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“Enough, Ely.” He stiffened as Ria watched the pain in the doctor’s eyes.
“Mercury, you could kill her.” She nodded to Ria. “You know how easily it could be done. Do you want to rip her heart from her chest?”
His hand tensed at Ria’s back.
“I didn’t kill friends in those labs.” His voice was deadly. “You know that as well as I do.”
“But you could kill friends now,” she whispered urgently. “I have the confinement cell ready. You have to let me test—”
Ria had had enough.
“Have you lost possession of your senses, Dr. Morrey?” she asked the other woman. “A confinement cell? For what reason?”
“Because small, closed-in places will force me further into feral displacement if its already begun,” Mercury said, his voice cold, emotionless. “It won’t ease. In the labs, it kept me in a state of rage, and allowed them to research the phenomenon and create a drug for it.”
“It’s the only way, Mercury.” The doctor’s voice hitched and broke.
“I think perhaps your good doctor needs to be confined instead,” Ria stated. “I’m ready to leave now.”
She started forward.
“Damn you!” Ely stepped forward, rage contorting her face now. “You’re the reason it’s happening. I warned Jonas it would happen. That increased exposure to whatever pheromone is in your system would cause this. If he kills, the guilt lies on your shoulders.”
Mercury snarled and stepped between them. “Back off, Ely. You don’t want the confrontation this is going to turn into.”
Her expression twisted, anger and fear warring in her eyes as she stared back at Mercury.
“You know you’ll destroy Sanctuary if the feral qualities in your adrenaline continue to strengthen and you end up killing.” Ely’s voice roughened, became harsh and growling. “I thought better of you, Mercury. I thought you cared more for your people than this. And I thought Callan did as well.”
“Do you think Callan can force me into that cell, Ely?” Mercury asked her, the guttural sound of his voice causing the doctor and Ria to flinch. “There aren’t enough Breeds in this compound to force me back into that cell. You’d have to kill me first.”
Ria watched the doctor’s expression. She watched the maddening fear glitter bright and hot in Ely’s eyes.
“I’m petitioning the Ruling Cabinet when they convene,” she told Mercury then. “You deserve to know that, Mercury. You have to see these tests through. It’s the only way to save us all. As a member of that cabinet, it’s my place to tell you you are no longer permitted off the boundaries of Sanctuary.”
Ria froze. She reached out slowly, her hand gripping Mercury’s arm as danger seemed to sizzle around him.
“Council-trained, weren’t you, Ely?” he sneered. “Have you noticed how easily you fall back on Council tactics when you don’t get your way?”
Ely paled.
“And according to Breed Law, you cannot order me confined anywhere without due cause.”
“Initial tests show due cause.” Ely’s voice trembled as tears filled her eyes. “I didn’t want to do this, Mercury.”
Ria tightened her grip on Mercury’s wrist. The tension filling him now was incredible, the anger and fury building inside his muscles.
“Initial tests are not enough, Ely.”
They swung around to face Callan, Kane and Jonas where they stood at the end of the hallway.
In her peripheral vision Ria watched Ely’s face. It tightened into a mask of pained betrayal as she faced her pride leader.
“Respectfully, Pride Leader Lyons, you can’t make that determination.”
“No,” Jonas answered for him. “Breed Law has made that determination. As a member of the Ruling Cabinet, Ely, it’s your place to uphold ‘due process,’ not to accuse or attempt to confine one of our own. Until Mercury shows the inability to control his anger or otherwise destructive behavior, then he cannot and will not be held against his will, nor will he be ordered to undergo any testing until he’s deemed a danger to Breeds or humans. The Ruling Cabinet will be convening, Ely, and a protest against your abuse of your position will be lodged instead.”
“You and your rules,” Ely sneered. “We both know, don’t we, Jonas, exactly what you think of Breed Law. You use it to suit your own means and purposes. How will the Ruling Cabinet feel to learn how far you’ll go to manipulate us all to get your way?”
