“Happy wife, happy life,” he said as he kissed her temple.
The rising voices from behind the doors propelled them into the foyer.
Declan reclaimed his bag and turned to Asher and Logan. “Be ready in half an hour.”
It was going to take at least six hours to get there, even if they were driving like the hounds of hell were on their asses, and he was eager to get there.
“I’m good to go,” Logan said and jostled the bag on his back.
“I’m going to send Saber too,” Ronan said. “I don’t like the idea of possibly losing another purebred, but you’ll need more than the three of you.”
“I think it will be five,” Kadence said. “Vicky will be with them.”
“Nathan’s not going to lose that battle.”
“Yes, he is.”
“I agree,” Simone said.
“No way,” Killean said.
“Care to bet on it?” Kadence asked.
Declan turned away when Ronan said. “I do.”
“I’d like to get in on this,” Saxon said. “My money’s on Vicky.”
“I think Nathan’s going to win,” Elyse said.
“I’ll put fifty on Vicky too,” Roland said. “She waspissed.”
As he climbed the sweeping stairs, Declan shut out the conversation behind him. At the top, he turned and walked down the hallway to his room. With every step he took, his teeth ground together more and more. They were leaving soon, but it wasn’t soon enough. Lucien and Willow had been in those woods too long already.
He never should have volunteered to go to Mexico. It was important to strengthen the relationship with the hunters and vamps there when the number of Savages started increasing again.
It also made the most sense for him to go. Saxon and Killean were mated, Lucien could be a hothead, and no one else had been here long enough to trust them with the seriousness of this mission. Plus, the vamps wouldn’t trust a hunter.
Alejandro, the hunter leader in Mexico, already knew him from a visit he made there a couple of years ago with Nathan, Asher, Logan, and Ronan, so he was comfortable working together. Even though he was a vampire now, he was also a hunter, and having Logan there helped to ease the hostility between the hunters and vamps in the region.
It made sense for him to go, but he knew he’d also gone to get away from the temptation Willow offered. There were too many times he found himself watching her as she ran around the compound and trained with the others.
And too many times, he found himself imagining her while stroking his cock at night. He couldn’t recall a time when he’d ever been so fascinated by a woman, and it threatened to undo all the discipline and grueling work he’d endured for centuries.
When Ronan asked him about going, he’d said it was purely volunteer, but Declan knew he wantedhimto go. He’d been with Ronan the longest and was the most diplomatic. However, it was also more than that; Ronan wanted him to go because of his ability. Ronan had never asked him what he could do, but he suspected some of Declan’s capabilities.
He could never know it all, because after six hundred years, Declan still didn’t know everything he was capable of doing. Most times, it seemed he possessed a simple empathic ability. But, atothertimes, his ability took on a life of its own and transformed into something he could barely control.
Sometimes it energized him, and on a few occasions, it was a debilitating disaster that almost knocked him to his knees. And then there were times when the emotions of others, or the intensity of a battle, caused it to border on becoming something more.
What that more was, he didn’t know, and he’d prefer not to find out.
Setting his bag on the bed, he removed his bag of toiletries but didn’t bother to unpack it. Instead, he removed a smaller bag from his armoire and shoved in a pair of jeans, a T-shirt, and his toiletries. There was still plenty of room left in the bag afterward, but he would fill it with weapons.
Chapter Seven
Willow’s headshot up when she startled awake. Blinking against the sun, she gazed at her green surroundings in confusion until she recalled where she was and why. Her shoulders drooped, and she rested her head against the tree.
She didn’t know how much time she spent asleep, but judging by the sun filtering through the trees, it was afternoon. Shifting on the branch, she winced when the movement jarred her ankle. Bones no longer ground together inside her boot, but it remained swollen and throbbed like a son of a bitch.
