Sword of Mercy (27 page)

“You say Damian is enhanced. Arms, legs and
computer chip, I picked up on those. What else?” Hawke glanced
outside and saw the pup continued to hold on.

“Why should I tell you anything? You’ll
probably kill him after you get what you need from me
anyway.”

Hawke couldn’t kill Damian but Radoff, Ulric,
hell, even Asia could, so the man wasn’t too far off. “I’m curious.
You say he’s my seed, but I feel nothing for him, shouldn’t there
be some recognition?”

Gordon stared at him for a few seconds and
then sighed. “I hoped so, but it’s the same with him. He denies the
connection which creates a problem.”

Hawke frowned. “Problem?”

“Yes, if I die, he will attempt to destroy you
and yours. Which will set the stage for his destruction; I
understand how mates work but he does not. Although he cannot win
against you now, Damian is talented and damn good. He will not make
a good enemy.”

“Are there any good enemies?” Hawke
asked.

Gordon shrugged and looked away. “It does not
need to be that way.”

Hawke gazed at the man’s side profile. For
years he’d been held beneath their thumb, doing whatever they
demanded without question. In his mind they’d been gods. This was
no god sitting next to him, just a man. They were all men with huge
egos and a contract that allowed them privileges they had
abused.

“Hawke, calm, please. We are in a small
container in the air. There will be time for you to express your
anger later, after the covenant is broken
.” Her hand covered
his and he noticed his long curved fingernails and felt the sting
of his extended incisors.

Nodding, he turned from Gordon and looked at
Asia, his port in the emotional storm. “
Thank
you
.”

She nodded and looked out the small window.
The ground grew closer. He exhaled. They were almost
there.

“Sir
?” he contacted Silas.

“Hawke.”

“We are landing with Gordon. There has been
a small complication
.” He told Silas about Damian and the
relationship with Gordon.

“Damn. It’s always something. Why
couldn’t this be cut and dry? What do you think? Will Damian go
rogue or will the Liege use him the same way they used
Asia?”

“He is good. And in a few years
will be better. Asia and I wrote the training plans they use for
the hybrids, so his fighting skills weren’t that difficult for us
to win against. That won’t be the case with other full-bloods. With
metal in his limbs, he will be a real threat.”

“How do you feel about destroying
him?”

Hawke glanced at Asia. “
He attacked my
mate, if I could kill him, he would be dead
.”

“Understood. Should I have him
terminated? Is there any way to rehabilitate him?”

“I don’t know. Have Angus bring
him to you. Asia told me how you handled her when she was infected
with the computerized chip, deal with him the same and see what you
can learn. If there are more like him, that will be a problem. Like
I said, he is good and Asia and I cannot be everywhere to destroy
them.”

“Thanks, I’ll discuss it with my
mate and we will inform Angus what we decide. Let me know when the
covenant is broken.”

“Yes, Sir.
” Hawke gazed out the window
as Chacal sat the copter down. Radoff’s pack surrounded Damian, who
stared into the copter, waiting.

Chapter 27

Hawke watched Damian for a few seconds.
“
Angus
?”

“I’m on my way, the explosion
pushed me ahead and I thought I saw Lancaster, but can’t be sure.
When we got out the water, I sent Byte to search for signs, but he
came up empty. Just grabbed a ride and heading your way now. Chacal
says you have your hands full with your seed.”

“Yeah. Gordon’s inside, Maheegan
should get what she needs first and then I’ll lock him and Gordon
together in the cage while we have the ceremony.”

“Sounds like a plan. On my way,
Ulric’s not far behind me.”

Hawke glanced at Asia.
“I’ll contain him
and then you take Gordon inside to Maheegan.
” He didn’t wait
for her to agree or disagree, his turbulent emotions needed an
outlet and Damian would be the recipient. Like Niall, Damian
represented another person or relationship the Liege stole from
him. Emotionally he wasn’t sure what he felt for what Asia called
his family, but he refused to allow Damian to stand between him and
a successful mission for Asia. Chacal turned off the copter, Hawke
stepped out.

“Back the fuck up,” Hawke growled to Damian,
who had morphed to his hybrid form.

“Fuck you,” Damian said, rubbing Hawke the
wrong way. He stepped away from the blades, morphed and tackled
Damian to the ground.

“Get back.” He heard Radoff say in the
background as he and Damian fought. Gordon had been right, the pup
was good, but not good enough. Hawke punched him in the face and
the placed his hand over Damian’s face, allowing his curved nails
to penetrate his flesh. Next he pushed Damian’s head into the
ground.

“Go ahead Asia. Lock Gordon in a cage. Have
Maheegan take whatever blood she needs and watch over him until
Angus gets here to help you. I’ve got to deal with
this
.”

“Hawke… be careful
.” Asia picked Gordon
up and carried him across the area while Damian tried to buck Hawke
off him. Instead of moving Hawke applied more pressure, burying the
bottom of his head into the ground. He leaned close to Damian’s
ear. “You attacked my mate, that’s a death penalty.”

“Mate
?”

Hawke froze, closed his eyes and ignored the
tingling in his mind where Damian spoke to him through a link. If
he answered they would be irrevocably linked and he might have the
pup killed in the end. It was up to Silas.

“My mate, the one holding Gordon.”

“Gordon
?”

“He is a Liege Lord, who has done terrible
things to my people. Your people.”

“No. No
.” Damian pushed, but couldn’t
move Hawke.

Hawke glanced at Radoff who stood a short
distance and nodded. “I’ve got this. I’ll explain
later.”

Radoff nodded and walked off. Chacal stood a
distance, watching and then headed toward the basement. “If you
don’t want anything bad to happen to Gordon right now, remain
still.”

Damian stopped moving. Hawke exhaled and
looked toward the building. “
Has Maheegan taken his blood
?”
He asked Asia.

“Not yet, there’s a special way it has to
be done or something
. She’s working on it.” She paused. “
How
are you holding up? Make any progress with him?”

“He spoke to me through a
link.”

“Shit. Did you answer?”

“No. Silas may decide to terminate
him rather than meet him on the battlefield later. I don’t want
that connection.”

“I’m sorry you have to make a
choice like that.”

He glanced at the hybrid created from his
genes and shook his head. “
What would you do?”

“What?”

“If they’d done this to you, and
you met… you're… him? What would you do? Let him go? Have him
killed? What?”

“That could have happened and I
may not know. With all the surgeries I’ve had and all the time I’ve
been out of it… who knows what they’ve done. But you cannot kill
him, the Goddess made sure of that. The rest, I don’t know.
Whatever you decide, I’m behind you, okay. Just remember
that.”

“Thank you.”
He released his breath and
pushed up, bringing Damian with him. After they stood, placed his
other hand around Damian’s neck and released his face. The skin
healed over his nail marks and Hawke looked down into the pup's
face.

“Do you want Gordon to die?”

Damian’s face tightened, his jaw clenched. He
spoke through tight lips. “No.”

Curious, Hawke moved closer. “Why? Is he your
sire?”

“No.”

“Why do you care if he dies or
lives?”

Damian’s lips tightened.

Hawke shook him.
“
Answer me or you know
what’ll happen.”

“He is my master.”

“You’re wolf. He’s human.”

Damian frowned. “
Wolf
?”

Hawke frowned and looked into eyes that
mirrored his own. “Have you never shifted?”

“Impossible
.” He shook his head and
Hawke wondered if he were aware he spoke to Hawke through a
link.

Hawke looked across the compound and called
one of Radoff’s men over. “He does not believe we
shift.”

The male looked surprised and the next moment
he stood on his paws looking up at them. The next second he stood
on two feet and then he returned to wolf form, looked at Hawke and
then ran off.

Hawke sensed Damian’s surprise and wondered
what type of training the Liege employed. The instructions for
behavioral modification he had written took the temperament of the
dual natured man into account. Based on Damian’s response the Liege
did not teach the two sides must walk in harmony to be
whole.

“That is impossible,” Damian said. “I cannot
do that.” He looked at Hawke with a question in his eyes. “Master
says you are my sire, do you also become wolf?”

“Yes. It is my nature and the nature of
everyone else here except Gordon.”

Damian’s eyes widened and then narrowed. “Will
they hurt my master?”

“It depends on how you behave out
here.”

“How will they know?”

“I speak to them like this
,” Hawke said
through their link.

Damian jumped and struggled to break free from
Hawke’s grip. Hawke squeezed his neck tighter, closing off oxygen
until his movements slowed.

“Get out of my mind
,” Damian said in a
hard voice that might have been the equivalent of a scream if he
could speak.

“Believe me, I hate to be here, but since I
am
…” Hawke invaded his thoughts and marveled at the ability to
do so. “
Your computer is different, not as hostile. It only
controls your limbs not your actions, no tracking. Did they never
expect you to meet your kind
?”

“Get out
,” Damian said, trying to move
Hawke back but failing.

The computer chip lacked the kill mechanism,
and camera. What had the pup used the other day? The fight on the
side of the road had been recorded for Lancaster and the Liege,
Hawke would bet money on that. The pup wore sunglasses, the camera
must have been loaded near the lens.

“Calm down, has anyone ever linked with you
before?”

Damian stopped moving and met Hawke’s gaze.
“Linked? What is that?”

“Mind speak, wolves speak mind to mind and
no one else can hear you or knows what we are saying. Humans
cannot
.”

Damian blinked a few times. “But I am not a
wolf.”

“Technically you are a full-blood, which is a
dual-natured person.” He paused. “Like me.” Hawke admitted the
connection and continued searching through Damian’s memories.
Gordon played a predominant role in Damian’s upbringing, their
relationship more personal than master and slave. Gordon treated
Damian as a son and had taken on the Liege for Damian.

“Lies, all lies.” Damian pushed against Hawke
and punched him on the shoulder.

Hawke tightened his grip around his neck and
continued looking through the memory bank of Damian’s life. The pup
excelled early and lived in a decent environment, nothing like the
cell Hawke had endured. It took a moment before he realized Damian
had entered his mind. Hawke shut down the area leading to Asia, but
allowed Damian to see the brutality he suffered at the hands of the
Liege.

Damian’s eyes widened and then narrowed as if
he suspected some sort of trick.

Hawke chuckled and didn’t pull
back.

“Black wolf.”