"Mr. Wyatt," she said softly, never taking her gaze from her mother"s. "If I were who you and the Genetics Council wanted me to be, wouldn"t I know it?" She turned to the director, shaking her head at the solemn look on his face. "I wish I were Honor Roberts or Fawn Corrigan, and if I thought for a minute I could help your child, then I would. But I"ve grown tired of a.s.suring you I"m not either of those girls, nor do I know them, know where they are, who they are, or what happened to them."
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Breathing in roughly, she turned to Stygi- an. "Could we go to whatever little box of a room he"s a.s.signed us this time? It"s nearly midnight, I"m tired and I have to be at work in the morning." She turned to Claire.
"Claire, if you"re staying here at the hotel, then I"d like to talk to you at breakfast."
"Claire won"t be staying," Ray Martinez spoke up, his voice low and for the first time since they were teenagers, lacking any emotion when it came to her and Claire.
Liza turned to her friend slowly.
Claire"s head was down, her gaze hidden.
Liza knew that look. She"d almost forgotten it. Seeing Claire so silent and still, her attention focused entirely on her hands, was a sight she hadn"t seen since before the accident.
For the briefest second, it wasn"t Claire she saw sitting there. The girl she saw was much younger, her hair several shades darker, her body just a bit stockier.
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Blinking, the image receded, disappearing as quickly as the memories that tormented her.
"Mr. Martinez, your daughter will be safer here." Command naturally hardened Jonas"s tone.
"She"s going with me." Ray was at the point of belligerence.
Liza had to agree with Jonas for a change.
If Gideon Cross was indeed in Window Rock and asking about her and Claire, then at least for the moment, the hotel was the safest place.
Liza turned to her father.
Her parents were silent, her father"s gaze apologetic while Ray and Maria Martinez stood stiff, unemotional.
"You could let her stay tonight," she whispered to the Nation"s president. "Give the Breeds a chance to catch this Gideon Cross rather than giving him a chance to strike out at her."
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A heavy frown filled Ray"s expression then.
"I didn"t ask for your advice."
Liza knew that tone well. Ray was furious at the situation, and she feared that he would blame Claire, just as he did when she and Claire were children.
She turned back to her friend.
Claire was shaking her head, silently pleading with Liza not to begin a confronta- tion that would only result in additional trouble for her.
"I"ve had enough." Liza sighed wearily as she turned to Stygian, refusing to glance again at her father or Claire"s. "I"m tired. I want to go to bed."
"We have two suites reserved here for you," Jonas informed her as he stepped for- ward once again. "Claire will be across the hall from you with Ashley and Emma Truing, if she decides to stay. Rule, Mordecai and Dog"s team will have the rooms on each side of the two of you. You"ll be protected."
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"From what?" Liza snorted, shaking her head. "You know, Director Wyatt, you have to figure out why we"re in danger before you can eliminate the danger. Good luck with that one, by the way. Because I"ll be d.a.m.ned if I can figure it out."
She moved for the door, aware, surpris- ingly, of Claire moving behind her, silent, too d.a.m.ned silent, refusing to bid her parents farewell.
"Liza." It was her father who stepped for- ward before she could leave the room.
As he"d done when she was a child, he stood before her, staring down at her, his ex- pression filled with guilt. "I"ll fix it, baby girl," he promised.
How many times had he promised her that? He would fix it. And he always had before.
She was terribly afraid there was no fixing this one.
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"I know you"ll try, Dad." She nodded, her chest tight with the knowledge that he couldn"t fix the danger she was in, no matter how much he wanted to.
"I won"t let them hurt you," he promised her, and in his eyes she saw his determina- tion to ensure her safety.
"Tell me," she demanded hoa.r.s.ely. "Did you see Amber?"
From her peripheral vision she saw Rachel"s gaze jerk to her as Jonas"s eyes nar- rowed on her.
Regret and guilt flickered in his expression as he looked away from her.
"I bet Jonas swore he would never let any- one or anything hurt Amber again after he got her away from Brandenmore." Tears burned her eyes as one slipped her control and eased down her cheek. "And now, she"s still suffering because of something he can"t control. Something he"s being given no help, or even the slightest honesty to combat."
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Audi"s jaw clenched spasmodically as his gaze swung back to her. "I don"t have what he"s here for," he bit out angrily.
"Then it won"t hurt you to see the child none of us can help, will it? To understand, Dad, rather than meeting him in antagon- ism. The Navajo made the Breeds a vow.
That vow was to extend to them all that was needed to aid their battle for freedom, safety and welfare that they could provide. There was no addendum that excluded anything, at any time. It was all they could do, when they could do it. And perhaps that"s something both you and Ray are forgetting."
When her father said nothing more, Liza could only shake her head. Turning and walking to the door, she paused as Stygian opened it and stepped out ahead of her. She turned back to Claire"s parents slowly. "I used to think you were so funny and so kind, Ray. Claire used to laugh all the time, and she knew how to have fun. And you knew 489/862.
how to be a father, but now, you just want to push her and the danger she"s in aside. I guess politics really doesn"t know any other loyalty or love besides itself."
Ray only glared back at her.
"Liza, that"s not true," Maria Martinez pro- tested softly. "It"s not politics."
"Then perhaps you should explain to Claire one of these days exactly what it is, Mari. Because right now, I can"t think of any other reason for the two of you to turn your backs on her," Liza suggested bitterly. "And that"s exactly how it feels to her I bet. As though the two people who should be willing to fight for her, to protect her, act as though they don"t even know her."
"Enough, Liza." Claire"s voice was firm, unaffected, despite the glitter of pain in her eyes as Liza turned to glance at her. "I"m tired, and I"m certain you are as well. I"m leaving now."
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"You"re leaving with us," Ray stepped for- ward, only to stop as Cavalier moved to block his path. "You"ll leave with us or you and Liza can both forget about coming back to work until this situation is entirely resolved.
I won"t allow you to risk yourself so easily nor do I believe we should place the Nation in such jeopardy as well."
He was lying.
Neither the Nation headquarters nor the Nation itself was in any danger, Liza and Claire were. Taking their jobs seemed more to be his way of punishing them for refusing to obey him.
"I"ve already e-mailed my resignation,"
Claire surprised her with her answer. "And I"m sorry, Father, for all the trouble you"ve been caused."
There were no tears, her voice wasn"t husky, but Liza swore she could feel the pain tearing at her friend. That she could feel the gut-wrenching pain as well as the sense of 491/862.
complete abandonment that filled her as she left the room, Dog ahead of her, as Mutt and Mongrel followed behind.
"Why do I have a feeling neither of us will be returning when this is over?" Liza asked of the two men.
Audi was staring at his friend as though he didn"t know him, while Maria had stepped away from him, turned her back on him and was obviously drying her eyes. Ray himself watched her, dry eyed, but his expression pulled in lines of doubt and uncertainty. Un- like the others watching him, Liza could see the torment raging through him.
What was driving these two men? What fears and emotions had caused each of them to come here, one to attempt to protect his daughter, the other who appeared intent on driving her away?
"When it"s over, the jobs will be there if you want them." Ray shrugged as though it 492/862.
didn"t matter, but his dark eyes glittered with torment.
"No wonder Jonas questions the honesty to be found between the two of you where this situation is concerned," Liza whispered painfully. "I question it myself."
Casting the Martinezes one last glare, Liza turned and moved to the door as well.
"Stygian, after getting Ms. Johnson and Ms. Martinez settled, I"d like a moment of your time to discuss a few things," Jonas requested.
Stygian nodded shortly before opening the door and stepping from the suite. After a quick look along the hall, he turned back and nodded to her and Claire before he and Dog"s team escorted them from Jonas"s suite.
There was something surreal about the trip to the luxurious suite they had been giv- en this time. As hard as Liza tried, once again her attempts to hide within herself 493/862.
were foiled, and with each step her confusion grew.
See, she told herself, this was why she had panicked earlier. Why the fear had taken such a hold of her once she learned Gideon was in town and asking about her and Claire.
At any other time she would have allowed herself to pull back, to step behind a veil of emotionlessness, fearlessness. It made it easier to fight when there was no fear of the consequences. No fear of dying.
"Are you okay?" Stygian asked after the room had been thoroughly checked and Claire escorted to her room by Dog and his team.
She didn"t like the look on Claire"s face or the bitter knowledge in her friend"s gaze. It was as though she had been looking at a stranger.
She turned back to Stygian, the man who a.s.sured her he was her mate, taking in the jeans, dark T-shirt and sober expression as 494/862.
he stood silently and watched her. His ex- pression was uncompromising, his gaze flickering with blue demand. There was no give in him, but he wasn"t taking either.
He was demanding a partner. He was de- manding a woman that she wasn"t certain existed.
The long, soft strands of black hair were tied back at the nape of his neck, revealing the powerful, savage features of his face that only amplified the glitter of blue in his gaze.
He looked like a warrior. Her warrior.
"Answer me, Liza," he demanded. "Are you okay?"
"I"m fine." What more could she say? What more could she feel?
"Don"t lie to me." Before she could turn away, he had her chin in his hand, forcing her head back, catching her gaze and holding it with his. "Something"s wrong, I can feel it.
Something more than Gideon, your parents, Claire"s or Jonas"s suspicions."
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"You can smell it?" She snorted. "And don"t you think that would be enough to ruin any girl"s day?"
"No, I can feel it," he repeated, ignoring the latter. "I don"t have to smell your emo- tions. You"re my mate, I"ll always sense them."
This was impossible to believe, yet she knew he wasn"t lying. She could see the truth of the statement in his gaze.
"I needed this, didn"t I? This mating stuff?" she asked, resigned, almost amused at the lack of anger she felt. She should have been furious with him. "What have you done to me, Stygian? Why did you do it?"
She couldn"t escape. There was no way to retreat any longer. And as much as she had hated that distance as a child, as a teenager, she"d found she"d learned to rely on it as an adult. She wished, at this moment, that she could still access it. Because it would have 496/862.
made this Gideon situation a h.e.l.l of a lot easier to deal with.
"What have I done to you?" There was that primal growl in his voice as his head dipped, his gaze becoming intent as he stalked around her in a tight circle. "Have I harmed you, mate? Have I stolen from you or some- how marred you?"
Pausing, his chest at her back, his hand at her hip, Stygian brushed her hair back from the nape of her neck as a shiver raced over her flesh. The heated warmth of his breath stroked her nape a second before she felt the rasp of his incisors against the sensitized skin.
A shudder of near-exquisite pleasure sizzled down her spine. Her nipples hardened to painful tenderness, her c.l.i.toris swelled and throbbed with rising demand while her v.a.g.i.n.a clenched at the aching emptiness between her thighs.
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There was nothing benign or sedate about Stygian, just as her response to him wasn"t in the least muted. It was hot, demanding, explosive. All those things she"d never allowed herself to feel with anyone else.
"I mated you, Liza," he whispered at her ear. "You were meant to be my mate, my wo- man. Of all the women in the world, only you could ever be mine, now. Just as I"ll now al- ways belong to you. Nature ensured you can"t run, you can"t hide and you can"t deny what we have."
"I didn"t ask to run, or to hide," she in- formed him as her lashes drifted closed, the feel of his lips barely a breath from her neck, sending chills racing through her.
"But you would deny me if you could," he stated.
Would she deny him? If she could walk away from him, would she do it?
She wouldn"t.