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It seeht after I went to Roth’s Darkhaven" "How’d you feel after you drank from Claire? How bad was the thirst after you had her blood inside you?" Reichen considered it for a uess Not as severe" He hadn’t noticed it then, but noas certain that drinking from Claire had lessened his need to overload on blood He craved her always, but in a e that turned hi close to an anian Including walk away froan pro of the way he’d left things with her She’d asked hi he wantedelse--but in his heart he knew he couldn’t give her that Not when his poas so close to ruling him Closer than he wanted to admit, even to hios were still breathing, still walking free and able to carry out their evil designs Reichen’s poas terrible, but perhaps a necessary weapon in this worsening war At least then it ht then serve a purpose, so more than just his oants and desires "One more fire and I really don’t know if I will be able to coan Each tier Less controllable The blood thirst afterward is hellish enough, but the fire itself is death to anyone who gets near it I don’t care what happens toto consider the thought "She doesn’t deserve to be caught up in an arched a tawny brow "You really think she’s not already caught up in it? Just because you push her away doesn’t mean she’ll be any safer without you"

"She saw irl, Mira, showed her a vision of my death earlier today Claire toldtoward the fire, into the heat, to try to save rimly "You understand, of course, I can’t let her do that She can’t be anywhere nearher is the one thing I could not bear

I want her safe fro it takes me to hunt down the bastard, I will find hian said "You et your chance sooner than later It’s actually the reason I caot an update froo" Alarer than the thirst that was still stabbing at hiht?" "Claire’s fine Nothing’s wrong, but she did pick up on Roth’s presence a couple hours south of here It was getting stronger the farther they drove into Connecticut, so they’re chasing it down, hoping to triangulate a location on him before sundown" "Roth is in Connecticut now? Where, exactly?" Reichen sed hard, every in to awaken He recognized the need to tamp them down, but his concern for Claire overrode all other rational thought "Da close to that son of a bitch!"

"Relax," Tegan said evenly, taking quick, obvious note of the heat that had started to crackle under the surface of Reichen’s skin "Claire is in no danger on this op, I pros out fro back for Boston in a few hours hatever intel they find" Reichen siainst the wall He cursed roundly and dropped his head between his updrawn knees He could feel Claire in his blood, his bond to her giving him the assurance he needed that she was, in fact, okay She was a cal in his own veins, cool water soothing the dry heat of the fire waiting for the opportunity to devour hian?" His voice sounded wooden and hollow, even to his own ears "What if after everything we’ve been through, after everything I’ve tried to do to protect her, it’s not enough? What if the vision she saw proves to be right? The one thing I can’t protect her froets too close one day, and the heat destroys her?" "And what if you’re wrong?" Tegan said "What if she’s the only thing that ht save you from yourself?" Reichen stared at the hardened Gen One warrior who’d once struck down sixteen Rogue vaan had never been the warmest of inpiduals, but there was a tranquil wisdoe that hadn’t been present even when Reichen had seen hio in Berlin Love for his Breeder while at the saes But Tegan and Elise had different obstacles they’d had to overcome Reichen’s relationship with Claire had been co Now it had become one impossibility after another "I can’t risk it," Reichen said

"I won’t risk it If I go down, daan exhaled sharply and bared his teeth in a slory, eh?" "So like that," Reichen replied The warrior abruptly stood up and cast an assessing look on hi Claire out of harht now, but the only one you’re protecting is yourself If you go dohether it’s the pyro or the Bloodlust that gets you, it’s going to kill that female, and you know it You just want to make sure you’re not around to see it" Reichen didn’t try to deny the accusation Not that Tegan gave him the chance He backed away from where Reichen sat, then strode out of the weapons roo the place back into darkness

Wilhelos when his veins came alive with awareness of his erstwhile Breedmate Remarkably, it seemed Claire was not far In fact, by the way his pulse was stirring from his blood bond to her, he was damn well certain that Claire ithin so closer all the tios’s lab and scowled to see that it was just past one in the afternoon Broad daylight Had she and Reichen not turned to the Order for help, after all? Or had the warriors for some reason denied them sanctuary at their compound? Roth could think of no reason Claire would be in the area in the middle of the day--presumably without the protection of Reichen or any of the warriors froh to seek hihed at such idiocy if not for the fact that his current objective for Dragos depended on Claire leading the Order straight into his hands If she was co up the entire plan

"You’re suddenly very quiet, Herr Roth Anything aos asked His voice had to coround on the other end of the line, a metallic roar that didn’t quite mask the fury that rode just below the surface of the va is in place, just as we arranged" "Yes, sire," Roth replied "But there is so odd" "Oh?" The tone was as level as a blade poised above a head soon to roll "Do tell" "It’s Claire I sense her on theclose to the lab’s location

I’m certain she uess that she has decided to coos asked, his question pierced by the sudden blast of a horn and a ibly over some manner of warehouse loudspeaker "It’s early afternoon, sire A fewin silence for a longto find you, by all round-level security a description of the fe her into the facility" "But the plan," Roth interjected "I thought we needed her to lead the Order to us" "Yes," Dragos hissed "And she will Her pain will draw the male who’s bonded to her, and he will ensure that the Order coht at Claire’s iony, since his blood bond to her would absorb everything that she was subjected to, as well

Dragos chuckled on the other end of the line "I’ll leave the specifics of her treatment up to you, Herr Roth Contactmore" "Yes, sire," Roth answered He flipped the phone closed and began to iine the many slow, sadistic ways he could make Claire scream

Chapter Twenty-Six

Claire dried her hands on a brown paper towel as she caas station situated on a rural stretch of two-lane blacktop somewhere near the northwestern border of Connecticut Atits descent toward the tops of the brushy pines and the leafless oaks that covered the hilly forested region of the state She squinted, shielding her eyes fro they had a few more hours to continue their search They were so close now; she could feel it all the way to her marrow For the past couple of hours, she and Renata and Dylan had been circurown to hate beat the strongest They were tightening the noose on Wilhele of locations where the Order was likely to find hi the area and Claire was certain they’d have his location nailed to within an easy square er, she thought, impatient as she tossed the used paper towel in a trash can and walked the short distance back to the Order’s black Range Rover parked at the gas pu the tank for the return trip to Boston, her stance cautiously casual as she leaned against the vehicle and watched the digital gauges clock on the pump’s display Claire didn’t ht hand was crossed over the front of her body and hidden beneath the folds of her dark trench coat, no doubt either resting on the butt of a pistol or wrapped around the hilt of one of her blades She was as vigilant as any of the warriors, and, Claire iined, just as deadly when the situation warranted lethal force Nodding to Renata as she approached, Claire clier door behind her, careful not to wake Dylan, as taking a quick doze in the backseat It had been a long day, otten

Claire was exhausted, but she couldn’t stand the idea of giving up before they’d gotten a solid lock on Roth She reached around the seat to pick up the hted in color-block patches of yellow, green, and orange, to indicate the range of areas where her sense of Roth had been the strongest "Where the hell are you?" she whispered low under her breath, tuning out the ding of the station bell as a car pulled into the full- service pump next to her She put all her concentration into that beat of dark, visceral awareness that ticked in her pulse, trying not to think about the fact that Rothher inhiht now? He must, surely Only the siave her any kind of coht about the fury she would face if she ever fell into his hands again He would kill her, she was certain But not before he took his anger out on her and ht of hiain to stow theout of the car beside her They were big men, both dressed in black froues tucked into the tops of their combat boots They looked her way as she watched them, and a chill settled deep in Claire’s bones Their eyes were cruel, strangely vacant And this wasn’t the first time she’d seen the pair of human males today Claire had noticed them just a couple of hours earlier, when she and Renata and Dylan had paused at a greasy-spoon diner for lunch in a neighboring town

Hard toand barely concealed menace Hard to ed a wordless look with each other before one of the out of the trunk She jumped when Renata opened the driver’s-side door "We’ve got a tail" "I know," Claire said as Renata dropped into the seat, closing the door with one hand and turning the key in the ignition with the other

"I saw the at us then, too There’s so my skin crawl" "That’s because they’re Minions," Renata said ear From the backseat, Dylan sat up and sucked in a quick breath "Oh, shit You guys, we’ve got co in the rearviewe Rover’s tires peeled rubber on the paveas station and onto the tree-lined, curvy two-laner

In seconds, the Minions were right behind thee their distance "They’re co to ram--" The sudden jolt of impact made the Rover jump and jostle on the road To Renata’s credit, she held the wheel steady, correcting the vehicle when it started to veer sharply into the other lane She sped up, gaining a couple of car lengths before the sedan ca to force them off the road "There’s a sht," Dylan said, her voice raised to be heard over the whine of the engine and the pounding air of urgency that filled the cabin "Turn in there, Renata It’s just past that dead tree stump Do you see it?" "I see it," Renata said, "but I don’t want to risk turning off and getting us trapped in theon I think I can outrun these bastards" "We won’t be trapped," Dylan insisted "You have to do it now!" Claire glanced back at the auburn-haired Breedaze "How can you be sure of that?" "Because the ghost of the dead Breed " Claire felt her eyes go wide