Bound In Death (Bound #5)(25)
Author: Cynthia Eden

What. The. Hell.

She started searching for clothes. She yanked open the closet. She’d take something of Alerac’s and make an outfit. Just like on that fashion show she liked to watch.

Except she didn’t have to make anything work.

Because one side of that massive closet contained clothes. Women’s clothes.

“What’s happening?” Did the werewolf have another lover? Lovers? Her eyes narrowed as she yanked some clothes from the hangers. She jerked them on.

A perfect fit.

She glanced into the long mirror that waited at the end of the closet.

The shirt that she’d grabbed was the same blue as her eyes. The jeans hugged her hips and curled over her legs.

She found shoes next—shoes that were the exact size that she wore.

The tightness in Jane’s gut grew worse.

Whirling, she rushed from the closet.

She didn’t waste time heading for the door and the guards out there. Instead, Jane hurried toward the big window that looked out over the mountains. She put her hands on the window pane and stared down.

Alerac and Liam were walking beneath her. The glow from the moon illuminated them.

They’re going to meet the one called Ryan.

A vampire.

Alerac killed vampires.

He can’t kill this one. Because something had happened when Alerac mentioned Ryan’s name.

An image had flashed in her mind. An image of a tall man, with pale skin and blond hair.

And her eyes.

She wanted to see this man—this vampire.

She wanted to make sure that he stayed alive.

Jane waited. Watched until Alerac vanished down a snaking path that led into the woods.

Then she opened the window. Three floors up.

A fall like that would kill a human.

Good thing she wasn’t human.

She crawled through the window, clung to the side of the house for an instant, then she let go and just fell.

***

“Where is she?”

Alerac schooled his features as he faced off against Ryan McDonough.

It had been five years since he’d last seen the vampire. That night, they’d both been covered in blood. They’d gone for each other’s throats.

He could have killed the vampire then. Alerac had been moments away from taking the man’s head. But he’d stopped.

Because Ryan had her eyes.

“She’s free, I know she is.” Ryan’s voice no longer held even the hint of an Irish accent. Like Alerac, he’d left their homeland long ago.

Left searching for what had been taken.

Alerac glanced over his shoulder. Liam was watching them with a guarded gaze. Liam had never trusted the vampire, and he’d sure never understood why Alerac let the guy keep living.

“I was at the bar in Miami. I talked to the woman who owned the place. She told me—”

“Talked?” Alerac interrupted slowly as he sauntered around the small cabin. “Or did you drink her?”

Ryan’s lips thinned. “I needed the truth. I got it. Then I had to fly all the damn way up here to catch you—and you know I hate those damn planes.” Then he moved in a fast lunge and grabbed Alerac’s arms. “Where is Keira?”

Alerac’s claws had burst free at the attack. Even as Ryan tightened his hold, Alerac had his claws at the vamp’s throat. “I let you come onto my land.”

“Because you have my sister!” There was no fear in Ryan’s blue gaze. Only rage. “And I want her back.”

Not happening. “You need to step back. Or else we’re about to see if you’re still as much of a bleeder as before.”

Jaw locking, Ryan slowly released Alerac. But he didn’t retreat. The vamp kept standing toe-to-toe with him. “I heard her cries in my mind. Over and over again, until they nearly drove me mad.”

He’d always known that Ryan shared a deep connection with Keira. Twins. The only born vampire twins that Alerac knew of in this world.

He just hadn’t realized exactly how deep that connection went for them.

“I knew the exact moment when she was free,” Ryan’s voice was low. “Because that’s when her screams stopped.”

Alerac swallowed. “If you were so tied to her, then why the hell couldn’t you find her?”

Ryan shoved him across the room. Alerac slammed into the wall.

“I tried!” Ryan snarled.

Liam rushed at him.

Ryan’s fist sent the wolf down.

“In my mind, all I saw was darkness. All I could hear was her screams. I searched…” Ryan stalked toward him. “Just as hard as you did. I never gave up on her.”

The vamp’s fangs were out.

Only fair, since Alerac had never lost his claws.

“You just found her first,” Ryan continued. His lips twisted into a savage grin. “But you don’t get to keep her. She’s my blood. My clan. And I’m taking her home.”

The hell he was.

“Home?” The word was barely human. It took all of the control Alerac possessed to keep the form of a man. “A crumbling castle in Ireland? One that even you haven’t inhabited in a century? And don’t damn well talk to me about her clan. It was her clan that turned on her. That let her be sentenced to that hell.”

“For you!” Something seemed to break behind Ryan’s eyes. He lunged at Alerac. Punching. Kicking. Clawing. “You destroyed everything!”

As the vampire’s teeth came for his throat, Alerac realized that Ryan hadn’t just come to the mountains in order to retrieve his sister.

The vamp had come to kill him.

Too bad for Ryan. He wasn’t in the mood to die.

Chapter Six

She followed the sound of snarls. Of growls. And the scent of blood.

Her steps were soundless as she slipped through the woods. She expected some of Alerac’s pack to come at her, but they didn’t. Maybe it was her lucky night. She’d eluded them easily enough.

Or maybe she’d just caught them unprepared because they hadn’t been expecting her to do a header out of the window. Whatever.

Jane barely breathed as she approached the cabin on the ridge. A small cabin, its exterior dark. But…

The growls were coming from that place.

So was the scent of blood.

She eased toward the narrow window. Faint light shone from behind that glass, and when she leaned closer, pushing up on her tip toes, Jane saw—

Alerac. With his claws slicing toward the throat of a man with blond hair. A man with fangs. A man who turned his head at that exact moment.

The man’s eyes—blue, bright—met hers.