Unable to stand it anymore, Keaton crossed the hallway, creeping close to the room. He knew that Kade had told him to stay where he was, but Keaton was starting to freak himself out. His life had never been this exciting before, nor had it ever been this scary.
His goddamn nerves were frazzled.
Taking in a deep breath to calm himself, Keaton leaned his head inside the bedroom. He saw Kade standing there, his head lowered. Keaton couldn’t understand why his mate wasn’t moving.
Taking another step, Keaton was now standing in the bedroom.
“Didn’t I tell you to wait outside?” Kade asked, his voice…off. He didn’t sound mad. His tone sounded more like he was tired.
Not understanding what was going on, Keaton glanced around the room. His breath left his lungs in a whoosh. His heart began to hammer at a fast pace as his mind tried to understand what his eyes were seeing.
“Kevin?” Keaton said the young man’s name in a soft tone. “What’s going on?”
Kade turned his head and glanced at Keaton, his eyes filled with something close to fear. Keaton didn’t like this. He wanted to get out of here. Keaton had no clue what was going on, but his mind was telling him that it was bad.
Real bad.
The vampire lay at Kevin’s feet and he was—oh god, Keaton was going to be sick. He had no head. The vampire’s body lay there, headless. Keaton stumbled backward, his back hitting the wall as he stared from the dead body to Kevin.
“He was a bad man,” Kevin whispered. “He wanted to hurt my dad.”
Keaton glanced around but didn’t see Kevin’s father anywhere. His right hand pressed against his chest as he leaned forward. “Kevin, where is your father?”
“He tried to hurt my dad,” Kevin repeated, his voice strained, his eyes unfocused. “I couldn’t let him hurt my dad.”
Against his better judgment, Keaton moved forward. Kade grabbed his arm, but Keaton pulled away. He sidestepped the prone body as he stopped in front of Kevin. “No one blames you. I just need you to tell me where your father is.”
“Safe,” Kevin said. “He’s asleep in his bed. I put him to sleep so he wouldn’t get hurt. He tried to fight the vampire, but my dad isn’t strong enough to defeat something as evil as that.”
“Keaton.” Kade said his name softly. “Please come over here.”
He didn’t understand his mate’s fear. Yeah, there was a dead body on the floor, but Kevin wasn’t even an adult yet. Why was Kade so afraid of the small human? Unsure what to do, Keaton moved over to Kade. “Will you tell me what’s going on?”
Kade glanced down at the dead body. “I’m hoping like hell that he wasn’t one of Christian’s favorites.” His mate nodded toward the vampire. Keaton could see the problem with that. But Kevin had said that the vampire was trying to hurt his father. There was no way he could get in trouble for defending—Keaton thought about Kade going to prison for defending his friend. This was so screwed up. But that still didn’t explain why Kade wanted Keaton to get away from Kevin. “What aren’t you telling me?”
Kade gave him a wry smile as his eyes swept from Keaton to Kevin. “It seems Kevin is full of surprises. He has a second gift.” Kade’s eyes hardened, which shocked Keaton. “Young Kevin is a styre mente.”
Chapter Eleven
Kade stood back as Maverick walked through the bedroom door, but he never took his eyes off of Kevin. Did Kade think that the teenager would intentionally hurt him? No. But he was a young, powerful, untrained styre mente. Even being locked away for so many years, Kade knew just how dangerous Kevin was right now.
Maverick’s light-grey eyes skimmed over the dead body, his expression stoic. His hands were clasped behind his back, his long black hair falling over his shoulders as he knelt down and examined the body. “How did he threaten your father?”
The young man was standing with his back against the wall, his arms curved around his stomach. Kade could see the slight trembling of his body as Kevin gazed at the alpha. “H–he bit him.”
“I thought they were only supposed to swipe the humans’ minds?” Keaton looked up at Kade. “Do they have to bite in order to clear someone’s memory? The man on the street wasn’t bitten when that vampire touched him.”
Maverick stood to his full height, his jaw made of granite as he stared back at Kota, who had been waiting just inside the door. “Call the prince.” The words were said in fury. “Tell him to get here now or risk losing every fucking vampire he has sent to my town.”
Kade drew his arms around Keaton, pulling his mate close when Maverick walked over to the young man. He felt Keaton fight to pull away, trying to go to Kevin. There was no way he was letting Keaton anywhere near the alpha—not when Kade couldn’t decipher what mood the wolf was in.
Hurting a child was not Maverick’s style, but then again, Kevin was no ordinary child. He was a deadly weapon if he were to fall into the wrong hands. Whatever Maverick decided to do, Kade would understand. Having a styre mente near the people they cared about was extremely dangerous.
“Does your father know about your abilities?” Maverick asked.
“He knows that I can see people for who they truly are. But I never told him about—” Kevin glanced down at the dead body.
Maverick moved closer, leaning in, his frame daunting over Kevin’s. “Have you killed anybody before?” Kade was shocked that the question was spoken with gentleness, not a hint of anger or reproach in the alpha’s voice.
“No, sir.” Kevin’s thin body began to shake harder right before he dropped to his knees and vomited. This time Kade let Keaton go. His mate rushed over, running his hands over Kevin’s back.
“You will be taken to somebody who will train you in the correct way to
