by Lara Adrian
For now, that was enough.
CHAPTER 16
Savannah was resting in a chair in the back bedroom of Amelie’s house when Gideon woke for the first time since the shooting.
It had been nearly eighteen hours of waiting, of hoping.
Of praying that by some miracle, he would come back to her.
She had tended him as best she could, fully recovered from the ordeal herself and having never felt stronger in her life.
Thanks to him.
She went to his bedside as his eyelids began to twitch. Leaning over him, she stroked his face, smoothed back the soft spikes of his blond hair. He leaned his face into her touch, moaning quietly. His eyes opened narrowly, squinting in the dim light of the shaded bedroom. “Where are we?”
“My sister’s house,” she answered gently.
He wheezed slightly, anxious now. “Are we alone? Does anyone know I’m here?”
“Just Amelie. It’s okay, Gideon. She knows about you. I helped her understand what you are. She’ll keep our secret.”
“Where is she?”
“In the other room, watching television.”
He turned his face toward the hallway wall, and Savannah guessed he was searching for Amelie through the extrasensory ability he possessed. “I can’t see her. My talent...it’s not working. It’s gone.”
Savannah could feel his agitation. His pulse spiked with it. He brought his hand up to shield his eyes. “So bright in here.”
She glanced to the window blinds, which were drawn down and blotted out all but the most scant illumination from the afternoon sunlight outside. “I’m sorry. I thought it would be dim enough for you.”
She walked over to the dresser and brought back a pair of bug-eye sunglasses. “Here,” she said, carefully slipping them on his face. “Try these.”
He opened his eyes and gave a mild nod of approval. “Better. Probably not my best look, though.”
“You look pretty good to me.” She smiled and sat down next to him on the mattress. “I wasn’t sure you would wake up again. I wasn’t sure it would work.”
At his frown, she went on. “That night when you came back in such terrible shape from Keaton’s place, your friend from the Order said you needed blood. And Amelie told me what you did for me last night, after I was shot. You saved me with your blood, Gideon. So, I had to try to save you with mine.”
He blew out an oath. “The blood bond, Savannah...it’s permanent. Unbreakable. It’s a sacred thing.” His frown deepened. “This isn’t the way it’s supposed to be.”
She sat back, feeling hurt. Feeling she’d done something wrong and he was disappointed. “I’m sorry if it wasn’t what you wanted.”
Gideon pushed himself up off the bed, and groaned in pain.
“Be careful,” she said, trying to ease him back down. “You shouldn’t be moving around, and I shouldn’t be saying things that upset you. You were shot last night too. The one that hit me passed cleanly through my lung and ribs, but the one inside you...”
“Still in my head,” he guessed grimly. “In my brain.”
Savannah gave him a sober nod. “Amelie wanted to take you to the hospital--”
“No.” He said it firmly, the same way he’d insisted the other night in Boston when she wanted to get him medical help for his injuries then. “Human doctors can’t help me, Savannah.”
“I know,” she said. “So, I did the only thing I could think of.”
He reached out, took her hand in his. “You saved my life.” He swore again, more roundly this time. “When I realized you’d left...when I knew Keaton’s Master was still out there somewhere, I couldn’t get to you fast enough, Savannah.”
She heard the rage in his voice for the enemy he’d wanted so badly to root out and destroy, and she nodded sadly. “I’m glad he’s dead. For what he did to Rachel and your brothers, even to Professor Keaton. For what he did to you, Gideon, I’m glad Smithson is dead. I’m glad you got what you came here for.”
He scowled. “I came for you, Savannah. I love you. I should’ve said it before. I should say it a thousand times now, so you’ll know what you mean to me.”
She felt a warmth blooming in her breast, seeping through her veins. Not her own emotion, but Gideon’s. Flowing through their bond.
“I know you feel it,” he said, his grasp warm on her hand. “I know you can feel my love inside you now, in your blood. Tell me you love me too, Savannah. Tell me you’ll let me prove it to you. Be my mate. Come back with me to Boston. Let me try to be the hero you deserve.”
She slipped her hand out of his and gave a small shake of her head. “I don’t want a hero.”
She thought about how he almost died last night--in combat, now with a bullet buried deep in his brain. A bullet that could dislodge anytime and wreak more damage, maybe something her blood wouldn’t be able to fix.
Maybe the bullet already had taken things from him: His ESP talent. His eyes.
“I couldn’t bear it,” she murmured. “I can’t stand by while you go out to war every night. I’m not strong enough to give you permission to fight and bleed and maybe never come back.”
Gideon was silent for a very long while, his face downcast. “I’ve been killing Rogues nearly all my adult life, trying to even a score. Trying to atone. It was an empty quest. But the Order is my family, Savannah. The warriors are my brothers now, the only ones I’ll ever have. I can’t give them up, not even for you.”
Her heart breaking, she nodded mutely. Struggled to find her voice. “I understand. It wouldn’t be fair for me to ask that of you.”
He lifted her chin on the edge of his hand. “You didn’t. You asked me not to go out and fight. Maybe that I can do. Maybe there are other ways--non-combat ways--that I can serve the Order’s missions, yet keep a pledge to you...my woman. My Breedmate. My forever love.”
Savannah wanted to let her elation flood over her, but she was still stung by the way they’d left things back in Boston. “You hurt me, Gideon. You weren’t honest with me. Without that, we’ll have nothing.”
“I know.” He stroked her cheek. “I know, and I’m sorry. Let me make it up to you. Let me love you.” He caught her nape in his big, strong hand and pulled her to him for a brief, tender kiss. “Say you love me, and let me start being the man you make me want to be.”
She let out a sigh, unable to resist him or refuse him. “I do love you, Gideon.”
“Then let me bond with you properly, the way I want it to be for you, for us. Be mine, Savannah.”
“Yes,” she whispered against his lips. “Yes, Gideon. I will be your mate.”
He pulled her against him, letting her feel his arousal. “Let’s make it right, now.”
She reached out with her index finger to push the ridiculous sunglasses down on the bridge of his nose. Amber sparks shot through the pale blue of his eyes. “You’re only a few hours out of death’s doorway, and you want to make love?”
He grinned. “Oh, I want to do more than that.”
“My sister is in the other room,” she reminded him, whispering on a scandalized laugh.
Gideon was still for a moment, time during which the bedroom door quietly closed on its own volition, the lock softly clicking into place.
He kissed her, then trailed his lips along the side of her neck. Savannah’s heartbeat throbbed in response to the subtle grazing of his fang tips at her pulse point. He dragged her farther up alongside him and rolled toward her, grinding his rigid length into her hip in invitation and demand.
“You’re very bad,” she said, as he opened his mouth over her carotid.
And then gently, sensually, she felt those razor-sharp points pierce her delicate skin. Her veins lit up, electric and hot with power, as Gideon drew the first deep swallow from her vein.
“Oh, God,” she gasped, pleasure flooding her. “You are very, very bad.”
And as her body melted into him, Savannah was thinking how a lifetime with Gideon was going to b
e very, very good.
~ * ~
Character Reference Guide
(alphabetical order by first name or most common name)
-A-
Alexandra “Alex” Maguire Breedmate of Order member Kade. Alex was born and raised in rural Florida swamp region. When she was nine years old, her mother and little brother, Richie, were killed one night in a brutal attack by Rogues (though at the time, she didn’t realize what the attackers truly were). Alex and her father, Hank, fled as far as they could, settling in a small Alaskan town.
Alex’s best friends are her wolf dog, Luna, and a former Alaska State Trooper named Jenna Tucker-Darrow. At twenty-seven, and her dad dead from Alzheimer’s, Alex ran the family bush-piloting business, until on a supply run to the interior, she discovers a horrific crime scene that resembles the attack on her family. This discovery brought her into the center of an investigation being conducted by the Order—and into the arms of Alaskan-born Breed warrior, Kade.
Hair: warm blond
Eyes: brown
Breedmate mark: on the front of her left hip
Bloodscent: honey and almond
Unique ability: internal gauge that tells her with a touch if someone is being honest
Mate: Kade
Heroine in: Shades of Midnight (Book 7)
First mention in series: Appears in Shades of Midnight.
~ ~ ~
Alexei “Lex” Yakut (d.) Breed male, second generation. Son of a corrupt Gen One named Sergei Yakut. Living at his father’s rustic but expansive woodland hunting lodge outside Montreal, Quebec, Lex served as right arm to his father, commanding Sergei’s security detail, which included a female Breedmate bodyguard (see Renata).
Lex’s arrogance and lust for power proved his undoing when he arranged for his father’s murder by Rogues and attempted to frame the visiting Order warrior, Nikolai, for the crime. In an attempt to insert himself into Dragos’s inner circle, Lex arranges to hand over Niko to one of Dragos’s lieutenants (see Edgar Fabien). Lex augments his bargain by offering up a child seer (see Mira) to Fabien for a sum of two million dollars. In the end, Lex himself is double-crossed by Dragos and his associates, duped into thinking he was to be escorted to a VIP meeting and is instead slain by a group of Enforcement Agents sent on Dragos’s command.
First mention in series: Appears in Veil of Midnight.
~ ~ ~
Amelie Dupree Human. Older half-sister to Gideon’s Breedmate, Savannah. A former midwife, Amelie has lived at the Atchafalaya swamp for seventy years. She is widowed with two daughters and a son, and eight grandchildren. Her eyesight is gone now, leaving her with clouded, milky eyes, but she copes very well on her own. In contact with Savannah only occasionally since Savannah became mated to Gideon. Amelie is fond of Gideon, and is aware of the Breed’s existence due to an incident that occurred outside her home three decades ago, when Savannah and Gideon were shot and nearly killed. Amelie saw Gideon save Savannah’s life by giving her his blood, a secret Amelie has kept all the years since.
First mention in the series: Appears in Deeper Than Midnight.
~ ~ ~
Ancient, the (d.) The last surviving alien and grandfather to Dragos. The Ancient was believed killed during the Order’s war against their otherworldly forebears, but Dragos’s father (also named Dragos) secreted the Ancient to a mountain cave in the Czech Republic, where the Ancient remained in a hibernation chamber until modern day. The Ancient was later removed by Dragos to his breeding lab, but then escaped to Alaska, where he was killed by the Order in Shades of Midnight.
First mention in series: Referenced in Kiss of Midnight as part of original group of Ancients who crash-landed on Earth thousands of years ago; referenced specifically in Midnight Awakening; first actual appearance in Veil of Midnight.
~ ~ ~
Andreas Reichen Breed male, mate of Claire Samuels Roth. Born more than three hundred years ago in Germany, Andreas Reichen was leader of a Berlin Darkhaven. Reichen is smooth and sophisticated, cultured and cool—the ultimate charmer.
Although not formally trained as a warrior, Reichen has been long-acquainted with Tegan, who assisted the German Darkhaven leader with the elimination of a band of Rogues who’d been preying on civilians in his area in 1809. Reichen and Claire had been in love about fifty years before the timeline of Midnight Awakening, but the couple was betrayed (see Wilhelm Roth) and they endured a long separation before reuniting in Ashes of Midnight.
During his time apart from Claire, Reichen took a human lover, sex club owner Helene. The relationship ended in tragedy when, during the timeline of Veil of Midnight, Helene was turned Minion and led Enforcement Agents into the Darkhaven to slaughter all inside. Reichen comes upon the aftermath and has to kill his human lover in an act of mercy. He then burns his Darkhaven to the ground with a massive fireball, conjured by the power of his ESP ability.
Reichen and Claire are now mated and reside in their Darkhaven in Newport, Rhode Island. Reichen is currently a member of the Order, serving primarily on covert overseas missions while he works to gain control over his pyrokinesis.
Hair: chestnut brown waves, generally worn loose
Eyes: hazel
Unique ability: pyrokinesis
Mate: Claire Samuels Roth
Hero in: Ashes of Midnight (Book 6)
First mention in series: Appears in Midnight Awakening.
~ ~ ~
Anna Breedmate and old friend of Elise Chase’s. Elise encounters Anna at Andreas Reichen’s reception in Berlin. Anna’s Breed son, Tomas, had been friends with Elise’s son, Camden, when they were boys. Anna had not heard of Cam’s death and is clearly uncomfortable with the news. Friendly to Elise, offers to show her around Berlin if Elise were staying for a while.
First mention in series: Appears in Midnight Awakening.
~ ~ ~
Annabeth Jablonsky Human. Resident of Harmony, Alaska, and waitress at Pete’s Tavern. Under the name Amber Joy, Annabeth used to dance at a strip club in Fairbanks, where Teddy Toms saw her perform and developed a crush on her. Annabeth was partying with friends and Teddy Toms the night Teddy and his family were killed by the Ancient. She also saw Kade at Pete’s the night after Alex met him and thought he was sexy.
First mention in series: Appears in Shades of Midnight.
~ ~ ~
Arno Pike (d.) Breed male, Deputy Director in the Breed’s Enforcement Agency, secret lieutenant to Dragos and a loyal member of his inner circle. Pike had been mated, but his Breedmate was killed in a mugging about a year before the timeline of Darker After Midnight.
Pike is at the Agency’s Chinatown sip-and-strip when Dragos arrives to bask in his victory over the Order, which had sent the warriors scrambling for new headquarters after Dragos helped expose the Boston compound to human law enforcement. Pike is anxious about a public appearance by Dragos, but capitulates when his boss insists on a private table and the best females in the club. Pike soon joins in, and the night ends in wholesale slaughter of all the humans in the club.
Later, Pike is captured by the Order and questioned about his connections to Dragos. Pike tells Lucan it’s too late to stop Dragos, but he refuses to say anything more. Hunter is tasked with finishing the interrogation by reading his blood. But the first bite reveals that Pike has ingested poison, and Dragos’s lieutenant takes the truth with him to his death.
First mention in series: Appears in Darker After Midnight.
~ ~ ~
August Chase (d.) Breed male, father of Sterling and Quentin Chase. August’s Breedmate is neither present nor specifically named thus far in the series. The patriarch of the venerable Chase family, August groomed his sons to be morally pristine, accepting nothing less than perfection from them at all times. He had been Enforcement Agency Director for a couple of centuries before his death on patrol at an undated time prior to son Quentin’s death, which was five years before the timeline of Kiss of Crimson. Although August never spoke the words precisely, Sterling
Chase grew up feeling that his father already had the son he wanted in Quentin, leaving Sterling to feel redundant and never able to measure up to his older brother.
First mention in series: Referenced in Darker After Midnight.
~ ~ ~
Aunt Sarah (Fairchild) (d.) Human. Believed to be Tavia Fairchild’s deceased father’s sister, but is later revealed to be one of Dragos’s Minions tasked with guardianship over Tavia since her laboratory birth. Working in concert with another of Dragos’s Minions (see Doctor Lewis), Sarah makes sure Tavia takes her medications daily and sees her private medical specialist regularly. Both of these individuals, on Dragos’s orders, have made Tavia believe all her life that she has a serious condition that requires constant monitoring and treatments. Sarah has also helped foster the lie that Tavia’s odd pattern of skin markings (her Breed dermaglyphs) are burn scars from a house fire that killed her parents but that she survived. “Aunt Sarah” later killed herself after being unmasked as a Minion by Tavia, following Tavia’s realization that she’s been betrayed all her life about who, and what, she truly is.
First mention in series: Appears in Darker After Midnight.
~ ~ ~
Avery, Detective Human. Middle-aged police detective with the Boston Police Department. Avery is first introduced to Tavia Fairchild at the station, when she’s brought in to view a lineup and identify Sterling Chase as the shooter at Senator Clarence’s holiday party. Avery is a likable man, tries to make Tavia comfortable and assure her that she’s safe. Later, after Sterling Chase breaks loose from police custody and flees the station to go after Senator Clarence as a certain link to Dragos, Detective Avery meets Tavia at the senator’s office building and arranges for her safekeeping at a Boston hotel under police watch (see Murphy). Chase then confronts Avery to find out where Tavia has been taken. Avery tries to resist putting Tavia in what he feels is mortal danger from Chase, but eventually relents and gives up her location. Chase mind scrubs the detective, but leaves him unharmed out of respect for the human’s obvious care for Tavia’s wellbeing. Detective Avery is seen again, after Boston is in the midst of the mass Rogue attacks. He is in shock over the situation, like the rest of the population, but relieved to see Tavia is alive and well.