She knew her brother and his wife. If there was an order in one of his messages that he was afraid she would ignore, then Merinus would know about it, and Merinus would add her own gentle pressure that Dawn see his side.
Merinus had softened Callan within the first years of their marriage. The savage killer, the Council-trained assassin that Callan had been, had bent beneath the gentle weight of Merinus’s love. And it was a good thing, Dawn reflected. But when it had happened, Callan had suddenly begun directing his attention to Dawn. To seeing things she didn’t want him to see. To trying to make up for things that had never been his fault.
“Your mate has finally left his balcony,” Moira sighed in regret and relief. “He should really wear a shirt this early in the morning, Dawn.”
Dawn sent her a muttered growl. “Don’t look at his chest.”
Moira chuckled.
“We have a heli-jet incoming,” Noble reported. “Lawrence Industries. Were we expecting more guests today?”
Dawn quickly pulled the information up on her laptop.
“All guests present and accounted for,” she informed him before hitting the security button and pushing the PDA back into its protective pocket. “Moira, you’re with me. Noble, Styx, converge on the jet and get me visual. Dash, are you available?”
“Stand down, the jet is expected.” Dash spoke quietly into the link. “Styx, Noble, resume radio silence and stealth protocol. Dawn, in my room.”
Dawn stiffened, her eyes narrowing at the resignation in his tone. She flipped the mic up, disconnecting voice ability into the link while maintaining the connection to the group. She stalked to her bedroom, jerked her door open and started toward the opposite hall. And saw Seth slipping into the bedroom he had taken Caroline into the night before. She paused in the hall, glaring at the door, a growl rumbling in her throat as she fisted her hands at her sides. From her ear, privacy protocol beeped its summons. Absently she lifted her fingers and pressed against the back of the ear clip as she flipped the mic down.
“I’m waiting on you, Dawn,” Dash said quietly.
Her eyes narrowed as she turned and moved quickly to Dash’s suite. The door opened as she neared it, and Dash stood back from the entrance, watching her quietly. He was dressed in jeans and a silk shirt, and he pulled the link clip from his ear as she moved inside. He was alone. Evidently Cassie and Elizabeth either hadn’t awoken yet or were busy elsewhere.
“Why the heli?” She rounded on him as he closed the door and turned to face her. “And why wasn’t I informed?”
He ran his hands over his short, black hair and breathed out roughly. “The heli is here to transport Miss Carrington back to her home. Seth is sending her off the island.”
Dawn’s lips curled in satisfaction. Seth might be in the witch’s room, but he wasn’t touching her. She knew he wasn’t. If she’d thought differently, there would have been no way to control the feral rage she could already feel brewing inside her.
“Sanctuary’s heli is being prepped on its pad as well. You’re to gather your gear and return to home base. You’ll be sent out on another mission the moment you arrive.”
The smile slid from her face as she focused that anger simmering inside her on the powerful Wolf Breed.
“I won’t be leaving.”
She watched as Dash crossed his arms over his chest and stared back at her broodingly. “You were given an order, Dawn,” he stated flatly. “I’m command here. It’s your place to obey it.”
“You don’t have the right to give that order.” She kept her voice calm, confident. “My mate is here. Mating heat has been established. You can’t order me to do anything that requires leaving Seth’s presence.”
She knew her Breed Law where the Bureau was concerned, and she knew Dash did as well. They couldn’t make her leave. Only Seth could make her leave.
She watched the subtle, almost hidden curl of Dash’s lips. He knew that, and she wondered at the point behind making such a useless order.
“I made a deal with Seth last night,” he stated then. “He would send Miss Carrington home, and I would send you back to Sanctuary. This is a very delicate time, Seth needs his wits about him, as do the Breeds
protecting him.”
Dawn lifted her head as she felt her chest clench at the knowledge that Seth would make such a deal.
“Why would he do that?” she asked then, a frown pulling at her brow as she tried to hold back the pain of knowing that Seth would attempt to do such a thing.
Dash shook his head. “Ten years of mating heat, Dawn, that he managed to kick. Ten years without his mate. Without ease. I suspect he doesn’t want to revisit that hell.”
“But it would be worse now,” she said softly. “And I’m here. He’s not alone.”
Dash stared back at her calmly, compassionately. “Are you aware that ten years ago, Jonas and Callan showed Seth portions of the lab tapes that Callan found when they searched Dayan’s home?”
Dawn stepped back warily. If her chest had been tight before, there was a band of pure agony clenching around it now.