“Maybe not, but if we stay here, we are.”
Her eyes were large and soulful when they met his. He hated the idea of taking her out there with those things, but they couldn’t stay here either. His mind spun as he tried to come up with a plan.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Willow sawthe flames leaping into the air before she spotted the Savages. The fires of the torches they held sparked and jumped as the Savages rounded the corner and came into view. She felt like she was watching the villagers from an old horror movie coming for them. All they were missing were the pitchforks.
The few people who dared to venture outside earlier had retreated hours ago, but there were people mixed in with the vampires. Savages weren’t stupid; they knew they required the strength numbers provided them.
“What’s with the flames?” she whispered.
“Intimidation tactic,” Declan said. “And if someone refuses to let them in their house, they’ll set it on fire.”
“Shit.”
Hiding in the attic wouldn’t be enough this time. Before, only humans were doing the search, but Savages might detect their heartbeats or smell them. Some of the Savages broke off from the main group; they took some of the people with them as they approached two of the homes and knocked on the doors.
The booming thud of their fists hitting the door reverberated down the street and bounced off the houses. Those homes probably had doorbells, but battering on their doors like assholes was probably another intimidation tactic.
“I’m going out there,” Declan said.
He’d spent the past fifteen minutes trying to come up with a plan to get them both out of here, but their time was up sooner than he’d anticipated. Now he just wanted to make sure one of them escaped…her.
“No, you’re not!” she blurted.
His mouth quirked in a small smile as he cupped her cheek in his palm. “It has to be this way. I’ll go out there and draw them away. Once I do, you go out the back. Those Stepford fuckers are still out there, but I’ll create a distraction that will draw them away or divert their attention. As soon as you can, go out the back and run until you’re far from this town.”
Heloathedthe idea of her out there amongst thesethingswithout him, but it was the best chance she had of survival.
“I’m supposed to run away while you go out there and fight them or end up in their hands? That’snotgonna happen. Even if you weren’t my mate, I would never let someone sacrifice themselves for me.”
“I’m not sacrificing myself for you; I’m giving you a chance at freedom, which gives usbotha chance to survive. We’re connected, and once you’re free and have reunited with Ronan and the others, you can use our connection to find me if they catch me.”
“And what if they kill you instead of capturing you?”
“They won’t. They need strong fighters on their side.”
“They had no problem killing Leonard and probably the rest of the Alliance I was with; they were all strong fighters. My life is bound to yours. If they kill you, or you get caught by them, and I can’t find you, I’m as good as dead anyway. I’d rather go out there and fight them with you than run away like a coward.”
“There are too many of them; the two of us can’t take them all. At least if we split up, we still have a chance of getting out of this.”
“I don’t know where the compound is;youdo. If I can’t find you, and they succeed in turning you into a Savage, you’ll lead them to everyone there. Let me go out there and distract them whileyourun.”
“That might be true, but if they haven’t found Lucien, then Ronan’s already preparing to abandon the compound.”
Trying to reason with him was accomplishing nothing, so she decided to put an end to it. “I’m not leaving you behind to face them on your own. You wouldn’t do it to me, so don’t ask me to do it to you. I’m not going to waste any more time discussing it because it’s not going to happen, and they’re getting alotcloser.”
Declan’s protest died on his lips. She was right; he would never agree to run while she went out to face the Savages. While he preferred to keep her safe, she was a fighter and a member of the Alliance; she deserved the respect such an honor warranted. Many didn’t make it through the training she’d endured to be here.
“Fine,” he relented. “Then we need a new plan.”
Willow didn’t gloat over her victory. The only win she’d celebrate was getting out of this alive.
“And the only one I have is to go out the back and make a run for the woods,” he said. “We don’t have any other options.”
“How do we get past the people in the backyard?”
“Maybe the Savages have provided the distraction for us.”
