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CHAPTER 1

"Phineas is dead"

The pronounce the handrail to counterbalance his shaken composure, he rounded a bend in the stairwell and looked at the seraph who ascended abreast of hi of the news, Jason Taylor advanced into Phineas’s former rank as Adrian’s second-in-command "When? How?"

Jason easily kept up with Adrian’s inhuo It was called in as a va distance? How the fuck is that possible?"

"That was ate"

They reached the last landing The lycan guard in front of thelasses over his eyes before stepping into the Arizona sunshine He watched the guard recoil frorowl froht up the rear As base creatures of instinct, they were susceptible to physical stimuli in ways the seraphim and vampires were not Adrian didn’t feel the temperature at all; the loss of Phineas had chilled his blood

A helicopter waited on the pad in front of theritty air Its rounded side was eed logo

"You have doubts" He focused on the details because he couldn’t afford to vent his fury now Inside, he was shattered by grief over the loss of his best friend and trusted lieutenant But as leader of the Sentinels, he couldn’t appear dih the ranks of his elite unit of seraphiuidance

"One of his lycans survived the attack" Despite the roar of the aircraft’s engine, Jason didn’t need to raise his voice to be heard He also didn’t cover his seraph blue eyes, despite the pair of designer shades perched atop his golden head "I find it a bitodd that Phineas was investigating the size of the Navajo Lake pack; then he gets as survives to call it in as a va the lycans for centuries as both guards for the Sentinels and heeler dogs to herd the vans of restlessness analed a need for him to reevaluate They’d been created for the express purpose of serving his unit If necessary, Adrian would remind them of the pact made by their ancestors They could have all been turned into soulless, bloodsucking vampires as punishment for their crimes, but he’d spared theh some of the lycans believed their debt had been paid by their predecessors, they failed to recognize that this world was side humans Their only place was the one Adrian had uards ducked low and pushed through the air turbulence created by the helicopter blades Reaching the aircraft, the lycan held the door open

Adrian’s power buffered hi him to proceed without effort He looked at Jason "I’ll need to question the lycan who survived the attack"

"I’ll tell Dah the lieutenant’s blond locks and sent his sunglasses flying

Adrian snatched the into the cabin, he settled into one of the two rear-facing bucket seats

Jason occupied the other one "But I have to ask: is a guard dog that can’t guard worth anything? Maybe you should put him down to reinforce that by example"

"If he’s at fault, he’ll pray for death" Adrian tossed the shades at him "But until I know otherwise, he’s a victim and my only witness I need him if I’m to catch and punish those who did this"

The two lycans dropped onto the opposite row of seats One was stocky, a bruiser The other was nearly equal in height to Adrian

The taller guard secured his seat belt and said, "That ‘dog’s’to protect Phineas If he could’ve done so, he would have"

Jason opened his mouth

Adrian held up a hand to keep him quiet "You’re Elijah"

The lycan nodded He was dark haired and had the lureen eyes of a creature tainted with the blood of demons It was one of the points of contention between Adrian and the lycans that he’d transfused their seraph ancestors with dereed to serve the Sentinels That touch of demon hat made them half man/half beast and it had spared the souls that should have died with the as It also made them mortal, with finite life spans, and there were many who resented him for that

"You seem to know more about what happened than Jason does," Adrian noted, studying the lycan Elijah had been sent to Adrian’s pack for observation, because he’d displayed unacceptable Alpha traits The lycans were trained to look to the Sentinels for leadership If one of their own ever rose to proht lead to divided loyalties that could spark thoughts of rebellion The best way to deal with a proble in the first place

Elijah looked out the atching the roof recede as the helicopter lifted high into Phoenix’s cloudless blue sky His hands were fisted, betraying his breed’s innate fear of flying "We all know a mated pair can’t live without each other No lycan would ever deliberately watch their mate die Not for any reason"

Adrian leaned back, attes that wanted to spread and stretch in a physical e What Elijah had said was true, which left hi the possibility of a vaainst the seat The need for vengeance burned like acid The vampires had taken so much from him--the woman he loved, friends, and fellow Sentinels The loss of Phineas was akin to severing his right arm He intended to sever far lasses wouldn’t hide the fla eaze

and alht on silver

He jerked to the side by instinct, narrowly er slash to the neck