Nevertheless, the Order agreed as a whole that the search for Lucan would continue and he would be brought home--no matter his condition. Joining the effort, commanders from all major districts, along with their mates, would be en route to D.C. as soon as possible. They were family as much as comrades, and there was nothing more important than coming to the aid of one of their own.
That vow was shared tenfold when it came to Lucan.
Darion hadn’t formally declared his intention to assume the Order’s leadership during his father’s absence--however permanent it may be--but tonight he had stepped easily, if reluctantly, into that role. Nathan and all the rest of the warriors, including the eldest among them, had deferred to Darion for decisions about how they would proceed when it came to Opus. After all, it was his parents who’d both been laid low by this latest strike.
“This is so fucked up,” Jax murmured under his breath as the group headed up the corridor. “But I’ll tell you what, I bet it was damn satisfying for Dare to drain that son of a bitch tonight.”
Rafe let out a short breath. “There won’t be any satisfaction for him or the rest of us until there’s nothing left of Opus but blood and ashes.”
Jax smiled coldly. “Damn straight. What I wouldn’t give to be a daywalker, man. Stroll right through their UV bullets and gut every one of the bastards with my bare hands.”
Nathan saw the flicker of apprehension in Rafe’s eyes at the mention of daywalkers. There were few of them in existence, fewer still who were combat-ready members of the Order. Rafe’s mate, Devony, being among that exception.
She had been the first at the war room table tonight to suggest using daywalker warriors to go after suspected Opus leaders, but Nathan was certain everyone had been thinking the same thing.
Everyone, perhaps, except Rafe.
Wrapping a protective arm around Devony’s shoulders, Rafe pressed a kiss to her temple. “I’ve heard enough about Opus and war for one night.”
She gave him a weary smile, leaning into his embrace. “Me too. All I want right now is to be in bed and to think about nothing for a while.”
Rafe stroked her cheek. “I can help with that.”
Jax rolled his eyes as the couple walked away hand-in-hand. “How about you, Captain? It’s still early. Want to spar a few rounds with me?”
Nathan shook his head. “Another time, Jax. Jordana will be waiting for me.”
The warrior shrugged, then sketched a salute. As Jax headed off toward the weapons room at the other end of the command center, Nathan went up to the residential quarters in the mansion.
He opened the door to the quarters he shared with Jordana and found her pacing the length of the living room rug in a thick bathrobe. Her feet were bare, her long platinum hair still wet from her bath. She froze as he entered the room, then went to him in silence and burrowed deep into his embrace.
For a long while, neither of them spoke.
Nathan rested his face against the top of her head, inhaling the sweet scent of her silken hair and warm skin. He brought her closer, encircling her slender body in his arms and wishing he never had to let go.
“I didn’t realize how much I needed to feel you like this until now,” he murmured.
Her shallow nod felt more like a tremble. “I know. I can’t believe that Lucan is . . .”
She moved in his embrace, tilting her face up to his. Fear and worry shone in her oceanic blue eyes, a deep anxiety he could feel vibrating through the bond they shared.
“Do you think he’ll . . . is there any way Lucan can recover?”
Nathan swallowed, gave a slow shake of his head. “I don’t know, but it doesn’t seem likely.”
She drew back some more, her pale brows furrowed. “But didn’t you tell me Sterling Chase had nearly gone Rogue once? And what about Tavia? Didn’t she come back after months of Bloodlust after Dragos poisoned her with Crimson?”
“Yes, but this is different. Chase beat his blood addiction before it owned him. Tavia had a unique medical history that was reverse engineered in order to help treat her. And as bad as Crimson was, Red Dragon is worse. It’s stronger, corrupts faster. I don’t know how much of that shit was fired into the vehicle Lucan was trapped inside, but based on what it looked like when we arrived at the Keener place, it had been enough Red Dragon to turn ten Breed males Rogue.”
“Oh, God.” Jordana’s voice reduced to barely a whisper. “And poor Gabrielle.”
Nathan gritted his teeth, contempt for Opus’s double-edged attack running like acid in his veins. He couldn’t help but imagine how easily any one of the warriors could have found themselves in Lucan’s position. Even him.
Nathan had never concerned himself with his own welfare--not as one of Dragos’s ruthless Hunters, not during the years following his rescue from that hideous program and his subsequent enlistment with the Order. It wasn’t until Jordana had entered his life that thoughts about his own life--and death--gave him a bit of pause.
He would rather be dead than bring a moment’s pain to his beloved mate. He knew Lucan felt the same about Gabrielle. Every mated Breed male carried that resolve in his heart.
Yet the thought of being separated from Jordana forever, even by death, was an unbearable ache Nathan hoped he never had to face.
