“Jesus,” Ryon breathed, staring at Callum. “How lucky can you fucking get?”
Callum didn’t have time to share all the ways he was lucky to have Sonia, only some of them having to do with how she liked to play.
“That isn’t my point.”
“What’s your point?” Ryon asked.
“That’s not it, there’s more,” Callum informed him. “She’s got heightened senses. Not as heightened as a vampire or a wolf when he’s transformed but, as far as I can gather, it’s close to what a wolf has in human form.”
Ryon couldn’t hide his response, he reared back whispering, “You’re fucking joking.”
“I’m not and she’s hiding it and the vampires know about it. You ever experience anything like that with a human?”
“Never.”
“Sense it? Get the barest, fucking inkling of it?” Callum clipped.
“No, Cal, not ever.”
Callum looked away, hissing, “Fuck!”
He didn’t like what he was thinking but he couldn’t help thinking it primarily because it was the only thing that made sense.
Callum had decided to give Sonia her Christmas before he launched his offensive to quell the rebellion.
He did this for two reasons.
One, he and his men had made a significant effort to hide the extent of their intelligence, something Calder had taken over gathering (and doing a great job at it, as normal) from the rebel leaders. The rebellion thought they were still gathering information and planning their offensive. They had no idea Callum’s attack was coming. They had no idea Callum knew as much as he knew and therefore had planned as thoroughly as he’d planned. They had no idea that Callum knew that they were still amassing and planning their attack for after the New Year. Fuck, even Nikolas, one of their chiefs, Callum had asked to escort his queen and his mother to the mall (under the constant, hidden, guard of four other wolves who followed their every move, that was) in order to hide his knowledge at the depth of their infiltration. Callum spending time enjoying his Christmas with his new mate would make them think he lost focus or wasn’t taking them seriously and it would, he hoped, lull them into a sense of security.
And two, Sonia loved Christmas and Callum wanted Sonia to have her Christmas.
It was now the night before Christmas Eve. They were moving on the rebellion on Boxing Day.
There was a lot on his mind, including the fact that the rebels fought dirty and losses, on both sides, would likely be high.
He didn’t need this shit now.
His eyes came back to Ryon’s. “The minute this shit is over with the rebellion, I want you, personally, with no one knowing about it, to investigate Sonia’s disease. I want to know what it is. I want to know the incidence. I want to know what it does to her body. And I want to know exactly what’s in that fucking injection, how it works and how long she’s been taking it. If you have to torture her fucking doctor, do it, but get me what I want.”
“You don’t think Sonny –” Ryon started and it took everything Callum had to beat back the urge to strike at Ryon even thinking what he was going to say, much less saying it.
“Not a chance,” Callum gritted out. “Every night, I tell her it’s time to take her injection and every night I watch her eyes go blank. Sonia’s eyes are never blank but to hide her distress at her nightly agony, they go… fucking… blank. And every night I give her that injection and every night it’s like she’s dying in my arms and not in a quiet, pass behind the veil kind of way but in a tortured, agonizing kind of way. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. It’s hideous. She wouldn’t do that to herself if she didn’t have to, no one would.”
“Then what are you thinking?” Ryon asked.
“She wouldn’t do it to herself,” Callum explained, “but a fucking vampire would do it to her.”
Ryon’s face went hard for he knew it was true.
Vampires could be ruthless.
“I don’t know what their game is or even if they’re playing it. But, if The Prophesies go down the way they’ve been foretold, then –” Callum stated.
Ryon cut him off. “I’ll investigate. Don’t jump to any conclusions before we know.”
Callum was a lucky wolf in many ways, not just having Sonia, but also a wise father, a loving mother, fiercely loyal brothers and Ryon, far more even-tempered and level-headed than Callum, as his advisor and friend.
Ryon got closer. “Lassiter wanted his daughter raised by them instead of us and you know why. Mac agreed and made the allegiance. And Cal, you know, Mac was no fool.”