Corinne felt a bittersweet jolt in her core. Five years Corinne's junior, Lottie had been a gawky adolescent at the time of Corinne's abduction. Now she was grown up with a mate and adult children of her own. Corinne should have been happy for her sister; deep down, she was. But the news only drove the point more sharply that time had marched on while Corinne was gone.
Far more painful was the reminder of all the things she had lost - the precious things that had been taken from her - while Dragos held her imprisoned. Now that she was here, back in her parents' home, she could put all of her energy into reclaiming the pieces of her own broken life.
"I didn't see Sebastian when we came in earlier," she said, recalling the handsome, studious Breed youth who'd been so patient with his adopted sisters. He'd been twenty the year Corinne was abducted. Now he was probably leader of his own Darkhaven, with a beautiful Breedmate and half a dozen sons of his own as well.
The long silence that met her question made Corinne draw in an anxious breath. Regina Bishop's mouth quivered. "Of course, you wouldn't know. We lost Sebastian to Bloodlust more than forty years ago now."
Corinne closed her eyes. "Oh, God. Not our sweet Sebastian."
"I know, darling." Her mother's voice was small, still rife with grief over her son all these decades later. "Sebastian had changed in the years after you went missing. We knew he was struggling, that his thirst was consuming him, but he withdrew from us. He tried to hide his problems from us, wouldn't accept help. He'd been on a terrible killing spree in the city that night. When he came home, he was covered in blood. None of us could reach him. He was Rogue by then, too far gone to be saved. And he knew it. Sebastian was always so perceptive, so smart and sensitive. He locked himself in your father's study. We heard the gunshot not even a moment later."
"I'm so sorry." Corinne hugged her, feeling the anguish as the other woman stifled a tight sob. "It must have been awful.">"That's not like him at all." Elise glanced at Tegan as he reached out to draw her hand into his. "He's too responsible to just take off like this without any explanation."
"Is he?" Tegan's question was gentle, but there was tension in his jaw - a fierce protectiveness - as he looked at his troubled Breedmate beside him. "I know you want to think the best of Chase, but you need to look at him through clear eyes now. You saw him last night, Elise. You told me how he acted with you in the chapel. Was that the Chase you think you know?"
"No," she answered quietly, her eyes downcast as she slowly shook her blond head. Earlier that day, Elise had relayed to everyone her confrontation with Chase in the moments before he'd left the compound, how he'd lashed out at her, full of anger and crudeness. Lucan had bristled to hear about the whole thing, but no worse than Tegan. The other Gen One still vibrated with palpable malice toward Chase's actions, despite the care with which he handled his beloved mate's feelings for her former kinsman.
"I shouldn't have struck him," Elise murmured. "I knew he was upset. I should have walked away and left him alone. That's what he told me to do. I shouldn't have pushed him - "
"Hey," Tegan said, tenderly lifting her chin with his fingertips. "You didn't push him out that door last night. He went willingly." Tegan glanced Lucan's way then. "Let's face it, Harvard's been walking a damn thin line for a while now. Maybe it's time we all start looking at him with clearer eyes. Time we stop making excuses for Chase and acknowledge what I'm sure more than one of us has been thinking about him lately."
Lucan caught the meaning in Tegan's knowing stare and in the statement that hung over the room like a funeral shroud. Hell, how could he mistake Tegan's point, considering Lucan's own recent history and the battle he'd waged not so long ago to resist falling victim to the weakness that plagued all of the Breed?
"Bloodlust," Lucan said, grim with the thought. He glanced up at the faces of his Breed brethren seated around the table, more aware than any of them - except Tegan, that is - of what it meant to become addicted to the thirst. Once a vampire stepped foot on that path, the decline was swift. Plummet too far and you never came back. "No offense, T, but I hope you're wrong."
Tegan's stare remained steady, too certain. "And if I'm not?"
When no one else filled the answering silence, Dante hissed a curse. "Either way, we need to haul Harvard's ass back into the compound and set him straight. Someone needs to tell him to pull his shit together before it's too late. I'll pound it into his thick skull personally, if that's what it takes."
Lucan wanted to agree with Dante's argument but found himself shaking his head the longer he considered it. "Chase knew what he was doing when he walked out of here. And if he didn't, then he sure as hell knows now. We've got bigger problems to deal with than cleaning up another of Harvard's messes. He's AWOL, and that's coming on the heels of a fucked-up mission that might have gone even further south if not for Hunter having been with Chase on patrol. Let's not forget it was Chase who failed to keep Lazaro and Christophe Archer safe during Kellan's rescue last week. He's been screwing up left and right. Frankly, he's becoming a liability."
"I can go after him, try to bring him around," Dante insisted. "I mean, Christ, Lucan. He's proved to be solid in combat. He's saved my ass more than once, and he's done a lot of good for the Order since he's been on board. Don't you think he deserves some benefit of doubt here?"
"Not if his behavior jeopardizes the Order's objectives," Lucan replied. "And not if his presence here endangers the security of this compound or anyone within these walls. Like Tegan said, nobody pushed Chase out of the fold. He walked out of here on his own free will."
Dante stared in grim silence, along with the others seated around the table. This wasn't a call Lucan wanted to make, but he was leader here, and, ultimately, his word was law. None of the warriors would argue the subject any further. Not even Dante, who slumped back into his seat and muttered a low curse.
Lucan cleared his throat. "Now, let's get back to Murdock - "
Before he could finish the thought, the tech lab's glass doors hissed open and Rio's Breedmate, Dylan, rushed into the room. Her freckle-spattered face was pale against the fiery color of her hair, her eyes wide with panic.
"Tess sent me," she blurted, skidding to a sharp halt. "She's in the infirmary. She needs help quick!"
Dante shot out of his seat. "Oh, fuck. Is it the baby?"
"No." Dylan shook her head. "Nothing like that - Tess is fine. It's Kellan Archer. Something's wrong with him - really wrong. He's in a lot of pain. We can't get him to stop convulsing."
The meeting broke up in a rush of movement, Lucan and Dante leading the way. Everyone scrambled down to the infirmary at the other end of the corridor. Dylan hadn't been exaggerating when she said the situation with young Kellan Archer was bad. The Breed youth was doubled over on his infirmary bed, clutching at his abdomen and moaning in obvious agony.
"His nausea started worsening about half an hour ago," Tess volunteered as the group crowded into the room. Kellan's grandfather, the Gen One civilian Lazaro Archer, stood at one side of the bed, Tess at the other. Her hand rested lightly on the teen's back as another deep convulsion rippled through his body.
"What's wrong with Kellan?" asked little Mira, who stood nearby with Gideon's mate, Savannah. The girl clutched an opened book to her chest, as though she'd recently been reading from it. Her eyes were wide and anxious. "Is he going to be okay?"
"Kellan's got a bad tummyache," Savannah told her, glancing to Gideon and Lucan as she guided the child away from the bed. She spoke and moved with utter calm, but her dark brown eyes were grave with concern.
The fact was, no one knew what was wrong with Kellan Archer. Instead of rebounding after he'd been abducted and tortured on Dragos's command, he seemed to be getting weaker. He needed to feed, that much was certain, but he wasn't yet in any shape to venture topside and find a Host on his own.
Bad enough Lucan had been forced to open the Order's headquarters to Lazaro Archer and his grandson after Dragos razed their Darkhaven and obliterated their kin. If things didn't improve with Kellan damn soon, Lucan was going to have to break yet another rule of the compound and bring a human inside to feed the kid.