arm out of the spray as she cleaned herself the best she could with one hand. After a lot of fumbling and cursing, she managed to wash her hair before leaving the tub.
It took more time than she would have liked to dress, but she finally left the bathroom to find them still gathered around the counter. Her heart sank when she saw Saxon hadn’t returned. She was about to go back to her room when a low moan drew her toward the room they carried Logan into last night.
Kadence and Simone sat in chairs next to the bottom bunk across the way. Simone was dabbing Logan’s brow with a cloth while he remained pale and unmoving on the bed. Elyse was about to retreat when Kadence turned toward her and smiled.
Elyse smiled shyly in return. “How is he doing?”
“He’ll be okay in a couple of days,” Kadence said. “The transition is much harder on hunters than humans.”
Elyse suspected Kadence was trying to reassure her, but she didn’t fear the suffering she’d endure becoming a vampire.
“Come in and join us,” Simone said.
Elyse shook her head; she didn’t belong here. Logan was one of them, and she was the outsider who’d nearly gotten Simone killed. “No, I, uh…” her brain felt like it was stuck in mud as she tried to think up some excuse to run away.
Kadence rose and walked over to her. “They really did a number on your arm. Does it hurt?”
Elyse glanced at the cast. “It’s better today.”
“That’s good.”
Before Elyse knew what was happening, Kadence was leading her toward the chair and settling her onto it. “So, Elyse,” she said, “tell us what it was like to grow up in the human world? Did you ever get anything from the ice cream truck? Are they real?”
Before Elyse could reply, a shadow fell over the doorway, and she looked up to find Killean watching them. “Everything okay?” he asked.
“It’s fine,” Simone assured him and waved her hand at him. “Go back to plotting.”
He hesitated before stalking away.
“He’s too overprotective sometimes,” Simone murmured.
“He has a good reason to be concerned about me with you,” Elyse said.
“Why, do you plan on doing something to one of us?” Simone asked.
“Of course not! But you almost died because of me.”
“And Killean killed because of me. In this life, there will always be things we wished we’d never done, or that we could change, but the past can never be undone. It’s how we react to those events, and our future actions, that define who we truly are.”
Elyse didn’t know how to respond; part of her longed to throw her arms around Simone and hug her while the other part wanted to beg for a forgiveness it seemed Simone had already given her. When tears filled her eyes and her bottom lip started to tremble, she bowed her head and focused on her hands in her lap.
