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Adrian cut hiet out"

He’d tracked Helena’s other lycan guard first, catching up to her halfway to Cedar City en route to the Navajo Lake pack Her destination showed the strength of her self-preservation instincts Given the opportunity to flee while the Sentinels were distracted by Helena’s desertion, she chose to head to the nearest pack instead Without hesitation, she had agreed to never speak of Mark and Helena again for the rest of her life For her loyalty and conment to his pack, a proo that positive reinforcement was a far better motivator than fear and intimidation

"Once Mark is in Japan and Helena is Anaheiet the last four days None of us wants to deal ill happen otherwise"

A Sentinel and lycan affair The two running away together The consequences of that choice All of it would be a ticking ti ammunition to the malcontents With the recent spate of vampire attacks and the infection he’d witnessed in Arizona and Utah, he couldn’t risk unrest a the Sentinel ranks now The balance he’d preserved for so long was cru around hi would save the world fro need for secrecy, he’d conducted the entire hunt thus far without any technological help, unable to risk leaving a trail by using Mitchell Aeronautics resources Being able to track Helena’s rental car via GPS would have shortened the hunt, but he hadn’t been in a hurry Affording her a few days of whatever happiness she could find while on the run was such a small concession, and it was the only one he could er she was AWOL, the more volatile the situation became

"You and Helena can’t be the only ones to for see to a head at once Orfro selfless for hiht o

"You can’t be surprised," Jason went on "We’ve been on this " Adrian looked at Da that neither confirned "But what are the alternatives? Dereliction of duty? The forfeiture of our wings? Preying on the mortals ere created to protect? Who the fuck wants to live that life?"

Damien exhaled harshly "You’d have to ask the Fallen about that"

They walked through Gardiner, then beyond to the rental cabins where Helena was holed up Adrian had shadowed her and her lycan by air during the night, following the back roads and sh until they’d stopped near dawn

Reaching into his pocket, he wrapped his hand around his cell phone He wished he could talk with Lindsay now Her ht not understand why he would part two lovers, but that heart would know it killed him to do so She wouldn’t see his syainst the actions he was forced to take, it would soothe hithening him for the pain he was about to inflict on a friend he loved

When his phone vibrated with an incohtened on it in surprise He slowed his stride, wondering if Lindsay had actually felt compelled to call him by the force of his desire for her to do so

The caller ID told hiht have a problem," Oliver said without prea a problem unless it was very much a problem "What is it?"

"I just talked to Aaron He went to Louisiana on the hunt for a rogue we’ve been tracking They were ambushed by Vash and two of her captains Aaron ounded enough to put him out of commission for a while He has no idea what happened to his lycans while he was regenerating He’s been searching for the at Jason and Da discussed, Adrian saw the despair he felt reflected on their faces Tooin rapid, unstoppable succession

"You sent a team to retrieve him?" Adrian asked

"Yes But after Phineas and the attack on you, I thought you should knoas the lycans Vash was after"

"Is it possible they’re the ones responsible for Charron’s death?"

"I thought of that Too young, the both of the the call, Adrian started forward again, spurred by the driving need to get back horoup and take the offensive He could only hope that co all the information he’d obtained over the last ould lead to an understanding of what the fuck was going on and why everything had gone to shit in a et this done," he said to Jason and Das The nizable No light shined fro He raced the final distance to the door, disengaging the lock with a thought before he reached for the knob The stench of congealing blood hit hih force to rock hih he didn’t require illuaze frolare of flickering fluorescent lighting

Jason stepped into the cabin and froze "Fuckout the door

Damien entered next His sharp inhale betrayed his shock and dis around the roorisly tableau before theth to the two Sentinels, Adrian scrubbed both hands over his face and rolled his shoulders back He turned his head forward again, breathing through hison the floor blurred, then cleared as tears coursed down his face The other wings were scattered about the roo off the end of the bed, the soft pink and gray feathers now stained with blood They’d been clawed fro froraceful spine

The fallen Sentinel lay prone on the bed, her sightless eyes trained at the door, her golden hair plastered to her cheeks and back with dried sweat and blood Her lycan lay sprawled on the floor at the foot of the bed Two unsealed punctures in his neck explained the sickeningly white pallor of his skin Adrian doubted there was a drop of blood left in Mark’s body

"This is hell," he said gruffly, shaken to his soul by the waste--the wrongness--of it all

Damien looked at him "Why didn’t it work?"

"Why would it have? She wasn’t punished Her wings were taken by her lycan lover, not a Sentinel He was bitten by a--" Adrian walked over to Helena’s body and peeled back her upper lip He stared for a long ated"

"Maybe they retracted when she didn’t fall corief burning through his veins His fingers sifted through the once glorious strands of Helena’s hair She’d been more than a friend She had been proof that failure was not inevitable, that it was possible, if they were strong enough, to serve theirtheir faith in the process Now that hope was lost, withering in an agonizing death along with a seraph whose heart had been so pure that only love could destroy it

For the first tiht perhaps the Sentinels hadn’t been tested so much as served as test subjects to answer the question: Was the Watchers’ fall unavoidable?

"You’re right, Captain," Jason said, reet out"

Dah his dark hair "We need to clean this place"