Breeds: Stygian's Honour Part 22

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Once again, she bowed down to Terran's request when she was ready and eager to fight Stygian's.

His back teeth clenched to the point that he was amazed his teeth didn't shatter with the pressure.

"What will it really matter, Terran?" Liza asked then, the bitter disillusionment in her gaze beginning to bother Stygian in ways he couldn't explain, even to himself. "The only difference between the Genetics Council and the Breeds is the manner in which they man- age to extract the information from their vic- tims." She turned back to Jonas then. "It doesn't matter how they hurt me, how they torture me or how much of it they make my father watch. There's no way he can access that information, Mr. Wyatt. There's no way I can access it."

"Any information can be accessed, Ms.

Johnson." It was Rachel who stepped forward.

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Somber. Her face pale from lack of sleep, the dark circles beneath her eyes attesting to her worry and concern for her daughter, she spoke with the heavy knowledge of certainty.

Liza shook her head. "Such information is too important to leave to chance, Rachel. The Navajo Genetic Database is the only one of its kind in the world. The only one that will allow the majority of the Breeds to find their place in the world. Just as their mothers, their grandmothers, their aunts and their cousins were taken from their home, their lands, their worlds." The scent of her tears reached Stygian, as subtle as the first breeze of spring, as heated as summer's kiss. "It's the only way some families who lost relatives will ever learn what happened to them. Do you think the safeguards we have in place aren't the best that could have been ima- gined or provided?"

Rachel clasped her hands in front of her as she hunched her shoulders defensively. An 309/862.

unconscious gesture toward the possibility that the plans her mate had put in place to find the answers to save her daughter could fail.

"It's information," Rachel said then. "Any time information is gathered, no matter where or by whom, when another knows of it, suspects it, then it's in danger of discovery. The Navajo Genetic Database has been secure only because none knew of it outside a very small group and because those supply- ing their genetic information had a reason to remain quiet. But now, others who have no such loyalty to what you've gathered know of it, Liza. And unless it's disbanded and all information destroyed, then it is at risk."

It was at risk.

Liza stared back at the other woman and saw the tears s.h.i.+mmering in her eyes, the agony that resonated in her soul as she faced her daughter's possible fate.

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Liza would give anything to help her save that perfect, sweet little girl.

The database wasn't going to save her, though.

Finding Gideon wouldn't save Amber.

And Honor Roberts and Fawn Corrigan did not exist within the database.

They did not exist within the Nation.

"My father wouldn't betray what he's pledged himself to, even for me." She turned to Stygian, that knowledge wrapping around in a certainty that raked across her already scarred soul. "He can't betray what he him- self has no access to. If you don't believe me, ask Terran."

She turned to Isabelle's father with an arched brow.

Staring back at her for a long, silent mo- ment, he finally nodded with a sharp motion of his head.

"That's true enough," he agreed-then he had to spoil it. "But I agree with the Breeds, 311/862 Liza. The Genetics Council would believe otherwise and they wouldn't flinch at the thought of torture to get the answers they be- lieve could be attained."

She felt betrayed. Betrayed and angry.

She needed to get home. If she were stuck here in this hotel, how was she supposed to do her job?

"Not to worry, Ms. Johnson, I'm certain your friends will find a way to stop by and say h.e.l.lo." Jonas's smile was tight and hard.

"At least you left your comm-link home tonight."

"If I had known the lovely meeting we would have, I would have made certain to pick it up before I left."

"Cullen has no business pulling you into this," Terran bit out. "I'm sure your father will have something to say about it."

Lips tightening, she turned to Jonas. "And just what fairy tales have you been carrying to Terran, Mr. Wyatt?"

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"I don't deal in fairy tales, Ms. Johnson,"

he a.s.sured her coolly. "I deal in facts and nothing more." There wasn't an ounce of apology in his gaze or in his voice.

Which left her only one alternative.

"Father has known about it since it began, Terran." She sighed wearily. "He's always stood behind my decision to do what I felt was needed. He won't back down from that decision."

G.o.d, she was tired.

Too d.a.m.ned tired to put up with this c.r.a.p much longer.

Shoving her hands into the pockets of her cotton pants, she slowly turned back to Sty- gian, forcing herself to meet his gaze. "I'm tired. Either take me home or show me my room. I think I've had enough for the day."

"I can do that," he agreed.

There was something about that agree- ment that just didn't sit right with her.

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Something that just smacked of a man with an agenda.

The arousal that burned between them was another warning.

She'd warned him not to mate her without her knowledge.

He hadn't kissed her. He hadn't taken her.

But still, she swore she could smell the subtle intensity of the hunger burning between them.

She shouldn't be able to smell any such thing. But the delicate, barely there scent of a man and a woman merging still seemed to pique her sense of smell.

And that knowledge terrified her in ways she didn't want to face at the moment.

"Where is my room then?" she asked.

His hand lifted, rubbing at the back of his neck before his expression turned pure, predatory male.

"With me," he answered.

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The breath stilled in her chest, her heart constricting, the shame and rage burning in- side her like a trail of lava seeping from her soul.

His room.

She so wasn't surprised.

"I don't think so." If she sounded belliger- ent, it might be because she was.

"You're going to hurt my feelings if you keep rejecting me, Liza." His lashes lowered, the heat in the glitter of his gaze seared her senses.

"You would have to have feelings first," she snapped, certain that wasn't at this moment.

No man, or Breed, with any clue to what emotions were, could possibly stand and do what he had done to her tonight.

Steal her independence.

Take everything she was and not even al- low her the chance to fight for it.

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"So where exactly would that be?" It was all she could do to force the word past her lips.

She wasn't going to bother to argue or to refuse to stay. They weren't going to let her out of there tonight, and she was smart enough to know it.

"Come on." He held his hand out to her.

Liza couldn't force herself to take it. She couldn't allow herself to touch him.

Because she wanted him.

She wanted him in spite of the fact that she felt manipulated as h.e.l.l. She wanted him in spite of the knowledge that she was being used.

Used to catch a killer.

Used to save a child.

But she was being used all the same.

Slowly, his hand lowered.

"This way." Turning, he led her from Jo- nas's suite as she ignored Isabelle's whisper of her name.

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Once the door closed behind them, he moved up the hall, glancing back only once to see if she followed.

While she was breaking apart inside and didn't know why.

While her own screams echoed inside her head and she didn't know where those screams came from, or why.

While she ached for him as she had never ached for anything in her life.

Liza followed.

"Are you returning?"

The harsh tone pierced at Audi Johnson's heart.

He sat in the back of the SUV as it raced for the airport so torn inside that his soul felt ragged and raw.

He held the phone with one hand, his wife's hand with the other and stared out the 317/862.

window at the city lights while the driver battled traffic, pedestrians and time.

"I'm heading for the airport now," he answered.

"Claire is being guarded," he was told.

"Liza is under the protection of the Breeds."

Audi's eyes closed briefly before he opened them once again.

"Have the Six come together yet?" he asked.

"Only two have received the vision to re- turn," he was told. "That time is nearing, but it isn't here yet."

He had to fight back his tears and fight back the knowledge that when it happened, he would lose more than he had ever ima- gined possible.

He had never believed he would be unable to save his child from this. That once again, he would lose her. G.o.d knew he had fought, he had manipulated and used every string he could pull to save her from this day, always 318/862.

believing it was possible. Always believing he could keep her from ever hurting again.

Beside him, his wife fought back a sob that escaped despite the battle.

"We'll be there as soon as possible," he told the other man.

"We'll be awaiting you."

The call disconnected.

The feel of Jane's shoulders trembling had him releasing her hand to wrap his arms around her, pulling her close to his chest.

"I can't do this," she whispered tearfully, her fingers clenching the light jacket he wore as her tears dampened the cloth. "Please, Audi, don't let me lose her again. Please."