Part 15 (2/2)
”I'm at the police station. I came down here tonight to see you, and guess what? n.o.body's ever heard of you.”
”Ah, Christ. You asked for me there?”
”Of course I did. How could I have known you were playing me for a fool?” Again the brittle scoff. ”I even brought you coffee and a sweet roll.”
”Gabrielle, I will be there in a few minutes-less than that. Do not move. Stay where you are. Stay someplace public, somewhere inside. I'm coming for you.”
”Forget it. Leave me alone.”
Her sharp command drew him up short on the street. Just before his boots started hitting the pavement at a determined clip.
”I'm not sticking around to wait for you, Lucan. In fact, you know what? Just stay the h.e.l.l away from me.”
”Too late,” he drawled into the phone.
He was already rounding the last corner before he would turn onto the street where the police station was located. He moved over the concrete and through the thin knots of milling pedestrians like a ghost. He felt the blood he'd ingested begin to merge with his cells, adhering to muscle and bone, strengthening him, until he was nothing but a cold draft on the back of the necks of those he pa.s.sed.
But Gabrielle, with her Breedmate's extraordinary perception, saw him at once.
He heard the sudden intake of air skate across the receiver of her cell phone. She drew the device away from her ear as though in slow motion, disbelief widening her eyes as she stared at his swift approach.
”My G.o.d,” she whispered, the sound of it reaching his ears a mere second before he was standing in front of her, reaching out to take her by the arm. ”Let go of me!”
”We need to talk, Gabrielle. Not here. I'll take you someplace-”
”Like h.e.l.l you will!” She wrenched herself out of his grasp and backed away from him on the sidewalk. ”I'm not going anywhere with you.”
”You are not safe out here anymore, Gabrielle. You've seen too much. You're a part of it now, whether or not you want to be.”
”A part of what?”
”This war.”
”War,” she echoed, doubt lacing the word.
”That's right. It's a war. Sooner or later, you're going to have to pick a side, Gabrielle.” He ground out a curse. ”No. Screw that. I'm choosing a side for you right now.”
”Is this some kind of joke? What are you, one of those military rejects who gets off on acting out authority fantasies? Maybe you're something worse than that.”
”This is no joke. It's not a G.o.dd.a.m.ned game. I have seen a lot of combat and death in my time, Gabrielle. You can't even begin to imagine all that I've seen, all that I've done. But it's nothing like the current storm that's building. And I'm not going to stand by and watch you get caught in the crossfire.” He thrust out his hand. ”You're coming with me. Now.”
She dodged his reach. Fear and outrage clashed in her dark eyes. ”Touch me again, and I swear I'll get the cops. You know, the real ones back there in the station house. They carry real badges. And real guns.”
Lucan's temperature, already high, began to rise. ”Do not threaten me, Gabrielle. And don't think the police can give you any kind of protection. Certainly not from the danger that 's pursuing you. For all we know, half the precinct could be infested with Minions.”
She shook her head, adopting a calmer stance. ”Okay, this conversation is going from strange to deeply disturbing. I'm done with it, understand?” She was speaking to him slowly and quietly, as if attempting to soothe a frothing dog that was crouched before her, ready to spring in attack. ”I'm going to leave now, Lucan. Please... don't follow me.”
When she took the first step away from him, what little was left of Lucan's control snapped its tether. He locked his gaze down hard on hers and sent a fierce command into her mind, ordering her to cease resisting him.
Give me your hand.
Now.
For a second, her legs stopped moving. Her fingers grew a little restless at her side, then, slowly, her arm began to lift toward him.
And, suddenly, his hold on her broke.
He felt her force him out of her thoughts, disconnecting him. The power of her will was an iron gate slamming down between them, one he would have had a hard time penetrating even if he'd been in optimal condition.
”What the h.e.l.l?” she gasped, registering the trick for what it was. ”I heard you, just now, inside my head. My G.o.d. You've done this to me before, haven't you?” ”You're not leaving me much choice, Gabrielle.”
He tried again. Felt her push against him, more desperate this time. More afraid.
The back of her hand came up against her mouth, but could not quite stifle the broken cry that leaked out of her.
She stumbled back off the curb.
Then bolted across the darkened street to escape him.
”Yo, kid. Grab the door for me, will ya?”
It took a second for the Minion to realize he was being spoken to; he'd been so distracted by the sight of the Maxwell woman on the street below the police station. Even now, as he pulled open the door to let a pizza delivery guy carrying four steaming pie boxes enter, his attention remained rooted on the woman as she stepped off the curb and ran across the street.
Like she was trying to leave someone in the dust behind her.
The Minion looked to where a huge figure in black stood, watching her flee. The male was immense-easily six-and-a-half-feet tall, shoulders beneath his dark leather jacket like they belonged on a linebacker. He radiated an air of menace that could be felt all the way from the street to where the Minion now stood, dumbstruck, still holding the station door open, even though the pizzas were currently parked at the receptionist desk inside.
Although he had never seen one of the vampire warriors his Master so openly despised, the Minion knew without a doubt that he was witnessing precisely that now.
It was an opportunity sure to win him much esteem, alerting his Master to the presence of both the woman and the vampire with whom she seemed familiar, if not a little terrified.
The Minion stepped inside the precinct house, his palms moist with antic.i.p.ation of the glory that awaited him. Head down, positive in his ability to move around all but ignored, he started across the lobby at a hasty clip.
He didn't even see the pizza guy moving into his path until he had crashed into him, head -on. A cardboard box jabbed into his midsection and emitted a blast of garlic-ripe steam before tumbling to the filthy linoleum, spilling its contents around the Minion 's feet.
”Aw, man! That's my next delivery you're standing on. Don't you watch where you're goin' dude?”
He didn't apologize, or even pause to kick the greasy cheese and pepperoni off his shoe. Shoving his hand into the pocket of his khakis, the Minion found his cell phone and searched for somewhere private to make his important call.
”Hold up a second, sport.”
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