TEN
Hawke could smell the lies coming off Jessica in waves. The desperation to make Todd Bennett believe her went clear to her soul. She sounded convincing, and when he snuck a brief look at her face, she looked convincing. His Jess was playing the role of her life and fighting to give him a chance to get his bearings.
The animal inside him was slowly coming awake. He could feel his senses sharpening, his strength returning. His unique Breed genetics were slowly pushing past the barrier that had clouded his mind.
What the f**k had happened? He felt like he had been hit by a two-by-four, but he knew there wasn’t a chance in hell anyone could have slipped up on him that easily.
“I can’t believe whoever gave you the order to try anything this insane,” Jessica continued with a disgusted sigh. “Really, Todd. Didn’t your little attempted assassin inform your group how many times I’ve been out in that forest trying to escape this place?”
There was a moment of silence.
“The group doesn’t know about that,” Todd finally admitted. “I was the one shooting at you.”
“Father would have had you killed if he were still alive,” she spat back at him. “Even he knew not to attempt to kill me. He knew what I was trying to do, he just didn’t agree with it. Do you think he would have risked drugging me if I had been truly totally against it? The drug was only there to give me a plausible escape, not because the damned thing actually worked. Use your brain for a change.” Hawke felt her move away from the tree as he opened his eyes just enough to focus, to see if his vision had fully returned yet.
The first thing he saw was the porcelain figure on the floor, one tiny crystal wing lying in fragments against the hardwood.
He had to grit his teeth to keep from growling in fury. That had been his first gift to her, a reflection of what he saw in her. His angel. The beauty that could tame the beast inside him.
Todd Bennett was a dead man walking.
“I wish I could believe you, Jessica.” Todd’s voice was filled with regret, with hope. “The story is good, I’ll give that to you. It’s enough to make me want to believe.”
“Then kill me,” she laughed. “Go ahead, Todd. Make the worst mistake of your life. Because when you do, Uncle Craig will reach out from prison and snap your skinny little neck.” Craig Raines. His arrest had been made so quietly that it hadn’t even hit the papers. Only a few people could have known of his arrest. Jess knew, because she had given the Breeds the information that her uncle and her father both had ties to the pure blood groups.
Hawke felt Todd pause then.
“Craig wasn’t caught,” he said, but Hawke could hear the fear in his voice then.
“Don’t be a fool,” Jessica snapped, and though the tone of her voice was confident, he could feel her fear increase. “Craig was the mastermind behind the plot to kill the Breeds at the Christmas party in Advert just before my release. He was also my contact.”
Hawke was almost ready to move. He could feel his muscles unlocking, adrenaline coursing through his body as he tensed to attack. Just another few seconds. If Jess could just hold on a little longer, distract Todd just a bit more . . .
“I can’t take the chance,” Todd said softly, his voice now filled with regret. “I’m sorry, Jess. I just can’t take a chance on you.”
He was going to kill her.
Jess watched as Todd lifted the weapon, aiming it to her stomach. Damn, that was going to hurt. He was going to make sure that he punished her, whether he believed it or not.
“Uncle Craig will have you skinned alive for this,” she snapped.
“Like the Breeds, Craig will have to figure out who did it first,” he informed her, his smile tight and hard. “Unlike some who are in the society, Jess, I believe that sometimes we have to take every opportunity we’re given to destroy the Breeds. You’re his mate. Alive, you still serve a purpose to the Breeds. Dead, you destroy him.”
His arm stiffened.
Jess threw herself across the room, diving for the floor, thankful that at least he was shooting at her, not at Hawke. At the same time, a vicious, enraged howl filled the house.
The whine of the silenced weapon could be heard a second before his screams. A second before the sound of chaos tore through the room.
Stumbling to her feet, she rushed for her purse, her head lifting as she stumbled on the mattress, her eyes widening at the sight that met her eyes.
Animalistic, primal. Hawke had Todd’s neck in the powerful grip of his hand as he shook him. The weapon had fallen to the floor and Todd stared back in horror at the vision of Breed rage.
Hawke’s lips were drawn back from his teeth, his canine’s flashing in the low glow of the tree lights. A howl tore from his lips again as Breed enforcers rushed into the room. Leading them was none other than Wolfe, his expression a mask of fury. Hawke shook Todd again before throwing him against the wall and burying his fist in the other man’s gut.
The air expelled from Todd’s lungs with a gasp. As Hawke stepped back, he crumpled to the floor, gasping, short cries tearing from his throat as he tried to crawl away.
“Hawke.” She moved to him, her hand lifting, shaking, as tears began to fall from her eyes.