Chase cleared his throat. “I’m sorry that cooperation was a problem for your colleagues at JUSTIS. Tavia mentioned earlier tonight that you’d been let go.”
Brynne shrugged. “I suppose none of that matters anymore, right?” Her tone was crisp, but Zael heard the note of regret in her firm voice. “I would do it all over again, no hesitation. Even knowing what it would cost me. Like all of you, I also want Opus Nostrum stopped. Now more than ever, I want that. Whatever it takes.”
Around the Order’s war room, heads nodded in agreement.
Brynne looked over at Gideon. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to provide Fielding’s computer hard drive or any of his data files for you. As soon as his body was discovered along with the poison he ingested, JUSTIS swept in to clear the house and seal it for investigation.”
“It’s all right.” Gideon shook his head. “At least we have Riordan’s files. Well, we will have them. Eventually.”
“Still no luck breaking that encryption?” Lucan’s question sounded incredulous. “You’ve been working on it for going on forty-eight hours. Hate to say it, but this must be some kind of record for you. And not something I want to hear right now.”
“The encryption is…complicated. It’s actually pretty fucking impressive.”
“Also not something I want to hear,” Lucan muttered darkly.
“Believe me, I’m as stunned as anyone that I haven’t been able to get around it yet.” Gideon raked a hand through his spiky blond hair. “I hacked Riordan’s hard drive and passwords—that was cake. But aside from learning he had bad music taste and a fondness for farm animal porn that made me want to scrub my corneas with a razor blade, Riordan’s hard drive was a bust.”
Lucan frowned. “We’re all but certain Opus members are in contact with one another electronically. Are you saying there’s no trace of communication software or log files anywhere on that computer?”
“They’re too careful for that. The process to delete directories and data was set to run every night like clockwork. I was able to kill it before it took off one last time. In Riordan’s purge file, I found an ID fragment for a secured private network.” Gideon blew out a deep sigh. “And that’s where my problems began. There’s a lock on the network—a very sophisticated program that acts as a booby trap on the whole thing. I nearly set it off today before I realized what I’d run into. Whoever programmed it knows their shit. We’re talking pro skills and then some.”
“Are you going to be able to break it?”
Zael hadn’t known Lucan very long, but he doubted any man or woman in the room right now had ever heard the note of doubt that crept into the Order leader’s deep voice.
Gideon was quiet for a long moment, and that silence said a lot. “I’ll break it. I’m not going to rest until I do.”
Lucan nodded grimly. “Good answer.”
Then he turned his serious gaze on Zael. “I don’t suppose I need to tell you that anything you hear in this room tonight is to be held in the strictest confidence.”
Zael inclined his head. “Of course. You have my word.”
Now that Lucan and the other warriors were looking at him, Zael felt the weight of their curiosity—even suspicion—come to rest on him.
“You never mentioned what you were doing in London last night, Zael. There on business of some kind?” Lucan studied him, his shrewd gray eyes assessing.
“No,” Zael admitted. “I wasn’t there on business.”
“Pleasure, then?” The Order’s leader was asking casually, but there was no mistaking that this was a test of trust. Lucan may not know for certain what sent Zael to the very city where Opus Nostrum had just done their worst, but he would damned sure know if Zael attempted to deceive him.
And if that happened, any alliance they’d forged would be weakened practically before it began.
“I didn’t go to London for business or pleasure. I went there to see Brynne.”
Across the room, her tense anticipation was a palpable current in the air. Zael glanced her way now, and instead of seeing her eyes divert or avoid him, she stared at him in resignation. In unspoken misery and contempt.
But Zael wasn’t about to lie to his new friends. He needed their trust as much as they needed his.
“When Brynne and I met here last week, I thought there might’ve been some spark of interest. After hearing what happened with Riordan and the councilman who killed himself in the middle of a house party Brynne was attending, I decided to search her out and look in on her, make sure she was all right. See if I was right about her interest in me.”
He didn’t have to glance her way now to know that she was silently wishing for a sinkhole to open up and swallow him. Tavia, Chase, and several other Order members exchanged surprised looks before those intrigued gazes volleyed between Brynne and him.
“I was mistaken,” he said.
Even if part of him knew better, he would give her this one courtesy in front of her sister and friends. Let Brynne call him an asshole for tormenting her when they were alone, but anything that happened between them was going to remain private if he had anything to say about it.
Still, just thinking about Brynne’s lips on his was enough to ignite his arousal all over again. Even here, in a room full of lethal Breed warriors who’d likely want to string up any Atlantean who deigned to put his hands on one of their females.
Zael had wanted to do far more than that with Brynne last night, but he’d been serious about not letting her blame the alcohol—or him—for it later. Now all he had to show for his dubious display of honor was regret and a bad case of blue balls.
“By the time I realized I had overstepped with Brynne and was offering to see her home, all hell had broken loose in the city.”
“Well, thank God you were together,” Tavia interjected. “I’m glad my sister wasn’t alone to face that kind of horror. I can’t bear to think what might’ve happened if you’d been anywhere near the blast, Brynne.”
“I was fortunate that I wasn’t.” Despite her fleeting look of acknowledgment that Zael hadn’t betrayed her just now, Brynne still looked less than enthused to be associated with him. “Now, I’m just eager to put last night behind me and move forward. Which I plan to do just as soon as I get back home to London.”
“Back home?” Tavia gave her an uneasy look. “I hope you don’t mean that.”
Zael curbed his knowing chuckle. What she meant was she couldn’t wait to put a lot of miles between herself and him. If she was eager to run anywhere, it was away from him, more than back to a ravaged city where she’d admitted she had nothing waiting for her.
As of last night, even less.
He wondered now, as he had on the plane, just what it was that Brynne hadn’t wanted to say about her past. He’d been surprised to see the hauntedness in her eyes. He’d been furious to realize the shadows that darkened her pretty face hinted at wounds she couldn’t bear to speak.
And he’d been stunned to feel a wave of protectiveness toward her that he had no right to feel.
Not for her.
Not for anyone.
If things got messy on an emotional level, he wasn’t one to stick around. More than one person in his lifetime could attest to that.
“I’d feel better if you stayed close to us for a while,” Tavia was saying now. She took Brynne’s hand in hers. “I’m still getting used to the idea that I have a sister in my life. Do you really think I’m going to be okay with letting you go back into a dangerous situation alone?”
Brynne’s lips parted with the beginnings of an argument, but Lucan spoke first.
“I’ve got to agree with Tavia on this. We have to assume Opus knows you’re cooperating with the Order now, which means the odds of you ending up with a target on your back if you return to London are too damned high to risk.”
“I’m a career law enforcement officer, Lucan. I’m a decorated investigator who’s also been trained in combat and crisis negotiations.”
; “Good. Then if you don’t want to accept the decision of a higher ranking official, you should be able to recognize when debating one will be futile.”
She chose that moment to glance Zael’s way, and he knew he hadn’t been quick enough to hide his agreeing nod. Not that he wanted to see her unhappy, but he also didn’t want to see her anywhere near the smoldering ruins of JUSTIS or the sadistic fucks who perpetrated the attack.
She would be safest with the Order, whether she wanted to believe that or not.
“They’re right,” Zael said. “You may not have been in the building when it blew last night, but that doesn’t mean Opus knew you weren’t there.”
She crossed her arms over her breasts, clearly outraged by his interference. “Everything points to a well-planned attack. It took time for Opus to execute this. Much longer than the week or so that I’ve been working with the Order.”
“Yes,” he agreed. “But what’s to say you didn’t have a target on your back long before then? If not simply because you were part of JUSTIS, then for being kin to one of the Order’s key commanders?”
“Jesus Christ.” The curse came from Sterling Chase. The Boston commander’s grave stare moved from Tavia to her sister. “We thought we were keeping your connection to each other confidential, but what if someone in Opus knows?”
Some of Brynne’s outrage drained from her face as she considered the possibility.
“You’re safe now,” Zael told her. “That’s the important thing.”
She blinked and glanced away from him, refusing to look up again.
Since his presence wasn’t helping the situation, he decided to make things easier for her—and for the people trying to reason with her.
“I’m sure there are many things the Order needs to discuss,” he said, already taking a step toward the door. “If you have no further need of me now, I think it’s time I take my leave.”
Lucan cleared his throat. “Not so fast, Zael. Yes, there are things that need to be discussed—including recent developments concerning your people and their queen.”
CHAPTER 7
After the Order drew Zael into a closed-door meeting in the conference room, Tavia brought Brynne to meet Lucan’s Breedmate in the residence section of the sprawling D.C. estate.
“We’ve got an unusually full house at the moment,” Gabrielle Thorne said as the regal, auburn-haired Breedmate led Tavia and Brynne down an elegant third-floor hallway in the Order’s massive headquarters. “This wing doesn’t get a lot of use these days. The entire third floor was reserved for visiting foreign dignitaries back when the old house was used as an embassy.”
Old house? The place was palatial. Brynne had seen royal residences in England that were less impressive. Intricately tooled millwork lined the ivory walls of the passage and richly colored, thick Persian rugs covered the gleaming dark wood floors. Following her two companions toward the middle of the long corridor, Brynne couldn’t help but admire the many carved busts and neoclassical sculptures that stood on polished pedestals along the way, or the antique photographs of significant landmarks and natural wonders that competed with paintings by master artists on the silk-covered walls.
Her stroll ended in front of the open doors of a sumptuous library that smelled wonderfully of aged leather book bindings and lemon-waxed, old wood. At another time, under different circumstances, she could see herself getting lost among all of those books for days on end.
“I’m sorry you’re going to the trouble to make room for me. I imagine you’ve both got more important things to do, this week especially.”
Gabrielle turned a genuinely warm smile on her. “It’s no trouble at all. Even if you weren’t Tavia’s sister, after all you did for us the other night, you’re part of the Order’s family, Brynne.”
Tavia nodded in agreement. “I know you’d rather be in your own place, but I hope you’ll be comfortable here for now.”
As she spoke, Gabrielle turned to open a door directly across from the library. The room inside was large, but cozy, with a small sitting area on one side and a four-poster bed on the other. The drapes on the tall window had been drawn to let in the morning light and the view of the manicured grounds below. On a bureau near the opened door, a vase of fresh-cut flowers perfumed the air.
“The room is lovely,” Brynne said as she stepped inside. “Thank you both.”
“Make yourself at home,” Gabrielle told her. “That goes for the entire estate. And you’re welcome to stay as long as you like.”
“Or as long as my sister and the Order insist?”
Tavia exhaled a short sigh. “It’s not meant to be a punishment, you know. We’re only concerned for your well-being.”
Brynne knew it wasn’t. She waved her hand in dismissal. “It’s all right. I understand. I even agree that London may not be the best choice for me right now. I guess you might say I’m a bit hard-headed, especially when it comes to being told what I can or cannot do.”
Tavia and Gabrielle exchanged an amused look.
“I think you’ve definitely found your tribe,” Gabrielle said around a laugh.
“What about Zael?” The question popped out of her mouth before she could even think to hold it back.
“What about him?” Tavia asked. A spark of curiosity lit her questioning gaze. “And why do I get the impression there is something more going on between you two than either of you is willing to say?”
“There’s absolutely nothing going on between us.”
Maybe her denial was too immediate, too insistent. It certainly didn’t seem to convince her shrewd half-sibling if the look on Tavia’s face was any indication.
Brynne shrugged. “You heard him yourself. Zael showed up in London last night with the mistaken idea that I would fall at his feet the way every other woman probably does.”
No, she hadn’t fallen at his feet. She’d pounced on him like a woman starved for sex. Which, technically speaking, she was. She was starving for a lot of things, but she’d been an idiot to let Zael glimpse even part of that weakness in her. Now, he’d likely never let her live it down.
What would he do if he knew anything about her other secret shame? The dangerous one that lurked deep in her laboratory-mixed DNA. The one that she’d been hiding ever since she emerged from beneath the collar of her upbringing. Not even Tavia would look at her the same way if she knew. No one would, and rightly so.
Brynne tugged her thoughts away from her monstrous beginnings and back to the source of her more recent aggravation. “As far as the Atlantean is concerned, I have no interest in a romantic relationship or anything else.”
“Mm-hmm,” Tavia replied. “And is that why you’ve been trying so hard to ignore him since you arrived?”
God, had it been that noticeable?
Was it still?
She’d been trying to avoid looking at Zael today because every time her gaze landed on him all she could think about was the feel of his lips on hers. And when she recalled how hot and commanding his mouth had been—how good their bodies had felt, pressed close and moving sensually together on the dance floor—all she wanted was to feel that rush again.
Why couldn’t she have done the smart thing last night and let that cute, clearly available and utterly harmless bartender take her home? Why couldn’t she have said yes to any one of the other men—human or Breed—who’d either circled her at the bar or come right up to take their shot?
She knew the answer and unfortunately it all came back to Zael. She hadn’t wanted any of those other men. She would have sworn she didn’t want Zael either, but her body seemed to have other ideas.
No doubt about it, kissing him had been a colossal mistake.
One she couldn’t take back and, unfortunately, would never forget.
It was going to be a lot harder to put him out of her mind so long as he was under the same roof with her. Even worse, if he was going to be closely involved with the Order for any length of time.
“Do either
of you really think he’s a wise choice of ally?”
“You don’t?” Tavia asked. “If you have cause to think that, Brynne, we need to know.”
She wanted to discount Zael outright, but the truth was, despite being a pain in her backside from the second she laid eyes on him, he did seem informed and engaged about the problems the Order was facing. He may be a charmless ass, but he seemed to be trustworthy.
Even where she was concerned, seeing how he hadn’t made a fool of her tonight in front of everyone. Incredibly, after making her think she was fair game for his ridicule, he kept her secret to himself.
And maybe he wasn’t completely without charm either.
Still...
“He’s Atlantean,” she murmured, as if that should be cause enough to doubt him. To her mind, it was at least worth questioning. “What do we really know about him?”
Gabrielle glanced at Tavia, indecision in her soft brown eyes. “We know enough to assume Zael’s alliance with the Order is worth any risk.”
“Because of something to do with the Atlanteans’ queen?” When both women looked at her in question, she added, “I realize I haven’t been formally included in the conversation, but Lucan’s comment to Zael downstairs didn’t exactly sound reassuring.”
That was putting it mildly. Brynne’s instincts had gone on high alert at the ominous mention of the immortal race and their apparent ruler.
“Yes, because of her,” Tavia said, after Gabrielle’s permitting nod. “We learned we had an enemy in Selene a few weeks ago, when the Global Nations Council peace summit was compromised by Opus Nostrum—”
“Attacked,” Gabrielle corrected. “They would’ve slaughtered every Breed dignitary in the place if their ultraviolet weapon had gone off before the Order was able to stop it.”
“I remember,” Brynne said. “There were hundreds of diplomats and world leaders at that gathering.”
The news of the attempted assault had made panicked headlines around the world. As for the Order’s heroic actions, it had done little to endear them to a population of humans who mostly despised the Breed as a whole, or to the Darkhavens who considered the warriors to be a volatile force among their kind with an over-reaching grasp on the law. Even JUSTIS was guilty of eyeing the Order with more suspicion than due respect.