Edge of Dawn(35)
“Damn, I wish Lucan had tasked me with escorting Ackmeyer to that summit gathering,” Aric said, falling in with the rest of them. “I would’ve made sure those Homo sapiens sons of bitches OD’d on lead and steel. Let them take on a Breed in the daytime and watch the rebel cowards piss themselves a river of please-god-save-us.”
Even Nathan had to admit the idea held some amusement. He felt grim humor tug at his mouth as the banter between his fellow warriors continued, each of them ratcheting up the fear factor on the pain and terror they’d like to deliver on the bastards who’d taken Mira.
As they cuffed one another and slung good-natured insults, Nathan held himself apart from the pack with a remoteness that came as naturally to him as breathing. He had let a friend—a brother-in-arms—into his life once, and the loss when Kellan died had been as visceral as a limb torn from his body. These other warriors were his team, his comrades, but he’d learned better than to let himself care for them beyond their role as soldiers under his command.
And now Mira was gone too.
If she didn’t come home whole and unharmed, he wasn’t sure how he would handle it.
No, he mentally corrected.
He’d been trained the first thirteen years of his life to shut out all emotion, to steel himself to caring for anything but his master’s commands. If things went badly for Mira, he would draw on the harsh lessons of his upbringing to get him through.
But first he would kill her captors. Every last one of them.
His mind was already preparing for the covert mission he would begin as soon as the sun set. So much so that it took him a moment to realize there had been a shift in the air temperature up ahead in the corridor. The source of that change appeared a moment later, in the form of Carys Chase, ducking out of a room off the long hallway. The crisp scent of morning rushed in behind her, clinging to her caramel-brown hair and the form-fitting black blouse and leg-hugging skinny jeans that disappeared into the tops of spiked ankle boots.
“Carys?” Aric stopped in his tracks in the corridor, gaping at his twin sister. “What the hell are you doing?”
Nathan and his team had paused now too, all of them staring at the beautiful young Breed female as she sauntered toward them, attempting nonchalance. Slender brows arched slyly over sparkling blue eyes fringed in long black lashes. “What does it look like I’m doing, big brother?”
Aric’s scowl deepened. “It looks like you just dragged yourself in through a back window of the estate after staying out all night doing god knows what.”
She laughed. “Good lord, Aric, you sound just like Father. Besides, since when did having fun with friends become a crime?”
“It’s not safe out there, Car. Not for a woman alone, without someone to protect her.”
Nathan shot a quelling look at Aric Chase, a subtle warning not to divulge the details of what had happened to Mira and the human scientist, nor the Order’s suspicion that rebels were to blame for their disappearance. Aric caught the silencing glance and had the good sense to cool his jets.
“I told you, I wasn’t alone,” Carys insisted. “Jordana Gates and I met some other friends in the North End. It was perfectly safe.”
Aric’s jaw went tight in response, but he kept his argument to himself. “I just worry about you, that’s all. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
She gave him a warm smile. “I know that. And while I may be female, big brother, I’m also Breed, as strong as any of you males. Just because I’m not combat-trained like you, don’t think I’m incapable of taking care of myself.” Studying her brother’s disapproving expression, Carys caught her bottom lip between her teeth and looked up at him from beneath her long black lashes. “You’re not going to tell Mother and Father about this, are you?”
“I should,” Aric said. “I’m sure Father would be very interested to talk to Jordana’s parents too. I doubt the venerable Gates clan of Beacon Hill would be happy to hear their Breedmate daughter was traipsing all over the city, staying out until dawn.”
“But you won’t tell,” she said, smooth and coaxing, yet Nathan was certain he’d detected a note of worry creeping into Carys’s bright blue eyes at the mention of her Darkhaven friend. Carys moved closer to her brother and rested her palms on his chest. “You won’t tell on me, Aric. And in return, I won’t tell Mother and Father about the trio of dancers you and Rafe shared at a Chinatown sim-lounge last weekend.”
“How did you hear about that?” Aric practically choked the words out, but Raphael merely grinned, a slow curve of his mouth that showed absolutely zero repentance. “Who the hell do you hang out with that you would hear about something like that?”