No fucking way.
She stuffed her guns in her holsters and straightened up. “Let’s do this.”
Chapter Forty
Sasha
By the time we pulled into Adam’s ranch, my nerves were fried. I kept expecting to see Fonthill’s psychotic smile lurching out from every shadow. We shouldn’t have been rushing into this. None of us had slept, and you could almost smell the adrenaline in the air.
This was how mistakes happened. Deadly mistakes.
Nadya came out of the house with Adam shadowing her. I glanced around for the other wolves, and Adam anticipated my question. “The others are around the dining-room table.”
I hugged my sister, closing my eyes and wishing we were back home. When I pulled back I forced a smile. “Good to see you.”
“Adam told me you were coming by to talk to me.” Concern lined her features. She probably knew something was wrong the moment she hugged me. “You’re upset.”
“I’ll be all right. Can we find a quiet spot to talk?”
Adam nodded. “Nadya’s room is downstairs. You can get down there without anyone noticing.”
“Works for me.”
We went back into the house, and I followed my sister to her downstairs bedroom. Once we were inside, I closed the door and sat beside Nadya on her bed.
A few small paintings of horses hung on the almond-colored walls, and the distressed-wood headboard on the queen-sized bed matched the large dresser that stood like a sentinel beside the door. “This is a nice room they gave you.”
Nadya started to smile. “It is. But I don’t think you came in here to check out my new digs.”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. “Sorry.” I forced myself to look at her. “I’m still not used to you knowing what I’m feeling.”
“Nothing’s changed except that now you know about it.” She took my hand. “It’s not like I can read your mind, just your state of mind, I guess.” Squeezing my hand, she said, “So tell me what’s going on? I assume by all the muscle upstairs you haven’t caught the stalker yet.”
When did my baby sister grow up? “No, and the truth is he’s much more than just a stalker.”
“Is he a werewolf, too?”
I gave it a little thought. “Sort of. He’s been genetically enhanced, and a side effect of that is mental illness and death.” I met her eyes. “He’s already killed two innocent men, and he’ll kill more if we don’t stop him.”
“What’s that got to do with me?”
“Do you always cut right to the chase?”
She started to smile. “I’ve always wanted to, but until now I had to be careful.”
In that moment I realized that while I’d been keeping my conversion into a jaguar assassin a secret, Nadya had been keeping her own secret for years. How much lonelier had her life become when I pulled her out of the school for the gifted and jammed her into a world that wouldn’t understand her gift?
I could almost hear Aren’s voice telling me to let the past go. Damned wolf.
I told Nadya about Aren’s father having a twin brother and his connections in the military. And finally I couldn’t delay it any longer. “General Sloan thinks he can talk to Fonthill and get him to abandon this mission, but we need to get Fonthill out of hiding to do it.”
“And you think he’ll come after me.”
“I know he will.” I sighed. “This company who experimented on these werewolf military squads has also been experimenting on breeding psychic human women with shifters in the hopes of producing female shifters who don’t have to be bitten like I was.”
I paused, giving her a second to absorb the information. “Nero funded your school, Nadya. I don’t have solid evidence yet, but think they killed our parents to get custody of you.”
Her eyes shined with tears she didn’t let fall. “And when this guy found my name in your cell phone…”
“They know where you are now.” I swallowed. My throat suddenly felt scratchy and raw. “That’s why I’m worried. I’ve been inside Nero’s walls. I can’t let them take you there.”
She took my hand. “I trust you. If this is the best chance to get him before he gets us, then we should take it.”
“If the general can’t talk Fonthill down, then I’ll take him out, but I need a clear shot. Aren will have a few of the Pack in place just in case I can’t get position.”
“Sounds like you’ve got lots of fallback plans.”
“Don’t be so quick to agree to this.” I frowned. “None of us have slept. We’re not at our best, and Fonthill is a lunatic trained to kill. If anything happens to you…” I couldn’t finish.
Silence embraced us for a minute until Nadya got up.
“I’m not jumping into this blind. You’ve told me everything, and I know what I’m getting into. This is a way I can help keep you safe, too, you know? You’re not the only one who worries about her sister.”
Again, I felt like I didn’t know my sister as well as I thought I did. “You’re willing to walk out of here alone and risk a crazed werewolf trying to take you hostage?”
She turned back to face me. “I won’t be alone. You and the wolves will be there.” She crossed her arms. “Besides, remember when I was in junior high and you insisted on self-defense classes? I’m not a helpless bunny being tossed out in front of a fox. If I’m in trouble I know how to fight.”
“He’ll be armed, Nadya. We don’t know what he’ll do.”
She sighed. “If you were convinced this is a good idea, then why are you trying to talk me out of it?”
I stood up. “Because this isn’t a good idea. It’s a desperate idea. We can all hear the clock ticking in the background. If we don’t get this guy soon he’ll kill someone else, and we won’t be able to keep covering it up. Everyone is at risk if shifters are exposed to the rest of the world, especially if they think we’re a threat to public safety.”
“I’m not a child anymore, Sasha. I know it’s dangerous, but I also know it’s a chance to help you. Plus, I could help the Pack who has been protecting me even though they don’t owe me a thing.” She raised her chin and reached for the door. “I trust you. You’re going to get him, and I’m going to help any way that I can.”
…
After taking a moment to collect myself, I followed Nadya back upstairs where Adam and Aren were seated at the dining room table with Lana and a few other Pack members. I recognized Jason and figured he was an obvious choice for this operation since he was a doctor. If we had any injuries we wouldn’t be able to run to the emergency room for treatment.
Beside Jason was his twin, a carbon copy of his tanned skin and fiery hazel eyes. His twin wore his hair back in a ponytail, and where Jason had the manicured hands of a doctor, his twin’s hands were rough. A worker’s hands. This was the man who’d built the huge doors on the cabin at Lake Tahoe. Aren had told me his name, but I couldn’t recall it. He met my eyes, and I realized his shoulders were broader than Jason’s too, built up from the physical labor of his job.
I approached with my head up, ready to step into a male-dominated arena. Even though we were around a dining room table, it felt every bit as testosterone-filled as the police station.
I held my hand out to Jason’s twin. “I’m Sasha. You must be Jason’s brother?”
“I know who you are.” Animosity colored his voice, but he still stood and took my hand. “Jared.”
“Nice to meet you.” I dropped his hand and turned my attention to Gareth. We hadn’t been formally introduced, but that didn’t matter. I’d never forget him, and I’d bet he wouldn’t let his grudge against me go either. His eyes kept moving between me and Nadya. Our features were too similar when we stood together to hide the fact we were related. There was a good chance all the wolves were making that same connection.