“Don’t worry,” one of them taunted. “Your bitch doesn’t need anyone’s protection anymore.”
“In a few seconds, he won’t either,” added another.
Then the soldier in front gave a nod and someone opened fire on the vehicle. Only a single round, shot through the window into the crumpled backseat. Another bullet pierced the window on the other side of the car.
For a fleeting instant, Lucan wondered if the soldiers were only trying to torment him before they filled him full of UV.
But then, he began to understand the true purpose of Opus’s game here tonight.
Red Dragon fumes billowed up from the spent rounds inside the car.
The rifles loaded with ultraviolet bullets were only meant to hold him captive while the real fun began.
As the realization settled on him, more rounds pierced the sedan. More choking vapor poured in, filling the entire cabin in a matter of seconds.
Keener’s screams grew more high-pitched as he banged his palms against the window glass and begged for the men to let him out.
No one moved. Those UV rifles remained locked on Lucan from outside, daring him to give someone a reason to make him fry.
He should have done it.
The Red Dragon was a strangling wreath around his head. He tried not to breathe it in, but there was too much. He could already taste the bitter scarlet gas in the back of his throat.
A roar exploded out of him and more Red Dragon was dragged into his mouth.
The pain of it shredded his lungs. His transformed eyes glowed bright amber in the darkened vehicle, barely penetrating the thick fog that kept multiplying all around him.
Lucan rammed his shoulder against the door from inside, taking a small measure of satisfaction in the way the human soldiers all took a step back, not quite certain they wanted to face the beast they’d been sent to create.
It didn’t matter, anyway.
Some of his fight was leaking out of him. He couldn’t even lift his hand to reach for his gun, not that his titanium hollowpoints would give him any advantage over a dozen rifles loaded with UV. Slumping in the seat, he fumbled to locate his comm unit. He struggled to retrieve it, his fingers heavy and uncooperative, his grasp too weak to pull the device from his pants pocket let alone make a call to headquarters for help.
Not that there was anything to be done for him now.
The fumes completely filled the vehicle. In the seat beside him, Keener had gone hysterical, screaming and wailing for mercy he wasn’t going to get from the Opus soldiers watching from outside.
There was no mercy coming for Lucan, either.
As his vision swirled and a searing chemical madness began to erupt deep inside him, only one thought penetrated his agony.
Gabrielle.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured, his tongue thick against his fangs. “My love . . . I’m sorry.”
CHAPTER 6
Gabrielle stepped into the spacious suite she and Lucan shared in the Order’s mansion headquarters, her heart full of pride for her formidable mate.
She had just left Savannah, Jenna, and Jordana, where the women, along with Gideon, had watched Lucan’s televised speech in the mansion’s large living room. Lucan’s speech had been one of the most important he’d ever delivered, and he had done it with both compassion and candor. In particular, the personal remarks he’d added toward the end of the pre-written portion of the address.
It was rare to hear Lucan speak with such raw feeling; all the more so in a public setting. But Gabrielle knew he had meant every word--right down to his vow to protect the fragile peace between mankind and the Breed with every breath in his body. He had been committed to true and lasting peace for most of his long life.
That dedication had been galvanized during the time Gabrielle had known him. Not even Lucan’s brother, Marek, had been allowed to stand in the way of that goal. Dragos had risen in the wake of Marek’s defeat, bringing even more evil plans and destruction. He had also ultimately fallen to Lucan and the warriors of the Order. Now, there was Opus Nostrum to contend with, and Selene of Atlantis. As well as the Ancient.
Gabrielle shuddered to think what any of those three adversaries might do in an effort to further their own plans for the world they all seemed determined to control. But Lucan didn’t shudder under any of those threats. He never faltered or hesitated to do what was right, what was necessary. Nothing seemed capable of breaking her formidable mate.
Gabrielle couldn’t wait for him to return home so she could show him how proud she felt to be his blood-bonded mate. If not for the war raging outside the headquarters’ gates, she’d demand to have all night with Lucan to demonstrate her pride and affection for him.
