Lion's Heat (16 page)

Jonas rather doubted anything here was too secure. Drey might try like hell to keep his secrets, but that didn't mean he would actually triumph.

Rachel entered the ladies' room with Dawn following close behind. Pushing into the powder room designed for several women to use at once--something she rarely saw in a private residence--she wasn't surprised to find Dawn close at her heels.

"Jonas is a bit of a slave driver, isn't he?" Dawn stated as she moved to the wide, tall mirrors and opened her purse to repair her makeup.

Tension didn't often go well with makeup. A fine sheen of perspiration appeared on Rachel's forehead and temples, making repairs imperative.

"He can definitely be a little tense," Dawn murmured as she propped herself against a wall and met Rachel's gaze in the mirror. "But he generally knows what he's doing."

Like sending Dawn to "protect" Rachel in the ladies' room? She'd been to Drey Hampton's parties more than once, and she had yet to run into a rabid human or Breed in the ladies' room.

Finishing with her makeup, Rachel washed her hands, dried them, applied a fresh layer of lotion, then turned to the Breed female.

"He's making me a nervous wreck," she muttered. "Have a talk with him or something." She knew better; he might well return to the subject concerning the ambassador.

"Yeah, I'll get right on that." Dawn gave a short, amused laugh as her brown eyes lit with laughter.

Turning to the mirror, the other woman straightened several shoulder-length golden brown strands of hair that had fallen free of their diamond-studded clip before turning back to Rachel. "Ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." Rachel sighed.

Dawn Lawrence gave her a small, seemingly understanding smile before moving ahead and opening the door.

Two women were waiting in the hall, one a small brunette, the wife of a congressman, the other a matronly, pinched-faced middle-aged widow of a former governor. But the women took one look at Dawn, knew her for who she was, and rather than extending a cordial or even polite greeting, turned their noses up and turned away from her. It didn't matter who they were, what they were, they were extending to the Breeds the same disrespect as others whose family members or friends had invested funds in the Genetics Council did. Some had known what the Council was, some hadn't. Yet still, their associates and family members carried the same hatred and disrespect for life that those involved had shown.

Dawn acted as though she hadn't seen the display, but rather walked regally back toward the ballroom.

It happened a lot, Rachel knew. The Breeds were either loved or hated; there was very little in between. But here, amid the glitter, political intrigue, infighting and deals made and broken, she would have thought attitudes would have at least carried a polite face.

As though she had sensed Rachel's thoughts, Dawn began speaking as they reentered the ballroom. "Those two have worked diligently to attempt to ensure that the Breeds go back to the labs. Some people seem to have an instinct for the animals that have been unleashed, wouldn't you say?" The edge of cynicism in her voice was at odds with the happiness Rachel glimpsed in her eyes whenever she was with her husband.

"Humans fear change, or anyone different from themselves," Rachel said as they moved along a path that Dawn seemed to have an instinct for.

The guests they passed smiled and many attempted to engage the two women in conversation, which Dawn effectively fielded.

There was an additional tension filling her body as she began to move through the crowd with an added firmness to her step. Even dressed in a ball gown and heels, Dawn seemed to exude command as her head suddenly lifted, her nostrils flaring.

Rachel was surprised that she noticed the signs of sudden, sharp instinct within the other woman. Something had happened, something that now had Dawn moving through the crowd like a hot knife through butter.

Not that the other guests seemed to be aware of it. What they saw was the woman, sensual and yet predatory, drawing them in even as some human survival instinct warned them to keep away.

The path Dawn was clearing had the women heading straight for the wide double doors that led to the large marble foyer and from there, the front entrance to the house.

"Jonas is waiting on us." Dawn turned back to her briefly before continuing to the exit. "He, Seth and the Enforcers who were stationed outside are in the foyer."

"Ms. Broen, leaving so soon?" Rachel would have ignored Ambassador Slussburg's smooth, sneering little voice if he hadn't suddenly gripped her arm and pulled her to a stop.

Just that quickly, Dawn turned.

Her expression remained calm and poised, but the dark brown of her gaze seemed to flicker with flames as her fingers clamped over Slussburg's arm.

"Ambassador Slussburg," she stated, her voice cordial, even as it rumbled with danger. "I suggest you release her."

His hand was lifting slowly, his fingers uncurling from her arm when Rachel felt the hairs at the back of her neck lift in primal warning. Hell, she wasn't even a Breed and she could feel the violence suddenly swirling in the air.

Her head swung around, and there he was. Silver eyes almost neon, the black pupils nearly obliterated by the swirls of mercury as he stalked toward them.

"Let's go." Dawn gripped her wrist and pulled her quickly from the ambassador. When they were far enough away not to be overheard, Dawn murmured, "Get control of him, Rachel, no matter what it takes. He's lost logic. That's the animal you see, and only you can control it now. We don't have time for this. Trust me."

Rachel's heart was pounding out of control. She had seen the rage in the ambassador's gaze, had felt the pure, violent fury pouring from him as he stopped her. Her arm would hold bruises later from his hold.

That hadn't been frightening. She hadn't been scared of the ambassador, but the man striding toward her now, his gaze reflecting death and pure fury, terrified her.

In a second's insight, Rachel realized that none of the guests around them realized that the man striding through their crowded throng was an animal prepared to kill. That the wrong word, the wrong look, the wrong touch could unleash the very killer they all feared in the darkness of the night.

"No!" She stepped in front of him, unafraid for herself, terrified for the ambassador and anyone who would try to save him or to get in Jonas's way.

He paused, then attempted to move around her.

She couldn't reach him for a kiss; even with high heels she went only to his shoulders. She did the next-best thing. She grabbed his wrist as he tried to pass, lifted it and sank her teeth into his flesh for a hard, quick bite.

That stopped him.

Turning, he stared down at her, the pupil enlarging just enough in his gaze that Rachel could pray there was an edge of sanity returning.

It took precious moments. The prints of her teeth were in his hard wrist; the taste of him lingered against her tongue as she fought to hold him back, to keep the animal inside him leashed.

"We will discuss this." There was more than a rumble in his voice now, there was pure intent.

But sanity was there.

Holding her arm, he turned away from the ambassador and led her quickly to the wide front doors that looked out on the circular drive.

There were six Enforcers standing at the ready, weapons held as he rushed her from the house and into the waiting limo. Something had happened, there was no doubt about that. There was a sense of imminent danger surrounding the Breeds, their hard gazes and savage expressions reflecting a heightened sense of awareness.

Dawn followed, Seth at her side, until the doors closed behind them and the vehicles were speeding away from the Hampton mansion.

Curving mountain roads were the wrong place for the constant switches the limo made in position with the other two that had pulled out behind them. The six Enforcers as well as two drivers in the other two vehicles were driving like kamikaze racers heading for destiny.

"What's going on?" Rachel could feel her throat tightening with fear. "Is Amber okay?"

"Amber's fine. She's currently in a secured room reserved for Sanctuary's children and protected by the Enforcers assigned to give their lives if necessary. The mated parents are with them and looking over them as well as Leo and his entourage of cutthroats."

If those precautions were being taken, whatever had happened was something with the potential to endanger the mated couples as well as the ruling cabinet.

She watched wide-eyed as Dawn and Seth worked on a personal slimline laptop, and Dawn spoke urgently, her tone lowered, into a sat phone.

"Sanctuary was attacked about an hour ago," Jonas stated. "Callan and Merinus's son, David, was nearly kidnapped while on a pre-training exercise with Tanner Reynolds; my sister, Harmony; and her husband, Lance Jacobs. Lance was wounded, which compounded a chest wound he received nearly a year ago."

"The battle in New Mexico." Rachel nodded, fighting to remain calm. "He was shot in the chest."

Jonas nodded sharply. "He took a severe blow to the same area tonight. We have a team tracking the attackers now. I'll be joining them as soon as we arrive."

Rachel clenched her fists in her lap as she stared back at him. First, she had to face the danger to her daughter's life, and now the danger to Jonas. Through the months she had worked with him, he'd kept the more dangerous areas of his life hidden from her. Now there was no hiding it, and it brought to her the realization of how often his life, and the lives of the Breeds in general, were in danger.

"Is David all right?" she asked, knowing what it would do to Merinus if anything had happened to her son.

"Physically, he's fine," Jonas stated. "This is the second attack on the boy in the past two years, though. Each time, a friend has been harmed trying to save him. He's inconsolable."

And Jonas was nearly inconsolable himself.

Rachel stared into the live color of his eyes and saw subtle, agonizing flame. He cared for his sister and her husband, though she knew he often pretended otherwise.

Merinus had warned her that Jonas was cold and hard, and if he didn't thaw, if he didn't relent in the constant games he played with his Enforcers, then someone would end up killing him. That or the Breed cabinet would do something themselves to put a stop to his behavior.

Rachel had never seen cold or hard in Jonas, though. She had never seen a manipulator. He was calculating, no doubt; he had to be to survive. He had to be, to maneuver the people he loved into the lives he knew would benefit them.

He was a lover, a leader. He was a man who used the training he was given--to kill, to destroy, to sabotage--to build and to nurture instead.

He just had a rather unique way of doing it in an ass backward sort of way though.

"Jackal has landed the heli-jet one mile from our location," Dawn stated, her voice calm, though her dark brown eyes raged with anger. "We also have two pickups filled with armed assailants bearing down on us. Prepare to run."

Jonas snarled.

CHAPTER 9

The three limos pulled into the clearing, sliding to a stop within sight of the heli-jet. From the backseat, Rachel swallowed tightly at the sight of the armed men standing outside the pickups that were parked in a diagonal angle to the super-fast helicopter assigned to Sanctuary.

Dressed in jeans, T-shirts and dark masks, they held their weapons in a relaxed, nonthreatening manner, but there was a tension there that assured Rachel that the nonthreatening part could change in an instant.

There was also a familiarity to them. Rachel leaned forward, staring out the window, her gaze narrowed as she fought to pinpoint exactly what she recognized about the men.

"Jonas, a message just came through on the sat channel." Lawe turned in the driver's seat and stared back at Jonas. "They're refusing to identify themselves but they're saying the way is clear. They're here for security and we need to hurry because the real bad guys are only miles away with rocket launchers."

The Enforcers from the other two limos were moving from the vehicles, surrounding the one they were in as the two Enforcers from the heli-jet joined them.

"We have a message to tell Rachel to giddy up and go." Jonas's gaze sliced to her as a gasp fell from her lips.

"It's Diana," she whispered, her eyes widening as she stared back at Jonas. "She left that code for me when she left, just after Amber was born. It's safe, Jonas. And that code means it's imperative we go now."

"We can't be certain." Jonas was checking the rifle he had jerked from a panel beneath the seat as Seth and Dawn followed suit.

"I can." Rachel jerked open the door and all but fell out, the heels she was wearing making it more difficult to move.

"Rachel!" For all his reflexes, Jonas managed only to grab the skirt of her dress.

"Let me go, Jonas!"

"Like hell." He was out of the limo, his weapon held ready as a single figure detached from the group.

A gloved hand reached up and peeled the mask off to reveal the delicate, if stony, features of her beloved sister's face. A face she feared daily she might never see again. The life of a female mercenary wasn't exactly an easy one, or one with any amount of security.