Defy the Dawn (Midnight Breed #14) - Lara Adrian Page 0,47
a brow. “Talk about old times. I recall you saying that to more than a few of us back in the day. No doubt you told yourself that same shit when it came to Gabrielle too.”
Yeah, he did and he had. It was an argument he wouldn’t win now, but that didn’t mean he had to like it.
“Keep an eye out for both of them,” he instructed the two warriors. As he spoke, his comm unit buzzed his ear with an incoming call from Tegan, who was commanding another of the patrol teams that had fanned out to cover more ground. “What’ve you got?”
“Six Rogues ashed between the park and the university,” Tegan said. “We’re all clear here. Rio and Kade are with Nathan near the government center and they’ve spotted another gang of Rogues over there.”
Lucan swore under his breath. At this rate, it was going to be another long night.
“I’m with Chase and Dante. We’re on our way there now.”
CHAPTER 21
If she needed confirmation of how hideous she was now—a monster—she had it.
Zael went utterly still the instant his eyes locked on her transformation. He cursed something low under his breath, something in a language that she didn’t understand.
“Brynne,” he murmured. “My God…”
Her heart twisted at the stunned tone of his deep voice. She knew what he was seeing. She knew what she was—the flawed, imbalanced result of a DNA experiment that never should have happened.
An anomaly.
A mistake.
An abomination.
She slowly pulled herself up from her crouch in the corner of the old fire escape. Zael watched her move, caution in his stance and in his confused expression. The predator in her took great satisfaction in seeing a powerful being like Zael on guard as she rose to her feet. It was that part of her that worried her, too, because once the monster took hold of her, not even she could fully rein it in.
“Stay away, Zael. I’m warning you.”
“Tell me what happened. It’s okay, Brynne. I only want to understand.”
She scoffed, certain the softness that crept into his tone was based on pity or revulsion. The inhuman part of her preferred his wariness over this tender attempt to put her at ease.
She took a sideways step, following the railing of the fire escape.
“Are you hurt?” he asked gently. “Tell me what’s wrong with you so I can try to help you.”
She couldn’t contain the miserable moan that leaked out of her at the sincerity of his plea.
He couldn’t help her, and she couldn’t stay near him. Not when she was like this.
Not ever again, now that he knew the ugly secret she could no longer hide from him.
“Brynne, please.” His brows drew together over tender, determined eyes. “Are you injured? Did those Bloodlusting fucks… Did they do this to you somehow?”
A laugh burst out of her, caustic, coarse as gravel in her throat. “Those Rogues couldn’t harm me if they tried. Can’t you see that?”
She didn’t want to throw his concern back in his face, but the predator in her was never stronger than in the grips of blood thirst or battle rage. Right now, Brynne was swamped by both. Fueled by hunger and adrenaline, she was a deadly creature.
As much as the woman in her yearned for Zael’s comfort—for his compassion—the part of her that was nearly pure Ancient saw only another obstacle in front of her. An enemy it recognized on a primal, instinctual level.
One that needed to be destroyed.
“Go away, Zael.” Her stare bathed his handsome face in amber light. The care she saw in his expression, in the way he unflinchingly held her transformed gaze, tore at her heart the way nothing in her life ever had before. She snarled, forcing herself to look away from him. “I said, leave me the fuck alone.”
“Sorry, sweetheart. That’s not happening.” He took a step toward her on the narrow ironwork platform. “You think I’m going to walk away and leave you here like this? Come on, Brynne. Let me help you.”
He reached out to her. Brynne dodged him, catapulting herself off the fire escape in one fluid leap.
She landed in a crouch on the street below, ready to bolt on foot.
But Zael was there in that next instant. She barely registered his motion, yet there he stood, blocking her path in the alleyway. His scowl knit his brows. “Don’t do this, damn it. Don’t shut me out, Brynne.”
His gentle tone made the beast in her bristle. “Get away from me, Atlantean.”