Page 78 of A Touch of Crimson
“But,” Lindsay interjected, shooting a glance at Elijah, who gave nothing away on his face, “why implicate one of their own by leaving Elijah’s blood at the scene?”
Aaron exhaled harshly. “Which resulted in the death of Luke—my other lycan—on sight. There was no attempt made to capture or speak to him. And Micah is as good as dead.”
“They captured him, then let him go.”
“They left him for dead,” Aaron said. “There’s a difference.”
“Is there?” she challenged. “The whole leaving-someone-for-dead business is beyond me. Either something is dead or it isn’t, and if it isn’t and you want it dead, you don’t leave it to chance. Why would Vash—?” A silence fell over the room as Lindsay abruptly stopped speaking. All eyes rested on her until she shrugged blithely and said, “Never mind. Too complicated for me. My brain hurts.”
She stood and walked toward the windows, stepping through when one large pane of glass slid automatically to the side.
Resisting the urge to flex his wings, Adrian dismissed Jason and Aaron with an accompanying order to report to his office in the morning. He feigned nonchalance, but inside he was weighing the myriad possible reasons why Elijah—the first Alpha to make an appearance in many years—had been set up to take the fall for Nikki’s abduction. He knew Lindsay’s mind had followed the same train of thought and she’d ceased her speculations the moment she realized how dangerous they were to Elijah.
Adrian studied the lycan as the living room cleared, noting how Elijah followed Lindsay as far as the window, guarding her still, yet making a pointed effort to stay within boundaries that wouldn’t incite Adrian’s fierce possessiveness. The lycan and Lindsay clearly had a friendship of sorts, which was why Adrian entrusted him with her protection, but that didn’t mitigate the danger Elijah presented as an Alpha.
Whether he had any culpability in the abduction or not, it appeared someone had gone to great lengths to bring the Alpha lycan to the attention of the vampires, and the vamps were taking the steps necessary to formalize that introduction.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Collusion between the lycans and vampires would lead to the annihilation of the Sentinels. The numbers against them would be far too great to withstand.
Gauging Elijah’s loyalty was more important than ever. Adrian expected the lycan’s fidelity to be strongest to other lycans, but it might be strong enough to Lindsay to at least make defection difficult.
Elijah met his gaze as he moved to follow Lindsay outside.
Adrian paused on the threshold. “What do you think, Elijah?”
“Vash was empty-handed after speaking to Micah. She was left with the choice of interrogating another lycan before my blood sample deteriorated or following Micah back to me. I think that’s why she let him live.”
“And what will you do should she come here?”
“Eviscerate the bitch.” He growled, his eyes glowing with green fire. “Micah is my friend. He’s like a brother to me, as Phineas was to you. And she killed him. I could’ve lived with that if she’d fought him for it. But to die like this, sick and broken in a bed—no lycan should have to die like that.”
Adrian set his hand on Elijah’s shoulder and swiftly searched the lycan’s mind. A red haze of fury and grief washed over every sifting thought, none of which dealt with mutiny or treachery. Momentarily reassured, Adrian murmured, “May we all go down fighting.”
He released the lycan and stepped outside, finding Lindsay standing a safe distance away from the railing while staring at the cityscape in the distance. He embraced her from behind, wrapping her within his arms and wings.
“Your participation helped immensely,” he said with his lips to her ear. “Thank you.”
“I hate that you’re dealing with so much crap at once.” She leaned into him, placing her arms over his. “You haven’t had any time to grieve. And me being here is just making things worse.”
Adrian’s arms tightened around her. “You being here makes things bearable.”
“You’re a glutton for punishment,” she muttered. “He’s loyal to you, you know. Elijah. And he’s a good guy.”
“That doesn’t necessarily make him less dangerous.”
“What does being an Alpha mean? What makes him different?”
“The beast within the lycans is powerful. They were created with demon blood—the blood of werewolves—and it’s very much like being possessed. They have two natures warring inside them.”
“God,” she breathed. “I can guess how that must be for them. I feel like I’m warring with myself sometimes. Especially with you. I know what I need to do, but it’s hard to shut out the voice in my head that says, To hell with the consequences.”
Shutting his eyes against her inadvertently accurate confession, he went on, “At times, the beast takes over. The lycan can’t control the need to shift or the violence that comes with it. The Alphas are different. They have the power to decide which half of their nature is most dominant, regardless of triggers or provocation, and that power seems to extend outside of themselves. They can calm and subdue the beasts in the lycans around them. The others are drawn to that force of will, and their beasts subjugate willingly to the Alpha, but their allegiance must be with the Sentinels first and foremost.”
Her head fell back into the crook of his shoulder, her silky golden curls brushing across his jaw. “What do you do with the Alphas?”
“We segregate them from the others and use them for assignments in which a lone hunter is required. The other lycans must work in teams.”
