Page 32 of Into the Dawn

Me, Vanessa, everything.

"Well, thatdoessound like fun," I say dryly, forcing myself to stay in place despite my animal's growing agitation. "I guess I shouldn't have expected any better from a clan of inbred hillbillies. It's no wonder your dad is looking for a replacement heir if you’re the best he’s got."

Jed snarls, immediately defensive at the suggestion that he's not his father's favorite.

"I'm going to enjoy ripping your heart from your chest, Ben King. And after I've killed you and stolen your mate, I'm going to carry John's head down the mountain and dump it on Evan's doorstep for his precious female to find. Holly, isn’t it?"

I have no answer for that. So I just stare at him, letting him see the pure hatred burning inside me, and the desire to murder him that's going to get me through whatever torture they throw at me tonight.

Jed looks to John, who says nothing, but laughs.

"Oh, you haven't told him yet. Well, that's going to be fun." He goes over to the bars and leans a little closer, coaxing his finger to get John closer. The stench of his excitement mingleswith the damp earth smell. "You have a daughter, John. Did you even know that? Your daughter showed up in town, and Scott nearly got his psycho hands on her. But Evan, your boy Evan, ruined all the fun."

John doesn’t react, but I hear his pulse quicken as he tries to follow what Jed’s saying.

"We used to have such a good time going out on the hunt together: Scott, Selena, and me. But alas, it turned out Holly had a mate, and she wasn't going to be an easy kill. And then Mr. King went and ruined everything, and now he's keeping her all for himself."

With a wicked gleam in his sickly eyes, he leans forward. "But not for long. When Ben is gone, and I finally prove to everybody how powerful I am by killing Kali, if Evan has any sense, he'll take his mate and leave this mountain, handing the keys to Sutton over to me."

Unable to stop myself, I start laughing, louder and louder, sounding slightly deranged, at this idea he has in his head. ThatEvanwould turn tail and run. That he’d be able to run Evan out of Sutton. It’s preposterous.

Never.

All the things he's saying is likely to just provoke Evan into a state of frenzied madness that would result in a bloodbath, the likes of which these fuckers have never seen.

"You think Evan's going to walk away from a fight? Never. Never, ever. Just like I'm not. Me and John are going to walk out of here, and I'm going to step over your bloodied corpse on my way out."

When I don't blink or so much as flinch away from Jed's hostile stare, he falters, just for a split second. His scent sours with fear, but it's long enough that I know he's afraid to fight me, one-on-one.

Whatever happens tonight, it'll be a sneak attack. He'll let the others tire me out first, sacrificing their lives to use up my energy, before he comes along and lands the fatal blow. It seems more like his style.

He's afraid of me, and I know it. For now, that gives me enough hope that I'll be able to beat him and get John and Vanessa home.

"Maybe I don't want him to. Maybe he could come up and take care of a problem for me. If he grants me some mercy, I might even help him do it."

In the dark, I watch Jed beam with pride as his words hit home. The underground air feels oppressive now, thick with our combined anger. My skin burns with something more than just rage, and my beast pushes harder against my control than usual.

He's going to kill me on Rusty's orders. He's going to hurt Vanessa, at the very least. And he's going to wait for Evan to come up and take his father down. Then with that little problem solved without even getting his hands dirty, he can step into Rusty's shoes and command the clan to do whatever he wants.

Then he becomes top dog, literally.

In a way, it's a good plan. Except he's banking on Evan letting him live or granting him some clemency by coming to him and seeking help to rid the clan of his evil father.

Only he hasn't met Evan's beast… Or mine.

We might be civilized on the outside, but our animals are not.

And I can't see a world in which, if I die, and John dies, where Evan leaves a single man standing in this godforsaken place.

18

VANESSA

Iwatch as Jed emerges from the large wooden barn, his dirty plaid shirt hanging loose around his frame, and ripped jeans shoved into heavy work boots. Ben's dried blood crusts his knuckles, a reminder of what's at stake.

The late afternoon sun casts long shadows across the compound, turning everything blood-red in the dying light.

Shutting the door behind him, he locks it with a giant padlock, which is unusual when there's nobody around except our clan, and nothing of real value inside other than rusted farm equipment that's seen better days. The metal gleams dully against the weathered wood, and oddly new compared to everything else in this decaying compound.

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