"I'm sorry you had to see that," he said quietly, feebly. "It couldn't be helped, Alex."
"You ... killed him. You just killed him... with your bare hands."
"He wasn't really alive anymore, Alex. Just a shell. He wasn't really human anymore." Kade frowned, knowing how that must sound to her by the stricken, confused look on her face. He slowly rose to stand and she took a step backward, out of his reach.
"Don't touch me."
"Ah, fuck," he muttered, raking his fingers over his scalp. She'd been through more than her share of violence in her life; the last thing she needed was to be a party to more because of her involvement with him. "I hate that you're here right now, seeing this. But I can explain--"
"No." She gave an abrupt shake of her head. "No, I have to get Zach. I have to get help for Big Dave and I have to--"
"Alex." Kade took hold of her arms in a light but unyielding grasp. "There's nothing that can be done for either of these men now. And bringing Zach Tucker or anyone else into this is only going to make things more dangerous--not only for them, but for you. I won't risk that."
She stared at him, her eyes searching his.
In the quiet that seemed to expand to fill the room, the clinic worker Skeeter had knocked to the floor began to rouse back to consciousness. The woman groaned, mumbled something indiscernible.
"Fran," Alex said, turning back to help the older female. Kade blocked her path. "She'll be fine."
With Alex watching him warily, he went to the woman's side and gently placed his hand over her forehead. "Sleep now, Fran. When you wake, you'll remember none of this."
"What are you doing to her?" Alex demanded, her voice rising as the clinic worker relaxed into his touch.
"It will be easier for her if she forgets that Skeeter was here," he said, ensuring Fran's mind was scrubbed of the assault on her and any recollections she might have of Kade and Alex being present, as well.>"Alex?" Kade's voice was cautious, his fingers firm but tender as he lifted her face up toward his.
"Tell me what's going on."
"Big Dave and Lanny Ham," she murmured. "They were attacked today in the bush. Lanny's dead. Big Dave might not make it."
And if Kade had gone with them, instead of coming out with her? The idea that he might have been close to that danger--or worse, a victim of it--made her heart lurch. She felt ill with fear and dread, but it was her anger that she clung to.
"You're right, Kade. I can't run away from what I know. Not anymore. I have to face this evil. I have to take a stand now, before anyone else gets hurt." Fury buoyed her where fear threatened to hold her down.
"I need to tell the truth--to everyone in Harmony. To the whole damned world, if that's what it takes. People need to know what's out there. They can't destroy an evil they don't even know exists."
"Alex." He pressed his lips together, started to shake his head as though he meant to dissuade her.
"Alex, I don't think that would be wise ..."
She held his stare, incredulous. "It's because of you that I feel strong enough to do this, Kade. We need to stand together--everyone--and defeat this."
"Ah, Christ ... Alex ..."
His hesitation felt like a cold blade slowly pressing into her sternum. Confused by his change in attitude, but too determined to do what was right--to do what she had to do now--she backed away from him and started getting dressed. "I have to get back to Harmony. I'm leaving in the next five minutes. You can decide if you're coming with me or not."
Chapter Sixteen
They didn't speak the whole flight back.
Kade sat beside Alex in miserable silence, torn between wanting to explain to her about the Breed and her place within that world and fearing that if she knew what he truly was, she would lump him into the same category of monster that she abhorred and was now so determined to expose to all of Harmony and the rest of humankind.
The fear that she would hate him kept his tongue glued to the roof of his mouth for the entire fortyfive minutes it took for her to fly them back to the snow-packed airstrip on the edge of town. He was a bastard for withholding the whole truth from her; he knew that. He'd proven himself something even worse than that in the Tulak cabin, when he'd let his desire for her trump his duty--his own personal code of honor, flimsy as it might be--that would have compelled a better male to put all of the cards on the table before he'd taken her.
But it hadn't been all about the sex with Alex. It wasn't just about desire, although he had that for her in spades. Things would be a hell of a lot easier right now if it was merely physical. The fact was, he cared about her. Cared for her. He didn't want to see her hurt anymore, least of all by his own words or actions. He wanted to protect her from the things that had harmed her in the past, and he would do whatever possible to see to it that nothing bad could touch her ever again. Oh, yeah, he was doing a damn fine job there.
Doing a first-class job on everything he'd touched since his arrival back in Alaska. In light of the evidence he'd found at the cabin, what might have been a simple, sideline mission to rout out a probable Rogue problem in the frozen north country was now a quest to locate a killer in his own family. And now he had at least one more dead human to add to that mix, potentially two, if the report of Big Dave's injuries was accurate.
Another savage attack that Kade prayed against all suspicion otherwise would not have Seth's name written all over it.