A chasm opened up in the infirmary, swallowing all sound but the stunning truth of what Rio's mate had just confessed.
Dante and Nikolai's hands went to their weapons, both warriors prepared to strike at the slightest provocation. Lucan lifted his hand to stay them, his eyes holding fast to Eva. He really didn't give a damn that her venom was aimed squarely at him; if he'd been some kind of target for her rage, he had survived it. Rio might not. Any one of his brethren present on the raid tonight might not have survived Eva's betrayal.
"The Rogues knew we were going to be there," Lucan said, his voice held all the more cool by the depth of his fury. "We were ambushed at the warehouse. You arranged it."
Low growls sounded from the other warriors. If the confession had come from a male, there would have been little Lucan could do to keep his brethren from attacking with lethal force. But this was a Breedmate, one of their own. Someone they had known and trusted as kin for more than one lifetime.
Now Lucan looked at Eva and saw a stranger. He saw madness. A deadly desperation.
"Rio was to be spared." She bent over him, cradling his bandaged head in the crook of her arm. He made a noise, something raw and wordless, as Eva tugged him into her embrace. "I didn't want him to be able to fight anymore. Not for you."
"So you would see him maimed instead?" Lucan asked. "This is how you care for him?"
"I love him!" she cried. "What I did - all of it - was out of love for him! Rio will be happier somewhere else, away from all of this violence and death. He will be happier in the Darkhavens, with me. Away from your damned war!"
Rio made the sound in his throat again, more plaintive now. It was unmistakably a sound of agony, although whether it stemmed from physical discomfort or the distress of hearing what was happening around him, was unclear.
Lucan gave a slow shake of his head. "That's a call you can't make for him, Eva. You didn't have the right. This is Rio's war, as much as anyone else's. It is what he believed in - what I know he still believes in, even after what you have done to him. This war belongs to all of the Breed."
She scoffed acidly. "Ironic of you to think so, when you are only a few steps away from turning Rogue yourself."
"Jesus Christ," Dante hissed from where he stood nearby. "You're wrong, Eva. You are f**king disturbed."
"Am I?" Her gaze remained rooted on Lucan, sadistic in her glee. "I've been watching you, Lucan. I've seen you struggle with your hunger when you think no one is around. Your façade of control does not fool me."
"Eva," Gabrielle said, a voice of calm washing over the tension in the room. "You are upset. You don't know what you're saying."
She laughed. "Ask him to deny it. Ask him why he deprives himself of blood until he is nearly starving for it!"
Lucan said nothing in response to the very public accusations, because he knew them to be true.
So did Gabrielle.
It moved him that she would rise to his defense, but this moment wasn't so much about him as it was Rio and the deception that would shatter the warrior. Perhaps already had, judging from the increased sawing of the male's bandaged limbs and his struggling to speak past his injuries.
"How did you strike this bargain, Eva? How did you make contact with the Rogues - one of your day trips topside?"
She exhaled with mocking humor. "It wasn't so hard. There are Minions walking around all over the city. You only have to look. I found one and told him to put me in touch with his Master."
"Who was it?" Lucan demanded. "What did he look like?"
"I don't know. We met just once and he kept his face hidden. He wore dark glasses and kept the lights off in the hotel room. I didn't care who he was or what he looked like. All that mattered was that he is powerful enough to make things happen. I only wanted his promise."
"I can imagine what he made you pay for it."
"It was just a couple of hours with him. I would have paid anything," she said, no longer looking at Lucan, or everyone else who was gaping at her in disgust, but instead staring down at Rio. "I would do anything for you, my darling. I would bear... anything."
"You may have made a bargain with your body," Lucan said, "but it was Rio's trust you sold."
A rasp slipped from between Rio's parched lips as Eva cooed and caressed him. His eyelids fluttered open. There was a shallow, gasping breath as he tried to form words.
"I..." He coughed, his wracked body spasming. "Eva..."
"Oh, my love - yes, I'm here!" she cried. "Tell me what you need, baby."
"Eva..." His throat worked in silence for a moment, and then he tried again. "I... denounce... you."
"What?"
"Dead..." He moaned, his mental pain no doubt deeper than the physical, but the fierce look in his bleary, bloodshot eyes said he would not be deterred. "No longer exist... to me... you are... dead."
"Rio, don't you understand? I did this for us!"
"Leave," he gasped. "Never... see you... again..."
"You can't mean that." She lifted her head, her eyes darting frantically. "He doesn't mean that! He can't! Rio, tell me you don't mean that!"
When she tried to reach for him, Rio growled, using what little strength he had to shun her touch. Eva let out a sob. Blood from his wounds covered the front of her clothes. She stared down at the stains she bore, then over to Rio, who had now shut her out completely.
What happened next took only a few seconds at most, but it played out as if time itself had slowed to a merciless crawl.