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Jesus Christ.
She'd been cut somehow in the struggle; a gash on her upper arm was bright red, slick with fresh blood. And the scent and sight of it had sent her Rogue attacker into a slavering fit of Bloodlust. Instead of going for the book, which the trio had no doubt been dispatched to do, the Rogue on Elise seemed rooted on just one thing--slaking its unquenchable thirst.
Tegan! she cried as her stricken gaze lit on him. She started scrambling to push the journal out from under her now, like she meant to pass it to him even though her life was hanging in the balance. Don't let them have it. Take the book, Tegan!
Fuck that, he thought, his temples pounding with the need to spill more Rogue blood. He went after the suckhead on Elise, knocking the Rogue off with a fierce strike of his mind. Without touching the bastard, using only his will and a flaring, savage anger, Tegan threw the Rogue against the far wall and held him there, two-hundred-and-fifty pounds of thrashing, feral vampire suspended three feet off the ground.
He saw the hunger in the Rogue's eyes, those slitted pupils fixed on Elise, even though Tegan was tightening his mental hold around the suckhead's throat, killing him by degrees. The long fangs were dripping saliva, the mind inside the huge skull no longer capable of any thought besides feeding the thirst. Tegan despised this element of his kind--knew it better than most, enough to know that extermination was the only solution for vampires lost to the disease.
But it wasn't duty or cool logic that made him draw his blade and drive it into the Rogue's heart. It was the heather-and-roses scent of Elise's spilled blood, the bitter tang of her fear, which clung to the air like a mist. This bastard had injured her, an innocent female, and that was something Tegan could not abide.
He let the dead Rogue crumble to the floor, instantly forgotten.
Are you all right? he asked Elise, turning to see her coming to her feet behind him.
She nodded. I'm okay.
Then let's get out of here.
As they hit the street, Tegan flipped his cell phone open and speed-dialed the compound. I need pickup, he told Gideon when the warrior came on the line. Send it fast.
There was a fractional hesitation, no doubt because Tegan, ever the loner, never called for backup. You hit? Nah, I'm good. But I'm not alone. He glanced at Elise's wound and ground out a curse. I'm with a female from the Darkhaven. She's bleeding, and I just smoked three Rogues downtown. Got a feeling there's going to be more real quick.
And if so, he and Elise might be able to shake their pursuers temporarily, but so long as they were leaving a blood scent trail, the Rogues would track them like hounds.
Ah, shit, Gideon breathed, understanding that fact the same as Tegan did. Where are you at right now?
Still running, Elise hurrying alongside him, Tegan gave his location and the direction he was heading.
Yep, I got ya right here, Gideon said over a clacking rush in the background as he typed something on a keyboard at the compound. Tracking GPS on the others now to see who's closest...Okay, looks like Dante and Chase are on patrol just north of you about fifteen minutes out.
Tell them they'd better get here in five. And, Gideon?
Yeah.
Let them know that the injured female who's with me...let them know it's Elise.
Fuck, T. You serious? Gideon's voice dropped low, incredulous. What the hell are you doing with that female?
Tegan heard the edge of wary suspicion in the vampire's tone, but he ignored it. Just tell Dante to haul ass.
Chapter Ten
Elise fought to keep pace with Tegan as they cut down one dark street, then another. She knew he was slowed by her; no human was any match for the incredible speed that those of the Breed possessed. The Rogue who was fresh on their trail was deadly fast too. No sooner did Tegan end his call to the compound than he spotted the new threat on their heels.
This way, he said, grabbing for her hand and pulling her onto a narrow lane between two Colonial-era buildings.
Behind them, Elise heard heavy boot falls, then sudden, empty silence, followed a second later by a hard metallic clank. She threw a glance over her shoulder and saw that another Rogue was onto them now. The large vampire had gone airborne, leaping up and landing on a metal fire escape that clung to the side of the old brick structure. It leaped again, then swung up onto the roof to track them from above.
Tegan--up there!
I know.
His voice was grim, his hand clamped firmly around hers as they neared the end of the lane. That grip was solid as iron, an unspoken promise that he was not about to let go of her. Elise drew from his strength, forcing her legs to work harder, ignoring her screaming lungs and the burn in her arm where the Rogue who attacked her had laced her open.
As they cleared the lane and spilled out onto the adjacent street, a dark SUV came roaring up from the traffic light and pulled a hard, skidding stop in front of them at the slushy curb. The back door flew open.
Get in. Tegan let go only to push her into the vehicle, and Elise scrambled onto the leather bench seat, her heart pounding in her chest. In a move so fast it hardly registered to her, he pivoted around, drew a dagger, and let it fly down the alleyway. From somewhere in the darkness came a shout of pain, then the low, anguished howl of a Rogue meeting its demise at the end of Tegan's titanium blade.
