"Oh, my God," Alex murmured. "Skeeter, what are you saying? What have you done!"
"You son of a bitch," Kade hissed, launching himself at the Minion. He took Skeeter down to the floor in a bone-crushing assault. "Who made you? Answer me!"
But the human mind slave only stared up at him and sneered, despite the punishing blows Kade delivered on him.
"Who the fuck is your Master?" He hit Skeeter again. And again. "Talk, you goddamn piece of shit." Answers eluded him. Some irrational part of him cast about and latched on to Seth's name, but that was an impossibility. Although Kade and his twin were Breed, their bloodline wasn't old enough or pure enough for either of them to create a Minion. Only the earliest generations of the vampire race had the power to drain a human to the brink of death, then take command of its mind.
"What are your orders?" He pounded the Minion's grinning, bleeding, soulless face. "What have you told your Master about Alex?"
Behind him now, her voice broke through the violence raging in him. "Kade, please ... stop. You're scaring me. Stop this now and let him go."
But he couldn't stop. He couldn't let the human who had been Skeeter Arnold go, not now. Not knowing what he was. Not knowing what he might be commanded to do to Alex if he was turned loose to carry out his Master's wishes again.
"Kade, please ..."
With a guttural roar, he grasped the Minion's head in his hands and gave it a savage twist. There was a crunch of bone and sinew, then a hard thump as he let the lifeless bulk fall onto the floor. He heard Alex's sharp intake of breath at his back. He thought she might scream, but she went utterly silent. When Kade pivoted his head to look up at her, it wasn't difficult to read the confusion--the complete shock--in her wide brown eyes.
"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.
"It will be safer for her this way."
"What are you talking about?"
Kade swiveled his head to face her. "There is more to your monsters than you know, Alex. Much more."
She stared at him. "What are you saying, Kade?"
"Earlier today, out at the cabin, you said you trusted me, right?" She swallowed, nodded mutely.
"Then trust me, Alex. Ah, fuck. Trust no one but me now." He glanced back at Skeeter Arnold's body-the Minion corpse he was now going to have to lose somewhere, and fast. "I need you to go back outside. You can't say anything to anyone about Big Dave or Skeeter or what happened in here just now. Tell no one what you saw in here, Alex. I need you to walk out there, go back home, and wait for me to come to you. Promise me."
"But he--" Her voice choked off as she gestured toward the broken body on the floor.
"I'll take care of everything. All I need is for you to tell me that you trust me. That you believe me when I tell you there's no reason for you to be afraid. Not of me." He reached out to stroke her chilled cheek, relieved that she didn't flinch from him or pull away. He was asking for a hell of a lot from her--far more than he had a right to. "Go home and wait for me, Alex. I'll be there as soon as I can." She blinked a couple of times, then took a few steps backward. Her eyes were bleak on his as she inched toward the open door, and for a moment he wondered if her fear would prove too much for her now.