Chapter Fifteen #4
The information made Colin frown. Liam was definitely girding up for a war.
Colin was okay with going to war for his brother.
He’d follow him into any fight. Hell, that was his job.
But he was worried that Liam hadn’t thought through the ramifications of this particular war.
Colin and the rest of the team had their suspicions on where this was going.
They weren’t stupid. Nor were they afraid to follow Liam into whatever hell he chose for them.
He just hoped his brother was thinking with his head and not his dick.
He gave his head a mental shake. He’d never thought he’d have to question Liam on a matter like this.
But everything about this job had been sideways from the start.
Not the least of which being the way their commander had fallen flat for their principal.
Colin wanted to confront her. He’d do whatever it took to get her to back off so his brother would go back to being the sharp, flawless soldier they were all used to.
But while he was willing to press his brother, he knew it would be incredibly out of line to interfere with her.
Liam would instantly shut down and block him out.
He’d probably punch him in the head while he was at it.
It was hard to say for sure because he’d never seen Liam act like this, never seen him break all of his own rules before.
Honestly, it was like dealing with a stranger.
A stranger ten times more human and flawed than the unshakable, untouchable Liam.
“Hey, Liam,” Colin said absently as these thoughts rolled through his head.
“Mmm?”
“I’m glad to see you happy.”
And in the end, that’s what it came down to. Liam was happy. Happy in a way they’d never seen before. In a way that was delightful to witness.
Colin wasn’t going to be the one to fuck that up. Happiness was so fragile in this environment that it was very likely to fall apart all on its own.
And that was going to be a damn shame, he thought, as he turned away before Liam could respond to his remark.
Devon had given Liam all the outward appearance of things going back to normal these past few days.
No mean trick, that. Liam was a very shrewd man.
But things were far from being normal. If Ambrose thought she was simply going to sit here while he took pot shots at her, he was sorely delusional.
She was the female Beta of Dark Manhattan.
As Liam had pointed out, she was the second most powerful female Morphate on the planet.
She had bided her time long enough, played victim long enough.
Now the time had come.
And was the L. A. Alpha involved as well?
Were the two in collusion as was suspected?
It was one thing for her to entertain taking on one Alpha.
But what if there were two? To fight with only humans and mercury at her back might be the hugest act of stupidity.
Then again, all it took was dead aim and steady shots.
They could potentially wipe out an entire Morphate force from a distance.
They certainly couldn’t expect to do well if they were drawn in to hand-to-hand fighting.
But when she faced Ambrose … she could not kill him.
He had to be taken captive. He had to be made an example of The human populace had to believe that the Alpha Council served its purpose.
That it could police its own. If humans began to doubt that, the moment they had this weaponry she had created, it could very well become open season on all Morphates.
The future of the Morphates was in her hands, and her heart was heavy with the responsibility of it all.
And all the while she had to continually check her morals.
She had to make certain she was doing things for the greater good and with respect for the lives teetering on the line …
both Morphate and human. She’d had to weigh that knowledge every moment her hands and mind spent crafting weapons meant to kill the unkillable.
Liam sat across the table from her watching her as she went through the motions-of eating in total silence, her mind completely and obviously preoccupied.
She had been drifting into these obsessive states frequently ever since the attempt on her life.
It was actually quite fascinating to watch her mind working, watch the expressions that creased her beautiful features.
But he had to stop being fascinated and think more practically.
“What didn’t you tell me?”
“Hmm?”
She looked up at him as if he had suddenly appeared, rather than having been sitting across from her for the past half hour.
“What didn’t you tell me?” he asked again, this time softly, his voice like a stranger’s as it fell to a coaxing timbre.
It amazed him, the depths of tenderness he had suddenly found within himself.
He’d been so hard for so long, he had no idea where it was coming from or why it was coming at all.
But it came just when it needed to, it seemed.
The deflation of her shoulders as she exhaled told him so, even if she opened her mouth and flat out lied to him with her next breath.
“I don’t know what you mean,” she said, her gaze shifting to her food rather than meeting his.
“Liar,” he said baldly, making her start. He could see her scrounging up a bristling response, but it was all an act. She was going through the motions.
“I am not a liar! What a horrible thing to say to me!”
“From the day I walked in your front door I have been nothing but brutally honest with you. And you have done nothing but lie to me,” he said quietly.
There was no accusation in his voice and there was a reason for that.
“I understand why. You were protecting yourself and you are protecting others. I was a stranger not yet worthy of your trust, and considering all you have on the line here, I don’t blame you for it at all.
But we are no longer strangers, Devon. And I would like to think I have proven myself trustworthy. Or at least worthy of your confidence.”
She deflated again, her eyes turning up to him and a sweet little crinkle of distress appearing between her brows.
“Liam, I’m sorry. Of course you have earned my confidence.
And my trust,” she added, almost as if she were reminding herself of the fact.
He waited as she paused a few beats, settling her own mind.
“That girl … I know who sent her,” she told him softly.
“She said Ambrose of Dark Phoenix had sent her. I have Carter out looking for his whereabouts now because it is quite clear to me that he is not in Phoenix. I doubt he would kidnap me, throw me on a plane, and try and control me for a cross continent flight.”
“She was going to kidnap you?” he said, his disbelief obvious. “To what end?”
“A question I will ask Ambrose when I see him. She blathered on about my being a traitor to my species, but I know Ambrose. He is not emotionally driven. He never has been. In fact, I suspect him to be a psychopath.”
“Psychopaths can imagine a cause for themselves,” he said. “Even if for no other reason than the fascination of carrying it out, and watching others act and respond to it.” Liam frowned. “I don’t like this. And what were you going to do? Rush after him without telling me?”
“I wasn’t trying to eliminate you from my plans, only trying to figure out how best to approach the situation in my own head before involving anyone else.”
“And what conclusions have you come to?” he asked, trying not to let his temper boil up. She was used to being on her own. Used to being in total control of everything with no one but Carter to bounce an idea off of. There was no reason he should feel slighted by her actions.
So why did he? Why was he so angry?
Devon was too sharp not to notice the change in his tone and the tension in his body language, however much he tried to conceal them. She didn’t understand his temper, but she did know she didn’t want to alienate him. She didn’t want Ambrose to come between them.
“I haven’t come to any conclusions as yet.
” She reached out for his hand where it lay fisted on the table.
“I was wondering what you thought of all of this. You once told me you were willing to take an assertive approach, to take the fight to Ambrose’s door.
Do you still feel that way? Knowing you and your people would be facing powerful and unpredictable Morphates from several generations, will you still offer your help? ”
As she spoke, her fingers had begun to stroke the fine hairs and skin on the back of his hand. Unbelievably, the simple contact began to unravel his anger, soothing him with remarkable speed.
“I have complete faith in my people and their capabilities, but I admit, when we first came here I would never have offered them up in a war with one of the most powerful Morphates in the Federated States. However, armed as we now are with a series of game balancers and knowing how true your weapons’ aim can be, I’d say we’re very much even at this point.
I especially like the compressor gun. A large baby like that will certainly level the playing field.
And your rapid-fire handguns put ours to shame with those glass bullets. ”
“They aren’t glass,” she argued instantly, making him smile because he’d learned any inaccuracy regarding her weaponry was always met with correction. “They’re a special—”