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Standing at the top of the stairs, her hair pulled tightly from her face and hanging down her back in masses of wicked black curls, she was dressed in a dark gray skirt, silk shell and jacket paired with plain, though obviously expensive, black high heels.
She was no longer the precocious, mischievous young woman Devil had met before being sent to Ireland to rescue Kate. The woman stepping confidently down the curved staircase was superior in every way to each and every one of them, and her very bearing emphasized it.
Cool blue eyes. She wore no makeup, no artifice. In one hand she carried a leather briefcase as the other trailed down the stair bannister.
“The
laws are quite clear in this situation,” she stated as she stepped into the foyer to join them. “No matter the situation, the circumstance or any previous laws, mating heat trumps it. Especially in a case of any scientific laws that should be created after Breed Law, demanded or mandated. At no time, and in no way without both mates as well as the director of the Bureau of Breed Affairs and three-quarters of the Breed Ruling Cabinet’s express and written agreement can any scientific research, experimentation or study be conducted on a mated pair, no matter the justification, reasoning or country that signed the mandates of Breed Law.” She smiled in triumph. “And the leaders of each section of Europe, including Ireland, signed each and every mandate of the laws presented to them before President Marion took it before the United Nations, where every delegate there signed each mandate as well.” From the leather case she withdrew a folder and handed it to Dash Sinclair. “Father, as a member of the Breed Ruling Cabinet, this is the order of a stay of exemption to be presented to the Immigration officials signed by Director Wyatt and wired to me five minutes ago. Director Wyatt is currently on the line with the Bureau agent outside our gates. He’ll need the signed orders before he and the men with him can force the Immigration officials back to Ireland.”
Devil stared back at Cassie with narrowed suspicion. “Why are they so intent to take her? I’ve lost count of the European Breeds who had escaped to America, and the officials there haven’t sent so much as a protest. Now, they’re sending immigration officials after one lone female?”
“Mary Katherine O’Sullivan was taken from the lab her grandfather is accused of having overseen during his tenure with the Genetics Council until the liberation of that particular lab. One of the scientists that worked there was captured several months ago by MI-6 and revealed Wallace O’Sullivan conspired to have his son’s and daughter-in-law’s samples from a fertility clinic sent to the lab he was in charge of. From there, he had the scientists insert the Wolf Breed genetics into not just the sperm, but also the mother’s ova, before fertilization. A process that was outlawed by the Council itself early in the genetic experimentations, for reasons we’ve yet to find explanations for.”
Devil inhaled slowly, carefully.
“It was outlawed because it allowed the Breeds to conceive. It created Breed males with a mix of both human-compatible as well as Breed-compatible sperm, and in Breed females. In females, the ova could be fertilized by either species with no complications. They allowed one of these births, but terminated the Breed somewhere around twelve years of age for reasons we were unaware of.”
Cassie frowned up at him. “Surely there were rumors why the Breed was terminated.”
Devil stared down at her, remembering those rumors and the concern in the scientists that ran the lab he was assigned to.
“Rumor was that the Breed created by that pairing could not be identified as a Breed by any testing, nor by Breed senses. The animal instincts were so completely merged with the human psyche in cunning and in response that the Breed was so superior that they feared the result of allowing it to live. At twelve, the Breed already had the loyalty of every other Breed in the labs, and the scientists only learned later that an uprising had been only days away from the time they terminated his life.”
“It was a male then?” Cassie asked curiously.
Devil shrugged. “They always referred to the Breed as the ‘specimen,’ ‘project’ or an ‘it.’ I assigned the sex myself out of respect for the life taken, nothing more.”
She nodded thoughtfully before turning to her father. “Director Wyatt should have contacted his agent by now. You and I can take that file—” She stopped.
The instant tension that filled her body had Devil as well as Lobo and Dash instantly on guard as Cassie turned back and looked up the stairs.
Devil didn’t wait to ask questions. Instead, he turned and raced up the stairs, aware of the two Breeds moving quickly behind him. Every animal sense inside his body, honed by years of training, instinct and the shadowed war being fought for Breed survival was screaming in alarm. And it was screaming his mate’s name.
SEVEN
The second the door clicked shut behind Devil, Katie came instantly awake.
Regret at his departure joined the subtle ache for his touch as she rose from the bed and quickly dressed, determined to find Khileen and see if she had heard of anything resembling the pleasure she’d found with Devil.
She knew it wasn’t normal. She’d had friends all her life until the world had found out she was actually a Breed, and those friends had had sex often. With more than one man. Some with women. Never had she heard of anything like the pleasure she had just experienced.
Moving into the bathroom, she quickly tamed the wild mass of curls with a detangling comb before tying it back at the nape of her neck.
As she drew her hands back, she glimpsed the mark Devil had left at the bend of her neck and shoulder. His teeth had pierced the skin, though she’d felt none of the pain she would have expected to feel.
Reaching up, she brushed her fingers over the reddened area, the light caress sending a bold shudder to race over her flesh. A sensation of intense pleasure had her thighs tightening and a sense of amazement filling her.
That was no ordinary hickey.
“Wow,” she breathed out, rather impressed now. “Definitely weird.”
As she considered the sensation, her nose wrinkled at the odd scent that teased at it.
That had been happening more and more often. Scents that were out of place, impressions and instincts she wasn’t familiar with.
Shaking her head, she gave a quick glance at the jeans, sleeveless camisole top and sneakers she’d donned to be sure she looked presentable before turning and leaving the bathroom. Closing the door behind her, she stilled, her head turning quickly to the balcony doors.
“Eh. Let’s not attempt to run,” the tall male standing inside her room aimed the barrel of a laser gun at her chest and smiled coolly. “I’d hate to have to dispose of you. The price on your head isn’t worth nearly as much if you’re not alive.”
