The big male leaned past her to see what was happening on the roof. Lucan had returned to his feet. He sliced the first Rogue who had jumped him, lacing open the big vampire's gut. The Rogue's scream was audible even over the loud drone of the helicopter's rotors. Its body started convulsing, spasming... melting.
Lucan's head pivoted around to the helicopter. Fury blazed out of his eyes, glowing like twin embers lit by hell-fire. He lunged forward, roaring, shoulders bunched. Coming at the vehicle like a freight train.
"Get us out of here now!" shouted the male beside Gabrielle, the first true trace of worry she'd heard in him. "Now, goddamn it!"
The helicopter started lifting.
Gabrielle tried to shrink away from the bite of the blade by pressing her spine into the back of the small rear seat. If she could just find a way to knock his arm away, she might be able to reach the cockpit door -
There was a sudden lurch of the helicopter, as if they had snagged on some part of the building. The engine whined, straining.
Her captor was fuming now. "Take off, you idiot!"
"I'm trying, sire!" said the Minion at the controls. He pulled a lever and the engine protested with a terrible groan.
There was another lurch, a sharp downward tug that rattled everything inside the helicopter. The cockpit rolled forward. Gabrielle's captor lost his grounding on the seat, a momentary inattention.
The blade left her throat.
With a burst of sheer determination, she threw herself backward and kicked out with both legs, shoving him into the back of the pilot's seat. The vehicle pitched sharply forward. She scrambled for the latch on the cockpit door.
It swung open wildly, flapping on its hinges as the whole compartment shook and wobbled. Her captor was righting himself, about to grab for her again. His sunglasses had fallen off in the chaos. He glared at her with icy gray eyes, full of malice.
"Tell Lucan this is far from over," the leader of the Rogues ordered her, hissing the words through an evil smile.
"Go to hell," Gabrielle shot back at him. In that same instant, she lunged for the open space of the door and dropped the several feet down onto the roof.
As soon as he saw her, Lucan let go of the helicopter's landing rail. The vehicle jolted upward, spinning crazily as the pilot struggled to gain control of his ascent.
He raced to Gabrielle's side and pulled her to her feet, hands roaming all over her to make sure she was in one piece. "Are you okay?"
She nodded jerkily. "Lucan behind you!"
On the roof, another Rogue was heading for them. Lucan met the challenge with pleasure, now that Gabrielle was with him, every muscle in his body primed for dealing death. He drew another blade and pounded toward the approaching threat.
The fight was savage and swift. With fists flying, blades slashing, Lucan and the Rogue engaged in a deadly hand-to-hand combat. Lucan took more than one hit, but he was unstoppable. Gabrielle's blood was still strong within him, giving him a fury that would have been a match for ten opponents at once. He struck hard and with lethal efficiency, dispatching the Rogue with a vertical slice to its body.
Lucan didn't wait to see the titanium do its thing. He spun around and ran back to Gabrielle. Once he was in reach of her, all he could do was pull her into his arms and hold her fast against him. He could have stayed there all night, just breathing her in, feeling her heart beat, stroking her soft skin.
He lifted her chin and placed a fiercely tender kiss on her lips. "We have to get out of here, baby. Right now."
Above their heads, the helicopter was rising higher.
From out of the clear cockpit, the Gen One vampire who'd taken Gabrielle stared down through the glass enclosure. He gave Lucan a vague salute, grinning as his ride ascended into the night sky.
"Oh, God, Lucan! I was so scared. If anything had happened to you..."
Gabrielle's whisper made him forget all about his escaping enemy. The only thing that mattered to him was that she was able to talk to him. She was breathing. Gabrielle was with him, and he hoped to God he could keep her that way.
"How the hell did they get to you?" he asked, his voice shaking with urgency and the sharp aftershocks of his fear.
"After you left the compound tonight, I needed to get away and think. I went home. Kendra showed up. She had Jamie held hostage in a car outside. I couldn't let them hurt him. Kendra is - was - a Minion, Lucan. They killed her. My friend is dead." Gabrielle gave a sudden sob. "But Jamie got away, at least. He's somewhere downtown, probably scared out of his mind. I need to find him and make sure he's all right."
Lucan heard the low clip of the helicopter as it rose higher above them. He had to give Niko the signal to blow the place before the Rogues inside had a chance to escape, too.
"Let's get out of here, then we'll deal with the rest." Lucan scooped Gabrielle off her feet and up into his arms. "Hold on to me, sweetheart. Tight as you can."
"Okay." She wrapped her arms around his neck.
He kissed her again, relief flooding him to have her in his arms.
"Don't ever let go," he said, looking into the shining, beautiful eyes of his Breedmate.
Then he stepped over the edge of the roof and dropped with her, as soft as he could manage, down to the ground below.
"Lucan, talk to me, man!" Nikolai called over the earpiece. "Where are you? What the f**k is going on out there?"
"Everything's all right," he answered, carrying Gabrielle swiftly across the darkened grass of the property, toward where the warriors' SUV waited. "Everything's going to be all right now. Hit the detonator and let's finish this thing."