Dawn acted as though she hadn't seen the display, but rather walked regally back toward the ballroom.
It happened a lot, Rachel knew. The Breeds were either loved or hated; there was very little in between. But here, amid the glitter, political intrigue, infighting and deals made and broken, she would have thought attitudes would have at least carried a polite face.
As though she had sensed Rachel's thoughts, Dawn began speaking as they reentered the ballroom. "Those two have worked diligently to attempt to ensure that the Breeds go back to the labs. Some people seem to have an instinct for the animals that have been unleashed, wouldn't you say?" The edge of cynicism in her voice was at odds with the happiness Rachel glimpsed in her eyes whenever she was with her husband.
"Humans fear change, or anyone different from themselves," Rachel said as they moved along a path that Dawn seemed to have an instinct for.
The guests they passed smiled and many attempted to engage the two women in conversation, which Dawn effectively fielded.
There was an additional tension filling her body as she began to move through the crowd with an added firmness to her step. Even dressed in a ball gown and heels, Dawn seemed to exude command as her head suddenly lifted, her nostrils flaring.
Rachel was surprised that she noticed the signs of sudden, sharp instinct within the other woman. Something had happened, something that now had Dawn moving through the crowd like a hot knife through butter.
Not that the other guests seemed to be aware of it. What they saw was the woman, sensual and yet predatory, drawing them in even as some human survival instinct warned them to keep away.
The path Dawn was clearing had the women heading straight for the wide double doors that led to the large marble foyer and from there, the front entrance to the house.
"Jonas is waiting on us." Dawn turned back to her briefly before continuing to the exit. "He, Seth and the Enforcers who were stationed outside are in the foyer."
"Ms. Broen, leaving so soon?" Rachel would have ignored Ambassador Slussburg's smooth, sneering little voice if he hadn't suddenly gripped her arm and pulled her to a stop.
Just that quickly, Dawn turned.
Her expression remained calm and poised, but the dark brown of her gaze seemed to flicker with flames as her fingers clamped over Slussburg's arm.
"Ambassador Slussburg," she stated, her voice cordial, even as it rumbled with danger. "I suggest you release her."
His hand was lifting slowly, his fingers uncurling from her arm when Rachel felt the hairs at the back of her neck lift in primal warning. Hell, she wasn't even a Breed and she could feel the violence suddenly swirling in the air.
Her head swung around, and there he was. Silver eyes almost neon, the black pupils nearly obliterated by the swirls of mercury as he stalked toward them.
"Let's go." Dawn gripped her wrist and pulled her quickly from the ambassador. When they were far enough away not to be overheard, Dawn murmured, "Get control of him, Rachel, no matter what it takes. He's lost logic. That's the animal you see, and only you can control it now. We don't have time for this. Trust me."
Rachel's heart was pounding out of control. She had seen the rage in the ambassador's gaze, had felt the pure, violent fury pouring from him as he stopped her. Her arm would hold bruises later from his hold.
That hadn't been frightening. She hadn't been scared of the ambassador, but the man striding toward her now, his gaze reflecting death and pure fury, terrified her.
In a second's insight, Rachel realized that none of the guests around them realized that the man striding through their crowded throng was an animal prepared to kill. That the wrong word, the wrong look, the wrong touch could unleash the very killer they all feared in the darkness of the night.
"No!" She stepped in front of him, unafraid for herself, terrified for the ambassador and anyone who would try to save him or to get in Jonas's way.
He paused, then attempted to move around her.
She couldn't reach him for a kiss; even with high heels she went only to his shoulders. She did the next-best thing. She grabbed his wrist as he tried to pass, lifted it and sank her teeth into his flesh for a hard, quick bite.
That stopped him.
Turning, he stared down at her, the pupil enlarging just enough in his gaze that Rachel could pray there was an edge of sanity returning.
It took precious moments. The prints of her teeth were in his hard wrist; the taste of him lingered against her tongue as she fought to hold him back, to keep the animal inside him leashed.
"We will discuss this." There was more than a rumble in his voice now, there was pure intent.
But sanity was there.
Holding her arm, he turned away from the ambassador and led her quickly to the wide front doors that looked out on the circular drive.
There were six Enforcers standing at the ready, weapons held as he rushed her from the house and into the waiting limo. Something had happened, there was no doubt about that. There was a sense of imminent danger surrounding the Breeds, their hard gazes and savage expressions reflecting a heightened sense of awareness.
Dawn followed, Seth at her side, until the doors closed behind them and the vehicles were speeding away from the Hampton mansion.
Curving mountain roads were the wrong place for the constant switches the limo made in position with the other two that had pulled out behind them. The six Enforcers as well as two drivers in the other two vehicles were driving like kamikaze racers heading for destiny.
"What's going on?" Rachel could feel her throat tightening with fear. "Is Amber okay?"
"Amber's fine. She's currently in a secured room reserved for Sanctuary's children and protected by the Enforcers assigned to give their lives if necessary. The mated parents are with them and looking over them as well as Leo and his entourage of cutthroats."
If those precautions were being taken, whatever had happened was something with the potential to endanger the mated couples as well as the ruling cabinet.
She watched wide-eyed as Dawn and Seth worked on a personal slimline laptop, and Dawn spoke urgently, her tone lowered, into a sat phone.
"Sanctuary was attacked about an hour ago," Jonas stated. "Callan and Merinus's son, David, was nearly kidnapped while on a pre-training exercise with Tanner Reynolds; my sister, Harmony; and her husband, Lance Jacobs. Lance was wounded, which compounded a chest wound he received nearly a year ago."