AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The time was going to come that Lucan would have to face killing his own brother.
Or be killed by him.
Gabrielle hardly had a chance to absorb that cold fact before the elevator doors opened on Savannah and Danika, who were waiting anxiously for the warriors' return. There were relieved welcomes, dozens of questions about the outcome of the night's mission, as well as worried inquiries into what on earth had made Gabrielle leave the compound without a word to anyone. Gabrielle was too tired to answer, too exhausted from the entire ordeal to even try to express what she was feeling.
But she knew she would have to provide some answers soon, to Lucan at least.
She watched as he was ushered away by the other warriors amid talk of war tactics and new battle strategies to be used against the Rogues. Gabrielle was swiftly pulled in an opposite direction by Savannah and Danika. They fretted over her sundry scrapes and bruises, insisting that she take a warm meal and a long, hot bath.
Gabrielle reluctantly agreed, but not even Savannah's amazing cooking or the fragrant heat of the soak that followed could relax her.
Her mind was spinning with thoughts about Lucan, Jamie, and everything that had happened that night. She owed Lucan her life. She loved him more than anything, would always be grateful to him for his rescuing her, but it didn't change how she felt about the way things had been going between them. She couldn't stay at the compound like this. And no matter what he said, she wasn't about to enter one of the Darkhavens.
So, what did that leave? She couldn't go back to her apartment, either. Her old life no longer fit. To return to it meant she would have to deny everything she'd experienced with Lucan these past weeks and work to forget him. She would have to deny all that she now understood about herself, and her connection to the Breed.>He approached from behind the helicopter, careful not to be seen as he rolled under its tail, then came around to the passenger side of the cockpit, gun drawn.
He glimpsed her inside. She was in the backseat next to a big male dressed in black and wearing dark glasses. She looked so small, so terrified. Her scent swamped him. Her fear tore at his heart.
Lucan yanked open the cockpit door, shoved his weapon into the face of Gabrielle's captor, and made a grab for her with his free hand. She was jerked back before he could latch onto her.
"Lucan?" Gabrielle gasped, her eyes wide with surprise. "Oh, my God, Lucan!"
He did a quick visual assessment of the situation, noting the Minion pilot and another mind-slave human next to him in the front. The Minion in the front passenger seat spun around to knock away Lucan's arm, and got a bullet in his head instead.
When Lucan looked back to Gabrielle not even an instant later, the calm one with her had put a savage-looking blade to her throat. Peeking out from the sleeve of his long black trenchcoat were the dermaglyphs Lucan had seen in the surveillance photos from the West Coast.
"Let her go," he told the Gen One leader of the Rogues.
"My, my, this is a faster response than I could have imagined, even for a blood-bonded warrior. What are you up to? Why are you here?"
The low, arrogant voice took him aback.
Did he know this bastard?
"Let her go," Lucan said, "and I'll show you why I'm here."
"I think not." The Gen One smiled broadly, baring his teeth.
No fangs. A vampire, but not a Rogue at all.
What the hell?
"She's lovely, Lucan. I rather expected she was yours."
Christ, he knew that voice. It came from somewhere buried deep in his memory.
Deep in his past.
A name cut through his mind, as sharp as a blade.
No. It couldn't be him.
Impossible...
He shook off the momentary confusion, but the slip in focus cost him dearly. Creeping up on him from the side, a Rogue had come up on the roof from within the asylum. With a snarl, it seized the helicopter door and slammed the edge of it into Lucan's skull.
"Lucan!" Gabrielle screamed. "No!"
He staggered, one knee sinking beneath him. His gun was kicked out of his grasp. It skittered across the rough surface of the roof, several yards out of reach.
