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Lance dropped his head.
"He would do it, Lance," she whispered. "Just until the baby…" She swallowed past a rush of tears. "Until it's safe. "
She felt her hands trembling, felt emotion swamping her. Oh God, she couldn't stand this.
He lifted his head long seconds later. The fury she expected was absent, but his expression wasn't exactly encouraging.
"Lance, listen to me. He knows how to do it. He's hidden me plenty of times…"
"If we run now, we'll never stop running, Harmony. " His voice was gentler, but no less authoritative. "I won't have that for us or our child. "
Harmony hunched her shoulders as she turned away from him then. What other answer was there?
"We need the files you stole," he announced then.
Harmony swung around. "How will the files help? With the spy in Sanctuary, we can't even do anything with them. There's no way the Leo will be safe if his existence is revealed. "
"Jonas was right, Harmony," he warned her. "The existence of the mating heat is a time bomb just waiting to explode. When it does, the Breeds will never know safety. "
"What do you suggest then?" She waved her hand mockingly. "Let's just turn him right over to the Council while we're at it. Because the Coyotes will beat the Breed Enforcers to him. There's no way to keep him safe if knowledge of this reaches Sanctuary. "
"We get the information and go from there" he said. "With any luck, something about the mating heat will be contained in that hard drive or discs you found. " His voice vibrated with the knowledge. God, this wind stuff was really going to drive her crazy.
She wiped her hands over her face, pressing the heels of her hands against her eyes as she fought with her need not just to protect and find the first Leo but to protect her own reality as well.
"If he's so good at hiding people, then perhaps this Dane is hiding the Leo as well," Lance suggested then. "We could go through the information ourselves…"
"Most of it is encrypted. " She shook her head. "I can't break the code. " She dropped her hands and stared back at him in despair.
Lance smiled as he rose from his desk.
"I have a cousin-in-law who just happens to excel at breaking Council encrypted files," he said. "You can trust Braden, Harmony. We can trust him. We keep what you want to stay hidden and we bargain with Jonas on the rest. That will buy us the time we need to find your Leo. "
"We're playing with the identity of the first Leo," she whispered. "And his safety. "
"If he's still alive, then he's well experienced in protecting himself. Let's see what you have, then we'll decide. First we weigh our options, then we go from there. "
"Getting away from Dane and Jonas won't be easy," she murmured worriedly. "Not to mention whoever our friendly neighborhood copycat assassin is. They could be waiting on this. I still think we should tell Dane. "
Lance watched her silently, his gaze thoughtful.
"Oh, they definitely are. " He finally moved around the desk and stalked toward her. "But we have an ace up our sleeve, baby. We have the winds. And I have it on the highest authority that there's this badass assassin who knows well how to avoid pesky little tails. Between the two, I think we'll have them beat. As for telling Dane anything, have you considered that maybe he doesn't know about the Leo? If he doesn't, then you don't want to reveal that information. And he'll never leave without an explanation. "
"They'll be waiting on me to go for the information. They're going to expect this, Lance. " She stayed well clear of the area where she had hidden the leather satchel of information she had stolen. She had kept the hard drive for a while, until she gave up on figuring out how to open the encrypted files. She had packed it protectively then included it with the rest of the stash. That had been years ago.
"Harmony, we don't have a choice. " His voice as well as his expression hardened. "I won't let Jonas continue to jerk you around like this. And I'll be damned if I'm going to let that son of a bitch Dane attempt to kidnap you and my child. This stops here!" Harmony almost shivered at that tone of voice. She did cream. She could feel the juices gathering, heating between her thighs, preparing her. Who knew she could be so female? She sure hadn't. She hadn't been before Lance.
Drawing in a deep breath, she restrained herself from jumping his bones. She couldn't even blame it on the mating heat. The heat flowing through her now was different, but it was also hotter. Brighter. And it was more destructive to her peace of mind than the mating heat had ever been.
Was there a part of her selectively programmed to submission? Or was this natural?
Was this love?
"Harmony. " His voice was a warning growl as she realized she was still staring up at him with a frown.
"Fine. We get the information. " She shoved her hands into her pockets before turning away from him and pacing across the room to stand by the window.
The shade had been drawn, blocking the sight of the playground outside. It didn't matter; she wouldn't have seen the day reflected there anyway.
