Carpathian 09 - Dark Guardian

visibly. She was far too weak to sit up beside her lifemate. She lay on the deck with her head in Lucian's lap and his hands in her hair. She touched Lucian's mind, found him tranquil, at peace. Even with one such as Drake, he felt no anger, no sympathy, no remorse. He carried out his responsibility without emotion, as he always did. She slipped into his mind, allowed his peace to wash over her, through her. She didn't hate Drake, and she didn't feel sorry for him; she only knew that Lucian had to destroy him.
    Lucian stared at Drake, unwilling to utter the command aloud for Jaxon to hear. Drake brought his hands up to his throat as he began to fight for air. Lucian concentrated on the man's chest. Inside the man, his heart was shutting down, chambers clogging as his blood thickened. Veins collapsed, arteries shattered, and Tyler Drake shuddered and went down abruptly, sitting on the snow-covered ground, then toppling over to lie still.
    Jaxon could only stare in astonishment, half lifting her body in astonishment. That was it? After years living in torment, she couldn't be free so easily. So quietly. She glanced up at Lucian. Is it over? He's really dead ?
    Lucian wrapped his arms around her protectively. "He is dead," he said out loud, knowing she needed to hear the words spoken.
    Jaxon closed her eyes and slipped back toward the deck, fainting for the first time in her life. Lucian moved with his preternatural speed, his arms cradling her head before it could hit the wood. She wasn't going to be very happy with herself for fainting.
    Exhausted, Lucian allowed Gabriel to do most of the work as he gathered energy particles from the sky and sent them flaming into Tyler Drake's body. When there was nothing left but ashes, he lay back beside his lifemate, pillowing her head on his shoulder. It was only then that he noticed she was covered in his blood. The last thing he wanted was for Jaxon to awaken in that state. He was going to have to concede to her that he might have been a little arrogant where Drake was concerned. She would never let him get away with anything less.
    Right now you need to go to ground . That was Gabriel, acting as if his twin needed to be taken out behind the proverbial barn.
    Gabriel, easily picking up Lucian's thought, gave a rather rude snort of derision. I do not think that will happen anytime soon. Francesca says get beneath the earth immediately, and take your lifemate with you. She has given far too much of her strength in healing you .

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    Lucian shook his head as he gathered Jaxon into his arms. Gabriel had to have the last word. He was like that.
    Only because I am always right.

Chapter Seventeen
    Jaxon curled up on the small sofa right in front of the fireplace. She wore only a thin robe, her small rebellion against the coming event, and the warmth from the flames felt good. She also liked the way fire light flickered and danced on the wall, bringing out the wood trim's golden hue. She was nervous, striving for normalcy, and needed something to keep her from thinking too much.
    Shaking out the newspaper, she began to scan it, reading as a policewoman, looking for any stray detail that might be of use in any of her open cases. Often some odd item in the paper could help bring together pieces of information in police work.
    Finding an article on the second page, she could hardly believe her eyes. She recognized three names, attributed to three great humanitarians. Hal Barton. Harry Timms. Denny Sheldon . The three men who had "visited" their home so recently. "Lucian, have you read the paper this evening?"
    He glanced at her, his black eyebrows raised in inquiry.
    "What now?" He hid his smile, knowing exactly what she was doing, what she was trying to avoid.
    "I wonder. It seems your three friends, the ones who broke into our house and wanted you to invest in their foolproof security system, have become rather wealthy in their own right."
    "I am glad for them. They will not need my money after all."
    "They never did. I'm not a moron, you know. You did something to them, didn't you? What did you do?"
    Lucian's black eyes were laughing, but his voice was innocent. "What could I have possibly done? You were there. What does the article say?"
    "The three of them worked for a couple of 'businessmen.' " Her large brown eyes were boring into him.
    "Ha! Probably drug lords. I'm right, aren't I?"
    She was altogether