Allegiance of Honor (Psy-Changeling #15) - Nalini Singh Page 0,82
Cooper had the feeling it was genuine. Pax hadn’t expected that question, wasn’t prepared for it.
“A small percentage,” he said at last. “Why?”
Cooper shrugged. “Word on the street is that he’s going to start to suffer significant losses. You might want to pull out before the shit hits the fan.” He wasn’t giving anything away, not with Ming fully aware that SnowDancer had declared war on him.
“Thank you for the advice.” Pax’s tone revealed nothing, but a day later, the financial grapevine was abuzz with the news that the Marshall Group had cut all ties with LeBon Enterprises.
Pax Marshall, it seemed, had chosen a side.
That didn’t mean he wasn’t a cobra in the grass.
Chapter 23
MING LEBON HAD ended his conversation with Pax Marshall an hour earlier without learning anything about why the Marshall Group had suddenly sold all its stocks in businesses associated with LeBon Enterprises. The arrogant young telepath who’d seized the reins of the Marshall empire had insisted the move was simply “part of the family’s long-term business plan.”
But Ming had heard whispers from his spies within the Marshall Group that Pax Marshall was pursuing a lucrative contract with the SnowDancer Wolves. That could not be a coincidence.
He was sending a message ordering one of those spies to get him more details when he received a letter with the official Trinity seal. It stated that the entire body of signatories had voted on his application to join. Despite the backroom deals he’d made, that vote hadn’t come down in his favor.
He crushed the letter in his hand. “SnowDancer.”
Ming wasn’t used to being so blatantly blocked from anything: the majority of people were too scared of him to attempt it.
He also wasn’t about to allow the wolves to push him into a situation where he’d lose face in front of the entire world. The emotions didn’t matter to him, but the impact on his power base could be catastrophic. Already, he could visualize the flow-on effect of this single damning rejection, see the missed opportunities, the chipping away at his financial alliances.
Throwing the crumpled-up letter in the trash, he decided that if SnowDancer and its allies wanted a war, they’d get one. Ming was a combat telepath but he was also a master at strategy. No one could beat him on that field of battle. Certainly not wolves driven by a feral desire for vengeance.
“Send me the draft of my proposal,” he said to his aide.
He’d finalize that proposal, then, when the time was right, send it to all parties, including the wolves and the Arrows. He wouldn’t do this by stealth. No, he wanted the world watching and witnessing the fall of Trinity.
Chapter 24
LUCAS HAD ASSIGNED multiple people to tracking down data on the ocelot pack linked to the assault on Sascha and Naya, but it was Dorian who ended up doing most of the heavy lifting.
He’d fractured his leg in the crash, but what neither he nor Jason had let on at the scene, deciding Sascha didn’t need the additional worry, was that he’d also suffered multiple broken ribs and severe bruising to his upper chest. Broken ribs were a general pain in the ass for everyone—even Tamsyn couldn’t totally heal them, so Dorian was off active duty for a couple of weeks.
Tamsyn had also ordered the sentinel to keep the weight off his plascast-covered leg for three of those days. “Or I’ll reverse the healing I’ve already done and you’ll be stuck with a cast for months instead of fourteen days.”
As a result, Dorian took himself and his computer off to Mercy and Riley’s cabin for one of those days. There, according to the message Lucas got from Mercy, the blond sentinel kept her company, made sure Riley didn’t stress out too badly, and researched the hell out of the ocelot pack.
I’m pretty sure he’s hacking things that could get him locked up, Mercy had noted. Watch out for the men in black suits.
It was on the fourth day of his enforced “vacation,” Dorian having spent the rest of the time hunkered down in his own cabin, that he sent Lucas a note: I have a report on the ocelots.
Lucas could’ve requested that report over the comm, but he wanted to check up on the sentinel, see that he was, in fact, following orders and healing properly. Vaughn, Clay, and Emmett—as well as Tammy, of course—had all been in and out of Dorian and Ashaya’s home since he was grounded, had kept Lucas updated, but his