Then we'd better not lose him, eh?
She smiled and shook her head. No, we'd better not...oh, my God...Lucan. Slow down. Stop the car!
He braked at once, and pulled over near a tree-lined, elegant residential street. As the vehicle came to a halt, Elise put down her window. A cold February breeze rushed inside.
Down here, she said, her veins tingling.
She focused on the sensation, pulling it into her, trying to pine its source. It was Tegan; she had no doubt. And the heat that traveled her bloodstream was not a pleasant warmth, but an acid burn.
The searing heat of pain.
Oh, God. Lucan, he's being held somewhere on this street--I'm sure of it. And he's hurting. He's hurting...very badly. She closed her eyes, feeling it even more now that the car was turning onto the pleasant drive. Hurry, Lucan. He's being tortured.
She felt queasy, both with the idea of Tegan being abused, and with the twisting anguish coursing through every cell in her body. But she held on, searching for any sign that they were getting close. The white-hot spike of pain that hit her as they drew up on an old stone-and-timber manor house told her they had found him.
The house was set back from the street, quiet, but well tended. Obviously lived in. A white Audi sedan was parked at the carriage house garage. There was birdseed in the feeder hanging from a pine bough in the center of the yard. A kid's sled lay on the snowy front walk.
Right here, she told Lucan. He's in that house. Lucan frowned as he took in the same details she had, but he cut the headlights and killed the engine. You're certain?
Yes. Tegan is being held inside.
She watched as Lucan armed himself. He was already wearing an arsenal of weapons--two large handguns and a pair of sheathed daggers--but he grabbed a leather satchel from behind the passenger seat and unzipped the bag to reveal even more.
He glanced up at her and muttered a ripe curse. I'm not sure it would be safe for you to wait--
That's good, she said, because I don't plan to. I can help you find him once we get in.
No way, Elise. It's too f**king dangerous. I can't take you in there. I won't. He slapped a clip into one of his guns and holstered it. Then he pulled another knife and a coil of wire from the duffel and stuffed both into a pocket of his combat jacket. As soon as I head for the house, I want you to slide over and take the wheel. Drive out to the--
Lucan. Elise met his stern gray gaze and held it firmly. Four months ago I thought my life had ended. My heart was ripped out by Marek and the Rogues who serve him. Now, by some miracle of fate, I'm happy again. I never dreamed I could be. I've never known this kind of love--the love I have for Tegan. So, if you think I'm going to sit out here and wait, or run out of harm's way when I know he's in trouble--when I know he's in pain-- well, I'm sorry, but you can forget it.
If my brother is the one holding him--and let's be goddamn clear about this, we both know it's got to be Marek--then there's no telling what we're going to find in there. Or what might come out of there when the dust finally settles. Tegan could already be lost.
I need to know, Lucan. I'd rather die trying to help him than stand by or walk away.
A slow grin spread over the face of the Order's fearsome leader. Anyone ever tell you that you're one stubborn female?
Tegan might have said so once or twice, she admitted wryly.
Then I guess he'll have to understand what I was up against when he sees you with me. He handed her a sheathed dagger attached to a leather belt.
Elise strapped the weapon around her waist and cinched the buckle. I'm ready when you are, Lucan.
Okay, he said, shaking his head in defeat. Let's go get our boy.
They exited the car and swiftly, cautiously approached the human residence. As they neared the place, Elise was assaulted with both the pain of Tegan's suffering and the growing awareness of Minions on the property. Her mind filled with a concert of corrupt thoughts, ugly voices pounding into her consciousness.
Lucan, she whispered, mouthing a warning to him. Minions inside--more than one.
He nodded, and motioned for her to come up near him. He gripped a wooden trellis that climbed up the side of the house, testing its strength. Can you climb it?
She took hold of the makeshift ladder and started pulling herself up. Lucan met her at the top; all it took for him to reach the level roof of the second-floor terrace was a powerful flex of his legs. He landed soundlessly from his fluid leap and thrust his hand down to help pull her up the rest of the way. A pair of French doors were open onto the tiled patio, the wispy white curtains riffling out like ghosts. Elise could see a woman in a nightgown lying motionless on the floor inside the room. Her arm was outstretched, unmoving, the wrist savaged and resting in a pool of spilled blood.
Marek, Lucan said softly, in explanation of the carnage. Will you be all right walking through there?
Elise nodded. She followed him in through the scene of recent violence, past the dead human woman and the husband who had evidently tried without success to fend off the vicious vampire attack. Bile rose in Elise's throat as they stepped out into the hallway and found the body of a young boy.
Oh, God.
Marek had broken in and killed them all.
Lucan ushered her past the child, taking her wrist and holding her behind him as he made a quick visual check of the hallway. She felt the sudden blast of mental pain, but had not seen the Minion coming until he was on them, having come out of another room just as they approached. Lucan silenced Marek's mind slave before the human had a chance to scream a warning. With a dagger slicing deeply across the Minion's throat, it sputtered in shock, then dropped in a lifeless heap to the floor. Lucan gave it no pause at all. He stepped over the corpse, waiting for Elise to do the same.