She was the reason Jonas was there; the reason he was searching desperately for ghosts.
"What do we have, Stygian?" he asked as he stared out over the tiny head tucked be- neath his chin.
The girl"s once-brown locks, still thick with a slight curl, were now tricolored. Golden blond and sunset red streaked the once dark brown strands as though nature hadn"t yet made up her mind what color the child"s hair would be.
"h.e.l.l if know." Stygian breathed out roughly. "She"s important to someone though-d.a.m.ned important. She and her housemates, Claire and Chelsea Martinez."
"Cousins," Jonas said softly.
Stygian nodded. "Before the attack on Malachi"s mate, only Liza Johnson and Claire Martinez had these shadows, though.
Chelsea picked up hers after her sister"s attack."
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"Liza was bait this morning then," Jonas suggested.
Stygian nodded. "The earbud was active until Braden and Megan rushed her to the Dragoon. It disconnected before she entered the vehicle and hasn"t reactivated since."
"You have the frequency locked yet?"
Stygian nodded again. "We managed that before we took the Jammer over it. Their connection should be interrupted for the next few hours."
"Let"s let her wait for a while then," Jonas suggested. "See if her shadows come out of the woodwork again. I want an ID on them."
"You think if we hold her here long enough they"ll make a move?"
That was Jonas, manipulating and calcu- lating as h.e.l.l when he was after something.
Or someone.
In this case, he was after two women and two Bengal Breeds. The two girls had 70/862.
disappeared twelve years before, and many believed they were dead.
Of the two Breeds, they knew one was alive and killing his way through the lab techs and scientists who had run the secret experi- mental labs of the pharmaceutical company Brandenmore Research.
"I don"t think they"ll make a move." Jonas smiled. "Unjam the transmission, let"s track it back to her friends when it reactivates and see what they know."
Stygian"s brows arched. "They could have abandoned the link once it was jammed.
That seems to be normal procedure."
"But we also blocked the locator tags," Jo- nas pointed out. "If she were important to you, what would you do?"
Clenching his jaw, Stygian knew exactly what he would have done, whether she was important or not. She was a woman and part of a mission. There wasn"t a true Breed alive who would have walked away.
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A true Breed was one whose sense of loy- alty and honor was greater than those of the Council Breeds, whose honor was closer to those of human criminals.
Which was exactly where most of the ge- netics of those particular Breeds-Honor Roberts, Fawn Corrigan and the Bengals Judd and Gideon-had come from. "I"m a Breed," Stygian finally stated after consider- ing Jonas"s question of the choice he would make. "Her shadows are human. They"re wild cards."
Council Coyotes were more human than Breed, more mercenary and merciless than loyal.
Council-loyal Breeds weren"t known as the most fastidious or the most reliable. They were a boil on the a.s.s of the Breed com- munities and avoided at all costs.
Or until the Council sent them out. In that case, any and every Breed a.s.sociated with 72/862.
the Breed communities jumped between them and their goal.
This time, Stygian was certain the Coun- cil"s goal was the same as the Breeds": the search for the four victims once held by the pharmaceutical giant Phillip Brandenmore in a secret genetic and medical experimental lab.
"Wild cards or not, they"re protecting someone," Jonas disagreed. "They"re not im- prisoning or attempting to apprehend or control. They"re shadowing, and they"re pro- tective. That"s the difference."
Crossing his arms over his chest, Stygian glared down at the director. There were times when Jonas seemed amazingly nave when it came to humans, which was surpris- ing considering the Breed"s stone-cold ma- nipulation tactics.
Jonas smiled back at him. "Review the vids the enforcers have made of her shad- ows," he suggested. "That"s what they are, 73/862.
literally, and she knows they"re there. She communicates with them often through that d.a.m.ned ear link and she has affection for whoever"s on the other side of that transmission."
"I"ve watched the vids," Stygian growled.
He hated to admit it, but Jonas just might be right.
"You"re a h.e.l.l of a commander, Stygian,"
Jonas stated then. "But the lone Wolf thing you like to do hasn"t helped you to under- stand humans."
"Who wants to?" Humans weren"t exactly his preferred type of company.
Coming into the Bureau hadn"t been easy for him, but once his team had begun mating and settling down, Stygian had found him- self at a crossroads. The paths he had been offered weren"t exactly ones he would have preferred.
Train a new team, or take the position Jo- nas offered and command a team already 74/862.
trained and needing only a commander will- ing to guide them? They were Breeds he had known, Breeds he"d fought with on at least one occasion, and Breeds he trusted. But nothing was the same as the team you"d fought with, gotten to know and could count on no matter the situation.
"You need to understand them," Jonas warned him as Amber moved, a childish little mumble of displeasure sounding from her pouty lips.
Stygian"s gaze jerked to the little girl. She wasn"t emanating any pain, but something was distressing her.
Jonas continued to rub her fragile back, his gaze locked on the little face that came into view when she shifted position and stretched out against his chest. Her head lay in the crook of his arm before she finished maneuvering for the position she was after.
The smile that quirked the director"s lips was d.a.m.ned surprising.
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Pure tenderness.
"This meeting is over," Jonas stated firmly though softly. "Go back to her, keep her oc- cupied. Once the link reactivates, I"ll meet with her. Let"s see what happens when her friends learn what we"re really searching for."
"Is that a good idea?" Stygian had never been one to give the suspected enemy any in- formation at all.
"She"s going to tell them anyway," Jonas reminded him. "This way, we can track the transmission to the source and identify her shadows. That could help us figure out why they"re tailing her and why she"s working with them."
"Have you considered they could simply be friends who are worried about her? Friends with the same paranoia and resources that you have?" Jonas"s mate and wife, Rachel Broen-Wyatt, stepped across the open door frame that led to the suite"s bedroom.
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Leaning against the wood frame, one hand tucked into the pocket of her jeans, the other propped on a slender hip, love suffused her expression as her gaze settled on the man and child across the room.
No Breed could ever doubt the pure, soul- deep love that existed between the couple.
The room was suddenly scented with the power of it. Sensual, yet pure, innocent and yet erotic, the emotions that swept between the two were almost too intimate for Stygi- an"s comfort.
"h.e.l.lo, Stygian." Rachel straightened from her position and moved slowly into the room. "I see you"re once again enmeshed in one of Jonas"s schemes." Pure pride envel- oped her despite the teasing tone of her voice.
"So it would seem," he agreed, suddenly uncertain what to do with himself.
Shoving his hands into the pockets of his mission pants, he waited impatiently as she 77/862.
crossed the room to her husband, then bent to him.
Her hair cascaded over her face, hiding the greeting kiss as Jonas"s hand lifted, his fin- gers spreading to cup her cheek and neck.
That scent; Stygian had learned to a.s.soci- ate it with the deepest emotions shared between mates. What Jonas and Rachel shared was as deep as that of couples mated for a decade, though.
It was rare to sense such depths of emo- tion after only a few years.
The kiss lasted only seconds. A true greet- ing kiss, but the impact of the dedication between the two sent a chill racing up Stygi- an"s spine.
Without one, the other would cease to ex- ist, he thought, and such realization would be terrifying for the babe cradled between the two, should it ever happen.
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Then, as the mother drew back and her at- tention joined Jonas"s on the child, he felt a chill of foreboding tearing through him.
Amber had awakened, and suddenly what had been shared love between two became a circle of pure emotion.
There was nothing sensual or erotic in this. It went beyond soul deep though, and for the first time Stygian could sense the enormity of what Jonas was facing if he lost the battle for the little girl"s life.
"Momma, Da sings." Amber lay back in Jo- nas"s arms and clearly told a secret Jonas would have preferred she kept to herself. "Da sings purty, Momma."
Rachel"s laughter was filled with love as she straightened and stared down at her mate. "Da sings, does he?" she asked the little girl. "What does Da sing, Amber?"
"Uh, Rachel-" There was a definite thread of amus.e.m.e.nt in Jonas"s tone.
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"Da sing bad cotie go bye-bye." Amber laughed, obviously aware she was telling a great secret. "Ba" cotie go bye-bye, boom boom," she suddenly sang as Jonas fought to hold back his laughter and Rachel turned a look of mock anger on him.
"Jonas, shame on you," she chastised him, though her tone lacked anger. "I thought we were teaching Amber to be compa.s.sionate and kind?"
"To be fair, it"s called putting them out of their misery." Jonas laughed, handing the little girl over to her pet.i.te mother. "Snitch,"
he accused the little girl, but his smile and tone of voice was anything but chastising.
"Da called me "itch, Momma," Amber gave a mock little pout, though her blue eyes were gleaming with childish laughter as her arms wrapped around her mother"s neck as she turned back to her da. "Don" call me "itch, Da." She wagged a little finger at him, obvi- ously mimicking his actions.
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Jonas chuckled at the childish order before moving to his feet and stealing a kiss from the girl"s cheek. "Then don"t snitch on Da,"
he warned her, the laughter in his voice an- other surprise.
Stygian would be d.a.m.ned if he could ever remember seeing laughter in Jonas"s gaze, let alone hearing it in his voice.
"Come on, snitch, let"s get you bathed and dressed for dinner. Do you think you and your da could refrain from the food fight to- night? Those carrots were not easy for Erin to clean..."
She continued into the other room as her voice trailed off and Amber"s laughter be- came indistinct, leaving Stygian to miss it more than he was willing to admit.
That moment of tenderness, of family in- timacy was nearly more than Stygian could bear. And in that moment, the young woman waiting in the other room jumped into his mind.
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Skin like the softest silk; eyes the sweetest, softest gray; and a body that would tempt a monk. Full b.r.e.a.s.t.s confined beneath the sports bra, gently rounded hips and toned thighs. Lips with the slightest sensual pout and a temper that would test even the most patient Breed.
Being next to her in the Dragoon had tested not just his patience, but also his self-control. He had wanted nothing more than to taste those sweet lips before moving on to certain other body parts.
"Control your l.u.s.t, Wolf, or I"ll start think- ing she"s your mate," Jonas murmured, amused.
Stygian frowned back at him. "h.e.l.l, a Breed can"t even get h.o.r.n.y anymore without being accused of mating."
Jonas"s lips quirked in a hint of a smile.
"True, Wolf. Very true." Then he nodded to the monitors. "Go on out there, distract her a bit. Once the link reactivates, I"ll join the rest 82/862 of you. Have the others keep their distance from her in case the skin tags she"s wearing are programmed to shut everything down once Breed body heat has been detected."
Breeds had a body temperature that ran a degree or two higher than humans and made some electronics much easier to shut down if they were programmed correctly.
Stygian nodded, turned and headed back to the sitting room where the young woman waited.
And he started praying- Praying she wasn"t his mate. Praying she was his mate.
And praying he could keep her alive.