“Ah, Cassie.” He sighed, shaking his head. “You’re wrong. That Breed carries your mark to his very spirit. The moment you put that Coyote on his ass with your knife to his throat, even I felt that bond between you snap in place. If he’d kept you out before, in that second, he opened his soul and let you flow inside him. When you’re fully rational again, you’ll realize it.”
“I am fully rational.” She gritted her teeth, pushing the words through them.
He chuckled again. “Come here.”
Cassie growled as she gave in and rose to her feet, following the Bengal as he led her to the ornate mirror positioned over a sideboard.
“Look, little Primal,” he urged softly. “Look at your eyes.”
She looked up and froze. The whites were gone, her blue irises almost glowing, filling her eyes and sparking with fury within her face. Her hair framed her face, unbound, curls rioting over her shoulders and down her back, giving her an otherworldly, witchy look.
“Dog told me once his mate was a siren. That her voice could make grown Breeds weep, that her eyes could mesmerize, and from the moment he’d set his sights on her, she ensured he didn’t slip into that black void his soul was becoming. Primals ride the edge of madness, or at least, it seems the males do.” His head tipped to the side as he regarded her through the glass almost quizzically. “Perhaps you’re simply an anomaly.”
She leaned closer, staring at her eyes. “How do you make it go away?”
He sighed heavily. “The Primal never goes away, but it rests. You awaken it; it doesn’t awaken itself. When you know the danger of losing your mate is over, then it will sleep. It won’t awaken again until you call it forth. And it gets easier to awaken it without that phenomenon. Though you’ll learn how much sharper your senses are when it’s fully awake within you.”
Pulling back, she lowered her head and moved back to the low stool she’d claimed. She jerked the knife from the floor and tucked it in the sheath at her thigh once again.
Graeme settled back into the chair next to her and relaxed with a heavy sigh.
“Will you give me more blood when I need it?” he suddenly asked. “I have quite a few tests to run. I’ll need more.”
She rolled her eyes. “Why the hell not.” Resting her elbow on her knee, she propped her chin in her hand and breathed out heavily. “When are they going to just fly him over Jonas’s volcano and be done with it?”
Graeme suddenly leaned forward, looking at her with almost excited interest.
“So, that rumor’s true? Do you know where it’s at?” he asked almost gleefully.
“Restrain yourself, darling,” Cat laughed, pushing his shoulders back and perching on his lap. “You’ll frighten Cassie off if you’re not careful.”
The powerful Breed almost pouted, but his arms went around his mate, his chin resting on her shoulder. “Want to slip away?” he suggested, blowing in his mate’s ear. “I’ll make it worth your while.”
“You will anyway. You’re so easy, Graeme …”
Cassie tuned them out, unwilling, unable, to listen to their banter. She was still too raw, too ragged inside.
Rising to her feet, she decided she’d had enough herself. It was time for her to return to the Bureau. She’d had enough of this house, the stench of hatred and corruption.
How the hell Dog’s father had survived here as a child and young man she couldn’t fathom.
“Cassie.” Jonas stopped her as she reached the doorway.
“I’m leaving, Jonas,” she snapped, aware of Cullen, Graeme and their mates shadowing her.
Throwing her hand up in farewell, she passed through the doors and strode through the house, heading for the foyer. There were no less than three heli-jets parked on the lawn now. She could be back at the Bureau in a matter of hours and send it back when they dropped her off. Jonas would no doubt be here for a while. And she was tired of sitting, waiting.
She had things to do.
• • •
“You got this?” Dog snapped out the question to Jonas as Cassie left the room, heading, he knew, for one of the heli-jets outside.
“Go,” Jonas agreed. “I’ll call another transport from DC. It can be here in less than an hour.”
“Dog.” Dash stopped him before he could get away. “What happened in that garage …” He grimaced, his expression tightening at the memory of it. “Whatever’s tearing her apart …”
“I know what happened to her,” Dog assured the other Breed, the lashing guilt he felt over it impossible to let go of for the moment. “She’ll be fine, Dash. I swear it.”