Vengeance (The Captive #6)(38)

Clasping hold of her elbow, he kept Tempest close to his side as he hurried away from the bodies.





CHAPTER 14


Tempest sat on the cave floor as William knelt before her. He pulled the cloak gently from her shoulders, a gesture so out of place with the brutal man she’d witnessed in the snow. He held her arms out before him again, before turning away to grab the canteen full of melted snow from where it sat near the fire. Ever so carefully, he poured the water over her arms, wiping away the blood marring them. They’d been filling the canteens with snow and heating them over the fire to clean themselves in the back part of the cave where he’d stored the wood and their now gone supply of blood.

The scratches on her flesh were barely visible now. He patted the gashes dry with a cloth before releasing her arms. He remained kneeling before her, his eyes their stunning shade of blue as he studied her. “What you saw… what I did, it’s not who I am,” he said.

She folded her hands in her lap. “And who are you?”

“I’m not so, violent.” He sighed as he rose to his feet and paced away from her. “I’ve always been a fighter, I’ve killed before, but I always had control over myself. Since going through the change, there have been times I’ve had a harder time keeping myself restrained.”

“I thought you controlled yourself well,” she replied.

He looked at her over his shoulder. “I know vampires don’t approve of using their fangs on each other, unless of course it’s with their bloodlinks.”

“It’s not like you were doing it as a cannibalistic thing; you were doing it to keep us safe. When it comes to staying alive, screw what is acceptable.”

He gave a harsh bark of laughter before turning away. “You would have made a good rebel.”

“I’m not sure I would have had the courage to be a rebel.”

“You climbed out of a mountain in the middle of a blizzard; you’re braver than you give yourself credit for.”

“Maybe, but I think I have too many fangs to be a rebel.”

The smile he gave her caused her heart to melt. How could he look so irresistible and carefree one minute and be ready to tear someone’s throat out in the next? The strange thing was she found both sides of him oddly fascinating and reassuring. She’d never seen anything like what he’d done out in the blizzard, but it made her feel a whole lot safer knowing he could do it. Just as the tender care he’d taken with her afterward had made her feel a lot more protected and secure.

“I’m glad I didn’t frighten you.”

“You didn’t,” she assured him. “But ah… what’s a bloodlink?”

He glanced at her over his shoulder. “I forget it’s not common knowledge amongst vampires. You’re such an odd species.”

“So are you, now,” she reminded him.

“So I am,” he replied, but some of the sparkle had left his eyes. “A bloodlink is an unbreakable bond that forms between vampires. Braith discovered it with Aria when she was still human, which is another one of the reasons it’s believed we have vampire DNA somewhere in our line. Jack has also found it with Hannah.”

“What does it do?”

“It binds them for eternity and makes them stronger than they were on their own, but one cannot survive without the other. At least they can’t survive and remain sane.”

Tempest drew her knees up against her chest; she rested her chin on top of them as she contemplated his words. “Strange,” she murmured.

“That’s one way to describe it,” he said with a small laugh.

“And how would you describe it?”

He frowned thoughtfully before shaking his head. “I don’t know, mystical, powerful. I didn’t feel it as a human, but as a vampire, I can feel the bond joining them. It’s this almost palpable thing.”

Before she could question him any further on it, he walked to the front of the cave and out of view. She sat before the fire for a few minutes, trying to give him some time to himself. Eventually, her curiosity got the best of her. Her legs and arms felt worse than when she’d trudged through the blizzard after leaving Badwin behind. The strained muscles held her, but spasms gripped her right thigh as she plodded down the cave toward the front. She briefly stopped rubbing at her thigh to pat the horse’s neck as she walked by him.

“What are you doing?” she inquired when she found William near the front of the cave, gathering snow around him.

He lifted up a clump of snow and smashed it onto the cave floor. “Sealing this off,” he replied. “I don’t want any of them sneaking in here on us, or picking up our scent until this storm has passed.”

She stared at the oval shaped entryway; it was about three feet across and five feet high. It wouldn’t take much to block it off from the world. Kneeling beside him, she helped him to pile the snow on top of the base he’d already started. The sensation in her fingers faded away until she could no longer feel the snow she clasped within her hands, but she continued to work beside him in silence.

“What if the storm doesn’t end for a few more days?” she inquired when half the doorway was blocked. “How will we feed?”

“As much as I don’t like it, we’ll have to feed from Achilles.”