Rule’s weapon cleared his holster as he slammed his body into the door, taking it to the floor, knowing Jonas would cover him as his weapon swept the room.
Amber’s room.
Rule didn’t dare fire his weapon as he found the target, no more than Jonas could.
“Da, ba’ ki’y,” Amber chortled as Gideon held her close to his chest, her tiny body appearing more delicate than normal against the broad chest.
Primal stripes darkened the Breed’s face like fire-scorched scars. Dark blond hair fell across his brow, the unusual dark strands of golden brown threading through it like a tiger’s stripes.
“Gideon.” The tension in Jonas’s voice was unmistakable now. “Where is my mate?”
Gideon’s gaze flickered to the corner of the room, where Rachel was slumped against the wall, her wealth of dark red hair lying over her face.
“She’s alive, and unharmed,” Gideon drawled as Jonas rushed to her, never taking his eyes from the Bengal as Rule became aware of more than a dozen Breed Enforcers suddenly filling the area behind him. They were breathing down his neck, all eyes on Gideon as the Bengal flicked them an amused glance over Rule’s shoulder.
“Let the baby go, Gideon,” Rule ordered softly as Amber played with the long strands of the Breed’s hair as her delightful baby talk seemed directed at Gideon.
“Amber and I are excellent buddies, aren’t we, sprite?” Gideon spoke with an icy chill as Amber giggled back at him.
“Ba’ ki’y,” she seemed to accuse him as Rule tried to make sense of what she was actually saying and why she seemed so amused.
If he didn’t know better he would swear she was calling Gideon “bad kitty” each time he spoke in that merciless tone.
Rule eased to his knee, all too aware of Gideon moving slowly closer to the open balcony door, Amber held securely before him, protecting him as nothing or no one else could have.
“Let her go, Gideon.” The animal’s snarl was in the director’s voice now, animalistic fury pounding in waves of tension through the room.
“Da?” Amber swung around quickly in concern, her bright eyes going between her father and Gideon. “Gi gi, ba’ ki’y.” There was a slight suggestion of an explanation
in her tone.
Rule searched for the link to his brother, found it immediately and drew on it. Instantly, Lawe was there, not in spirit, but in strength, animal senses and intuition.
Gideon’s gaze swung to him instantly as he stepped to the opened door, his gaze narrowing as though he could sense that bond.
“Interesting,” he murmured as though he too could sense what Rule was doing and how he was doing it.
That intuition, the animal senses that were strong to begin with, were suddenly off the scale, and what Rule sensed was far more than he bet Gideon understood.
This wasn’t the insane creature the Breeds had faced before. There was no insanity here. Cunning, intelligence, determination and . . .
Son of a bitch, that striped bastard held such affection for Amber that Rule nearly reeled from the knowledge of it.
Gideon shook his head and sighed before turning back to Jonas. “She’ll be ill for a few more months,” he told the director matter-of-factly. “She hasn’t been slipping away from you, Director, merely slipping away from the human moorings she once held. Once Brandenmore injected her, he began changing things within her. To ensure her future health, to ensure her life, I took it upon myself to complete what he started.”
The backs of his fingers brushed against the little girl’s face.
“You did what?” That was fear in Jonas’s voice, Rule thought.
Gideon’s lips quirked. “You see such secrets, such forms as to make a man believe he’s lost his mind. What you didn’t see, couldn’t yet see, was the fact that this sweet child was dying before Brandenmore touched her.”
“He’s lying,” Rachel gasped weakly. “It’s a trick, Jonas.”
Gideon glanced at her sympathetically before turning back to the director. “The file is in her crib. Brandenmore’s codes, encryptions and formulas for this particular serum. The same serum both Honor and the other were given.” Demonic fury flickered momentarily in his gaze as Amber laid her small head against his chest and jabbered something softly.
“Yes, sprite, Gi-gi is fine,” he promised gently, almost smiling back at Jonas. “A treasure you have here, Jonas,” he stated then. “A very unique one. Get the files to Ely. The serum that will complete her recovery is contained there as well. As we both know, she’s not fully recovered from her ordeal. You’ll learn why in the papers I left.”
“You’re not leaving,” Jonas snarled.