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He remembered the carnage that had come before. And afterward. He d been there
with Lucan when the Order was conceived in blood and fury the two of them and
six others banding together in a pledge to fight for the future of their race,
the Breed.
Jesus, that had been a lifetime ago. Several lifetimes ago.
A lot of death had followed the Order to this moment, both within their ranks
and without. Most of the original warriors were lost to time and combat. Only
Tegan, Lucan, and Lucan s elder brother Marek now their most dangerous
adversary, having recently resurfaced to anoint himself leader of the
Rogues had survived of the original cadre of eight.
As Tegan paused in the open doorway of the library, Lucan looked up from an
array of color photographs that Gabrielle spread out before him on the squat
table in the center of the room. She had a gift that extended beyond her
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artist s eye for beauty: Gabrielle s camera lens was often drawn to vampire
locations, both Breed and Rogue. It was in part how she and Lucan met the past
summer; now it wasn t unusual for the Breedmate to return from occasional
daytime outings to the city and suburbs with pictures that proved useful to
the Order s recon efforts topside.
But this particular collection was something different.
Even from a distance, Tegan s eye was drawn to vibrant, sunlit images of the
mansion s winter grounds and gardens. Ice glistened on branches like diamonds,
and in one of the shots a red cardinal was captured close-up, a blast of
shocking color amid a field of fresh white snow. A few of the pictures were
taken in the city, some showing children in one of the area parks, bundled up
in bright snowsuits, rolling large snowballs for a family of snowmen that
stood half-completed nearby.
All things that those of the Breed didn t often get a chance to see, the
warriors especially.
Lucan s woman had taken the photos simply for his pleasure, bringing him
images of a vivid daylight world that existed just out of his reach.
Tegan glanced away from the pictures with a mental shrug; it didn t feel right
for him to share in this joy. It didn t belong to him, and he sure as hell
hadn t come here looking for warm fuzzies.
Not like you to call in the cavalry, Tegan, Lucan drawled. There had been a
smile lingering in the formidable warrior s gray eyes as he met Tegan s gaze
from across the room, but he sobered instantly. We have new trouble coming
our way?
It could be.
The Gen One leader of the Order nodded gravely, understanding from a single
exchanged look that the night was about to head south.
Way south, Tegan thought. He held the curious journal under his arm, but
ancient protocol made him hesitant to discuss potentially disturbing Order
business in front of a female. It did not escape his notice that instead of
getting up from the room or requesting privacy from Gabrielle, Lucan reached
out to take her hand in his. The slight nod he gave her as she sat back down
beside him was one of respect and solidarity.
The statement was clear: they were a unit, and while Lucan would walk through
fire to protect her, the venerable warrior kept no secrets from her. No doubt
the female would have it no other way.
It had been like that between the couple from the day she arrived at the
compound as Lucan s mate. The same could be said of Gideon and Savannah, who
were paired more than thirty years and an equally solid match. Dante and Tess
were two halves of one whole as well, though they had only been together a few
short months.
Breedmates had their freedoms, even those bonded to members of the Order, but
there wasn t a male among the entire vampire nation who would stand by and
condone what Elise had been doing the past few months she d been living
topside. What she intended to keep on doing, even if it killed her.
Tell me what this is about, Lucan said, indicating for Tegan to come into
the library chamber. Gideon said you phoned in that you were with an injured
Darkhaven female.
Tegan arched a brow in acknowledgment. Elise Chase. No longer of the
Darkhavens, as it turns out.
She left?
After the death of her son. She s been living in the city by herself.
Jesus. What happened to her tonight?
Tegan smirked, still disbelieving the woman s tenacity. She attracted some
unwanted attention from the Rogues. They came gunning for her at her
apartment.
He left out the fact that one of the bastards got to her before he could stop
it. The thought still burned in him, self-directed anger seething beneath his
cool veneer.
Gabrielle frowned. What would they want with Elise?
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This. Tegan held the book out and Lucan took it, scowling as he touched the
faded tooling on the aged cover, then flipped through some of the yellowed
pages. It was waiting for overnight pickup by a Minion. Somebody was in a big
rush to have it.
Lucan s look was grave. No question as to who the somebody was.
And the Darkhaven woman?
She intercepted it.
Christ. What about Marek s human mule?
The Minion is dead, Tegan stated simply. Marek must have gotten wind of
that fact and unleashed his hounds to retrieve the book. It would have been
easy enough to track down Elise from the store s closed-circuit feed.
What is it, some kind of diary? Gabrielle asked, peering past Lucan at the
fanning pages.
Appears to be, Tegan said. Apparently it belonged to a family named Odolf.
You ever hear of them, Lucan?
The vampire shook his dark head as he ran through the journal again. Before
Tegan could direct him to the disturbing symbol at the back of the text, Lucan
flipped to the page himself. As soon as his eye lit upon the hand-drawn
dermaglyphic marking, he muttered a curse. Holy hell. Is this what I think it
is?
Tegan gave a grim nod. No doubt you recognize the pattern.
Dragos, Lucan said, a dark weight hanging on that one word.
Who is Dragos? Gabrielle asked, peering past Lucan at the glyph scrawled
onto the page.
Dragos is a very old Breed name, Lucan explained. He was one of the
original members of the Order a first generation vampire. Like Tegan and me,
Dragos was sired by one of the ancient creatures who began the vampire race as
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