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Chernov sighed. “My grandfather adored this child.” He patted Anya’s arm. “We lost my sister when she was but a babe. He saw Anya and lost his very old, cynical heart. I believe perhaps we all did. She has a way about her. She gets what she wants, and she wanted those girls as her friends. We reported their deaths and kept them alive.” His head lifted. “We were monsters, Armani, do not doubt it. We killed when we were ordered. We researched with demonic practices when we had to. But every doctor in that lab knew what our true goal was. The survival of those we had arranged to h
ave brought to us. Those five girls, they are the future of these creations. They are amazing.”
“Created to breed,” Nikki said in horror.
“No. No.” Chernov shook his head violently. “Created to be natural. The inability to conceive was coded into the Breed genetics. The records of how they did this were lost so future generations could not undo it. My grandfather and several others learned the secret with the Coyote Breeds. They managed to take this unnatural coding out. How will it work?” He shrugged. “We do not know. If it can help the other Breeds, we cannot say. But the Coyotes are natural. Natural man. Natural animal. We have yet to see what this will accomplish.”
“A miracle,” Nikki breathed. “If we could figure this out, we could figure out the mating heat. We live in fear of the public taking the tabloid stories seriously. World opinion could go to hell if they figure out it’s true.”
“Eh. People.” Chernov eased back and gently disconnected the saline solution that had dripped into Anya’s other arm. “They are fickle. Breeds will always live in fear of this.”
He sighed heavily. “She must rest. We need heat packs around her. Her fever is high, but that is natural. The chill is what worries me.”
“She needs me.” Del-Rey’s voice was rough, primitive. “Let me lie with her. She needs to be warmed. I warm her.”
Chernov shrugged. “As long as she is allowed to rest for the next week, the wound should be fine. Nothing strenuous.” He eyed Del-Rey warningly. “She must be treated as though she would break with a breath, Ghost.”
“Del-Rey,” he growled.
Chernov grunted. “As though I did not know about those transmissions this child sent you. Six years you waited, though I told Sofia countless times she must tell you the truth of who she was. Chaff from the harvest.” The doctor scowled back at him. “As though we were not doing this. You did not research as you should have.”
There were a lot things he hadn’t done as he should have, Del-Rey admitted to himself.
“She needs a bed,” Chernov said. “She needs comfort and care now. Is there a room available here? I do not want her transported for two days at least. Where she goes, we must go as well. With the child she carries, her condition is too delicate. We must watch her closely.”
Dr. Sobolova touched Anya’s hair gently. “I believe my girls Sharone, Emma and Ashley are awaiting us now,” she said. “I have missed them. I would make certain they are well and not suffering from their injuries.”
“Petrov Kobrin is demanding to see his daughter, Dr. Armani,” Wolfe announced through the intercom. “When she’s stable enough, could you please meet with him? I have four crazy Russians consuming vodka in the community center, and Breeds joining in. We’re going to have a mess soon if we don’t do something.”
Nikki nodded. “We have a private room just down the hall. We’ll transfer her there and see if her mate can warm her.” She glanced at Del-Rey with a cool little smile. “I have a gown she can wear.”
Del-Rey didn’t rise to the bait. He nodded, rose and was at the head of the bed as they wheeled it to the room.
Nikki jerked the blankets back on the double bed as they maneuvered it into the room.
“Very gently, Ghost,” Chernov advised worriedly as they lifted the blanket Anya rested on. “We’ll monitor her for infection, though I do not expect such a thing to develop.”
They eased her onto the bed, then pushed the gurney from the room as Nikki helped Del-Rey ease his mate into the soft cotton gown she had pulled from a dresser.
“She’ll sleep for a while.” Nikki patted his shoulder as she moved for the door. “If you need me, there’s a link on the bedside. Rest yourself, Del-Rey.”
Rest.
He undressed and eased into the bed on her uninjured side, wrapping himself around her as he pulled the blankets over them.
He flinched at the feel of her cold flesh and rubbed her shoulder, her arm, gently.
She was breathing slow and easy, but her lips were still blue. She was cold, so cold. He eased her legs between his, his arm beneath her head, and all but surrounded her. If he didn’t get her warm, he wouldn’t be able to keep the knot clogging his throat from choking the hell out of him.
“Come back to me, baby,” he whispered at her ear. “Warm me, Anya. I’m cold, love. So cold.”
As cold inside as her flesh was on the outside. He kissed her forehead again, then laid his head at her shoulder before gently kissing the little wound he had left there.
“I love you,” he whispered. “My sweet Anya. How I love you.”
CHAPTER 26
She was warm. Toasty warm from head to toe. She could feel the warmth wrapped around her, like a brush of flesh, like Del-Rey.
