Mira and Kellan stood together in the darkness, she wrapped tightly around the Breed male, her blond head nestled into his chest, his muscled arms holding her close.
Two of Crowe’s uniformed security men lay dead on the black asphalt in front of him. Across the way, a helicopter idled, its pilot slumped forward in his seat, engine winding down to an unmanned stop.
And lying under the slowing rotor blades, the headless body of Reginald Crowe.
Lucan stared, uncertain if he was seeing right, as a glow that seemed to light Crowe’s limbs and torso from within now faded away before his eyes.
Behind Lucan, both Dare and Nathan murmured their disbelief.
Lucan glanced back to Mira and Kellan. “What the hell just happened?”
As the pair began explaining, more of the Order arrived behind Nathan and Dare. The younger teams, and the warriors who’d been with Lucan nearly from the start of the Order’s founding. Gabrielle and the other Breedmates soon arrived as well, until Lucan found himself surrounded by the kith and kin who meant the most to him.
They all listened in silent astonishment as Mira and Kellan described what Crowe had done, who he was . . . and the things the immortal had revealed in his final breaths.
That Mira and Kellan had defeated Crowe by themselves was commendable, even if the leader in Lucan wanted to take the pair to task for the maverick move undertaken without his knowledge or permission. Perhaps that was the rebel in Kellan, the leader unafraid to charge to the head of any battle. God knew, Mira had never been known for her willingness to color within the lines.
Tonight they had been a united front. A team of two, stronger together. It felt right, seeing them joined as a mated couple. A partnership that had been tested more than most, and hard-won.
Lucan walked over and extended his hand to them, first to Mira, whom he couldn’t resist dragging into a brief embrace, feeling fatherly and proud of the little girl who had become such a valuable member of the Order’s team. As they drew apart, Lucan clasped her hand in his firm grasp. “You honor us well, warrior.”
To Kellan, he gave a nod of gratitude as he shook the Breed male’s strong hand. “You as well,” he said. “Maybe there’s a place for a rebel ghost within the Order’s ranks after all.”
Kellan grinned, drawing Mira a bit closer to his side as he nodded in acceptance of Lucan’s offer.
Lucan looked at them, then at his son and the younger warriors surrounding him. He was looking at the shape of the Order’s future. A new generation, already stepping up to the plate.
And they would be needed, all of them.
Lucan glanced down at Reginald Crowe, realizing he was looking at something new there too: an enemy the Order had never confronted before, one that was clearly playing by its own set of rules now.
“What happened here tonight marks a new beginning,” he told the men and women of the Order standing with him under the dark night sky. “This marks a new war . . . one we must win.”
A round of agreeing voices answered him, grim faces filled with determination and fire.
Lucan met each fierce gaze, man and woman alike. “From this moment forward, we play by our own rules. Whatever it takes, whatever the cost. Our new mission begins now.”