Rule Breaker(177)
Her eyes closed for a second in acceptance. When she forced them back open, he was watching her, his arms resting comfortably at his side.
This would take forever, she thought fatalistically. The scanner was no doubt one of the new ones her contact had warned her about weeks before the Breeds arrived. Designed to pick up any anomalies whatsoever.
“I have never betrayed the Breeds,” she whispered. “And I would never have aided anyone else in doing so.”
“But you’ll do everything you can to protect your parents, no matter the actions they’ve taken? Correct?” The clinical, considering gleam in his gaze had her stomach tightening in dread.
What did he expect her to say? “If there’s any way possible.”
He nodded to that. “I think that’s perhaps the hardest part of this job in some ways, from enforcers on up to Jonas’s position. Understanding that loyalty to parents when we don’t even have foster parents as a guidepost, siblings or children. But we do try our best to take that into consideration when needed.”
Gypsy held his gaze, knowing he could read the fear rising inside her clearly. “Just tell me what I need to do. Don’t play with me.”
His lips quirked, his eyes darkening assessingly.
“And you would do whatever you have to?” he asked, his voice low, warning.
Gypsy steeled herself for the coming battle with her own conscience. “I will do whatever I have to do, Mr. Brannigan.”
“Even if it means sacrificing your mate?” He tilted his head to the side as he leaned against the side of the elevator. “The one man, perhaps the only person in this world, who would be willing to give his life for you?”
The elevator began a slow descent as the scanners continued their work.
“That’s enough.” She forced the order past lips that were suddenly numb from the accusation.
He nodded slowly. “Tell me, have you heard much of Breed Law?”
“Some,” she admitted, suddenly wary of the question. “Why?”
“Have you heard of Self-Warrant?” Something seemed to flicker in his gaze at the question.
Gypsy shook her head slowly. “I haven’t.”
“It’s a part of Breed mating law,” he admitted. “Perhaps you haven’t. I believe those mandates are kept within secure Breed hearings if needed.”
“Then why ask?”
“Self-Warrant is a onetime get-out-of-jail-free card that a Breed can use for his mate, or child, should one of them break Breed Law seriously enough that the sentence they face is more than the Breed believes is bearable. It can also be used in other situations. Such as a mate’s parents facing an enraged director of the Bureau of Breed Affairs who’s considering using the fullest extent of Breed Law against them for the crimes they’ve committed.”
“I don’t understand,” she whispered, but she was very much afraid she did. “What does this have to do with me?”
His brow lifted lazily. “Listen and you’ll know what it has to do with you. To ensure that the human doesn’t suffer the full effects of Mating Heat, she would be taken to her Breed monthly. It would be enough to keep both of them sane, barely—though the female has options with the hormonal treatments our scientists and doctors have come up with that the male does not. Other than that, the Breed is locked in a cell similar to that of the labs he was created in, because the need for freedom would soon make him enraged. As long as he is calm, he can have his mate once a month. But for the rest of his life, other than those few short hours, he speaks to no one. No letters from home. No television, no weight room, library or computer privileges,” he sneered. “Breeds don’t suffer idiocy well. And if another Breed willingly gives up his life for the protection of his mate, to serve such a sentence for parents who obviously have no love for his mate to begin with, then why should we show him mercy? It would teach others that came after him the foolhardiness of such a decision.”