“Oh, God, Lucan! I was so scared. If anything had happened to you…”
Gabrielle’s whisper made him forget all about his escaping enemy. The only thing that mattered to him was that she was able to talk to him. She was breathing. Gabrielle was with him, and he hoped to God he could keep her that way.
“How the hell did they get to you?” he asked, his voice shaking with urgency and the sharp aftershocks of his fear.
“After you left the compound tonight, I needed to get away and think. I went home. Kendra showed up. She had Jamie held hostage in a car outside. I couldn’t let them hurt him. Kendra is—was—a Minion, Lucan. They killed her. My friend is dead.” Gabrielle gave a sudden sob. “But Jamie got away, at least. He’s somewhere downtown, probably scared out of his mind. I need to find him and make sure he’s all right.”
Lucan heard the low clip of the helicopter as it rose higher above them. He had to give Niko the signal to blow the place before the Rogues inside had a chance to escape, too.
“Let’s get out of here, then we’ll deal with the rest.” Lucan scooped Gabrielle off her feet and up into his arms. “Hold on to me, sweetheart. Tight as you can.”
“Okay.” She wrapped her arms around his neck.
He kissed her again, relief flooding him to have her in his arms.
“Don’t ever let go,” he said, looking into the shining, beautiful eyes of his Breedmate.
Then he stepped over the edge of the roof and dropped with her, as soft as he could manage, down to the ground below.
“Lucan, talk to me, man!” Nikolai called over the earpiece. “Where are you? What the fuck is going on out there?”
“Everything’s all right,” he answered, carrying Gabrielle swiftly across the darkened grass of the property, toward where the warriors’ SUV waited. “Everything’s going to be all right now. Hit the detonator and let’s finish this thing.”
Gabrielle was huddled under the strong curve of Lucan’s arm as the SUV pulled onto the road leading to the compound’s estate. He’d been holding her close to him since they’d escaped the asylum grounds, shielding her eyes as the entire complex of buildings had gone up in a hellish ball of fire.
Lucan and his brethren had actually done it—they’d taken out the Rogues’ headquarters in one awesome strike. The helicopter had managed to elude the explosion, vanishing skyward into the black smoke and cover of night.
Lucan was pensive, staring out the tinted window, up into the canopy of stars. Gabrielle had seen his look of surprise—of stunned disbelief—when he’d been up on the roof and thrown open the helicopter’s cockpit door.
It was as if he’d seen a ghost.
The mood carried with him even now as they entered the estate and Nikolai drove toward the garage. The warrior pulled the vehicle to a stop inside the huge hangar. When he cut the engine, Lucan finally spoke.
“Tonight we scored an important victory against our enemies.”
“Hell yeah,” Nikolai agreed. “And we avenged Conlan and Rio. They would’ve loved to have been there to see that place blow.”
Lucan nodded in the dark vehicle. “But make no mistake, we are entering a new phase of conflict with the Rogues. This is war now, more than ever. Tonight we’ve stirred the hornet’s nest. But the one we needed to get—their leader—is still alive.”
“Let him run. We’ll get him,” Dante said, grinning confidently.
But Lucan gave a grim shake of his head. “This one is different. He won’t make it easy. He’ll anticipate our moves. He’ll understand our tactics. The Order is going to need to strengthen its strategies and increase its numbers. We need to organize the few remaining cadres around the world, bring in more warriors, the sooner the better.”
Gideon pivoted around in the front seat. “You think it’s the Gen One out of the West Coast who’s leading the Rogues?”
“I’m sure of it,” Lucan answered. “He was in the helicopter on the roof tonight, where he was holding Gabrielle.” He stroked her arm with tender affection, pausing to look at her as if the mere sight of her reassured him in some way. “And the bastard’s not a Rogue—not now, if he ever was. Once, he was a warrior, like us. His name is Marek.”
Gabrielle felt a cold blast coming from the SUV’s third row of seats and knew that Tegan was looking at Lucan.
Lucan knew it, too. He swiveled his head to meet the other warrior’s stare. “Marek is my brother.”
CHAPTER
Thirty-four
The weight of Lucan’s revelation followed them as they exited the vehicle and took the hangar’s elevator down into the compound. Standing beside Lucan, Gabrielle laced her fingers through his as they descended. Shock and sympathy clawed at her heart, and when he glanced over at her, she knew he could read the worry in her eyes.