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The abrupt choke and wheeze of Carrigan's voice snapped the Minion back to his senses. He saw his own hand clutching the officer's pen as it came down for a second brutal plunge, the point of it burrowing deep into the fleshy skin of Carrigan's neck.
The Minion struck again and again with the makeshift weapon, until the cop sank down to the floor in a savaged, lifeless heap.
He loosened his fist and the pen dropped into a pool of blood on the stairs, all but forgotten in the instant it took him to dash down and grab up his cell phone once more. He meant to place his crucial call immediately, but his eyes kept drifting to this new mess he'd made, something that wasn't going to get swept away as easily as the pizza in the lobby.
This had been a mistake, and any approval won from informing his Master of the Maxwell woman's whereabouts could be lost once it was discovered that he'd acted so impulsively here. Killing without sanction might negate everything.
But perhaps there was an even more certain path into his Master's good graces - a path that could be paved by apprehending and delivering the woman to his Master in person.
Yes, thought the Minion, that was a prize bound to impress.
Pocketing the cell phone, he turned back to extract Carrigan's weapon from its holster. Then he stepped over the corpse and hurried out a back entrance to the station parking lot.
Chapter Sixteen
He should let her go.
He'd screwed things up so badly, he didn't think there would be any reasoning with Gabrielle tonight. Maybe not ever.
From the opposite curb, he watched her taking long strides down the other side of the street, heading God knew where. She looked ashen and stunned, like she'd just taken a sucker punch to the chest.
Which she had, he admitted darkly.
Maybe it was for the best that he let her run off thinking he was a liar and a dangerous lunatic. The assumption was not all that far from fact, after all. But her opinion of him wasn't key here, anyway. Getting a Breedmate to safety was.
He could let her go home, give her a few days to cool off, take some time to come to terms with his deception. Then he could send Gideon to smooth things over and bring her calmly under Breed protection where she belonged. Gabrielle could choose a new life in any one of the Darkhavens secreted around the world. She could be happy, secure, and find a mate who would be a true partner for her.
She wouldn't even have to see him again.
Yeah, he thought, that was the best course of action at this point.
But regardless, he found himself stepping off the curb and into the street after her, unable to just walk away from Gabrielle now, even if that's what she needed most.
As he crossed the lanes of light evening traffic, his attention was wrenched to the squeal of car tires up ahead of him. A late model American rust bucket tore out of a side alley near the police station and careened into the middle of the street. The accelerator roared, laying rubber as the driver stomped on the gas and aimed the nose of the rumbling beast toward his target up the road.
Gabrielle.
Son of a bitch.
Lucan vaulted into a dead run. His boots chewed up the pavement, moving with all the speed he could summon.
The car launched up onto the curb a few feet in front of Gabrielle, blocking her path. She jolted to a stop. A low command came at her from the open window of the car. She shook her head violently, then screamed, her face going stark with recognition as the vehicle door opened and a human male jumped out.
"Jesus Christ. Gabrielle!" Lucan shouted, his mind grasping for a hold on her assailant and getting nothing but disconnect, unreachable, dead air.
Minion, he realized with contempt. Only the Rogue Master who owned this human could command his thoughts. And the mental effort Lucan had spent attempting to do so had slowed him physically. A few seconds lost, but too damned many.
Gabrielle made a fast break to her left, racing into a small playground with her pursuer right on her heels.
Lucan heard her cry out, saw the human that was chasing her suddenly throw out his hand and grab a fistful of the ponytail swinging behind her.
The bastard dragged her down to the ground. Fumbled a pistol out from the back waistband of his khakis.
Thrust the barrel of the weapon into Gabrielle's face.
"No!" Lucan roared, coming right up on them and kicking the human off of her with one fierce blow of his booted foot.
The weapon went off as the guy rolled, a wild shot firing up into the trees. But Lucan smelled blood. The metallic odor of it clung to both Gabrielle and her attacker. Not hers, he determined quickly, and with relief, as he noted the absence of Gabrielle's unique jasmine scent.
