Darker After Midnight (Midnight Breed 10)

She didn't understand the words she was speaking, no more than she could comprehend the reason these creatures had done such a heinous thing to an entire community of people. But the four others standing with her on the cliff were looking to her now for direction, seeking counsel from the otherworldly kindred they saw before them.

Wherever they've gone, however long it takes, said the mind inside her skull, in the alien language that wasn't hers. We hunt them down ... until we claim the head of every last one.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

ASINGLE, STACCATO RAP sounded on the door of the room Lucan had taken over as his private office. He glanced up and heaved an aggravated sigh. "Enter."

Tegan came in, still dressed in his winter coat and weapons, fresh off his return from Boston. "Don't mean to interrupt."

Lucan shrugged and pushed aside the lab intel analyses Gideon had given him earlier that night. He hadn't even read the damn things yet, had just been sifting through the papers on autopilot for the past hour, glad for the excuse to shut himself away from the rest of the compound to wrestle with his thoughts. Grave, disturbing thoughts that probably weren't going to see any improvement, if Tegan's serious look was any indication. "How'd it go?"

"Could've been worse." Tegan arched a tawny brow. "Chase and the woman are both outside with the others."

"No resistance from him?" Lucan could hardly believe that.

"Oh, he resisted. Or would have, if Renata hadn't dropped him on his ass with a shot of instant obedience training."

"Shit," Lucan grumbled, raking a hand over his tense jaw. "And the female?"

Now Tegan's shrewd green eyes glinted with an ironic light. "Tavia Fairchild is everything Rowan told us she'd be - and then some. She's Breed, all right, and Gen One besides. No damn doubt about that. Got the glyphs and fangs to prove it."

"I'm not sure I want to know how you were able to confirm that."

Tegan grunted and shook his head. It took an awful lot to put the Gen One warrior in a state of awe, but there was no mistaking the amazement in his low voice. "You should've seen her, man. The instant Renata opened up on Chase with her mind zap, Tavia came out of nowhere, spitting venom and ready to take on all four of us at once." He exhaled a wry curse. "Maybe I should have let her try, just to see what she was capable of in raw, Gen One form. With training and a bit more time to get used to herself in her new skin, I think she could be one hell of an asset to us."

"She's not staying," Lucan said, already hating the idea that yet another civilian - and a female besides - was under the Order's roof. One more innocent life placed in his hands. A life unlike any other, if the facts about Tavia Fairchild's origins were even close to the truth. "I agreed to bring her in because we can't afford to let anyone connected to Dragos run loose and unchecked on the streets right now. She's here to provide whatever intel we can glean from her and to cool her heels until we ash that son of a bitch Dragos once and for all. Soon as we have what we need, she's going back to Rowan or a safe house somewhere. Either way, she's out of here ASAP."

"You gonna tell that to Chase?"

Lucan's dark look was met with a cool stare. "Ah, Christ ... Harvard and her - "

Tegan inclined his head in confirmation. "Appears so. If the move she pulled, coming to his defense at Rowan's wasn't enough to convince me, the ride north only confirmed it."

"You talking sex, or sex and a blood bond between them?"

"That I don't know," Tegan admitted. "Harvard looks like shit, but he's keeping it together for the most part. I tested him on the way up, and I gotta say, I was surprised to see he passed. If not by much. No mistaking the feral vibe coming off him, but there was a new restraint about him that I haven't seen in a long time."

Lucan considered for a moment. "You think he needs solitary?"

"I think if we put him in a hole, that might just push him straight over the edge. Right now, Tavia seems like the only thing holding him together, and even that's precarious."

"Jesus." Lucan leaned back in his desk chair and blew out a long sigh. "Like things aren't bad enough around here. Harvard's outside, you say?"

Tegan nodded. "Hunter and Niko are keeping an eye on him while I headed down here to talk with you."

"And the female?"

"She's meeting the welcome wagon right now. Looks like we got back to base just in time. Everyone's about to head in with Dante and Tess for Xander's presentation ceremony." Lucan's brow furrowed. "That's tonight?"

But, shit, of course it was. Gabrielle and the other Breedmates had been making preparations for the ritual for days now, trying to give Tess and Dante's son a proper introduction into the world despite the chaos that surrounded them. As leader of this household, Lucan would be the one officiating as tonight Xander Raphael would be officially presented to his kith and kin, and his godparents would publicly pledge themselves to his upbringing, should tragedy take Dante and Tess before he reached adulthood.

The ritual was steeped in tradition and honor among the civilian Darkhaven populations, more pomp than practical necessity. But it took on heavier meaning here, under the Order's roof, where combat and war could claim any one of their members on any given night.

Lucan stood up, unaware he was gritting his teeth until he heard the sharp grate of his jaws. His hands were fisted at his sides, knuckles white as bone.

Tegan's gaze narrowed on him. "What's going on with you?"

"Nothing."