Eclipse of Vengeance

21.Bad Blood

Broken Bow, Oklahoma

Daniel had taken me to dinner at the same cafe Silas and I had breakfast yesterday morning. It was uncomfortable and silent for the most part. I had asked for more knowledge about our family, but all Daniel would say was he would tell me once this hunt was finished. There was something I just couldn't put my finger on... something that was off.

The entire meal thoughts of Silas plagued my mind. If everything was going okay with Adeline and Hudson-if he was okay. How he'd feel if he returned and I was just gone. Would he feel relieved? I mean he almost died last night due to helping me, so I couldn't exactly blame him if he felt that way. Although that thought sent a ripple of heaviness through my chest. It was nice to have a friend again.

After our incredibly disconcerting meal I had asked to retrieve my phone, giving a lie about needing to update my hunting partner. I needed to warn Silas to stay away, but Daniel declined. He stated that we had something to do first, piquing my curiosity. That curiosity skyrocketed as the white suv pulled back into the wooded entrance for the bunker.

"What are we doing back here?" I eyed Daniel, shifting in the leather seat as an uneasy feeling clawed at my skin.

"We are going to have a look at what my men were finishing up," Daniel calmly said, giving nothing away.

My clammy hand reached for the door handle as he did. My eyes stayed on Daniel's every move. I couldn't explain the pit that was settling in my stomach, almost as if it were dread.

The woods around us as we walked were painstakingly quiet, adding to that pit. At dinner Daniel had barely looked at me and didn't even touch the food he had ordered. Something was definitely up, but I didn't have a clue what.

It took ten minutes to reach the bunker entrance, ten minutes of bone chilling silence. Each step I took felt like a mistake. Like this was a trap of some sort, that I had let the idea of family entrance me, because beyond freedom it's what I secretly craved the most.

"Ladies first." Daniel gestured with an arm facing down the bunker entrance.

Reminding myself to keep my breathing steady, I took the first step onto the stairs. I could not show him my fear, it would work in my favor if he believed I blindly trusted him. My heart and footsteps echoed inside my ears. The damp, grimy walls felt as if they were tombs-a tomb I was willingly walking into.

"Once this is done, you can be one of us," Daniel declared, stopping me as we reached the base of the stairs.

The muscles in my face tightened, attempting to not convey my worry. "Once what is done?" My eyes studied his face for any inclination to what was to come.

"You'll see," he said in a dry tone, walking in front of me down the dim hall. Inhaling a deep breath, I followed. My hand prepared to free my pistol from my waistband if necessary.

The metallic door to the room I had been held in hours ago was now closed.  Daniel stopped in front of it, rolling his shoulders, his hand tightly grasping the metal handle.

He peered over his shoulder back at me. "What you will see beyond this door, is a monster. You cannot look at it any other way. A beast that has no real regards for humans like us. One that would take pleasure in killing you, just as it did when it killed your grandfather," Daniel maintained, keeping a fierce gaze into my eyes. I stood, completely frozen. They captured what killed my grandfather? It was in Broken Bow and I had no idea? "Tell me you understand what I just said. We have a duty to the night guard, a duty to our blood."

I slowly nodded, that pit in my stomach exploding, sending its eerie tendrils throughout my body.

He turned the handle and the door creaked open. Daniel walked in first, blocking my view of the creature. "You were correct, sir. It fell for the trap," one of his men said in a firm monotone voice.