“Twins.” Tanner’s smile was sad. “He was almost Scheme’s mate. Trust me, that’s a hell of a place to be. It’s hell, period. Now, help me get her to our room. I need to hold my mate.”
Cabal heard the door close, felt the absence of others and slowly sat down beside the cot that held Jolian’s pale, lifeless form. The vibrancy, hope and shy quest for happiness that had always bloomed in her face was gone now. It now held frozen regret, as though she had known the moment she felt that shock hit her head that she would never awaken again.
I wouldn’t hurt your mate, Cabal, she had told him tearfully as he interrogated her the day before. Don’t you know, I would die for your mate. I would give my life to make certain you never suffered again.
Or would you destroy her out of jealousy? he had questioned her coldly, then watched as a tear trailed down her cheek.
But I’m not jealous. Her voice had been rough, aching with longing. Envious maybe, but not jealous. Your happiness is too important for me to ever feel jealousy—
His throat tightened now as he reached out, his fingertips smoothing back a lock of silky black hair from her forehead.
“I’m sorry, Joley,” he whispered, using the name he had given her rather than the name she had chosen. “I’m so sorry.”
And there he sat, his soul aching with the sudden knowledge that now he was truly alone. Tanner had Scheme, and for a while he had entertained the idea of giving little Jolian a few weeks, maybe a few months in his bed. She was soft. Sweet. And she loved him.
The selfishness of that thought slammed into his head now. She had loved him. He knew she had loved him, and he had waited, waited to see if Tanner’s mate was his as well. Waited because he knew Jolian wasn’t a woman that would ever take to the sexual antics he and Tanner played. Waited to see if his own future was connected to Tanner’s, and if not, then he had Jolian.
And now he no longer had Jolian. He no longer had anyone.
CHAPTER 31
ONE WEEK LATER
Scheme stared in silence at the image on the television screen, her heart aching with regret and a sense of things that had never been. Jonas had offered to let her be a part of the team paired with government authorities sent to arrest her father for crimes against Breed Law, multiple charges of murder against non-Breeds and charges of conspiracy to incite civil unrest.
Cassa Hawkins had been chosen to cover the arrest and been given an exclusive interview with Jonas, Tanner and Scheme on the charges.
One of Cassa’s questions to her had been about closure. Would she receive any closure with her father’s certain conviction and death sentence for the charges against him? Closure, Scheme had realized, had come with her mating with Tanner and her acceptance in Sanctuary. There was no need for closure with a man who had never truly been a father. There was only a sense of sadness, of relief. The monster had been conquered.
“I love you, Princess.” Cyrus Tallant looked tearfully into the camera after he was charged. “Always remember I loved you.”
Tanner growled in fury at the declaration. “Do you have to watch this?”
He paced the floor behind her, his hands shoved into his slacks, his expression creased into a scowl.
“It doesn’t hurt, Tanner,” she told him, not for the first time.
“I hate it when you lie to me, Scheme,” he rasped angrily. “So stop.”
Was she lying? Maybe she was, not just to him but to herself.
“General Tallant, do you have a comment on the allegations by your daughter that you forced an abortion of the child she carried eight years ago?” Cassa asked the general as they stood in his opulent foyer and the officers snapped restraints on his wrists. “Doctors, both Breed as well as conventional, have verified the evidence of abortion as well as a procedure to ensure no future conception. Did you destroy your own grandchild?”
He gazed into the camera, grief-stricken, his eyes filled with tears. “I love you, Princess,” he repeated.
“Guilt,” Scheme said softly. “He thinks he can inspire guilt. He’s already working his defense. Does he know yet that his lawyers have refused to handle the case?”
“I didn’t ask him,” Tanner snarled.
“He’s breaking,” she mused. “He won’t live to see a trial.”
Tanner paused behind her chair. “What makes you think that?”
“He knows too much about the inner council.” She watched Cyrus’s shoulders slump as he was led from his mansion. Behind him, his second in command and heir apparent stood stoically in the background.
“I never guessed he was working with Jonas,” Scheme commented in regards to John Bollen. “He’s a cold bastard.”
“Yes, he is,” Tanner agreed. “He and Jonas must get along famously.”