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Lucan gave a grim nod. "For the last time."
Shared hatred made both males discard their guns in favor of more personal combat. In a flash, blades were drawn, one in each hand, as the two vampires prepared to battle to the death. Lucan threw the first strike. And took a vicious slice in his shoulder as the Rogue evaded the blow with stealth speed, having moved in a blink and appearing on the other side of him now, jaws open in triumph at the spilling of first blood.
Lucan leaped around with equal agility, his blades slashing whisper close to the Rogue's big head. The suckhead glanced down to where his right ear now lay, severed at his feet.
"Game on, asshole," Lucan snarled.
With a vengeance.
They flew at each other in a swirl of rage and muscle and cold, deadly steel. Lucan was aware of the battle taking place around him, the other warriors holding their own against the second round of warfare. But his main focus - all of his hatred - was centered on his personal grudge with the Rogue in front of him.
He felt his fangs stretch with the force of his anger, his pupils sharpening, until he knew that there could be little difference between his face and the one snarling back at him. They were equally matched in strength, but Lucan's blood burned hotter than his opponent's.
All Lucan had to do was think of Gabrielle, and of the terror this beast would inflict on her, and he was on fire with rage.
He fed that fury, driving the Rogue back with blow after relentless blow. He didn't feel the strikes he took on his own body, though there had been many. He forced his opponent down. Readied himself to deliver the final, killing blow.
With a roar, he sliced deep into the neck of the Rogue, liberating the huge head from its savaged body. Arms and legs spasmed as the vampire collapsed in a convulsing heap on the floor. Lucan's fury was still hammering hard in his veins; he flipped his blade over in his hand and drove it hard into the suckhead's chest, speeding the disintegration of the corpse.
"Holy hell," Rio said from somewhere nearby, his voice wooden. "Lucan - above you, man! Got another one in the rafters!"
It happened in an instant.
Lucan wheeled around, battle fury tearing through every muscle in his body. He threw a glance up to where Rio had indicated. High above his head, another Rogue vampire was crawling through the trusses of the warehouse ceiling, holding something that looked like a small metal football under his arm. A small red light on the device blinked quickly, then began a steady burn.
"Get down!" Nikolai raised his customized Beretta and took aim. "Dude's about to drop a fucking bomb!"
Lucan heard the sudden blast of the gunshot.
Saw the Rogue take Niko's slug right between its glowing yellow eyes.
But the bomb was already airborne.
Half a second later, it blew.
Chapter Twenty-seven
Gabrielle sat up with a start, jolted out of a fitful doze on the sofa in Savannah's living room. The women had been gathered there for the past few hours - taking comfort in one another's company - with the exception of Eva, who sometime ago had gone to the chapel to pray. The Breedmate had been edgier than the rest of them, spending the good part of the evening pacing and chewing her lip with anxious impatience.
From somewhere above the labyrinth of corridors and rooms, muted sounds of movement and clipped male voices carried down into the living room. The muffled hum of the elevator vibrated the thick air as the vehicle began its descent to the main floor of the compound.
Oh, God.
Something was wrong.
She could feel it.
"Lucan."
Gabrielle pushed aside the chenille throw that covered her and swiveled to put her feet on the floor. Her heart was racing, squeezing tight in her breast with every frantic beat.
"I don't like the sound of this, either," Savannah said, sliding a tense look around the room.
Gabrielle, Savannah, and Danika poured out of the apartment to greet the warriors, none of them saying a word, hardly breathing as they hurried toward the arriving elevator.
Even before the steel door slid open, it was apparent from the urgent sounds within that bad news was coming.
Just how bad, Gabrielle had not been prepared for.
