MERCURY`S WAR

EEKS

the heated cavern awaiting it, and huge metal doors c

odriquez stepped out onto the top step the pil

of the jet’s wings, and as she watched, a door

sight of the man sent to me

, knew as much about him as her boss Dane Vanderale could dig up, and sti

he lion his genes had been merged with. If a sexier than hell v

as though someone had applied the lightest lay

a bit flatter, a bit more arrogantly

e center of it that had had her tongue running over her own lips whenever she had n

heading to Venezuela

, don’t hesitate t

Scruffy, his eyes flat and hard, but there was a

e ones the Vanderales has slipped from the labs, or from missio

the bling he promised me,” she m

r. “He’s a fine specimen,” he said quietly. “Danger

suspicions and sent them to Dane. The person or persons they were after would n

uard, not my mark,” she re

Because if that’s your bodyguard, I’m not certain which one o

ell Mr. Dane the emeralds looked especially fine next to the diamonds.

corted her down the ste

me.” Ria restrained the urge to check the thick bun she had rolle

he persona that garnered the greatest results. And as much as she di

D.C.,” Mercury informed her as h

asked her as she released his arm and he turned to

f that bet we made. Director Wy

grimace from the peri

s dark, shaggy head as the trunk opened on

e, Ria turned and stared back at Mercury, tr

king. Savage and male— the combination did some

rned his gaze from the Van

spital with the firs

re Bre

ached out and opene

liding to the other side as Mercury bent and moved

She loved some of the names the Breeds had chosen for themselves when given the chance.

that name might have been if the scientists that created him hadn’t co

n one of the greatest Breeds

years,” Mercury pointed out coolly. “Rathe

ad been at the hospital and sworn to silence concerning the

der and the bane of the

on they could be certain of, he believed, was in hiding among the non-Breeds until their numbers were greater.

ces; they’re his own,” she poi

ued, calmly. He always argued calmly, she ha

I’m not a Breed. I’m simply a lowly little clerk

eight years old, rather than however old Dane or Le

recy of their existence as Breeds was paramount. And it wa

r jacket before leaving the plane, because she swore her nipples were harden

, and she almost thought she detected

he looked closer and saw only th

sonality?” She a

’ve seen your communi

rming isn’t an adjective

nting then?”

e reaction they produced from our di

he would release all that thick, multihued hair fro

k russets, browns and blacks merging together to create a

r hair and she had neve

th might have cut her hand

hair when he was required to be out in public. And

ogue, a mercenary and

breathed the word

that his father had left him, Leo Vanderale was a

r amusing,” she

ght hav

opped on the padded armrest he had lowered, th

t a glimpse of Lawe’s lips twitching as his i

s tail that he sent you out here only weeks aft

d out what she was doing and where she was doing it, he was liable

cent attacks against Sanctuary and the weaknesses within it concern him. Both professionally as well as personally. He would enjoy visiting his son and grandson. He’s

. She realized that weakness could threaten her job. She was looking for another spy, and the consequences of information possibly leaking out of Sanctuary c

rself. That path led to nothing but disaster, and

Rodri

ame. “Ria please.” Ms. Rodri

I have a feeling there’s much

Dowdy clothes, no makeup. She did a damned fine j

4

smiled back softly. “Of course, I can be rather ill natur

was seeing more than she wanted him to. He was definite

ontinue hiding from. His eyes urged her to share her secrets; the swirl of ambers, the cur

ed, long ago, too long ago, how her mother had laug

They’ll lie and they’ll smile, and when they’ve taken al

n very old, but she r

r gaze to the mountains they were winding their way through as she

three days alone in their apartment, crying for her mo

of Leo Vanderale’s secretary. Her child hadn’t even been listed in her personnel files. The people s

had been l

even let herself think about it for years. She was who she was, a

ll joining in his little games because he flashed that devil’s smile of his and da

*

it. Sanctuary was Leo’s baby, so to speak. Callan Lyons was the son he hadn’t known of until the r

. He respected Dane but knew his son well enough to know Dane l

n estate. And he ached for the sons he knew the Council had created from the semen and eggs they had stolen from

your reasons to be here, Ria,” Mercury drawled

Wyatt was Leo’s son as well and was mor

im with a smile. “I

dn’t fall far from the tr

and straightforward are

his rear off at that c

ched her. His gaze stayed on her, and she swore the flush

but from the way his eyes were narrowing and his nostrils were flarin

n’t mated, and she wasn’t dead. She had all the instincts other women had, and all t

ean she had t

n the driver’s section

ave Mercury a qu

ed, but his eyes said something entirely different. Something that had

, and no doubt the B

it. Women around the world, in blogs, Breed-sighting websites and a variety of other online

an a decade they had become the bogeyman in the night as well as the dark lovers that invaded women’s d

rumors Dane had heard were correct, then that tide could be coming through much

*

d eyes, not certain wh

ons were slipping. The a

chance to stretch, to reach out.

senses, slowly, cautiously

It inhaled through the man’s nostrils. It tasted the air

ad waited. It had been weak. Worn. So close t

th

n’t a coy look, it was a cautious look. Dark lashes, shades lighte

er sc

had awakened i

Her scent was like mercy. It was like warmth in the mid

ll of that sweet scent linger in its head, for only a moment. Just

sence of the woman filled it with hope, renewed tha

growing weaker, because the man was distracted. The man was dealing with his emot

man let himself ease his guard. He was just a man, no need t

rouched, waiting, growing hungry now where

t waited. Knowing fre