time she needed to store her memories in case the worst should happen. She wasn’t a fool; she knew the
danger that lay ahead of them. She had known the dangers that faced Callan from the beginning.
He rose from the bed, pulling her up beside him as he kissed the top of her head once again.
“Go ahead and shower, I’ll use the other one or I won’t be able to keep my hands off you.” He pushed
her towards the bathroom. “Go. I’ll start breakfast when you come down.”
“What if I beat you?” she asked him archly.
He gave her a look that clearly doubted that was possible. Merinus narrowed her eyes at him. She
would show him. She shrugged rather than saying anything and went on into the bathroom, followed by
his indulgent male chuckle.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
She beat him. Merinus snickered as she scampered past the spare bathroom, hearing Callan still
involved in his shower. He must have been delayed getting in, which meant he had been up to something
before he started. She frowned. He was going to have to learn to be a little more forthcoming than she
had a feeling he was.
Dressed in a pair of sweat pants and one of his big shirts she headed for the kitchen. She could at least
get breakfast on. She was starved, and morning was starting to shine brightly outside the heavy curtains
that covered all the windows.
A second of panic filled her at the thought of the coming day. It wouldn’t be easy, letting Callan stand
before the world to announce who and what he was. She knew how he treasured the solitude of his life,
the peace he found when he wasn’t being hunted. He would never know that again.
She flipped the light on as she entered the kitchen to dispel the deep shadows of the room, then came to
an abrupt halt. Her heart jumped in fear at the man standing before her. But what terrified her most was
the gun aimed at her stomach, and burning rage that seemed to flicker with dark flames in his brown eyes.
“I knew he would bring you here,” Dayan smirked, his handsome face twisted with horrific fury as he
approached her. “He thinks no one knows about this place, but I did. I know he comes here to hide, and
I knew he would bring you here.”
Merinus watched him approach, backing away from him until they entered the connecting living room,
praying she could get him into a position where Callan could jump him when he came downstairs.
“Do you want to die, cunt?” he sneered.
She shook her head desperately, watching the gun nervously.
“Are you breeding yet? Gut wounds hurt real bad whore, and they would kill the abomination you’re
likely carrying by now.”
Merinus covered her stomach with her hands, an instinctive reaction she wasn’t able to halt as his eyes
followed the action knowingly.
“Please—” she whispered. “Don’t do this, Dayan. Callan will kill you for it.”
Dayan sneered. “My dear, Callan is going to die as well. I won’t let him destroy everything I’ve worked
for since we escaped those labs.”
Merinus swallowed tightly. She could feel fear drumming through her veins in time to the harsh beat of
her heart. Her chest tightened as she fought to breathe past her panic, to find a way to think clearly and
help Callan. God, this would kill him. Dayan was his family.
“Callan risked his life to save you, to keep you and the others hidden,” she gasped. “How could you
betray him like this?”
Merinus couldn’t understand the depth of evil that it took for Dayan to do this.
“Because he betrayed us.” Dayan’s voice rose in fury, and he wasn’t even aware of it. Merinus prayed
Callan heard it. “He’s going public, and the others will follow him like the mindless children they still are.
Like he’s King. Like he is the last word. He doesn’t know what he’s doing. I told that stupid bitch Maria
and she wouldn’t listen. So she had to die for it. She almost convinced him last year. I won’t let him do it.
I won’t let him destroy everything like this.”
“What do you suggest he do then, Dayan? The Council won’t stop.” She edged around the room,
moving carefully beside the dubious protection of a chair. If only she could protect her stomach, protect
the child that may or not be forming even now.
“He should have gone back for us,” Dayan raged. “I could have led the Pride. It was my right. I suffered
the most for them. I should have led and he should have let them capture him.”
The furious words made Merinus sick. She remembered the reports she had read of the labs. The
barbaric tests, the training to condition Callan to kill, to be no more than a disposable weapon. The