“We’re going to be late,” he said.
“For what?” Ruby yelled in his right ear.
Ronan instantly slashed out with his right arm, so fast his movements were a blur.
Ruby yelped as his arm went clear through her image.
Ronan remained on guard, eyeing his surroundings with lethal intensity, ready for battle.
“Ruby doesn’t want me leaving the house,” Sierra told him. “That was her screaming in your ear, by the way.”
“I thought it might be Hal, ready to toss something else our way,” Ronan said.
“That’s why we have to leave the house temporarily,” Sierra said.
“Because you’re afraid of Hal?” Ruby said.
“No, because this is the best way to move forward and achieve our goals.” Sierra was deliberately being vague. She didn’t want Hal overhearing their plans. Not that she was sure what their plans were specifically, other than to hold another séance to contact Bruce’s friend. Oh, and presumably to see if they could reach Adele as well.
“Swear on your mother’s grave that you’ll come back today,” Ruby demanded.
“I can’t swear on my mother’s grave that I’ll come back today,” Sierra said. “My mother is still alive.”
“Swear on your father’s grave—”
“I hated my father.” Her voice was cold.
Ronan realized this was the first time Sierra had talked about her family. He’d told her about his but she had not shared her past history with him. Not that he could blame her. He was a vampire, not the first thing that came to mind under the heading of a good confidant.
He tried to access her thoughts and was hit with a wave of two powerful emotions—fear and anger.
He saw the hazy image of a burly man threatening a woman and hitting her with his fists. Then he saw that woman, her eyes blackened and her lips swollen from a beating, holding the hand of a little red-haired girl.
“Where are we going, Mommy?”
“Shhh.”
“Wait. I want to bring Boo with me.” She pointed to the worn and tattered teddy bear on the bed. The man had his arm over it as he snored.
“No time,” her mother whispered. “I’ll get you another one.”
Once they were outside, Sierra had tears running down her cheeks and was about to turn back when her mom grabbed her by the shoulders. “He is going to hurt us! We have to be quiet and fast. We can’t go back. Ever!”
Sierra was silent but her tears continued to trickle down her pale cheeks. He’ll hurt Boo if we leave him. But she obeyed her mom and left her beloved bear behind.
Ronan could feel her pain. He knew she’d confided in that bear, whispered her fears to it in the night, and hugged it when she’d needed reassurance. Boo had been more than just a stuffed toy. He’d represented comfort and safety.
She’d lost that and had never quite regained it again. Ronan hated the fact that once again a dangerous bully was threatening Sierra. The need to protect her from Hal and any other threats, which had already been great, increased with a fierceness that burned deeply in his gut.
She abruptly turned to face him. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re lying. I can tell, remember?” She glared at him. “So now you know why I hated my father.”
Ronan nodded.
“Isn’t it enough that you’ve tied me to you with bonds I can’t break? Do you have to invade my last bits of privacy as well?”
Ronan didn’t know what to say so he kept quiet.
“I want you to swear on your sister’s soul that you will stop reading my mind unless I give you permission to do so.”
“And have him swear he’ll bring you back while he’s at it,” Ruby said.
Sierra repeated Ruby’s words.
“I swear I’ll bring Sierra back,” Ronan said. He couldn’t swear not to read Sierra’s mind because doing so might end up saving her life. He was already reeling at how quickly Sierra had messed up his mind. After spending the night watching over her, he was more intrigued than ever.
He hadn’t been able to view her dreams while she slept, but he’d heard her little moans, which had sounded like they were inspired by pleasure not fear. She’d tossed and turned a lot after that, loosening the sheet and blanket to reveal her bare shoulder where the huge T-shirt had slid off.
She had the pale skin of a natural redhead. He already knew how soft she was to the touch, how warm, how responsive. And he knew how smart she was, how creative. He’d read her books last night, all three so far in the series. And he’d been impressed by how much of herself she put in them. The heroine, Nicki, had all the power and always won in the end. He suspected that came from the little five-year-old who had been forced to leave her teddy bear behind and flee into the night. No one was ever going to bully her again.