She clung to his hand, knowing he was right, but afraid it was just what Drake wanted. Afraid Drake was using the threat to Barry as a trap to lure Lucian out into the open. She felt so sick inside. “I don’t know what I would do if something happened to you, Lucian.”
He brought her hand to the warmth of his mouth. “Nothing can harm me, angel. Go to the station where it is safe, and allow me to do this small thing for you.”
“Drake is different, Lucian. I don’t know how, but it changes everything and makes him much more unpredictable. He is a monster, a true monster, with every skill of our best fighters and all the cunning of a wild animal. Our engagement must have driven him over the edge.”
“He was already over the edge,” Lucian said quietly, deliberately allowing his voice to drop an octave so that it soothed and calmed her. He walked with her to the squad car. “I will stay with you until I see that you are safe within the station house where no one can harm you. Then we will go to Barry.”
“You have to hurry, Lucian. Drake could be stalking him right now.” She was anxious, but his voice held that strange, mesmerizing effect that made her feel as if everything would be all right.
Daryl Smith cleared his throat, determined to protest. He had allowed Lucian Daratrazanoff onto the crime scene because Jaxx clearly needed him there, but that he be allowed into the middle of a police crisis was going too far. But there was something dangerous about Lucian, something powerful, and it wasn’t his money. The eyes were too watchful, the face too still. Smith was frankly wary of denying the man anything.
Daratrazanoff turned his head toward the captain, almost as if reading his thoughts. “Of course you want Antonio and me to come along with you.” He spoke quietly, his voice so low Smith barely heard him, yet the words penetrated to his deepest soul. He
needed
Daratrazanoff with them. It was imperative that he be there.
“Yes, of course, Mr. Daratrazanoff,” the captain invited.
“Please call me Lucian,” he replied almost absently. His full attention was once more directed at Jaxon, the only person who really mattered to him.
Lucian held the door open for her. He had deliberately chosen to escort her to a car whose driver had been particularly sympathetic in his conversation with some of the other officers. It was a small thing, but she did not need to feel uncomfortable with one of her peers who was secretly afraid to be seen in public with her or who held her accountable for Tyler Drake’s actions.
Jaxon kept her head up, her face a blank mask. The flashes from news cameras were going off in all directions. She didn’t look at any of them as she slipped into the car.
Antonio and Lucian got in on either side of her, effectively walling her in, protecting her from prying eyes. She stayed close to Lucian, to the warmth of his body, to the warmth of his heart.
We will find him, honey. But we can never bring them back, can we?
Tears filled her voice, her mind, her heart.
Lucian wanted to weep for her. She didn’t deserve this. She was so young and compassionate, totally the opposite of what he was. Monsters didn’t come after
him;
they wanted her. Human and Carpathian alike, they wanted Jaxon. He hadn’t elaborated on the story of vampires, because she had enough guilt weighing her down. But vampires were once Carpathian males who had chosen to lose their souls after centuries of bleak hopelessness. And just as the Carpathian male searched for a lifemate, vampires searched the ranks of humankind for women just like Jaxon. Her presence in the area attracted them.
Vampires were solitary creatures for the most part, trusting no one, vain, cunning, and evil. They were incapable of loyalty, though sometimes they banded together in the hopes of eluding or even destroying a hunter in the area. Other times a master vampire, one ancient and skilled who had survived as the undead for centuries, took on as apprentices the newer, younger vampires just turned. They used them for menial labor, as pawns to sacrifice, as a front line to achieve their ultimate goals. Jaxon had attracted more than one vampire to the area by her presence alone.
Lucian had hunted and destroyed three such vampires the humans had mistaken as serial killers before he had made his claim on Jaxon. He had established his home, watching her, reading her likes and dislikes, finding out all he could about her before he approached her. If she knew vampires were coming to her city because of her, she would be capable of terminating her life to protect others. He could not allow such a thing. If she knew the whole truth, she would suffer even more than she was suffering at present, and he could do no other than protect her. He was her lifemate and responsible for her happiness, health, and complete safety.
Lucian and Antonio escorted her up the stairs to the police station, opening the door and waiting until she was inside. “Remain indoors with all these officers until I return with Barry,” Lucian said. “And this time, angel, I expect you to do as I say. I will not be pleased if I come back to find you have left the safety of this building.”
“I won’t,” she assured him, clinging to his hand. “Just be certain nothing happens to you. Or Barry. Bring him back, Lucian.”
“I will.” He bent his head to hers, his mouth finding hers with incredible tenderness “I will return quickly.”
Chapter Ten
Jaxon pressed both hands against her stomach as she watched Lucian stride away. She felt sicker than ever. Close to Lucian, she could control the terrible feeling, but with him gone, it was growing stronger. She walked slowly through the familiar hallway, waved to a couple of people who greeted her from the bullpen, tried to reply when others patted her shoulder and murmured their sympathy.
There was a roaring in her ears, jackhammers pounding in her head. Resolutely she continued walking, but her desk felt as if it were a million miles away, her legs rubbery. The ability to hear so acutely was a terrible curse. Her fellow officers were all discussing the murders; on every floor she could hear the various conversations. She didn’t want that—didn’t want to know what people thought of her part in the carnage.
She admitted to herself that most of what she overheard was kind and sympathetic, but that didn’t lessen the pain. And she had never sought pity from anyone. As she sat down, her stomach lurched again, and the feeling of evil nearly overwhelmed her. She was aware of eyes on her, unable to keep from staring. She wanted desperately to be alone, to weep and throw things, to scream, to sit on the floor in the bathroom, hugging the toilet, and be sick. Instead, she made herself spread her notes out on her desk. The pictures would come later. She couldn’t face them now.
It wasn’t easy being without Lucian. She had been with him nearly every moment since waking up from the warehouse disaster. Now, when she needed him most, needed his comfort, he had gone to save her friend. He was in danger because of her. She rubbed the heel of one hand against her throbbing head.
I am not in danger, angel. That is impossible. You should know that by now. Be still, and allow me to take away your headache. It’s enough that I know you’re there if I reach out to you.
And it was. Jaxon felt comforted, safe. She felt he was holding her in his strong arms.
Bring Barry back safely, Lucian. I still have that feeling, the one that means Drake’s about to do something terrible
. Her stomach was a mess, clenching and knotting in outrage.
We are close to the safe house where the captain says he has Barry stashed. I am scanning the area around us continually, and all is not right. I feel the intrusion of evil, yet it is not the same as what you were feeling in the apartments.