Weariness and uncertainty and a sense of defeat.
Because she knew she couldn’t go home. She knew the place she had called home would be denied to her until Honor, Fawn, Judd and Gideon were together.
The weariness and uncertainty he could understand. He could even allow it. The defeat was another thing entirely.
“Not tonight. The damage to the house hasn’t been repaired yet, and we’re still trying to track down a few leads concerning the two Breeds Claire killed. A room has been reserved here for you. You can return to the house when it’s safe again,” Stygian assured her, his fists clenching at his sides with the need to go to her.
That need was a hunger that raged and tore at his guts, yet he could sense the knowledge that doing so right now would do more harm than good. Liza didn’t want his strength at the moment, she needed her own. And she would never be certain she had done all she could to escape the obstacles fate had placed in her path at the moment.
“He’s right, Liza.” Terran turned to her as Stygian watched her lips part and the gleam of battle enter her gaze. “Let us get the windows repaired and get some additional security to the house. Then we’ll rethink the matter.”
Once again, she bowed down to Terran’s request when she was ready and eager to fight Stygian’s.
His back teeth clenched to the point that he was amazed his teeth didn’t shatter with the pressure.
“What will it really matter, Terran?” Liza asked then, the bitter disillusionment in her gaze beginning to bother Stygian in ways he couldn’t explain, even to himself. “The only difference between the Genetics Council and the Breeds is the manner in which they manage to extract the information from their victims.” She turned back to Jonas then. “It doesn’t matter how they hurt me, how they torture me or how much of it they make my father watch. There’s no way he can access that information, Mr. Wyatt. There’s no way I can access it.”
“Any information can be accessed, Ms. Johnson.” It was Rachel who stepped forward.
Somber. Her face pale from lack of sleep, the dark circles beneath her eyes attesting to her worry and concern for her daughter, she spoke with the heavy knowledge of certainty.
Liza shook her head. “Such information is too important to leave to chance, Rachel. The Navajo Genetic Database is the only one of its kind in the world. The only one that will allow the majority of the Breeds to find their place in the world. Just as their mothers, their grandmothers, their aunts and their cousins were taken from their home, their lands, their worlds.” The scent of her tears reached Stygian, as subtle as the first breeze of spring, as heated as summer’s kiss. “It’s the only way some families who lost relatives will ever learn what happened to them. Do you think the safeguards we have in place aren’t the best that could have been imagined or provided?”
Rachel clasped her hands in front of her as she hunched her shoulders defensively. An unconscious gesture toward the possibility that the plans her mate had put in place to find the answers to save her daughter could fail.
“It’s information,” Rachel said then. “Any time information is gathered, no matter where or by whom, when another knows of it, suspects it, then it’s in danger of discovery. The Navajo Genetic Database has been secure only because none knew of it outside a very small group and because those supplying their genetic information had a reason to remain quiet. But now, others who have no such loyalty to what you’ve gathered know of it, Liza. And unless it’s disbanded and all information destroyed, then it is at risk.”
It was at risk.
Liza stared back at the other woman and saw the tears shimmering in her eyes, the agony that resonated in her soul as she faced her daughter’s possible fate.
Liza would give anything to help her save that perfect, sweet little girl.
The database wasn’t going to save her, though.
Finding Gideon wouldn’t save Amber.
And Honor Roberts and Fawn Corrigan did not exist within the database.
They did not exist within the Nation.
“My father wouldn’t betray what he’s pledged himself to, even for me.” She turned to Stygian, that knowledge wrapping around in a certainty that raked across her already scarred soul. “He can’t betray what he himself has no access to. If you don’t believe me, ask Terran.”
She turned to Isabelle’s father with an arched brow.
Staring back at her for a long, silent moment, he finally nodded with a sharp motion of his head.
“That’s true enough,” he agreed—then he had to spoil it. “But I agree with the Breeds, Liza. The Genetics Council would believe otherwise and they wouldn’t flinch at the thought of torture to get the answers they believe could be attained.”
She felt betrayed. Betrayed and angry.
She needed to get home. If she were stuck here in this hotel, how was she supposed to do her job?
“Not to worry, Ms. Johnson, I’m certain your friends will find a way to stop by and say hello.” Jonas’s smile was tight and hard. “At least you left your comm-link home tonight.”
“If I had known the lovely meeting we would have, I would have made certain to pick it up before I left.”
“Cullen has no business pulling you into this,” Terran bit out. “I’m sure your father will have something to say about it.”
Lips tightening, she turned to Jonas. “And just what fairy tales have you been carrying to Terran, Mr. Wyatt?”
“I don’t deal in fairy tales, Ms. Johnson,” he assured her coolly. “I deal in facts and nothing more.” There wasn’t an ounce of apology in his gaze or in his voice.
Which left her only one alternative.
“Father has known about it since it began, Terran.” She sighed wearily. “He’s always stood behind my decision to do what I felt was needed. He won’t back down from that decision.”
God, she was tired.
Too damned tired to put up with this crap much longer.
Shoving her hands into the pockets of her cotton pants, she slowly turned back to Stygian, forcing herself to meet his gaze. “I’m tired. Either take me home or show me my room. I think I’ve had enough for the day.”
“I can do that,” he agreed.
There was something about that agreement that just didn’t sit right with her.
Something that just smacked of a man with an agenda.