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Quick, courteous introductions circled the large conference table, but everyone there understood the meeting was hardly a social call. Brock couldn’t remember the last time a Breed civilian was admitted into the compound. Few in the vampire nation even knew where the Order’s headquarters were located, let alone stepped inside.
Neither of the Archers looked comfortable being there, either, particularly the abducted boy’s father. Brock didn’t miss the slightly superior tilt of the younger male’s chin as he sca
Desperate times, Brock thought gravely, inclining his head in greeting as the second-generation Breed civilian in his long cashmere coat and impeccably tailored shirt and pants settled carefully into the seat next to him.
Lucan cleared his throat, his deep voice taking instant command of the room as he glanced at the two newcomers. “First, I want to assure you both that everyone in this room shares your concern for Kellan’s safety. As I told you when we spoke earlier, Lazaro, you have the full commitment of the Order in seeing that the boy is found and brought home.”
“That all sounds very reassuring,” Christophe Archer said from beside Brock, a tense edge to his voice. “The Enforcement Agency has vowed the same thing, and as much as I want to believe it, the fact is we don’t even know where to begin searching for my son. Can anyone tell me who would do this? What kind of gutless criminals would break in to our home while we were away and take my boy?”
After speaking again with Mathias Rowan of the Enforcement Agency, Chase had briefed them all on the troubling details of the abduction before the Archers had arrived. Three immense, heavily armed Breed males had apparently invaded the Darkhaven estate where Lazaro and Christophe Archer lived with their families. The elder Archers and their Breedmates had gone to a charity fund-raiser that evening, leaving teenage Kellan home alone.
By the sound of it, the kidnapping had been as stealthy as it was precise—all of it hinged on a very specific target. In a span of what could have only been mere minutes, the intruders entered the Darkhaven through a back window, killed two of Christophe’s security perso
The sole witness to the abduction was a cousin, several years younger than Kellan, who’d hidden in a closet as the invasion took place. Understandably afraid and upset, he could hardly describe the abductors, except to say that they’d been dressed from head to toe in black, with masked faces that obscured everything but their eyes. The boy had also noted that the three males each wore a strange, thick black collar around their necks.
While the Enforcement Agent hadn’t fully understood the ramifications of that one crucial detail, every member of the Order did. They had suspected Dragos was at the heart of this, but hearing that a trio of his homegrown assassins—Gen Ones bred and trained to serve him, their loyalty ensured by the lethal UV collars each was forced to wear—had confirmed their suspicions were correct.
“I simply ca
“No,” Lucan replied, the word as grim as his expression. “We do not believe this has anything to do with a potential financial gain.”
“Then what could they possibly want with Kellan? What can they gain by taking him away?”
Lucan glanced briefly at Lazaro Archer. “Leverage. The individual who ordered this abduction will, no doubt, issue a demand before too long.”
“A demand for what?”
“For me,” Lazaro said quietly. When his son’s gaze slid to him in question, the Gen One looked at him in frank remorse. “Christophe is not aware of the conversation we had nearly a year ago, Lucan. I never told him about the warning you gave me and the other few remaining Gen Ones that someone was seeking to erase us from existence. He doesn’t know about the other killings among our generation.”
Christophe Archer’s face went a bit pale. “Father, what are you talking about? Who is seeking to harm you?”
“His name is Dragos,” Lucan replied. “The Order has been waging a private war with him for some time now. But not before he had the chance to spend several decades—centuries, in fact—building his secret empire. He has already killed several other Gen Ones in the past year alone, and that, unfortunately, is only scratching the surface of his madness. All he knows is power, and the need to claim it. He will stop at nothing to get what he wants, and no life is sacred.”
“Jesus Christ. You’re telling me this sick bastard is the one who took Kellan?”
Lucan nodded. “I’m sorry.”
Christophe vaulted to his feet and began pacing back and forth behind the table. “We have to get him back. Damn it, we have to bring my son home, no matter what it takes.”
“We are all agreed on that,” Lucan said, speaking for everyone gathered in solemn silence in the tech lab. “But you have to understand that no matter how this unfolds, there will be risks—”
“Damn the risks!” Christophe shouted. “We’re talking about my son, my only child. My beloved, i
“As will I,” Lazaro put in soberly. “Anything for my kin.”
Brock watched the emotional exchange, knowing what it felt like to be helpless in the face of such a loss. But even more than he was moved by the Archers’ pain, he was struck by how raw Je
Although she held her jaw still, tension bracketed her mouth. Her lips quivered slightly, and her hazel eyes were moist with unshed tears. Whether in sympathy for what the two Breed males were going through or remembrance of her own anguish at having a loved one yanked away so abruptly, he wasn’t sure. But the tenderness he saw in her touched him deeply.
Beneath the table, her hand slid over to reach for his. He gathered her slender fingers in his grasp and she glanced to him, smiling faintly as their fingers twined together in silent reassurance. Something deeper passed between them in that moment—an unspoken acknowledgment of the growing bond they shared.
He knew she was strong. He knew she was a courageous, resilient woman who had taken more than her fair share of hits in her lifetime and still came up swinging. But seeing her now, gripped in a moment of quiet vulnerability, made his heart crack just a little.
He loved that she wasn’t some delicate flower that wilted under the smallest bit of heat. But he loved this glimpse of softness in her, too.
God, there was so much to love about her.
If not for the slight problem that she hadn’t been born a Breedmate, Je
Cori
As he held her hand in his, he knew that he could no longer pretend that she was simply another mission, or that protecting her was merely his duty to the Order. He’d fallen too far and too fast to deny just how much she meant to him.