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Brock's answering grin was big and bright white. Oh, yeah. Now I remember.
Dante let everyone settle in to the plan, the younger males blowing off nervous energy with humor and smacktalk. But as the team of them started up the wooded side of the rocky incline, they fell silent and serious. None of them were certain what lay at the end of this journey, but they were all prepared to meet it together.
Elise wasn't sure how long they'd been driving. Easily hours. They navigated through each section of the city, the affluent and the derelict, stopping at regular intervals to let her listen to the darkened streets and alleyways. Waiting for her veins to prickle with the awareness--the fervent hope--that Tegan was near.
She didn't want to give up.
Not even as the night began to wane toward dawn.
We can make another circuit through town, Lucan said, the Gen One warrior no more inclined to abandon Tegan than she was. Even though the coming daylight was as much a threat as any deadly enemy.
Elise reached over and touched the large hand that turned the steering wheel onto yet another street. Thank you, Lucan.
He nodded. You love him a great deal, do you? Yes, I do. He is...everything to me.
Then we'd better not lose him, eh?
She smiled and shook her head. No, we'd better not...oh, my God...Lucan. Slow down. Stop the car!
He braked at once, and pulled over near a tree-lined, elegant residential street. As the vehicle came to a halt, Elise put down her window. A cold February breeze rushed inside.
Down here, she said, her veins tingling.
She focused on the sensation, pulling it into her, trying to pine its source. It was Tegan; she had no doubt. And the heat that traveled her bloodstream was not a pleasant warmth, but an acid burn.
The searing heat of pain.
Oh, God. Lucan, he's being held somewhere on this street--I'm sure of it. And he's hurting. He's hurting...very badly. She closed her eyes, feeling it even more now that the car was turning onto the pleasant drive. Hurry, Lucan. He's being tortured.
She felt queasy, both with the idea of Tegan being abused, and with the twisting anguish coursing through every cell in her body. But she held on, searching for any sign that they were getting close. The white-hot spike of pain that hit her as they drew up on an old stone-and-timber manor house told her they had found him.
The house was set back from the street, quiet, but well tended. Obviously lived in. A white Audi sedan was parked at the carriage house garage. There was birdseed in the feeder hanging from a pine bough in the center of the yard. A kid's sled lay on the snowy front walk.
Right here, she told Lucan. He's in that house. Lucan frowned as he took in the same details she had, but he cut the headlights and killed the engine. You're certain?
Yes. Tegan is being held inside.
She watched as Lucan armed himself. He was already wearing an arsenal of weapons--two large handguns and a pair of sheathed daggers--but he grabbed a leather satchel from behind the passenger seat and unzipped the bag to reveal even more.
He glanced up at her and muttered a ripe curse. I'm not sure it would be safe for you to wait--
That's good, she said, because I don't plan to. I can help you find him once we get in.
No way, Elise. It's too fucking dangerous. I can't take you in there. I won't. He slapped a clip into one of his guns and holstered it. Then he pulled another knife and a coil of wire from the duffel and stuffed both into a pocket of his combat jacket. As soon as I head for the house, I want you to slide over and take the wheel. Drive out to the--
Lucan. Elise met his stern gray gaze and held it firmly. Four months ago I thought my life had ended. My heart was ripped out by Marek and the Rogues who serve him. Now, by some miracle of fate, I'm happy again. I never dreamed I could be. I've never known this kind of love--the love I have for Tegan. So, if you think I'm going to sit out here and wait, or run out of harm's way when I know he's in trouble--when I know he's in pain-- well, I'm sorry, but you can forget it.
If my brother is the one holding him--and let's be goddamn clear about this, we both know it's got to be Marek--then there's no telling what we're going to find in there. Or what might come out of there when the dust finally settles. Tegan could already be lost.
I need to know, Lucan. I'd rather die trying to help him than stand by or walk away.
A slow grin spread over the face of the Order's fearsome leader. Anyone ever tell you that you're one stubborn female?
Tegan might have said so once or twice, she admitted wryly.
Then I guess he'll have to understand what I was up against when he sees you with me. He handed her a sheathed dagger attached to a leather belt.
Elise strapped the weapon around her waist and cinched the buckle. I'm ready when you are, Lucan.
