“Taber’s one of our best fighters,” she said in that soft, melodic voice. “He won’t let anyone get up here.
And if they did, I wouldn’t let them past the door.”
A thread of steel ran beneath the last statement. There was barely enough light to see by, but Roni glimpsed the flash of rage in her eyes.
Roni hadn’t had a chance to really talk to Dawn, or any of the other family members she had known in Sandy Hook. Not that anyone could really have claimed to know Dawn. She was rarely seen in the small town, and when she was, she rarely talked. There was something too silent, too heartbreaking, in the quiet features of her face. As though she carried a cloak of nightmares about her at all times.
“The estate here is gorgeous,” Roni finally said, desperate to keep the other woman talking. She needed to concentrate on something other than the possible dangers Taber would face outside. “How did you find it?”
A mocking little smile played about the lush fullness of Dawn’s lips. “The estate was given to us, actually, along with a nice little lump sum of money to help aid the other Breeds being found in various locations.
Several of the Council members were high-ranking heads of our government.” Her voice sang with an earthy, haunting quality.
“How many are there so far?” Roni asked her curiously.
“So far, we have nearly a hundred Feline Breeds on site working to secure our place in society in Washington. More come in monthly…” Her voice trailed off, as though the thought of those coming in struck a chord of resounding pain within her soul.
“I’m sorry.” Roni didn’t know what to say.
A gentle smile crossed Dawn’s lips, filled her expression. “Don’t be sorry, Roni. We are alive and isn’t that what matters?” It was obvious that Dawn asked herself that question often.
What was it about her? Roni had never understood the quiet aura that always surrounded the other woman. She had seen the men of the county when they were around her. Rough, hard-edged men suddenly softened, their smiles gentling. Men who would have often made lewd advances to any woman as beautiful as Dawn had cast their eyes to the floor, shame marking their expressions.
Her looks weren’t so unusually striking as to stop traffic. She was slender, delicate, with thick silken hair and large brown eyes that always seemed so haunted. And perhaps that was it, Roni thought. Her eyes seemed to tell a tale that Dawn never whispered.
“Everyone looks at me like that.” Dawn shook her head in apparent confusion as Roni watched her.
Roni sighed deeply. “I’m sorry. You seem…so sad. I guess before I never realized why.”
“And you do now?” There was no insult intended in her voice, just weary acceptance.
“I don’t think so.” Roni shook her head slowly. “I think it’s more than the situation, more than your entrance into society. How old were you when Callan brought you out of the labs?” And there was the answer. Her eyes flashed. Nightmare, memory and terror.
“I was fifteen. Sherra was eighteen. That was more than ten years ago. It seems only yesterday sometimes.” She shook her head, a weary smile crossing her face. “They made us tell them about the labs during the Senate hearings and the closed trials of some of the Council members. Sherra cried.” Her voice dropped. “Like she did in the labs, before Callan took us out. She has never cried like that since our escape. Callan picked her up out of the witness stand and carried her out of the proceedings. It was weeks before she could awaken without screaming.”
“What about you?” Roni asked her gently.
Dawn shook her head, lowering it before giving her a soft, broken smile. “I just don’t sleep, Roni. Not for long and not very deeply. What’s the point when the monsters can take you again and again and again?” She shuddered and came to her feet, her head tilting, her eyes suddenly narrowing as the gun fell naturally into her grasp.
“What…?”
“Shhh,” Dawn hissed softly. “Listen.”
She heard it then. A scratch, a scrape at the balcony doors. Her eyes widened in horror as she grabbed the pistol, moving along the wall, careful to stay as far to the side of the glass doors as possible.
Dawn moved like a shadow then. She jerked the comm. link down from its position on the back of her head, adjusting the mic as she listened intently. The scratching came again, followed by a careful shuffle of the doors.
“Alpha one. We have a breech.” Dawn’s voice was so soft Roni barely heard it as the other woman moved to her, covering her as she motioned to the bedroom.
Keeping her weapon at her shoulder, Roni moved quietly around the room, her breath nearly strangling her as she fought to keep the fear to a manageable level.
She got as far as the bedroom door and stopped. The slow slide of the balcony door had her eyes flying to Dawn in alarm.
“Fuck. Get up here!” Dawn’s voice was soft as she spoke into the comm. link, carrying no further than Roni as the other woman motioned to her and they headed quickly to the bedroom door. “We’re evac.
We’re evac.” She slid the locks free, opening the door as she checked outside quickly before moving from the room.
Roni followed quickly, her finger caressing the trigger of the gun as she held it ready, checking behind them often, fighting to hear above the pounding of her heart. The hallway was dark, silent, as they moved quickly along the corridor.