She wrapped her arms around the woman she’d always regretted had never been her sister-in-law and held her. Rule moved behind Thea, staring back at her, compassion, somber regret and a question in his eyes.
“It’s over,” she whispered, not just for Thea, but for Rule as well. “The monster’s dead now. It’s over.”
With that, Rule gave a sharp nod, and as Gypsy and Diane eased Thea to the lone recliner in the room, he and Lawe began the work of disposing of Jason’s body.
Gideon stood silently, watchfully.
Waiting.
Thank you, she mouthed silently, wondering if he would understand the gift he had given her in ensuring she wasn’t forced to battle Rule for the confrontation she’d been given with Jason.
He nodded once, his gaze returning to Rule and Lawe.
“Give us a hand, dammit,” Rule commanded him. “We need to have his body dumped—”
“Leave it,” Gideon growled, and she swore the stripes across his face weren’t as dark as they had been when she’d gotten her first glimpse of him. “I know what to do. Get these women the hell out of here and I’ll take care of it. Just get the scent of their pain the f**k away from me.”
Turning, he stalked to the far end of the cavern, crossed his arms over his chest and waited.
“Let’s go,” Rule decided, obviously more than willing to take him up on his offer. “I’ve had enough of that bastard’s stink for the night.”
Lawe lifted Thea into his arms as he and Diane moved toward the entrance of the cavern. Rule’s arm went around Gypsy, pulling her to his side and following quickly.
Jonas could never know about this, she knew. It was the deal Rule had made with the devil nine years before, the first time he betrayed his friend when he’d identified the Bengal Judd and struck a bargain. What was one more, he’d breathed out roughly after Gideon’s message had come through hours before. After all, the files the Bengal had left Jonas had given them everything they needed to ensure Amber’s health. She would live. Something she wouldn’t have done if it hadn’t been for Brandenmore.
Who could have known Amber had been only weeks away from being diagnosed with the same virulent leukemia that had nearly killed one of the young women Jonas had searched for, Honor Roberts?
But Brandenmore had taken the proof of it. Vials of blood he’d taken from the baby before giving her that first injection held the proof. Blood samples Gideon had left with the files, along with records of his own tests on it.
Her age, the disease and a small chromosome Gideon had identified and notated, and an observation he’d left that it needed to be studied, were the reasons the serum hadn’t killed the baby but would kill an adult every time.
The reason why Amber was slowly becoming a Breed as well.
...
Speeding away from the cavern and back to the hotel, she sat still, silent, a restlessness gripping her now that it was over. A restlessness she had no idea how to identify. She’d never felt it before. Never known it existed.
But it burned in her chest, wrapped around her heart, and urged her to . . .
She stared into the desert, closed her eyes and wondered how in the hell she was possibly going to be able to do it.
CHAPTER 31
Genetics were a bitch, especially Breed genetics.
Rule sat in the shadows of the bar that night, tapping his fingers against the small round table where he sat and grimacing at the low growl rumbling in his throat.
Gypsy was with her family again. Her parents, and then her sister, she’d stated. She had decisions to make. He had a feeling those decisions affected him more than she was letting on.
She was his f**king mate. What the hell was the problem here? It wasn’t like there was divorce. She couldn’t run and never see him again.
And she wanted him. The sweet smell of her pu**y had tempted him to convince her to wait to deal with her family. The heat building in her, in him, tempted him to claim what was his and just f**king tell her how it was going to be.
That wouldn’t work with Gypsy, though, he thought with a sigh. Order her, and she’d do the exact opposite. In those precious moments he’d spent buried so deep inside her soul that there was no beginning, no end between them, he’d learned quite a bit about his stubborn, determined mate.
He’d learned enough to know that the distance she’d put between them could only mean one of two things. Either she was deciding how to accept a future with him, or she was deciding how to throw him out of her life.
He realized he was growling again, that low dangerous rumble building in his chest.