"No time," Lucan said, discarding the option. "Go to the door. Let your friends come in."
"What are you going to do?" She saw that his hand had just slipped back out of his trenchcoat, easing off the weapon concealed behind him. Panic flooded into her expression. "Do you have a gun back there? Lucan, they won't do anything to you. I'll make sure they don't say anything."
"I won't have to use the weapon on them."
"Then what will you do?" After so deliberately avoiding any physical contact with him, now she finally did touch him, her small hands clutching at his arm. "God, please tell me you won't hurt them - "
"Open the door, Gabrielle."
Her legs moved sluggishly beneath her as she approached the front door. She twisted the deadbolt and heard Megan's voice on the other side.
"She's in there, Ray. She's at the door. Gabby, open up, honey! Are you all right?"
Gabrielle slid the chain free, saying nothing. Not sure whether she should assure her friend that she was okay, or shout for Megan and Ray to get the hell out of there.
A look behind her at Lucan gave her no indication either way. His sharp features were emotionless and still. His silver eyes were rooted on the door, cool and unblinking. His powerful hands were empty, down at his sides, but Gabrielle knew he could spring into motion with no warning at all.
If he wanted to kill her friends - even her, for that matter - it would be done before any of them knew to take the first breath.
"Let them in," he told her in a low growl.
Gabrielle slowly turned the knob.
The door was barely open a crack before Megan pushed inside, her boyfriend, still in uniform, right behind her.
"Holy shit, Gabby! Do you have any idea how worried I've been? Why haven't you returned my calls?" She pulled her into a fierce hug, then released her, only to frown at Gabrielle like a frantic mother hen. "You look tired. Have you been crying? Where have you - "
Megan broke off abruptly, her eyes, and Ray's, catching a sudden glimpse of Lucan in the middle of the living room behind Gabrielle.
"Oh... I didn't realize you had someone here..."
"Everything okay here?" Ray asked, stepping past the two women and letting his hand rest lightly on his holstered weapon.
"Fine. Everything's fine," Gabrielle quickly replied. She held her hand out toward Lucan. "This is, uh... a friend of mine."
"Going somewhere?" Megan's boyfriend strolled forward, and gestured to the stuffed duffel bag that lay on the floor beside Lucan's feet.
"Um, yeah," Gabrielle interjected, walking swiftly past Ray and putting herself between him and Lucan. "I've been a little shaken up tonight. I thought I'd go to a hotel and chill out. Lucan stopped by to give me a ride."
"Huh." Ray was trying to peer around her to where Lucan remained rudely stoic and silent. Lucan's scathing stare said he had already sized up the young cop - and dismissed him in that same instant.
"I wish you hadn't come, you guys," Gabrielle said. And that was the God's honest truth. "Really, you don't have to stay."
Megan walked over and took Gabrielle's hand protectively in hers. "Ray and I were hoping you'd consider coming with us to the police station, honey. It's important. I'm sure your friend would agree with us. You're the detective Gabby's mentioned, right? I'm Meg."
Lucan shifted a step. The small movement brought him right up in front of Megan and Ray. It was such a slight flex of muscle, so fast, time seemed to slow around him. Gabrielle saw him take those handful of impossibly quick strides, but her friends blinked and found Lucan standing in their faces, crowding them with his massive size and a menace that vibrated in the air around him.
Without any warning at all, he lifted his right hand and took Megan by the forehead.
"Lucan, no!"
Meg cried out, a half-uttered noise that died in her throat as she stared into Lucan's eyes. With viper speed, he reached out with his left hand and clamped Ray in a similar hold. The officer struggled for a mere second before his face drooped into a trancelike stupor. Lucan's strong, clutching fingers seemed to be all that was holding the pair upright.
"Lucan, please! I'm begging you!"
"Get the memory sticks and the duffel bag," he told her, his voice calm. Coldly commanding. "I have a car waiting outside. Get in, and wait for me. I'll be right out."
"I'm not going leave you here to bleed my friends dry."
"If that had been my intent, they'd already be dead on the floor."
He was right. God, but she had no doubt that this man - this dark being she had admitted into her life - was dangerous enough to do just that.
But he hadn't. And he wouldn't; she trusted that much about him.
"The pictures, Gabrielle. Now."
She jolted into action, hefting the bulky duffel bag over her shoulder and dropping the two flash drives into the front pocket of her jeans. On the way out, she paused to look at Megan's blank face. Her eyes were closed now, as were Ray's. Lucan was murmuring something to them in a voice so low she could hardly hear it.
The tone of his words didn't sound threatening, but oddly soothing, persuasive. Almost lulling.
With one last glance at the bizarre scene taking place in her living room, Gabrielle dashed out the open front door and down onto the street. A sleek sedan waited at the curb, parallel parked in front of Ray's red Mustang. It was an expensive vehicle - incredibly expensive, from the looks of it - and the only other car around.
As she approached, the front passenger door opened as if it had been willed to do so.
Willed by the sheer strength of Lucan's mind, she knew, wondering just how far his preternatural powers might reach.