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The bastard knew exactly what his instincts were telling him, Stygian thought as he glared out at the desert once again.
“When it happens, no matter how much she suspects it, it’s going to destroy her,” he snapped, enraged at the thought. “She believed she was one person. Her parents, her friends, everyone treated her as though she were Liza Johnson. To definitively learn the truth will destroy her.”
“Not if Honor’s memories are still there,” Dog stated. “If she’s having nightmares, then no doubt they are. Someone has simply overlaid Honor’s memories with Liza’s. They’ve done just enough to keep her safe and to keep her alive.”
“And now the Breeds will destroy that security,” Stygian retorted. “What a fine gift to give my mate.”
Dog breathed out roughly at the thought. “Too bad Liza’s medical records from the lab were destroyed. We know her DNA was changed by the treatments she received there, but we have no idea what it changed to. Have you asked her to have a Core Level DNA test done?”
“That’s not the answer,” Stygian argued. “As you said, we have no idea how Honor’s DNA was changed. It wouldn’t prove anything.”
“It would prove she’s not related to Audi Johnson,” Dog reminded him. “Just because she carries his familial scent doesn’t mean anything other than the fact that she lived as his daughter, in his home, for so many years. A Core Level test could reveal the truth.”
“It would.” Stygian agreed. “Unless a genetic wipe was done, which we suspect it was.”
“You think her natural father would ever have allowed her genetics to go unprogrammed, Stygian?” Mockery filled the Coyote’s voice now. “Who are you fooling, my friend, and why?”
Thank God Liza hadn’t asked that question, or seemed to have suspected the truth of Honor’s father’s love for her. No, her natural father would never have allowed such a thing. Any more than Stygian would allow the Core Level testing for the simple fact that telling her she was Honor Roberts wasn’t going to help her. It would only endanger her.
“You bastards and your mating bullshit,” Dog retorted irritably. “You’d keep your mates from getting a scratch even if it meant risking stitches in the long run.”
“You’ll understand when you find your mate,” Stygian informed him as the memory of ecstasy clashed with every fear he had for her.
Nothing mattered but taking away all chances of pain, of risk, of anything but that which would bring a smile to her eyes, laughter to her heart.
“I like to think I wouldn’t ignore reality,” Dog growled. “My mate will always have to fight. If she’s not prepared for that, then she’ll have to become prepared. She’ll have to face the knowledge that hell awaits her every minute of the day, and I hope I’m man enough—Breed enough—not to forget that just because she’s my mate.”
“Just because she’s your mate, nothing will matter but protecting her from that hell. Nothing will matter but giving the gentleness in her, the compassion in her, a chance to grow. Seeing her fight will destroy you. Knowing she may have to fight will remind you of every weakness and limitation you have. She’ll change every rule you live by and every belief you’ve been certain could never be altered.”
“God, just shoot me first.” Dog grunted.
To that Stygian had to laugh. “She’ll fill your soul with such light, Dog, with such humble certainty that you simply don’t deserve the pleasure she brings to you, that suddenly, your creation, the hell of training, all of it, suddenly becomes worth it, because it brought you to this one woman that only death can steal from you. And though her death would mean yours as well, still, it’s worth every moment you have to spend with her.”
Mating Liza had been the most humbling experience of his life, and given him the most pleasure and happiness he had ever known.
Even amidst the danger and the fight to ensure her safety, Stygian knew there was no other woman, no other life he would face if it meant facing it without her in his bed and in his life.
“Like I said, save me from mating if it’s all that,” Dog grunted. “I’d rather just go ahead and eat one of my own bullets, I believe.”
Stygian was saved from a reply as the communication devices they wore in their ears suddenly activated.
“Be advised. Arrival in progress.”
The lack of identities assured him and Dog that it was the Sinclair family that was landing on the helicopter pad on the roof of the hotel.
The Sinclairs were arriving a day earlier than expected.
Stygian’s head jerked around to stare at Dog, certain the Breed had drawn him out here to allow Jonas to complete some manipulative little drama he might have in mind. Dog was just as surprised. His eyes widened as well as he slowly straightened from the boulder.
They both shot from their positions at the same time, jumped over the ledge that led to the position they had taken to survey the desert.
Hitting the soft incline with the flat of his boots, arms extended, Stygian went into a sliding crouch as he raced to reach the bottom of the towering stone pillars that jutted up from the desert floor.
They were approximately thirty miles from the hotel once they reached the Dragoon parked at the bottom of the tower.
He was screwed. There wasn’t a chance in hell he would reach the hotel before Cassie got to Liza.
“Arrival completed. Justice, Breaker, confirm positions and secured access to base two.”
