Kiss of Midnight_ A Midnight Breed Novel - Lara Adrian [142]
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.
Gabrielle saw similar looks of concern reflected in the eyes of Lucan’s warrior brethren as well, an unspoken acknowledgment of what the night’s discovery meant.
The time was going to come that Lucan would have to face killing his own brother.
Or be killed by him.
Gabrielle hardly had a chance to absorb that cold fact before the elevator doors opened on Savannah and Danika, who were waiting anxiously for the warriors’ return. There were relieved welcomes, dozens of questions about the outcome of the night’s mission, as well as worried inquiries into what on earth had made Gabrielle leave the