Breeds: Stygian's Honour Part 26

He would also, Audi knew, instigate the revelation of secrets Audi had prayed would never need to be revealed.

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And he hated the Breed for that. Hated him for the fact that he knew Stygian Black would take his daughter away from him. By time the Breeds finished in Window Rock, the child he loved, the child he would die for, would no longer even exist. And that knowledge made him wish he was the man he had been thirty years before. The man who could kill and not suffer a conscience born of the soul he had found when he'd met his Jane.

"To me, he's young." Her father chuckled as he pulled her close to his side and exten- ded his hand to Stygian. "Mr. Black? It's good to finally meet you," he lied convin- cingly enough that his daughter relaxed in relief.

"You as well, sir." Stygian stepped forward and accepted her father's handshake, his ex- pression as respectful as his demeanor. "I hope you were able to complete your business?"

"Everything's fine." Her father nodded.

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Liza knew her father, though, and she knew he would be spending the better part of his time on the phone now that he was back, completing that business.

"You can go back now, Dad." She looked up at him, knowing she would be okay now.

He had come for her, he was here to pro- tect her, to support her. Knowing he had made that sacrifice, as much as she regretted it, still soothed the little girl who would always need her father's guidance and offer of protection.

"The h.e.l.l I can." He all but glared down at her as her mother gave her a firm look. "I think I'll be right here, Liza. There's no way in h.e.l.l I'm going anywhere while this is going on. Ray filled me in on the attacks, and it sounds to me as though it's a little more dan- gerous than Mr. Wyatt let on." His glare shif- ted uncontrollably to Stygian and deepened.

"He ignored my calls this morning by the way. It took forever to get ahold of him."

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Stygian rubbed uncomfortably at the back of his neck. "Mr. Wyatt does have a tendency to do that," he agreed. "I'll contact his wife and make certain he gets in touch."

"No need." Her father grunted. "Mr. Wyatt and I have spoken. I've had to listen to his preaching about making the situation more dangerous by returning. I swear, Jane already had us packed and ready to leave be- fore that man finished telling me all reasons why I wasn't needed here, and I just had to listen to it again. Last night, I just agreed with him, got off the phone and headed straight for the airport. It's more than obvi- ous he has some growing to do as a father if he ever imagined I wouldn't be here as quickly as possible."

Stygian watched Audi and Jane Johnson with their daughter, but he paid more atten- tion to Liza. To the scent of her relief and the easing of that tightly held fear inside her.

She had needed them here, he realized.

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She had known she was safe, known Stygi- an would never allow her to be harmed, but her father had always been her protector, and she needed him as well. Stygian realized then he should never have agreed with Jo- nas's decision to a.s.sure the father it was fine to conclude his business before returning.

"I'd like to discuss the security you're us- ing to ensure her protection," Mr. Johnson informed him as Liza moved from his hold and headed to her office doorway.

Stygian could sense the other man's tightly leashed anger, and his dislike. He was fool- ing no one but Liza, and possibly his wife.

That knowledge had Stygian steeling himself for what he knew was to come later.

They followed her to the small sitting area across from her as she moved to her desk, her mother following close behind and chat- ting quietly about the trip to New York.

"I'd also like to know what you've learned about the a.s.sa.s.sin that shot at her." Audi's 366/862.

rage was so heavy now Stygian swore it would begin glowing red around him any moment. The fact that he was restraining it, hiding it so well from his daughter, was a testament to the control he'd honed as a younger man in Black Ops.

"Yes, sir." Stygian nodded, remaining po- lite, respectful.

An a.s.sa.s.sin with the Bureau of Breed Af- fairs, Mathias Slaughter, had once told him that should his mate's father ever decide he wasn't good enough for his daughter, Mathi- as would still treat the man with the utmost respect and consideration simply because his mate would always love that man as her fath- er. The pain she would feel if her mate and father should ever dislike each other would be too great, the a.s.sa.s.sin had stated. The Wolf inside him had sensed the little girl that every woman was, who needed to always have the illusion that her father could do no 367/862.

wrong. It was a security, a safety net that even a Breed couldn't provide.

Stygian hadn't understood the reasoning at the time, but now, as he sensed Liza's fath-er's disapproval of him, it made more sense.

Never did he want his mate to hurt, to lose that innocent, vulnerable part of her inner self that her love for her father kept alive.

For just a second in the elevator he'd felt her reluctance to face her parents. That part of her had been terrified that her father would disapprove of her actions and her choices as an adult, and Stygian had sensed her need for that parental approval.

Now, it was as though part of that deepen- ing pain she had felt was slowly easing away.

The fear of her parents' disapproval had eased away, leaving her stronger, more con- fident in herself. The arousal was still burn- ing through her senses, but that sense of desertion had eased away.

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She was close to her parents, and they were dedicated to her.

Taking his mate from her home and those she loved would be as Malachi had said of Isabelle: like stealing a part of her soul from her body.

"Mr. Black. The president and I would like to discuss with you the Breeds' security measures for our daughters." Audi Johnson turned to him then, his expression relaxed and friendly, though his eyes told another tale.

The Breeds' report that Audi Johnson had been in Army Intelligence with Ray Martinez years before hadn't been exaggerated.

Just what he needed, an outraged father.

No doubt he had clearly sensed Stygian's in- terest in his daughter.

"Yes, sir." The inquisition.

Her father wasn't in the least pleased over how this situation had been handled or the attacks on his daughter, and it was clear the 369/862.

Breeds were being held responsible for the attention she had suddenly garnered from the Genetics Council.

Stygian almost allowed his lips to quirk in- to a grin at the latent anger and air of de- termined antagonism he could suddenly feel coming from Liza's father. Jonas had created a situation here, and as usual, one of his en- forcers would be forced to face the flames he had lit.

"Daddy." Soft, a daughter's gentle tone with a hint of reprimand.

Audi turned to her. "I have to make certain they know what they're doing, sweetheart.

That's my job."

And she didn't believe him for a moment.

"Trust me," she said softly, but even Stygi- an heard the edge of steel in her tone.

Slowly, her father's demeanor softened, but only slightly. Giving his daughter a quick nod, he glanced back at Stygian and indicated the Navajo president's office.

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With a last glance to Liza's concerned ex- pression, he gave her a rea.s.suring smile be- fore following her father.

With a brief knock on the president's office door, Audi Johnson opened it before leading the way inside.

The tension inside the room was thick enough to cut with a knife, as the saying went.

Nation president Ray Running Wolf Martinez wasn't alone. Sitting behind the heavy walnut desk, he was glaring at the man sitting before it.

Jonas Wyatt.

Standing to the side of the room, between two wide, tall windows, stood Rule Breaker and the Russian Breed known only as Cava- lier. The Lion and Coyote Breeds didn't al- ways get along, unless they were working with Jonas. And they only worked together with Jonas when the situation was likely to become explosive.

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Stygian nodded to the two high-level en- forcers before staring back at Jonas with si- lent demand.

"Your boss lied to us," Audi stated as he moved to stand behind Ray Martinez as he cast a short glare to Jonas. "He attempted to downplay the danger that our daughters are facing, as well as the reasons for it."

"You should have expected that." Stygian suspected that was exactly the reason they were all there now.

Jonas hadn't expected Johnson's return, Stygian knew. He'd clearly believed Liza's father would bow to his wisdom and stay put in New York where he couldn't interfere or begin calling in his own contacts or instigat- ing his own investigation.

"I returned for a reason," Audi grunted.

Jonas, as arrogant as always, sat uncharac- teristically silent, his expression curious as he watched the two men behind the desk.

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"This is not a situation I appreciate," Audi Johnson stated, his gaze encompa.s.sing them all.

"Liza needed your return for the sake of her heart, not for her safety," Stygian inser- ted, wondering if the other man intended to try to pull his daughter from Breed protec- tion. And he could, Stygian feared. Liza trus- ted her parents above anyone and everyone, and it would be a stupid man that doubted that. "My life stands before her and any danger that could stalk her, Mr. Johnson."

He wasn't certain what to say or how to say it. He was a Breed trained to kill in si- lence, not to seduce or to trick. He wasn't given to flowery statements nor was he given to rea.s.suring anyone in any way. All he had was his strength and the truth. The pure de- termination to ensure his mate survived, no matter the obstacles.

Both Ray and Audi watched him carefully, though they said nothing.

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In Liza's father's eyes, Stygian saw an eas- ing, slight though it was, of the antagonism that had gleamed there.

"Very pretty," Jonas murmured, though his words lacked his customary mockery, be- fore he turned to the other two men. "Are we finished now, gentlemen?"

The president glared back at him. "Direct- or Wyatt, this Nation is not your personal playground," he stated with icy disdain. "And I resent your att.i.tude that it is."

Jonas rose slowly to his feet.

Tension increased tenfold as his expres- sion tightened. Expressionless, his mercury gaze lacking emotion, he was the Breed he had been created to be: merciless, powerful, expertly engineered manipulator with a full agenda where the Navajo were concerned.

These two men had every right not only to distrust him, but also to be highly suspicious of any and all motives Jonas may present. He was a man fighting for more than his own 374/862.

life, or the survival of the Breeds now. And he had been dangerous enough with those agendas. Now, he was fighting for the life of his child, and that child was more precious to him than even his own soul.

Audi Johnson's gaze narrowed as the Navajo president slowly followed suit and rose to his feet as well.

"My daughter lies with a fever high enough to kill another child." His tone was so harsh, so grating, Johnson and Martinez flinched.

Stygian stared back at him, surprised to see him laying his cards so clearly on the table.

An unheard-of move for Jonas. "My child lies in pain and stares up at me, gentlemen, and asks, as only a two-year-old can, why it hurts so bad and why Daddy can't fix this." For a second unheard-of occurrence that Stygian knew would never be mentioned, Jonas's gaze gleamed with the dampness of an emo- tion that went far beyond tears. "So don't think for one moment that I won't be here, 375/862.

taking over where I can, testing your weak- nesses and betraying whoever I have to be- tray to save my child. Just as you would. So let us not misunderstand each other now, nor in the future. That child is more import- ant to me than your entire f.u.c.king Nation, and your lack of cooperation is something I find not only reprehensible but immoral."

Stygian felt his chest tighten. He'd seen it himself. Seen the pain and fear in the little girl's eyes when the feverish episodes des- cended on her. And he knew, if that child were his and Liza's-his by adoption or by blood would make no difference-he would do whatever it took, however he had to do it, to ensure that pain was never felt again.

"There's nothing we can do." Ray Martinez's voice rang with the truth as a sud- den angry conflict seemed to battle inside him. Understanding gleamed in his gaze, was emphasized by the clench of his fists and the frustration in his voice. "We've made the 376/862.

request of the people and none have come back with an agreement. I don't have the ac- cess codes into the database, Director Wyatt.

I cannot access it for you."

"I want Honor Roberts and Fawn Cor- rigan." The kid gloves were off as Jonas made the demand. "f.u.c.k your database, Mr.

President. I couldn't care less about it, any more than Gideon Cross could. He's here for the same thing, and by G.o.d, if I don't find those girls first, then he may kill them once he does find them." He leaned against the desk, palms flat, his expression savage. "Is that what you want?"

Both Johnson's and Martinez's gazes flashed with fear before they could hide it.

There was no way Jonas missed it. And Stygian had no doubt the director wasn't cer- tain exactly what that fear was. What Stygian did know was that, somehow, the pair was hiding something.

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Liza's father straightened his shoulders.

"Twelve years ago," he stated heavily, "there was a crash in the desert several nights be- fore our daughters crashed into a high ravine in the desert. Two girls died in that first crash."

Jonas's growl was rife with violence.

"There was no report of it."

"A young Breed was traveling with them.

He told us the girls were running from the Genetics Council and begged us not to report it. No one else knew of the crash or the deaths. We elected to follow the Breed's re- quest to give him time to run. When no one came looking for them, we decided to keep it out of the reports. Until you arrived, Director Wyatt, no one seemed to care."

Stygian narrowed his gaze.

They weren't lying. There was the scent of truth and overwhelming sadness, almost of grief, as though they had known the girls.

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