Joy exploded inside her as she felt the unraveling in her soul. As though the tattered remains of past demons and nightmares were burned away, and in their place, something new was being born. She could feel Lance. He was alive. He was there, holding her, his lips pressed to her forehead, his voice murmuring, comforting. Forgiving.
Lance was going to live.
CHAPTER 25
Harmony slipped from the ICU waiting room the next evening, moving past the throng of Lance’s family, the Breeds standing guard, and slipping carefully to the stairwell that led to the first floor.
She had seen him as she stood at Lance’s window, staring up at her, his expression shadowed, and known that if she didn’t go down, then he would come up.
She knew exactly where to find Dane. He was lounging on a bench in the small grassy park area next to the hospital, a slim cigar clenched between his teeth, his expression resigned as she approached him.
She was unarmed. If she had to fight, she didn’t think she could find the energy.
“Where’s Ryan?” She sat down on the bench beside him, inhaling the tangy scent of the slim cigar.
“Calling Mother,” Dane grunted. “I keep telling him this crush he has on her is going to get him killed. Father will make him wish he had never said the first flirtatious word.”
Harmony inhaled slowly. She had listened to Dane chas-tise Ryan for years over his flirtatious relationship with Dane’s mother.
“Are you a Breed, Dane?”
He lifted the cigar from his lips, blowing a stream of smoke as his eyes narrowed before turning his head to her.
“How long have you known me, Harm?” he questioned rather than answering, and he used the nickname he had given her so long ago.
“Long enough for me to know when you’re avoiding a question.” She sighed, pushing her fingers through her hair as she drew closer around her the jacket one of Lance’s cousins had given her earlier. “You have no canines, no scent. I didn’t even suspect.”
“If I were a Breed, I would be careful not to let you suspect.” His smile was a shade mocking, a shade saddened.
“Why?”
He sighed heavily. “Sometimes, the answers are more complicated than the questions. Suffice it to say, I was always your friend instead. And so I will always be.”
His voice was firm, assuring her that he had no intention of answering the question.
“Why have you helped me then?” she asked instead. “You could have had that information at any time. You likely already knew where it was. Why the game?”
He leaned forward, flicking an ash from the cigar as he braced his elbows on his knees before answering.
“You needed a reason to live. I just helped you along.” He finally shrugged. “Now that you have what you’ve always needed, Harmony, I’ll take the information and make certain it can never be used to hurt anyone else.”
She tilted her head and regarded him silently.
“But why? And answer me this time, damn you.” She was tired of games, tired of answers voiced in questions and men attempting to manipulate her life. “Just tell me why.”
“Because I love you, Harm.”
That shut her up. She stared back at him in disbelief, her eyes widening at his heavy expression.
“Look at you.” He shook his head with weary amusement. “You never knew. But…” He shrugged again. “I never meant for you to know. If it were meant to be, it would have been. You needed a reason to live, I couldn’t be your reason, so I helped you with the one you chose at the time. It’s that simple.”
She swallowed tightly, uncertain what to say to him, how to feel about this man who had been such a large part of her life.
“How did you keep track of me?”
His lips quirked at her avoidance of his declaration.
“Shall I show you?” His hand lifted, moving beneath her hair until his fingers settled high beneath her hairline and pressed against a small, previously unfelt bump beneath the flesh.
She blinked at him, her hand flying back as she felt the area herself. It was no larger than a pinhead, but definitely there.
“It’s a GPS locator with an added sensitivity to monitor your vitals. Heart rate, pain sensation, whatever.” He shrugged. “I always knew within moments when you were in trouble and where you were. And I always came for you.”
“Why?” Confusion, disbelief and a sense of frustrated anger filled her. “Why would you do this, Dane?”
“Because you mattered, luv,” he whispered, his accent thickening. “You mattered to me, as well as to those you don’t even know. You’re vital to us, not because of what you are, or what you thought was hidden, but because of the heart and the soul of the young warrior you were. You mattered to us.”
“No…” She shook her head fiercely.
“You needed to believe yourself to be alone, so we let you think you were alone. You needed to know you were a weakness to no one and that no one weakened you, so I let you believe I was rescuing you in exchange for a job only you could do.” His smile was mocking. “You always knew better, Harm. If you hadn’t, you would have given Jonas what he wanted. You would have betrayed me.”
“How did you know?” She touched the hidden device.
“No, I can’t monitor your voice or your actions.” His grin was a bit amused. “I have other sources, sweetheart, within Sanctuary. I knew what Jonas wanted. I was quite curious how far he would go. Though I always knew I could trust you.”
She clenched her fingers in the jacket, staring back at him miserably.
“You knew all along.” She shook her head at the revelation. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Wide shoulders shrugged again. “What was the point? You were confused enough. Mating, falling in love, facing the danger you brought to your man. I wanted you happy, Harmony.” His smile was rueful. “I would have preferred it had you fallen in love with me. But your happiness was all that truly mattered.”
She’d had friends. A man who cared for her; she couldn’t accept the love part right now. He and Ryan had risked their lives more times than she could count on both hands, for her. And she had never realized, even worse, she had never wanted what they had to offer.
“I’m sorry.” She met his gaze fully, regret filling her. “You deserved better, even for a friend.”
“No, sweetheart, you deserved more.” He shook his head at her statement. “You were like a wounded lioness, fighting to survive. I merely helped you where I could. I did no more.”
“You’re wrong,” she whispered. “It was so much more.”
She rose to her feet then, knowing she didn’t have much longer. As soon as Jonas learned she had disappeared, he would be searching for Dane again.
“Jonas thinks you’re the first Leo and he’s determined to capture you,” she told him then. “Be careful of him, Dane. Even in the labs, Jonas was frighteningly adept at getting what he wanted. He’s only grown stronger and more determined.”
Dane smiled at that. “I’m not the first Leo, Harm. But should I ever run across him, I’ll be certain to pass the message along.”
He straightened, staring down at her, his emerald eyes brilliant even in the darkness.
“You’re a Breed,” she whispered then. “I think I’ve always…”
He laid his finger across her lips. “Go in peace, little lioness. And should you need me…” His hand slid to the small tracker hidden beneath her hair. “I’ll always be close.”
She watched as he turned then and moved toward the vehicles parked at the edge of the grass.
“Give Jonas my regards,” he called back as he disappeared into the shadows. “And tell him we will meet again.”
It sounded like a warning.