Sword of Mercy (24 page)

“Well, from what I remember TB’s are vicious
predators that will protect you with their lives which is a good
thing based on how hard he is to defeat. The downside is he won’t
leave you, even when you change your appearance. Your DNA is
imprinted in his mind. Anyone who knows you will see him and it’ll
make it hard for you to work incognito. Your spying days as other
people are over. One look at him and they’ll know it’s you because
he is an original.”

“Ugly you mean,” Asia said when she got a look
at the odd looking beast. “Are there a lot of those?”

“Not from what I heard, but like I said it
wasn’t my project. Rumor was they scrapped the project before
Griffith’s death because no one could control them. When they
bonded with an owner it was for life. The Liege couldn’t use or
sell them because the TB’s refused to leave their handlers from the
labs. I thought they were all destroyed, possibly in that
incinerator you found the other day. Don’t know why they left that
one.”

“Well, damn,” Angus said, shaking his head.
“Lost a two hundred year career overnight. I guess it’s time to
retire in the mountains with my dog or whatever the mutt is.” He
chuckled not seeming the least bothered. “Can he understand what
I’m saying? I tried to link to him and he looked at me, but that
was all.”

“Maybe, I don’t know for sure. But he is
intelligent and will protect you at all costs, which, given the
fact the blue birds are stirring, isn’t a bad thing.” Hawke opened
their link and briefed Angus on their plans. After a little fine
tuning, Angus changed his appearance to a young, muscular, blonde
male and stepped out the car.

Asia and Hawke stepped out as well. “You need
to introduce us to him, let him know we are your friends. Kind of
like open his circle of safe people for you to be around,” Hawke
said to Angus taking Asia’s hand.

Angus knelt in front of the TerraByte and
stroked the top of his head for a few seconds. The beast looked at
her and then Hawke as if checking them out before returning his
gaze to Angus. “Byte, that’s his name,” Angus said standing. “I
told him to only attack the beasts I attack and no one else. Ulric
would think I issued an Alpha challenge otherwise.”

Asia unsheathed her sword, glanced at Byte who
growled as he faced the building. “Appreciate that.”

Angus took off, Byte followed in a burst of
speed as the first bluebird reached them. Ulric and his pack fought
the four hybrids and the other bluebird remained in
place.

Byte leapt forward, grabbed the bluebird by
the neck and tore off a chunk of skin, revealing flesh, bone and
glints of metal. The bird dropped to the ground. Byte bit into the
neck again ripping and tearing while the bird tried to dislodge
him. His tough skin prevented the poisonous nails from penetrating
and each tug from the bluebird made the tear worse. Asia stood
fascinated by the long sharp teeth stained with blood in Byte’s
mouth. The bluebird tried several times to rise from the ground,
its head lolled to the side with a gaping wound.

Angus sauntered over and cut off the head with
a solid swing, sending it rolling a few feet. Byte jogged to the
head, sniffed a few times and then bit into it. A few seconds later
he tossed it aside and took off after Angus, who ran toward the
building.

The whole fight lasted a few minutes. Asia
couldn’t believe how fast and strong Byte had been. Hawke squeezed
her hand and took off. A few seconds later she caught up with
him.

“I want one of those,” She said as they passed
Angus and Byte destroying another Bluebird.

Chapter 24

Boris sat in the chair in the lower chamber
watching the battle outside. Hawke, his prized achievement, fought
with the strength and cunning of ten hybrids. He sighed in regret.
They could have gone far together, taken the world by storm. With
Hawke’s genius and his connections, there was little they couldn’t
eventually accomplished, even unlocking the secrets of the
chameleon. He had been right, Hawke and Angus were mated. It was
obvious in the way they fought as a team. Such a waste. Pity they
chose to fight against him and his comrades instead of joining the
winning team as many other full-bloods had.

“We are on the way, and it happened the way
you suspected it would. Gordon attempted to leave with Damian and
was stopped. What are your instructions?” a hybrid said through the
intercom.

Lancaster touched his jaw with his fingertips
reminding himself of the last confrontation with Gordon and
continued watching the monitor. He laughed. Someone found
Griffith’s toy. The beast refused to die no matter how many times
they tried to kill it after Griffith’s death. No one knew what the
former Lord had done to this animal since he worked on it alone.
The man had created a monster they couldn’t control. Boris leaned
forward and watched the beast rip a chunk out the neck of the
bluebird.
Impressive
. “Seems like the animal found a
master,” he murmured. Griffith had introduced the thin, metallic
fiber that coated the bluebirds after testing it on his pets. They
had never been able to recreate it to the degree of this beast’s
coat or re-engineer the retractable metal teeth. Griffith had been
a pisser for sure, Boris didn’t mourn his death, but in other ways
the man had been brilliant.

“Show Lord Gordon to the conference room. I am
sending Damian to meet our guests,” Lancaster said, watching the
beast race forward to the next bluebird.

“Yes, Sir.”

Boris watched the screen a few moments longer.
He had hoped to play with Hawke but the information he received
meant he would need to wait a little longer. Thanks to that blasted
busy-body Radoff, his timetable escalated and he had a ceremony to
stop. Neither he nor Roderick were interested in losing the ability
to heal and live longer like the wolves. That meant he and Gordon
needed to leave right away. He sent the files he’d been working on
to the clouds, turned off the monitor and headed toward the
conference room. Gordon had better be grateful for Radoff’
interference otherwise he’d be receiving a nasty surprise for his
actions the other day. That too would wait. A hybrid followed
behind him and stood outside the door when he entered.

Gordon turned to face him and pointed. “What
the hell do you think you’re doing having me returned to a room
like I’m some babe? You are not in charge of me.”

“True, I’m in charge of Damian and this
assignment to destroy Hawke and his mate. You interfered with
that.”

Gordon stepped closer and leaned forward.
“How. By walking in the tunnels to talk privately? By leaving the
immediate area?”

Boris waved his arm. “You were trying to leave
with Damian so he didn’t have to fight Hawke. You don’t give him
enough credit, he might win.” He smiled so that Gordon knew he
didn’t mean a word of what he’d just said.

“I don’t want them to fight, he’s not ready
and you know it.”

“Pity it’s not your call. Roderick approved
this. Damian is on his way to meet his sire now.” Lancaster grinned
at Gordon’s red face and clenched jaw.

“If he’s destroyed I will kill you.” Gordon
pointed at him and Boris knew the man well enough to know he meant
it.

“That will have to wait because we need to
leave now.” He told Gordon about the contract and the move on Hawke
and Alpha Radoff’s part to break it. “We need to hurry, Damian will
only be able to hold Hawke for so long, one of the others will slip
in. We cannot be here.” He moved to the door and looked over his
shoulder. “Gordon, come on, we need to leave.”

“I’ll meet you below, I need a few seconds to
say goodbye.”

Lancaster rubbed his finger against the pouch
where he kept his thin blades and looked at Gordon. “Say it on the
way, he’ll hear you. I’m not about to trust you to put the Liege
first when it comes to that wolf.” He waved toward the door. “Come
on lets go.”

Gordon crossed his arms and shook his head. “I
have to say good-bye.” He looked at Boris. “He and I have a bond, I
refuse to just disappear from his life.”

“I told Roderick not to allow you to come,
this is a complication we don’t need. Talk to him later when he
returns to the hotel. I’ve instructed him to meet us there after he
completes his assignment.”

“Go ahead and leave, I’ll meet you at the
hotel with Damian.”

Boris looked at the stubborn man and
calculated his odds. Chances were Hawke could not kill his seed,
but Angus could. Would he? Who knew? If Boris killed Gordon right
now, Hawke would definitely come after him. From what his source
told him they needed either him or Gordon and the only way to avoid
being sacrificed was to be unavailable. He planned to do that and
if Gordon stayed behind to save Hawke’s pup, his blood would break
the covenant. Boris couldn’t allow that either. Most importantly,
he was down to one blade until he returned stateside and couldn’t
risk using it on Gordon, not with Hawke after him.

“How are you going to get to the hotel?” He
asked while searching the man’s expression. Had Gordon out
maneuvered him? Was there another player involved Boris hadn’t
accounted for?

“I’ll meet you there. Go, save yourself first,
that is what you do best,” Gordon spat.

“This is not personal. If your blood is shed,
the contract is broken and impacts all of us. Do you understand
that?” Boris tried explaining again so that Gordon realized the
danger.

“I’m not stupid. I’ll be at the hotel in a
little bit. Give us five more minutes.”

Boris’ eyes narrowed. In five minutes Hawke
would be inside the building, it would take them a little while to
find these hidden rooms, especially while fighting the hybrids. But
he refused to take a chance of being caught in the cross-fire for
anyone. “You’re a pathetic ass, Gordon. Fortunately for you
Roderick doesn’t want me to kill you,” he lied and removed his hand
from the blades. He had complained about Gordon and Roderick blew
him off with questions about Angus. “If you’re not at the hotel,
I’m leaving and you’re on your own.”

“Wouldn’t expect anything else from you.” The
scorn infused words sent heat to Boris’ face. He swung and
connected with the other man’s cheek knocking him back a bit.
Gordon shook his head and charged, tackling Boris onto the floor
and got in a series of punches before the hybrid pulled him
off.

Boris’ head and upper body throbbed and he
couldn’t see clearly at first. His chest hurt when he tried to
breathe. After a few moments he looked across the room where the
hybrid blocked Gordon from attacking him again. Boris pushed up
from the floor, wiped the blood from his lip with the back of his
hand, and spat in Gordon’s direction. The man was dead to him.
Turning, he left the room and headed toward the secure area to
leave the building.

“Come with me,” Boris said to another hybrid
stationed near the secure area. Together they entered the chute to
take them to the lower tunnel. When he reached the ground floor he
headed into the control room, entered a series of codes, the chute
would return to the lower level once more and then lock. He
overrode all the other codes, making it impossible to enter or
leave the underground area.

Once he was situated in the seat of the
underwater pod he keyed in the co-ordinates for his pick-up and
left the building. He placed a call on a secure line.

A few moments later, Roderick answered. “He
refused to leave, and promised to meet me later.”

“Damn that stubborn fool. Does he understand
how important it is for him to leave that place? It’s not just
about him.”

“Damian, he refused to leave the
pup.”

“I’m not surprised, we should’ve listened to
you and not allowed anyone to bond with those beasts. Look where it
got us. Did Angus show up?”

“He was with Hawke.” Boris told him about the
attack and the TerraByte.

“Any idea who the thing bonded with? It’s
important to know if there’s a new player.”

“Not yet. I spent a lot of time arguing with
Gordon about leaving. Once I get situated, I’ll look at the tape
again. I’m leaving now.”

“Yes, I heard you.”

“No. I am on my way to the new meeting point,
plan B is in effect. If they don’t catch Gordon or if he dies, they
will come after me. We cannot chance that.”