Lawe's Justice - Lora Leigh [120]
At that moment, Diane almost hated the other woman.
“Amber can never be replaced,” Diane assured the female alpha coldly. “Know this, all of you. If Amber dies because any of you stood in my way, or took this from me, then I swear I’ll make damned sure I make all of your lives hell.”
Merinus’s gentle expression never changed. “We never doubted that for a moment,” she breathed out roughly. “But it won’t change the fact that your and Rachel’s safety is paramount.”
“Then I need your assurance,” Diane demanded of them. “I want your vow that none of you will take it over and decide you can achieve your ends without me.”
She stared at Callan first, then Lawe and Jonas. They stared back at her, and she almost sneered. Oh, how well she knew Breeds. That thought had been uppermost in all their minds. She may be furious at them all, including her sister at the moment for even considering a continued friendship with the prima, but it didn’t make her stupid.
“You’ll have it.” It was Lawe who broke the silence. He turned to Diane. “As long as you’re in no immediate danger and as long as I’m confident you have a chance of survival, then the operation won’t be taken from you or interfered with in any way.”
She lifted her head, debating with herself, knowing that if any being on earth would keep his word, then it was Lawe. And in turn, Callan and Jonas. But none of them had ever been tested in such a way either.
She swallowed tightly. “There’re a few things I’ll need, and I’ll need your patience.”
“Let’s hear it first.” Callan and Merinus resumed their seats at the table as Diane, Lawe, Jonas and Rachel followed suit.
Diane hadn’t expected such easy compliance, she had to admit. She’d expected threats, anger, and when all else failed, she’d expected Jonas to trump all other means of convincing her by using her love for Rachel or, worse for Lawe, against her. Hell, she’d even been prepared to continue to play the silent warrior while Thor, Emma and Sharone tracked down information.
She knew a few things about Breed law. She knew her refusal had broken several statutes, which could result in her and Lawe’s imprisonment if it were pushed. And it would have been, if it weren’t for the fact that the babe in question belonged to Jonas. If not by blood, then by love.
“The past two days I haven’t just been sitting on my ass. Thor, with Emma and Sharone, using the guise of searching for Council Coyotes, has been gathering information. Rumor, suspicion and discussions held behind closed doors but not out of Sharon’s ability to hear from a window, a door or other hidden means, has come through. The group responsible for protecting Honor, Fawn and Judd doesn’t even have a name,” Diane warned them. “At least not one I’ve been able to learn. What I have learned is that Judd, Fawn and Honor weren’t the first or the last children to have disappeared with an anonymous group of men disguised by war paint. There have been others. Children who were brought to them, even before the rescues began, as well as at least one hybrid whose mother was killed, and whose father was fatally wounded.”
“Why not come to us?” Callan growled, anger and concern filling his face now.
Diane shook her head. “Not all Breeds trust either Sanctuary or Haven,” she reminded him. “The spies found within both bases pose a risk to those Breeds who were created for special purposes or who were already a part of political or private enterprises the Council considered long-term goals. They’re Breeds that, for whatever reason, couldn’t afford ever to be identified as Breeds. Then”—she breathed in deeply—“there are the missing children. The six that a Breed known as Harmony Lancaster had locations for, but they had disappeared before your teams could get to them. Hybrid babes who were taken from their mothers’ bodies then stolen from the labs were smuggled or kidnapped from supposedly secured labs and disappeared almost immediately. There are dozens, Callan, and those are just the ones I know of. I’m certain