Near immortality could be hell, he imagined, tied to a woman whose hatred stemmed from her mate’s refusal to respect and to honor her.
“Why?” There were no tears, only stoicism and a sense of reluctant resignation. “Tell me why they want me.”
She knew she couldn’t fight the protection, but as far as that was concerned, she didn’t have to accept it gracefully.
Or gratefully.
“It’s not you they want,” he promised her, his gaze sliding to Terran before returning to his mate’s. “As we told you, they want Honor Roberts, Fawn Corrigan and the two Bengal Breeds who were part of one of the most immoral experiments known to have been conducted in the history of Breed genetics. Like us, they followed Gideon, one of those Bengals. Here to Window Rock. They won’t leave until they’ve captured them, or we have them under Breed protection, as there is no evidence to be found that they’re dead.” He glanced at Terran Martinez.
The Navajo’s legal representative working to block the Breeds’ request to access the Navajo Genetic Database never outright lied to the Breeds, but the hint of deception was always there.
“This has nothing to do with me.” Liza clenched her teeth over the words, the anger and hurt clearly sensed by all the Breeds there.
Especially by Stygian.
“You, Claire and Chelsea now have everything to do with this, Liza.” Terran breathed out roughly, accepting the truth himself when before, he had fought it. “I’m sorry. If there was something I could do to stop this—”
She gave a hard shake of her head, obviously refusing to argue with Terran for some reason. “I understand.”
But did she?
Stygian could see her face, her eyes.
Understanding wasn’t there.
But neither was resentment. At least, not toward Terran.
“If we had the information we needed, if we had the genetic profiles in the database that matched Gideon’s, then we could find him. Find him, and we’ll find the others,” Stygian informed her. “Find them all, Liza, and this all goes away.”
The scent of Terran’s anger was unmistakable, just as the scent of Liza’s rejection of the solution swirled through the room. The energy tightened his chest.
She agreed with Terran’s decision.
Son of a bitch. She was agreeing to give in, to end this fight for her independence rather than see the Navajo open that Genetic Database to the Breeds. What the hell did those records hold that caused the Navajo to be so frightened?
He hadn’t met a single member of the Navajo Council or citizen of Window Rock who didn’t feel the same way. Every member in a position to aid the Breeds’ cause would die before giving up the information. Even for a cause as worthy as Amber’s.
“We have a message out to every member who has donated to the Genetic Database,” Terran stated roughly, “requesting any member willing to release their genetic information come forward. None have. Until the Breed in question makes that request, the database cannot be opened to match the profile.”
And only the requesting Breed could receive the information.
They could have made the idea work if they had known of a single Breed born of Gideon’s dam. Unfortunately, to their knowledge, those littermates had all been destroyed long ago.
The suspicion that Gideon would take refuge with blood relations was high. He would know the Breeds would encounter a roadblock in tracking him through bloodlines, just as Gideon would know Jonas would use every means possible to do just that.
Liza’s lips parted in an irate, feminine grimace that was uniquely charming and yet filled with such emotional distress that it was all Stygian could do to hold back a snarl of fury.
Now he knew exactly why Breeds were so damned irritable when their mates were.
“I want to go home.” She inhaled wearily, and suddenly, Stygian could feel the exhaustion pulling at her.
Weariness and uncertainty and a sense of defeat.
Because she knew she couldn’t go home. She knew the place she had called home would be denied to her until Honor, Fawn, Judd and Gideon were together.
The weariness and uncertainty he could understand. He could even allow it. The defeat was another thing entirely.
“Not tonight. The damage to the house hasn’t been repaired yet, and we’re still trying to track down a few leads concerning the two Breeds Claire killed. A room has been reserved here for you. You can return to the house when it’s safe again,” Stygian assured her, his fists clenching at his sides with the need to go to her.