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“Savannah wanted to know if you had any favorite foods. It was all I could think of.”

It was the meal she’d made for herself the night he had come back to her apartment to return her cell phone. The meal that sat cold and forgotten on her counter while she and Lucan went at it like minks. “You remembered what I was cooking that night?”

He gave a mild shrug. “Sit down. Eat.”

“There’s only one place setting.”

“Were you expecting company?”

She looked at him. “You really can’t eat any of this? Not even a bite?”

“If I did, I could only stomach a small amount.” He motioned for her to take a seat. “Eating human food is merely for appearances.”

“All right.” Gabrielle sat on the floor cross-legged. She slid the creamy linen napkin out from under the silverware and draped it over her lap. “But it doesn’t seem fair for me to stuff my face in front of you.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’ve had enough female fussing and concern for one day.”

“Suit yourself.”

She was too hungry to wait another second and the meal looked far too delicious to resist. Using the edge of her fork, Gabrielle cut off a bite of the manicotti and chewed it in a state of absolute bliss. She ate half of it in record time, pausing only to pour a glass of wine, which she also consumed with ravenous delight.

The whole time, Lucan watched her from the bed.

“Good?” he asked when she flicked a sheepish glance at him over the rim of her wineglass.

“Fantastic,” she murmured, shoveling in a mouthful of vinegarette-drenched field greens. Her stomach was much happier now. She swallowed the last bite of salad, then poured another half glass of chianti, and settled back with a sigh. “Thank you for this. I’ll have to thank Savannah, too. She didn’t have to go to all this trouble.”

“She likes you,” Lucan said, his studious expression unreadable. “You were a big help last night. Thank you for looking after Rio and the others. Myself, as well.”

“You don’t have to thank me.”

“Yes, I do.” The small, stitched gash in his forehead bunched up with his scowl. “You’ve been kind and giving all along, and I—” He broke off, muttering something under his breath. “I appreciate what you did, that’s all.”

Oh, she thought, that’s all. Even his gratitude came fully equipped with emotional barriers now.

Suddenly feeling too much like an outsider with him at the moment, she was more than willing to change the subject.

“I hear Tegan made it back in one piece.”

“Yes. But Dante and Niko nearly tore him apart on sight, after he pulled that disappearing act during the raid.”

“What happened to him last night?”

“One of the Rogues tried to slip out a back door at the warehouse as things heated up. Tegan tailed him into the street. He was going to take the suckhead out, but decided to follow him first, see where he might run. He tracked him to the old asylum outside the city. Place was crawling with Rogues. If there was any doubt, now we’re certain it’s a large colony. Probably an East Coast headquarters.”

A chill went through her when she thought that she had been to the asylum by herself—had been inside the place—unaware that it was a Rogue location.

“I have some pictures of the interior. They’re still in my camera. I didn’t have a chance to unload them yet.”

Lucan had gone stock-still, staring at her as if she just told him she’d been playing with live grenades. His face seemed to go a bit more ashen beneath its fatigued pallor. “You not only went there, but you broke in to the place?”

She shrugged, guiltily.

“Jesus Christ, Gabrielle.” He threw his legs over the side of the bed and sat there for a long moment, just looking at her. It took him a while to form words. “You might have been killed. Do you realize that?”

“I wasn’t,” she answered, lame observation, but still fact.

“Not the point.” He ran both hands deep into the hair at his temples. “Shit. Where’s your camera?”

“I left it in the lab.”

Lucan picked up the phone beside his bed and speed dialed on intercom. Gideon came on the other end.