"I am safe." She smiled at him as though no one else were in the room. "I'm safe with you, and I'm not afraid. Just promise you'll be here to catch me when I wake up."
"Forever." He kissed her, a brief meeting of their mouths that radiated as much heat as a furnace.
Jenna didn't take her eyes off her mate for a moment. "Make the call to Claire, will you please, Gideon?"
At Lucan's nod of agreement, Gideon pulled out his cell phone and speed-dialed Reichen's oceanfront Darkhaven in Newport, Rhode Island.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
HE'D HAD EVERY INTENTION of leaving.
After walking out of Mathias Rowan's kitchen, his mind had been made up. Avoid the certain contempt of his former brethren of the Order and simply disappear into the night; that was the extent of his plan. Yet, somehow, Chase instead found himself climbing the stairs to the Darkhaven's second floor.
The living quarters upstairs were quiet, most of the mansion's residents either in their own suites or out for the evening to hunt or play in the city.
The room where Tavia was stood at the far end of the broad hallway. Chase walked over the antique runner that spanned the floor from the top of the wide, curving stairwell, to either end of the living quarter wings of the regal old home. He stood motionless in front of the closed door, uncertain if he should disturb her.
From the other side of the thick panel of carved and polished mahogany, he heard the faint hiss of running water.
She was still in the shower?
She'd been up there for more than an hour.
Was she all right?
"Tavia." Chase rapped lightly on the door. No answer. He knocked again, harder this time. More of the same troubling silence. "Tavia, are you in there?"
He tried the faceted crystal knob and found it unlocked. His breath going shallow in his lungs, he pushed open the door and stepped into the unlit bedroom suite.
"Tavia? Why didn't you answer ..."
His voice trailed off to nothingness as he rounded the corner of the bedroom and found her sitting quietly against the wall in the dark.
Weeping.
"Ah, Christ."
Still dressed in her clothes from the clinic, arms wrapped around her bent knees, she shook with the force of her tears. Head bowed, her hair drooped to conceal her face, the long caramel waves matted and tangled from the battle earlier that night. Although she was no waif, far from helpless or weak, she had never looked so small or vulnerable to Chase.
He crossed the room and crouched before her. She didn't even look up to acknowledge he was there. Her shoulders trembled as soft sobs racked her body. "Hey," he whispered, reaching a tentative hand out to gentle her.
He stroked her hunched back, slow caresses that only seemed to make her cry harder. She didn't speak, just sucked in air and wept it out again.
"Shh," he soothed, uncertain how to comfort her, knowing he was a poor choice for the job. If there was one thing he preferred to avoid more than disappointing those who depended on him, it was dealing with such a raw display of feminine emotion.
But he couldn't walk away from Tavia's sorrow, not even if she deserved the arms of someone better.
>"Sounds like a plan. We need some wins, now that we're beginning to see all that Dragos has been doing in the years - hell, the decades - he's been running unchecked."
"A female Gen One," Gideon mused, getting busy on one of the keyboards in front of him.
"How is it she's been living among the humans all this time? And what the hell did Dragos stand to gain from creating her in the first place?"
"Questions I have myself," Lucan replied. "We'll have the chance to debrief her once Tegan and the others collect her from Rowan's place."
Uncertain if Tavia Fairchild would be cooperative, Lucan had sent Hunter and Niko along with Tegan. Renata went too, not only because the presence of another female might offer some sense of comfort to Tavia, but also because of Renata's unique Breedmate ability. Niko's mate had the power to temporarily immobilize any of the Breed using the ESP strength of her mind. Unfortunately, the industrial-strength migraines she tended to suffer afterward meant Renata used her talent sparingly.
"What about Chase?" Gideon asked. "Did Rowan tell you anything about him when he called?"