Midnight Breed - Book - 01
Page 27
anything about this evening, or your having been at
Megan’s apartment last night after the Minion’s attack on
you. Their minds are no longer burdened with any of it.”
“You know, right now, that sounds pretty damn good.
So, what do you say, Lucan? Will you do me next? You can
start erasing right before I made the terrible decision to go
to that nightclub a couple of weeks ago.”
He held her gaze, but she didn’t feel him so much as
trying to get into her head. “You aren’t like those two hu-
mans, Gabrielle. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t change
any of the things that have happened to you. Your mind is
stronger than most. In many ways, you are . . . different
from most.”
“Gee, I feel so lucky.”
“The best place for you now is with us, where the Breed
will protect you as one of our own. We have a secured
compound in the city. You can stay there to start.”
She frowned. “What, you’re offering me the vampire
equivalent of the Witness Protection Program?”
“It’s a bit more than that.” He turned his head, looking
out through the windshield. “And it is the only way.”
PDF
Adri_9780553589375_3p_all_r1.qxp 2/9/07 2:54 PM Page 246
2 4 6
L A R A A D R I A N
W
Lucan hit the gas and the sleek black car shot up the
narrow road with a low, silky growl. Clutching the leather
seat on the passenger side, Gabrielle swung her head
around to watch as darkness slowly swallowed up her resi-
dential block on Willow Street.
As the distance grew wider, she saw the vague silhou-
ettes of Megan and Ray getting into his Mustang to leave
her apartment, none the wiser. Gabrielle felt a sudden jolt
of panic that made her want to leap out of the car and run
back to them, back to her old life.
Too late.
She knew that.
This new reality had her in a tight grasp, and she didn’t
think there would be any turning back, only a steady
march forward. She turned away from the rear window
and sank into the seat’s butter-soft leather, staring straight
ahead as Lucan wheeled sharply around the corner and
drove her deep into the night.
PDF
Adri_9780553589375_3p_all_r1.qxp 2/9/07 2:54 PM Page 247
C H A P T E R
W
Twenty
She didn’t know how long they’d been driving, or even in
what direction. They were still in the city, that much she
could tell, but the many turns and back alley routes that
Lucan took had since become a jumble in Gabrielle’s
mind. She stared out the dark-tinted window of the sedan,
vaguely aware that they were slowing down at last, ap-
proaching what appeared to be the expansive grounds of
an old estate.
Lucan braked outside a tall, black-iron gate. Twin
beams of red light shot down from a pair of small devices
perched on both sides of the high-security perimeter fence.
Gabrielle blinked away the sudden shot of light that
flashed in front of her face, then watched as the heavy gate
began to slide open.
“This is yours?” she asked, turning to speak to Lucan
PDF
Adri_9780553589375_3p_all_r1.qxp 2/9/07 2:54 PM Page 248
2 4 8
L A R A A D R I A N
W
for the first time since they’d left her apartment. “I’ve been
here before. I took a photograph of this gate.”
They rolled through, then up a long, curving, tree-lined
driveway.
“The estate is part of our compound. It belongs to the
Breed.”
Evidently, being a vampire was quite lucrative. Even in
the dark, Gabrielle could see the old-money quality of the
well-tended grounds and the ornately carved limestone
work on the pale façade of the mansion as they ap-
proached. Double rotundas flanked the lacquered black
doors and soaring portico of the main entrance, above
which rose four elegant stories.
Ambient light glowed from many of the arched win-
dows, but Gabrielle hesitated to call the effect welcoming.
The mansion loomed like a watchful sentry in the gloom of
the surrounding night, stoic and forbidding, with its collec-
tion of snarling gargoyles that stared down from the roof
and twin balconies overlooking the drive.
Lucan wheeled past the front entrance and around to a
large hangar in the back. A gate lifted, and he rolled the
purring Maybach to a stop inside, then cut the engine. A
row of lights went on as the two of them climbed out of
the car, the soft clicks of motion sensors illuminating a fleet
of glossy, high-end machinery.
Gabrielle gaped in astonishment. Between the
Maybach, which cost about as much as her modest Beacon
Hill condo, and the collection of cars, SUVs, and motor-
cycles, she had to be looking at millions of dollars’ worth of
vehicles. Multimillions.
“This way,” Lucan said, the duffel bag of photographs
gripped in his hand as he guided her past the impressive
fleet to an unmarked door near the back of the garage.
PDF
Adri_9780553589375_3p_all_r1.qxp 2/9/07 2:54 PM Page 249
Kiss of Midnight
W 249
“Just how rich are you people?” she asked, trailing after
him in amazement.
Lucan gestured for her to enter as the door opened
then he followed her inside the elevator and pushed a but-
ton on the console. “Some members of the vampire nation
have been around a very long time. We’ve learned a few
things about managing our money wisely.”
“Uh-huh,” she said, feeling a little off balance as the el-
evator began a smooth but swift descent, down, and down,
and down. “How do you keep all of this hidden from the
public? What about the government and taxes? Or are you
strictly a cash-and-carry operation?”
“The public can’t get past our security, even if they
tried. The entire perimeter of the grounds is wired.
Anyone foolish enough to get close to the compound
would get a fourteen-thousand-volt ass kicking and a mind
scrub. We pay our taxes—through fronted corporations, of
course. Our properties around the world are owned by pri-
vate trusts. Everything the Breed does is legit and above-
board.”
“Legit and aboveboard. Right.” She laughed, a bit ner-
vously. “Just nevermind all the bloodsucking or the extra-
terrestrial lineage.”
Lucan leveled a dark glance on her, but she was re-
lieved to see the corner of his mouth lift in something that
might have passed for a smile.
“I’ll take the backups now,” he said, his penetratingly
clear gray eyes watching her as she dug the memory sticks
out of her jeans pocket and placed them in his hand.
He let his fingers close around hers for a second.
Gabrielle felt heat in his touch, but she didn’t want to ac-
> knowledge it. She didn’t want to admit what just the slight-
est brush of his skin made her feel, even now.
PDF
Adri_9780553589375_3p_all_r1.qxp 2/9/07 2:54 PM Page 250
2 5 0
L A R A A D R I A N
W
Especially now.
The elevator finally came to a stop, and the door slid
open to reveal a pristine room constructed of glass walls
reinforced with gleaming metal frames. The floor was
white marble, inlaid with a series of geometric symbols
and interlocking designs. She recognized some of the de-
signs as similar to the ones that Lucan bore on his body—
those strange, beautiful tattoos that covered his back and
torso.
No, not tattoos, she realized now, but something . . . else.
Vampire markings.
On his skin, and here, in this underground bunker
where he lived.
Beyond the elevator, a corridor stretched and wended
along a path that must have been several hundred yards
long. Lucan paused to look at Gabrielle when she hesitated
to follow him.
“You’re safe here,” he said, and God help her, but she
actually believed him.
She walked out onto the snowy marble with Lucan,
holding her breath as he placed his palm against an au-
thentication panel and the glass doors ahead of him
opened. Cool air bathed Gabrielle and she could hear a
muffled rumble of male voices talking somewhere down
the hall. Lucan led her toward the deep rhythm of conver-
sation, his long stride sharp and purposeful.
He paused in front of another glass door, and as
Gabrielle drew next to him, she saw what appeared to be a
control room of sorts. There were monitors and comput-
ers lining a long, U-shaped console, digital readers flashing
some kind of coordinates from another bank of equip-
ment, and in the center of it all, moving on his rolling chair
between the many workstations like a concert maestro, was
PDF
Adri_9780553589375_3p_all_r1.qxp 2/9/07 2:54 PM Page 251
Kiss of Midnight
W 251
a geeky-looking young man, his cropped blond hair spiked
around his head in amusing disarray. He glanced up, crisp
blue eyes registering a greeting, and then mild surprise, as
the door slid open and Lucan strode inside with Gabrielle
beside him.
“Gideon,” Lucan said, inclining his head in a nod.
So, this was the associate he had spoken of, Gabrielle
thought, noting the easy smile and friendly demeanor of
the other man. He got up from his chair and nodded his
head at Lucan and then at Gabrielle.
Gideon was tall and lean, with boyish good looks and
obvious charm. Nothing like Lucan. Nothing at all like she
would imagine a vampire to be, not that she had a lot of
experience in that area.
“Is he—”
“Yes,” Lucan answered, before she could whisper the
rest of her question. He put the duffel bag down on a table.
“Gideon is of the Breed. As are the others.”
It was then that Gabrielle noticed the conversation
she’d heard in the room on their approach had since gone
silent.
She felt more eyes on her from somewhere at her back,
and as she turned to face the source of the sensation, all
the breath seemed to be sucked from her lungs. Three
large men occupied the space behind her: one in dark,
tailored pants and a loose silk shirt, elegantly sprawled in
a leather club chair; another wearing head-to-toe black
leather, thick arms crossed over his chest as he leaned
against the back wall; and the last, in jeans and a white
tee-shirt, was hunched over a table where he’d been clean-
ing the disassembled parts of some complicated type of
handgun.
They were all staring at her.
PDF
Adri_9780553589375_3p_all_r1.qxp 2/9/07 2:54 PM Page 252
2 5 2
L A R A A D R I A N
W
“Dante,” Lucan said, indicating the broody one in
leather, who gave her a slight nod of greeting—or maybe it
was more of a male appraisal, based on the lift of his dark
brows as his sly gaze returned to Lucan.
“The gearhead over there is Nikolai.” At Lucan’s intro-
duction, the sandy-haired male offered Gabrielle a quick
smile. He had starkly cut features, amazing cheekbones,
and a strong, stubborn jaw. Even as he looked at her, his
nimble fingers were working flawlessly on the weapon, as if
he knew the components of the piece instinctually.
“And that’s Rio,” Lucan said, turning her attention to
the smolderingly handsome one with the immaculate
sense of style. From his casual lounge in the chair, he sent
her a dazzling smile that oozed with innate sex appeal,
with an unmistakable current of danger behind his topaz-
colored eyes.
That threat emanated from each of them, their muscu-
lar builds and unconcealed weapons giving the distinct
warning that despite their relaxed appearances here, these
were men accustomed to battle. They might even thrive
on it.
Lucan placed his hand on the small of Gabrielle’s back,
startling her with the sudden contact as he brought her
closer to him before these three other males. She wasn’t to-
tally sure she trusted him yet, but as it stood, he was her
sole ally in a room full of armed vampires.
“This is Gabrielle Maxwell. For the time being, she will
be staying at the compound.”
He left the statement hanging without further explana-
tion, as if he dared any one of the lethal-looking men to
question him. None did. Watching Lucan, a commanding
force in the midst of so much dark strength and power,
PDF
Adri_9780553589375_3p_all_r1.qxp 2/9/07 2:54 PM Page 253
Kiss of Midnight
W 253
Gabrielle realized that he was not merely one of these
warriors.
He was their leader.
Gideon was the first to speak. He had come around
from behind the computers and monitors and offered
Gabrielle his hand. “Good to meet you,” he said, his voice
tinged with a vaguely English accent. “Fast thinking, get-
ting those cell pictures of the attack you witnessed.
They’ve been a big help to us.”
“Um, no problem.”
She briefly shook his hand, surprised to find him so
personable. So normal.
But then, Lucan had seemed relatively normal to her as
well, and look how that turned out. At least he hadn’t been
lying entirely when he told her he’d taken her cell phone
into the lab for analysis. He’d only neglected to tell her it
was a vampire CSI lab, and not the Boston police.
A loud beep sounded from the bank of computers
nearby, spurring Gideon into a quick jog back to his moni-
tors.
“Yes! You beautiful bucket of bolts,” he shouted, drop-
ping into a spin in his chair. “Guys, you’ll w
ant to see this.
Especially you, Niko.”
Lucan and the other warriors gathered around the
monitor that bathed Gideon’s face in a pale blue glow.
Gabrielle, feeling a bit awkward standing alone in the cen-
ter of the room, slowly trailed over as well.
“I just hacked into the security feeds over at the T,”
Gideon said. “Now, let’s see if we can get some footage
from the other night, maybe find out what the bastard who
took out Conlan was really about.”
Gabrielle watched quietly from the periphery as several
computer screens filled with closed-circuit images from a
PDF
Adri_9780553589375_3p_all_r1.qxp 2/9/07 2:54 PM Page 254
2 5 4
L A R A A D R I A N
W
handful of the city’s train platforms, the feed scrolling by in
fast-forward motion. Gideon rolled his chair along the line
of workstations, pausing to type commands onto several of
the keyboards before continuing on to the next, and then
the next. Finally, his frenetic energy came to a halt.
“Okay, here we go. Green Line, coming up.” He
backed away from the monitor in front of him, allowing
the others a clear view. “This is footage of the platform be-
ginning three minutes before the confrontation.”
Lucan and the others closed in as the feed displayed an
influx of people pouring on and off the train. Peering be-
tween the massive sets of shoulders, Gabrielle caught the
now familiar face of Nikolai on the monitor screen as he
and his companion, a menacingly large male outfitted in
dark leather, strode onto the commuter car. They had
hardly gotten seated before one of the other passengers
caught the attention of Nikolai’s companion. The two
warriors stood up, and just before the doors closed for de-
parture, the guy they’d been watching suddenly leaped out
of the car and onto the platform. Onscreen, Nikolai and
the other man jumped to their feet, but Gabrielle’s atten-
tion was rooted on the person they meant to follow.
“Oh, my God,” she gasped. “I know that guy.”
Five pairs of hard male eyes turned toward her in ques-
tion.
“I mean, I don’t know him personally, but I’ve seen him
before. I know his name. It’s Brent—at least, that’s what he
told my friend Kendra. She met him at the dance club the
night I witnessed the killing. She’s been seeing him every
night since, pretty seriously, in fact.”
“You’re certain?” Lucan asked.