“I saw her in the drawing room with Brynne and Jordana when we arrived,” said Alexandra. She and her mate, Kade, were the last to arrive, having come in from Lake Tahoe. “Carys looked exhausted, and she was pacing the room like a caged animal.”
Tavia sighed. “She hardly spoke on the flight down. She’s hurt and confused, of course. She’s as shocked as we all are, but she believes in Rune. She loves him.”
Chase scoffed. “She’s blinded by her emotions when it comes to that male. That blindness might’ve gotten her killed.”
“Or maybe it was love that saved her life tonight.” This from ebony-haired Corinne, who was seated beside Hunter, her Gen One warrior mate.
He glanced at her tenderly as she spoke, which was a feat in itself, since the former assassin had been raised by his brutal handlers to think that emotion was weakness. He’d overcome that training, just as Corinne’s long-lost son, Nathan, had overcome similar abuse through his newfound love for Jordana.
“Corinne’s right,” said Tess. “And it’s obvious that Rune—or Aedan—must care for Carys too. After all, he tried to protect her from Riordan’s men.”
Chase grunted, clearly unmoved. “If he really wanted to protect her, he never would’ve taken up with my daughter in the first place. I’d like to kill the bastard for that alone.”
Dante glanced around his mate, Tess. “Come on, Harvard,” he said, using a nickname he’d given Chase years ago. “You could say that about any one of us at this table when we met our mates—you included. So, don’t judge him too harshly on that point, man.”
A lot of warriors’ heads nodded in agreement, both around the table and on the monitors. Even Lucan had to admit that what Dante said was true.
“And don’t be too quick to execute, either,” Mathias added. “Let’s all remember that Aedan Riordan is not just his father’s son. He’s also Nova’s brother.”
The tattooed Breedmate threaded her slender fingers through Mathias’s and gave him a sad smile.
As much as Lucan sympathized with the complicated emotional situation in front of them, first and foremost, the Order had a dangerous enemy to contend with.
“We need to get our hands on Riordan, and anyone who stands in the way of that mission will leave us no choice but to take them out. Anyone,” he said, casting a sober look at Mathias and Nova, and at Chase and Tavia. “We need Fineas Riordan alive for questioning. Between Tegan and Hunter, I have no doubt we’ll be able to wring out everything the bastard knows about Opus Nostrum and his comrades in that cabal.”
The pair of lethal Gen Ones inclined their heads in agreement. Tegan’s touch could siphon out the truth from even the most unwilling subject, and nothing could hide from Hunter’s ability to read blood memories.
Wolfish-looking Kade chuckled darkly on the other side of the table and nodded in the direction of the scarred warrior seated near him. “If Riordan doesn’t respond to those lines of questioning, let Rio here put his hands on him for a few seconds. Once Riordan feels his life leaking away, I’ll bet all of his Opus secrets will start spilling out.”
On one of the monitors, the Order’s German-born commander, Andreas Reichen, cleared his throat. “If the rumors in Europe are true, it sounds like Opus has been acquiring new chemical technology recently.”
Lucan wasn’t the only one to mutter a curse at that newsflash. “They already have access to liquid UV light weaponry. What other kind of chemical technology should we be looking for?”
“You won’t like it,” Andreas said. “There’s underground talk about a new, extremely powerful narcotic. Something that turns even the most docile Breed into a mindless, bloodthirsty savage.”
“We’ve been hearing the same thing in Rome the past few days,” Lazaro Archer said from his feed on another of the conference room monitors.
“Jesus Christ,” Dante hissed. “Sounds too much like Crimson.”
Twenty-odd years ago, a red, powder-based club drug had cropped up in Boston and elsewhere. It had spread like wildfire, and had cut a deep gash in the Breed communities, turning good sons into blood-addicted Rogues.
Sterling Chase had been one of the first to go after the drug and its creator. It was that quest that had brought him to the Order in the first place.
And if Opus had a similar narcotic now, they wouldn’t be the first to use it as a weapon against those who crossed them. More than one person seated around the table here tonight could attest to that firsthand.
Chase’s expression was stark and contemplative now, even after Tavia gently took his hand in hers in a show of affection and support.
“This news is all the more reason we can’t delay any longer,” Lucan said. “Riordan’s our best lead on the Opus brotherhood right now. We may have already tipped our hand by going after that lawyer in Dublin. We can’t give Riordan any more time to prepare for a strike.”
He glanced to Gideon. “We’re going to need all of your recon data on Riordan’s stronghold. Start monitoring who’s coming and going, how many men he has. We need assessments of his security setup, possible arms, all of it.”
Gideon nodded. “I can be ready to brief everyone within the hour.”
“Good. I want us mobilized and ready to crash his fucking gates tomorrow night.”
Mathias met Lucan’s gaze. “I can have my team on the ground in Dublin and ready to meet us with vehicles and any other arms and equipment we’ll need. Just tell me what you want, and it’ll be there waiting.”
“Excellent,” Lucan said.