"I should have known you'd dirty yourself with him. My Coyote here tells me he could smell the scent of sex from miles away. Such a pity. "
Megan played with the trigger of the gun she had lowered to the side of her thigh, wondering if she could be fast enough to blow his heart from his chest as he stood there with that nasty smirk on his face. She looked to Jose again.
"Lance will kill you. " Lance would blame himself.
Jose smirked as she watched him warily. She should have known. She had felt the emanations of violence coming from him since she had first joined the force. But she hadn't believed he could actually sell out.
"Drop the weapons, children. " Mac shook his head as though disappointed in her. "You surely don't think I'll let you keep them. "
Megan breathed in deeply before tossing her gun to the ground next to Braden's.
He was too quiet. She could feel his mind working with fierce intent, but he was playing the lazy, easygoing lion.
He wasn't predictable in the least when he did that.
She could feel his demand that she keep Cooley talking though, keep him distracted.
"Check them. " He motioned to the soldier at his other side. "Knowing the lovely Megan, she has several other weapons hidden on her. "
The gun at the small of her back was her only hope.
The soldier came forward. Tall, muscular, his facial features hidden by the black stripes of camouflage paint he wore. He stripped Braden of his weapons, but she noticed that he never checked beneath the jacket Braden wore.
That was too odd. He should have known better than that.
The soldier came to her then. The knives were stripped off her, pulled from her legs and from beneath her jacket.
Behind her back, the hand barely glanced over the knife tucked in her belt at her hip, covered by her own jacket, or the weapon strapped at the small of her back.
Caution. The warning whispered over her and it hadn't come from Braden.
She inhaled slowly. She couldn't tell who he was, but evidently he wasn't exactly on the senator's side. He was familiar though, the touch of his mind against hers. She had felt it before, a long time ago. But where?
She shook the thought away before concentrating on the senator again.
"You're not going to get away with this, Mac," she warned him, hoping to keep his attention on her as Braden came up with a miracle. That was his job and he damned well better do it right.
"Of course I am. " Mac laughed gleefully, like a child enjoying a joke. The bastard had lost his ever-lovin'
mind.
"I've been doing it for years, Megan. In the bosom of the family, knowing every move you made with Jose's help. I knew you wouldn't remember seeing me at that Academy without help. It was just a matter of watching the two Breeds and knowing when they would decide to contact you. It wasn't hard to do, my dear. Though it is unfortunate that Mark and Aimee necessitated it. They weren't nearly as careful as they should have been while we were at the Academy. " It was deliberate. She could feel it now. Mark and Aimee had known she would sense them, had allowed their shields to let just enough through to get her attention. It had been the pain that had been a double-edged sword. They couldn't have known how she would react to it, how quickly
her mind would reject it and that the memory would pass amid the knowledge that such events had been nearly commonplace at the time.
"You raped them. " The gun burned at her back while Braden demanded caution. She had to keep him talking.
Had to give Braden time to save them both.
"Of course I did. And I'll rape you as soon as my men have taken care of your pesky little Breeds. I might even rape your little boyfriend before he dies. That's particularly pleasant, making them bend over and take it up the ass.
Showing them who's alpha and who's not. It just seems to break something inside them. " Satisfaction filled the air as vicious glee attempted to rip into her mind.
She wanted to scream in pain, in rage. She could feel something shattering inside her at the thought of what the Breeds had suffered under him.
"They learn how to take it easy. Megan. I bet your big tough Breed will tell you that. If he can. " His gaze shifted to Braden. "You're awful quiet, Breed. Don't you want to share that particular little pleasure you experienced at the Labs?"
Braden shifted slowly, the moonlight that filtered into the canyon, illuminating his predatory smile. "I'm Class A, Senator, Elite status. We did the fucking, remember?"