Authors: Lora Leigh
Ria lifted her head and stared at him.
“I would be very disappointed were I to see blood,” she informed him. “Even the slightest amount has the power to make me ill.”
A grin tugged at his lips as he laid the magazine aside, stood to his feet and unlocked the door, before stepping back to cover Ria.
Everything inside him rose to full alert; nothing mattered but shielding her.
The door pushed open forcefully, bouncing against the wall to the side before settling in place, fully opened.
Mercury stared at the Breed who had his weapon lifted, poised for battle, and felt that sense of anger fill him. He had fought alongside this Breed many times, and yet here he was, his weapon lifted as though to protect himself as the skinny, glaring Austin, head tech in Security Control, stalked into the room.
Mercury glared at the weapon the Breed held. Before Austin could take another step forward, Mercury blocked him, reached around and jerked the powerful, shortened automatic rifle from the guard’s hands as he pushed him back and snarled a warning at him to stay put.
Blond hair spiked, his gray eyes a bit malicious, Austin sneered at Mercury as he moved forward. The scent of ego filled the room. He believed himself safe, able to order other Breeds around because of his position rather than his strength. For the most part, enforcers only barely tolerated him.
Glaring at him, Mercury watched as Austin crossed to the corner, jerked the sweater from the camera and tossed it to the floor.
Mercury growled furiously at the blatant disrespect of the action. His hand fell to the weapon strapped to his thigh as the Breed Enforcer backed up a step, swallowed tightly and glanced from the tech to Mercury.
“Pick the sweater up,” Mercury ordered the geeky little bastard who had always set his hackles to rising.
Austin Crowl was a computer and expert security technician, trained by the Council, and his sense of power had grown over the years within Sanctuary, as he rose to rein over the control room.
The bastard sneered at him with his tiny little canines.
“She can pick it up herself.” And he moved to stomp from the room, clearly ignorant of the Breed he was dealing with, and the fact that the normal rules that governed enforcers no longer applied to Mercury.
Before Mercury could stop himself, he had his hand around Austin’s throat and was pinning the other man to the wall, aware of Ria coming to her feet quickly behind the desk.
“There’s no blood, Ria,” he informed her, staring into Austin’s pale, despicable little face. “At least not yet.”
“Merc, man, let him go.” The young Breed Enforcer had a nervous quiver to his voice as Mercury kept his hand around the tech’s throat.
Fear. The scent of it slammed into Mercury’s senses, causing his lips to curl back, a vicious rumble brewing in his chest.
“Pick up the sweater,” Mercury growled into Austin’s face as he released him just enough to shift his grip to the back of his neck and force him down. To his knees, watching as the other man picked up the sweater, gasping for air and in pain at the grip Mercury had on him.
It would be so easy to snap his little head right off his shoulders and watch him bleed. The slight he had delivered to Ria was intolerable. It wouldn’t be allowed.
Pulling him back to his feet, Mercury stared into his eyes, watching fear sink into Austin’s bones as he trembled like a weak-kneed coward.
“Respect.” He let the word rumble from his throat. “In her presence. Or you die, little girl.” He used the worst insult he could have used to the egomaniacal little Breed.
His gaze flickered over the pristine, perfectly pressed, perfectly starched yellow shirt, buttoned to the throat and glaring against the Breed’s dark skin and white-tipped, spiked brown hair.
“Before you challenge me, girl, grow some balls,” he snarled, pushing him out the door, as once again, Kane, Callan, and Jonas rushed into the hallway.
“He’s crazy,” Austin gasped, his high-pitched voice causing them all to wince as he pointed to Mercury. “He tried to kill me. I was ordered to watch the room and he tried to kill me for removing that damned sweater.”
Callan turned to him, Jonas leaned against the opposite wall, and Mercury felt Ria move to his side as she watched, the scent of her anger drifting around him now. It was so volatile that even he could smell it.
“Mercury, leave the cameras uncovered, for God’s sake,” Callan bit out, staring back at him in anger.
“Why? I’m with her. It’s not like she can steal the files while I’m watching her.”
“Perhaps it’s not the files but her we’re worried about.” Ely stepped into the fray, maintaining a careful distance as she stared back at him worriedly.
“Dammit, Ely, since when the hell aren’t we worried about Ms. Rodriquez?” Callan snapped. “Security is my concern here.”
Mercury stared back at her, aching. His chest actually ached from the eyes trained on him, suspicious, cautious.
“Mr. Lyons, was the order to uncover the camera given by you?” Ria asked, her voice bland, carefully neutral.
“Ms. Rodriquez, those files are the heart and soul of Sanctuary,” he snapped back at her, his eyes blazing now. “I wouldn’t allow anyone alone in this room with them.”
“I wasn’t alone,” she pointed out.
And Callan shook his head. “Until we know what the hell is going on here, then it’s my job to protect everyone here. Even you,” he snapped, glowering at Mercury.
“I’ll be returning to my cabin now.” Ria turned, collecting her purse and the large thermal cup she used to bring coffee in with her. “You’ll be hearing from my boss by morning I assume.”
She left the room, hips swaying, all delicate strength and confidence, and Mercury didn’t hesitate to follow her. Fuck it. He’d put his life on the line for Sanctuary for a decade or longer. He’d followed orders, he’d played the good little Feline, and even his pride leader found no trust in him.
“Mercury.”
He paused as Callan growled his name.
Turning slowly, he stared back at the other man, years of what he had believed were trust and friendship hanging between them, pulling at him.
“Your safety is no less important than Sanctuary’s.”
Mercury shook his head, his lips twisting mockingly. He countered his pride leader. “Yeah, can’t have the bogeyman ripping hearts out in full view, can we? Only when ordered.”
Just as it had been in the labs.
Only when ordered.
He shrugged. “My mission is protecting the woman. As far as I know, I’m still operational.” He looked to Jonas. They all looked to Jonas.
And Jonas grinned. “As far as I’m concerned, you are. And the woman’s getting ahead of you, Enforcer.” He nodded to the door she was disappearing through.
“Good day, Pride Leader Lyons.” Mercury nodded back to him respectfully. Callan was a man he did respect, even if Callan didn’t trust him. “If you need me, I’m sure Director Wyatt will let me know.”
With that, Mercury turned and followed the path Ria had taken. She hadn’t left. She was waiting by the passenger side of the SUV, door open, watching the house expectantly. When he followed her out, she got inside the car and was waiting when he slid into the driver’s seat.
Ahead, Lawe’s four-by-four pickup led the way.
“There’s a power play in Sanctuary,” she stated as he put the vehicle in gear and drove toward the gates.
He glanced at her in surprise. “Callan doesn’t allow those.”
The gates swung open, protestors pouring around the truck ahead of them, then around theirs. Signs proclaiming “Breeds Are Atrocities in God’s Eyes” and “Breeds Die” were waved frantically as enraged faces filled the windows.
“Animal,” one woman screamed as she pounded at the driver’s window. “Bastard Breeds.”
Mercury drove steadily through the crowd until it disappeared behind them, the chanting ringing in his head long after the sound died down.
And with the chanting was Ria’s statement.
A power play.
Callan didn’t allow power plays, but he wasn’t at peak strength either. The gunshot wound that had nearly killed him two months before had weakened him and he was still recovering. Was someone moving to threaten Sanctuary while the pride leader was down?
Mercury shook his head. He couldn’t imagine it. Kane and Jonas watched Callan’s back, as did Callan’s brothers, Taber and Tanner. He had a capable, able force around him. A power play wasn’t possible. But other things were.
And Mercury was just an enforcer stripped of his rank and his uniform. And the friends he had once believed he had.
Callan slammed the door to his office viciously behind him as Jonas, his bodyguard Jackal, Kane, Ely, the little dweeb Austin and the enforcer who had been holding a weapon on Mercury stepped into the room.
He motioned Ely, Austin and the enforcer to the back of the room, out of earshot, as he waved the others to his desk and glared at Jonas furiously.
“Why the hell was Mercury not in uniform?” he snarled to Jonas. He had never seen Mercury out of his enforcer uniform while on duty. With Mercury, it wasn’t heard of. And at this point, it appeared to be a deliberate slap against the authority Callan held within the community.
Jonas stared back at him in surprise, before glancing to the other side of the room. Ely had her arms wrapped across her chest as she paced; the tech and the enforcer were standing nervously next to the wall.
Jonas turned and stared back at Callan intently. “Because you ordered his rank revoked. His uniform and his weapon were taken, Callan.”
Callan stared back at Jonas, stilling, every instinct inside him roaring out in challenge now. Because he had given no such order.
“What the hell is going on around here?” He kept his voice calm, level, low enough to go no further than the men surrounding him, but he couldn’t stop the furious growl that rumbled through it. “I have revoked no one’s rank. Least of all Merc’s. But I may well be getting ready to.”
He glowered back at the others in the room.
Ely flinched, the enforcer paled, and if Austin Crowl could have shrunk farther back against the wall, then he did.
“You.” He stabbed a finger in Austin’s direction. “Would you like to tell me what the hell you were doing??”
Austin blinked. “Following your orders, sir.” His voice trembled as Callan stared back at him in furious shock.
“My orders? I ordered you to deliberately antagonize another Breed?” His voice lowered further. Something was wrong here, because he had given no such order, and he sure as hell hadn’t revoked Mercury’s rank.
Austin was paste white now, his lips trembling as he licked them. “No, sir. You ordered the camera uncovered.” Terror filled his voice. “He answered the call.” He pointed to the enforcer as though it were his fault.
The young enforcer stood tall, Callan gave him credit for that, but his gaze was stark with fear. “You asked for Austin, and when he hung up he stated we were to uncover that camera and I was to go with him.”
Callan stared back at the two men. They weren’t lying. Someone had managed to impersonate him, from his own home.
Callan turned slowly to Kane, lowering his voice once again. “See if you can get into the system. See if that call can be traced. And I want the orders that went out regarding Mercury’s rank traced as well. Find out what the hell is going on here.”
“You didn’t give the order?” Jonas asked him carefully, his silver eyes swirling with chilling force.
Callan flicked him a disgusted look as Kane remained silent. “Any such order would have gone to you, Jonas. Not an enforcer below Mercury’s rank.”
“Callan, you have to do something about Mercury,” Ely stated then, her voice rising with anger.
Desperation and fear laced her voice as Callan glanced at Jonas and read the flat, hard anger in the director’s expression.
“Ely.” Callan turned to her, fighting back his anger as he indicated that she should take a seat before him. “What kind of game are you playing with Mercury?”
Kane and Jonas took their seats as well, watching as the doctor moved forward warily and sat down. With a flick of his hand, Callan sent the tech and the enforcer outside the door.
“He’s dangerous, Callan.” She pushed her fingers through her tussled hair and stared back at him as she rubbed at her neck, clearly concerned, worried. “These tests don’t lie. The Council developed the criteria to detect the feral fever. It’s building in him, and someone’s going to die if you don’t confine him and get him back on the drug therapy.”
Confine Merc? Callan stared at her in shock. “You want to confine Merc? And drug him?”
Disbelief filled him. Where had her compassion gone? This wasn’t the doctor who had overseen their mates, their community, and protected them when the anomalies in their systems went haywire. The Ely he knew would have never considered such a thing.
“It’s the only venue of safety,” she argued, clearly believing the words spilling from her lips. “Callan, we can’t risk him going feral. If the press gets so much as a hint of this, it could destroy us.”
“Bullshit.”
All eyes turned to Jonas.
“How dare you!” Ely snarled as she turned on him. “You’re playing your damned games again. Tell our pride leader how you refused to allow me to bring my findings to him or Mercury. Ordered me not to reveal them. You’re risking all our lives.”
Callan watched the confrontation, inhaling slowly, deeply, trying to figure out the emotions or the cause for her behavior.
“And you’re a paranoid scientist with nothing better to do than chase shadows,” Jonas grunted. “You’re irrational lately, Ely. Have you had yourself tested?” He flicked her a disgusted look.
“You have to do something about him.” Ely surged to her feet as Callan leaned back against his desk and watched the entire scene with a sense of disbelief.